Of Anthems, Flags, Currencies And Nationhood
The candidate who was offering himself to the Ghanaian electorate to be voted in as president for the republic based his entire claim on the proposition that the root of Ghana's problems could be traced to the day the 'pound' ceased to be legal tender in the country. "I will bring back the pound" the gentlemen promised and in his television advertisements, he reminded Ghanaians of those days long gone when one could walk into any Post Office and place an order for anything anywhere in the world. Many people smiled and those who were sophisticated in the ways of the world gave an indulgent chuckle and went about their ways.
The gentleman of course could have said that he intended to make the cedi (which is the currency of the country) into a convertible currency but he knew that even if that were possible by some magical manipulation, the people of Ghana would find it impossible to believe. He knew that he could touch a very responsive chord in the people by taking their minds back to the days before independence without actually saying so.
It is an unmentionable fact that for the majority of the people in the West African region, independence from the colonial masters has meant worse living conditions than they endured when their countries were colonies. Unfortunately, this particular emperor is likely to walk along in his new clothes forever because the innocent children who might point out his nakedness have only the word of their elders to state what life was like and no brave person who knows will dare say that independence has meant disaster for our people. Such a person immediately becomes a neo-colonialist and being the worst insult that can be thrown at any true nationalist, the smear is not likely to be wiped off for generations to come and therefore everybody nods wisely still to the refrain that Africa's problems lie in imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism
But then what has 'nationhood' meant to countries in the sub-region? The white governor with his funny helmet was sent packing, a new flag, a black person 'in Government House, a national anthem of our own, a national airline (which never runs on time and makes losses every day) a national shipping line (ditto), a national currency (most of the time not worth the paper it is printed on), and rapid promotion for those who happened to have been middle range officials before the big day. Of course it also means that Equatorial Guinea with its one million or so population had an equal vote at the United Nations and other world bodies and we all citizens felt as proud as any peacock seeing our Prime Ministers and presidents drinking champagne with other world leaders we used to hold in such awe. A tremendous filip to our self-esteem.
Major development programmes were launched and often flopped as rapidly as they were dreamt up. We built roads, we imported cars at a rate that choked our towns - all became cities and even more important, we suddenly acquired more captains, majors, colonels, brigadiers, generals etc than we could count. No self respecting African nation could do without a properly 'well-equipped and well trained standing army even if nobody clearly explained who our potential enemies were that we needed to be defended against.
Little decisions affecting the life of the villages which used to be taken by the inhabitants themselves had to be taken now in the capital. The structure of local government that existed - crude maybe and unsophisticated possibly but still existed and without which no democracy can ever exist, was rapidly dismantled. This centralisation of power is even more rapid when the military are in power as they have been for the greater number of years since independence, for soldiers can only survive on unchallenged authority.
As General Buhari kindly explained to a reporter recently, "in the military 'we' is mutinous" ... and one might add trying to gather ideas from the people is treasonable power comes from commanding officers and they are meant to be obeyed without question.
One of the saddest actions taken by the military authorities in Nigeria now is the cutting down on the number of local councils, which was said to be necessary as cost-cutting measures and have been hailed as such. Thus again the country's rural dwellers, the bulk of the nation that bear the brunt of every lunatic decision taken at the centre cannot even have any control over the state of hygiene in their villages and hamlets. In the meantime, the hard work they do on the farms battling the elements yields even less and less profits because the 'independency currency' buys less and less. Is it any wonder he tells his children that whatever they do they should not stay in the village with him, "go to the town, join the army, you might become president one day" and such exhortations have turned out to be worthwhile.
It is time to face the taboo subjects of African politics ourselves. it is difficult to deny the charge for example that Africans cannot rule themselves. A quarter of a century after we took charge of our own destinies, the unpleasant fact is that the majority of our people endure a worse fate than before independence.
Many people point to countless individuals in the sub region who excel in their chosen professions by all acceptable standards, but how come that the existence of all this individual brilliance has not produced a workable formula?
The acceptance of military rule as the only alternative to instilling discipline in public life of many West African countries is an admission that we have not moved very far from primitive animal existence
