Nigeria On The Famished Road

By Paul Odili

Apologies to Dr. Ben Okri for stealing the title of his 1991 explosive book, The Famished Road, his Booker prize winning literary work. Dr. Okri’s lush style and distinctive narration of spirit world and realism is imitable. A major sub-theme of The Famished Road is the struggle in politics between the “party of the rich and the party of the poor” in post-colonial Nigeria with its corruption, poverty and squalor.

 In mirroring Nigeria’s reality, the part(ies) of the rich prospers at the expense of the party of the poor. This article is not about expounding on The Famished Road. Rather this article is derived from a one page excerpt; sadly, of what must have been a much longer article written by Dr. Chinweizu. Which I think has a curious connection to Okri’s sub-theme of elitism, corruption and poverty. I stumbled upon Dr. Chinweizu’s article purely by chance. I regret I am unable to find the full copy of the work and having no contact with Dr. Chinweizu, I just could not wave it aside, finding the thoughts he has penned down here so engaging I felt compelled to reproduce his points copiously.

Chinweizu author and public intellectual was theorising on Nigeria elite in a deep and insightful way, and because of its aptness deserves a generous treatment (incomplete as it is). He says: “Development and prosperity are by-products of the project to build national power prestige, either out of fear of bigger powers or out of competition with rival powers. The quest for national power and prestige is the ultimate source of political will to do whatever economic development call for. It is the project of national power, not abstract moral precepts, not consumerist appetite, that best imposes on a people the discipline, accountability, probity, and appropriate systems of sanctions and rewards that form the core values of a viable society.”

Dr. Chinweizu further states, “ If Nigeria were frightened or humiliated, or otherwise stimulated, into a quest for national power and prestige, then Nigeria would find the political will to implement those excellent policies which the experts have devised, not only for health, but also for education, economic development, etc. If you doubt this statement, just reflect on what has happened to Nigerian football since we began to consciously seek prestige on the football field.”