*Umar Ardo, Ph.D*<\/p>\n
As President Mohammad Buhari took off yesterday for the United States on
\nthe special invitation of President Barack Obama, expectations are high
\nboth in Nigeria and the United States on the outcome of the visit. To
\nattain success, President Buhari needs to define his priorities, marshal
\nthem out and ensure that he also understands and matches them with the
\nneeds of the United States. As the saying goes, good policy begins with the
\nability to recognize reality. It is for this goal that I venture to state
\nwhat I think President Buhari needs to tell President Obama.<\/p>\n
In my view, Nigeria\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s problems are basically three in nature \u00e2\u20ac\u201c
\ninsecurity,
\ncorruption and severe economic depression. And for the United States, its
\nproblems are also mainly three in nature \u00e2\u20ac\u201cterrorism and insecurity
\nespecially in the Islamic World; global threat to its corporate economic
\ninterests; and apparent failure to fashion out how best to handle and
\nresolve the problems. If the two leaders are able to identify these
\nproblems and see them as mutually reinforcing and their resolution as
\nmutually beneficial, and resolve to work towards it, then the visit would
\nmeet the high expectations on both sides of the divide.<\/p>\n
Making a comprehensive analysis of the issues involved will show that
\nNigeria needs the United States in solving its problems in as much as the
\nUnited States needs Nigeria\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s problems resolved as a critical element in
\nthe resolution of its problems. With the fall of communism on the global
\nscene, the Western World under the leadership of the United States came
\ninto direct conflict with the Islamic World in what seems to be a clash of
\ncivilizations. The seemingly irreconcilable ideological positions of the
\ntwo former allies have since put the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s security on the edge. Also,
\nunder the effect of globalization, the United States strategic economic
\ninterests as a super power have come under severe threat globally. The war
\nfor wealth, a nastyfight for a share of prosperity, and the related
\nstruggle over political and cultural dominance of the world, have become
\nthe major conflicts the US is facing across the globe today. The era of
\nAmerica\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supremacy, in which it overshadowed the rest of the world with
\nits economic and technological might, is fast coming to an end. A new
\ntopography of global power equation is taking shape as globalization is
\nshifting world economic emphasis from the United States.<\/p>\n
In Asia, which contains more than half of the world population, the US
\neconomic interests are increasingly being challenged not only by Japan and
\nthe US-propped \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAsian Tigers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, but also more by the turncoat communist
\nand
\nsocialist states of China and India. All over Asia US firms are today in a
\ncut-throat competition with companies of these Asian countries. The result
\nis that the productive core of the US is shrinking, while Asia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s is
\nexpanding; Asia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new strength leads to the weakening of the US. As Asia
\nbooms America faces mass unemployment and growing national debt. In Europe,
\nthe situation is no better. The Marshall Plan of the post-World War II have
\nlong outlived its usefulness as most European companies have become arch
\nrivals of American firms in the war for wealth. As more and more European
\nfirms offer the same standard of service, the need for America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s firms
\ndecreases all across Europe. With the formation of European Union and the
\nEuro Zone, Europe not only expanded its economic base but has also
\nfortified it. Ultimately, over the years, America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s firms are taking
\nmarginal spots in Europe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economic life.<\/p>\n
America thus needs to look beyond Asia and Europe for its economic
\nexpansion and preeminence. With the emerging crisis of confidence in
\nrelations between America and the Muslim World, especially in the aftermath
\nof 9\/11 terror attack, and the accompanying tension between them following
\nthe declared war on terrorism, the US has only one large region to look up
\nto \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Africa.With a population of over a billion people, Africa is
\nundoubtedly a reservoir of a potential huge world market. Besides, not only
\nAfrica has the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most unexplored and unexploited natural resources,
\nbut the continent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s religious affiliations, be it Islamic, Christian or
\ntraditional, are not extreme in nature. All its religions rest on a solid
\nfoundation of African cultural traditions. Hence religious identity does
\nnot have the same meaning in African communities as it does in say Arabia,
\nAsia Minor or Israel.<\/p>\n
In Nigeria, there are probably more commonalities among ethnoreligious
\ngroups than differences. With the right economic and social environments,
\nNigeria can reclaim this African heritage without being overwhelmed by the
\nforces of global religious extremism. The current Boko Haram terrorism and
\ninsurgency in Nigeria is in fact an exception rather than the norm. It is
\nthe result of economic hardship, constitutional freedom and lack of any
\nform of dialogue with the Muslim communities in the country that sparked
\noff the conflict. Indeed, severe poverty has direct relevance to the
\ncurrent insecurity situation. Since 1999, Nigerians are being promised and
\nassured of good life by politicians seeking public offices. Under the
\ngeneric parlance of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dividends of democracy\u00e2\u20ac, they have been promised
\nhigh
\nstandard of living \u00e2\u20ac\u201c i.e. assured peace, security, education, healthcare,
\npower, clean potable water, economic prosperity, political rights and
\nfreedom, transparency and honesty in leadership, etc. But how so
\ndisappointed Nigerians have become today!<\/p>\n
While the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcdemocratic constitution\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 of the county has brought in liberty,
\nrights and freedom to individuals and groups in the country, the promised
\nand expected \u00e2\u20ac\u02dchigh standard of living\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 woefully failed to materialize. On
\nthe contrary, there resulted a large scale and wide spread poverty and
\nhardship across the land, chiefly brought about by poor or failed public
\npolicies, high level of corruption and dishonesty by elected public
\nofficers, election and electoral malpractices by incumbents, a compromised
\nand insincere judiciary, among many other vices in public service.
\nFurthermore, in so short a time, there emerged in the country a glaring
\ndisparity in the earnings and living standards amongst the citizens never
\nseen before in the history of economic and social mobility of a people
\nanywhere in the world; such that today in Nigeria less than 2% of Nigerians
\n(most of whom are the very politicians elected) own and control over 98% of
\nthe national wealth, while more than 98% of the citizens struggle daily to
\nsurvive on less than 2% of the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s resources. As these policies are
\nseen being facilitated, driven and implemented by the political class over
\nthe years, naturally there is today no love lost between the masses and
\npoliticians. Here then lies the real source of terrorism in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
As rightly maintained by Ted Gurr, a world renowned Criminologist, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153when
\nexpectations go up and realities go down, men rebel\u00e2\u20ac. For all the facts
\nhave shown that the Boko Haram insurgency is basically the result of failed
\nexpectations of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcdividends of democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 under civil rule. Contrasting
\nthe
\npersonal and collective freedom and liberty of citizens ushered in through
\nconstitutional democracy with the failed promises and expectations of
\nimproved standard of living of citizens, one then sees clearly the seeds of
\ncrises being sown in the society. Add the polarization and great disparity
\nof wealth amongst citizens, the overt and insensitive corruption by public
\nservants, the increasing widespread of poverty and deprivation within the
\nvast majority of the people, the extreme forms of election frauds by
\nincumbent leaders, the compromised judiciary, etc., relations between the
\ngovernment and the governed invariably have to come under severe stress.
\nBecause the local civic cultures are unable to withstand the stresses and
\nstrains of these economic and political pressures, it naturally breeds
\ndisappointment, despair and instability. It then takes very little for
\ncivil resistance to go virulent. This is the proper explanation of the
\nvarious insurgencies, including the BH insurgency, ravaging the country
\ntoday. Hence it makes no sense to debate whether these insurgencies are
\npolitical, socio-economic or religious. The answer is they are all of the
\nabove.<\/p>\n
As President Buhari gets to meet with President Obama in the hope of
\nresolving this problem, he must understand its fundamental underpinnings.
\nThe challenge is for the government to resolve its two most critical
\nelements \u00e2\u20ac\u201c i.e. the economic and the political elements. On the economic
\nlevel, the President must get the support of the United States to build a
\nstrong base for the country. The United States must have to come forcefully
\nin terms of funding, investments, transfer of technology, and other
\ninitiatives to help Nigeria out of its present economic doldrums, at the
\nsame time decentralizing economic opportunities and national resources in
\nsuch a way as to bridge the wide gap between the rich and the poor amongst
\nNigerians. On the political side, President Buhari\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s government must tackle
\ncorruption, build infrastructure, freely open the political space, entrench
\nconstitutionalism and rule of law, institute credible electoral processes
\nand create level playing fields in politics to avoid causing system
\nbreakdown.<\/p>\n
In return, on its part, Nigeria, being the most dominant in the African
\nContinent, with the largest human and material resources, and the largest
\nnumber of black Muslims in the world, should play a central role in the
\nfight against terrorism, in global stability and the advancement of the US
\neconomic and strategic interests. Already a strong international player in
\npeacekeeping operations, Oil and Liquefied Natural Gas deposits, Oil
\npricing within OPEC, leadership role in the OIC, AU, ECOWAS, etc. Nigeria
\nis well positioned to partner with the US in stabilizing the global
\nenvironment. Being the largest non-Arab Muslim country in Africa, Nigeria
\ncan play a key role in evolving constructive specific relations regarding
\nAmerica with the non-Arab Muslim countries that can serve as a
\ncounter-balance to the broad international relations between the West and
\nthe Islamic World. Such relations will aim to ultimately oscillate the
\ncenters of worldwide Muslim community between Southeast Asia and West
\nAfrica, where pluralism and tolerance is more established than in the
\nMiddle East, Arabia and Asia Minor. This is very crucial not only to
\nopening US economic vistas and advancing its corporate interests but also
\nrestoring security and stability in the international community. With good
\nsupport from the United States Nigeria can initiate and execute such
\ndefining role.<\/p>\n
This is what Buhari needs to tell Obama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
*Umar Ardo, Ph.D* As President Mohammad Buhari took off yesterday for the United States on the special invitation of President Barack Obama, expectations are high both in Nigeria and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n