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Nigeria: The 2012 Failed States Index and Nation-Building

Category: OpinionPublished on Monday, 09 July 2012 04:00Written by Zainab Usman

A cursory glimpse into any of todays social media networks such as Facebook or Twitter, where Nigerians

discuss topical national issues, might leave one with the impression that frustrated Nigerians are ready to tear

each other apart, with the cyber-salvos and hate-filled comments some throw at each other. Even some

erstwhile respectable public personalities havent been left out.

One in particular, in a recent write up, referred to Nigeria as a contrived forced marriage between the poor

husband (the North) and the rich wife (the South), effectively confirming his descent into this mudslinging. In

this ripe atmosphere thus, the Fund For Peaces (FFP) recently released annual Failed States Index (FSI) in

which Nigeria is ranked the 14th most failed state in the world couldnt have been more timely, at a critical time

when Nigeria is grappling with numerous socio-political, economic and security challenges threatening its core

foundation. The Index raises a number of issues regarding what it claims is Nigerias impending failure; onewonders whether the Index has sufficiently and accurately captured the peculiar nation-building challenges

bedevilling a country like Nigeria.

The Failed States Index (FSI) is an annual ranking of 177 countries compiled by the Fund For Peace and

published by the U.S. Foreign Policy magazine, which places countries on a continuum of most failed and least

failing states. Nigerias 2012 ranking at number 14 is the same as that of 2011, though its status has been

upgraded from an amber Warning last year, to a red Critical this year, only one step away from the deep

crimson Alert, the exclusive domain of truly collapsed states like Somalia and the Democratic Republic of

Congo (DRC). The methodology of this ranking is based on 12 indicators spread over three categories namely:

social indicators, economic indicators and political and military indicators. Of the 12 indicators however, none

seems to have sufficiently captured citizens (of these countries) perceptions of their relationship with the state,

with each other and other elements of national identity, a key factor in state failure.

In Nigeria, especially in recent times, it is not uncommon to find heated and emotional discussions over

Nigerias viability and whether it would ever consolidate its nationhood, where inhabitants identify with it and feel

a sense of brotherhood towards one another. Suddenly many are mulling over the possibility of Nigeria

disintegrating, an unthinkable prospect just 5 years ago -- from the confused columnist cashing in on the

opportunity to spew their bigotry to the frustrated youth sounding off in cyberspace; the manipulative politician

capitalizing on such frustrations to claw out from the fringes of obscurity, to teenagers donned in their sagging

trousers and earpiece(s) reciting Awolowos catchy aphorism that Nigeria is a mere geographical expression

with such precision that youd think he personally uttered these words to them. Many Nigerians are increasingly

questioning the very foundation on which Nigeria exists, whether a Nigerianess which binds people across

ethno-religious divides within a single nation really exists beyond the pages of Social Studies and History text

books. The FSI and its 12 indicators rightly point out the challenges bedevilling the Nigerian state such as

uneven economic development or dearth of public services which could accelerate to an impending failure,

but the Index doesnt succinctly capture this nationhood quagmire.

An important element of nationhood and nation-building, especially for a complex and diverse country such as

Nigeria is the existence of unifying national values and symbols that unite diverse people under the umbrella of

a national identity, giving these different people a good reason to substitute broad-based national for primordial

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loyalties and identities. These shared values are mostly represented by symbols such as a national flag and

anthem, a glorious history such as the British monarchys imperial history-arguably a uniting force in an

increasingly multicultural Britain-or shared aspirations, such as the USAs American Dream espousing ideals

of freedom and equal opportunity for success through hard-work for anyone in America, their social class or

circumstance of birth notwithstanding.

In Nigeria, national values, aspirations and their accompanying symbols are progressively losing their meaning

such that with the exception of starry-eyed primary school pupils who recite it as a function of routine, the

national anthem and pledge mean little to many others. Many a political appointee has been thoroughly

embarrassed at a National Assembly screening for their inability to recite the national anthem. Nigerians are

increasingly becoming disdainful of and detached from the state and from each other, keen to emphasize on the

differences between ones church and their neighbours mosque and vice versa, rather than the poverty or

unemployment that afflict them both. This gradual erosion of national identity in Nigeria, as crucially important as

it is, is something the FFPs Index doesnt quite capture.

This nationhood challenge becomes more crucial when one considers that perhaps a key factor in state failure

is when the citizens gradually stop identifying with that state and what it stands for and they increasingly

emphasize on how very different they are from one another, as a manifestation of a retreat to primordial

loyalties of tribe, ethnicity, religion and region rather than a broader national identity. Essentially, peoples bond

over broader national values weakens as they feel they have little stake in a state that barely provides

infrastructure or guarantees the security of lives and property. As this happens over time, then inevitably

insurgent groups with various grievances like Boko Haram, separatist militant groups and other centrifugal

forces are birthed, which, if not checked and mitigated could gradually tear the country apart.

At this critical juncture in Nigerias history, a key building block of nationhood could entail redefining our national

values and reviving or getting a new set of unifying national symbols to fit current realities. In some respects,

perhaps this is what Dora Akunyilis Rebrand Nigeria campaign tried to achieve in futility.

Usman wrote from Brussels, Belgium