THE MANIFESTO OF A CHAINED AFRICAN YOUTH

Hi Friends,

So if I were a Leader in any African country, what would be my manifesto? What will that particular country be and mean to me? How would I see and cater to your people? What do you think your people would say about me at the end of the day?

I am no African leader; I am no believer in or advocator of a movement; I am no revolutionary or activist. I am just a youth with a foggy idea of what she wants, I am a girl soaked in the quietude of her grassroots, hoping for a big shot at having a life where dreams are spread out like a red carpet and walked on in grand style. I am a chained African with a big head for dreams but a small, frail mind for thoughts. But in spite of myself, I have dreams that don't belong to me; they belong to the polis of Nigeria, Africa where I come from; they belong to the populace who are scarred just as much as I am. And though I am chained and frail and in the backdrop of a society that does not look me twice in the eyes, I have my tongue wrapped around weak ideas and visions that may grow strong in the hands of those who wield the power to affect change. And God, I will talk, I will blare out my manifesto like a bad trumpet stringing out symphonies. Because though I am chained, I still got my voice.

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Image Source: Denver Art Museum

THE MANIFESTO

Take a pause and look around you, around your Nigeria, your Africa. What do you see? Oh, you think you see corruption and fund mismanagement hidden in the villas and street corners, or you think you see poverty, diseases, death shawled around the faces of people with quiet lives and loud manners? Well, what you see is nothing compared to what is subsumed within the solid bricks of our past and present existence. Like a tabula rasa with only a blank sheet to boast, Nigeria, and by extension, Africa has her real problems swept under the breaths of its people, with its stench sliding out like smoke out of a chimney.

Needless to say, I come from a family where problems and several anomalies dangle from the door lintel, brewing slowly but surely. And many a time, the roiling sound of these problems is hushed and cast in the shadows like it isn't there in the first place. But then, knowing full well how a good family leadership has helped the entire family to be able to look our problems in the face and tackle them head-on, I assume the same for Africa. I believe that if our leaders turn their eyes in the right directions; if they search deeply and not just stare, they will not only find the root of our sour grapes, but we will also be able to weed it out from the African soil. And were I to be one of these leaders, I would spare no time in matching a proactive research with conscientious actions.

And really, I do believe that I have already been able to identify one or two of these problems. The first of which I like to call THE MYTH OF DIFFERENCE. This is based on the innate belief carried around by most Africans and Nigerians like a plague, that our being different from others, in so many ways, should make us compulsively similar as a continent, as a nation, as an ethnic group, as a tribe. But I dare say, having same experiences or culture or food preferences or tribal marks with some other group of people we call kinsmen or kinswomen does not, in any way, indicate that any two Nigerians or Africans are alike. No doubt, conflicts and acts of corruption spring up because we do not recognise the fact that our ‘Africanness’ is, in fact, the basis of our shared humanity with others, and that the real difference between us lies in our belief system, our thought values, our individual lifestyle. We evaluate our similarities based on our appearances, our origins, our externalities and to be only “overdetermined from without . . . a slave of our own appearance”, as Frantz Fanon puts it, is, according to Henry James Jr., “a pernicious act . . . one which exacerbates the complex problem of cultural or ethnic difference rather than assuage or redress it.” So, it is due to emphasizing too much on our peculiarities and dividing ourselves into cell-like groups such as Yoruba or Ibo or Hausa or Idoma, Efik, Ijaw.... that we have managed to forget the one thing that is needful for change or development: that we, in fact, are Nigerians. Just Nigerians.

In lieu of this, I, as a leader will recognise and treat every Nigerian as an individual culture. Knowing that shitty things can happen when people feel their interests are subverted, I will ensure no one’s belief is treated as a sidekick. I may not subscribe to the variegated beliefs scattered all over, but I will respect them. When some Nigerians choose uncanny sexual paths, I won’t call it unAfrican, an abomination, as most African presidents do, thus breeding a sort of multicoloured identity trails in the country. I won’t assume all terrorist groups throwing bombs around belong to definable religious or political sects. Knowing these insurgents are made up of individuals, who believe they are fighting for a just course, as much as Martin Luther believed in his dream, would help me redirect my energy towards looking for ways to infiltrate their beliefs and divide them from within.

I won’t try to explain away a situation like unemployment or insecurity in a part of the country by using vague terms and explanations that are more dialogical than ideolectical. I won't dare to unite the differences between two tribes under the pretence of their being ‘brothers’, I will rather find these tribes a common ground on which their differences can stand, thus, preventing scores of people from being killed on both ends. For no reason would I become too obsessed with the agenda of uniting Nigeria that I forget that true unity lies in accommodating differences.

Image Source: 234 Forum

Also, I strongly believe in Nigeria’s need for a reorientation on the psychology of success and wealth generation It is no gainsaying that many Nigerians believe in making money by working hard, obeying the 8-5 rule, wearing white-collar shirts sweaty under the armpits; going round the clock re-creating lives that have already been created; reselling products that have been manufactured; exchanging concrete materials that, without them, would still manage to exist.
Despite the new re-orientation currently hitting the waves amongst youths about being entrepreneurs and creators, I still believe that if we are going to be anywhere near the movers and shakers of the world, there is still more work to be done.

Hence, as a leader, I will incorporate the startup of Idea Incubation Institutes all over Africa, where volunteers from all walks of life- professional and vocational experts, teach students about the basics of several fields, especially the roots of scientific inventions. These youths are then freely given space to think and create new ideas or rework existing ones. These ideas, after being presented, are groomed, if practicable, and brought to fruition. Not only does this keep the youths’ minds occupied, but one can never tell what groundbreaking invention or artistic newness would be done by any of the youths, for there is no limit to one’s imagination. One's imagination, really, is the source of wealth.

With regards to security issues, from our primordial past, it is believed that physical strength is the sine qua non for war victories, in so much that military force is mainly made up of people who match up to physical criteria. Apparently, this rarely obtains now, as cyber wars are more at the forefront. What we need then are military brains, mind drillers and technological experts. This is not to talk about how those who have lost their families in wars or terrorist attacks (the Internally Displaced Persons) are left with their sore scars open, making them potential criminals. Maheemat Saleh Haroun laments this crisis with regards to Chad, saying “Thousands of survivors need psychological support. We are 12 million people in Chad, and we have only one psychiatrist.”

Again, the art of war (more like the prevention of it), should not be the prerogative of the military force in Nigeria; it should rather be a service into which every good citizen is enlisted. There is a way everyone turns their backs to the primary cause of insecurity in their immediate environments. And if I am going to be an African leader, than I will make sure to make everyone their own policeman. The privileges that are so trampled upon by the likes of SARS will be removed from them and handed down to every one in a system that is relatively just and fair.

Related to this, by means of amending the old, decadent 1999 constitution, I should like to put an end to the warped idea of equality in the legal system. For what is needed is EQUITY. By founding the legal system and the constitution on equity, a person who embezzles public funds and another caught stealing a stray note would be prosecuted and tried based on the ethical circumstances surrounding the crime, not based on some stringent laws that eventually set free the defendant with the shrewdest lawyer. Only through equity would justice be done and security ensured.

Furthermore, countries such as the new South Sudan, Kenya, Congo just like Nigeria have in recent times experienced post-electoral violence, during leadership transitions. According to the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), “Political crises associated with transitions are still the main sources of insecurity on the continent . . . (due to) rivalries between strong political personalities backed by their political supporters who are also often partly defined by ethnic, regional, and religious identities.” In recognition of this fact, I would, as a leader in any capacity, influence Nigeria, even leading up to Africa, to adopt a new campaign style that is more focused on the candidates than on parties.

In effect, through intellectual speeches, debates and social media outlets, candidates would make their manifestoes known without any appeal to party collectivism. No more will there be street campaigns where parties help rally for their candidates a ‘fan club’, who in garnering support, exert their powerful influences on the electorates and spread propaganda in elaborate ways, thus creating a ruckus with those of opposing views. When these are done, the electorates’ views and choices would be personal, and they need not express themselves through face to face brawls. And isn’t it high time political parties were formed, not based on ethnic and religious considerations, but based on standing ideologies that form the parties' mantras?

Closely similar to this is my proposed idea of mobile leadership. A leader, just like I intend to be, should not just address issues regarding the country from a high tower, but regularly visit sites known for violent occurrences or natural disasters or corrupt practices or kidnapping or cyber crimes. And this should not be done like a sort of celebrity tour, with journalists and sirens hovering the air, but through a sincere identification with the plight of the people and a proactive step to avert the crises.

With no pretence about how religion ultimately influences practical, governmental issues in Africa, religious setups should, indeed, be seen not just as spiritual institutions, but sociopolitical and economic institutions too. On this note, in my tenure as a leader, I will set up a parastatal to deal with creating and managing an exclusive governmental database registering all religious establishments and defining their locations, structures, doctrines, societal impacts and tax capacities. This is not to infringe on the sanctity of any religious assembly, but rather, to make them accountable and responsible for the progress of the country.

I would like to conclude by pointing out that Flora Shaw created Nigeria with a mere utterance from her lips just as Berlin 1884/5, by drawing intangible lines on a well spread out map, created Africa in its likeness. Even the name, Africa, like the countries within it, is a farce, whose beginning can be traced to one Africanus, a Roman soldier. Inevitably, as long as we keep bearing this bequeathed identity, as long as we keep reducing the multiplicities of personalities present in this part of the world to one given noun: Africa, the bricks of our problems will keep building like the Great Wall in China. And every leader that steps a political post will, in the eyes of the majority, keep wearing the tag of a political lackey that bends to the direction of every wind. At the end of the day, I will be seen in this manner. No matter how much I push for progress, I will be viewed as a backward warrior retreating at the sight of every defeat. I don't want this. But were I a leader, this would definitely be how my people will react to me.

So, if my aforementioned plans and proposals will be enacted at all and seen in a good light by the people, then, the old Nigeria, the old Africa must wilt. And a new Nigeria must emerge, a new Africa must spring forth in its stead. One whose members must be, not on the basis of geographical contiguities or an organized setting, but on the basis of choice. A choice to be wholly Nigerian, to be African in every sense of the word. The choice to make a family out of a continent.