“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Proverbs 14:34 NIV of the Bible
Events in Nigeria, mainly the unconstitutional breaches of the constitution since the ascendancy of General Muhammadu Buhari and the APC government in 2015, have made it compelling to ask the question: “Is Nigeria a country or a jungle?”
Long before now, researchers have even asked a weightier question. The question is anchored on events, the influence of Western education on the indigenous culture of Nigerian people, which is anchored on truth and fairness. To be specific, under Nigerian indigenous culture, a thief caught stealing is a thief, no questions asked. But the British came with their law and legal system, where you have to prove with incontrovertible evidence beyond reasonable doubt that a thief is a thief. This system has given rise to manipulation of the law, including evidence by people in power and by judges in law courts, in contradistinction with our customary courts, where truth is truth.
Indeed, no part of Nigeria, North, East or West, has escaped from the disrupting influence of Western education and culture. Dr Walter Miller, in his book titled “Have We Failed In Nigeria?”, gives a sober account of British influence in Nigeria. But before his time, Bernard Shaw ex-rayed the character of the English man which the Nigerian political class has imbibed thus: “There is nothing so bad or so good that you will not find an English man doing it, but you will never find an English man in the wrong. He does everything on principle. He fights you on patriotic principles, he robs you on business principles, and he enslaves you on imperial principles.” In other words, to the Englishman, there is no standard of ethics and morality. Anything goes in the name of fairness. All is fair in peace and war. It is those principles that drive the Nigerian political class, which made the Nigerian state a dysfunctional society.
Back to Dr Walter Miller. In his book titled “Have We Failed In Nigeria?” “after fifty years of British tutelage in the arts and values of the West, there are still disturbing signs of failure. Few do not suspect that the disquieting amount of bribery and corruption exists in the public service of the country. Fewer still believe that all our national and local council elections, as well as the activities of the elected bodies, councils, etc., are carried out without the least taint of corruption. Who has not heard of the occasional public servant who has been apprehended and sentenced to terms of imprisonment for acts of corruption, thereby expiating, as it were, the sins of many who remain unexposed?
“All over the country, there have been, in recent times, public enquiries held into the activities of individuals, corporations, and local councils. Reports varying from mild and courteous disapproval to outright condemnation, leading sometimes to the dissolution of statutory bodies, have now again been published. It would be unwise to assume, therefore, that with the attainment of independence on 1st October 1960, the democratic way of life, as well as other supporting values, will have been firmly established in Nigeria. We still have a lot of work to do; it’s much harder for moral emancipation.” End of quote, but we can go on and on with the lamentation of the writer on the failed Nigerian nation.
Sadly, nothing has really changed for the better over the years. Since the APC took over government at the centre in 2015, things have gotten worse politically and economically. Nigeria is being run by the people in power as a jungle rather than a country with a constitution. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary The 7th Edition defines jungle as “an unfriendly or dangerous place or situation, especially one where it is very difficult to be successful or to trust anyone”. It is a jungle out there. You have to be strong to succeed.
No wonder people in power in Nigeria are strong men. Strong men and later women have taken over all arms of government. The president is a strong man. The Senate President is a strong man. The president appointed a strong woman to head the judiciary.
Chris Enyinnaya Fellow Chartered Institute of Bankers. chrisenyinnaya@gmail.com
