Friday Sermon: How the Military Destroyed Nigeria

By Babatunde Jose

Political sophomores were in the First Republic, learning the art of bribery and election rigging. They graduated in the Military Government of Yakubu Gowon and post-graduated in the Second Republic. We now know of ex-political office holders living from hand to mouth. Any ex-top military officers in the same situation? –  Babatunde Jose Snr; Walking A Tightrope, 1985.

In the history of social change, growth, and development, very few countries have witnessed the kind of material exfoliation, the retardation of political advance, retrogression of its socio-economic development, wholesale political decline, and the erosion of the socio-economic fabrics of the post-colonial­­­­­ society.

To all intents and purposes, our decline into the abyss can be said to have started with the entry of the military into our affairs. This very conclusion was also arrived at in an interview in the Vanguard of 2^nd November 2021, by our venerable elder, Chief Phillip Asiodu, a onetime Super-Permanent Secretary in the First Republic. Our political development was not only truncated but many institutions which were built and nurtured by the colonialists and our founding fathers were jettisoned and destroyed.

The military were however, not without their good side. They developed infrastructure by fiat, among them the Tin Can Island port, albeit without a rail outlet. Avery costly oversight which is today haunting residents of Apapa and ports users. And the same mistake is being made today on the Lekki axis where we have the gigantic Dangote refinery and petrochemical, a free trade zone and a deep seaport. That road will soon get clogged and develop into another nightmare because of the non-provision of rail to service the complex.

The military also constructed interstate roads and some gargantuan projects many of which were however uncompleted till today.  But in terms of general development of the superstructure of our society, the military failed woefully, unlike their compatriots Ayub Khan in Pakistan and General Park Chung Hee in Korea, who were transformative leaders.

The introduction of a unitary structure was the beginning of our descent into the political abyss. This was followed by the abandonment of the development planning regime, which was the bulwark of our economic development. Development planning continues to work in India and some other postcolonial states.

This was exacerbated by the destruction of the civil service by the General Murtala Muhammed regime, through mass purge, ably aided and abetted by his henchman, then Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo, who later succeeded him.   It was at this crucial time in the life of the nation that the most vibrant newspaper in the country, which at the time was the largest circulating paper in Africa was nationalized by these ‘cave men’ in uniform.

Lack of planning would also translate into an absence of vision, abnegation of mission and collective values, and poor attention to the needs of the people. Since then, nothing seems to have gone well for a nation blessed with both human and material resources.

This was a nation that at one time was a net exporter of cotton with a thriving textile industry. A country where traders from Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and other West African countries come to trade, buying our goods to sell in their countries, including such goods as rubber slippers.

Nigeria has no reason to be poor because the country is blessed in terms of basic mineral resources, arable land for agriculture throughout the year, rivers and streams that could be dammed both for farming and power. Our poverty as a nation is therefore self-inflicted.

All we need is leadership with vision and commitment. Today countries like Bangladesh export textiles to Europe including the famous St Michael underwear to Marks and Spencers.

The military destroyed the civil service, which today has become the ‘evil service’ because of their mastery of the art of thievery and proclivity for chop and clean mouth. Only in this clime can one man carry out the Pension heist like Maina or evacuate 80 billion from the Accountant General’ office. Even the thief crucified with our Lord Jesus did not commit such a heinous crime.  I forgot to add that miracles still happen; snakes and other Anjonu reptiles eat millions kept in the accounts departments of ministries.

The growth of our economy after the Civil War was phenomenal and if it had continued along that trajectory, we would have been in a position to say ‘farewell to poverty’. But that was when the floodgate of looting of the national treasury was unleashed with fury and gusto by our kamikaze military bandits.

By 1975, we were assembling Peugeot and Volkswagen, and they were each producing 50,000 units. The idea was to increase the local content till such a time we would be able to achieve between 80 to 90%. Already by 1975, radiators, batteries (Exide by West African Batteries Limited, Ibadan) and brake pads by Ferodo, were being produced in Nigeria.

Peugeot was designated as the official government vehicle to defend the assembly plant. But later it was jettisoned for SUVs and other Shagari-type Mercedes. Even military chiefs started riding in BMWs and Land Cruiser SUVs. This never happened in India or Pakistan.

The whole arrangement was truncated: Volkswagen closed shop and Peugeot Automobile in Kaduna became comatose. The tractor factory, Steyer, in Bauchi suffered the same fate while the part manufacturers closed shop, including the car battery manufacturer in Ibadan. And Ferodo, the British brake company went back to Derbyshire, England.

Much later, other companies started packing their bags and baggage and left our shores; Michelin and later Dunlop both tire manufacturers left, yet we shamelessly continue to buy the tires they export to our shores: Cheeky devils! Yet our rubber remained an exportable commodity.

Nigeria started assembling cars before South Korea, now we are importing from Korea. What a reversal of fortune.

Another sorry case was the derailment of our pulp and paper industry. To actualize this dream of becoming paper manufacturers, the country planted gmelina trees that could be pulped in 7 years. Unfortunately, these trees were left to grow wild and later became the source of firewood. Yes, the paper industries, Iwopin, Oku iboku and Jebba mills were rendered moribund.

Birla Brothers, the Indian technical partners in the Jebba Paper Mill were made to leave the country but their factory in Kenya was able to start exporting pulp in the 80s. We would have been doing the same. What a country!

The multiplier effect was also lost. This was an industry that could have been manufacturing paper for exercise books production and for printing books for our bulging educational industry.

Another laudable project scuttled by our khaki boys was the Bauchi Meat project conceived by the late premier of Northern Region. It was a project with UNIDO as technical partner. The Bauchi Meat Complex had also completed arrangements to export beef to Britain and some European countries. This is what Australia and New Zealand have become noted for. No! We blew it. The Bauchi Meat company was not only somersaulted, but its meat was used to make suya by our very myopic leaders.

Another point emanating from this is that if we had replicated such industry all over the north, the issue of herdsmen would never have arisen because they would have been selling their cattle to the meat industry near to them.

A rather interesting case is the Lagos Metro line project. As far back as 1964 the UN in one of its reports advised Nigeria to build monorail mass transit in Lagos, from Ikeja to Ebutte-Ero. The Konigsberger Report as it was known, was incorporated into our development plan, and kept in view.  Then in 1976, RTP of Paris, after surveying cities of Africa, said Lagos and Cairo were ready for the Metro project, and started planning mass transit for Lagos and Cairo the same day. This was the origin of the Jakande Metro-Line project.

However, General Buhari came to power in 1984 and cancelled the Lagos Metro line project. A former Minister of Petroleum Resources and diplomat, Philip Asiodu, also confirmed that the state doled out so much to settle the contractors without constructing a kilometer of rail.

The Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority also said, “The metro-line project was scrapped in 1985 by Muhammadu Buhari at a loss of over $78m to the Lagos taxpayers.”

This was more than the amount required for phase one of the project, which the CBN failed to release. Investigation showed that as of the time of signing the metro-line contract, a naira was equivalent to about $1.5.

The metro line was designed to have 30 trains, each running 28.5km on raised concrete tracks from Marina to Agege. The 30 trains were expected to carry 88,000 passengers per hour to and fro.

In 1991 the Cairo Metro line was commissioned. The shameless Nigerian Government sent a delegation to the commissioning, with all the officials pocketing fat estacodes.  ‘Awon ala’inironu ara Galatia’.

Unfortunately, the same attitude to project execution has continued into the Fourth Republic. It is now taking Lagos State 17 years to construct the Metro line from Okokomaiko to Marina, 27 kilometers.

By the time the soldiers left (did they leave?) the economy was upside down and we had lost so much time that we were left behind by nations that started with us including those that started after us.

This is the sad story of the Nigerian situation: A story many of us witnessed, live and as participants. I wonder what we would tell our grandchildren, when they go to other countries and come home to ask us why our country is so different.

No doubt, what the ordinary man desires is food, clothing, shelter, and crude comfort. He desires educational facilities for his children and of course adequate electricity, health, transportation infrastructure and security. He is not and I repeat NOT interested in the power struggles among politicians, or ‘talokan? Who’s Obi’tuary is better or who is more Ati’kulate?  Let us hear word joor!

Good governance which results in rapid economic and social progress and improving standard of living and quality of life for the great majority of the people are what will lead to national cohesion and stability.

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend.