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Working Towards Self-Sufficiency - Part IV
August 29, 2005
By Onochie A. Onuorah
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Let us now take a sorry look at Nigeria, a country that is a microcosm of Africa. This is a nation that is truly blessed with both human and material resources and it is luckily the biggest blackest nation. It is truly a miracle that Nigeria remains a nation comprised of 250 ethnic groups with different languages, diverse credos and three or more groups that are a majority all of whom are governed under a central government. This nation, as a European construct, was borne out of expediency and hence destined for disintegration sooner than later. Already many groups are demanding autonomy, if not secession, which is not only reasonable but natural since the central government which is comprised of and supported by the no-good elites is only interested in looting the treasury, money laundering and extracting resources where available without showing an ounce of respect or regard for the custodians of the resources in question, which is reminiscent of colonial rule; the only difference being that the perpetrators are black.
This paradigm of profanity and dishonour that perpetuates from post colonial era without respite has resulted in numerous casualties both in human and environmental terms. In environmental terms, Nigeria's once lustrous rain forest has currently shrunk to 10 percent of its initial size and while the repercussions - which include, but not limited to: erosion, gullies, poor air quality, land slides, floods and loss of myriad species and hence biodiversity are considered "externalities" by economists, these ecological disasters have adversely affected the well-being of not only the indigenes but the nation in more ways that can be comprehended. It finally dawned on this writer why the ancestors of the Igbo nation in Nigeria, through folktale, maintained reference to the rainforest as "Ajo ofia" meaning "evil forest", they instituted this noble lie in an effort to keep the rain forest and all life forms within it sacred hence revered. It was kind of a novel and effective means of conserving a national treasure which proved successful for centuries until the intrusion of the white man and his bigoted philosophies.
Nigeria's oil reserves are estimated to be 25 billion barrels and natural gas reserves are well over 100 trillion cubic ft. In mid 2001 its crude oil production was averaging around 2.2 million barrels per day. Oil and gas exports account for 83 percent of the federal government revenue. The size of these oil reserves might seem large but note that it is also estimated that most oil fields on earth would run out by the year 2030 and the longer it takes for Nigerians and other black African oil producing nations to properly manage their oil reserves and associated revenue while curbing ecological damage, the more destitute we should expect our posterities to be.
By blindly stashing billions of oil money in foreign accounts, by allowing foreign and government owned oil companies to pollute without cleaning up, by recklessly endangering our rain forests and by neglecting the agricultural sector for years, the Nigerian elite have unconsciously mapped out the death of their nation; same goes for other black African oil producing countries. Soon enough, Nigeria's over dependence on oil will come to a halt when there is no more fossil fuel for her oil pumps to draw and this scenario is expected to be synchronistic with a global oil shutdown. Those nations that have invested wisely on alternative energy sources will begin exploiting that avenue and if by then black African nations have not come up with an alternative energy source or have failed to maintain their oil reserves and agricultural sector in a sustainable way then we are in for some serious problems.
Non- western groups are currently fighting a cultural warfare with the west and obviously black nations are losing battle after battle as we fail to consolidate our traditions, language, credo, clothes, music and every other distinctive facet of black culture in its entirety. On an individual basis, black people have attained success and prestigious positions around the world but the fact remains that we have been unable to establish an exemplary civilization due to certain cultural pathologies that were acquired during the period of the Black Holocaust and through to this neo-colonial era. These cultural pathologies (in addition to those mentioned earlier) this writer speaks of are also responsible for our ignorance of the truth that speaks of strength in diversity. This ignorance has caused us a disservice in governmental abilities. A number of us have lost confidence in themselves and their nation as can be seen in the level of desperation of continental Africans to gain passage to so called first world countries with the hope of making hard currency by any means possible and that is why, for example, a certified doctor from Nigeria can be found driving a taxi in the first world countries.
This can be likened to self imposed slavery. Black African nations are also loosing a substantial amount of intellectual capital that is needed in the local communities. Over a third of our graduates end up in western societies wherein they languish their skills and expertise and when you did think they have made enough money to compel their return to the continent they are already resolute on their decision to settle permanently in a foreign land. The problems confronting the black nation is much more than bad government, it borders more on our mental conditioning and those of us who are under the fallacy that only a good government can change the situation have to wake up to the fact that it is our collective personal decisions that will ignite a wave of change that is guaranteed to last.
Our Afrocentric philosophies summons for a simple way of life and to be our brother's keeper. Times have changed and we most definitely change with the times in a cautious manner by not being quick to integrate and discard our traditions in the name of globalization. Can we for once be truly black and proud of our selves, cultures and achievements and show it by endorsing our local market, teaching our children their native tongue and history, wearing our own clothing anywhere and everywhere like the white folks do and putting away and sanctioning all fancy, unnecessary stuff from foreign lands. Unnecessary items like cell phones, pagers, foreign food and clothing, jewelries, various industrial chemicals e.t.c that asphyxiates the potential inherent in our local economy should be left alone and other fairly necessary but environmentally unfriendly items like vehicles should be restricted to one per family; notwithstanding the sheer size of the family and it must be in good condition.
Is it logical for a family of three to own ten vehicles? And should we be quick to copy foreign trends when ours is not even recognized let alone adopted? We can no longer afford the pursuit of a dream that is not ours needless to say that our acceptance of Western and Arabic religion have spiritual implication which include the transfer of the sovereignty of our ancestral spirits - who preside over the affairs of the land - to Western and Arabic gods. We have largely failed to maintain communion with our ancestors and as a direct result we have lost all abilities to govern ourselves and our lands have become more barren. We the children of the pharaohs need to invest in the development of our land through agricultural science and forest conservation while engaging in simple local industry that make local products like homeopathic medicine.
Our current political structures can be reformulated to allow sovereignty to every ethnic group since we are nationalist or tribalist as some choose to call it and a country like Nigeria can be reduced to a confederacy where representatives from the 250 ethnic groups can assist each other in business and social terms and every member of this league of nations should have equal right to veto. This confederacy should then extend to every other black African nation on Earth; forming one big web of economically interconnected league of Black nations.
Might does not mean right; thus, being a majority does not mean you have the right to rule totalitarian style for decades with nothing to show for it. The funny thing is that our politicians do not know that they do not really have much power as they have fooled the public to believe. For example, what if all ethnic groups in Nigeria just voluntarily disintegrate and return to their respective native lands without having to wait for the politicians to conclude their conferencing? From an Afrocentric perspective I think the people are the government and if the people are really ready for change and want that change now then I do not see why not. This writer does not day dream of a day when Africa will attain western standards because it is not going to happen, such a dream is not ours and therefore cannot be manifested. Nations like Angola, Congo and Nigeria can alleviate their over dependence on oil by concentrating more on agriculture. Unemployment rates have sky rocketed in most black nations but things could easily be different if only the respective governments begin to expand its agricultural sector and in the process create more jobs for the jobless youth who are capable of farming the land with little mechanical support and this way our societies will not only be healthier in every sense but very productive organically and sooner or later other nations, being feed up of the short comings of genetically engineered food, would want a piece. Besides, a lot of joy can be found in farming.
Not forgetting our health sector which needs an undivided attention, it is recommended that African governments fund research on real herbal products that have been proven to work. This form of treatment is commonly called homeopathic therapy and our ancestors used herbal medicine which is historically acknowledged to be effective, for this reason one can only wonder why western synthetic drugs are preferred over these traditional healing methods. Black African technocrats in the diaspora specializing in meaningful sciences like agriculture, biochemistry, environmental study, forest conservation, botany, organic chemistry, physiology, microbiology and biology, can aid in the research for herbal plants and the development of our biosphere. This writer understands the valid reasons why most black African technocrats chose not to return to the continent; concerns like: low wages and poor security, however running away from responsibility cannot be condoned because it is in itself injustice and hence a bad example for the children.
This century is a critical point in the history of man kind. It is this century that the fate of the human race shall be unfolded and there are only two possibilities: extinction (brought about by natural disasters or nuclear fall out) or a great and disastrous economic war at the end of which democratic, just and social economic laws will be established and instituted globally, these quintessential economic laws will be the foundation of lasting global peace that shall be ushered in. Most former colonies have gained political independence but remain enslaved economically, so it is only logical to deduce that the next liberation movement will be economic based and global. This latter event has been predicted by all religious texts and indigenous believes.
These and much more are the great challenges that confront the black nation. It is a challenge to establish original political and economic structures that are civil, social and traditional but the fact that black Africans are still around today suggests that we can meet these challenges and also that we will be here for ever!
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This article is also published at nigeriaworld.com. You can email Onochie A. Onuorah at nochonuorah@hotmail.com
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