POLITICAL INSTABILITY ON DEVELOPMENT OF FOOTBALL IN NIGERIA: FOCUS ON MILITARY REGIMES IN NIGERIA 1983 – 1999
NWOSU OKWUDILI CHUKWUMA,
THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, P. M. B. 2003, AGU-ECHARA, NSUKKA. ENUGU STATE NIGERIA
PROVOST,
EMMANUEL UGWUERUA,
THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, P. M. B. 2003, AGU-ECHARA, NSUKKA. ENUGU STATE NIGERIA
DIRECTOR,
Abstract
The study is an evaluation of political instability on development of football in Nigeria, with focus on military regimes between 1983 and 1999. The study noted that the imbalance in the structure of the Nigerian federation contributed to political instability that rocked Nigeria. Political instability adversely affected all aspects of life in Nigeria. Development in all its ramifications was therefore ruffled. The study contends that the long years of military dictatorship in Nigeria destroyed every good structure and institution within the system. Football development was not left out as it suffered a lot of set-back during the period. Nigerian football experienced serious devastation during the military rule. The study observed that the present declining performance of our various national teams in international competitions can be traced to the military era. The study suggests that efforts should be made to enthrone a stable political system. This can be achieved by adopting the French system of devolution of power to the regions, thereby making the center less attractive. The political actors should call to mind the adverse effects of instability within the political system and shun all perpetrators. The Nigerian political class should arise towards sustaining the present democratic dispensation in Nigeria. This will ensure conducive environment upon which football development will thrive.
Key words: Political Instability, Development, Development of football in Nigeria, Military regimes in Nigeria, Ethnicity.
Introduction
Political instability which could be associated with the concept of a failed state is viewed as a situation of government’s ineptitude at providing the populace the basic amenities and services such as water, food , shelter and security, to mention but a few. It can also be seen from the angle of inability of enforcing rules and regulations guiding a society. Political instability takes various forms, such as tendency of government collapse, chaos or turbulence situation in a country, insurgency, inter tribal and communal conflicts, constant uprising, civil wars, military interventions, coups ‘d’état and counter coups ‘d’état, etc. However, this paper focuses on military regimes as it affects the political stability of Nigeria towards football development.
Turner (1976:63), affirmed that “political instability is one of the main hindrances preventing the Nigerian nation in her quest for development”. Supporting Turner, Adedotun (1971:389), stated that:
The seed of political instability were sown during the
colonial era. This emanated with the politics of ethnicity,
which developed with the British separatist policy
of indirect rule, which emphasized the differences
of the three major ethnic groups (Hausa, Yoruba
and Ibo), rather than their similarities.
The separatist policy made it impossible for post colonial (independence) politics in Nigeria to be influenced by a high degree of consensus, rather than conflict. The three major political parties that sprang-up during the colonial era sprang-up through ethnic background, thus, the interest of their ethnic groups were of utmost important to them ( Adedotun,1980).
The imbalance in the structure of the Nigerian federation contributed to the political instability that rocked Nigeria. Three regions were created in 1939, they were the North, the East and the West, this significantly contributed to a major inequality and disproportionate in the structure of Nigerian federation, because one of the regions, the North, was greater than both the East and West put together. This gave the North the advantage of controlling both the federal government as well as the Northern regional government without even having to solicit for votes from the East and West. This lopsidedness engendered a lot of fear of domination of the North over the East and West. As a result of this, census figure of 1963 were largely politicized, alleged irregularities in the 1964 general elections witnessed, and there was an attempt of secession by the East, which eventually resulted in the three-year Nigerian/Biafran War (Salawu, 2001).
Since after the war in 1970, political instability had continued to be the mainstay in Nigerian polity, over the years, Nigeria had witnessed incessant changes of government, coups and counter coups, political power tussle, political assassinations, inter communal and inter-state clashes, the Niger Delta upheaval, constant labour unrests, suspensions of democratically elected government functionaries, insurgency in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.
Political instability adversely affects all aspects of life in a society, it stands to reason that development in all its ramifications is also ruffled; football development cannot be an exception. Football development cannot take place under an unstable environment. Nigeria as a country, has witnessed an incessant political instability, and this constitutes a thorn in the flesh of the growth of football in Nigeria. It is not out of place to state that, political instability disrupts the orderly ambience, under which effective football development will thrive. This is because cases of instability more often than not, heralds occasions under which drastic decisions would be taken to suit the period of uneasiness. We cannot be talking of football development, when the NFA is grossly affected by the events taking place in the political arena.
Bad performances amidst flashes of brilliant performances can be used to describe the Nigerian soccer history. Upon the array of Nigerian star players, making waves throughout the world, we still witness poor performances, from our national teams. Something serious is fundamentally wrong with our football. Experts believe that poor administration is Nigeria’s bane, our football is not managed well, of such abundance of skillful players, what is needed is the development and effective management so as to launch the country into the ranks of the ‘developed’ as against a ‘developing’ country. But, how can we achieve this, under political instability?
Political instability no doubt leads to under-development of sporting activities, especially football. A visit to North Eastern part of Nigeria, where insurgency by the BokoHaram Terrorists has taken over, will explain how development of football has been ruffled. Students do no longer go to school, not to talk of coming out to participate in sporting activities for fear of bomb blasts. Visiting teams are afraid to honor their matches in those security risk areas. Professional football clubs domiciled in North East Nigeria are constantly under threat of terrorist attacks. Football development cannot be achieved under such stringent and unfavorable condition. Another clear example is the South African National Team, which never appeared in a world cup, during the political instability that rocked the country. South Africa, it should be recalled were barred as a result of apartheid policy, their gaining of political stability, informed football development. To cap it all, they presently have the best-organized football league in Africa. Countries like Guinea, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, to mention but a few, also suffered serious set-backs in football development, as a result of political instability. In Europe, countries where political instability led to football under-development include Yugoslavia and Russia.
Against the backdrop that political instability adversely affects almost all aspects of the society, and going by the high spate of such instability in Nigeria, the need arose to see if and how political instability had affected football development in Nigeria. Thus, we would perhaps ask and highlight, whether or not the long years of military dictatorship in Nigeria led to the development of football in Nigeria. The study will however be limited between 1983 and 1999.
Background Information on Nigeria
Generally, ethnicity is a social phenomenon in correlation with synergy among members of diverse ethnic groups. Ethnic groups are social formations differentiated by the communal character of their boundaries. The relevant communal factors may be culture or language, or both (Nnoli, 1978). These factors abound in Nigeria. Okibe, (2000) stated that before the British invaded, and occupied Nigeria and prior to amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria in 1914, the constituent nations-the Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, Efik, Idoma, Ibibio, Itshekiri, Ijaw, Edo, Tiv, etc, numbering more than 250 with their different enclaves were autonomous.
Ethnicity, as a social phenomenon, has been noted to be one of the main worries in Nigeria’s politics. Ethnicity can be discussed from different views. Inner-mostly viewed, ethnicity is entrenched and encapsulated in the growth of egotism. Experiences, oral traditions, shared symbolisms, emotions, and perceptions embodied in ethnicity are incorporated early en-route to socialization. It has been spoken about in terms of clamped prehistoric connections or links, a sense of affinity and security in association, self-endorsement and confirmation: a part of man’s past sound judgment.
It has been noted that ethnic identification takes on a group dimension. Those with common national, racial, or religious origins share a sense of “people hood” and define themselves as such: “I am a polish catholic, or a Russian Jew, an Hausa, an Ibo” and the like. At such times, one is identified as a member of a particular in-group, which is structurally and culturally different from the out-group. In the work of Novak (1973), it has been shown that ethnic group identity is more than a situation of ordinary biological and historical roots, and of shared traditions, language, sentiments, and cultural structure.
Jinadu (1979), stated that, the result of ethnicity in supporting the cohesion and harmonious existence of a society cannot be over-stated, when it is a fact that some ethnic groups uphold their cultural beliefs by confining themselves or rebuffing the dominant society. The issue of ethnicity has been disproportionately inflated or excessive in Nigeria making it almost impossible to disregard or overlook one’s ethnic identity and, worse still, it has been possible to assume certain behavioral characteristics based on that identity. In fact, the place of ethnicity in the historical development of Nigeria cannot be neglected.
Some of the founding fathers of Nigeria had these to say on ethnicity: A.T. Balewa - “since the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Nigerian Provinces in 1914, Nigeria has existed as one country only on paper…. It is still far from being united”. (Osuntokun, 1980:99); for ObafemiAwolowo - Nigeria is not a nation but a mere geographical expression; and NnamdiAzikiwe had always observed the calculated and premeditated overlook or neglect of the Igbo’s by the British colonialists.
African politics could be interpreted in tribal terms. Though tribalism could be said to mean almost the same thing with ethnicity, tribalism is a colonial ideological concept, while ethnicity is a more broader concept for comprehending this phenomenon which colonial racism called tribalism ( Nnoli, 1978). Thus, Nnoli opined that ethnic groups are social formations characterized by the communal character of their boundaries. He explained the relevant communal factors to be language, culture or both.
Discussing the causes and consequences of ethnicity in Nigeria, in his book, Ethnicity and Development in Nigeria,Nnoli (1995), highlighted the causes to include among others, contact, which he argued provides awareness of the existence of other ethnic groups; degree of socio-economic competition between the members of the different ethnic groups; nature of socio-economic organization; means or methods of revenue allocation; absence of class consciousness which allows ethnicity to take precedence; bad government; internalized dimension of ethnicity, like the passing on of sentiments, prejudices and attitudes from generation to generation through socialization, mutual suspicion, etc.
In analyzing the consequences of ethnicity, he drew attention to the positive and negative consequences. The positive consequences included the fact that ethnic identity has led to the advancement of community development as against capitalist infrastructures only in area where there can be gainful exploitation of resources; again, it has also led to the furtherance of the struggle for economic growth; it encourages national goals by bringing together the populace in a smooth and straight forward manner; it can be a vehicle for protection and preservation of some democratic freedoms while promoting other democratic values like justice and equality (Nnoli, 1995).
Furthermore Nnoli (1995) highlighted some negative aspects of ethnicity to include that ethnicity encourages disunity, disputes, quarrel and wrangling, aggravates efforts at national harmony, and growth, which hinders morale, solidarity, and commitment to hard work. In addition, he contended, that ethnic conflict leads to waste in the use of national resources for development for instance the replication of industries in various parts of the country. Again, he was of the view that ethnicity promotes the use of violence in inter-ethnic conflict which impedes the democratic values of justice and equity (Nnoli, 1995).
Sklar (1963:3), in his book “Nigerian political parties” maintained that ethnic differences, if not sufficiently and appropriately taken care of, may engender instability. He observed that the federation of Nigeria consists of three political regions – the West, the North and the East. Buchanan (1955:94), contended that “each region is said to have a dual cultural make-up: a territorial “nucleus” inhabited by members of a cultural majority and a “peripheral zone” inhabited by cultural minorities. Majority and minority groups include both tribes and “nationalities” which Coleman (1958:423-424), defined thus: Tribe: “…a relatively small group of people who share a common culture and who are descended from a common ancestor. The tribe is the largest social group defined primarily in terms of kinship and is normally an aggregation of clans”
Nationality: “…the largest traditional African group above a tribe which can be distinguished from other groups by one or more objective criteria normally language”.
In the same vein, Sklar (1963:4), stated that “each region, a single “nationality” group of culturally similar tribes is dominant in number – the Hausa in the Northern Region, the Ibo in the Eastern Region, and the Yoruba in the Western Region”. Moreover, he illustrated how the three main political parties prior to independence were formed along ethnic lines. The association known as EgbeOmoOduduwa was advertised in 1948, as a non-political cultural organization for men and women of Yoruba enclave, this later became linked with the political party that surfaced as the Action group (AG). In the North the association formed by Northerners as a non political group – Jam’iyyarMutanenArewa emerged as political part named Northern People’s Congress (NPC) whileNational Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) developed from the East as an offshoot of the Nigerian Youth Movement and Zikist movement.
As a result of the foregoing, political wrangling and the resultant instability dominated the political life of Nigeria prior to independence, leading to ethnic rivalries that did not allow the needed harmonious relationship among the various ethnic groups in Nigeria. Based on the above, Onuoha (1992:19-20), while discussing the nature of Nigerian state noted among others:
The distinguishing feature of states in post-colonial
societies is the heterogeneous nature of the Guardian
class. In post-colonial societies such as Nigeria, is
made up of four different groups, namely the
surviving feudal Lords who previously constituted the
Guardian class prior to the imposition of the
imperialist capitalist mode of production, the
representatives of the multinational corporation who
determine and control the productive activities
in these societies, a small crop of indigenous
capitalists, and the petty-bourgeoisie.
Moreover, he opined that the first implication of this heterogeneity of the Guardian class is that there is bickering among the four-group accord that makes up the Guardian class in the post-colonial era. He noted that “there is no accord among them on the ways of protecting and guarding. It is not known whether the method of protection and guarding is capitalism, feudalism, or mixed economy “(Onuoha: 1992:20).
Along the same line, he stated the second implication to be that the government of the day becomes crippled on what to implement, as there is no steady or established master plan. Apprehending the impact of this idea, Luckham (1977), observed that the ruling class conflict of hegemony in the developing world is regular among a particular group of people and difficult to get rid of.
The political crises, which emerged from ethnic background of the country, have led the country to continuous cases of political instability, which has subsequently led to the under-development of the country.
Political Instability
The political structure prior to independence led to the emergence of political parties along ethnic enclaves especially among the three major ethnic groups of Ibo, Hausa and Yoruba, subsequently promoting ethnic awareness and cognizance as a political maneuvering towards winning elections. The situation above accorded ethnicity a very valuable and imperative position within the political arena. One may be safe to conclude that it is in the light of the above that (Achebe: 1983:5), observed that “nothing in Nigeria’s political history captures her problem of national integration more graphically than the diversified or checkered future of the word tribe in her vocabulary”.
The physical foundation of instability in Nigeria as entrenched, basically, on ethnic root is self explanatory. As a result of great and tremendous value attached to ethnicity and the concerned awareness from it, there is no doubt that a level of struggle or rivalry among different exclusive groups and the competition for place was absolutely a major cause of instability in the Nigerian political arena. In fact, as a result of the heterogeneous nature of the society, absence of oneness, harmonious agreement among various ethnic groups has been the undoing plaguing the stability of Nigeria unity and unstable polity. Thus, the heterogeneous society of Nigeria is such that has been bedeviled and plagued by instability in our political system. This political instability has been observed as boiling from the struggle for power or recognition between the different ethnic groups. This struggle arose from the nature of Nigerian political life that could be better explained from the point of view of the country’s political economy, which centers on material distribution rather than material production. That is to say, the economic condition calls for the struggle for allocation of resources rather than production of these resources.