Nigeria and conspiracy theories

Also published in Daily Trust 

Away from any academic complexity, conspiracy theory simply refers to a supposition that some powerful but largely faceless individuals, business entities or countries covertly plot to influence happenings, and secretly dictate the course of events to economically exploit, politically subjugate and cultural brainwash others. Incidentally, since time immemorial, civilizations, empires and countries have struggled to militarily conquest or tactfully subdue each other, in their struggle for territorial expansion, influence and supremacy.

However, as a result of further civilizational development achieved particularly over the last century, sovereign countries and entities emerged, so also did various internationally binding treaties defining their rights and obligations towards each other, which, to a large extent, ended the era of frequent bloody confrontations in the world.

Nevertheless, the tendency and pursuit of supremacy among countries, cultures and communities as well as fierce competition among various business entities persist; even though, legal, geographical, socio-political and ethical impediments, among other factors, have forced them to change their methods hence their resort to intrigue and conspiracy to achieve their goals. In order words, conspiring is more sophisticated nowadays due to the universal, though largely pretentious commitment to the rule of law, moral values and professional ethics, which countries, organizations and business entities claim to respect.

In any case, conspiracy is real, and there are of course perpetrators and victims; however its efficacy nowadays depends on the extent of its sophistication, the level of determination of the alleged conspirators on one hand, and the vulnerability of the targeted country or community, on the other. For instance, conspiracy doesn’t work out against ambitiously progressive-minded people who relentlessly strive to overcome their challenges through hard work, diligence, creative attitude, and aspire to not only succeed but also excel all the time.

Countries like South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, among many others for instance, which over the past few decades have been able to transform their countries from poverty-stricken communities into prosperous and developed countries, must have defied and prevailed over any real or perceived conspiracy theory before they attained their current enviable positions.

Conspiracy therefore only works out against countries or communities that are too lazy and/or too clueless to take their destiny into their own hands, and they instead devise silly pretexts, including conspiracy theories of course, in order to avoid taking responsibility for the causes of their persistent backwardness.

Interestingly enough, such countries are in reality too insignificant to be targeted in any conspiracy in the first place, as they obviously pose no challenge whatsoever to the strategic interests of the alleged conspirators, let alone compete with them.

In Nigeria for instance, every major challenge facing the country or any part thereof, is unfortunately attributed to an external or internal conspiracy, and instead of tackling it, a great deal of time, energy and resources is wasted in arguments and counter arguments to prove or disprove it. For instance the persistent failure of the successive generations of Nigerian leaders to live up to expectation has been wrongly attributed to the British for amalgamating different and “incompatible” nations to create Nigeria allegedly with a view to keeping people in this part of the world perpetually backward.

Many corrupt and incompetent public office holders, their apologists and some analysts cling to this silly excuse to cover up or downplay the negative impacts of their roles, or even deny any correlation between their corrupt practices and the messy situation in the country. Worse still is how they managed to deceive particularly their poor kinsmen into believing that no appreciable change will ever happen to their lives as long as Nigeria remains in its present geographical and demographic shape. 

Likewise, this attitude also contributes to the failure to tackle the protracted crisis of Boko Haram insurgency, because the whole quagmire is largely perceived within some ridiculous and contradictory conspiracy theories. Many non-Muslims for instance, view it as a deliberate northern Muslim agenda to wage war in disguise against non-Muslims particularly in Northern Nigeria, while many government officials and their cronies view it at as a politically-motivated insurgency plotted by some powerful northern Muslim individuals, who have lost out in power struggle.

Meanwhile, in the core north where the crisis rages more fiercely, it’s widely believed that the whole crisis was deliberately designed by some anti-Muslim elements in the government to destabilize the north and perhaps the country at large, so as to justify reviewing the bases of the country’s corporate existence, and possibly divide it for that matter.

Unfortunately enough, this mutual suspicion is fuelled by the analyses of many analysts, who, instead of approaching the issues as objectively as possible, choose to betray their consciences and descend to the murky terrain of ethno-religious prejudice. And in any case, while people argue and counter argue over whether a particular crisis e.g. Boko Haram insurgency is a result of a conspiracy or not, the crisis continues to wreak havoc throughout the region and the country at large.

Therefore whether there is a conspiracy against Nigeria or not, Nigerians are absolutely responsible for whatever condition the country finds itself in. In other words, Nigeria’s predicament is self-inflicted, period. And it can’t be solved until Nigerians, particularly the leaders, get rid of this attitude and decide to take their destiny into their hands. Once they do that, then no amount of conspiracy no matter how sophisticated can frustrate or hold them back.