A friend of mine joked the other day that President Muhammadu Buhari is engaged in a futile quest for saints that would form his ministerial cabinet. Good people have always been in short supply. The ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes was fond of going about the streets of Athens with a lantern in broad daylight. He said he was looking for honest men. History never tells us that he was successful in that eccentric quest.
As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, there has been one sole candidate for sainthood in Nigeria. That person is Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, an unknown Cistercian monk who died in the cold cloisters of Mount Saint Bernard Monastery in Leicestershire, England, in January 1964. Paradoxically, he himself was very skeptical about anyone claiming to be a saint. “Onye afuro na enuigwe, si aguyi na” (count no one saved, until he is found in heaven)”, he was once quoted to have said.
We live in dark times. Evil pervades the land. Brother has turned against brother; sister against sister. Politics has become the most cynical game of all, a sport fit only for scoundrels. Honour means nothing. Honesty is laughable. Righteousness is at a discount, justice for the highest bidder. Gradual by gradual, as they say in these climes, the politicians have driven an impregnable wedge right through the heart of our nationhood. We have become strangers that pass each other by night in the deeps of the vast Atlantic Ocean. The crown of ultimate dishonour in this sordid business belongs to the insurgents and their masterminds in the north east, who have thought nothing of bombing desperate, destitute internally displaced persons in their camp in Adamawa, indiscriminately killing and maiming women and children, the elderly and infirm. You look at it on TV and you can’t find the tears with which to cry anymore. To call such people beasts is to be grossly unfair to the animal kingdom.
Will Muhammadu Buhari find the “saints” he is looking for at the dawn of this twenty-first century of ours, when materialism has taken over everything, when the love of many has grown cold — when all human relations have been coloured by cynicism and intermediated the cold calculus of Mammon?
A theory of human nature that goes back to Saint Augustine, the African Bishop of Hippo Regis in modern Algeria; to the Florentine political genius Nicollo Machiavelli and English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, posits that human nature is fundamentally evil. At their darkest, men are worse than beasts. The better angels of our human nature are rare and far-between. But they do exist. My patron saint, Augustine, taught that men, at their best, are better than the angels. At the height of spiritual and intellectual powers when the mighty Roman Imperium was in decline, Augustine placed his ultimate hopes in the City of God, the Civitas Dei, not in the City of Man, the Civitas Terenna.
President Buhari is unlikely to find any saints with which to form his ideal cabinet. But I hope he will settle for ordinary decent, capable hands who take this country forward. It doesn’t take a genius or a saint to run an effective government. Politics is a murky business. Some of the best solutions are, at best, Pareto-optimal. Absolutes are possible only in the sphere of number theory. Good government does not need saints. It requires practical, minimally honest people who are loyal to their principal and who can get things done with a high level of effectiveness and moral purpose. We need men and women that power does not corrupt; men and women who love Nigeria and seek its common good; men and women who do not pander to the sentiments of ethnicity and religion – who entertain the vision of our country’s high destiny among the nations.
The nearest candidate for sainthood in Nigerian political history, if ever there was one, is Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, our first and last Prime Minister. But there are others. As a young man in the eighties, it was my great good fortune to have met the late Chief Akanu Ibiam at his hilltop country home in Uwanna, Afikpo. Together with the late Chief Simeon Adebo of blessed memory, they are the two greatest Nigerians I have ever met. I felt honoured just to be able to hold Adebo’s bag when he was Chairman of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) where I began my career as a Research Fellow. Shehu Shagari was President at that time. And Shagari is a good man. But when he and Adebo stood beside each other, no one needed to tell us who was the great man among the two.
Yakubu Gowon might also have been a worthy candidate if he were a leader of a democratic government. But I have no doubt that history will place him in the first position as Nigeria’s greatest leader up to this moment. My own hero Obafemi Awolowo, was the greatest of them all. But austere and fastidious as he was, he was no saint. Sir Ahmadu Bello single-handedly built Northern Nigeria. But he was no saint. Nnamdi Azikiwe was also a great man, a true patriot if ever there was one. Michael Okpara, Joseph Tarkar and Solomon Daushep Lar were all good men, worthy of the appellation of statesmen. But they were no saints.
Nigeria’s decline and fall into the moral abyss is something that happened largely during the last two decades of our nationhood. I would date it to the moment that General Ibrahim Babangida seized power in August 1985. Our people used to say that before you give a man power, you must insist on knowing who his father is. The fatherhoods of Ibrahim Babangida and Olusegun Obasanjo are both shrouded in mist. Such men are dangerous.
I am encouraged by the rich tradition of public ethics that exists in our ancient cultures. I shall make reference to those ideals in our three main ethnic communities, namely, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa.
Among the Igbo, goodness and civic responsibility are highly cherished ideals. Forget their general perception as being inordinately competitive and acquisitive. Teslim Olawale, Nigeria’s greatest jurist by far, and a former President of the World Court of Justice, noted the parallel between Igbo civic traditions and ancient Greek jurisprudence. Both rejected capital punishment. Among ancient Ndigbo, the worst fate that could befall a man was to be exiled from his own Umunna, or kindred. They valued human life as being precious. It was considered an act of great sacrilege to steal a neighbour’s yams or goat.
The philosopher Uzodinma Nwala sums up the essence of Igbo philosophy in terms of Omenala, which refers to what obtains in the land or community – that which accords with custom and time-tested tradition. The Igbo, like other pre-colonial African societies, believed in a hierarchical pantheon of gods, some of them benign, others malevolent like Amadioha, the god of thunder. But they also believed in a Supreme Being, Chukwu, also known as Chineke, who is ruler over all.
The Igbo celebrate life, ndu, as the foundation of their entire ontology. Man as a human being, mma ndu, embodies the breath of life which is a gift of heaven. It is not his to waste in frivolities; rather, a gift to be used for the benefit of self, family and community. Like the Homeric epics of ancient Greece, Igbo cosmology celebrates personal achievement. A man’s destiny is determined by his chi, his guardian angel or higher self.
Among Ndigbo, the ideal of the good man is embodied in the concept of ezigbo mmadu. It refers to attributes of honesty, truthfulness and goodness. The good man in Igbo tradition is imbued with love, ihunanya, which expresses itself in work and commitment to others, not just in sentimental emotion. The ezibgo mmadu in Igbo land is not only a man of good character; he is a person who is self-possessed, equable, decorous and level-headed. The opposite is the ajo mmadu, a bad person who is flawed and defective in character; a man who little better than an animal. An evil man and woman is literally someone who pollutes the land, an onye aru-rala.
The good man in traditional Igbo society possesses not only virtue ethics, he is an observer of customs and traditions, who also carries out good acts, ime nma, for the benefit of the community. Interestingly, among Ndigbo, goodness is synonymous with beauty. Thus a beautiful one who also possesses character and virtue is described as an nwanyi oma. For them, the good life, ndu oma, is the summum bonum of all existence. Only good and decent people can be considered worthy partakers in the good life. Kindred and community are the ultimate basis of the good life. A man is nothing outside his people and community. The expression, “otu onye abuhi osisi”, literally means that no man can be an island on to himself.
In the words of an Ibadan philosopher, Christopher Agulanna, the “pursuance of ethical ideals, the hankering after a life of rectitude and the desire to live virtuously were ideals greatly cherished and approved by the Igbo”.
Let us turn to the Yoruba. My national service year during 1978-1979 was the first time I had ever crossed the Niger as a bungling twenty-one year old after leaving the ancient citadel of learning in Zazzau. I spent an eventful year as a teacher at Akoko Anglican Grammar School in Arigidi-Ikare. I managed to learn a bit of Yoruba and to savour the richness of that ancient culture. I worked among the poor peasant farmers and joined as a labourer in the building a community town hall. I still consider myself a member of that community to this day. Anything that happens to Akoko people concerns me.
Although I have adopted Akoko land as my second home, I have been keenly aware of the place venerable Ile-Ife occupies in Yoruba history, spirituality and tradition. Everybody knows about Oduduwa, Olodumare and the gods and the sacred system of Ifa. If in doubt, consult Wole Soyinka or Wande Abimbola.
The concept of the good man is embodied in the Yoruba concept of Omoluwabi. According to a philosopher at the University of Lagos, Ademola Kazeem Fayemi, the Omoluwabi defines the constitutive paradigm of human worth. It is an adjectival phrase deriving from an admixture of several nouns and prefixes, Omo + ti + Olu-iwa + bi. It literally refers to Olu-iwa (chief or master of character of Iwa. Thus, an Omoluwabi would refer to “the baby begotten by the chief of iwa”. Such a child is synonymous with good character, excellence. He or she is not only possesses a dignified character, he or she is a disciplined, worthy of trust, dependable and of high moral standing in both public and private conduct.
The entire corpus of Yoruba moral ethics is embedded in this notion of the Omoluwabi as expressed in certain traits of character and behavior. They include: oro siso (the spoken word); iteriba (respect); inu rere (having kind regards and a good mind towards others); otito (truth); iwa (character); akinkanju (bravery and courage); ise (hard work); and opolo pipe ( high intelligence).
Yoruba civilization places a high premium on the spoken word in the same manner in which Holy Scripture believes that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth expresses itself. The Yoruba regard the sagacious use of language as a sign of high intelligence, wisdom and character. This is why such orators as Samuel Ladoke Akintola and Adegoke Adelabu of Soyinka’s penkelemes fame, had such great influence in Yoruba land.
When the late Akin Omoboriowo, former Deputy Governor of Ondo State betrayed his party, Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and sought to governorship under the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1983, Yoruba youths changed his name from Omoboriowo (child is more than money) to Owoboriomo (money is more than child).
Historically, the Yoruba have been city dwellers, in contrast to the Igbo who lived in republican ancestral villages. The Yoruba were long-distance merchants who mercantile tentacles went as far as Arabia, the Magrhib and Europe. With a strong tradition of royal kingship, they understand hierarchy and deference. But their cultural system abhorred oppression and tyranny be it from the rich or from monarchs. The pride of place belonged to the man of decorum who respects everyone and contributes to the social progress of the community.
Ultimately, the Omoluwabi is a highly cultured person, as contrasted to an Omolasan, and uncultured and uncouth person who behaves like a misfit. Even worse, he could be described as an eniyan-keyan, a caricature person of low degree, who is human but has attributes bordering on the nature of an animal (eranko). There is one prominent Nigerian leader who fits the bill, but decency forbids me to mention his name.
Last but not least, let’s consider the case of the Hausa who are nearer home to me. My ancestry also traces its origins to the city of Zazzau (Zaria), from where my people claimed to have migrated to the ancient savannah hills of Sanga in the southern most reaches of Kaduna State. All that I know about the richness of Hausa culture and tradition derives from fairy tales I heard from my maternal grandmother and from the novels of the great Abubakar Imam. There is of course the knowledge drawn from my own studies and from observation by the keen eyes of a trained social scientist.
The greatest living authority on Hausa leadership tradition is Anthony Kirk-Greene, recently retired from St. Antony’s College, Oxford. His book, Mutumin Kirki: The Concept of the Good Man in Hausa, (Indiana University Press 1974), is a must-read for all those aspiring to leadership in Nigeria. A wonderful intellectual, devoted teacher and mentor to succeeding generations of Nigerian students, including my humble self, Kirk-Greene is coincidentally an embodiment of all the ideals he has written about. Unsurprisingly, he is a fluent Hausa speaker and author of one of the first dictionaries of the Hausa language.
According to Kirk-Greene, in Hausa society, “the good man is not necessarily the same as the successful man. The formation of character and the consequent reward of recognition as Mutumin Kirki have been more implicit to the Hausa than securing of arziki, the wealth that comes with success”. At the core of the ideals of the good man In Hausa society are certain moral attributes that such an individual must possess:
First, is gaskiya, or commitment to truth. A known liar is unfit for anything and is least to be trusted when it comes to the exercise of power. Mutum mai gaskiya, is synonymous with a God-fearing person who can be relied upon during critical moments.
Second is amana, or trustworthiness. To be accused of being “mai cin amana”, a person who betrays trust, is the worst insult a man or woman can ever get. A man who betrays trust not only does not know God, he is considered worse than a thief and a murderer.
Third, karamci or kyauta. This refers to generosity of spirit. A good man should not be tight-feasted. Rather, he should be generous. He should not love wealth so much that he would never part with some of it. Rather, he should be known to be a free-giver, especially to the poor and needy.
Fourth, hankuri, or patience. Patience is a virtue for the truly great. They do not rush into action at the slightest provocation. Rather, they have forbearance and a sense of fortitude to endure the storms and buffetings of fate. One of the most haunting Hausa songs I have ever heard was by the late Alhaji Dan Kwairo, when he sang urging northern leaders to be patient at the darkest moments when some of the most prominent leaders, Balewa and Ahmadu Bello, were assassinated in cold blood.
Fifth, we have the quality of hankali, prudence and good behavior. Anyone described as “mai hankali” in Hausa society really has it all. Good manners are highly cherished in Hausa society. To be well behaved is a sign not only of good breeding; it is evidence of education and royal bearing.
Sixth, is kunya, or sense of shame. There are is a way of speaking and a manner of behaving. There are people to whom we defer, to the point of not looking into their eyes. A first son would normally never be called by his first name even by his mother, let alone his siblings. He would normally simply be known as “Yaya”. It is a privilege we first-borns enjoy. A dear friend once sent me with a message to the Sultan of Sokoto, Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar. As it happens, he was a childhood friend of the Sultan’s and bears the same name as the late father of His Eminence. My friend warned me that, in delivering his message, I must never make the mistake of mentioning his real name, giving me another name to refer to himself. When I conveyed the message to the Sultan, he laughed. He understood the element of kunya in the message.
Seventh is the attribute of ladabi. It is one of those value-loaded words that are not easily amenable to translation into English. It refers to a combination of attributes that include respect, loyalty and obedience. A man of ladabi is not only prudent, he is loyal, obedient and respectful.
Eighth is the attribute of hikima, or wisdom. Wisdom goes well beyond book knowledge. It is about deep insight into people and life itself; it is about knowing how to behave and how to relate to others and how to approach problem-solving with creativity and sagaciousness.
Finally, we have the attribute of adalci or justice. It refers to not only be fair and just in one’s dealings with everyone, it refers to transparent honesty in public life as well as in private.
Hausa culture provides us a rich tradition of leadership and ethics going back centuries. The nineteenth century German explorer who visited Katsina observed that “the manners of Katsina were distinguished by their superior politeness”. When Richard Clapperton, the Scottish adventurer, visited the courts of Sultan Mohammed Bello in Sokoto in the nineteenth century, he was received in the palace with great courtesy and generosity. When he was leaving he asked the Sultan whether there was anything he needed from Britain. The great replied monarch made a surprising request: he asked for a copy of Euclid’s Geometry, because his sole copy had been lost in a fire. Can we imagine any of our leaders today making a request for a book of ancient Greek mathematics? Would they not be asking for limousines and for gold and trinkets?
The social and political revolution that led to the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate in the early nineteenth century provided the moral foundations for a new political order. That transformation was based on strong ethical foundations. The eponymous work by Mahmud Tukur, Leadership and Governance in Nigeria (Hodder Arnold 1999) provides a magisterial summary on the role of values and leadership in the northern tradition.
More recently, Hamid Bobboyi, has distilled the key principles of governance and leadership as understood in the Caliphate tradition. They comprise, in essence, absolute trust in God and submission to His will; accountability; beneficence; service to the people; justice; goodness; excellence; moral responsibility; and exemplary conduct.
The admonition by Shaykh Muhammad Bello b. Foduye, the illustrious son of the Shehu, provides the magic lantern that can guide the ethics of leadership in the coming years; it is in harmony with the best traditions of Yoruba and Ndigbo: “Authority is a curb to the willful souls of men. Every leader, then, should put on the mantle of dignity…manifest your love for what is excellent, and of worthy people….make comely your apparel with the adornments that are permissible…Do not deck yourself with gold, or sliver, or voluminous silk, for that is shameful and ignoble and improper…be still as far as you are able….Be covetous of silence always…if you must speak , be brief and clear; be humble against the time of death and so forestall regret.”
Obadiah Mailafia
