Nigeria has at its core the question of what she will do with her diversity. It is quite simply her most defining challenge, and the failure at being effective led to a Civil War and even now is prominent in the Boko Haram insurgency. The potential pay off of getting it right is shown in the incredible economy of Lagos. In an election cycle that has been the most sophisticated till date at exploiting wedge issues it is no surprise, time and again, the issue of diversity and inclusion come into play. Therefore it is most shocking that we lack understanding, education, process and competence about this most critical of issues as a country.
The lack of clarity and standards burst into the open when the Oba of Lagos gave what has been widely called an offensive speech to visiting Igbo community chieftains in his Palace. I want to spare myself and readers the details that have been raked over in every public forum in the past days so I will not discuss the content. However, it is important to characterise the speech as reported (also disputed) at the very least reckless and arrogant when addressed to a community of people whose experience of the civil war that divided our country still causes trauma. This is in addition to the fact that the Oba himself was a senior police officer and holds the position that has both political, as well as social, influence to make good on threats or perceived threats. The last read of the public news suggest that the matter will be brought before the National Human Rights commission. It will be easy to however make this just about Oba Akiolu and his utterances and those who are going to make political capital of it this weekend will have us end it there.
I disagree, along with the election of the 28th of March it brings into sharp focus how we handle our abundance of diversity. Can it deliver the blessings we desire without any conscious and disciplined nurturing? Is there a natural evolution and dynamics towards an inclusive nation? More pressing: does scapegoating the Oba not make it seem the questions and issues raised by this incident are isolated? We, a country that zones political post on geographic quota, who frame our politics around ethnicity and accept tribal roles as critical to our civic space. Where and when do we draw a line? We need to open up the structural and systemic way that we reward for ethnic bloc and how that in itself can be a major problem. The idea of national cake shared in the way we do is itself a spur to exclusion and organising on our ethnic and tribal background; why then is a ruthless demand on behalf of ‘indigene’ interest as interpreted by the Oba shocking?
So, the larger issue of our diversity is first defining the principles of diversity that is the framework of our relationship as a country, that is aspiring to become nation. Further, how that translates into something we knowingly and collective work together to achieve. Our diversity is not just our ethnicity, even though Nigeria has one of the top 5 most ethnically diverse indigenous population in the world. Diversity is about the combination of qualities and characteristics that frame our humanity. It is essential to our complexity that we are all broadly the same, yet all different at the same time. No two human beings are exactly the same, they are created exceptional even when they are born by the same parents within seconds of each other, possible looking the same.
The issue is how does our diversity combine effectively that when we interact we become more than the sum of our parts without losing all these unique gifts and perspectives? Simply there is no science to this and it cannot be engineered. It is an art and it requires wisdom. At its heart is a series of conversations and questions. The first is what is our vision for our diversity and that is often captured in metaphors. The US sees itself as a melting pot where their diversity blends into what it calls the American dream. Others talk of a salad bowl retaining the different flavours, textures and qualities as the distinctively to form a healthy and versatile dish. I would suggest our metaphor is Fela’s Afrobeat bringing together a funky groove of different music and musical instrument, each pursuing tonal excellence, speaking in authentic idiom and all contributing to one grand narrative. It works by giving each instrument a chance to solo in the limelight without losing the orchestrated, rhythmic excellence.
So, here in Lagos most of the people who became hysterical about the Oba’s comment have no systemic nor structured understanding or contribution to why and how Lagos became this inclusive years after it had stopped being Federal Capital. Surely if we want to keep or maintain something we find valuable we should consciously learn its dynamics and develop processes and standards for maintaining it. For example, the life blood of sustainable diversity is how we treat what offends us, whether it is thought, speech or action.
In the offensive speech attributed to Oba Akiolu, we seem to have followed the ‘gotcha’ model used in many countries in the West on racial issues. The problem with that is that it assumes that anyone who expresses offensive comment is automatically a bigot. That is totally untrue and plays into the adage that we judge others by their actions and judge ourselves by our intentions. A bigot is someone who is so entrenched in a position that they never let any new information educate, enlighten or challenge their firmly held position. In fact it can be argued that the view they express has become part of their identity, like Monsieur Le Pen in France or Rush Limbuagh the US Radio ‘shock jock’. Even with those people, the public space must remain open to challenge, educate and debate their position. In the case of Oba Akiolu, the decision to engage him directly on the remarks organised by Governor Rochas seems the most constructive approach, especially because he has no reported pattern of such offensive comments or even acts against any ethnic group.
For diversity to be truly inclusive, we must have a vibrant public space where we can agree to disagree without being disagreeable. It also cannot be selective in what is offensive. In our society, people openly express hateful and inciting remarks about the ‘other’ in many ways but it does not raise an eyebrow. Almost daily we tolerate sexist, if not misogynistic, remarks and in fact habits. In parts of our society, women are passed on as chattel when they become widows, do not inherit like men and even under our constitution cannot pass on citizenship to their spouse. We must certainly express common place hate speech about Lesbians and Gay people. We must decide as to when speech is offensive; what the criteria is to be. Is it the number of people affected? Their power and influence? Should we have a standard for all humans irrespective of our personal view of their lifestyle and status? Surely hate or offensive speech against any group is one against all of us.
If diversity is to ever become our strength and drive the pursuit of excellence not just a slogan, we have to introduce a conscious rigour of thought and application specific to it. We need to define Nigerian citizenship to established standards beyond the contours of the Federal Character and state of origin/residency debate. We should start by digging deeper in a longer national conversation on what are the rights and responsibilities of the ‘other’ whether on gender, ethnicity, medical/physical challenges, sexual orientation. We should also from this explore the implication of identity politics for the kind of diverse nation we want to be. The incoming government has signalled a start in recognising that state of residence has a preferred place in our future. We need to explore the best way to seek merit and ensure diversity, especially in public life and political posts. We will need to define what is unacceptable discrimination and constitutes hate speech or incitement by law using objective as well as accepted standards. We will need to create a civic space that protects this standards, educates people and perseveres across all sectors when inevitably the conversation and construction breaks down.
In the short term, some good practice towards exploring diversity will include recognising that we all hold prejudices and it is natural to stereotype, but bigotry is learned behaviour that becomes a habit and crystallises into identity. We all need information and people who bring rigorous alternatives and perspectives to our position. It helps to recognise people are complex and hold contradictory views they should not be reduced to one point of view until there is an established pattern of framing their position exclusively in that regard. A true test of our Diversity Quotient is the way we treat those we disagree with. We should have the humility to recognise that on diversity and inclusion we are all a work in progress and none of us are perfect. For this incredible aspiration and inspiration called Nigeria, blessed with Diversity it is unconscionable if we do not teach our children the knowledge, skills and attitudes that translates this extraordinary variety into knottiest what we tolerate but into our unique brand of how we lead the world into a better tomorrow.
Adewale Ajadi, a lawyer, creative consultant and leadership expert, is author of Omoluwabi 2.0: A code of Transformation in 21st Century Nigeria.
