Rethinking Obama's Recommendation For Africa
Rethinking Obama's Recommendation For Africa
On Saturday, July 11, 2009, during his official visit to Africa, President Barack Obama of the United States of America addressed Ghana's parliament. In his speech, Obama made a case for the need for strong institutions rather than strongmen in the developing countries of Africa. "Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions," he said. Thereafter, that statement would become a reference point for many analysts, writers and speakers across Africa, particularly in Nigeria. For instance, in 2010 when there was general clamour for the removal of Prof Maurice Iwu as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, many argued that Iwu alone was not the problem of INEC. While agreeing that Iwu was no doubt corrupt, they however stressed that INEC's problem was not just about who headed it; the commission needed total overhaul and strengthening. The same argument resurfaced when later on Prof Attahiru Jega, a man of noble repute and integrity, was chosen for the INEC top job. "Jega can't do much; he is just one person and cannot possibly be everywhere at the same time. The problem is not with the person but with the institution," many argued. Whatever be the case, Jega is still being tested, and the on-going elections will determine whether strong personality matters or not.
To the point. Recently, during the NN24 presidential debate moderated by Next Newspaper editor, Kadaria Ahmed, Muhammadu Buhari, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, presidential candidate in the 2011 general elections in Nigeria, begged to revisit that statement by Obama. In his closing remarks at the debate, Buhari said, "I agree with President Obama that what Africa needs are strong institutions and not strong persons, but I want to add that we also need strong persons to build strong institutions." Even though I understand that President Obama may be referring to strongmen in the mould of die-hard dictators like Muammar Gadhafi, Hosni Mubarak, and the host of them, I cannot agree less with the ex-General. For how can there be strong institutions without strong persons to build them up?
Let's take a retrospective look at Nigeria's experience so far. I do not intend to go too far back in history. A short trip into recent history would suffice. When Buhari was the military Head of State of Nigeria in 1985, for instance, he introduced certain stern measures that made Nigeria work through his War Against Indiscipline, WAI. That policy seemed to have inculcated in Nigerians a certain sense of discipline and responsibility. For the first time since independence, Nigerians became orderly, queuing up in public places and waiting patiently (or impatiently?) for turns, dumping refuse at appropriate places, urinating only at designated points, among others, without trying to cut corners; in short, following due process in whatever they did, even if they were coerced. And Nigerians almost got used to it. It worked because there were strong men in the persons of Buhari and Idiagbon to enforce the rule. The duo almost succeeded in building strong institutions in Nigeria. When Ibrahim Babangida took over power later in 1985, the WAI was discontinued, and Nigeria relapsed into a worse state of indiscipline and corruption. We are still battling the aftermath of that relapse.
During the time that Ishaya Bamaiyi was in charge of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, the agency was in the limelight for its ability to catch up with and break many drug cartels across Nigeria. Even though many may argue that much of what Bamaiyi did was a witch-hunt of anti-Abacha elements, there is no doubt that the vibrancy of NDLEA under Bamaiyi is yet to be matched in the history of that agency. Under Bamaiyi, NDLEA became a frontrunner in the fight against drug trafficking, both nationally and internationally. But it went cold again when Bamaiyi left.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, under Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was highly dreaded by many a fraudster, money launderer, and embezzler of public funds. And EFCC was always in the news, for good or for bad. There were celebrated cases of DSP Alamesiegha, Tafa Balogun, and so on. Under Farida Waziri, not much is heard of EFCC, though it is arguable whether the whole hullabaloo by EFCC under Ribadu was not mere showmanship and less action.
Then talk of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC under Prof Dora Nkem Akunyili. Until Madam Akunyili came on board in 2001, NAFDAC was just a mere statistics in the list of agencies in Nigeria. In a matter of months, she showed that the agency was more than just a name in a list. She fought fake drug dealers across the country hands down. According to a VOA report, when Akunyili became NAFDAC director-general in 2001, a staggering 80 percent of the medications sold in Nigeria were deficient in one way or another. All this was to change shortly. In seven years, Prof Akunyuli made several ground-breaking moves and won the praise of Nigerians for cutting down on counterfeit and dangerous medicines. For her tenacity, several assassination attempts were made on her life, apparently sponsored by ruthless fake drugs dealers in Onitsha and Aba markets.
In 2008, Madam Dora was relieved of her duty at NAFDAC after having served meritoriously and strengthened the institution. Dr Paul Orhii took over from her. Apart from the intensified efforts and whistle stop campaigns by the agency in India, China, the United States, among other countries, to drum up support and seek strategic alliances for its campaign against unwholesome drugs, and the announcement in June 2010 that NAFDAC had detected a large consignment of anti-malaria drugs from China, which had been labelled Made in India, being sold in the country, nothing much has been heard of NAFDAC under Orhii. Many people even wonder whether the agency is still in existence because it has virtually relapsed into inertia.
Akunyili moved over to the Ministry of Information and Communications, and things began to happen there too. At the early stage, she was verging on becoming a mere mouthpiece of the Yar'Adua administration, but then she quickly regained consciousness and launched the Rebranding Nigeria Campaign. In spite of its failures, in spite that many described it as a wild goose chase, that project went a long way to bring about a positive change in the way the world perceived Nigeria and Nigerians. Now Akunyili has left, the ministry that she made so vibrant has gone cold. It has once again become just a channel for communicating to Nigerians the weekly decisions of the Federal Executive Council.
So, back to our question. What really does Africa need: strong persons or strong institutions? I personally think that we need both, for without the one, the other cannot exist. It is strong persons that will build and sustain strong institutions. As Charles de Gaulle once said, "Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men". At a point in its history, Ghana needed a strong personality to take certain uncommon decisions, and Jerry Rawlings was handy. Today, Ghana is better for it.
In the case of Nigeria, the problem seems to go beyond strong persons or institutions. The basic problem, I think, is that of continuity. Nigerian leaders are not keen at following policy programmes or continuing with projects already begun by their predecessors, even if such programmes and projects are viable. They rather start entirely new programmes, most of which are not workable, just to prove to the populace that they too have initiatives. And they make conscious efforts to discredit their predecessors before the populace. For instance, why would an IBB continue with Buhari's WAI when he was working hard at convincing Nigerians that he wrested power from Buhari on account of Buhari's intransigent and dictatorial tendencies?
Unless of course we say it is lack of moral courage that makes these leaders not to toe the good paths of their predecessors. If that is so, it then means they are weak, rather than strong leaders. (And moral weakness is the mother of all weaknesses.) Which also takes us back to our departure point: we need strong institutions. But first, we need strong persons to build them, and afterwards, strong persons to keep them running. I stand to be corrected. National Geographic Top Ten Travel Destinations Five easy ways to update your condo or loft for summer Free Guide Of Verona When Traveling In Italy An Ever Blooming Retreat When Traveling To Florence Taboos, Leadership and the Plight of Special Students in Africa Get a hassle free car-buying experience at Long Beach Mitsubishi What To Do When Traveling In Ireland Traveling To India Today Hollywood's West: The American Frontier in Film, Television, and History (Film & History) ebook Toyota Land Cruiser - The Australian Legend Correlation Of Free Trade And Holiday Making Places To Go To When Traveling To Pretoria Gauteng Summer Nights In Sangria