Iliyasu Gadu
The great countries of today did not come about by happenstance. They were the result of painstaking endeavours of great statesmen who laid and pursued relentlessly, a grand vision of the future and the strategies to attain it.
Japan which today is the third largest economy in the world would not have been what is today, had the Meiji restoration not happened in 1867 to chart a vision and strategy for its future greatness. Similarly, the United States of America which today ranks as the greatest power on earth was the product of the vision of its founding fathers to create a civilisation out of the grand ideas of the European enlightenment in which mainly peoples of European descent will pursue and find happiness and fulfilment in the vast continent of the Americas.
Germany before 1871 was a hodgepodge of principalities perpetually at the mercy of the Hapsburgs of Austria-Hungarian Empire and France. From 1871 following German unification by the strategic vision of the Prussian monarchy and noblemen, Germany has never looked back and despite facing two disastrous wars and demise of three republics, today holds its place as the economic powerhouse of Europe.
The main ingredient of a grand vision for a country is to have a world view (or weltanshaung) of one’s own country, its potentials, geopolitical and geostrategic position in the global scheme of things and how it could maximise these attributes in positioning itself in the comity of nations.
Nigeria with its agglomeration of hundreds of fractious ethnic groups is similar in some ways to Germany before 1871. With its resources and geostrategic position, has the potential to be both the most powerful country in Africa and by extension one of the most powerful countries on earth. At full extent of its potential, Nigeria can be the Germany of Africa in terms of economic power; it could also be like the state of Israel as the cultural and historical magnet of peoples of African descent wherever they may exist in the world, and it could also like the United States of America be both a hard and soft global power.
For Nigeria the roadmap to achieving this desirable potential lies in three critical strategic areas; massive industrialization, a new military and foreign policy. An industrial economy is a sine qua non in order for Nigeria to be an industrial power. In this quest, iron and steel, power, energy and infrastructure are imperativeto create a strong manufacturing base to fabricate and produce industrial goods. All the great countries of today are leaders in all these areas and for Nigeria to be reckon with among these countries, it must by all means acquire this. At the moment we are virtually non-existent in all these areas. The 7000 megawatts of power we currently generate for use in the whole of the country is what a medium sized city utilises in America. We must aim for massive industrialization
We must also redesign our military and foreign policy. The military doctrine we operate in this country is one that has its origins from the days of the advent of colonialism. The Glover Hausas constabulary force formed by the first colonial governor of Lagos, John Glover which was the precursor of the current Nigerian military, was aimed at conquering and subjugating native Nigerians for the colonizing power, Britain. Today very little has changed in the doctrine of our military whereby the men in uniform look with contempt and routinely maltreat the civilians they are supposed to protect.
And our foreign policy when not mired in contradictions, does not appear to be focussed enough to pursue the real strategic goals and interest of Nigeria. If Africa is the cornerstone of our foreign policy as we like to claim, why is it that none of our African embassies is rated among our Grade A embassies? What is the level of our political, economic and strategic relations with our sub regional neighbours, our continent, peoples of African descent around the world and the world? How have we been able to leverage on our resources and our strategic position in Africa to pursue our quest for economic development?
Beyond the rhetoric of African solidarity and the reference to us as their “big brother”, do fellow African states recognise, respect and regard us truly as an indispensablefor mutually beneficial economic, social, cultural, military and diplomatic relations as they would France, Britain, America, China, Russia and Germany?
Due to lack of a focused foreign policy projection, the efforts we have made and have been making in the African sphere has gone largely unrewarded. In this respect our immense efforts and sacrifices towards the liberation of southern African states from colonial subjugation has yielded very little to us as country.
Similarly, the tremendous efforts we put in terms of lives and resources towards restoring peace and normalcy in Liberia and Sierra Leone all seem to have come to nought. Other powers who invested very little and who indeed left these two countries to their fates came in to reap from our hard work.
This again was largely due to the lack of strategic goals underpinning our foreign involvements.
It is to be expected that there are certain established world powers that would not welcome the sort of Nigeria laid out in this write up. For such a Nigeria will necessarily result in global power shifts which will challenge their present positions in global affairs.
But then a country must follow its own manifest destiny, pursue and project its interests in such a way as to get other countries to accept to accommodate it. The United States of America at its inception successfully projected its manifest destiny to the more powerful countries of the times such that they had to come to an accommodation with that. China started out as a country of peasants at the mercy of more powerful neighbouring and overseas nations but through strategic vision of its founding fathers is today a global economic superpower challenging its former oppressors.
No nation which has become a globally important player has had to rely on willing goodwill and favours from other countries. The cooperation and support of other nations to a country’s desire to develop must be sought by knowing how to play the global strategic game that all nations especially the powerful ones play.
At this point in our history, it is clear that like other countries who had successfully navigated the challenges of evolution to nationhood, Nigeria needs a leader with a grand strategic vision. The imperative of such a leader will be not only to forge a nation out of the agglomeration of fractious ethnic groups and elites, but also to cut a pathway for Nigeria’s manifest destiny as the global power it is meant to be.
Gadu writes via [email protected]