Tuesday, February 19, 2013

NIGERIA SINCE INDEPENDENCE: FOREVER FRAGILE? BY J.N.C HILL – A REVIEW



                
NIGERIA SINCE INDEPENDENCE: FOREVER FRAGILE? BY J.N.C HILL – A REVIEW
               


In 2012 J.N.C. Hill, a senior lecturer in the Defense Studies Department at King’s College London UK, has written a thought provoking book titled “Nigeria since Independence: Forever Fragile?”. Hill chronologically examines Nigeria since its independence and argues that Nigeria is a “failed state” because the writ of its government does not run the length and breadth of its territory and also lacks in providing her citizens with “the public goods or social services which includes law and order, basic healthcare, primary education, and impartial justice” (Hill Pg. 2). He focuses on the concept of state failure and contends that “state failure is frequently cited as the principal cause of all manner of political abuses, economic hardships, social ills and cultural injustices suffered by peoples and communities throughout Africa and beyond” (Hill Pg. 17). 
Hill explains how changes to the international moral environment ushered in by the Second World War led to the establishment of a “new sovereignty” regime that gave rise to many states in Africa, including Nigeria. However, many of these states lacked the capabilities to exercise de facto sovereignty, but nevertheless, continued to be recognized by the international community. Today, “there are states that exist as legal entities, but which lack the governments and state institutions to have any day-to-day reality for portions of the populations that live within their borders” (Hill Pg. 20). Hill utilizes the concept of state failure to describe what has happened, what is going on, and what is likely to occur in Africa.
Hill explains that though Nigeria came close enough to disintegration during the Biafra civil war of 1967, it has avoided breaking up. This was when the southeastern province of Biafra seceded from the federation for two and a half years before it was eventually readmitted in 1970. Furthermore, he identifies three main forces that paradoxically serve as vital mechanisms for both the disintegration and unity of Nigeria. These forces also arbitrarily fan the flames of insurgency and violent extremism that perpetually threaten the stability and unity of Nigeria.
The three main factors are namely; federalism (the process of building and developing Nigeria’s state structures and political practices), oil and its associated revenue (generated by the rents the Federal Government charges oil companies and its sale on the international market) and the armed forces (its operations and activities and as a major institution of the Nigerian state).  Hill argues that federalism has been both a force for good and evil for the Nigerian nation. He analyses four major ways in which federalism impedes the flourishing of Nigerians. First, federalism fuels the ethnic tensions and religious hatreds that are undermining the quality of life of Nigerians. Secondly, it has disempowered and disadvantaged tens of thousands of Nigerians all over the country by dictating that certain public goods are only available to those people living in their state of origin. This is not compulsorily the state in which they live or were born, but to that which they formally belong. “By permitting this, federalism is not only compromising the standards of living and life opportunities of many Nigerians, it is also encouraging sectarianism and undermining the country’s unity” (Hill Pg.45).
Thirdly, federalism freezes Nigerians’ political rights as it rotates senior position in government, armed forces and other national institutions, and agencies between the main ethnic groups. Thus, democracy is subverted as only those individuals from the right ethnic groups access certain posts of leadership in the country. And fourth, federalism has greatly increased the cost of government and also created many new opportunities for corruption and graft in Nigeria. Despite its contributions to Nigeria’s failure, Hill maintains that federalism also unifies the country in three important ways; first, it is weakening the ethnic and regional loyalties that have long threatened the country’s unity; second, it helps build a sense of nationhood; and thirdly, federalism helps to banish sectarianism from Nigeria’s political life.
Hill also traces the political violence, corruption, and failure in contemporary Nigeria to oil production and revenue. The extraction of oil in Nigeria consequently undermines the quality of life and living standards of thousands of Niger-Delta residents of Nigeria through environmental pollution and destruction of the ecosystem. He charges that “Nigeria’s oil is deeply divisive and a major contributor to Nigeria’s failure as a state. Not only is it helping to undermine the Federal Government’s willingness and ability to promote the flourishing of all Nigerian citizens, but it is also driving the insurgencies” (Hill Pg. 73). Oil in Nigeria is both a source of great wealth and international political prestige and also the root cause of many of the ills that plague the country.
Prominent among these plagues are the rise of insurgent groups such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the deadly Boko Haram sect that has continued to undermine the efforts of the Federal Government. Oil is equally a contributor to Nigeria’s unity in that other non-oil producing states in Nigeria depend on oil revenue as long as the country remains together. The international community also relies on Nigeria as an energy provider and remains unwilling to recognize new states in Africa. Thus, oil sustains the unification of Nigeria. Hill also examines the contradictory roles the armed forces play in contributing to Nigeria’s failure. “By failing to defeat the insurgent groups ranged against it and abusing the civil political and human rights of ordinary Nigerians, it has stoked popular anger and antipathy towards the state driving some individuals and communities into the arms of groups like the MEND and Boko Haram, which are undermining the Federal Government’s ability to control its sovereign territory” (Hill pg. 99).
Hill’s book thoroughly showcases Nigeria’s failure and continued unity as a product of complex and contradictory roles of three major mechanisms – federalism, oil, and armed forces. Hill has shown that though Nigeria is successfully a failed state, its persistent failure is yet to lead to collapse and disintegration. His analysis significantly contributes to the ongoing debates over state failure and Nigeria’s threatened existence as one of the largest democracies in Africa.

Work cited
Hill, J.N.C.  Nigeria since Independence: Forever Fragile? New York: Macmillan, 2012. Print

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