CHAPTER ONE
1.0     INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
This thesis springs from a genuine sense of patriotism to fashion a way forward for my beloved country. It is rather remarkable at this time there seem to be little incentive for patriotic concerns since the state had neglected to play its part on the unwritten social contract with its citizens. Achebe captures the scene very aptly, “when two Nigerians meet, their conversation will sooner or later slide into a litany of our national deficiencies.”[1]
These national woes range from the alarming state of governmental maladministration to the executive mismanagement of the supreme powers of the state. Its effects include incessant nation-wide confusion, political instability, and social unrests seriously endangering life and property. The irony however is that these social evils that are man-made are perceived by some people to be Divine ordinances or as an aspect of man’s essence which cannot be ameliorated.
The root cause of this general prevailing decadence in our society is the poverty of ideology. The prevalent ideology is reflected in the untoward practices of the leadership, which has filtered into the entire sphere of society’s life. Thus, our moral sensibilities have been inverted.
The tall order facing us if we mean to regenerate our fatherland is “to evolve a new political culture,”[2] through re-examining the alien ideology “imposed on us as a super structure by the colonial whites”[3] with our indigenous ideology to form a social matrix, what Zik calls Neo-welfarism. I see this event as a historical necessity. So that we recover from our state of complete inertia, when confronted with issues threatening our corporate existence and destiny.
1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Nigeria is a country blessed with enough material and human wealth to satisfy its citizenry. However due to inadequate ideological orientation, she is nowhere near the echelon of developed states. Though independent, she still moans under the burden of under development. Politically, she is the bedrock of instability as leaders want to perpetuate themselves in office. Economically, she is not better off as occasioned by the low standard of living of its citizens. In the technological circle, she could best be described as rich abroad while poor at home.
These and many more tend to undermine the image of the Nigerian personality globally. As no human society can thrive without an ideology of its own rooted in its culture and past, Nigeria must look inwards. There is an urgent need for a socio-economic system rooted in Nigerian culture and manifesting Nigerian qualities which are “democratic according to her institutions, welfarist in her economical background, altruistic in sociological life and religiously animistic.”[4]The socio-economic system that encompasses these qualities should be adopted to alleviate the basic problems facing Nigeria. These positive visions will be considered in the light of Zik’s Neo-welfarism.