NIGERIA A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF A FAILED STATE

On January 23^rd, 2014, I posted the above picture on my facebook page, to my surprise, I saw lots of comments and annoyance of Nigerians pointing to one direction; that is Nigeria is a failed state.

What is a failed state? According to the Fund for Peace, a failed state is a state perceived as having failed at some of the basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government.

The concept of “state failure” focusing on three gaps mainly: Capacity, Security and Legitimacy. Any country or countries that is not able to provide these three, is in the process of failure.  Capacity, when state institutions lack the ability to effectively deliver basic goods and services to its population is a failed state. Security, when the state is unable to provide security to its population under the threat of armed groups is also a failed state. Lastly, Legitimacy, when a “significant portion of its political elites and society reject the rules regulating power and the accumulation and distribution of wealth is also and indices of a failed state.

Going by the concept of state failure, Nigeria as a country is a perfect example of a failed state. In term of capacity, Nigeria is found wanting in this direction, the government and leadership of our beloved country have failed the citizenry to effectively provide the basic goods and services to her teaming population. In term of security, Nigeria and Nigerians are under the threat of militia groups, Boko Haram, Cult groups, etc. On legitimacy, the records of all our political elite are not good to write home about, corruption is the order of the day, it is only in Nigeria that you will find a civil servant that earn a salary as a millionaire!!!   

Corruptions have eating deep into the leadership of the country to the extent that it will soon be promulgated into law! And anybody found wanting of been righteous will be executed. It will be recalled that on Tuesday, 29, October, 2013, in Abuja while declaring open the 54th annual conference of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) with the theme, “Institutions, Institutional Reforms and Economic Development”. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ebele Goodluck Jonathan, said: “When you talk about corruption, the private sector is involved; the public sector is involved; even the individuals including other societies, and I wouldn’t want to mention names so that I will not be attacked,”

The definition of a failed state according to the Fund for Peace is often used to characterize a state with the following characteristics: Loss of control of its territory, or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force therein erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions, an inability to provide public services and inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community.

Nigeria government is a ‘pady-pady ‘ government, the recent examples is the case of Stella Oduah, Nigeria Aviation minister who   enmeshed in a  N255million armoured cars scandal in which she was accused of compelling an agency under her supervision, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to buy her two exotic bullet cars at clearly inflated prices.

Common characteristics of a failing state include a central government so weak or ineffective that it has little practical control over much of its territory; non-provision of public services; widespread corruption and criminality; refugees and involuntary movement of populations; and sharp economic decline.

In Nigeria, the rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer . It is only in Nigeria, you will see that only the children of elites, either serving government officials or ex-political this or that are at the top of the ladder. If you are not from a very influential figure in Nigeria, or well connected to corridors of power, forget about it; because your rise to affluence and power is attributed to parental, governmental or family influence.

 Typically, the term means that the state has been rendered ineffective and is not able to enforce its laws uniformly or provide basic goods and services to its citizens because of (variously) high crime rates, extreme political corruption, an impenetrable and ineffective bureaucracy, judicial ineffectiveness, military interference in politics, and cultural situations in which traditional leaders wield more power than the state over a certain area .