Nigeria's real investment
By Matthew Kukah
Guardian; 17 Feb 2000
EVENTS have been cascading with such torrential rapidity, one would require
a brain of Eistenian proportions to be able to remain focused and keep track
of what is going on in Nigeria. The range of issues is so fascinating but
also staggering to say the least: from the diarrhoeal-mouthed Ministers of
Abacha who wore arrogance like a second skin, the endless and mindless
lootings that followed, the inauguration of democratic governance, the
trails, the rise and rise of yesterday's villains contrasting with the fall
of the ephemeral heroes of yesterday, to the wailings for justice by
yesterday's blue eyed boys who, for carrying the hangman's cudgels of
looting were rewarded with millions. All these have happened just like that!
One moment, Nigeria was a pariah nation, a leprous carcass cast into the
dung heap of irrelevance. Now, all of a sudden, she is courted by the high
and mighty who are withdrawing their bridal deposits and promises or
threatening divorce just to be with Nigeria, the new bride on the bloc.
Indeed, the events have offered us all an opportunity to comment on the
wonderful ways of God about which so much has already been said and written.
The torrential descent of good will that I spoke of has forced me to ask
myself a few questions as to what exactly might be happening to us. All
these men, women, organisations, institutions and nations which are
descending on Nigeria, what exactly do they want and where were they all
this while? Is it really the case that despite our many sins, we are now
worthy of being courted and our sins so quickly forgiven and forgotten?
I am of the view that all those who are anxious to lie down on the new bed
that Nigeria has become must be made to pass a simple test by answering one
simple question: what were you or where were you while Nigeria was sinking?
This question is very important because all of a sudden, there is the
illusion being bandied around by our battery of friends that Nigeria will
lead Africa into the next century and that we are now being recognised as
the giant of Africa, just the same kind of stories we had in the 60s and 70s
just before we went burst. Excited as I am about this prospect of Nigeria's
greatness,. I remain so skeptical because only yesterday, these same good
wishers said that the future of Africa lay in Kenya, then Zimbabwe, then
Uganda, then South Africa, now it is Nigeria. Why does the lack of
consistency commitment and focus of the international community regarding
Africa's progress continue to elude Africans and their so called leaders?
Why do African leaders not come to terms with the ephemeral nature of this
so called loyalty? I am of the view that a reappraisal of these assumptions
is important to understanding the nature and context of Africa's new
struggle. Too many sins have been committed before our very eyes under the
Trojan horse of deceit claiming that there in international politics there
are only permanent interests, not friends. Some of us believe that any
interests not girded by certain moral standards, even the minimum, will
sooner than later respond to the predatory law of the jungle.
In the 90s, when the so called breeze of freedom began to sweep across
Africa after the fall of Communism, many Africans were very hopeful that a
new day had dawned. Indeed, Africans began to speak very openly about what
they called our second liberation. Tragically, so many political parties and
Sovereign National Conferences later, Africa descended into dictatorship,
chaos, disease, war, famine, hunger and death. Western nations began
preaching about the imperative of democratisation as a condition qua non for
aid. From Kenya to Zaire, the dictators adjusted their internal furniture
and made the right noises. Knowing the rapacious international elite,
propelled by the dubious logic of capitalist adventurism wanted only to make
money and more money and cared nothing about Africa, African dictators sat
tight until the gale passed and it was business as usual. Thus, African
leaders, despite subverting democracy (as in Nigeria's annulled elections)
or institutionalising repression of the opposition (as in Kenya), or looting
the state treasury (as in Zaire) still continued to receive aid from their
foreign sponsors. At the same time, internal implosions from Somalia to
Rwanda frightened many Africans and provided fodder for both African
dictators and their financiers who used the chaos to tell their citizens to
choose between the endless refugee queues in those nations at war and the so
called struggle for democracy in their homes. This was the mantra which the
minority white led apartheid government in South Africa had used to demonise
the struggle for freedom. Mr. Pik Botha never tired of telling black South
Africans that they were indeed better off than their brothers and sisters
elsewhere on the continent. From Abacha to Mobutu, Africans were told that
they needed to be thankful to God that they were not in a state of war, or
to use the Dikkonian aphorism, not eating out of dustbins. What are the
implications of all this for Nigeria in particular and Africa in general? My
feelings will form the last part of these comments.
First of all, the international attention we have received is commendable.
To have the Presidents of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World
Bank falling over themselves to come to our assistance, to wine and dine
with the most powerful Presidents of the world, all these are great
achievements on a good day, but they do not as yet excite me. All the talk
about Nigeria creating a conducive atmosphere for foreign investors and so
on, do not cut muster for me. I say this because from what I hear, there is
so much talk about so called atmosphere for foreign investment as if our
lives depended on it. Secondly, even when government talks of domestic
investment, the discussion is at the level of the private sector
euphemistically called the engines of growth (Yet, today, the reality is
that we have neither growth nor engines!). As such, there is so much
emphasis on privatisation as the platform for releasing this famous throttle
of growth. I doubt.
International investors as any one knows are more than ready to invest their
money anywhere including where the devil resides as long as they will
generate profit. I have always argued that the greatest ambition of any
government must be an attempt to invest in its people, the primary resource.
Thus, it is the Nigerian people, not the international community that should
become the basis of the legitimation of the Nigerian state and those who run
it. The growth of a state is never synonymous with the growth of the
constituent elements which make up the state as the story of Chile and other
Latin American nations under military dictatorships showed us. I remember
the reaction of the Thatcher government to the struggle against apartheid
and the demonisation of the African National Congress and its icon, Mr.
Nelson Mandela. I still remember the reaction of the British establishment
to the celebration of Mandela's 70th birthday in 1990. Yet, within the
twinkle of eye, as the miracle unfolded and Mandela finally climbed the
saddle of power, Mr. Mark Thatcher, the male twin of the Thatchers, was one
of the early people to seek fortunes in Cape Town. One bares the Thatchers
no grudges. We just need to know where we are going so that our people's
tears and sweat do not go in vain again. The institutions of international
capital are not driven by any sense of altruism. When their interests are
threatened, the speed of exit is phenomenal as the Asian crisis showed us. I
am therefore of the view that we must come to terms with the fact that if
our fortunes change today for the worse, the same characters who are falling
all over us will back any horse or donkey, as long as it can carry their
luggage to safety.
We must refocus on the survival of our people and nation.
The story of Africa's present humiliation is a story of tragedy, farce and
deceit. If the west lied to us in the last two centuries of our grossly
unequal relationship, we have very little excuse for being lied to a second
time. Yes, it is perhaps curious that we have welcomed the second millennium
with the renewed debate about man's origin being from Africa. Many will
agree that this century will be one of great hope for Africa since we have
hopefully seen the back of our most depraved leaders. It is time for Africa
to dream new dreams and look to a bright future. It is time for Africa to
reclaim its lost glory, a glory that was not necessarily characterised by
unbridled quest for wealth marked by raw, savage and brutal power. It was a
glory based on history, integrity, justice and harmony. Nigeria's duty is to
pull together these fine strands of our collective search for a humanised
world so as to weave a beautiful tapestry of love and justice for our
people. If this is our hope, then, our resources are here and our investment
should start from here. Which is why, Professor Jerry Gana's Ministry for
Integration in Africa has far greater challenges than we probably realise
now. It is better that our new found friends be welcomed by us on our own
terms than the present situation in which Nigeria runs the risk of becoming
like a carcass that is now attracting all kinds of interests that are far
from being altruistic. If this piece sounds xenophobic, it is far from being
intended. It is just that with experience, we must guide against history
repeating itself. As the saying goes: When something happens for the first
time, it may be called an accident, when the same thing happens a second
time it is happenstance, when it happens a third time, it is enemy action!
* Fr. Kukah is Secretary-General of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria
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