Amidst the growing consciousness among the Igbo’s of South-East Nigeria especially the elites on the need to reinvent the communal spirit of “ igwebuike” towards fast tracking the socio-economic renaissance of the South-East region given the growing existential threats to the economic investments of the Igbo’s mostly domiciled outside the South East region of Nigeria. The “ Igwebuike “ principle is all about collectivism as against individualism.
It will be recalled that “ Igwebuike” principle was the driving force behind the pinnacle position which NdIgbo once occupied in every sector of the Nigeria social life before the advent of Nigeria-Biafra civil war.
Irrespective of the urgent need for the socio-economic renaissance of the South-East region of Nigeria given the growing social instability in Nigeria occasioned by acrimonious coexistence among ethno/religious groups in Nigeria, caution should be applied as we consider the best possible approach to adopt towards the realization of our dream of socio- economic revitalization of the South East region. We need to make sure that any approach we adopt will not end up creating systemic problems that could affect the future wellbeing of the Igbo society.
The pertinent questions we must need to ask ourselves at this critical point in time are:
(1) Which approach should we adopt to fast track the socio-economic revitalization of the South-East within a shortest possible time?
(2) Which approach will best represent the “ Igwebuike” principle?
(3) Which approach will help to foster a sense of ownership and pride among our people?
There are two known approaches to developing a society . The first approach is called top-down approach , while the second approach is called bottom-up approach.
The top-down approaches to socio-economic development are mainly driven by elites in political positions of authority aided by civil servants and experts.
In top-down approach to social development, the elites in the political positions of authority are the originators and implementors of development projects based on what they believe could be the needs of the people.
Most often than not the political elites depends on experts advice in the conceptualization and execution of development project without the inputs of the people whom the development projects are meant to benefit. To the elites, it is not necessary to find out what exactly are the true needs of the people.
The failure of various development projects in our society today lays credence to the fact that top-down approach to social development is not sustainable. What many of us do not realize is that without the inputs of the people who are the beneficiaries of any development projects in the conceptualization and implementation of any development projects, that sense of ownership critical for the long term sustainability of the projects will be lost and we know that it is natural for people to always want to protect what they believe is their own.
Need I to say that the bottom-up approach to social development is the opposite of top-down approach. In bottom-up approach to social development, the elites takes the role of facilitators- they help in organizing the people in determining what actually could be their greatest social development needs within their communities.
The people through the aids of experts will decide on appropriate plans and goals to adopt towards the realization of the projects of their choice. Equally responsibility for the implementation of the development projects will be shared among the people.
In the bottom-up approach to socio-economic development of a society, the elites could also play the role of facilitators by way of mobilizing critically needed financial and material resources either from private or institutional networks of contacts when occasion demands in order to augment the resources of the community for the purpose of implementation of an identified social development needs of the community.
Although bottom-up approach to social development could be painstaking in organizing but the benefits far outweighs the efforts involved.
The bottom-up approach to socio-economic development represents the Igbo core value of “ Igwebuike “. The “ Igwebuike “ is all about collective effort of all and sundry in charting the cause of rapid socio-economic development of the South East region of Nigeria.
Good enough the social organization of the Igbo society from the Umunna level to the town union level is an added impetus that will help make the bottom-up approach to socio-economic revitalization of the South East region of Nigeria a huge success.
Therefore, if we the Igbo’s are thinking of an effective way to making our dream of socio-economic revitalization of the South East a reality within a short time, we should consider harnessing the latent power of the Igbo town unions.
It is unfortunate that most Igbo’s today have lost a sense of history of how Ndigbo were able to ascend the pinnacle of socio-economic development in Nigeria before and the first decade after Nigeria independence.
It needs to be noted here that the Igbo town unions was a galvanizing platform for critical human and material resources which helped to propel Ndigbo to those pinnacle height they once occupied in virtually every sector of the Nigeria economic life in the time past.
The quest for the socio-economic revitalization of the South East region of Nigeria could be realized faster than we could ever be imagined if we reinvent the Igbo cultural heritage of collectivism which we often refer as “Igwebuike” in propelling the socio-economic revitalization of the South Easr region within a shortest possible time .
The comparative advantage which Ndigbo have over other ethnic groups in Nigeria is in her strong town unions governing structure which is dotted across the various Igbo communities. The various Igbo town unions are unarguably the major galvanizing point for Igbo social capital and resources therefore, it should be harnessed properly for the socio-economic revitalization of the South East region of Nigeria.
There is no other ethnic groups in Nigeria if not in the whole of Africa that could boast of such strong community governance structure like the Igbo’s and the unfortunate thing is that Ndigbo are yet to maximize the huge potential of Igbo town unions to revitalizing the socio-economic life of the South East region of Nigeria.
To be able to fully harness the inherent potential of Igbo town unions towards revitalizing the socio-economic life of the South East region of Nigeria, there is the need for a reform of the present model of town union governance model to a more robust governance model which will best help in the mobilization of the critical social capital towards the socio-economic revitalization of the South East region.
Inclusive community governance model is the appropriate model that will best help our quest for socio-economic revitalization of the South East region of Nigeria within a short time.
Inclusive community governance is all about community participation, engagement in decision making in the community matters, this is often called participatory governance.
The concept of inclusive community governance is based on the premise that communities have different needs that requires specialized community interventions. The process requires collaboration and mobilization of critical human and material resources and social networks among community stakeholders towards establishing impact driven social development within in a community.
It should be noted that the phenomenal socio-economic progress of most South East Asian countries was hugely the result of the practice of bottom-up approach to social development in their countries.
In closing my writes, it will suffice that I state unequivocally that the present order where the elites are the ones that determines what the masses want and administers social development projects without the inputs of the people is no more sustainable therefore needs rethink.
About the Author:
Mr. Kennedy. Afam. Nzewi is a Leadership and Human Capacity Development formentor with practicing experience and deep insight into human transformational capacity for sustainable human development. He is an Inforpreneur, Author and an Advisor.
Mr. Kennedy. Afam Nzewi is a System thinker, his ability to bring to bear innovative and pragmatic approaches to solving social problems stands him out. Mr. Kennedy. Afam Nzewi work experience traverses both Non-Profit Sector and Media Organization. A former Project Officer, Education for Life Project. He is currently the Lead Consultant, Human Growth Frontiers. He is also the Initiator of Transformative Alternatives, a social intervention initiative designed to promote personal and social transformative ideas, principles and practices capable of catalyzing the much needed African Renaissance.
