I was going to entitle this blog post “The Trouble With Nigeria”, but that would require a book not a blog. Probably several volumes.
I spent four years of my life in Nigeria, and one reason I seldom blog about it is that I do not wish to upset my many Nigerian friends, who tend to find my views unpalatable (and it is their country, not mine).
It is only in recent years that I have come to the view that so many of the problems of the world come from colonial boundaries. If the 20th century was The Age of the Nation State – and I think that characterisation has merit – then so many of those nation states, arguably the majority, are defined by frontiers imposed by colonial outsiders. Often the ethnic and social ties of the inhabitants were among the least important factors in the minds of the colonialists carving up maps.
But the extraordinary thing is the way that entirely artificial national boudaries work, in the sense of creating national loyalties. Ethnic Ewes view themselves as first or foremost Ghanaian or Togolese, and indeed speak different official languages from their cousins in the next village. The creation of independent nations in Central Asia from deliberately unworkable borders (a power ploy by Stalin) is sufficiently recent for the genuine taking hold of strong national loyalties, cutting across ethnicity and geography, to be able to have been closely studied – the work of Olivier Roy is fascinating.
The title of The Catholic Orangemen of Togo takes an amusing example of the distortion on peoples of colonial legacy in Africa, but the book considers much more serious ones.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and the hostage killings today result directly from tensions arising from Nigeria’s entirely artificial colonial borders. This is going to upset my Nigerian friends, but unfortunately the forcing together by the British of the Sultanate of Sokoto, Emirate of Kano, half of the territories of the Lamido of Adamawa etc with the Kingdom of Benin, and the Yoruba confederation, with the Ibo and other chieftaincies and at least sixty other ethnicities, was always an extraordinary and perilous construct.
I described the government of Nigeria in The Catholic Orangemen as a simple pump, by which military controlled governments dominated by Northern generals moved cash relentlessly and only northwards, from the populous and productive South to the comparatively empty and barren North. The demands of “Democracy” required a whole history of ludicrously false censuses and electoral registers to negate the obvious truth, that the South is vastly, vastly more populous than the North.
Two southern Presidents in a row – Obasanjo and Jonathan – have reduced the permanent flow of money northwards. Not stopped, but reduced. Most of that wealth anyway ended up in London or Geneva, but it did have some social spread in the Northern populations. That has also reduced, and that is why the violence by Northern based terrorist groups has increased. It has nothing to do with Al Qaida, despite the nonsense on our television screens.
I have not here discussed the terrible effect of oil in promoting the World’s worst corruption, or the currency overvaluation that destroyed a once great agricultural economy. I have not discussed the resulting urban flight, despair and poverty, or the corrosive effect of a totally corrupt elite in encouraging a whole urban society to view fraud as the normal means of transaction. I have not covered the dignity of the remaining rural population, the despoilation of the oil areas, or the greater social cohesion of Northern society. You can learn a little on each in The Catholic Orangemen (the purchase button on the right is working again). Chinua Achebe remains indispensable to understanding.
I am dreadfully sorry for the dead construction workers, British and Italian. But the heart of the matter is a false colonial national construct.
My Nigerian friends are proud of their country, but I am afraid to say Nigeria’s existence a a single entity is a great British error.
@ DwonWithThatSortOFThing
.
“A 50% success rate is not to be scoffed at.”
.
Nor is a 50% falure rate…
Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed today that Linda Norgrove, 36, was killed by her captors
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1319077/UK-aid-worker-Linda-Norgrove-killed-Afghanistan.html
.
British aid worker Linda Norgrove was killed by US grenade, admits William Hague
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/02/linda-norgrove-killed-us-grenade
“Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed today that Linda Norgrove, 36, was killed by her captors”
Daily Mail, 9 Oct.
.
“British aid worker Linda Norgrove was killed by US grenade, admits William Hague”
Guardian, 6 Dec.
.
@Jives. Bad spelling deliberate? Careful Now.
I agree that Nigeria’s borders are pretty arbitrary and there’s a lot of injustice towards e.g the people of the Niger Delta at the hands of central government forces. However pretty much every country in the world was artificially constructed by force at some point. I support the right to self-determination, that can cause wars too if it’s done arbitrarily (e.g partition of India into India and Pakistan) and sometimes even if it’s what the majority of the seceding region want – e.g the attempt by Biafra to secede from Nigeria led to a lot of deaths and i suspect any attempt by any other region (especially an oil rich one) could lead to war too. So i really don’t know what the answer to Nigeria’s problems is – i support the right of minorities to secede, but how to do it without the central government going to war on them, resulting in a lot of deaths?
There’s also the problem that if oil rich areas secede the other parts of the country may be left in poverty even if they get a government that isn’t utterly corrupt.
Today, in Libya, we see attempts to resurrect Cyrenaica in order to separate the rest of the Libyan people from their oil resources.
.
This poses a conundrum for the Libyan NTC, who are now contemplating the use of force against Benghazi. Just like Gaddafi did one year ago and for which he was brutally tortured and murdered.
.
Watch out Mustapha Abdul Jalil, former Gaddaffi Minister of Justice (and kidnap and torture).
.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17316264
Off topic I know, but an interesting article by Tim Walker appeared in the Telegraph, headlined: “Conservative MP: How the Queen secured my selection for the party”
http://tinyurl.com/7psarju
Does anyone share my view that the Monarchy should not be interfering in the selection of political candidates?
The Guardian ran a curious front page Wikileaks story on Shell in Nigeria, but no one else seemed to pick up on it and it was as if it had never been.
Roderick Russell Does anyone share my view that the Monarchy should not be interfering in the selection of political candidates?
.
And let’s not forget Prince Charles summoning ministers to meetings. He has met George Osborne more than once. One of the richest men in the country demanding private access to the chancellor, but it’s ok because he’s a ‘royal’.
.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343143/Ones-money-Why-Prince-Charless-secret-20-year-campaign-make-richest-king-history.html
.
Parasites and useless leeches. All they care about is money. That is not an exaggeration, they are all obsessed with it.
Courtenay Bennett: BACK UP With ADE OLUGBOTEMI:
This bitter description of Nigerian political distress could just as easily be applied to the UK or the US. The only difference between Nigeria and this country being that Africa retains a religious conscience, Muslim or Christian which enables respected commentators to speak out about what they know.
It would be unthinkable for a parallel statesman here, like Neil Kinnock for example to expose his knowledge of UK corruption, state terrorism, and subservience to monarchy and banking wealth, to wider public opinion. They would rather be filmed participating naked in Berlusconi’s orgies than pull the plug on the system that invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, subjugates Palestine, turns a blind eye to Chechnya, and fills the economies of Europe with bullet holes through illegal bond trading.
So cheer up Nigeria, you’ve got a long way to go yet before you become as bad as us.
One example of the utter disrespect for honesty that exists in the UK is the case of Roderick Russell above. It is clear to me that there exists in this country a system of recording secret information, consisting entirely of lies, prejudice, disinformation, slander, innuendo and malice about any citizens who dare to challenge the secret corruption of our state system.
Mark Golding, who has sources within the system recently found some trash about me on the system which he disguised as Biblical myth. No. The information on the system to which lower system scum like Mark are able to gain access through former colleagues is complete lies and trash. Do you think that our establishment would allow public servants, military men or politicians to glimpse truth? As a source of knowledge, the UK plc secret information system is all disinformation, designed to discredit the truthful amongst us.
Meanwhile since Libya it has become clear after the 1000 tonnes of bombs and alliance of alqaida mercenaries and UK and French special services mercenaries that our establishment values and trusts political Islamists, Zionists and other fundamentalists far more than it trusts us.
Mark, it reminds me of the picture of the monkeys, one extruding a sausage of poo and the other holding it carefully and putting it in his mouth. Just because you get access to secret information from time to time does not mean, because it is classified as secret, that it is any tiny part of the truth.
@ Guano,
” Courtenay Bennett: BACK UP With ADE OLUGBOTEMI:
This bitter description of Nigerian political distress could just as easily be applied to the UK or the US. The only difference between Nigeria and this country being that Africa retains a religious conscience, Muslim or Christian which enables respected commentators to speak out about what they know.
It would be unthinkable for a parallel statesman here, like Neil Kinnock for example to expose his knowledge of UK corruption, state terrorism, and subservience to monarchy and banking wealth, to wider public opinion”
I agree – it is what it is ( and – how many of us really do understand?)
@ Guano,
” So cheer up Nigeria, you’ve got a long way to go yet before you become as bad as us.”
This is the kind of point that I would invite everyone else to debate; then I will now say – good night.
Someone earlier was chiding Craig for flying. They should have a go at Obomber. He is taking Soaraway Dave to New York in Airforce One for some stupid diner meal. What does this say for these puerile and foolish ‘leaders’.
.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2113357/Come-fly-David-Cameron-world-leader-invited-Air-Force-One-President-Barack-Obama.html
@ Duncan,
“There’s also the problem that if oil rich areas secede the other parts of the country may be left in poverty even if they get a government that isn’t utterly corrupt.”
Here is the irony. Colonial powers welded together countries, such as in Libya or Nigeria. Nigeria had a civil war and tried to split back to its natural/ethnically defined lines – but somehow Nigeria was able to remain as one geographical entity to this day.
In the post-colonial era, Libya was able to continue as a single geographical entity. The West saw the oil, and noted a looming threat to US dollar dominance, then fuels an insurrection. The three main parts of Libya now slowly but surely are fighting to revert to their historically defined divisions. Maybe the oil rich East of Libya will one day succeed to leave the rest of Libya ( as we know it today) all the poorer by reason of this division, and the West all the richer for having engineered the process.
http://eamb-ydrohoos.blogspot.com/2012/01/global-debt-crisis.html
It was me, Mary, and I ain’t taking it back, it is a no brainer that does not even need discussing, especially not here, were commenters are educated above average, dare I say well above.
David cameron was never green, as for our American friends top Dumbo, he’s no different than the unassuming majority who just can’t let go off unecessary flying, business or otherwise. One day, when the state cannot afford to subsidise airtravel anymore, people will have to realise that they are being allowed to have a tax excempt dump on the backs of all of us.
Green? David Cameron and Clegg? what an utterly macabre joke that was from the start.
I can hear our childrens children applauding, with tears.
Sam has misconstrued the meaning of my comment. I meant that once the NHS has been privatised, it will disappear as we know it within three to five years. Then the people will have a wake up call but it will be too late. It can never be reconstructed.
.
I have worked in the NHS and have also been a patient on several occasions. I have experienced nothing but loving kindness and professionalism from all ranks from consultant to health care assistant, from cleaner to ward sister, from physiotherapist to physician and so on. The managers who arrived under NuLabour however are another story.
.
Get ready to fund those private health insurance premiums.
@Courtenay – yes, very true. Same goes for Iraq where the US and its allies back maximum autonomy (and some of them even independence) for Iraqi Kurdistan for the same reason – the smaller the state their oil companies are negotiating contracts with, the more leverage the oil companies have and the better the deal they’re likely to get (see ‘Fuel on the fire’ on this – greagt book)
I would like you all to understand that the shooting rampage in Afghanistan by an American soldier who was part of the NATO force, armed by NATO, clothed and fed by NATO, etc had NOTHING to do with NATO.
!!
.
‘The ++apparent++ killing of 16 Afghan civilians by a US soldier came “out of the blue” and had nothing to do with Nato operations, the UK ambassador in the country has said.
.
Sir William Patey, who retires from the job next month, told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend that the shooting of villagers in southern Afghanistan was a “completely out-of-the-ordinary event”.
.
He said: “It’s obviously clear from what we know so far, and we obviously have to await the outcome of an investigation, that this looks like the apparent act of a single individual and is no part of any Nato/Isaf operation. So we proceed in that context.
.
“This is not something that has characterised Nato/Isaf’s presence over the last 10 years in Afghanistan. It’s a unique event, out of the blue.”‘
.
http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/killing-of-civilians-not-by-nato
.
Also note the use of the word ‘apparent’ in this corporate media report. The Afghan villagers are either dead or they are alive. Afraid that they are dead Sir William.
Note –
.
‘In a separate incident, four Afghans were killed and three wounded on Friday when coalition helicopters apparently hunting Taliban insurgents fired instead on villagers in Kapisa province in eastern Afghanistan, according to Abdul Hakim Akhondzada, governor of Tagab district in Kapisa.’
.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/world/asia/afghanistan-civilians-killed-american-soldier-held.html?_r=2
The story has changed now. It is said that three drunken soldiers carried out the killings. They even put chemicals on some of the bodies and burnt them.
.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/11-0
.
There are gruesome pictures on the BBC website.
“The story has changed now.”
.
Funny how that always happens in the media – I bet even the current version is untrue – drunk soldiers murder civilians with their service weapons, burning corpses to hide evidence, then one of them sobers up and confesses, fingering his two mates? Yeah, sure.
.
More like Afghan police called to reports of shooting, police get fired upon by automatic weapons and call in US, forces arrive and perps think they’re safe, ‘cept the Afghans went straight to the media. Naughty Afghans.
.
Still, the victims families can take comfort from the fact that the perps will be facing the full force of US justice. Just like US Marine Frank Wuterich, found guilty of massacring 24 civilians in Haditha. He got a full 12 weeks in the slammer with no parole.
@ Downwiththisortofthing,
The lives of Afghans do not count for the US/NATO.
Mary commented on the observations:-
“.‘The ++apparent++ killing of 16 Afghan civilians by a US soldier came “out of the blue” and had nothing to do with NATO operations, the UK ambassador in the country has said.”
And
“Sir William Patey, who retires from the job next month, told BBC Radio 4′s The World This Weekend that the shooting of villagers in southern Afghanistan was a “completely out-of-the-ordinary event”
Sir William seems to be making his comments from a different planet. Surely, it is the killing of multitudes of civilians over the years ( when drones being operated from afar can’t distinguish between a celebration with shooting at an Afghan wedding party – from the ones who are active in the resistance) that serves to sustain the spirit of Afghan resistance. When a man loses his entire family – or – a woman all her children to NATO bombs from on high – what does any rational person expect to reap but resentment, hatred and resistance. The high levels of civilian casualties over the years, surely must have provided sound reason for more Afghans to embrace the resistance movement.
It is so obvious that the Afghans simply do not want the “invaders” in their country. But, as we all know, we must stay there until in a truly civilized way they all embrace our democracy.
the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier sets sail on its final voyage Sunday.
…
The ship is effectively a small city that frequently needs repairs because of its age.
…
The problems are so notorious that sailors reporting to work aboard the Enterprise are often given joking condolences.
…
The Enterprise is heading to the Middle East on its seven-month deployment, where it will be on standby in case of conflict with Iran.
…
The ship, among the first to respond after the Sept. 11 attacks, won’t be turned into a museum like some other carriers.
.
The full article is something else, invoking the movie Top Gun and TV series Star Trek, how the ‘Big E’ is an important American cultural icon etc.
.
Fancy sending a hobbling old bucket that’s about to be scrapped to a potential 21st century war zone. Seems like the perfect target for Iran now eh?
.
I can see lots of angry yanks on TV demanding revenge for the unprovoked sinking. I see Obama’s approval rating soar as he orders attacks. I also see happy navy chiefs saving hundreds of millions of dollars in decommissioning fees.
.
A seven month mission takes us all the way up to the November US presidential elections. Just all one big coincidence I’m sure.
.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/10/worlds-first-nuclear-powered-aircraft-carrier-big-e-makes-final-voyage/
America is run as a war economy. Less war…less economy.
From Sky News:-
“The gunman, reported to be an Army staff sergeant, returned to his base after the spree and is said to have turned himself in. US officials have confirmed he is in custody.
Gul Bashra, the mother of the two-year-old who died, told the Associated Press: “They [Americans] killed a child, who was two-years-old. Was this child a Taliban [member]?
“Believe me, I have not seen a two-year-old Taliban [member] yet. There is no Taliban here. They [America] are always threatening us with dogs and helicopters during night raids.”
Another man said 11 of his relatives, including his children, had been killed in the shooting which took place in the Panjwayi district.”
So said – so done – more hatred, resentent and war. So sad.
Hague is being sued by human rights lawyers, Leigh Day, over UK complicity in drone attacks in Pakistan.
.
http://www.leighday.co.uk/News/2012/March-2012/High-Court-Challenge-to-Hague-over-UK-complicity-i
.
{http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17335368}
Hague sued over US drone strikes in Pakistan
US drone attacks have killed militants and civilians
.
Human rights lawyers are to sue Foreign Secretary William Hague over the alleged use of intelligence in assisting US drone attacks in Pakistan.
.
The case is being raised at the High Court in London on behalf of Noor Khan, whose father was killed in a US strike.
.
Lawyers from Leigh Day and Co say civilian intelligence officers who give information to the US may be liable as “secondary parties to murder
/…
“High Court Challenge to Hague over UK complicity in CIA drone attacks
11 March 2012
Leigh Day & Co have announced that they will be issuing formal legal proceedings this week against the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague, acting on behalf of Noor Khan, whose father was killed last year in a drone strike on a Jirga – or council of elders – in North West Pakistan”
I predict that this case will reveal as much corruption in the British judicial process as did cases such as the one(s) concerning Diego Garcia and BAE.
Not to forget “Stephen Laurence” – but in the end some justice was finally done. In his case it was about injustice done to an individual and his family. That type of injustice is on a wholly different scale than deaths that also impact the “national interest”. So, the difference here is that when the “war machine” needs to be defended ( as it will be in this case) – then all the stops are there of “national intetest” – redacted statements – distorted rulings – and in the end – no justice!
But – let’s see….huh?
Yes, false national boundries go a long way towards explaining current instability and bloodshed in Africa and elsewhere. Not to mention the continued meddling by “neo-colonialists” intent on raping these places for their resources.
.
But don’t forget to blame also those currently in charge in those countries. The local dictators, strongmen, weasels and thugs. If these people can’t get together a moral vision, pride or sense of purpose that goes beyond enriching themselves and their immediate tribe then no system in the world is going to improve things.
.
Sounds idealistic? Well, yes. Without some shared ideals and agreement among the people and the government, no system is going to work. It’s what is so depressing about current affairs in The UK and The US. The politicians here also seem to have lost whatever used to hold the game together. They either don’t agree on the rules any more so the system becomes gridlocked, or only agree that anything goes in terms of ripping off the rest of the tax payers to feed their own gang or base.