Soyinka, at Awo's lecture, queries Nigeria's nationhood
By Kodilinye Obiagwu and Seye Olumide
NOBEL Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, used the occasion of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation Centenary Lecture Series at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, yesterday, to replay the question of nationhood and Nigeria's quest for it.
His discourse: "Between Nationhood and nation Space" identified religion as an enemy of the state, although Soyinka confessed that "I have nothing against religion. I have visited the cathedrals, Shinto temples and synagogues in the course of my travels" but the "increasing reactionary role of the religious makes it one enemy of potential nationhood."
He pondered the question: Is Nigeria a nation today? And said: "My answer is: 'Not yet.' Is Nigeria aspiring to be a nation? The answer is: 'Unsure.' Can it? 'Possibly.' Should it? My answer to that is absolutely non-sentimental, purely technical and subjective: I prefer not to have to apply for yet another visa when I need to travel to Enugu or Borno."
He said that it would be difficult to fully get to the root of the damage done by religion "since the intervention of religion in nation being has been of the most savage, unconscionable, and increasingly intolerant kind. No other word for it but butchery, waste and devastation.
"We cannot continue pretending that, as long as any one religion aspires to dictatorship in secular matters, we can call ourselves a nation. A theocratic order is anathema to nation being, since it implies exclusion, not inclusion. Only the secular order embraces all. To religion all is deserving - spaces of privacy, protection, and cultural identity."
In a tour of nations of the world and governments, he said: "Nations do not exist as mere abstractions. A nation is a material implantation, and the building block of that growth is the human entity. The proof of this is both historical and scientific."
He pointed out that elections and constitutions are some of the agents, what he calls "protocols of association" through which a state can become a nation.
"Let no one misunderstand, from the attention we have given to the protocols of co-existence, that this alone is the route to nationhood. Constitution is only a part of the story. Sometimes there are events, even of a fortuitous nature, such as a concerted resistance to external aggression and domination, that can forge such organic bonds of common identity, survival and internal consolidation, that the nation space becomes, virtually overnight, a nation.
"An election, in very special circumstance, can prove such a catalysing agency. On June 12, 1993, this nation space did have a chance to claim the beginnings of nation being. Would we have emerged effectively as a nation? I am no prophet and have no interest in hindsight. I insist however that the nation claim did stand a chance of embarking on the route to affirmation. A democratic election, let me repeat again and again, is only one of the several means - as witness the very special case of post-apartheid South Africa."
He recalled that it was Awolowo who first designated Nigeria a mere "geographical expression," a statement, which according to Soyinka "many of our thinking compatriots understood exactly what he meant, and agreed. Others declared that this choice of expression, right or wrong, did give some serious food for thought, constituted a challenge to turn aspiration into reality."
Others, he said, went into a denial, and asked how "dare this politician diminish the stature of our dear own fatherland," the 'giant of Africa' with such a reductionist phrase!"
Soyinka stated: "To accept the possibility that the space designated Nigeria had not yet attained nation reality meant hard work, a determination of mind and energy. It implied the exertion of intelligence, the bond of collective desire and the ethics of inclusion. A nation is brought into being through the political - and inclusive - will of its citizens, not through mere naming."
The chairman of the occasion and Professor Emeritus Ayo Banjo noted that the intellect behind the lecture was the sort that would have pleased the late sage Awolowo, a man who loved to apply intellectualism in governance.
Banjo, said that Awo was "the man who transformed the old Western Nigeria and bequeathed to generations of its citizens the greatest gift that it is in the power of any individual to give - free and compulsory primary education. One can only imagine what would have happened if Chief Awolowo had had to transform the entire country in a similar manner."
He noted that one unquestionable attribute of Awolowo was his commitment to intellectualism and "it was his ambition to raise the intellectual rating of the entire country."
Banjo noted that perhaps what was more outstanding was Awo's rigorous application of the intellect to the act of governance.
He continued: "More than any leader before or after him, he devoted his life to finding principled solutions to the problems of Nigeria, and this he did, not merely by analysing the problems, but seeking to actualise the results of his analyses. The four cardinal programmes of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) were the fruits of such philosophical analyses.
Awo, he said, was a philosopher who plied his trade as a politician "resulting in the rigorous application of the intellect to every thing he did. Naturally, he gravitated towards other people of high intellect, and the result was that the Western Region fielded its First Eleven during Awolowo's period of Premiership of the Region. Such a level of sophistication is yet to be recaptured in the fragmented Region."
And he pondered: "The question that example of Awolowo forces us to ask is: Where in this country is the First Eleven being fielded? What has gone wrong with the method of choosing leaders in the executive branches and the legislatures?
"The celebration of the centenary of this hero should force us to insist on the vigorous and constant application of the intellect to the act of governance at every level in this country. Indeed, unless we do so, there is little prospect for us to survive as a nation in the present hostile world."
The audience listened with rapt attention as Soyinka demanded attention. Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, the Director of Events, once sneaked behind Soyinka at a point in the lecture to appeal for "all phones to be switched off. " But then, a few traditional rulers still took calls and the phones continued to ring.
The hall was filled but first, unarguably were the acclaimed disciples of Awo. The second are the intellectuals who came to listen to Soyinka. Then, there were the politicians. There was no standing room.
The special guest of the day the Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, stepped into the hall long after Soyinka's lecture and the vote of thanks. In his short remark, he said: "I want to thank you all for the support given to us during the struggle when we were in the trenches. I want to assure you that the faith you invested in this project would be brought to fulfilment in Jesus name.
"Continue to pray for us, we made it absolutely clear in our inaugural speech that there is going to be a positive change in governance in Ondo. Very soon you will begin to see the result. We are going to creatively engage in this business of meeting the expectation of our people."
Among the several eminent personalities at the NIIA were Ambassador Segun Olusola, Chiefs Bisi Akande, Segun Osoba, Chief G. O. K Ajayi (SAN),former minister, Ebenezer Babatope, businessman and chairman of Harvest Investments Limited, Dr. Bode Kalejaiye, Dr. J. O. Omotosho, Alhaji Lateef Shonubi, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, renowned artist Jimi Solanke, former education minister Prof. Tunde Adeniran and the Action Congress (AC) gubernatorial candidate for Ekiti, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
Others were former Chief of General Staff, Rear Admiral Mike Akhigbe; former Governor of Lagos State and chieftain of the Ekiti State Action Congress (AC); Ahmed Bola Tinubu; former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke; Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, the state's former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Dele Alake; Otunba Jobi Fele, former Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC), Dr. Olu Agunloye and Mr Bisi Adegbuyi.
Among the traditional rulers were the Alaperu of Iperu, Oba Idowu Baniru, Oba Oladele Olasore, and Prince Ade Adebanjo.
The Centenary Lecture is one of the events in the programme to mark the centenary birthday of Awolowo (1909-2009). The events started in January 2009 with the presentation of the book 'Awo on the Trail of a Titan.' The final event comes up on Friday in Ikenne, Ogun State.
It was like an old boys reunion as generations of Awolowo's disciples met. Old friends laughed out loud at the sight of one another. Names were shouted; the handshakes and embraces were vigorous, and telephone numbers were exchanged. Looking like people who wanted to show the younger ones "How Awo taught us to do it," Bola Tinubu and Ebenezer Babatope couldn't keep their voices down in an animated exchange that drew a small crowd to the delight of photographers. Similar scenes were replayed at the venue.
