The North’s regression

Slowly and inexorably, the north is becoming like Somalia. The only small difference between us and Somalia is that whereas the latter has spent decades without a functional government, there are structures on the ground and people in the north whom we call leaders. Nevertherless, Compared to the south, the north as a political entity is fast sliding back into prehistoric times in terms of development and, indeed, worse than the colonial times in terms of home-grown violence. The situation is so bad that many a frustrated northern youngster is yearning for the British to return and recolonise the country in order to bring back the halcyon times. The solution to our problems is, of course, far from recolonisation. But if it isn’t, then, what is?

For the north, there have been four epochs in the march to (or away from) civilisation. There was the precolonial time when our forefathers engaged in internecine wars and the self-immolating practice of slavery. But then, in parts of the north, the Sokoto jihad came and put aright many things through the institutionalisation of Islamic law. Then came the Europeans, who colonised the area, imposed their crafty system of ‘indirect rule’ through which they milked the nation’s resources and pretended to be developing our people. But a word for colonialism: in spite of its self-serving ends, it put some sense into our people’s understanding of leadership and built a foundation for future progress, such as the railways, literacy and structures for democratic governance. Of course, the colonialists ultimately served themselves, at times employing brute force, while pretending to be serving the natives’ best interests. Hence the stiff resistance against it and the campaigns that uprooted it.

During the third epoch, the post-independence era, it was the natives that took over the mantle of leadership and used state resources in the service of the commonweal. In the north, proofs of their selfless service are legion even today. Even though they were called names by their opponents, we can see, in retrospect, that their dedication to serving the general populace was a thousand and one times better than that of our current leaders.

The fourth milestone is, indeed, today. This dates roughly from the end of the Nigerian civil war to the current reality. It is the worst span in the history of the region. After the violent eradication of those patriotic nation-builders and the 30-month civil war, came the various “corrective” military regimes that pretended, more than the colonialists, to be working in the interest of the nation. The truth is that, apart from the brief spasms of the Murtala and, later, the Buhari/Idiagbon regimes, they worked more for themselves. They institutionalised corruption, cronyism and nepotism. Most of them turned out to become among the richest and, by implication, the most influential people in the country. Because they benefited from a corrupt system, they sustained it and injected their bile into latter day rulers who came in civilian garbs. And because the civilians who inherited the mantle of leadership have been adequately coached in the dark arts of corruption, divisiveness and cronyism, they have carried on, marching within the system and resisting any move to change or overthrow it.

The cycle of violence the north is witnessing, including some of the worst yesterday, is a fall-out of the ruthless system foisted on the region by its selfish rulers of the military and post-military era. Many analysts have pointed at the crying poverty in the region as the primary reason for these volcanic eruptions that are causing the death of hundreds of innocent people, destroying edifices and disrupting the peace. Now what is the cause of the poverty itself? Is it not the tunnel vision – if there is vision at all – of the region’s leaders who have failed to unify the common people through their divisive politics and the misuse of the region’s resources?
The north is fast regressing in all indices of human development. Apart from poverty, illiteracy is growing; so also joblessness among the youth, with concomitant problems such as drug abuse and strange criminality (with many youngsters killing their own parents); collapse of morals and ethics, education, health care, etc. A combination of these problems has created a deep well of despondency among most youth in the region, who have lost confidence in the leadership. They are asking for a change – even away from democracy. Many are saying let’s go back to the sharia law which did well for the region under the Sokoto caliphate, not minding the cultural mix of the present times. Unsure of their success in such agitations in the face of resistance from the state’s coercive powers, many have resorted to hugely violent attacks.

What is the response of our so-called leaders to all this? They shirk their responsibility by simply passing the buck and engaging in histrionics. Appeals to conscience. Calls to prayers. Blandishments. Rhetoric. Trading blames. Peace conferences. Yesterday, all the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Governor Aliyu of Niger state, could do was an effeminate call on President Jonathan to “urgently convene a national security summit.” We have heard that before, and it won’t work. We are tired of talk shops. Northern leaders should develop the north. Rebuild the infrastructures bequethed to them by the post-independence leaders. Provide jobs. Educate the youth. Stop all the divisive politicking. And stop all the stealing. Try these, and see if the violence and the regression will not disappear fiam – one time!

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My column in today's Blueprint

Africa: Growth Versus Corruption

By many accounts, Africa's hitherto dour economic condition is changing for the better. The continent used to be one about which nothing good was said. Wars, famine, diseases and coups d’etat were the main images by which Africa was defined by most analysts, especially those in the developed world. Consequently, the African story, as told by the global media, ran along a pre-determined pattern, and it was largely ugly.

Now, I am not trying to say that wars have ceased here, or that coups d’etat are over, or that Africans have stopped killing themselves over mundane issues such as tribe or religion. Far from it! These ugly occurrences are still taking place with devastating impact on our progress and image in the world. In spite of this, however, I can say that these evils have reduced in the last three decades or so. One just has to look at the figures and the facts to know that Africa is rebounding. The impact may be slow and forced, but it can be felt, seen and grasped.

Writing in Foreign Policy recently, three authors - Norbert Dorr, Susan Lund and Charles Roxburgh - noted, rather effusively, that Africa has outgrown the gloom and doom by which it used to be judged. That happened within a single decade of amazing transformation from stagnation to euphoric growth. Recall that in 2001, the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair lamented thus: “The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world.” Now it seems the continent of one billion people is getting its acts together and striving to compete with the rest of the developing world.

Africa, write Dorr, Lund and Roxburgh, “is now one of the world's fastest-growing economic regions. Between 2000 and 2008, the continent's collective GDP grew at 4.9 percent per year - twice as fast as in the preceding two decades. By 2008, that put Africa’s economic output at $1.6 trillion, roughly at par with Russia and Brazil. Africa was one of two regions - Asia being the other - where GDP rose during 2009's global recession.”

As a result of this boom, which is strongly supported by increasing urbanisation, the region is fast becoming a beehive for foreign investors. Vast fields of natural resources and a population bursting at the seams are the main attractions for investors. The areas where the continent offers the greatest promise are telecommunication, oil and gas, infrastructure and domestic appliances. But agriculture, which has the potential of turning the continent into a greater economic hub with 60 percent of the world’s arable land located here, has not been sufficiently developed. The sob-story here is that countries like Nigeria that have vast arable land have stuck to oil and gas where they make a quicker buck. If such nations mechanically cultivated their lands, then the story would become rosier.

How is Africa making this great leap forward? By getting its acts together, of course. Many of its countries have embraced democracy, even if home-grown. Warts and all, this adoption has made it possible for them to carry out economic reforms in various sectors which, in turn, have translated into the trimming of waste. In Nigeria, successes have been achieved in the banking and the telecom sectors, and in the fight against corruption. Privatisation of government companies and liberalisation of other sectors have created a middle class that was only dreamt about only a decade ago. Now, it is possible to think of Nigeria or South Africa joining the four-member BRIC grouping of fast-growing economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China. Non-African contenders to this privileged club of emerging economies include Turkey, Mexico and Indonesia. Nigeria, with a population of more than 150 million, may get in first, even though South Africa, with under 50 million, is a larger economy. Reason: indicators favour the economy with bigger demographics because, in the long run, it is the urbanised and empowered population that would make the market rules.

But as Africa frolics in its new-found emergence from the economic woods, it is easy to forget the big challenges. Africa is still home to the world's biggest cataclysms, not only the natural ones but also the man-made. Sixty percent of its population dwells in rural areas, and it is poor, illiterate and divided along tribal and religious schisms. Without the right leadership, growth will be stunted. Now the main problem is the absence of conscientious leaders whose focus is to create the enabling environment that will see the people crawl out of poverty.

Corruption is rampant, even in nations with the greatest promise. Nigeria, the so-called economic giant, is lagging behind South Africa in most economic indices, not because the latter is richer in resources but because it is richer in leadership. Nigeria is number 134 out of 178 countries in Transparency International's 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, while South Africa is just number 54. There is a clear correlation between a nation’s depth of corruption and its economic growth. No wonder, then, Nigeria trails behind South Africa even though its resources are larger. People are more comfortable to relate with economies that have lesser potential for risk. According to reports, Nigeria was able to get investment flows of just $216 million for the first 10 months of this year; South Africa, however, got $3.4 billion within the same period. This shows that Nigerians in positions of authority steal more than their South African counterparts. It could also mean that the mechanism for checking corrupt practices and punishing perpetrators works better in the latter.

For Africa to maintain the tempo of its growth, therefore, it must have in place the right leaders who, in turn, must fight the spectre of corruption in their countries. At the moment, the picture is scary. Just two days ago, on Thursday, the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative of the World Bank Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime issued a how-to guide for recovering stolen assets. The Asset Recovery Handbook, which can be accessed on the World Bank web site, reveals that developing countries lose between $20 billion and $40 billion each year to bribery, embezzlement and other corrupt practices. It also shows that over the past 15 years only $5 billion was recovered and returned.

The book recommends measures by which developing nations, most of which are in Africa, can recover funds siphoned from their coffers and stashed abroad. It recommends that anti-corruption practitioners such as those working in our own Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must exchange sensitive information with partners in other countries to trace stolen funds and gather evidence. They must be familiar with a wide range of legal tools and procedures for freezing, seizing and repatriating stolen funds. And they must be able to navigate the legal systems of their own country and of partner countries. They must also know that, as our own anti-corruption czar, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, is fond of saying, corruption also fights back.

No matter how difficult it is, Africans must ensure that they up the ante of the present growth on the continent by putting the right leaders in place and making sure that corruption, by which the continent gained dubious renown, is kept at the barest minimum.

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Published in LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, today. Above picture shows Mrs Farida Waziri, chairman of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)