‘Nigerians: A self-organising people’

The written word has great transformative power. And so, for the longest time, I have maintained that reading and writing should be encouraged and nurtured as a significant part of our social culture. I could go on and on about why that’s important, however, what is clear would only be better for it, not worse off. In my last article, I made a case for why our billionaires should write books.

It becomes clear to the reader that it was not really about billionaires, per se, or strictly a view that only billionaires should write, but that we are failing to replicate “homegrown” successes at an appreciable rate because those who have gone ahead are not sharing with the ones who are coming behind.

Of course, I appreciate some of the prevailing issues, viz the reading culture and the premium placed on knowledge amongst other society-specific concerns, but I think the narrative can be radically changed with consistent effort and collective commitment to recognise and prioritise education as the soul of our society. It’s a lot of work, yes, but it’s possible.

I made reference to my last article because the nudge to write it came from a book. One of the points I made was that we need “a more indigenous intellectual equity on the African experience.”

This, in my view, should also apply to the expectation for Nigeria. I still maintain that position. Perhaps the question to ask is: if our people don’t do it, who will? I remember the conversation I had with Professor Akinjide Osuntokun on the subject. It was quite spirited. And while he had an interesting perspective on the whole idea, we are aligned on the fact that it is Nigerians that can get the job done for Nigeria; Africans for Africa. We need to encourage our people to write more. It’s really that simple.

I have given this background because it sets the tone for my focus today. The last article – “Our billionaires should write books” – was mostly inspired by a book. This week, I decided to review one. A few edits have been made to an earlier draft which I put together some weeks ago.

I must admit that by writing this, I have fulfilled a promise I made to the co-authors of the book. But there is an interesting backstory I am happy to recall here. It was in September and a colleague, at the time, during a brief chat told me about this book he was recently gifted. Even though he was not done reading, he thought it was a great book and wanted me to read it. I got to it that same day. Two days later, I met Rufai Oseni by chance. Well, this is the short version of how it went. There were other pleasant in-betweens which were purely providence at work.
Let’s get to it.

Nigerians: A Self-Organising People is a project brought to life by a rich mix of highly achieved professionals in their own right, united by their interest in and knowledge of a country that “refuses to fail.” The roll call: Andrew Nevin, Uma Kymal, Seyi Agbedana, Peter Nigel Cameron, Rufai Oseni and Joke Ajao.

The 240-page book is organised in three sections and 14 chapters; an arrangement that allows for a systematic presentation of their ideas. Since the chapters are not attributed to any specific author or co-authors, there is room for the convenient assumption that the authors worked together on everything. However, anyone familiar with the backgrounds of the authors may do well guessing who wrote what.

First of all, the facts. Chapter 1 (Nigeria: the State that Refuses to Fail) reintroduces Nigeria to the everyday Nigerian; calling out brief but important descriptive features (history and socio-economic markings) that many Nigerians, interestingly, may not be at home with. The authors also introduce the ‘Self-organising’ concept which is explored to varying degrees throughout the book.

In their estimation, “a self-organising system is one which functions efficiently outside of government or incentive. In self-organisation, persons take initiative, make plans and work initiatives and interventions in spheres of living without recourse to central government help.” There is a frame in which this conceptualisation tells the story of Nigeria that Nigerians have to come to terms with.

While Chapter one explores what self-organising is, Chapter two explains what it is not. In Chapter three (Difficult Data: Challenging the Statistics,) the authors run us through the numbers, which in their estimation, are often blown out by third-party interests to paint a more severe picture of the reality ‘on the ground.’

In Section two (A Self-organising People: Our Stories), which is essentially the core of the book, the authors bring to life the credentials of Nigerians as ‘self-organising’ people with the stories of efforts made in critical sectors such as education (chapter four), contributions of The Nigerians Diaspora (Chapter five) Governance (Chapter six), Energy (Chapter seven), Healthcare (Chapter eight), Modern technology (Chapter nine), Entertainment (Chapter 10), Traditional Manufacturing (Chapter 11,) and Security (Chapter 12).

The stories, which are essentially evidence, point toward a sense of community, shared vision and resilience of the Nigerian spirit to pursue a passion against all odds. ‘Against all odds’ could have easily been another title for the book. In making the point that the ‘self-organising’ characterisation is not a uniquely Nigerian phenomenon, the authors devoted Chapter 13 to giving a list of success stories elsewhere around the world.

The last section (Section three: Conclusion) of the book closes the curtain but opens another window into a major gap. For example, while the authors make the case for Nigeria’s self-organising as a strength, they also underscore that “Nigeria would certainly be better off if the governance were stronger; if the social contract between the governed and the government was unequivocally honoured, so that what each side gives and gets were more balanced; and Nigerians could rely on the public sector in their times of greatest need.”

This idea boils down to the question of leadership and governance in the public space. There is only so much that can be done within the confines of a dysfunctional system. The book acknowledges that much.

There is a point that needs to be made. The strength of the core of this book lies in the case studies, or better still, the hard evidence of real Nigerians driving real change across different sectors in spite of the much-documented as well as the unspoken constraints.

It makes for a relatable tracing of what has been and what can be irrespective of what is, in the context of courageous Nigerians creating a bubble of change indigenously; and adding colour to the Nigerian experience. To my mind, Nigerians: A Self-Organising People is a book for Nigerians, written by those who know it well enough to profile its people and project its potential. The authors are not all Nigerians. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that they are one of us.

In driving their points home, the authors adopted the central idea of Nassim Taleb’s concept of “Antifragility” which posits that “some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder and stressors, and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty.” This suggests, in our own case, that some kind of chaos or disruption is required for us to continually stay afloat. That’s highly debatable.

I expect that the authors will consider a sequel to the book. Some work has begun with the many exertions that culminated in this book. I don’t think that work will be finished in print, but carried on by the change that it inspires. I hope that would count for something.

Akinnuga is Executive Director, The Adeyinka Adesope Foundation (TAAF.)