THE MORAL BURDEN OF PRIVILEGE

This occasion provides a very good background to discuss the problem of the widening gap between social and economic groups, and the dangers which this poses for social cohesion, security and development in Nigeria. An elite institution such the Zaria Academy represents a symbol of privilege, and it is fitting that it should also provide a setting for discussing the irrevocable linkages between wealth and poverty, power and weakness, privilege and its responsibilities. It is also vital that the students and products of this great institution understand that the privilege they enjoy in their association with this College is linked with the conditions which make it difficult for their peers in different social and economic conditions to achieve quality education and some assurances of a good future.

         I am aware that the moving sprit behind the establishment of this College was the desire by its founder and proprietor to establish an institution which is both affordable and capable of providing world-class education to young Nigerians. It is also a fact, however, that quality is expensive; and like everything else in life, either you or someone else will pay for something you enjoy. As Karl

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*Text of a Lecture delivered at the Graduation and Prize Giving Day Ceremony of Zaria Academy on 3oth July 2011.

** Visiting Reader in Political Science, Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto and Executive Chairman, D.I.T.V/Alheri Radio, Kaduna.

Marx once said, there is no such thing as a free meal. Ideally, the Nigerian society should provide for every young boy or girl the type of education enjoyed by the students of Zaria Academy. In reality, this is not too idealistic; and it is even necessary to make the case that every Nigerian child should receive the type of education which Zaria Academy provides as a matter of right.

The provision of quality education to its young citizens, to the limits of their capabilities, is the irreduceable minimal obligation of the Nigerian State. Where the State fails to do this, it must be held accountable for its wrong priorities and failure in its responsibilities to citizens. The failure or unwillingness of the Nigeria State (defined broadly as all governments and agencies which collect and expend public resources) is itself a function of the nature and disposition of leadership; and the capacities of groups or classes to compel changes in the manner leaders behave in relation to allocation of resources. Leaders whose positions are not contingent on public support, such as those who rule without popular mandate, or treat such mandates as commodities which they purchased through fraudulent elections, are not likely to show profound sympathies towards allocating resources around the provision of the basic necessities of life and the preconditions of social and economic progress of  the people. These leaders are more likely to use their positions to reinforce their control over the political process, and to limit the economic empowerment of poor citizens. The use of state resources therefore serves the purpose of reinforcing class divisions, even if these are not the intended outcomes by the leadership. In developing societies such as ours, access to good education and skills is the most decisive instrument for reducing or expanding the gap between social and economic groups.

         The failure of the State to provide fair access to quality education served as an impetus for privileged groups to secure it for their own young people outside the framework of the State education system. The nation then witnessed a massive expansion of private schools for the week-to-do which are characterized principally by relatively high cost and better quality than public-sector education. The divisions in society between wealth and poverty are then reproduced and reinforced, and the gaps between groups become wider and more pronounced.

         Under colonialism, policy towards education served the purpose of producing the basic indigenous skills and competencies which were necessary for control and management of the colonized territory and people. In parts of Nigerian where there were pronounced existing cleavages around wealth, power and prestige, such as Northern Nigeria, colonial Policy on education sought to both protect existing power structures as well as facilitate the emergence of a new elite. The development of western education in Northern Nigeria was therefore a highly controlled process, and was informed by multiple concerns, one of which was that it targetted the creation of a new elite which however was to exist with the new elite in such a manner as to create a largely conservative society. Free and high quality public funded education bridged the distances between social groups, provided the fastest mode for upward mobility and created the nucleus of a middle class. Colonial society was extremely fluid, in spite of the deliberate efforts to shield the old privileged groups from being entirely subordinated by new groups; especially in the north. Given the many advantages which earlier commercial contact made with the south of Nigeria and their impact on economic progress and the rate of spread of western-style education, western education in the north also reduced the damage which could have been caused by amalgamation and secured a federal system which brought groups together with widely differing cultures, and at different stages of development.

         Post colonial Society built up on the dynamic foundations of education, and in northern Nigeria in particular, the new elite adopted an aggressive expansion of public-funded education. The new post-colonial society expanded opportunities for disadvantaged groups and communities, and privileged groups also recognized that the preservation of their privilege was largely a function of the degree to which they responded to the new education system which alone appeared to define group and class distinctions.

         The liberalization of education policy coincided with a massive expansion of the new middle class in. Nigeria. The State ceased to have sole responsibility for providing education to all the classes, and private education spread quickly, taking along with it a substantial portion of faith-based education that also played a critical role in the emergence of new groups for particularly-disadvantaged communities. The new ruling elite was distinguishable by its wealth, power, and its capacity to bestow advantage on its own younger generation by the manner it gave them quality and expensive education. State-funded education became progressively poorer in quality as leaders educated their own children in private schools. In spite of the appearance of increased funding, public sector educational standards collapsed completely. Children of the upper classes received quality and expensive education, which further reinforced the distance between them and children of the economically disadvantaged. Government schools witnessed a massive expansion in enrollment by children of the poor, but gave as education, skills or hope to their products.

         Our society therefore became more and more polarized between those who received quality education, acquired skills and competences at great cost, and whose future was relatively assured; and those who received no training or skills, and who are consigned from childhood to a marginal existence. Those whose parents bought them very expensive education grow up feeling that they owe society nothing. Those who are also abandoned by a leadership and society which appeared less able and willing to change their lives also grow up with no sense of obligation to the society or the nation. The nation today has no central unifying values, institutions or processes. The well-to-do are daily moving away from the poor. The gulf between the two groups is fertile ground for individual and collective insecurity. It makes everyone less secure, and deprives society of the critical stability which only a middle class can provide. And, of course, the first casualty of the failure of high-quality, state-funded education was the middle class, which was further decimated by wrong economic policies.   

         Our young people, even those who receive quality education such as our children at Zaria Academy today grow up without vital sentiments of patriotism and pride in their nation. They feel that the nation has let them down, and even the good education they receive has to be paid for in full by parents or guardians. Their poorer counterparts think even worse: they, are bitter, disillusioned and desperate to fight a society to which they owe nothing.

         Today, our Nation is reaping the dangerous harvest of five decades of lack of vision from our leadership; of unspeakable corruption which has turned public assets that could otherwise provide good education for all young citizens into virtual private assets of leaders; and the failure of a political system to re-invent our nation and place it along a constructive path. Our cities and towns are bursting with young people who have no faith in the government, and no hope for a decent future. Our rural areas are fast depleting, or are struck in timeless poverty and drudgery. The rich live behind high walls and tinted glasses, and run for cover every time the multitudes are aroused to action by a political and electoral system which progressively delivers less and less.

         This downward spiral into disaster for all can and must be stopped. It can be stopped through the adoption of an enlightened policy of self preservation by the rich and the wealthy, who need to recognize that their privileges are build upon the squalor and hopelessness of the vast majority of their fellow citizens. It can be stopped by a political system which draws into it better quality leaders who will not plunder public assets as the sole purpose for acquiring public offices. It can be stopped by each citizen, particularly those who are privileged, acknowledging and taking steps towards mitigating the dangerous chasm which exist between power and impotence; between wealth and poverty, and between hope and hopelessness.

         Nigerians are still attempting to come to terms with the genesis and sheer depth of feeling and intense violence which characterized the post-election violence last April. It is important that we understand exactly what created both the remote and immediate causes of the violence. But even at this stage,, it is clear that many of our young people are intensely disillusioned with a political system which promises them major changes in their lives, but fails to deliver. They are angry at a leadership which seems bent on preserving its firm control over our resources, while the population wallows in poverty. Power and privilege which cannot handle their opposites risk extinction. Our nation is at that point where history will record us as having taken the right strategic turn away from unending strife; or failing to avert a total collapse. The moral burden of privilege is to reduce itself, and if all we do is to teach the young in this Hall that rich and poor; the weak and the powerful; the privileged and the pauperized are inextricably linked, we would have made a good beginning.