Feudalism

Feudalism

by: Deji Yesufu

On August 9, 1967, Brigadier Victor Banjo led Biafran soldiers into the Midwestern region of Nigeria. The Nigerian Civil War had commenced earlier in June 1967, but there was a gentleman’s agreement that the Midwest was to remain neutral in the conflict. For this reason, Nigerian soldiers had to access Eastern Nigeria through the then Benue province, and emerge into Nsukka to quell what she called Col. Emeka Ojukwu’s rebellion. Biafra, however, broke this gentleman’s agreement and decided to take Lagos by going through the Midwest. Banjo was the man Ojukwu sent to lead that expedition. The opening of the Midwest during the war ushered in a new phase of the war – a topic I cannot delve into at this time. Five days after what has now been historically termed the “Midwest Invasion”, Banjo gave a radio broadcast to Nigeria, which the BBC picked up and subsequently transmitted to the world. Among many things, he said:

“…There is now an army at the disposal of the feudal North, an army that has lost all traditions, discipline, and standards of a responsible army. There is now a government of a federation that is sustained by violence and is therefore tied to the ambition of the Northern Feudalists. There has been a considerable amount of bloodshed, chaos, and tribal bitterness among such people…”

Victor Banjo proceeded to explain that the army that he was leading was not a “Biafran Army” but a “Liberation Army”. The aim was to liberate Western Nigeria from the feudalist northerners, who at the time were operating in Lagos. He then appealed to the people of Western Nigeria to permit him to do his job and not hinder his mission. It is not likely that Emeka Ojukwu agreed with Banjo to make that broadcast. Ojukwu would have preferred that Banjo invade Western Nigeria and use the element of surprise to chase out the Feudalists in government there. Banjo did not think this was practical, and he was certain that it would only jeopardize the ragtag army he was leading at that time. If the West could join him in his pursuit, chasing out the feudalist would be a little challenge. The two men were in the middle of this disagreement when the Nigerian Army recovered from the surprise downfall of the Midwest and launched an attack on Banjo that led to the flushing out of the rebels from that region of the country. Banjo and three others were summarily executed by the Ojukwu government for this. In this article, I want to examine the meaning of the word “feudalism” and explain why it has been at the root of our problems as a country since the British put the northern and southern protectorates together in the Amalgamation of 1914.

Feudalism is a system that operates in a society where human beings are mostly stratified. In a typical feudal community, you will have the nobles born, the middle class, and then the working class. Europe, for many years, operated a feudal system of society. Even till date, feudalism is still operational in England. Anywhere a person’s intrinsic worth is measured by his place of birth, parentage, or class, that system is feudalist. Since the late 18th century, particularly after the French Revolution, feudalism began to suffer greatly in our world. People came to understand that it was not enough that an individual should be of noble birth. They realized that a person’s intrinsic worth should be traced more to what value he can add to society, rather than what family he originated from, or the people he knows in society. Therefore, when systems of government was being developed throughout the 19th century, feudalism took a back burner. People came to understand that many people who are of noble birth usually do not add much to society. They are born rich, so they do not possess the kind of hunger to strive for excellence and development, such as will add to society and will make them successful individuals of their own worth. On the other hand, people who are born either in the working class or the middle class possess a hunger to make it in life. And their striving for success is what ultimately adds to society and makes society better. I now return to Nigeria.

Three individuals were the leading political personalities in Nigeria as the country headed to independence in 1960. The three of them were the Premiers of the three regions. Sir Ahmadu Bello of Northern Nigeria; Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of Eastern Nigeria; and Chief Obafemi Awolowo of Western Nigeria. Ahmadu Bello was a descendant of Uthman Dan Fodio, the man who brought Islam to northern Nigeria. Bello was a first-class aristocrat, and with the limited education he had, he had risen to be the leader of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC). Bello did not just benefit from the feudalist system he grew up in; he was a man of considerable intelligence, and he exhumed royalty wherever he was. The kind of government he led in Northern Nigeria was not the type that permitted opposition. Bello’s words on any matter were final. Bello and others did not hide their feudalism, and they also did not hide their hatred of the liberal democracy that was being practiced in Western Nigeria. On the other hand, there was Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who, though of noble birth, with the loss of his father at the age of eleven years old, had to struggle through life and, with the grace of God, along with hard work, rose to become Premier of Western Nigeria. Awolowo’s politics was one that believed in the triumph of the best ideas. He did not believe that he should be made leader of a people merely because of the nature of his birth, but purely on the strength of his ideas. This is why he encouraged a great deal of debate among his political associates, and they only arrived at a consensus when they were all sure that the best idea, not the person who proffered the idea, had been reached. This was the secret behind the success of his eight-year stint in government from 1952 to 1959. And it was the clash between Awolowo’s liberal democracy and Ahmadu Bello’s feudalism that led to the Nigerian civil war. Again, a discussion that must be had another day. Now, is feudalism still an issue in Nigeria? I think it is, and this is the reason for this essay.

I suspect that the reason Nigeria jettisoned the parliamentary system of government for a presidential one, where a President is almost always immune to criticism from the opposition, unlike in the parliament, where the Prime Minister must defend his policies before an opposition leader, is that Nigeria’s democracy could not handle constructive criticism. Nigerians are essentially feudalist in worldview. While the whole idea behind noble birth has largely been jettisoned in our communities, there is still the existence of feudalist groups, what has now been generally accepted as “cabals”, form themselves into oligarchs that determine the direction that a certain system will go. So, you go to a university and you find out that it is not the best ideas that run a department, but rather a certain individual and his cronies. The same goes for the church, mosque, and practically every system that is run within the country. It is the reason why “who do you know?” is a very important question in an average Nigerian system. I am aware that many people’s existence is owing mostly to the deference they must give to another person. It is the reason why grown men will kneel or bow to other men. It is a terrible thing.

I have the privilege of working within two systems today. I am the missionary pastor of a local church we are trying to plant in Ibadan, and I am laboring to discourage feudalism within the church I lead. Some of the greatest blessings that I have received as a pastor have been God giving me the opportunity to listen to people that others might term inconsequential in the congregation, and hearing God bring worthy ideas through them. I also have the opportunity of working closely with Prof. Ibiwari Erekosim as the secretary of the board of the Reformed Theological Seminary Foundation in Portharcourt. I have watched how this man leads the board of trustees as Chairman, and I can see how he discourages feudalism within the board. Every board member, regardless of age, status, or qualification, is equal. What triumphs in our board meetings are the best ideas. When the best ideas triumph in a system, the inherent worth of people will be revealed to all, and those ideas can be implemented to build society up to the benefit of all. When, however, feudalism is the order of the day, we only see one man or the system of oligarchy he has built around himself.

Feudalism can be a thing of the past in our body politic. But one way to deal with it is to recognize it not just in the systems we operate in, but also within ourselves. When we make the effort to rid ourselves of these worldviews, we will begin to operate in a world where worthy ideas triumph.

Deji Yesufu is the pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY and VICTOR BANJO. He can be reached at [email protected]