INTRODUCTION-
Before ever the white man happened to us Africans, governance was a small scale. But it was more just, effective although limited in scope than what we have today. The contact with the West destroyed Africa’s own legitimate institutions and structures of authority. The initial military triumph of European power over the local rulers was itself enough of a strain on the historical prestige of indigenous monarchies and institutions of morality. That triumph was followed by decades of European over-lordship with policies deliberately calculated to change the nature of Africa’s political process forever. The new religion coming simultaneously with the new order helped psychologically and spiritually to pacify and distract the people from the political rape which was eliminating their pre-colonial values.
One cannot therefore give adequate account of the root failure of governance in Nigeria without looking at history, in the colonial past where the seed of treachery was planted. The leadership stress in Nigeria is partly symptomatic of the failure of transplanted organ of governance and morality.
We are often told to quit blaming colonial imperialists for our homemade woes and self-inflicted wounds. We are told that it is not enough excuse to blame the ex-imperial powers because these imperial machinations happened in Asia, but the Far East or South East Asia has had a different result. In Hong Kong, in Singapore and Malaysia even India and Pakistan, it seems that they have survived better.
Good advice! Our type of misfortune can therefore not all be laid at the feet of imperialism. We surely need to blame ourselves for our many faults and defaults, but we must be allowed first to pursue our suspicions where they lead us especially when we have prime suspects who have motives and means.
The bad example set by colonial power was copied and continued as Nigerians succeeded the colonialists not as leaders championing the rights and the development of their own people but as Nigerian colonialists sitting in the chair of Moses.
That is why despite its world-wide acclamation as the best form of government, there are misconceptions about this phenomenon “democracy” in most African nations. Its relationship with development in the Continent has been a problematic one. After more than three decades since most African countries began to gain independence, there still exists a vacuum in the Continent, with regard to development. While some countries of Africa (Botswana, among others) have witnessed commendable success in the practice of democracy, the overall scenario is one of dismal failure.
Nigeria for instance will be disqualified if a rigorous definition of democracy were applied, that is extending the definition beyond mere holding of regular elections. That is why 14 years into the Third Millennium we are still falling from palm trees while the rest of the world hoists their flags in the space.
This work in seeking to establish a working relationship between democracy and sustainable development pays attention to Ebonyi State. It reviews the history of the State since creation with particularly reference to democratic dispensation from 1999. It appraises progress and challenges, and proposes strategies for achieving sustainable development in the state. The primary objective of this work is to provide ethical guidance to policy-makers, planners, and development practitioners in Ebonyi State.
This work has been divided into six parts. The first part provides a general introduction to the study decongesting democracy of too many expectations and the second part examines the relationship between Democracy and Sustainable Development. Whereas Part three examining a brief historical background of Ebonyi highlights State’s development strategies from 1999 till date and part four highlights factors raping the state’s democracy of stamina. Part Five focuses on the proposed strategies for sustainable development in the State. Finally, part Six draws a conclusion to the study.
DEMOCRACY- ILLUSIONS AND REALITIES
Ideally, democracy is seen as ‘rule by the people’. Joining the two Greek words, “demos- people and cratia- rule,” we will have Abraham Lincoln’s famous, classic definition of democracy as “government of the people, by the people and for the people”.[1] Such a definition makes democracy the best inclusive system of rule. But if democracy is all that inclusive as the definition appears to portray, then I have not seen it neither do I believe nor be able to be persuaded that people knowingly and willing govern against themselves. However, if Donald Rumsfeld logic[2] has taught us anything, it is that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
The Greek city state of Athens is usually singled out as the most shining example of democracy in European antiquity. But we have to explain out clearly that the Athenians never pretended that by democracy they meant rule by all. Emphasis was on many as contrasted with few. The term demos had its evolution. Originally it refers to people of the countryside, the common (Latin plebs), as opposed to polites, a member of the city (polis),a “citizens,” a freeman (Latin civis). Gradually demos came to refer to the entire population. But curios enough, in the peak period of Athenian democracy (in the time of Pericles {495-429BC} the demos had in practice became synonymous with polites and demokratia, rule by the people, in reality meant rule by the “citizens,” that is by the adult male members of the polis- community. Excluded were women, children, every other person from outside the city, aliens, slaves and all the adult males who had been convicted of crime.
Furthermore, the polis, which was considered the natural content of Athenian democracy, was expected to be moderate in size. Ideally, the total number of adult males citizens would be 5, 040 (1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7).[3] The reason for this was that in a democracy the citizens had to be easy to assemble and they had to know one another. Again, in a larger population it would be impossible for the people to participate directly in the process of decision making as it would be impossible for offices to go round. The very concept of polis and “citizen” therefore excluded the majority of the Athenians from participating in a rule that was supposed to be by the people.
Whereas the Athenians restricted the concept of demos, modern democracies claim that they have made the concept inclusive and therefore that the rule is actually by the people. David Beetham, had sought to isolate the three core ideas that embodied the historical conception of democracy as “rule of the people” and equates it with “popular control” and “political equality.”[4] This same approach was adopted by Axel Hadenius who arrives at a conception known as ‘political democracy,’ “which holds that public policy is to be governed by the freely expressed will of the people, whereby all individuals are to be treated as equals.”[5] And Michael Saward argues that all people are equal in some important respect since it follows from this, that all should be treated equally in certain specific political respects,”[6]. Most of us were taught the Lincoln’s rhythmical definition of democracy in the primary school.
Yet, Western democracy in practice has never been what it claims to be- rule by the people. Athenians democracy, with all its limitations was nearer to the ideal than modern democracies. Political theorists accept that democracy defined as government by the people is but an ideal that may never exist in reality. “if we take the term in its strict meaning,” writes Rousseau, “no true democracy has ever existed nor ever will… Were there such a thing as a nation of Gods, it would be a democracy. So perfect a form of government is not suited to mere men.”[7]
I have no doubt that Dahl like most theorists of democracy while asserting that no ideal democracy has ever existed nor will exist still insists: “To deny the term democracy to any regime not fully democratic in ideal sense would be equivalent to saying that no democratic regime has ever existed. Language so purified is inconsistent with usage in other domains of ideal value, such as justice, beauty, love and virtue.”[8]
Yet Dahl ought to understand that while perfect love is an ideal beyond the reach of normal human beings, it is dishonest to call ‘egoism’ love with the excuse that ideal love does not exist in this world. Defenders of the so-called democracies in the West know that the rule is not by the people. They know that the rule is often against the people.
Democracy so seen as rule by the people has therefore some bogus claims. It claims to be “rule by the people” which upholds belief in autonomy or self-determination for individuals and groups which they belong. Such usage according to George Orwell has made the word, ‘democracy’ a tool of propaganda. According to him, “…the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way”[9] .
I have chosen to highlight these ideological pitfalls not to deny that some countries have demonstrated more commitments to democratic ideals but to save us the energy of hair splitting argument of whether Ebonyi is democratic which irresistibly follows a discourse of this kind. The study is to show that democracy so defined and refined will exaggerate our expectations. I highlight in a short while.
First, political party is a prominent institution of modern democracy. It will be impossible to take all the individual interests into consideration in running of a state. Political party as against ties of kinship and friends in ancient societies has been recognized as an association that takes care of the group of citizens. But in reality, political parties are elitist clubs that pursue only the interests of those who provide the huge finances needed to run them. They are hijacked by entrepreneurs who see the entire nations and even the whole world as business firms or markets. Since modern democracies are run by the rich, modern democracies are in effect, plutocracies. They pay politicians to do the job for them but the main power brokers are usually never in government.
Secondly, democracy supposes to be the one through which the elected representatives make decision binding on all. But is that really so? Most decisions by which modern democracy are governed are made outside the legislative houses and the latter are usually used when necessary to give them some form of legitimacy. The representatives are not elected by the people. Those who compete for elective positions are sponsored by political parties. The parties select their candidates following their own criteria which people do not participate in drawing up.
Again, another value defended and promoted by democratic government is the equality of all citizens before the law. This is also illusory. The truth is that the only laws before which all human beings are equal are natural and divine laws. Even in the case of divine law, all human beings are equal so long as no human beings arrogate to themselves the exclusive rights of interpreting and enforcing the law. As regards laws of the state, treatment of citizens has always been discriminatory.
Finally, press freedom is important value linked to democracy. But this is an illusion too. Can the press be really free when major media organizations of today are usually not objective and are mere business associations which have to apply to the principles of the market economy, sometimes organ of propaganda and manipulation?
This means that citizen participation is not a paramount indicator of democracy, given that several other elements have been incorporated –bureaucratic control, freedoms of different kind, the independence of the judiciary, elites’ competition, representation. Robert Dahl therefore suggests that it is possible for each element to exist in the absence of the other.[10] Sartori Giovanni identifies hosts of characteristics or properties eligible for selection, not only majority rule and participation, but also equality, freedom, consensus, coercion, competition, pluralism, constitutional rule, and more.[11] David Held defines democracy as “…a political community in which there is some forms of political equality among the people.”[12]
The greatest gift of democracy is freedom not rule by the people. In practical reality, freedom begins with the basics; clean water and sanitary conditions, access to education, accommodation, health care and gainful employment. Freedom ensures absence of party persecution, violations and it encompasses the rule of law to safeguard all of these other fundamental rights.
Democracy is measured by commitment to democratic principles- equality of all, fundamental human rights, majority and minority rights. It is therefore in this measurement that we must admit that we are still at the bottom of democratic rung.
DEMOCRACY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
If massive structures and infrastructure mean dividends of democracy, then the Germans would have to apologize posthumously to Adolf Hitler during whose Nazi dictatorship Germany witnessed massive and magnificent infrastructural development and to South Africa under apartheid, USSR under Josef Stalin, Italy under Benito Mussolini and Libya under Muammar Gaddafi. These leaders never operated democracy and yet no keen follower of history can deny that these leaders developed their countries which are still evident today. Did the people own, elect, or had a say in these governments? Certainly no!
This brings us to the relationship between democracy and development. Development is seen as any and all kinds of activities or processes which increase the capacity of people or the environment to meet the needs of human beings, or to improve the quality of life of people.
In his book, ‘Development as Freedom, Sen Amartya argues that development is “a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy.”[13] He identifies growth of Gross National Product (GNP), or of individual incomes as means to expanding the freedoms enjoyed by the members of the society, and assumes that development requires the removal of the major sources of unfreedom which he identifies as poverty, tyranny, poor economic opportunities, systematic social deprivation, neglect of public facilities, as well as intolerance or over activity of repressive states.
Writing from a peace perspective, Akudo quoted Olukayode (2008:2) as asserting that development also focus on the relative distribution of scarce resources, which according to him, may include, not only material prosperity, but also, values such as national prestige, individual rights, equality and social justice. He suggests three main groups that cannot be separated from development, namely: the state, the civil society and the private sector.[14]
David Munro argues that for development to be sustainable, it must ‘continue’, or, its benefits must be maintained ‘indefinitely.’[15] On the other hand, sustainability is a vision of the future, which according to Stephen Viederman, provides us with a road map and helps us to focus our attention on a set of values, ethical and moral to guide our actions as individuals in relation to the institutional structures.[16]
Being skeptical about the concept, Goulet Denis collaborating the view of the trio thinkers of Elgin, Pirages and Rifkin, argues that sustainability calls for limits on consumption and resource use. Based on that notion, he writes that, “development as conventionally understood, requires continued economic growth, which may render sustainability impossible by further depleting non-renewable resources….”[17] Whether sustainability calls for limits on consumption and resource use or not, continuous economic growth cannot render sustainability impossible as suggested by Goulet. Rather, continuous economic growth gives leverage to sustainability without depleting any valuable resources. Continuous economic growth with credible and sustainable policies creates room for reserves in such a way that when there is economic crisis, a state with such policies keeps growing in its economy, and in its resources.
Indeed, sustainable development is through the collective efforts of all stakeholders involved in mapping out strategies for development. The civil society is a significant factor in development plan. However, the civil society cannot unleash its full potential in development when the needs of the people are not met; when there is violation of human rights, and when the civil society does not have the freedom to participate in decision-making with regards to development.
Achieving sustainable development, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2001), requires, “deep structural changes and new ways of working in all areas of economic, social, and political life.” OECD maintains that sustainable development has political, institutional and capacity implications. Most importantly, it notes that at the national and local levels, sustainable development may require ‘cross-sectoral’ and ‘participatory institutions’ as well as integrating mechanisms which can engage different actors, such as governments, the civil society and the private sector in developing shared visions, planning and decision-making.
The United Nations in its Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (December 11, 1987) defines sustainable development as the “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”[18] On the other hand, chapter two in Our Common Future of the United Nations (March 20, 1987) identifies sustainable development as a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investment, the orientation of technological development as well as institutional change are all in harmony to enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.
In establishing sustainable development, it is necessary to deal with every trace of conflict and grievances of the people in order to win the co-operation of the people. There has to be shared goal and vision which will give momentum to the plans. Moreover, there is need for transparency, collective decision-making, with an integrated plan and action. The frameworks for the strategic plan have to be based on a long-term vision with a clear time frame agreed upon by the stakeholders.
There is a connection between democracy and sustainable development. Against repressive governments which may also inspire massive infrastructural developments at a point in time, democracy is a continuum. It creates freedom for continuity of shared vision and values and is longer than a regime and person. That is why for there to be a sustainable development in a democracy, continuity of inherited action plans must not be separated from new opportunities.
EBONYI AND THE STRUGGLE TO STATEHOOD
More than other sorry stories like Guinea scourge, it was the aborted FIFA U-20 championship of 1995 that brought the world closer to Abakaliki. The cholera outbreak in the South Eastern cluster city was just enough reason for FIFA to deny Nigeria the hosting right with the argument that Abakaliki was close to Enugu, one of the centres for the championship.
Years before creation, Ebonyi was a rural savanna inhabited by people whose humanity was often doubted. The people lived in obscurity lacking A-Z of everything- access roads, portable water, electricity, medical services, and education- practical basis of freedom. With subsistence production of rice and yams as only means of livelihood, the state had become a home where house helps, kids, street hawkers, labourers and street beggars were produced and exported to end users. The worst was the myth of inferiority sold to Abakaliki people by visitors to the state and neighbors who never believed that anything good could come from the Nazareth of Abakaliki. They were not wrong either because there was nothing on ground to argue against them.
Notwithstanding, Ebonyi people were of impeccable characters. They were hardworking, friendly, transparent, sincere, and honesty. They were humble to a fault prompting our envious neighbors to link these virtues to timidity.
At the heart of the backwardness was their late contact with the Whiteman which denied them education and subsequent privileges accruing from it. This explains the marginalization which the people of Abakaliki province suffered till October 1996 when Ebonyi State was created.
At creation, everywhere deserved attention. The capital city was rustic, abandoned and neglected, the basic amenities were barely non-existent; education was dead and human resources to drive the new state simply below average; medicine was unorthodox; communities were cut off due to inaccessible roads; and the worst is that people had imbibed the myth of the inferiority and were not psychologically fertile to plant new ideology.
That was how the maiden government of Captain Walter Feghabor in spite of frustrating challenges of even without a take-off grant tried to make the state functional, opened up the state and inspired the people greatly to believe in themselves through his exemplary zeal and hard work. AIG Simeon Oduoye’s midwifery saw the state transiting from military to the 1st civilian government of Dr Sam Egwu on May 29, 1999. Dr Sam Egwu confronted human resources challenges and declared aggressive, free and compulsory education in both primary and secondary categories long before UBE was conceived. He built the state university and opened channels of overseas studies for human resources development. He brought in the best brains to lift the academic height of the university and inspired sense of pride in the people. He multiplied political positions, intermittently changing them to ensure that many had access to benefits of office, forcing many to become rich instead of growing rich.
His greatest legacy was the choice of Chief Martin Elechi as successor, a man who has the logic of 39-years old agitation for the creation of the state. In his mission statement Gov Elechi in 2007 vowed: “… to deploy my energies, talents and experiences to the task of deepening the cause of good governance, entrenching the culture of due process and best practices in public service; mobilizing the Ebonyi citizenry to participate actively in extending the frontiers of development of the state and leading the people by personal example to achieve the twin projects of infrastructural development and attitudinal change I commit myself to the consolidation of gains already made and diligently striving to improve on them”.
He went further: Your expectations of the new administration are indeed very high. I want to assure you that our zeal to serve you better is also on high voltage…Our problem is two-fold: To change our attitude to work and establish durable structures infrastructurally”.
His first assignment was to clean up the state civil service through Senator Chris Nwankwo Panel. In the education sector, the administration sustained the free and compulsory education of the predecessors and moved beyond to return of boarding system building 27 conventional colleges and 3 technical schools for boys and girls. He effected the release of N1.2 billion to clear the arrears of salaries and allowances owed to the staff of Ebonyi State Teaching Hospital and provided requirement for the accreditation of the courses of the university and commissioned the internationalization of the state university aimed at building world class academic infrastructure. There is the revival of scholarship scheme extending to post-graduate.
To open up communities formerly separated due to Ebonyi River to socio-economic relations, he built 36 bridges codenamed “Ebonyi Unity Bridges” with only 2 awaiting completion. He asphalted 1500km of rural roads, dualized 15 km of Enugu-Abakaliki from the PDP Secretariat to Onu-Ebonyi Axis and 3.5 Km of the Abakaliki-Afikpo road from Akanu-Ibiam Roundabout to the Mammy market Nkwagu. He constructed an ultramodern Staff development Centre, Abakaliki.
In solving perennial water problem, the government embarked on construction of Oferekpe and Ukawu at initial cost of N4.8 billion and N3.9billion respectively to competent Israeli firms and awarded a contract to revamp Ezillo water scheme at the cost of N900 million. And through MDGs, boreholes and small town water projects are ongoing too.
In agriculture, he built at the cost of over N1 billion 3 modern rice milling factories spread across the 3 senatorial zones. The administration sponsored two contingents of over 120 youths for practical training in modern farming techniques at the Songhai Farms in Benin Republic and empower them to set their own farms with credit package of over N200 million. He floated Tractor Hiring Services Company.
In health sector, government has disbursed the total sum of N1.9 billion to mission hospitals in the state to improve rural healthcare delivery. The government has also awarded contract worth N2.6 billion for the construction of 5 additional General Hospitals and renovate the existing ones. There is the United Nations’ award winning Mother and Child Care Initiative (MCCI), the brainchild of Her Excellency Chief Mrs. Josephine Elechi. The MCCI has thematic areas of Safe Motherhood Project; Vesico-Vaginal Fistula Project which has repaired over 1, 800 patients; Early Detection of Breast, cervical and prostate cancer; Rural Girl-Child Education; Youth/Women Empowerment; HIV/Aids; Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)
In the ICT, the state built and equipped a digital radio and television station. The administration in 2009 initiated the construction of a brand new State Secretariat complex comprising 11 blocks of 4 storey building at the new Ocho-Udo City at the initial cost of N11.2 billion. Opposite the new secretariat is Abakaliki International Market located on 54-acre land space to give beauty to the new satellite town. Determined to clean up the state, he also relocated timber shade and quarry cluster and permanently sited them through his enacted environmental law.
In consolidating the state, the administration continued the projects inherited from the previous administration like the State Trade Centre, the State Library Headquarters, the Ebonyi 5-Star Hotel and International Conference Centre.
And with the Attitudinal Change Philosophy of governance, the Ebonyi people are being greatly mobilized through social reorientation to adopt time consciousness, integrity in service, positive work ethics, environmental cleanliness and zero tolerance for violence.
Recently, the state entered into a contract with the World renowned POSCO Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd, South Korea for the procurement and construction of over US$1.14b of Ebonyi State Independent Power Plant (EBIPP) with a capacity constituting 9 units of 310 megawatts (MG) Open Cycle Gas Turbine of 2, 790 MG in the first phase. The project whose first phase is expected to be completed in 24 months will consolidate power supply in the state and annually make us more rich by N40 billion.
18 years down creation lane the tasks of state building has been rigorous, passionate, arduous. We do not need Hegel Whig interpretation of history, in the notion of perpetual progress towards ever greater freedom to feel that some grounds have been gained between AD 1996 and 2014. When we deny this we betray our prejudice but when we think we have arrived we betray our narrow-mindedness. The truth is that we are no longer what we were but we are not yet what we ought to be. And that is why the road ahead is so crucial.
CHALLENGES SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN EBONYI STATE
FEAR OF DISCONTINUITY
Our study so far reveals that continuity is a factor in sustainable development. This administration is widely acknowledged to have conceived many laudable projects more than it may complete before it expires. As the administration winds up, people are skeptical that next regime may choose to go the Nigeria way. Recent memory is littered with abandoned projects inherited from predecessors. Often, we see two transformers sited opposite each other by desperate rival politicians looking for cheap popularity.
I personally disagree with the belief that every democratic regime must complete its projects because democracy ought to be a continuum irrespective of which party or regime is on board. However, the pessimists are not completely wrong just as optimists are not totally correct.
BAD WILL
Development is a drama where every citizen is a character. It is a mirror where we look and see the weight of our responsibility. No less threat facing sustainable development in Ebonyi State is lack of patriotism that has befallen Nigerians. Bad will is appropriate term to describe deliberate behaviours inimical to statecraft demonstrate by individuals and leaders. We all seem to behave as if Ebonyi project is not our collective task.
Our political mindset is founded on unfair principles because it privatizes the benefits of office but socializes the cost of politics such as violence and pollution. With such exclusion, our political system generates disparities that in turn generate unacceptable levels of un-patriotism, prompting indirect wars against every sitting government.
Today there are politically motivated wars, cold or warm everywhere. To frustrate government we breed wars and sell them to willing group who have been living in peace. How do we quantify monies wasted to quench these wars in the state? From political logjam nicknamed ‘Abuja Group” to the unfortunate dark chapter in Ezillo- Ezza-Ezillo relation, we have enriched security agents in issues that were avoidable. We no longer exhibit civility when we disagree with ourselves.
Other indicators of un-patriotism include the sabotaging attitude of our indigenous contractors? Most if not all contracts awarded to Ebonyi indigenous bear the Ebonyi imprimaturs- substandard, shoddy, half-done, or abandoned. At the presentation of 2013 Appropriation Bill, I recall Gov Elechi decrying the frustrating attitude of some contractors.
The unpatriotic attitudes of the masses are no less worrisome. From vandalizing of public facilities, knocking down of electric poles, laying of pipes across newly built roads overnight, to burning tires on the road, name them. Nothing rapes a development of stamina than bad will. Bad will is a sin against statecraft.
LIMITED RESOURCES AND MANPOWER
Government effort notwithstanding, on material level, most Ebonyians readily admit that poverty and underdevelopment are regular vocabularies in our daily complaint. Likewise, those outside Ebonyi looking in say the same thing, albeit, with a qualifier. To them Ebonyi’s many problems are self-induced. This is often the argument advanced by those who are opposed to way resources are occasionally utilized on frivolities or huge amount devoted to shoddy jobs. This is the argument of the opposition. They refuse to accept that a state that has monthly share of federation account can be so indigent. To them, our state and the challenges we still face in development present unique paradox.
However, without invalidating some of the concerns, in fairness, Ebonyi is on the list of few states that receive least allocation from federation account. And with no industries in the state, the internally generated revenue plus insincere excuses of tax officers leaves government with meager sum. These are subject to statistics and analysis.
Our legitimate worry is subtle but growing trend of sub-standardization in human resources. The mass ignorance and illiteracy of vast Ebonyians makes it nearly impossible for the populace to see their problems clearly, let alone think of their solution. It makes them vulnerable, gullible and easy to confuse and manipulate. And hunger is at hand to help them stew in their own juice, unable to resist bribes from crooks too eager to give bribes for votes. Elections have become a uproar approval with naïve hypocrites, ignorant and clueless with eyes only on money parading as leaders. The corrupt crowds roar approval and sell their corrupt votes at a cost at times no more than a bowl of rice, a piece of stockfish and few naira notes.
At the grass root level, the ill-equipped and unprepared people are hurried into power as mediocrity is fast assuming statecraft. We have a state where everybody wants to be a politician. And we have politicians who know only the price of politics but not its value. Our education is certificate and not professionally-driven. Most of our education is limited to what our state university can offer. And with lack of specialty faculties like engineering, pharmacy in the state university, and the unwillingness of those trained overseas to return, the manpower to sustain the present development is in dire need.
By this pitiful litany, I cannot be implying that these anomalies do not occur elsewhere. But it is more critical to Ebonyi at the nascent stage of development.
TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN EBONYI STATE
To sustain our development or to push it in the right direction, many radical measures have to be taken. Do remember that the word ‘radical’ comes from the Latin ‘radix’ which means ‘root’. To do something radical means going to the root or being profound. We have a choice in our generation to either continue dealing with symptoms of our multifarious and entrenched challenges or we can make a very bold attempt at dealing with the root causes of our common challenges. I will propose only two radical approaches.
CONTINUITY AND CONSOLIDATION
For development to be sustainable, there should continuity of shared goal and vision which will give momentum to plans. Government ought to be a continuum of inherited action plans and vision while flexibly responding to evolving demands. When a government stops developing, it does not stagnate, it degenerates. Subsequent administrations must understand the logic of sustainable development-consolidation and flexibility. They must emphasize economy of production rather than consumption.
On multiple projects going on now, many heads tell us that they are not good but many hearts tell us we inevitably need them. We are split half and half. But for sustainability and our sakes, may we be split half and half but still follow our hearts. Getting visionary leadership who will follow the hearts to complete them may require going beyond our present way of choosing leaders to discovering unsung Socrates languishing in an unappreciated political platform.
Sustainability is made easier when there is sustained program to train basic manpower to drive those institutions. This may come in way of opening vital faculties like engineering in our state universities and arranging linkage program to upgrade its products to be able to man our industries. If we continue to rely on expatriates or few locally trained ones, pride employable poaching might frustrate our development.
VIBRANT PUBLIC MORAL CULTURE
Development without moral foundation somersaults. The main radical measure to be taken is a complete change in our value system. This might start with a degree of moral outrage. Our tradition that was strong on honour, honesty, bravery, integrity, tolerance, and hard work has been eroded by the destruction of its moral basis. Democracy in routing and discrediting the old values has not successfully established itself as an acceptable foundation for morality. Most people have jettisoned the traditional values without becoming really converted democrats but ending up in moral “no man’s land”. There is a cruel moral vacuum reigning unacknowledged but very effective in the land and affecting development in more ways than one. The ancestors are having their revenge for the Pyrrhic victory that democracy declared somewhat prematurely.
We appear to be on journey without map, in car that is out of control. Words such as ‘duty’, ‘obligation’, ‘judgment’, and ‘wisdom’ carry either a negative charge or no meaning at all neither do we have time for values like humility, modesty, discretion and restraint. At present, our values are primarily based upon money and power: the more of this the person has, the better he or she is. This obnoxious equation is based upon human weakness such as prepotency and ambition but wisdom begins when we understand that poverty should shame each of us and one of our many challenges must be its eradication which requires analysis of processes of impoverishment and enrichment. We may need to get our heads around new ideas such as limiting wealth and consumption.
To enthrone public moral culture government has the best role. Government should not all call us to be Good Samaritans, they should ensure that all roads to Jericho are safe so that travelers will not live in the fear of being waylaid. Democracy should adopt an open-ended approach that takes into consideration not only the liberal paradigm but also African values and institutions that can foster a local sense of democracy. This means that democracy can be pursued on different fronts simultaneously. Besides democratization of the state (formal institutions, such as judiciary, the public service, and the electoral system), democratization against the state (social movements and other forms of protest) and democratization apart from the state (in the workplace, in the community, and in the private sphere) are all integral parts of the overall objectives of introducing more stable forms of democratic governance.
Democratization of the kind will enable it summon courage to call spade a spade. Pressure on the ‘Ebonyi hippos’ to reform bad habit is low. There should be more political will to drain our ponds of hippos and hold every citizen to account. Our unconventional laws should grant freedom to constituents who want to hold their representatives to account. This will enable those who handle our public naira in the same spirit of reform to conduct business in the light of the day.
Hope is the faith that together we can make things better. Optimism is a passive virtue but hope is active. We must necessarily hope for a return to eternal values of governance. Patriotism means that those who rule must no longer rule for themselves but for all. Those who write must no longer write for their pockets but for general good. The masses that follow must no longer follow for themselves but for our common good.
A Paper Presented at the Lectures Organised to Mark 54th Independence of Nigeria and Ebonyi at 18 held at Women Development Centre, Abakaliki, Monday September 29, 2014)
[1] Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). The sixteenth President of the United States of America who in issuing the Proclamation of the Declaration of Negro-slaves, defined democracy to the government of the people, by the people and for the people”. (The Webster’s Dictionary p. 130)
[2] Rumsfeld in reacting to the report that there was no Weapon of Mass Destruction found in Iraq which was the basis of America invasion of Iraq argued that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
[3] M. I Finley, The Ancient Greece, Penguin Books, London, 1996, p. 134
[4] http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/191373/democracy-and-sustainable-development-in-nigeria
[5] Axel Hadenius (1994), “Democracy and Development” Cambridge University Press, p. 7-9
[6] Michael Saward (1994), “Democratic Theory and Indices of Democratization.” In Beetham David and Measuring Democracy., London Thousand Oaks, calif: Sage Publications p. 8
[7] Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract: Or Principles of Political Right, in Social Contract: Essays by Locke, Hume, and Rousseau, with an Introduction by Sir Ernest Barker, Oxford University Press, London, 1960, Bk. 3, Chap. IV, pp. 232-234
[8] R. A Dahl, Dilemmas of Pluralistic Democracy, Yale University Press, New haven, 1982, p. 7
[9] George Orwell, Politics and the English Language, 1946 in www.mytholyoke.edu/…/orwell46
[10] Robert Alan Dahl (1971), Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition, New York, Yale University Press. Pp.1-9
[11] Giovanni Sartori (1987) The Theory of Democracy, Chantham House, p. 187
[12] David Held (2006), Global Inequality: Patterns and Explanations, Polity, Cambridge. P. 1
[13] Sen Amartya, Development as Freedom, New York: Oxford University Press. 1999, P. 3
[14] Akudo Chinedu Ojoh, Opt. Cit
[15] David Munro cited in Akudo Chinedu Ojoh’s ‘Democracy-and-Sustainable-Development-in-Nigeria http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/191373/
[16] Ibid
[17] Ibid
[18] The United Nations Report on the World Commission on Environment and Development (December 11, 1987)
