AGITATORS AND NIGERIA GOVERNMENT - episode 2

Agitation bring chaos, and wars. Some individuals benefit from a situation of chaos. Economists look at this as a agitation instigator. For instance, during wars, arms and sophisticated weapons are used. Arms embargoes are lifted by warring nations, therefore, some individuals maximise their profit in such situations while the majority relish in anguish and destruction.

There is a tendency among the economists to provide an economic explanation for the existence and endurance of conflict. This is largely because people in agitation are assumed to be fighting over, not about, something that is material. The question then becomes; is the agitation a result of greed (intention to ‘corner’ something) or of grievance (anger arising over feelings of injustice).

For instance, some people (commonly referred to as ‘conflict entrepreneurs’) actually benefit from chaos: while the overwhelming majority of the population are affected by the negative impacts of agitation; the leaders of armed formations that are actually perpetrating the violence often profit from the chaos; and that while the prospect of pecuniary gains is seldom the principal incentive for rebellion, it can become for some insurgent groups, a preferred state of affairs.

Social agitators are generated by many factors, some of which are deep-seated. For them, across the ages, conflicts have come to be seen as having a “functional utility” and are embedded in economic disparities. Even though the issues in agitation may later be package as resulting from ideology, racial or even religious (value) differences.

Another aspect of agitators in Nigeria can be link to cultural, identity is involved, that is one’s ethnic origin needs to be defended. And usually, agitation arising from psycho-cultural phenomena takes long to be resolved, but that is not to say it is not resolvable.

Nigeria civil war of 1967-70 is a good example of psycho-cultural induced agitation, in this case, eastern region feel cheated or marginalized, and the differences often escalate, depending on how they are handled.

The social agitation that take long to resolve are identity driven, and grow out of the feeling of powerlessness and memories of past persecution, here love and self-esteem are to be promoted so as to give an individual or a group, a sense of security and safety for development.

Even though there are different forms of identities, the one that is based on people’s ethnic origin and the culture that is learned on the basis of that ethnic origin is one of the most important ways of explaining violent agitation. Identity is thus, seen to be the reason for social agitation that take long to resolve. However, despite their belief that ethnicity is the biggest source of identity based agitations, those who hold this view agree that this does not mean that agitation is unavoidable wherever there are ethnic differences.

Any social agitation that take long to resolve become a possibility when some groups are discriminated against or deprived of satisfaction of their basic (material) and psychological (non-material) needs on the basis of their identity. Agitation by which an individual or group seeks to satisfy a range of needs moving from the basic ones such as food and pleasure to the highest needs that described as ‘self-actualization’ the fulfilment of one’s greatest human potential.