DOMINICAN INSTITUTE

(IN AFFILIATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN)

ANNUAL GRADUATION LECTURE

REV. MOTHER PROF.

MARIE PAULINE EBOH,

DMMM.
B.PHIL., M.PHIL. Ph.D. (Gregorianum Rome), B.ED., M.ED
(Salesianum Rome)
DIP. ARCHV (Vatican), Professor of Philosophy, Rivers State
University of Science& Technology, Port Harcourt

PHILOSOPHY: THE
MISSING ELEMENT IN
THE NIGERIAN
POLITICAL SYSTEM
VENUE: DOMINICAN INSTITUTE, SAMONDA,
IBADAN
DATE: 1ST JUNE, 2016
TIME: 4:00 PM

1. INTRODUCTION
. The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
. The diurnal and nocturnal toils of both the lecturers and the
students of this great Institute have borne fruit. We
congratulate them for a well-deserved graduation. Honour is
not blind; it goes to whom honour is due. That is why we
have congregated here to mark this milestone in the
collective history of the Institute and the graduands. We
welcome the latter to the league of lovers of wisdom and
great thinkers.

Philosophic wisdom is sustained by hard work and

discipline. The reward for hard work is more work
and so you will not rest on your oars.

 Philosophy enmeshes in unchanging laws and fundamental

principles. As the world is governed by principles,
philosophy will always be of immense help to you.
Thomas Jefferson once advised If you would have a happy
life, remember two things. In matters of principle, stand like
a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.
Philosophy is often equated to principles.
Thus to say that philosophy is a missing element in the
Nigerian political system implies that the Nigerian polity is not
well-regulated with appropriate consistent ethics or a firm
perceptible consistent guiding principle.

2. PHILOSOPHY VIS--VIS NIGERIAN

POLITICKING
O philosophy, lifes guide!
O searcher out of virtues and expeller of vices!
What could we or every age of men have been without thee?
- Cicero
It should be a matter of concern that philosophy, this lifes
guide and expeller of vices is missing in the Nigerian
political system where it is highly needed to guide the
affairs of state and expel corruption and greed. National
dailies publish trillions of looted funds.
When many political leaders loot the national coffer and
starch the money away in banks overseas, instead of
investing in Nigeria, they inadvertently criminalize the
society by setting bad precedents and by enriching other
countries leaving Nigerian youths jobless. When a mind is
idol plotting comes handy. Untold hardships have a way of
hardening and criminalizing many a mind.

 The unhealthy state of affairs is injudicious; it portrays

lack of critical thinking, the inability to think hard on the
ideas and guiding principles that shape lives. The
political leaders who create such scenario are
unphilosophical because their core mandate is to care
for the Nigerian populace.
Is it wise to use the resources of poor nations to finance
rich ones?
Man is an animal that lies to himself but he perennially
searches for the truth probably because Intelligence is
a moral category, and the power of the mind should
never be underrated.

 The deception in the political system is on-going. A military

regime drafted Constitutions to suit them and began it with
We the people of Nigeria as if there was consensus. Was
there even a referendum before the said Nigerian
Constitutions were written and enforced?
In addition, politicians are addressed as Honourable To
be honourable is to be honest and just (morally upright).
How honourable are those who breach the promises they
themselves made during electioneering campaigns?

Breach of promise is the reason the electorate demand

gratification before voting for their leaders because after
election successful candidates change their sim cards and
become inaccessible.

However, two wrongs do not make a right. The moral

principle demands that good be done and evil be avoided.
If you are suffering from a bad mans injustice, forgive him
lest there be two bad men, Says St. Augustine.

 The demand for gratification is tantamount to selling ones

vote. The act emboldens the politicians to recoup their
expenses once in office and amass wealth by collecting
money for unexecuted contracts or pocket a good
percentage of monies meant for capital projects leaving
contractors with a paltry sum to do shoddy jobs. It is a
vicious circle; the common man suffers in the end.
The system indirectly encourages corruption. Is it
philosophical to pursue developmental goals and yet
embezzle
the
resources
meant
for
infrastructural
development?
It is illogical to impoverish the country, fail to create jobs for
the teeming population of youths, and yet expect to
institutionalize a social order that is safe, peaceful and crime
free.

 It is said that when the poor have nothing to eat, they eat the
rich. This is perhaps the idea behind the spate of kidnapping,
armed robbery and extra judicial killings which the country
experiences lately.
Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as government of the
people, for the people and by the people. But in Nigeria
democracy is government of the politicians, by the politicians
and for the politicians.
Sovereignty belongs to the people but Nigerian politicians carry
on in a manner which indicates that sovereignty belongs to
those who are able to grab power.
Is it not absurd for Senate to vote out, in one fell swoop, the
Bill on gender parity whereas Nigeria is a signatory to UN
resolutions on gender equality and the emancipation of
women?
For want of philosophy, they ignored the Millennium
Development Goals. But at the instance of the First Lady, Mrs.
Aisha Buhari, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, asked that
the Bill be re-introduced.

 Jean Jacques Rousseau averred Man is born free but he is

everywhere in chains but the truth is that it is not the
generic man (male and female) but woman that is everywhere
in chains. Males manacle the rest of humanity. Humanity
bifurcates into male and female. They are not diametrically
opposed; they rather complement each other for the common
good.
Parliamentarians are there to rub minds for the common good.
As Mary Wollstonecraft observed Mind has no gender. Let
woman share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of
man.
Men and women reason differently owing to the fact that men
use more of the left brain which is methodical, systematic and
logical while women use more of the right brain which is
intuitive.
It is a known truth that logical reasoning is sometimes fraught
with fallacies and sophisms whereas intuitive knowledge is
pure, and intuition goes in the very direction of life, says
Henri Bergson.

3. NIGERIAS UNITY: A DISCRETE

MAGNITUDE
. Unity, truth, goodness and beauty are the four
transcendental attributes of being. If Nigeria is a real entity
(ens), why does unity elude her?
. Nature tends towards unification and the more human
endeavours mirror nature, the better the result. Life at any
level manifests itself as a real active synthesis, a reduction of
diversity to unity. Why then does unity continue to elude
Nigeria?
. Unity is either continuous or discrete magnitude.
For
instance, if you pour a cup of oil into a pot of oil they form a
homogenous surface with no distinction whatever between
the oil in the pot and the one you poured in. In this, there is
real synthesis.
. A continuous magnitude is made up of parts that are not
really distinct from one another and that are so united that
the limit of one is identical with that of the next.

 On the contrary, Discrete magnitude is made up of parts that

are really distinct from one another and have, each of them, a
limit of its own; its unity, therefore, is purely ideal or mental.
For instance, in a bag of rice every grain of rice is on its own.

Far

from being a culturally homogenous society; Nigeria is a

pluralistic society. The founding fathers recognized this and
formed federating units (Northern region, Western region,
Mid-Western region and Eastern region) but the military junta
imposed unitary system which is not functioning.

Nigerias

polity lacks real or metaphysical unity; it equally

lacks moral unity as its people do not pursue, with singleness
of purpose, the same set of objectives.

 Nigeria is analogous to a bag of rice wherein the unity

between the grains is imposed. Colonialism seconded by
military regime is the bag that enforced the artificial unity,
which is but conceptual unity, a mental construct existing
only in the mind.
Disunity is the bane of Nigerias existence.
There is strength in unity and variety is the spice of life.
But Nigeria is unable to synthesize its diversity, which
ought to have been enrichment and a source of strength.
Instead of unity in diversity, each tribe holds its own and
politicians capitalize on tribal sentiments.
Tribal
sentiments mar objectivity and fair-play, erode sincerity
and altruism, but foster nepotism and injustice. How can a
just order be founded on falsehood, nepotism and
injustice?

 For fear of disintegration, the attendees of the Sovereign

National Conference held at Abuja in 2014 were warned
that Nigerias unity is a no-go area. The issue is volatile
and was never tabled for discussion.
Nigeria is structurally weak, has legitimacy problems,
unable to institutionalize itself and win the allegiance of its
subjects without coercion.
The fragmentations arising from fledgling primordial
loyalties have made it difficult for any enduring symbol(s)
of the State to take root.
Like the grains of rice that fall out as soon as there is a hole
in the bag, Nigerians manifest their disunity at the least
provocation.

Instead of living man-like but behaving spirit-like, it is

better to die and join the spirits to behave as they do,
says an Igbo proverb.

 Is it logical and equitable that what is sauce for the goose

is not sauce for the gander? Mahatma Gandhi rightly listed
politics without principles among the Seven Blunders of
the World:
1. Wealth without work.
2. Pleasure without conscience.
3. Knowledge without character.
4. Science without humanity.
5. Worship without sacrifice.
6. Politics without principles.
7. Commerce without morality.

4. SIMILARITY AND CONTRAST

BETWEEN THE US SYSTEM AND THE
NIGERIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM
Nigeria copied presidential democracy from the United
States of America (USA). Why has the system failed to
work well in Nigeria?
USA is the Galilee of the nations.(Is 9:1; Matt 4:15)
Peoples of various ethnic extractions are there: Indians,
British, Irish, Africans, Spanish, French, Germans, Jews,
Arabs, Chinese, etc. USA is the melting pot of all the
nations of the earth.
USA is multi-ethnic like Nigeria but they have one
nationality despite their notorious ugly historic past. As
their name depicts, the federating states are united.
On the contrary, Nigeria celebrates ethnicity and state of
origin in a very divisive manner. This fuels disunity. One
cannot sow seeds of discord and reap harmony.

 There

is no true federalism; every group is there to take its

own share of the proverbial national cake. People want one
Nigeria but on their own terms.

The

greatest asset of any nation is its human capital. To

determine ones nationality, USA employs ius soli. That is, any
child born on American soil is ipso facto an American citizen
by birth, with all the rights and privileges.

Nigeria

employs ius sanguinis instead, which is not a bad

idea. The problem is the over emphasis on state of origin. In
every biodata form given to Nigerians to fill in this country,
state of origin is always there. It has become a permanent
feature in the Nigerian psyche.

 Ius sanguinis implies that a person born of a Nigerian father

is a Nigerian by blood. Strange enough what gives him his
identity as a Nigerian is his fathers state of origin!
Thus, if Yinkas father is from X State but Yinka was born in Y
State where his father has lived and paid taxes for fifty years
or more, Yinka is a non-indigene of Y State whether or not he
has ever set foot on his fathers village.
What is more, Yinka would pay higher school fees in Y State
University as a non-indigene and would be denied active
participation in the polity of the very State where he was
born and bred.
Thus to be an indigene in Nigeria, it is not enough to be a
Nigerian. The so-called non-indigenes live on the fringes of
political life.

 This alienating principle alienates the hearts of the

people from getting fully committed to patriotism or
nationalism because a sense of nationhood is lacking.
There is no strong unifying tendency.
How can a person be a non-indigene in his own country?
If a person is an alien in his own country, what will he/she
be in foreign lands?
The rapport between a nation and its citizenry is
symbiotic. If Nigeria cares for its citizens, treats them
well and gives them a sense of belonging, they will be
forced to love Nigeria because love begets love.

 If

Nigeria must remain one entity, equity must be applied,

state of origin must be deemphasized; people should be
treated on merits, and

Efforts

must be made to develop the consciousness of

nationhood so that citizens can change their attitude towards
the nation. Everyone must understand that he owes the
nation a moral duty; perhaps, this may help to develop in
each individual a Nigerian group identity; when this is done a
greater sense of patriotism will be developed in the citizens.

There

is also the urgent need to accelerate the education of

the larger populace as the only means of reducing the culture
of economic dependence which in turn encourages the
tendency to adopt illegal means of enrichment by individuals

It is not for nothing that US citizens find it easy to say

God bless America! The United States of America
(USA) cares very much for its citizens and its citizens
feel great and proud to belong to USA.
America does talent hunt and they attract talented
people, offer them citizenship and the needed
opportunity to develop their potentials for the good of
the nation, well aware that knowledge is power. They
spend a lot of money on research and development
(R&D) because R&D is a sure-footed source of national
development and greatness.
On the contrary, Nigeria pays lip service to R&D and
often keeps money away from intelligentsias; they ask
how can those in the ivory tower have both knowledge
and money? The wealth of the nation is in the hands of
a privileged few. Intellectuals hug books while politicians
hoard the nations wealth so that money and scholarly
knowledge rarely meet. Yet Nigeria aims at greatness,
the giant of Africa!

5. FEDERAL CHARACTER AND QUOTA

SYSTEM: AN ALBATROSS AROUND THE
NECK OF NIGERIA
5.1Quota System
. Undoubtedly the Federal character system is premised on the
principle of equal representation so that no state or tribe
would overshadow the others but it backfired.
. If there had been moral and real unity, ab initio the fear of
domination would not have arisen. The situation would also
have been different if there had been devolution of power, if
the federating states had controlled their resources and paid
a certain percentage to the central administration instead of
making the centre the powerful federal might that has both
the knife and the yam
. If creative Nigerians, irrespective of where they come from,
discover and invent things it is the national image that is
served.
. On the other hand, if a soccer coach should build a national
team based on quota system instead of selecting players with

Talents are not evenly distributed. When Nigeria begins to recognize special

talents irrespective of where the talented person comes from, there will be
tremendous progress.
But

if the Nigerian hierarchy continues to pay attention and give preeminence to where a person comes from, the nation would fail to develop
those who have special talents and tap into it for national development and
greatness.

The practice of quota system under the aegis of Federal character in place

of meritocracy has its demerits.

Nigeria shot itself on the foot when meritocracy was sacrificed on the altar

of quota system. When hard work and discipline are not rewarded, there is a
strong tendency to abhor hard work, become lazy, and look for easy and
quick means of making money.

5.2Wrong Scale of Values in Nigerian Polity

It is demoralizing and destructive to project a wrong scale of
values. In a society where intellectuals in the academia are
paid pittance while parliamentarians and local government
chairmen (who graduated under them) smile home monthly
with millions of Naira per capita, the wrong signal given to
youngsters is that it does not pay to work hard. This is but a
time bomb.
At present there a mad rush to join politics at all costs even if it
means becoming hit men for those politicians who buy guns
for their thugs. There is a lot of free money in Nigerian politics.
That is why elections in Nigeria are fraught with bitterness,
rigging, gerrymander and fatal violence.
We live in the world of cause and effect. Thus it is irrational to
plant a time bomb and expect that it will not explode or harm
anyone.
When Nigeria begins to reward hard work, develop and
implement strategies for decent and productive work for

 As

Willie Okowa puts it If we create a society where those

who work hard find it difficult to live comfortable lives, while
those who are well connected connect themselves into
stupendous wealth, then we should be prepared to
discourage hard work, discipline, commitment, etc., the
essential ingredients for development.

The

point is worth emphasizing. If we want to develop, then

we must create a socio-economic system that links reward to
production. This link is the fuel that drives the capitalist
vehicle. The capitalist vehicle of development cannot perform
optimally if its fuel is unavailable?

 This phenomenon is compounded, from a religious

perspective, by the craze for miracle and prosperity with
emphasis on sowing seed and challenging God to surprise
us with breakthroughs, even when some people are doing
practically nothing to remove the obstacles to progress. It
is enough to claim success with faith whereas Faith
without works is dead (James 2:14-26). The philosophical
implication is to work as though everything depends on us
and pray as though everything depends on God.
Miracle mania amounts to wealth without work which is
capable of killing initiatives and stifling the enterprising
spirit. This may explain why many youngsters no longer
want to positively stress themselves to study hard.
The absence of studiousness and discipline precipitate
other social ills: examination malpractice, cybercrime,
conmen and gambling. Majority of Nigerian youngsters
indulge in Naira-bet, which is another form of Wealth
without work, one of the Seven Blunders of the World.

 There is no alternative to hard work. Jesus said My Father

works unceasingly, and so do I (Jn 5:17). If God is still at
work and Jesus works, it means that work is necessary. It
is therefore illogical for anybody to abstain from work and
ask God to spoon-feed and prosper him. Heaven helps
those who help themselves.

To character and success, two things, contradictory as

they may seem, must go together humble dependence
and manly independence: humble dependence on God,
and manly reliance on self, says William Wordsworth.

True miracles are created by men when they use the

courage and intelligence that God gave them, says Jean
Anouih.

ATTAINING DEVELOPMENT IN
NIGERIAN POLITY
Every regime in Nigeria aims at development but there would
be no development until Nigeria educates its people properly
because a nation is a moral entity separable from its nationals
only by abstraction . That is, there is no Nigeria outside
Nigerians. Nigeria is not the map, but the people.
Besides, changes begin in the mind and where the mind goes,
the body follows. As long as Nigeria panders to philosophy of
feasibilism, a thought system which wants the status quo to
remain as it is, nothing will work well and development will
continue to be an uphill task. Our progress as a nation,
President J. F. Kennedy said, can never be swifter than our
progress in education.
Education is the key to national development. Our educational
system requires overhauling. What Nigeria needs is critical,
creative, entrepreneurial and productive education, an
education that questions things, and empowers students to
create jobs and be employers of labour at the end of their
studies.

 Nigeria does not need what Paolo Freire termed the banking
concept of education, the type of education aimed at
maintaining the status quo, an education that mass
produces job-seekers.
Aristotle stated that the root of education is bitter but its
fruit is sweet. Why then should the fruit of education be
bitter for Nigerian graduates? As education is a means of
upward mobility, and the ruin of any nation begins in the
homes of its
people, Nigeria could use the leverage of
education to emancipate families, the nucleus of the wider
society.
Based on the level of society consisting of people with
similar cultural, economic or educational status, the world
has been stratified into social classes: developed, developing
and underdeveloped nations.
However, the fact that every nation still pursues
developmental goals logically implies that every nation is
still developing

 Paolo Freire averred that the cardinal principle of philosophy is

mans vocation to be more than what he is at any given time and
place. There are thus no developed men except in a biological
sense.
Nigeria Philosophical Association raised the pertinent question:
Is there any nation that is not developing? It follows that the
term development is relative.
Science and technology are the twin drivers of modern
development. Given a knowledge-based society and economy,
we need to develop science and technology, as the key
instruments for the generation and application of knowledge.
We also need the prudence to manage them and this is where
philosophy comes in.
Willie J. Okowa defined development in terms of the broad
movement of the totality of the society in a positive direction.
Moving in the positive direction implies massive emancipation of
both men and women, promoting gender equality, gender
equity, gender parity, and women empowerment because only
men (50% of the populace), cannot genuinely and adequately
develop the nation. Miriam Babangida blazed the trail when she
initiated Better Life Programme for Rural Women.

 Moving in a positive direction implies better life

for all, eliminating in a sustainable manner youth
unemployment, denigrating and nagging material
and spiritual poverty, hunger, preventable
diseases, illiteracy, and economic dependence,
etc.
It means that Nigeria should implement to the full
the Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030.
Therefore, Nigerians must listen to the feminine
voice, understand how it differs from the
masculine point of view, and realize that it is
equally valid.
A situation where Nigerian women are begging
for at least thirty-five per cent (35%)
representation in governance is neither ideal nor
logical. What is the philosophy of 35%? Is it based
on gender parity or disparity?

7. JUSTICE AND PEACE IN THE NIGERIAN

POLITICAL SYSTEM
7.1Justice in Nigerian Political System
According to Plato, without justice, not even a society of
rapscallions will thrive. The principles of justice are chosen
behind the veil of ignorance John Rawls said. Who will remove
this veil of ignorance better than philosophers?
The representation of justice as a blindfolded lady with a set of
scales expresses the idea that no-one is above the law. The
scales of justice represent equality. Lady Justice is blind, and
therefore impartial. Punishment is the same for all.
But is it really so, especially in Nigeria where society severely
punishes women for infidelity but turns a blind eye when the
same offense is committed by men?

However,

it is both immoral and illogical for couples to

cheat on each other. Extramarital affair amounts to
stealing. Why would reasonable men or women go out
to steal something they already have in their house?

Child

marriage is another snag. Together with rape child

marriages are purely pleasure without conscience, one of the
Seven Blunders of the World.

Despite

the corrective surgeries that thousands of women

undergo in Northern Nigeria because of fistulae (RVF and VVF)
men still involve and indulge the girl child knowing that her
body is psychologically and physically ill-equipped for
childbearing.

In addition, she runs the risk of being abandoned by the very

husband who caused the fistulae.

 That a father allows his girl child to have such a horrendous

experience calls for questioning that bore deep into our
rationality. Why force a girl child against her will to marry a
man who is old enough to be her father? Where is justice in
all this?
The judicial system is said to be the last hope of the
common man. But is it? The cost of pursuing justice and
rights through the courts in Nigeria outweighs the cost of
forfeiture and so generally people forgo their rights.
The logical implication is that the system encourages
corruption. For instance, a police force that is not well-paid
would extort money from people, make unlawful arrests,
and often frame people up. I no follow (I am not among
them) is ten thousand Naira (N10,000) bail. Innocent people
pay it in order to avoid detention as the courts find it
difficult to dispense justice in good time. Justice delayed is
justice denied.
Consequently people have lost hope in the judiciary. That is
why they easily forfeit their rights and often resort to jungle
justice.

 To regain good image and the confidence of the people the

police resort to the slogan THE POLICE IS YOUR FRIEND.
No one is deceived. When the police become forthright
people will know.
Good and responsible governance requires philosophy, the
rule of law and due process. For the sake of checks and
balances, government is made up of the executive, the
legislature and the judiciary.
Is the aim not defeated when the President of Nigeria
appoints the chief judge of the Federation because he who
pays the piper dictates the tune?
The consequences are obvious. Genuine cases could be
squashed with executive fiats when there is interest while
kangaroo court could be set up for human rights activists
and other people who step on big toes.

 Besides if we claim that the judiciary is the last hope of

the common man, why does the executive not always
obey the rulings of the judiciary in a democratic setting?
7.2Peace and Security
No nation can dispense with peace. The maxim on bill
boards Peace is Priceless, Terror is senseless
conscientizes people to that effect. Terrorism, disunity,
tribalism, religious fundamentalism, greed, hooliganism,
etc., threaten the security and peace of the country in no
small measure.
There are pockets of agitations here and there in the
South-South, South-East, and the biggest of them all is in
North-East. The South-South is agitating for resource
control and for the clean-up of polluted areas due to oil
spillage. A new group called the Niger Delta Avengers
agitates for Niger Delta Republic. But by blowing up oil
pipelines are they not polluting the environment and
compounding the plight of the rural farmer?

 Youths in the South-East are agitating for the sovereign state of

Biafra because of gross marginalization since after the Nigeria/
Biafra war. Treated as better-gone-away and yet denied
autonomy, coercion is used to keep them in the system. They
posit the maxim: Why beat a child and forbid him to cry?
In the North-East, Boko Haram is agitating for the Sovereign
Islamic State of West Africa. Theirs has escalated into real war
with Nigeria. From the foregoing, it is obvious that grains of rice
are itching to find their way out but the bag forces them to
remain inside for reasons of state.
There are also economic saboteurs who vandalize oil pipelines
and indulge in oil theft. Petrol (spirit) has burnt hundreds of
people to death yet the practice continues. Does poverty block
common sense?
To attain economic self-sufficiency and to shore up local
manufacturing and production, the Nigerian Government made
autarkic laws and banned certain goods. But lack of philosophy
makes some Nigerians to contravene these laws. Some import
into the country substandard goods that short-change their
fellow nationals. Others bring in contra banned goods. Are they
unaware that just laws are made for the common good of the
people?

 It is becoming an annual event for cattle rearers and farmers

to engage in gun battle. How are cattle reared in Europe and
America? Shouldnt Nigeria copy their method and curb
nomadism for the sake of peaceful co-existence?
A proverb has it that when a stone goes up, fear grips the
clay pot. If people entertain the fear that Boko Haram, could
disguise as herdsmen with powerful firearms, systematically
overrun the whole South in order to surreptitiously implement
the master plan: to dip the Koran into the sea (Islamize the
whole country), their feelings should be respected because if
it happens to be true they will bear the consequences.
If the house of parliament debates and passes a bill to give
them land in other peoples communities: what is the
guarantee that with time they would not suppress and wipe
out the indigenous people, fully occupy their land and what
happened to ancient black Egyptians would happen to the
Southern tribes?

 7.2.1

Religious Fundamentalism:

A Threat to Peaceful Co-existence Philosophy makes people

broadminded; narrow-mindedness and bigotry result from lack
of philosophy. The arguments bigots present at times are at
variance with the method and magnitude of the struggle.
For instance, Boko Haram terrorist group claim that Western
education is bad because of co-education of boys and girls,
school calendar respects Saturday and Sunday (Jewish and
Christian holidays respectively) , and Western education does
not provide employment. Therefore it must be jettisoned.
But they use the products of Western education: bombs,
sophisticated ammunitions, cars, telephone, video, etc. Why
would a person, who does not eat rat meat, use his teeth to
share it for children?
Logically, by using Western technology Boko Haram strongly
prove Western education to be very useful. Therefore they
contradict themselves.

 The assertion that it does not provide employment is a

pointer to creative entrepreneurial education, which is a very
good idea.
But is the kidnapping of school girls and the bombing of
Churches, Mosques and market places an alternative? Is it
Western education that is killed in the bomb blasts?
By rendering people homeless, forcing them to live in
internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, has Boko Haram
not compounded the plight of the poor and the unemployed?
By bombing public places they utterly spurn native wisdom
and the moral principle: Do not throw stones in the market
because they could hurt your own mother. Where then is the
logic of their case?
African philosophers would be failing in our obligation
towards our people if we fail to raise critical awareness and
ask crucial questions to help them clarify their thoughts.
Socrates said why he philosophized is because unexamined
life is not worth living. Critical questions could make people
sit down, think and re-evaluate their way of life.

 A proverb has it that whatever the fowl defies the rain to

pursue must be important to the fowl. Life is sacred, human
blood should not be spilt anyhow as human life is the highest
human value.
Therefore, if suicide bombers make the ultimate heroic
sacrifice of relinquishing their lives in pursuit of a reward in
paradise, that reward ought to be more priceless and larger
than life.
What then is the reward? in paradise, beautiful dark-eyed
maidens called houris wait on the men. In Nigeria, some
believe that the number of women is limitless because Gods
munificence is boundless while some claim that a man would
be rewarded in paradise with seven virgins. If this is true, it
attracts many remarkable questions:
1. As it paints a picture of paradise that is sensual, will the
dead go to paradise with their mortal bodies which decay in
the grave? If the spirits of the dead transcend to the
metaphysical realm without their physical bodies, will there
be libido to assuage in paradise?

 2. Assuming that a male fundamentalist is statutorily entitled

to four wives, and his faith permits child marriages (virgins),
given the permissiveness of the modern society are the extra
three virgins enough cause to blow up himself? When there are
many women in Nigeria, do men need to kill innocent people
and go to paradise in order to have carnal knowledge of seven
of them?
3. If in paradise God would reward men with maidens to attend
to them, will paradise also be a place of rest for women? And
with what will God reward female suicide bombers? Should
they get to the great beyond and discover that there is no room
in paradise for murderers let alone reward, what is their plan B?
4. It has become commonplace in Northern Nigeria for farmers
and Fulani cattle rearers to fight whenever the latter destroy
peoples farms. What makes religious fundamentalists think
that they can destroy Gods creation, kill Gods children in cold
blood and go to God for reward? The hermetic law says as
above so also below. Here below, can a person kill a mans son
and go to him for reward? Nigeria needs philosophy more than
we think.

 It will be a disservice to this paper to think that religious

fundamentalism is limited to Boko Haram alone.
In
Christianity a lot of fundamentalist behaviour has brought
disunity, wrecked the fragile peace and destabilized the
prospect of growth in many communities.
While in the West Christians are making conscious efforts to
play down on the things that disunite them and emphasize
what unites them [in obedience to the teaching of Christ that
they may be one (Jn 17:21)], Christian denominations in
Nigeria are busy fighting and castigating each other. Even
some members of the same families are at daggers draw
because of their denominational affiliations.
Instead of being united as Christ prayed, Churches are
everyday dividing exponentially.
There is hardly any warehouse that is not used as a praying
centre now and the nuisance created by the noise pollution
emanating from these centres deny people peaceful and
restful sleep after their daily hard work. Who will blame the
Governor of Kaduna State, El Rufai for sponsoring a bill which
will in part curtail this peace less-inducing form of activity?

 8. WHY PHILOSOPHY
POLITICAL SYSTEM

IS

LACKING

IN

THE

NIGERIAN

We have thus far highlighted what the absence of philosophy

can cause. Any system not founded on a solid philosophy is
bound to crumble.
Big thinkers have proffered solutions that continue to shape the
world. The advert for Toyota is Good thinking, good product.
The converse is Bad thinking, bad product.
Maybe the Nigerian body politic is the way it is due to bad
thinking. Perhaps our politicians are not thinking hard enough on
the realities of the Nigerian pluralistic society and our big
thinkers are busy doing ivory tower philosophy. They focus on
ready-made Western philosophy without domesticating it in
order to proffer solutions that would continue to shape Nigeria.

 Knowledge is power says Francis Bacon. Knowledge is so

special that it is the only gift one can give out and still retain
it. Instead of diminishing, knowledge increases when shared.
Knowledge transcends boundaries and good knowledge is
good anywhere. So we are not asking our great thinkers to
quit teaching Western thought but to make room for native
thought as well. It behoves philosophers to develop our
epistemological
patrimony
and
articulate
the
logic/sensibleness of good governance for Nigerians.
Nigerians need philosophy, the science of ultimate reason, to
guide their lives because Unexamined life is not worth
living says Socrates.
In her Philosophical Plumbing, Mary Midgley interpreted
this Socratic dictum to mean that there is a limit to living in a
mess and by this she meant conceptual mess. Who will
clarify the conceptual mess in the Nigerian polity, if not
Nigerian philosophers? Yet some of us do not get involved in
the issues of everyday life because they think that
philosophy is not good enough unless it is abstract and
abstruse. They fail to realize that philosophy advances by
discursive thinking and being creative, not by hair-splitting
and pedantry.

 As Richard Torty puts it, Philosophy makes progress not by

becoming more rigorous but by becoming more imaginative.
By being abstract and discoursing what only they themselves
can understand some philosophers make themselves irrelevant
to the society whereas philosophic wisdom should have made
them oracles to be consulted.
For philosophers like John Dewey, philosophical problems are
not problems divorced from peoples lives. Philosophy starts
from our everyday human hopes and aspirations, and from the
problems that arise in the course of our lives.
According to Max Scheler, Love is a bridge from poorer to
richer knowledge and philosophy is a love-determined
movement towards participation in the essential reality of all
possibles.
Nevertheless, we go from the known to the
unknown.
Therefore it is ill-advised to leave the gamut of problems
confronting our nation only to join the Scholastics to
contemplate how many angels can stand on the tip of a
needle? There is need for relevance.

 Nigerian philosophers have to conceptualize and

internalize a new framework for philosophy and its
role in nation building.
We have relinquished to the social media criticism,
the duty we owe to our society.
According to Jurgen Habermas, society is guided by
the criticisms of its traditions.
For Karl Marx,
philosophy is critical criticism. He believed in the
critical cum emancipative role of philosophy. He
actually challenged philosophers to change the
world. And for John Dewey, the principal function of
philosophy is criticism of criticisms.
Constructive criticisms are needed to shape our
country Nigeria and to check the excesses of men
with the club.

 9. CONCLUSION
We have raised a lot of questions with conscientization in view.
The term conscientization refers to learning to perceive
social, political, and economic contradictions, and to take action
against the oppressive elements of reality. In other words, we
have raised questions to enable people sit down and think in
order to clarify their thoughts and do something worthwhile.
We asked questions on Boko Haram not for the sake of
criticisms but because it is the foremost problem facing Nigeria
as a whole.
If Nigerians were critically minded enough to get right from the
onset the philosophy of social contract and of democratic
culture, we would have appreciated long ago a sense of
nationhood.
Democracy is power to the people, not power the peoples. This
implies an ethical community, equity and fairness, a single
national identity, a sense of belonging, unity in diversity or
identity in difference.

 There is need to work hard on national unity, if we are keen on

operating democratic system. Our present-day democracy is a
sham, wolf in sheep clothing because unity, freedom, human
rights, equity, dialogue and morality which are some of the basic
philosophical prerequisites for true democracy are lacking in the
Nigerian political system.
Democracy without freedom is a farce and that accounts for the
atrocity of gunning down (as they were praying) youths agitating
for autonomy and later poured chemicals on their unburied
dead bodies.
Is this how to treat nationals in a democratic dispensation?
Where is democratic process?
Democracy fosters dialogue and does not negate human rights.
Where is the rule of law? Is it any wonder that the cattle-Fulani
herdsmen antagonized their host community at Enugu and
massacred them with impunity, ranking their cattle higher than
human lives?
Realizing the importance of philosophy in the life of a nation,
philosophy for children has long been introduced in some
Western countries like USA, Canada and Britain.

 The Philosophy Foundation in England, a unique educational

charity, takes philosophy to kindergarten and the wider
community as a life-long learning initiative because among
other things, philosophy encourages critical and creative
thinking essential in the 21st Century
This philosophy foundation tries to do philosophy instead of
teaching it. Children evolve the topics and participate actively
in their discussion. They have extended it to parents. In Nigeria,
on the contrary, Parents, Teachers Association (PTA) is rather
used to raise funds instead of knowledge because education is
poorly funded. What is more, Nigerian students are introduced
to philosophy only in tertiary institutions.
Nigeria needs philosophy in order to excel. Lack of clear and
correct reasoning gives rise to confusion. Our country will do
better if we introduce philosophy in primary and secondary
schools and make it a compulsory course in the institutions of
higher learning.
Critical education is what the nation needs. Critical minded
populace will generate critical minded leaders, and critical
minded leaders will lead with wisdom and vision.

 Plato was the first to moot the idea of philosopher king;

either kings learn philosophy or philosophers become
kings. In the past, kings learnt philosophy and that was
why Aristotle could teach Alexander the Great.
Our nation is at its downward slope because philosophers
have not become kings and kings have refused to be
taught by philosophers.
In order not to function as a signpost which indicates the
way but does not move, I have written three books of
short memorable stories with which to inculcate African
worldview and thought pattern, critical and creative
thinking. I am also writing another book, Philosophy for
Children and young Adults trying as much as possible to
step down philosophy and make it accessible to children
because philosophy has formative value. A principled
thinking people would develop a great nation because
ideas govern the world.

END OF
PRESENTATION

THANK
YOU!!!