CRISIS OF LEARDERSHIP IN NIGERIA SINCE INDEPENDENCE: AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW

BYTANKO AHMED fwc

Senior FellowNIPSS, KURU

December 2012

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INTRODUCTION

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Background A Polarized Nation

A nation polarized by intense sectionalism, tribalism, regionalism and religious bigotry is configured for incessant ‘crisis of leadership’ as a result of dysfunctional conflicts.

The resultant divisive process places the various warring factions in a state of continuous struggle for supremacy in the quest for ascendency, retention or even sabotage of leadership, depending on which position they find themselves at any given time.

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ConflictFunctional and Dysfunctional Conflict

Conflict has both ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ known as ‘functional’ or beneficial conflict; and ‘dysfunctional’ or detrimental conflict.

Functional conflict supports the

goals of a nation while dysfunctional conflict hinders and destroys such goals.

Dysfunctional conflict leads to general decline in positive or desirable outcomes in any given situation (Freund, 2012) such as the one we found ourselves in this blessed and great nation called Nigeria.

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Traditional View Traditional discourse on

‘crisis of leadership’ often takes the perspective of leadership purposefulness and effectiveness in nation-building, national integration and national development.

These perspectives often

ignore causal factors, particularly the afflictions within the nation’s historical and current experiences.

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An Alternative View

An ‘alternative view’ would seek to diagnose the national psyche of Nigeria;

and

Attempt to explain possible remote causes (or sources) of the self-destructive conflicts characterizing the ‘crisis of leadership’ in Nigeria since independence.

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Guiding Questions

1. Do nations have national ‘psyche’ or ‘psychology’, like humans?

2. Can nations be afflicted by their past experiences as manifest of present conditions?

3. If so, is the incessant ‘crisis of leadership’ in Nigeria, connected to our collective experience?

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CONCEPTUAL

DISCOURSE

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CrisisCrisis

Crisis is a dangerous or worrying situation or period in which are very uncertain, difficult or painful, requiring immediate action to avoid total disaster or breakdown.

Crisis Situation

Crisis situations often generate instability and uncertainty; and when superimposed on leadership process, they could spell doom to any recipient entity.

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Leadership

The Leader

A leader is a guiding or directing head who people follow, like head of a family, group, community, institution, agency, government or country.

Leadership, in this sense, is the ability to lead or a process of influencing others in the accomplishment of common tasks (Chemers, 1997).

Leadership

Leadership is best captured as a system construct (Yukl, 2010) of interactive components of the ‘leader’, the ‘follower(s)’ and the ‘situation’ within which activities take place.

Leadership is the triad of the Leader, the followership and the situation within which they exist and interact in what is called ‘governing arrangement’ (Ayeni-Akeke, 2008)

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Theories of Leadership

Contemporary leadership theories are complex, fragmented and contradictory, making its study frustrating for the scholar and its application difficult for the practitioner.

It is, however, feasible to integrate and reconcile these theories and approaches in search of common elements and coherent perspectives.

Studies on leadership have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behaviour, power, vision and values (Richards and Engle, 1986) from which a framework can be constructed for the purpose of this paper.

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African Concept of Leadership The African concept of Leadership

captures the triad of ‘leader-follower-situation’ perfectly

Africans generally consider society to be a community, with leadership designed to proceed toward the common good, with leaders tied directly to the people they led, and vice versa.

This is captured in the South

African Sotho proverb:

‘A Chief is a chief by the People; and A People are a People through the

Chief’ - (Chemers, 1997)

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Crisis of Leadership A clear-cut definition of ‘crisis of

leadership’ is a tricky business requiring the mixture of ‘crisis’ and ‘leadership.

To tally the breakdown of definitions

above, ‘crisis of leadership’ refers to a dangerous or worrying situation;

Or period in which are very uncertain,

difficult or painful events requiring immediate action to avoid total disaster;

Or breakdown in the ability to lead or the process of influencing others in the accomplishment of common tasks.

This is the definition of ‘crisis of

leadership’ adopted for this paper.

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NATIONAL PSYCHE

AND TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE

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National Psyche

A distinctive psychological make-up of particular group, people or nation is often observed and used in comparative studies in social psychology, sociology, political science and anthropology.

This is on the assumption that such group, people or nation feature a ‘mix’ of human attitudes, values, emotions, motivation and abilities (or inabilities), reinforced institutionally.

Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt, the father of

‘experimental psychology’, had established that the concept of ‘national psychology’ had been an accepted topic of discourse in the social sciences since mid-19th century (Ash, 1980).

That is to say, certain context of

‘psychology’ can be determined and applied in an attempt to understand certain phenomenon like the ‘crisis of leadership’.

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Analogical Reasoning

In analogical reasoning, specific examples or cases, in which what is known about one example or case is used to infer new information about another example.

In this wise, the basic

principles or features of a traumatic experience and consequences in human psyche and behaviour are applied to national experience and subsequent behaviour of a country, like Nigeria

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Trauma, Stress and Disorder

Trauma is an extreme distressing experience that causes severe and everlasting effect (or stress);

Stress refers to strain caused

by a force or system of forces exerted on a body or entity resulting in deformation (or disorder); and

Disorder signifies disturbance

to usual functioning of a system or order of something. These are the building blocks of the meaning of ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is, therefore, a condition, often self-destructive, caused by extreme stress due to traumatic experience.

PTSD has recently become the

focus for great deal of empirical and theoretical work with a proposal that traumas experienced at earlier stage give rise to memory and automatic re-enactment through appropriate situational cues (Brewin, et el, 1996).

In plain language, present situation of affairs are linked to past experiences, and this can be applied to diagnosis of ‘national psychology’ of countries.

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BACKGROUND, CAUSES

AND CONSEQUENCES

OF CRISIS OF

LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA

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Background to Leadership Crisis in Nigeria

Formation of Nigeria

Nigeria evolved through the colonial subjugation of hundreds of societies in the territory between 1861 and 1914.

By 1900, the British colonial government after series of amalgamation of hundreds of nationalities in the Southern and Northern territories further amalgamated these societies into two political blocks: Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria.

The two blocks were amalgamated in 1914 as a single political entity (Alemika and Chukwuma, 2000).

British colonialism created Nigeria, joining diverse peoples and regions in a political entity.

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Background … (Cont.)

Nationalism and the Quest for Independence

The nationalism that became a political factor in Nigeria during the inter-war period derived both from an older political particularism and broad pan-Africanism, rather than from any sense among the people of a common Nigerian nationality.

The goal of activists initially

was not self-determination, but increased participation on a regional level in the governmental process.

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Causes of Leadership Crisis in Nigeria

British Colonial Policies

Inconsistencies in British policy reinforced existing cleavages based on regional animosities, as the British tried both to preserve the indigenous cultures of each area and to introduce modern technology, and Western political and social concepts.

In the north, appeals to Islamic legitimacy upheld the rule of the emirs, so that nationalist sentiments were related to Islamic ideals.

Modern nationalists in the south,

whose thinking was shaped by European ideas, opposed indirect rule, as they believed that it had strengthened what they considered an anachronistic ruling class and shut out the emerging Westernized elite.

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Causes … (Cont.)The Lethal Strategy of Divide and Rule

The strategy of ‘divide and rule’ or ‘divide and conquer’ is widely used in politics, military, economic and social relations, with lethal effect.

It is, designed and applied, for the purpose of gaining and maintaining power by breaking up larger or stronger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy.

The concept refers to a strategy that breaks up existing power structures and prevents smaller power groups from linking up.

The use of this technique empowers the

‘manipulator’ to control subjects, populations, or factions of different interests, who collectively might be able to oppose the ‘status quo’.

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Causes … (Cont.)

Elements of Divide and Rule Policy

creating or encouraging divisions;

aiding and promoting agents of discord;

fostering distrust and enmity among people; and

encouraging massive mismanagement of resources.

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Causes … (Cont.)

Colonialism as a Stressor

A stressor is an agent or condition or other stimulus that causes stress to an organism.

The divisive mentality responsible for the ‘self-destructive’ tendency within the ‘crisis of leadership’ in Nigeria is directly linked to colonialism as the main ‘stressor’.

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Consequences of Leadership Crisis in Nigeria

The direct consequence of ‘colonial stress’ is the emergence of the ‘divisive forces’, including:

Sectionalism is the excessive concern for the interests of one group or area to the detriment of the whole;

Tribalism is the strong allegiance or loyalty to a tribe or social group than to national values;

Regionalism is loyalty to home region, state or other sub-units, with prejudice in favour of own area; and

Religious bigotry is intolerance, with strong opinion, and refusal to accept different views.

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Seeds of Discord Political parties in Nigeria

sprang up mainly in opposition to the Colonial Rule as far back as 1920s;

Between 1940-1960, more groups emerged to speed up the process of decolonization and constitutional reforms;

At independence they metamorphosed into tribal-cum-regional entities; and

The issue of religion later

added a more dangerous colouration. (Torkula, 2007)

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THE WAY FORWARD

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The Golden Age of African Empires

The ‘Golden Age’ of African empires, particularly the period between the 16th and 17th centuries, in the West African region, we had the once vibrant Empires of Mali, Songhai and Ghana . These Empires were composed of segmented and pyramidal varieties of entities that were successfully subjugated under various ‘super imposed’ political systems (Potholm, 1979).

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Regular Mix and Interdependence

Long before the advent of colonization, a remarkable feature of African commercial life was the practice of long distance trade unhindered by administrative jurisdictions involving traffic and exchange of highly valued commodities with ‘strangers from other cultures (Ade-Ajayi, 1988).

Also, constant movement of

population was a characteristic of pre-colonial West Africa History (Mobogunje, 1972).

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Nigeria as a World of Nations As identified by scholars (Otitie,

2011), Nigeria has over 350 distinct ethnic groups, that is, with more number of entities than the United Nations.

Nigeria is more of a ‘world of

nations’ than a ‘nation of the world’.

The peoples of Nigeria share many

social values and cultural traits suggesting that they maintain a high degree of homogeneity with a long history of mixture and relationships that it became difficult to separate them into neat socio-cultural groups, as often claimed by extreme divisive views.

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CONCLUSION

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Summary

Nigeria is a nation polarized by intense sectionalism, tribalism, regionalism and religious bigotry.

These evil forces have their roots in the colonial process leading to the formation of Nigeria as a political entity.

Traditional approach to discourse on ‘crisis of leadership’ in Nigeria often revolves around the issues of ‘who becomes what’, ‘from where’, ‘by what means’ and ‘for how long’.

An alternative view in this paper seeks to diagnose the remote causes and establishes the blame on colonialism as ‘stressor’ or remote cause of the incessant ‘disorder’.

Leadership in this context carries the triad of the Leader, the Follower(s) and the Situation in which they interact functionally.

The way forward recalls the Golden Age of African Empires composed of varieties of entities existing under a certain measure of political orderliness.

Nigeria is more of a ‘world of nations’ than an

ordinary ‘nation of the world’ in which progress would take place only in the absence of dysfunctional conflicts

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Conclusion All nations have ‘national

psyche’ that can be afflicted by past experiences, as manifested by current conditions.

The ‘crisis of leadership’ since independence has its roots in the colonial process of the formation of Nigeria as a political entity.

The same divisive forces

can be transformed into progressive tools for ‘unity in diversity’.

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Recommendations ‘Thinking outside the box’ of

obsolete traditional approaches is another way of handling chronic issues like the ‘crisis of leadership’ in Nigeria, as performed by the Alternative View proffered in this paper.

  Events and platforms such as this

should be used for the propagation of solutions to acute national problems to bail out bulky memoranda, reports and other ineffective means which never saw the light of the day; and

  Institutions, agencies and

departments responsible for enlightenment, mobilization and implementation of national ideals are to prove their effectiveness in countering the evils of self-destructive dysfunctional conflicts.

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THANK YOU!

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ABOUT THE LECTURER

Tanko Ahmed, fwc, is a Senior Fellow (Security & Strategic Studies) at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.

He holds a first degree in Sociology from the Richmond American International University, London, UK and MSc in Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. At present, he is working on a Ph.D Thesis in Leadership Strategy.

He is a Fellow of the National War College, now Defence College. He is also the current General Secretary of the Alumni Association of the National Defence College (AANDEC).

His latest academic publications include a

book chapter title: ‘Nigeria and the Challenges of Nation Building: The Role of the Founding Fathers’ (2011) and a Monograph title: ‘Culture and National Development in Nigeria’ (2012), among others.

Tanko Ahmed is married with four children and loves playing Golf, Quail Farming and Martial Arts.