While musing on whether Africans can ever govern themselves well, James Watson, the co-discoverer of the DNA, said that he doubts that Africans can ever govern themselves well. Why? He suggested that it is probably because they are less intelligent than the other races. 

 The man said what was in his mind and for doing so he was driven out of his work. We have come to this: a man loses his job for stating what he thinks. A man ought to have the right to state his opinion, even if what he thinks is wrong!  

 Apparently, the liberal notion that all people are the same and coequal must be protected and never raised to examination. Never mind that in tests after tests Asians score highest of the various races followed by white folk, with black folk always at the bottom of the heap.

 (And the sad aspect of it all is that these tests are not even difficult to ace; we do not need to explain why some lazy folk do poorly at them; average persons who are disciplined and do a bit of studying ought to do well at them!) 

 In intelligence tests, such as WAIS, WISC and Stanford Binnet, the average white person scores fifteen points less than the average Asian person and the average black person scores fifteen points less than whites.

 (Most intelligence tests have 140 possible points. A score of 70 and under is considered indicative of mental retardation; a score of 100 plus is considered average intelligence; a score of 120 plus is considered above average intelligence; a score of 130 plus is considered superior intelligence. Most people are average. Two percent of the people are mentally retarded and two percent are mentally gifted. Black folk’s average is 85. There are black persons who score in the superior range; if it were not the case it would have been accepted that all black folk are unintelligent. The fact that Asians score higher than white folk has muted white racists tendency to saying that they are superior to black folk, for if they cited IQ tests as their evidence by that same measure they are inferior to Asians. Thus, black folk owe Asians the current less noise making about white superiority!)

 Performances on intelligence tests are reflected in how persons from the races perform at academic tests. In standardized examinations, such as scholastic aptitude tests, SAT, Asians lead, followed by whites and last black folk. The 2006 result for the combined reading, writing and mathematics is as follows: average Asians 1600, Whites 1582, and blacks 1291. The maximum score is 2400.

 These figures are for African-Americans. Africans from the continent tend to test out at the same levels as African-Americans.

 In classroom examinations any teacher knows that Asian students do better than other students followed by whites with blacks last.

 In International competitions on science and mathematics Asians dominate; Africans seldom make the first cut!

 These are empirical facts. Every person knows about them. But nobody wants to talk about them. Indeed, if you talk about them you are driven out of town. In the meantime, the pattern continues.

 I am not here to talk about intelligence and other standardized tests; those speak for themselves and the only question is why Africans score less than other races. I am here to talk about what prompted James Watson to think aloud: can Africans govern themselves well, or does their supposed less intelligence make them unable to govern themselves well?

 In light of the fact that fifty years after they gained their independent no African country, by any stretch of the imagination, can be said to be well governed, we ought to ponder the question of whether they can govern themselves. We ought to go beyond political correctness and think out loud what are in many persons’ minds: are Africans less intelligent and if they are can they govern themselves right? If they are less intelligent should we expect them to govern themselves right? Would it not be foolishness to expect them to do what intelligent persons do well, govern themselves well?

 Should we make allowances for Africans supposed less intelligence? That seems what we are doing for them in other areas, anyway. What are we doing for Nigerians, for example? We know that just about all Nigerian so-called leaders go into politics to steal money, that they are common thieves. But instead of calling them what they are, thieves, we come up with all sorts of explanations as to why they steal from their public treasury while the average Nigerian makes a dollar a day. Those who suggest that may be criminality is in their genes are driven out of town; they are not even allowed to do genetic research to prove their hypothesis. As it were, there is fear that they would finally demonstrate what many persons suspect: that these people are probably born thieves! So they must not be allowed to research the subject. To placate black folk scientists are not funded to do the research that they want to do, to prove their hypotheses correct or wrong. This is censorship, pure and simple. Censorship retards the growth of knowledge.

 There are two million persons in America’s jails and prisons. Black inmates make up half of that population. We provide sociological explanations why many black persons are in prison, why they steal, do drugs and engage in other antisocial behaviors.

 That a people that are less than twelve percent of America’s 300 million population produce more than fifty percent of the prison inmates ought to make any one pause and think. Instead, folk are told not to even bother thinking about the problem; they are told to accept the pseudo studies produced by the pseudo scientists called sociologists.

 Biology is a real science and we ought to study biology to see if it, perhaps, makes people engage in anti social behaviors, and for our present purposes dispose certain persons to not govern themselves well.

 We need to put everything on the table and study everything. We need to find out whether Africans are genetically less intelligent than other people and as a result are unable to govern themselves. We need to know whether all that Nigerians can do is steal from their government and if so figure out what to do about their criminality. If it is true that they are born with a proclivity to criminality, may be, we can set up a draconian state that apprehends and punishes criminals as soon as they steal without deluding ourselves with the nonsense that given the opportunity that they would not rob you down and show no conscience, guilt and remorse.

 Can Africans govern themselves well? Certainly, looking at their performance in the last fifty years no one would ever accuse them of having the ability to govern themselves well. You can make excuses for them; you can tell yourself that the neo-colonial situation they find themselves in is responsible for their apparent shiftlessness. But after a while that rationalization becomes jaded.

 Asian countries got their independence right around the same time that Africans did and are today poised to become the world’s topmost economies. But what we hear from Africa is failure after failure and excuses made for those failures. I say that it is time we asked critical questions and stopped making excuses for Africans.

 All of us understand that extant African countries were the creations of Europeans. Since external others created them, it follows that the first order of business that Africans would have undertaken upon attaining independence was to recreate them. By now Africans should have recreated, reconstructed, and reinvented their countries to make them realistic to their multiethnic reality. Instead, they pretend that the colonial creations called African countries reflect their realities. Well, they do not.

 You can delude yourself all you want but the fact is that Nigeria, for example, is not a country; she is an artificial political construct, a make belief polity invented by the British. The Nigerians ruling that artificial construct are ruling a fantasy republic.

 The fact is that a handful of thieves pretend to rule Nigeria. Those thieves are currently blessed with money coming from the oil from the Niger Delta. As soon as that oil runs out, or the West finds an alternative source of energy making oil redundant, Nigeria would break apart. Only the prospect of stealing oil money from the Niger Delta holds the Nigerian ruling elite criminals together.

 The thieves of Abuja are a cabal held together by the fact that they steal from the Niger Delta and when there is nothing more to steal would fall by the way side. Nigeria would become another failed African state. The sad story continues of a continent where there is not one bright spot.

 South Africa appears an exception to the depressing picture that is Africa.  However, South Africa’s exception to the African general rule is made possible by the presence of white folk. Even so, the level of unemployment in South Africa approximates that of other miss-managed African countries, and the level of criminal activities in South Africa approximates that of Nigeria. The high level of thievery in South Africa, again, raises the specter of whether black folk are born with criminal genes in them?

 Can Africans govern themselves? The jury is out on that subject.  Sooner or later, we shall find out.

 In the meantime, I have stood on my head stating the obvious need to restructure Africans countries. I have provided examples of what restructured African countries would look like (see below).

 We need to figure out a way to get Africa’s house in order. Africans are not born less intelligent, nor are they born thieves. As I have pointed out at several places, Africans developed a bad habit when they sold their people into slavery. They learned to devalue their people’s lives. Africans have over learned self devaluation and that partially accounts for their inability to set out to work for their people’s good, to, instead, steal from their people.

 I am not here to make another excuse for Africans apparent shiftlessness. I simply wish that some good could come out of Africa. God, Africa is depressing. How can we make it less depressing? 

FEDERATED NATIONS OF NIGERIA /FEDERATED NATIONS OF AFRICA

 The name Federated Nations of Nigeria (FNN) or Federated Nations of Africa (FNA) more realistically represents Nigeria, as it is not as some starry eyed idealist wants it to be.

 The fact is that each of the ethnic groups in the country, realistically speaking, is a nation. A nation is a group of people that speak the same language, have the same contiguous territory, have shared historical experiences that make them feel the same etc. These nations come together to form a federation, each legally the equal of the other members of the federation.

 These nations: Igbo nation, Yoruba nation, Edo nation, Urhobo nation, Tivi nation, Efik nation, Hausa nation, Fulani nation, Kanuri nation, Ijaw nation ought to constitute ten states in a realistically restructured Nigeria, and the smaller nations lumped into additional five states, for a total of fifteen states in the Federated Nations of Nigeria.

 Nigerians may delay the inevitable but the fact is that eventually this is what is going to happen in the country. The current thirty six states are no more than the equivalent of counties in the USA; they cannot sustain themselves financially and must depend on the central government been a thief, thieving the oil from the Niger Delta and sharing it with them.

 As I have pointed out at several places, the structure of the realistic fifteen states should be similar to what obtains in the United States of America. A central government with a president (elected for six years with two terms limit….twelve years is all the time a visionary leader needs to carry out his vision and for a dead wood leader to convince the people that they need different leadership), a unicameral legislature, called Federation Council, each state sending twenty members to it, for a total of three hundred members; the council having five year term, for a total of six terms limit…thirty years is the optimum a person should serve in his nation’s legislature; an independent judiciary headed by a thirteen member Supreme Court one of whom is the Chief Justice; underneath the Supreme Court is the Court of Appeals and then the District Courts. The judges working as bureaucrats, that is, after ten years of legal practice, an attorney that wishes to be a judge takes an examination to be made a federal district judge and thereafter working his way up the ladder in a bureaucratic fashion.

 This system is replicated at the states: state governor (serving six years, two term limits), a unicameral state legislature of fifty members serving five years for a maximum of six terms), a state judiciary headed by a State High Court, followed by state court of appeals and district courts and town Magistrate Courts; judges selected as at the federal level.

 The same structure is replicated at the county/district/local government level: county executive elected for six years, two terms limit; county council of eleven members, elected for five years, six terms limit; a county court (which is part of the state judicial system).

 The same structure is replicated at the town/city level: town manager (or mayor) elected for six years, two terms limit; a seven member town council that serves five years, six terms limit and a town magistrate court (part of the state judiciary). 

 The city/town government doing what such governments do all over the world: is in charge of fire, police, roads, utilities etc.

 The county government is in charge of police, public health and education (elementary through high school) etc.

 The state government is in charge of what states do in the USA, including higher education (universities and technical colleges).

 The federal (central) government must be in charge of the military and foreign affairs etc.

 Each state must be self sufficient and not look to the central government for financial support; each state must have one hundred percent control over its resources. The Niger Delta states, Ijaw State, Edo State and Urhobo state etc ought to have total control over the oil money coming out of their land.

 The country should be organized on a capitalist (mixed economy) model. This means that private companies mine the oil and sell them and make profits for their share holders and then pay taxes on their profits. Corporate or business tax (preferably flat tax) should be twenty percent (for state and for central government, that is, forty percent in taxes). Individual Nigerians should pay (preferably flat tax for it would be a nightmare trying to collect progressive type taxes in Nigeria) twenty percent of their annual income to federal taxes (and whatever tax their states of residence have, which should not exceed twenty percent). Sales taxes should not exceed five percent at any of the three levels of governance. Property taxes are the domain of town/city governments. This pattern of taxation would, in fact, generate more revenue for the central government than it currently gets from stealing Niger Delta oil money.

 With the citizens paying taxes to support their governments they would be more watchful of how their tax revenue is spent by their politicians. Any politician who stole a penny of the peoples money goes to jail for fifty years and is barred from holding public offices for the rest of his life. The present situation whereby the people do not really pay taxes and the government depends on the money it stole from the Niger Delta makes for corruption, for politicians can easily rationalize their thievery by telling themselves that they are not really stealing the people’s money.

 I have dealt with these subjects at great length in several writings. The only new idea in this brief article is the introduction of the appropriate name for Nigeria.

 What I sketched here must eventually come into being. Nigerians ought to be sensible and do the right thing now and not wait for circumstances to force them to do it. Nigeria ought not to break up; she needs to be preserved but we must do so rationally. The structure presented here seems the most rational structure for Nigeria and, indeed, for other multi ethnic African countries.

Ozodi Thomas Osuji

August 10, 2008

ozodiosuji@gmail.com

Robot  Villager

# 1 While musing on whether Africans can ever govern themselves well, James Watson, the co-di...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 10.08.2008 21:39

NWANZA  Villager

# 2 First thing first! Let's pass a law that will stipulate the minimum qualification to be a president, governor, LG chairman, and other sensitive positions. We should aspire for a much higher standard in all aspects of our leadership caliber. Nigeria cannot afford to keep marching with this crop of moneybag and corrupt political class. Plus the citizens need to be educated about the impact of the ballot box. Posted by NWANZA| 10.08.2008 23:30

denker  Villager

# 3 ..at least one thinking out of BOX! Posted by denker| 11.08.2008 08:16

Tempest  Villager

# 4 Good article! At least a for a way forward. But who will implement these? The same Africans leaders with the IQ you stated above? Dont' you think they need some screwing in their brains first? Any politician who stole a penny of the peoples money goes to jail for fifty years and is barred from holding public offices for the rest of his life. Who will be the chief judge that will pronounce this statement for instance? Don't forget that wondeful blueprints have been constructed continuously in africa over the years. The problem? Implementation ! We realy need to ponder on this question you just asked in this arcticle because perhaps therein lies the answer to our misery. Posted by Tempest| 11.08.2008 09:53

Gladiator  Villager

# 5 Logic clearly demands that Nigeria immediately proceeds on a path similar to the one adumbrated by this piece. But the powerful vested interests will no doubt fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo. They will even prefer war or the balkanisation the country to the progressive suggestion as outlined, i.e. cut off one's nose to spite the face. Even some of the protagonists and pseudo freedom fighters in the Niger Delta will lose out in an ordered and structured Federated Nations of Nigeria. Nigeria, as currently governed by the PDP hijackers is heading for an unmitigated catastrophe. The only prayer is that the imposters and not the innocent citizens bear the brunt of the deliberately inflicted, and man-made disaster as it unfolds. Posted by Gladiator| 11.08.2008 10:18

allaccess  Villager

# 6 Mr, I only have issues with your intelligence theories I will say more like less organization, determination to excel and produce a collective result for the particular black person, and his society is more like what you meant to say rather than plain simple “less intelligent than the other races” I will not use your American tests to judge people in Tanzania or St. Lucia, there is no basis for it. I expect a person from a decent home who spends more time trying to excel, plus the drive to do better than whites folks is what drives some of these Asians to excellence. They also have less of a social life to distract them. If they are so intelligent why don’t they use these fantastic intelligent to realize all blacks are not the same, and infact integrate with the good ones rather that totally segregate and dissociate themselves from all other races. Hardly the behavior of intelligent people, is it??? Oh, and when you say Asian, are you speaking for everything from Sri Lanka to North Korea, not just Chinese and Japanese people, right? If there are too many blacks in America’s jails you should check how many of those were actually setup first before deciding the reasons behind most cases, you might find victimization, abuse, hopelessness due to centuries of inhumane treatments play a major role. A trauma like slavery surely will take a lot longer than affirmative action and equality laws to put right. You intelligence theory is crap because as far as we know given the same circumstances and environment blacks will do just as well as anyone else, are you not a good example? A Black Man created a tiny piece called a filament (electric light - Lewis Latimer) That allows people to see in the dark A Black Man created an instrument (clock - Benjamin Banneker) that all People use to tell time. A Black Man designed a place for the high authorities to meet in & a place for the President to live in (The Capital & the White House Phillip Reid (a slave) & Pierre L'Enfant) A Black Man was brilliant enough to do the first open heart surgery (Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) And show the world how to get and preserve plasma (Dr. Charles Drew) A Black Man was creative enough to design an instrument (traffic light - Garrett Morgan) To bring multiple people (traffic) to a halt A Black Man could create the soles (shoes - Jan Matzeliger) that people Walk on everyday A Black Man was smart enough & brave enough to teach himself (Fredrick Douglas & Thomas Fuller - both slaves) and others how to read, write and/or calculate math? These people had the right environment and oppurtunities. They did not get bogged down by juju, respect you elders by bowing down in the middle of a motorway, they did not worship shite religions that are serious organisational distractions, they did not go about envying their neighbours. They simply set their eyes on success, worked hard and made it work. Any human with half a brain can produce water and make it flow on taps or build roads. Organization and collective effort to succeed. Mr Osuji will have us believe these simple tasks are rocket science type intelligence _________________________ _________________________ oh and Mr Osuji, your federation suggestion is just as bad as your intelligence theory the United state is an amalgam or countries from all the rest of the world, people with dissimilar cultures and languages. they all went to the free world and formed the united states. that union is today the super power of the world, there is benefit in collective effort Nigeria will forever find it difficult to make Northern Nigeria follow the pace and the constitution of Nigeria, they are the only part of our union that has a bigger issue than the rest of the south. while you will find packets of disagreements within the south, northern Nigeria is the biggest waste and bottleneck to Nigeria's progress. the quicker you start writing intelligent articles about it the better. Posted by allaccess| 11.08.2008 11:43

ula-lisa  Villager

# 7 My Get Yours! Friend: Leadership is not rocket science and does not need all that intelligence razzmatazz to succeed. What is needed, which is lacking in Nigerian leaders, for instance is 1. Selflessness 2. Dedication to a cause. The above is there because the world needs a raw material harvesting field and .... from long time Imo River had designated Africa to be the field...All the peoples sat and met and agreed, this is what we want and these are our rules of engagement...This is not a conspiracy theory...they meet openly...what do think the G8 is about...meeting on peace? You now may strike the contributor, you cowardly Africans. Moi Da Bishop. Posted by ula-lisa| 11.08.2008 16:45

datuouwadaberechi  Villager

# 8 =allaccess;4295082192>Mr, I only have issues with your intelligence theories I will say more like less organization, determination to excel and produce a collective result for the particular black person, and his society is more like what you meant to say rather than plain simple “less intelligent than the other races” I will not use your American tests to judge people in Tanzania or St. Lucia, there is no basis for it. I expect a person from a decent home who spends more time trying to excel, plus the drive to do better than whites folks is what drives some of these Asians to excellence. They also have less of a social life to distract them. If they are so intelligent why don’t they use these fantastic intelligent to realize all blacks are not the same, and infact integrate with the good ones rather that totally segregate and dissociate themselves from all other races. Hardly the behavior of intelligent people, is it??? Oh, and when you say Asian, are you speaking for everything from Sri Lanka to North Korea, not just Chinese and Japanese people, right? If there are too many blacks in America’s jails you should check how many of those were actually setup first before deciding the reasons behind most cases, you might find victimization, abuse, hopelessness due to centuries of inhumane treatments play a major role. A trauma like slavery surely will take a lot longer than affirmative action and equality laws to put right. You intelligence theory is crap because as far as we know given the same circumstances and environment blacks will do just as well as anyone else, are you not a good example? A Black Man created a tiny piece called a filament (electric light - Lewis Latimer) That allows people to see in the dark A Black Man created an instrument (clock - Benjamin Banneker) that all People use to tell time. A Black Man designed a place for the high authorities to meet in & a place for the President to live in (The Capital & the White House Phillip Reid (a slave) & Pierre L'Enfant) A Black Man was brilliant enough to do the first open heart surgery (Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) And show the world how to get and preserve plasma (Dr. Charles Drew) A Black Man was creative enough to design an instrument (traffic light - Garrett Morgan) To bring multiple people (traffic) to a halt A Black Man could create the soles (shoes - Jan Matzeliger) that people Walk on everyday A Black Man was smart enough & brave enough to teach himself (Fredrick Douglas & Thomas Fuller - both slaves) and others how to read, write and/or calculate math? These people had the right environment and oppurtunities. They did not get bogged down by juju, respect you elders by bowing down in the middle of a motorway, they did not worship shite religions that are serious organisational distractions, they did not go about envying their neighbours. They simply set their eyes on success, worked hard and made it work. Any human with half a brain can produce water and make it flow on taps or build roads. Organization and collective effort to succeed. Mr Osuji will have us believe these simple tasks are rocket science type intelligence _________________________ _________________________ oh and Mr Osuji, your federation suggestion is just as bad as your intelligence theory the United state is an amalgam or countries from all the rest of the world, people with dissimilar cultures and languages. they all went to the free world and formed the united states. that union is today the super power of the world, there is benefit in collective effort Nigeria will forever find it difficult to make Northern Nigeria follow the pace and the constitution of Nigeria, they are the only part of our union that has a bigger issue than the rest of the south. while you will find packets of disagreements within the south, northern Nigeria is the biggest waste and bottleneck to Nigeria's progress. the quicker you start writing intelligent articles about it the better. thank you for posting the above, allaccess. frankly the first part of the article knocked me back and i really got to believing it. ....it does remain true that africans arent doing well in the world today...by any measure by any standard and by any means, when compared to asians and whites. c'est la VERITE. a spade is a spade is a spade even if some like to call it a shovel. its nice to be reminded that there are those we can be VERY proud of though. Posted by datuouwadaberechi| 11.08.2008 17:30

akuluouno  Villager

# 9 Villagers, Call OTO names if you like oh Africans, the continent is in a deep mess. There are no excuses. Personally, I believe he hits the nail on the head. Let us search ourselves and our leaders in particular. Who is afraid of constant water supply, good education and health care delivery, good roads etc etc. Unfortunately, Nigeria is the worst example that Africa can show case in this area. This is a country where we love to make references to the good old days. It is like th Egyptians recalling with nostalgia, the days of Pharoah and pyramids as the greatest in their lives and country. Let us move forward like the Asian tigers of yore and China and Ghana of today:D:D:D Posted by akuluouno| 12.08.2008 07:47

aguabata  Villager

# 10 the only thing wrong I find in this article is Ozodis label of sociology as pseudo science, they are indeed pseudo science but i understand Ozodi wants everything investigated, I am of the opinion that nature and nurture are forces that a distortion in either of the two would remarkably affect an outcome of a being. Posted by aguabata| 17.08.2008 10:12