Preface

In this paper the case for adoption of affirmative policies and strategies for structural reform in certain areas and institutions deemed to be of vital importance for the development and actualization of a state of true nationhood of the Nigerian State is made.

These areas and institutions identified for restructuring are enumerated below:

1. Police and Armed Forces

2. Citizenship

3. Education

The scope of this proposal is limited to broad outline of principles that should be adopted for reform. An exhaustive discussion is neither intended nor possible

1.0 Police and Armed Forces Reforms

Historically, the Police and Armed Forces are seen as privileged institutions to be feared revered as superior to and as self appointed  magisterium to the ordinary citizens of Nigeria.

For the above reasons and reasons elucidated in section 4 of this paper, it is proposed that the Police and Armed Forces of the Nation be reformed by measured integration with the citizenry of the Nigerian State. Structural reform is proposed which will allow the autonomous functioning of the Police, Citizens and Armed Forces as distinct which are nonetheless ideologically integrated into one social order with the  assured subordination of the Police and Armed Forces to civil oversight

2.0 Citizenship Reform

Amongst other encumbrances, Nigeria and Nigerians suffer from a crisis of citizenship. For this and other reasons espoused in section four (4) of this report,  it is proposed that a Compulsory National Citizenship Service  (CNCS)  program for all tiers of the Nigerian society, including the Military and Police Forces, be introduced as a condition for full citizenship of the Nigerian State..

This program should form the backbone and essential vehicle for the reforms proposed in this paper. The details of the Citizenship reforms as outlined through the CNCS shall be discussed in section five (5)of this paper and successful participation in this program should be the qualifying condition for aspiration by any citizen to high and  political offices in the Nigerian State.

3.0 Educational Reform

As explained in section four (4) of this paper, it is believed that the Nigerian educational system is inadequate. It is proposed that K-12 Education should be made mandatory to all citizens and that the educational system be reformed by revision of its social and political constituent (or lack of it.) This revised social and political curriculum which shall be incorporated into and taught by a scheme to be known as the Compulsory National Youth Citizenship Service (CNYCS).

This scheme shall be the youth orientation component of, and an allied part of the larger CNCS program already prescribed in section 2.0 above.

.At this juncture, it suffices to state that the  CNYCS will serve  as a vehicle of educational reform as well as  preparation for the adult components of the CNCS.

Details of the proposed CNYCS are discussed in section five(5) of this paper

4.0 The Military/Civilian Dichotomy and dysfunction of the Nigerian Society

Although the dysfunctions in the Nigerian Society can be traced to many sources and reasons, it has for long been identified that there exist a noxious bifurcation between the Civil and Police/Military segments of Nigerian society. This antagonistic dichotomy is identified as one major source of dysfunction and is addressed in this paper.

4.01 The Military as a source of Malfeasance

On the one hand, it is impossible to comprehensively list the flaws besetting the Nigerian Military establishment. However, we can mention that among others, that it is permeated with vices which include a sense of entitlement, a superiority complex, utter contempt for, as well as criminally psychopathic deportment towards civil society, which frequently manifest in beatings, extortions, torture and killings.

 In the euphoria of democratic albeit flawed transition recently witnessed in the Nigeria, no one should be deceived into thinking that the Nigerian State is now established in a democratic dispensation and finally safe from the perilous influence of the military. A recalcitrant mindset makes it possible for the military establishment to see the State as subordinate to, rather than the other way around. This state of mind is exemplified in the sociopathic projection which one supposes passes for thinking within the military establishment, such as that on display in a recent M.Sc thesis in political science, of one NDA student, ( Katsina , A.M; 2008), which facetiously absolves the Military of any share of the malaise that is Nigeria by stating that: 

“the political class has always been the single most dangerous threat to National security” 

This is in spite of the same student having observed from Imobighe T.A  (1984:41) that:

 “those who are saddled with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the country turn out to constitute the greatest danger to the security of the county”

 While it is true that the political class of Nigeria has been culpable in the failures of the Nation,  we all know that this is only one part of the equation since the Military, it is, that has been, for the most, running the affairs of the country for the greater part of its history. It can and will be argued by defenders of the  military that the  above quoted works do not constitute official policy of the Nigerian Armed Forces , but by deliberately examining the mindset of not its past, but rather, the mindset of its fresh and young, those we  presume to be the future commanders of the Military establishment, we see nothing new. Rather, we perceive a likeness of the old and it is obvious that the mindset of the “new”still demonstrate the same unwillingness and inability of the military to reflect, criticize itself and take responsibility for its own share of the malfeasance it has brought on the Nigerian State.This is an ominous indication that for many more years to come, that the Military, if not reformed will portend grave danger to the Nigerian State.

We may bemoan the tragedy that is the Nigerian Police and Armed Forces, however, we should not be surprised nor should we expect anything different if we take into consideration the well know genealogy and original intent behind the establishment of the institutions, which for all practical purposes, has not been redefined, not withstanding the self imposed mass deception and cherished illusion of independence being nourished by the Nigerian State. For the forestated reasons, there is an urgent need to fundamentally redefine, redirect, restructure and reform the Nigerian Police and Armed Forces. It is the intention of this paper to highlight methods to do exactly that.

4.02 The Civilian  as a source of Malfeasance

On the other hand, in the face of, or as a result of overwhelming disenfranchisement and abuse suffered at the hands of “those who are saddled with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the country (but who) turn out to constitute the greatest danger to the security of the county” , the civilian segment of the Nigerian society has responded with  reckless abandonment of any sense of responsibility towards the Nigerian State. The prevailing civilian attitude is one of as impecunious apathy, profound lethargy, helplessness and a sense of not having a stake in the Nigerian enterprise. Coupled with this is a well justified fear of the Police and Military establishments. Hence as with the military establishment, the list of civilian contraventions within and towards the Nigerian State is virtually endless. Thus, whenever the civilian can get away with it, we witness in him or her on a scale beyond any bounds of imagination, all manners of vices as well as beyond utter disregard, for the concept of the rule of law.

 While one is again free to bewail this wanton misbehavior on the part of the civil populace, again, as already noted in the case of the Military, it should similarly be noted that this behavior on the part of the civilian  is a  perfectly logical,  and appropriate response of the disenchanted rational person who finds him or herself without any stake or investment in a State afflicted with the tragedy of the commons; as is clearly the case in the Nigeria State.

Let us be clear: The Nigerian State is caught up in a vicious circle of retrogression with no apparent delineations between the culpabilities of its civilian and military detractors and we can endlessly finger point or argue back and forth about whether the civilian or military establishment is the greater culprit and whether the civil populace is a victim of the Military or vice versa. What is apparent is that both the Military and the civil populace if not reformed and restructured, pose a clear and present danger to the continued existence of Nigeria. As well as the military disposition, a means has to be found to also reform, reconstitute and redirect the civilian ethos.

Rather than inanely cursing the darkness of the Nigerian State or merely continuing with the tragedy of the commons, perhaps it is possible to light a candle that may help illuminate the darkness engulfing the Nigerian State. This is the reasoning that has led to the proposal for the establishment of the Compulsory National Civilian Service (CNCS) as a vehicle of social and security reform of the Nigerian State.

4.03  Nigerian (Mis) Education as a source of Malfeasance

In Nigeria, there is an erroneous belief that education can be stripped of social, political and historical context and taught with either no frame of  such reference or worse. By worse, it is meant, the false education, of an entire nation according to the antagonistic social, political and historical frame of reference of others. Thus, through the malediction of miseducation,  today, there is nothing so dangerous that walks the face of the earth as the product of Nigerian miseducation..

Steeped in the memes of a culture that negates the possibility of its own actualization, immersed in a way of thinking that does not teach him or her the fallacy of relying upon institutions built by others and ideologically conditioned towards the advancement of other culture perceived to be superior, the words of C.G Woodson (1933) still holds true today as it did in yesteryears when the condition of the educated Nigerian is considered.

“Carrying the imitation of others to an extreme today, we do not find ourselves far in advance of the oppressed antebellum Negroes, who, unable to dress themselves, had to take whatever others threw at them. We make a most hideous spectacle, then, when we are on dress parade in our social atmosphere. So many of us clad in unbecoming colors often look like decorated pet horses turned loose for an hour or so of freedom.”

Education can be either singular or pedestrian. A singular education is one that is genuinely inward looking, outward looking, comparative, corrective and assimilative. By looking inwards it knows itself. By looking outwards, it takes stock of its environment and understands its position in the larger scheme of things. It is able to correctly measure itself, identify what it is lacking, find and assimilate that into its culture. The product of such an education intuitively and essentially grasps that it must build its own systems and cannot rely upon systems built by others.

The education that is required for the Nigerian in these trying times is one that is singularly subliminal. One that recognizes the need for nation building, one that would aid in developing in the individual the ability for problem solving and accentuate his or her mental ennoblement

 Unfortunately, Nigerian education is the antithesis of all that is needed for Nation building . It was a system originally designed to produce natives suitable at best, for lower forms of clerical service and has since not been comprehensively reformed, nor freed from the ethnocentric, consumer- client type template upon which it was incepted. The typical product of such an education cannot even begin to hope to aspire to build a Nation because such a one thinks the Nation already exist..

Nigerian education is presently exclusively a superficial “outward –looking- only” education that shows little capacity for introspection and has not bothered to examine the very premises upon which itself and the State which it disserves were founded upon. It even leads many to confuse a State for a Nation. Because it lacks genuine introspection, the capacity to be comparative, corrective or assimilative, the result of such educational orientation is hedonism and self aggrandizement The fruits of such an education yields nothing but a sense of inferiority, insecurity and a desperation to affiliate with the objects and systems which are built by others even though the  inner workings of such systems are not fully understood, but must be accepted on faith , face value and trust..

The product of such an education is unable to learn from history or experience and make correct decisions, since history is taught merely as a subject and from a wrong perspective. Thus this education produce deficient stock who on grounds of almost superstitious faith and naivety, are attracted to the outwardly shinny object, eternally  contented to subsist as peripheral appendages to systems built and designed by others for the benefit of others. This explains the despondency such a one feels when uninvited to organizations which ordinarily, common sense would indicate that  he or she should shun.

The paradigms of inferiority unconsciously and consciously taught in this system is one which produce behavior which can be recognized as anomalous were the protagonists able to unshackled themselves from their self imposed slumber long enough to recognize the words of C.G Woodson,  and observe the caricature effect it produces; Lawyers who as a sign of learning, do little other than adorning their heads with dead horses, Engineers who are unfamiliar with and don’t even go near engines, talk less of making engines and Professors who profess nothing.

 In general, the Nigerian educational system has produced a consumer society bereft of any ideals, which has rejected itself in preference for hankering after cheap counterfeit discarded by others.Hence the typical product of the Nigerian educational system is not equipped nor directed towards articulation of a progressive philosophy capable of advancing the local interest of the Nigerian collective.

If we are serious about building a Nation, one that is designed to meet the aspirations of Nigerians and Africans, rather than others, then it follows that Nigerian education must have an Afrocentric serration, which for now is solely lacking.

The “educated” Nigerian is indeed a danger to himself and to the State and there is no task more urgent in the Nigerian space than the reformation of the Nigerian educational system. It is for this reason that this paper is proposing implementation strategies for reform of the Nigerian educational system in section 5.02.1.1

End of Part I. To be continued in Part II

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Robot  # 1 | 04.06.2009 07:18

Preface In this paper the case for adoption of affirmative policies and strategies for structural reform in certain areas and institutions deemed to be of vital importance for the development and actualization of a state of true nationhood of the Nigerian State is made. These areas and institutions identified for restructuring are enumerated below: 1.Police and Armed Forces 2.Citizenship 3.Education The scope of this proposal is limited to broad outline of principles that should be adopted for reform. An exhaustive discussion is neither intended nor possible 1.0 Police and Armed Forces Reforms Historically, the Police and Armed Forces are seen as privileged institutions to be feared revered as superior to and as self appointed magisterium to the ordinary citizens of Nigeria. For the above reasons and reasons elucidated in section 4 of this paper, it is propos...Read the full article.

emj  # 2 | 04.06.2009 09:02

Hmmm.....Good one/nice doings DT....look forward to reading Part II.....will comment my reserve till later(reserve my comments)....good of you for taking the pain to write a proposal:p

Zuma  # 3 | 04.06.2009 09:08

Great. Now we are finally discussing some tangible ideas. Not redundant 'get togethers' discussing the state of the Nigerian failed nation and some boring stale revelations from El-Rufai, Ribadu and the likes.

AfricanInnovationProject  # 4 | 04.06.2009 16:44

"Outward looking" ... I've been using the term "outward facing" to describe us for a long time and I never had someone publicly use this term in such an accurate context. I would argue that "citizenship reform" cannot be achieved by the same type of "programmatic" top-down bureaucracy connoted by your suggestion. If anything, that kind of "social systems re-engineering" is better achieved (and easier) by an investment in inward-facing educational systems and curricula that encourage "truth in social sciences, leadership/ethical education, critical thinking skills and problem-based learning" with a bent towards activity-based learning. Our standard (British-influenced) bias against polytechnic education and achievement means that the type of low-tech innovation upon which the future of Nigerian achievement can be built is non-existent. These sorts of reforms in our educational system, coupled with your suggested governmental reforms of police and military institutions can create in a space of 10 years, the kind of citizen-minded Nigerian that 100 years of Youth Service Corp could never produce. You can check out some of my thoughts on these sorts of issues at my Innovate Africa Project .... Gogo Innovate Africa Project

Ajia  # 5 | 05.06.2009 00:10

Zuma and others; The task of taking Nigeria back will require all of us working together. Now that does not mean that we all have to be part of the same PAC, we can all work independently if we choose to, it is my prayer that Nigeria will be better as a result of all our efforts in the near future. This policy proposal by deepthought is one of those that was proposed at the last conference call of the Leadership Agenda For Nigeria. We charged ourselves on writing a definitive policy proposal on all aspects of the Nigerian state, we agreed that since the status quo is unacceptable, we ought to come up with alternatives. We intend to publish this into a blue print by next year. Yours truly is working on two areas of policy already. There is a gentleman over in Florida that is working on three policy areas. It is important that I point this out because as demonstrated last week at the London Metropolitan University, progressive Nigerians are moving beyond talk. This paper is one of such effort. And to deepthought; the policy discussion on the Citizenship scheme will continue on Sunday. A.Y.Ajia For: Leadership Agenda For Nigeria

Eja  # 6 | 07.06.2009 09:51

Good article. I appreciate the emphasis on education because the current situation with education in Nigeria is a grievous emergency. There is a direct linkage between the long-running miseducation that dominates the arena and our inability to fashion/implement suitable solutions to our many collective problems. There are things being ignored that need to be addressed. I am looking forward to the other parts of this paper.

nero africanus  # 7 | 07.06.2009 10:37

thank you professor deep thought, you are doing what some of us should have done since , constructive criticism which provides alternatives and ideas this paper is brilliant and i await the part 2

katampe  # 8 | 07.06.2009 13:19

Deepthought, You did a great job here, very well thought out policy proposal. While I am yet to fully digest it,I wish to argue upfront, that at first blush, the heart of your proposal, although not expressly stated there is the principle/ idea that we need critical thinking skills alongside our educational aspirations.Skills that give depth and breadth to our understanding of issues educational. It highlights the idea that we should not just be mere passive conduits but critical and discerning conduits of knowledge. If I am not mistaken, it explains why we come across as copy-cats and why most of our products seem fake and don't have enduring utilitarian value and quality.I guess it is about time we stopped cramming textbooks and move towards understanding them so we can evaluate, contextualize and produce knowledge specific to our locus of experience. I guess we need it urgently to be problem solvers knowledgeable enough to build our society. There is this idea, not sure who muted it now, that experience has a time and place dimension.Yet, cognitively we can't experience time, neither can we experience place, unfortunately this lack of cognitive appreciation and our inability to search for frameworks to contextualize experience tend to skew our understanding of most issues. What education should seek is this frame of reference, it should have historical, geographical, cultural and all other dimensions that enable us own educational experience wholly. It explains why we sometimes have arguments predicated on mere opinions, rumours and myths instead of facts. Also, until Nigeria liberates its space through cross-breeding of social classes and ethnic groups , and less of in-breeding of social classes and ethnic groups, we might find it harder to be critical people working together to build vast amounts of knowledge that endure and with practical value for the development of our society. Look forward to your part 11. Thanks for the effort.

DeepThought  # 9 | 10.06.2009 00:12

Thank you for your comments which are far too generous and quite undeserved. I was expecting, and I'm still expecting to be roundly excoriated for "writing from the comfort of some foreign land". Too many of us, (including myself) sometimes think we can get something for nothing and the idea of compulsory service will definitely rub a lot of people the wrong way. But the truth is , we'll only get out of something, whatever we put in. We can do very little to change the minds of adults. A lot of adults will go to the grave believing whatever it is that they were either knowingly or otherwise indoctrinated into believing in their formative years. So, yes, the empahsis on educational reform, that is intended to capture the mind of the young and direct it to the ends highlighted in this paper is the key. I don't know much. I don't know if Nigeria is yet ripe for the ideas in this proposal, but I think, some day, maybe sooner than we realize, we will be. So it is important to put these kinds of ideas "out there" and struggle to make it replace a prevailing Nigerian ideology (if we can call it that) of "Nigeria as food" described in Pius Adewunmi's last article.