For the past two decades, corruption in Nigeria has flourished so boldly from the highest levels of government down to the common market place, classrooms and even religious organizations. The growth of corruption skyrocketed after the re-introduction of democracy in 1999 and this has fuelled the increasing levels of poverty, breakdown of law and order as well as the complete decay of infrastructure in Nigeria. In fact, corruption is sighted by many Nigerians as the singular cause of the woes of the country and this in many ways overshadows other cancerous problems that face Nigeria.
What then are these other problems that face Nigeria?
In my opinion, the conception of Nigeria brought with itself two major problems that constitute the foundation upon which corruption thrived. These problems are ethnic differences and religious (belief system) differences.
Bearing down on the ethnic fabric of Nigeria, we can divide Nigeria into three main ethnic groups (even though this division is defective and we acknowledge that there are many more ethnic groups in Nigeria, we would maintain it here to illustrate our idea) namely the Yorubas in the west, the Igbos in the southeast and the Hausa up in the North. Following the independence in 1960, an apparent compromise to work together as one nation can be assumed. However, events preceding the Biafra War destroyed whatever bond that existed between these various ethnic groups and till today, each group feels a deep sense of resentment towards the other especially between the Igbos and the Hausas. Infact, looking at the political structure of Nigeria since the Biafra War, a disturbing pattern emerges that depicts a conscious effort by the Hausas and perhaps the Yorubas to exclude the Igbos from the taking the helms of authority in Nigeria. Looking back to the events that preceded the Biafra War (though fuzzy in my head) one can argue that corruption within the helms of government lead to an ethnic biased effort at eradicating it (corruption) resulting in bloodshed and the unethical attack on Igbos.
Looking at religious differences in Nigeria is a very straightforward yet dreaded exercise. Nigeria has three major religions; Christianity, Islam and traditional religion. Now, out of these three, Islam has presented itself as the only religion that does not tolerate others. And as in Christianity, their holy book is interpreted in various ways by various people to reach various conclusions especially about Jihad and violence against Infidels (a category which anyone not practicing Islam falls into). Not delving into particular quotes of the Holy Quran which clearly charge their faithful with killing Infidels, I believe that we all have the right to our different religious beliefs, however, when a right prevents another citizen from exercising their own right in the same capacity, then it ceases to be a right and thus if being a Muslim means you have to be caught up in Jihad where you kill helpless non Muslims who present no threat to you then I think we need to review Islam and its tenets in Nigeria for the safety and peaceful existence of Nigerians. The silence of the Islamic hierarchy in Nigeria does not help this situation as a non condemnation of these incessant acts of violence on non Muslims leads the lay man to conclude that indeed, the killing of innocent people is very much supported by Islam.
Then again, one would want to understand why the Muslims in the west and southwest are not engaging in these acts of violence or are theirs to be expected in the recent future? Working with recent trends however, it appears religious conflicts in Nigeria mirror the ethnic resentment between the Hausas and other ethnic groups in Nigeria.
Coming back to corruption, I prefer to look at it as a faulty antidote to the religious and ethnic differences which riddle Nigeria and which was entrenched deeply in Nigeria during Obasanjo’s regime. A return to democracy in 1999 brought Nigeria face to face with the differences, the deep resentment and lack of trust that that existed amongst the ethnic groups. With nothing in common, making decisions in government was going to be based on which group had a majority and no longer the whims of the military leader as was the case during military rule. At this point, corruption offered itself once again as the best solution to that dilemma where the sharing of the fortunes of Nigeria amongst the ruling class became the one thing that brought them together despite their religious and ethnic differences. The actions of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of Nigeria over the last decade depict this concept clearly. Truth is, without corruption, the last decade would have witnessed Nigeria’s predicted break up but it has somehow bought the unity of the nation some time. Unfortunately, being cancerous as it is, corruption has lead to excessive greed of Nigerian politicians and a total failure of the system as well as increased poverty levels. This has left the common Nigerian desperate to survive with hopes of getting his own share of the national cake thus cultivating the perfect environment for further entrenchment of corruption within all facets of the Nigerian entity. Worse still, disenfranchised politicians in Nigeria who understand the delicate balance upon which the unity of Nigeria lies now toy with the religious and ethnic differences of Nigerians in other to achieve their personal goals and just when this balance is about to be compromised, the sharing of more money once again unites these politicians restoring once again the unity of the country.
So in providing a temporary solution to two deep problems of Nigeria, corruption has ended up forming a vicious cycle where it manifests and yet appears to solve these problems whilst destroying any hope of progress in Nigeria.
Nigeria is not the only country where you have differences in belief system and ethnic values but in my opinion, Nigeria has no business staying together any longer. Even a revolution would bring Nigeria back to the problem of religious and ethnic differences. Till we find a constructive way of appeasing the bruised egos of the North and the Southeast, of ensuring equity amongst all, of fighting corruption, Nigeria is going to continue its voyage towards doom!
(A poem about Nigeria stressing her differences which threatens the very idea of her unity) http://theardentspirit.blogspot.com/2011/05/echoes-from-heart-distressed-trinity.html
