Mamdani: Nigeria as a Relional Policeman

Nigeria as Regional Policeman

Nigeria has played a positive role for several reasons. I will say the reasons apply not just to Nigeria; they also apply to South Africa because these are two big countries in Africa, one predominantly because of its population, the other predominantly because of its economy. But both realize that they can't make it alone. Even European countries recognize that they can't make it alone, and they came up with the European Union. Even the United States realizes that it cannot make it alone, so it came up with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. I think for Nigeria and South Africa to make it, they have to create a safe neighbourhood; not only a safe one, they have to create a neighbourhood, which is reasonably autonomous, and free of outside interference.

So, even though the Americans may want Nigeria to be a regional policeman, the fact that Nigeria becomes a regional policeman does not necessarily mean it must be America's policeman in the region. I have seen in Sudan, for example, the impact of Nigerian diplomats in the African Union, and I have seen that the main thrust of their influence has been to call for an African resolution of African problems. The thrust has been to say that there must be a limit to outside interference. In that sense, I think there have been positive developments.

The negative thing of course is that Nigeria has been unable to police itself. Actually, if you take the political record of the Nigerian political class, this country should have ceased to exist a long time ago because it is a dismal record. But the country exists. For someone like me, I come to Nigeria, maybe once a year for conferences and something of that sort, and I am struck by how different the picture is. Outside of Nigeria, the political news is privileged, but when you come inside, from the day-to-day life, you see that the people don't live by politics. So, you have events like yesterday (last Tuesday, Odia's birthday), which brings together cultural icons, and you would see that they come from different parts of the country.

You have a very strong cultural elite in Nigeria, which is in sharp contrast with the weak political elite. You have a reasonably strong business class; you have a middle class and professionals with a vision of Nigeria. So, I am struck by the fact that the society is holding together, because of the energies it is able to marshal from different sections of the population, in spite of the failure of the political class. Of course, it is the failure of both the political class and the critics of that class because when the critics get into power, there doesn't seem to be any difference. That is indicative of a larger problem.