The Fight of Our Time
State, Governance and Development
in Nigeria
Richard Joseph
State Erosion and Insecurity

The study of Africa must contend with
uncertainty, insecurity, and even catastrophe
as persistent features of daily life…There is
no disguising the breadth and depth of the
‘African Predicament’ and the centrality and
pervasiveness of state erosion.
R. Joseph, Scott Hall, Northwestern, February 2002.
Nigeria, 1977

“There is a well-known story that is regularly acted
out in many countries of the world. An individual
suddenly wins a large fortune—from a lottery or
horse race—and is catapulted from rags to riches.
After a few years of dissipation, the money has been
squandered, the physical and mental health of the
nouveau riche broken, and the glorious future of
unlimited possibilities constricted into a bleak vista
of regret and recrimination.”
R. Joseph, “Affluence and Underdevelopment: The Nigerian
Experience” (1978)
“Kleptocracy or Corruption as a System of
Government”

“In all African states the wealth acquired through
illegal use of public office looms large…after only a
few years in office the top politicians have amassed
fortunes worth a hundred times the sum of salaries
received…Until the military coup of January 1966,
Nigeria was providing the most perfect example of
kleptocracy…positions in the structure of power were
bought, and power itself rested upon the ability to
bribe…The losses caused by corruption exceed by far
the sum of individual profits derived from it, because
graft distorts the whole economy.”
Stanislav Andreski, The African Predicament (1968)
Prebendalism

When the state itself becomes the key distributor of
financial resources…all governmental projects
become the objects of intense pressure to convert them
into means of individual and group accumulation...
The ‘state’ in such a context is perceived as a congeries
of offices subject to individual cum communal
appropriation. The statutory purposes of such offices
become a matter of secondary concern…
The self-destructive tendencies of this system must
be thoroughly understood if ways can ever be
devised to escape its debilitating cycle of renewal
and decay.
R. Joseph (1983)
Prebendalism

“Prebendalism…officials simply
appropriate public resources without any
obligation to take care of citizens…
One of the hallmarks of classic postwar Asian
governance was…a lower propensity for rentseeking and state capture compared to other
regions.”
Francis Fukuyama (2012)
Portrait of a Prebendalist
(Tunde Ogunlade: “Greedy Palmwine Drinker”, 1988)
National Dysfunction and
Sub-Optimalism

“Africa is among the most resourceful continents
in the world and yet the least developed
compared to other continents. This has not
always been the case historically…When and
how did things begin to go wrong? Today the
scourge of poverty remains an entrenched
reality…The model of empowering Africa to
dig out of this quagmire remains elusive.”
Prof. Toyin Falola, University of Texas, July 2011
Barack Obama, Nairobi, August 2006
“…the freedom you fought so hard to
win…today that freedom is in jeopardy. It is
threatened by corruption.”
“…if the people cannot trust their government
to do the job for which it exists – to protect
them and to promote their common welfare –
all else is lost. And this is why the struggle
against corruption is one of the greatest
struggles of our time.”
Barack Obama, Nairobi, August 2006

“…the freedom you fought so hard to
win…today that freedom is in jeopardy. It is
threatened by corruption.”
“…if the people cannot trust their government
to do the job for which it exists – to protect
them and to promote their common welfare –
all else is lost. And this is why the struggle
against corruption is one of the greatest
struggles of our time.”
Barack Obama, Nairobi, 2006

“Looking out at this crowd of young people, I have
faith that you will fight this fight too. You will
decide if your leaders will be held accountable,
or if you will look the other way. You will decide if
the standards and the rules will be the same for
everyone – regardless of ethnicity or wealth…
An accountable, transparent government can
break this cycle.”
“…a government that is transparent and doesn’t
steal from the people.” (Cairo, 2009)
Prebendalism: Nigeria and India
“Corruption both petty and otherwise has become omnipresent in
Indian society and politics. It ranges from the bribes that an
ordinary citizen must pay…to shady dealings surrounding vast
governmental contracts and the wholesale introduction of criminal
behavior into political life.”
“The scope and breadth of corruption within the Indian
polity…breathtaking…[estimate] India has lost as much as $462
billion (in 2010 dollars) between 1948 and 2008 as a consequence
of bribery, tax evasion, and kickbacks.”
Sumit Ganguly (2012)
Intensity of Corruption Index (ICI): Stolen Funds/Population
India’s population 7.5 times Nigeria’s
ICI inversely proportional to social wealth (basic public goods)
Larry Diamond: Nigeria’s Greatest Challenge
“As Nigeria wends its way toward its third
attempt at democracy in many decades, it
confronts daunting challenges: persistent ethnic
and regional tensions, growing religious conflict,
shallow political institutions an assertive military
and secret police establishment, a deeply
depressed economy, and a cynical and
increasingly despairing populace. No problem,
however, is more intractable and more
threatening to the future of Nigerian
democracy than political corruption.”
(1991)
Larry Diamond: The Rise of the Predatory
State
[In much of the developing and post-communist world]
…democracy has been a superficial phenomenon,
blighted by multiple forms of bad governance, abusive
police and security forces, domineering local oligarchies,
incompetent and indifferent state bureaucracies, corrupt
and inaccessible judiciaries and venal ruling elites who
are contemptuous of the rule of law and accountable
to no one but themselves.
If democracies do not contain crime and corruption
more effectively, generate economic growth, relieve
economic inequality, and secure freedom and the
rule of law, people will eventually lose faith…
(2008)
Larry Diamond: The Rise of the Predatory
State

[In these regimes] the purpose of
government is not to generate public goods,
such as roads, schools, clinics, and sewer
systems. Instead it is to produce private
goods for officials, their families, and their
cronies.”

Citizens lack any confidence that politicians,
political parties, or government officials are
serving anyone other than themselves.
Francis Fukuyama: Building
Democracies and Modern Economies

“Modern liberal democracy is a combination of three sets
of institutions: the state itself; the rule of law…which is
binding on the actions of the de facto ruler; and
mechanisms of accountability, which in the modern world
are periodic multiparty elections.”
“The rule of law and democratic accountability are
important to high-quality state performance. If
governments are not rule-bound and predictable, if they
do not protect property rights, then they will constitute
obstacles to economic performance”
Fukuyama: The East Asian Model
“The core states of East Asia…developed relatively
high-quality, centralized bureaucratic states early in
their histories and consolidated relatively uniform
national identities on the part of ethnically homogeneous
populations centuries before any of them developed
countervailing institutions of law and accountability…In
the second half of the twentieth century, a powerful and
highly institutionalized executive branch re-emerged
in nearly all of them.”
“Confucianism…an ethical doctrine designed to
moderate the behavior of rulers and orient them toward
the interests of the ruled.”
Fukuyama: East Asia and the Rest
“In contrast to the highly predatory states that emerged
in the Middle East, South Asia, Latin America and
particularly sub-Saharan Africa, many of East Asia’s
authoritarian rulers preserved a developmental focus
that created a stable platform for later democratization…
Many East Asian states have been able to institute
industrial policies which, in the hands of a less
capable state, would result in a morass of rentseeking and state capture.”
Authority Stealing
Authority people dem go dey steal
Authority man no dey pick pocket
Na plenty cash dem go dey steal
Authority man in charge of money
E no need gun, im need pen
Authority stealing pass armed robbery
We African we must do something about this
nonsense
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, cited in Wale Adebanwi, Authority Stealing: AntiCorruption War and Democratic Politics in Post-Military Nigeria (2012)
“When Wealth Breeds Rage”
Radical and growing economic inequality animated
much of what was at stake in the various Arab
uprisings, and it will play a major role in shaping
African politics…The disaffected [Tunisian] street
vendor who set himself alight was not so different
from many disaffected young men of Nairobi and
Kampala’s slums. They are Africa’s overwhelming
majority: poor, marginalized and angry about
corruption and soaring food and fuel prices. It is
those young men who endure the daily humiliations
of poverty, struggling to find jobs as elites crow
about ‘growth’ and an African renaissance.
John Githongo, Anti-Corruption Crusader, Kenya, July 2011
Petroleum and the National Dysfunction

“the greatest institutional corruption in the history of the
nation”
Former Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua

Nigeria exports most of its crude oil. Stolen crude is also
exported (bunkering). Nigeria imports most of the
gasoline and kerosine consumed, but much subsidized
imported oil products are re-exported (smuggled to
neighboring countries).
“The Federal Government dutifully paid for 59 million
litres of the product [petroleum] on a daily basis
throughout 2011 when the daily consumption capacity
for the country was only 35 million litres.”
The Guardian (Nigeria)
Petroleum and the National Dysfunction

“Nigeria relies heavily on imported fuel as
its own refineries are dilapidated, so the
subsidy had become a cash handout of
billions of dollars to a cartel of wealthy fuel
importers…[There is] a discrepancy of
more than $4 billion a year between the
amount of motor fuel it subsidizes and
actual consumption…”
James Jukwey, Reuters
Oil Subsidy and the National Dysfunction

“In 2011, the subsidy on gasoline cost the government
over $9 billion, more than the entire federal government
capital budget and about double the subsidy’s cost in
2010…Nigeria’s tab skyrocketed thanks to the costly,
corrupt system by which the country produces and
imports gasoline…
Officials allowed the subsidy to rise because it included
lucrative opportunities for corruption. Only when NNPC
[national petroleum company] faced bankruptcy--owing
billions to importers as well as to the treasury--did the
government decide to end the subsidy.”
Alexandra Gillies, Head of Governance, Revenue Watch Institute
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
Nigerian Minister of Finance

“We have major systemic issues arising from
decades of unchecked corruption. Those
systems, the beneficiaries, the sectional
interests and [others] that depend on these
benefits wouldn't just fold their arms while we
threaten their interests. We have begun a very
painful process of correcting the system. It is no
easy feat…What we are implementing are not
theoretical solutions but solutions aimed at
correcting the very ills plaguing our
country.”
Distrust, Frustration, Anger
“Protesters joined growing demonstrations across the
country, upset over institutionalized corruption in a nation
where kleptocratic military rulers were replaced in 1999
with greedy politicians who control state budgets larger
than [those of] neighboring nations. Opaque budgets
allow billions of dollars to be stolen…”
John Gambrell, Associated Press
“The protests gathered momentum, and paralyzed the
economy not just because of the rise in petrol prices but
because of a much broader impatience with
government corruption and waste.”
William Wallis, Financial Times
Distrust, Frustration, Anger:
India, Egypt, Nigeria
“[India]…the spread and scale of corruption…make the intensity
of public anger and cynicism understandable.”
Sumit Ganguly
“The country was governed in such a way that 0.1 percent was
making the decisions for the rest of the people. So there is a lack of
understanding about the size of the economic problems we’re
facing.”
Wael Ghonim, Egyptian and Google Executive
“Nigerians… want decent infrastructure, the rule of law, transparent
and accountable government and a better future for their children.
They are not stupid, only frustrated and perplexed about why things
that seem so predictable in other places become impossible in
our country.”
Prof. Mojubaolu Okome
Distrust, Frustration, Anger
“We civilians …deeply distrust the government,
because of our long experience with corrupt
leaders…Our senators make $100,000 a month if you
count their salaries and allowances…They live in
government houses and have government cars. And
none of them pay for their own petrol.”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author
“The government appears to say we know the subsidy
process is riddled with corruption but there is nothing we
can do about corruption. So, the only way out is to
deregulate so that the opportunity for corruption is
eliminated. But we know that deregulation does not
automatically eliminate corruption.”
Dr. Emmanuel Remi Aiyede, University of Ibadan
Warped

“Some observers will worry about the recent
violence arising from the removal of fuel
subsidies. The truth is that Nigeria is strong
enough to avoid a protracted crisis…In 2012,
Nigerian customers want to buy their
groceries and get back to work; they have too
much vested in the economy.”
Dambisa Moyo, The Financial Times, February 7, 2012
Restoring the Nigerian Project
Colleagues:
I have been reading your impassioned messages.
Permit me to share with you the following thought. It is
that out of the ashes a phoenix will be made to arise.
Phoenix:
1. A bird that consumed itself by fire after 500 years, and
rose renewed from its ashes. 2. A person or thing of
unsurpassed excellence or beauty.
This is the national project that must be reborn.
Richard Joseph, 18 January 2012
Claiming Democracy
“Nigeria needs more efficient, transparent, responsive
and accountable governments…Much remains to be
done to get federal, state and local governments
performing in ways commensurate with the nation's
abundant human and material resources.”
R. Joseph, Nigeria’s 50th Anniversary, Abuja and Lagos, October 2010
“A seismic shift in Nigerian politics…Nigerians had
experienced the atmosphere and appearance of robust
democracy…politicians now have to go to the people
for power… Nigeria was finally ready for some real
change in the way it is governed”.
Dele Olojede, Publisher, NEXT, Lagos, April 2011
Building Social Wealth
Water, Energy, Agriculture, Law-based
Governance, Transportation, Health
Fukuyama:
substantive as well as procedural democracy;
elections as well as jobs, roads, electricity,
water, food, health care
Governmental Accountability, Transparency,
and Efficiency (GATE)
“The Right to Information Act (India, 2005) represents the most
ambitious attempt in public transparency that any of the world’s
democracies has so far undertaken. Every public functionary –
whether elected or not – is open to scrutiny in the public
domain.”
“The RTIA encourages politicians and officials to put less stress
on acting as agents of special interests, and more on acting as
stewards of a public and even a ‘common interest’.”
Prakash Sarangi
“The RTI is finally a demand for an equal share of power…it [has]
the potential to keep widening the horizons of struggles for
empowerment and change.”
Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey
Transnational Collaboration
Connected by grass-roots movements,
community radio stations, cell phones, civic
organizations, and the Internet, citizens are
rising up as never before to challenge
corruption, defend the electoral process,
and demand better governance. The most
important challenge now for the United States
and other international actors is to stand with
them.
Larry Diamond, 2008
A Roadmap?
“The intent is for actionable initiatives that push
for accountability, transparency, taking
governance seriously, fighting corruption,
and providing a roadmap to how the Nigerian
government would have to be accountable to
the Nigerian people to the last …how to ensure
that the country has reliable, decent
infrastructure, and poor people are not sacrificed
under the guise of saying that the government is
moving the country ahead. ”
Prof. Mojubaolu Olufunke Okome, Brooklyn College, CUNY
Pathways from the Predicament?

“A nation cannot be delivered from political and
social afflictions outside of its ability to
conceptualize and contextualize its problems
and come up with ingenious solutions to
them.”
Prof. Ayo Olutokun

“[It is] fast turning into a Nigerian quagmire. The
problems are so multifaceted that we must necessarily
adopt unorthodox and alternative thinking to find
ways out.”
Prof. Wale Adebanwi
State-Nation Dilemmas
 Robert Kaplan: “Big Messes of Countries”:
Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria?
 Wole Soyinka: “Too Problematic an Enclave”
 Jeffrey Herbst/Pierre Engelbert: “Let Them Fail”
 Ricardo Soares de Oliveira: “Successful Failed
State”
 US Diplomat: “No There There”
 US AID Official: “Too Many Risks”
 Kayode Fayemi: “Decentralize the Federation”
 Nigerian Scholar: “Nation in Ruins”(2012)
Nigeria 2025
“ingenious solutions, unorthodox and
alternative thinking”
I.
II.
lll.
lV.
V.
Communal and Civic Associations,
Faith Groups, Corporations, NGOs
Local Governments, States, Sub-National
Zones, Confederation
Strategic Partnerships and Out-Sourcing
Engaging the Diaspora
Ethical Leadership & Followership
Adebanwi/Obadare Project
AfricaPlus©
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Claiming Democracy
Building Social Wealth
GATE (Governmental Accountability, Transparency and
Efficiency)
INVENT (Invest in Ethical Entrepreneurship)
State-Nation Configuration
“I am sure you are one of the optimists who think the
current security crisis presents President Goodluck
Jonathan an opportunity for fundamental reform of
Nigerian governance which he may just grasp.”
Dr. Abimbola Agboluaje, February 8, 2012
An Uncertain Region/
A Fractured Nation
1. The End of Northern Primacy
2. North & Military Dominance, 1979 -1999
3. The Second Obasanjo Regnum, 1999 - ?
4. Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidency
5. Northern Diversity: 70-75 million population
6. Education Stagnation, Economic Slippage
7. Political Manipulation of Religion
8. Military/Security/Criminal Networks
9. Youths without Jobs, Education, Hope
10. Centenary of the Amalgamation: 2014
Valentine Day, 2012

“May we walk together, talk together, and
understand each other. Like bright beings
joined in right thinking, may we share our
bounty with each other”
The Rigveda, <1000BC