I have been considering writing a short letter to Nigerians. Two important essays caught my attention, and I said it is time to say a few things. One of the two essays that caught my attention this week is: Andrew Gelman’s article in The Washington Post, “Why is Africa so poor while Europe and North America are so wealthy?” (https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/andrew-gelman) and the other is in Journal of American Philosophical Association, Volume 2 / Issue 01 / March 2016, pp 91-110, entitled “Locke, the Law of Nature, and Polygamy” by Susanne Sreedhar (Boston University) and Julie Walsh (Wellesley College).
The first article by Gelman evokes a consideration of Africa’s continual poverty situation despite excessive rich human and natural resources (May I add intellectual resources). The second article by Sreedhar and Walsh was incisive in highlighting that John Locke did not have a comprehensive essay on the issue of “Polygamy” in the 17th Century. For Sreedhar and Walsh, their job in the article is to provide a cumulative presentation of scarce and scattered views of John Locke. This means, for me, that Locke carried on with an ‘imperfect presentation’ of his thought on polygamy in his essays. I consider my present contribution as an ‘imperfectly articulated’ advisory and politically constructive project like socio-political philosopher Locke attempted.
I love socio-political philosophy. I love critical and creative thinking. I love to question myself or rather challenge myself with the ‘imperfections’ of my daily living. It is part of my humanness or human condition-zeitgeist to develop a sense of urgency for political action or vita activa, as Hannah Arendt recommends. One does not need to wait for a ‘perfect’ article and a ‘perfect’ time to conscientiously speak to his/her fellow citizens. One can proceed to work with any good thought as a “work-in-progress” or nudge “virtuously” (as ironist Gilles Paquet proffers). One has to take this perspective into consideration as part of the objectives of dialectic of fruitful resolutions of societal pathologies. My attempt is all part of developing a better political society via critical, creative, and constructive thinking. It is a way of looking for answers or solutions to impending socio-political problems or even catastrophe facing our human communities.
My human community, for this letter, is Aba—Enyimba City! I grew up in Aba, Abia State, in Southeastern Nigeria. I understand as much possible about my Aba people and our dexterity in industry and entrepreneurship. For instance, recent Made in Aba shoes’ exhibitions and how the Senate President Saraki was presented with samples of Made in Aba shoes and work boots (if what I saw and read online were true). I also read about why Aba shoes are tagged or stamped “Made in China”, “Made in Italy”, but not “Made in Aba.” I had friends who made and sold these shoes in Aba. I experienced their joy of having jobs, paying for their homes or house rents, feeding themselves and their families, sponsoring the education of their children, and taking care of the medical well-being of their families and children.
That is where the problem is: why work so hard to pay your rents or build homes, support children’s education, and provide for medical needs of family members? Medical needs make me think of World Malaria Day! (April 25th). Why take care of these while we neglect the fundamental pillars of well-being of human existence—existence in self-dignity and self-governance? Many people in Aba easily retort or argue that their State government neglected their city. That seems like a justified argument or reasoning. However, why avoid rule of law to our own detriment, why neglect our own city ourselves, and why jeopardize our own children’s and family members’ well-being/health or harm the integrity of our own wellness?
My main socio-political contribution against harming the integrity of our own wellness as we celebrate World Malaria Day is: it is time to develop an alternative approach to governance: self- governance and self-dignity. It is sad watching a video clip of Aba—Enyimba City with badly flooded roads and homes surrounded by stagnant/stinking flood water while at the same time listening to prayerful songs from record shops in the background. It is sad to listen to too many prayer-songs and see too many garbage all in one location in a video clip. These two (prayers and garbage) do not necessarily belong together. These two do not need to be together in Aba—Enyimba City. When these two go together then there is a problem: a problem of shirking responsibilities. Aba citizens are shirking their responsibilities to keep Aba clean. Aba citizens are failing to hold themselves accountable. Aba citizens are comfortable blaming every other person except looking inwards for political or human action (vita activa). Aba citizens should begin to develop a culture of relational accountability (that starts from oneself).
These are the responsibilities or ways of developing a culture of relational accountability in Aba citizens:
- Insist in allowing rule of law to trump or excel over all forms of social assumptions and sentiments. Selfish social assumptions and sentiments will never save the present and future of the people of Aba (by extension to all cities in Nigeria).
- Fix/clean your homes and neighbourhoods, stop dumping garbage in your drainage systems. You can stop this without waiting for government to police you about. As young people, I recall cleaning my community through the guidance YOUTH LEADERS, without any mobilization or support from Local Government or the State Government. Community cleaning was a community-driven initiative based on self-dignity and self-governance. Aba citizens could donate money to transport their garbage to the dump, not clog our drainage systems- where mosquitoes will eventually breed and rats procreate and show up in our homes to help transmit diseases (think of Malaria, Zika virus, and Lassa fever) that affect our children and loved ones. Your life is yours to protect. The money spent in garbage disposal is balanced out as the money saved from not paying for avoidable medical expenses of malaria (Zika virus, Lassa fever) patients in our families. A clean environment surely saves us so much from healthcare costs. This is simple economics of appropriate thinking. Self-mobilize yourselves and self-govern your initiatives.
- Begin if you have not started to consider a self-governance political option. Live each day with a sense of self-respect and self-dignity. Hold yourself accountable before extending this accountability to others, especially to politicians or social service providers depicting corrupt tendencies.
- Corruption can never be wished away or prayed away. Stopping corruption must come through an incisive political will. This I have chosen to describe as “political action.” Political action is not only during elections.
- Make your votes count. Vote for candidates you believe share your ideals on rule of law, of self-dignity and self-respect.
- When your candidate does not win, do not lose focus or join rebellious political arrangements. Politics of negativity or rebellion poisons our ability to negotiate for common good. Continue to be positively political-minded (citizen mind). When the next elections come, vote for the right people and never sell your votes to the highest bidder. Sold votes mean sold future that are manifested in continued neglect of social amenities. Selling one’s vote or franchise is part of the beginning of a cycle of political corruption or doom that cannot be stopped by prayers alone or mere criticisms of the government in power. We need political will! We need political action through well thought-out determined alliance!
- Plan to advance a political alliance with groups that will help accomplish these goals if your political party is no longer considered viable to win a particular election. Politics requires re-aligning in a positive and constructive manner in order to gain purposeful power for expeditious social change. Unfortunately, some people consider political re-alignment as a strategy to gain power to continue the infamous cycle of corruption that prayers alone cannot stop.
My purpose is to present a simple letter of appeal to Aba—Enyimba citizenry (Nigerians) to look inwards for effective social change (political action of introspection). My letter is a call to action. It is a call to recognize that we can do more ourselves rather than complain about someone who can only temporally govern us as along as our votes count. Each family or street block in Aba can help change Aba for the good of every person in that neighbourhood. We can change Aba one street at a time. We can change Aba one trader at a time. We can change Nigeria one city at a time by honoring rule of law! Prayers and garbage do not need to be together in one video clip. Rule of Law, self-dignity, and self-governance ought to go together. This appeal should indicate the dawn of a new perspective of political action of self-governance and self-dignity. We–together-can break the cycle of dehumanizing poverty anchored in seeming perpetual corruption in Nigeria. We can break free from ‘prayerful’ shirk of responsibilities (sole belief that the heavens and prayers will save Nigeria) in order to protect our own society. We can use our Aba neighbourhood and traders’ sodalities or unions to change Aba –Enyimba City without endlessly waiting for government or election promises. Again, this is an advisory and politically constructive letter to inspire a culture of self-dignity and self-governance socio-political option.
By Stanley Anozie
ucstan@hotmail.com