A lecture given to the union of teachers in Ibadan in 1947.
IN the course of this lecture we will attempt to answer two main questions, namely:
What is National Freedom?
How does education contribute to the attainment of that freedom?
It will considerably help in the understanding of this inquiry if we first of all consider the nature of individual freedom, and then see how far national freedom corresponds to or differs from it.
Freedom is defined in the dictionaries as a state of being free, a state of exemption from the power or control of another; exemption from restraint; exemption from slavery or servitude; power of self-determination.
In other words, freedom means a state of being free to do whatever you like, in whatever way you choose, and at whatever time you elect.
We are all free to embark on whatever trade, vocation, profession we judge best suited to our individual talents. In short we are free to do anything and say anything.
Theoretically this is true freedom – unmixed, unalloyed, and totally free from all restraints. But in actual practice, absolute freedom such as this would be bound to degenerate into violence, and lead to endless clash of interest, with disastrous consequences.
Indeed I am free, as I said, to take a stick and begin remorselessly to beat everyone here. But everyone is free to beat back equally remorselessly. In such event, there would be a violent breach of the peace, and the result to me might be fatal. I am free to stop abruptly in the midst of this lecture and refuse to continue. Similarly, you are free, in a body, to walk out on me with open contempt before the lecture is half-way through. In that event either of us would have behaved in a most unseemly manner.
It will be seen, therefore, that if anyone does just what he likes with absolute and unqualified freedom, having no regard for what others do or feel, people would get into one another’s way every moment of the day: there would be no end of trouble and confusion, and chaos would ensue.
A driver setting out from Bere towards Gbagi would, at his pleasure, without regard for pedestrians or other vehicles, drive alternatively on the left, right, or middle of the road. Another driver setting out from Gbagi towards Bere would do likewise. And in such circumstances it would indeed be a miracle if every pedestrian using the road is not killed, and if every two vehicles coming in the opposite direction do not come into collision.
Fortunately, personal or individual freedom is a relative term. For its own benefits humanity has learnt to impose upon it certain well-known restraints of ethics or good morals, of order and law, and convention.
Again you are free to do and say whatever you like. But good morals forbid you from stealing, from killing your fellowmen, from publishing obscene words, or words that are damaging to the reputation of your fellowmen, or injurious to the state in its relations with the citizens.
And the law enforces the observance of good morals by imposing varying degrees of punishment on the violation of ethical principles. You are free to do any work you like, but the law forbids you from practicing Law or Medicine until you have acquired the prescribed qualifications. You are free to drive your vehicle on any side of the road. But in America, Law and Order enjoin you to keep to the right-hand side, and in Nigeria to the left-hand side.
In parts of Nigeria, a man may have as many wives as he likes, simultaneously. But social convention forbids a woman from having more than one husband at the same time and place. Society has a means of enforcing its conventions. A person who offends against the conventions of a society may be ostracised or be made the victim of public ridicule and contempt. This is so even though the convention against which an individual has offended is not a logical one. Polyandry, for instance, ought to be a logical corollary of polygyny. But social convention in Nigeria says ‘No’ – and a woman’s freedom in that direction is restrained. Apart from these legitimate and indispensable restraints, to be of benefit to people living in a community, freedom must be indivisible. In other words every individual in a community must enjoy equal freedom.
The passion for freedom is ineradicably ingrained in every human being. If, therefore, a group of people in a society arrogate to themselves the enjoyment of a measure of freedom greater than that enjoyed by other members of the same community, then the privileged group must be prepared to use some measure of force to maintain their privilege. This must inevitably lead to discrimination, oppression, injustice, and tyranny. All these, in turn, would be bound to evoke a feeling of bitter resentment in the minds of the unprivileged class, and they would normally seek by peaceful or violent means a readjustment or redistribution of the fruits of freedom within that society. It was failure to recognise the indivisibility of freedom that led to the Peasant Revolution in France, the Red Revolution in Russia, the bloodless Socialist Revolution in Britain, and the steadily growing bitter resentment to what is called ‘white domination’ in this country. These are but very few instances out of a myriad.
Furthermore, knowledge is necessary to the beneficial use of one’s freedom, and courage and strength are essential to its preservation. No one can claim to be truly free who is ignorant. An ignorant person is a victim liable to be exploited and cheated at every turn by his more enlightened and unscrupulous fellowmen.
In fact an ignorant person often uses his freedom to his own detriment. Medical men know too well that if many people were less free in their choice of the types of food they eat, of the beverage they drink, of the clothing they wear; and of the houses they live in, the health of the community would be more than 100 times improved.
A sharp knife is a useful household instrument in the hands of a sane adult. But in the hands of a babe or lunatic, it may be a most dangerous weapon indeed.
In view of this explanation, it will be seen that individual freedom must be subject to certain restraints of Ethics, Law, Order and Convention, and must be indivisible in its enjoyment; that knowledge is necessary to its use and that courage and strength are required to preserve it. This is true and beneficial freedom – the sort of freedom which enables all of us here to be free and yet to maintain order and good conduct.
Now what is National Freedom? Is it in any way different from personal freedom? The answer is ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.
‘No’ in the sense that National Freedom ought to be composed of those ingredients which constitute individual freedom. ‘Yes’ in the sense that historical facts and events have shown beyond doubt that National Freedom tends to be exercised in the absolute as opposed to the relative sense.
We will not inquire tonight into the reason why Nations in a Community of Nations behave towards One another in a different way from persons in a community of individuals. It is enough to note that they do so behave.
What goes by the name of economic and political nationalism on the part of a nation, would in an individual pass for lawlessness of the first order. Every nation, by virtue of its political sovereignty, feels free to do whatever it likes for its own benefits, without any regard or consideration for other nations. If A (an individual) takes what belongs to B (another individual) without B’s consent, and with intent to deprive B permanently of the property of that thing, that would be stealing. If A kills B without lawful excuse, that would be either murder or manslaughter. If A attacks B and takes away by force valuable things that are on the body of B, that would amount to robbery – a specie of aggravated larceny. All these are criminal offences, and the law visits them with severe punishment. Therefore, in a well-ordered society, Right is Might. But this is not the case with nations, Evils which are punishable in an individual, are perpetrated by nations with impunity. Every nation is a law unto itself. And all that is required to make this arbitrary, immoral, and indefensible position secure and absolute is military strength. In their dealing with one another, the watchword of a nation is ‘Might is Right’. The mightier a nation is, the more lawless and licentious it is capable of being.
History is full of myriad instances where a powerful nation has committed on a weaker nation, with impurity, acts of wanton murder, cruelty, ruthless spoliation, exploitation or even extermination. And all these are done by the powerful nation in the exercise of its national freedom of thought and action. The unrestrained exercise of its national freedom has led to wars down the ages.
It will be seen that national freedom differs from individual freedom in the sense that the former is exercised free from those restraints and moral checks to which the latter is subject.
But if nations are to derive any benefit from their freedom they must exercise it in the same manner and subject to the same restraint as individuals do in a community. Unfortunately, however, whilst there is a Government in a community to enforce the observance by citizens of these legitimate restraints imposed upon them in the exercise of their individual freedom, there is no World Government just yet to enforce similar observance by nations.
So far, we have considered national freedom in general. We may be permitted to ask: what sort of national freedom exists in Nigeria?
Personally, I should think that there is no such thing as national freedom for Nigeria – either of the good type nor of the bad. Our country is totally enslaved, and we as inhabitants therein are but only partially free. In any case not free in the same sense as Britons or Americans are in Britain or in the United States of America respectively.
Before the advent of white men, the various ethnical groups that constitute Nigeria were free in their own lands. But like other peoples of the world they exercised their freedom in unrestrained and licentious manner. Inter-tribal, and inter-necine wars, have waged incessantly and relentlessly. The privileged class in a community oppressed and tyrannized over the unprivileged class. In their ignorance, the powerful and adventurous few assisted the pink-coloured people in their slave-raids. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people from Nigeria were carried to the West Indies and America as slaves – human beings who received during their voyage treatment much worse than that given to cattle transported from the Northern Provinces to the South. And because of our country and ourselves in political and economic bondage. Today, all those who are politically conscious in this country cherish a high yearning that some day not too far into the future we shall be free again. That is a legitimate national aspiration.
But in order that Nigeria may attain to National Freedom, we require courage and strength to wrest it from our overlord. And we would require knowledge and a sense of spiritual values to be able to use our freedom to advantage. That is in such a manner that every citizen of Nigeria irrespective of status would feel equally free as others, and in such a way that Nigeria would live in peace, quiet, and tranquility with her neigbours.
Now, to cultivate courage, srength, knowledge, and a sense of spiritual values, education is our most potent weapon. By education, of course, I do not mean more literacy – the mere ability to read and write. A man may be educated without being literate and a literate person may be very ignorant indeed. Education therefore is something quite different from literacy. Indeed, literacy is the foundation on which an edifice of sound education may be securely built. But, on the other hand, this same literacy may be the firm basis on which a huge superstructure of abysmal ignorance may be erected.
The mischievous propagandist who has to deal with an illiterate mass would find it extremely difficult to disseminate his lies as widely and as easily as if he has to deal with a literate mass. This probably may account for the fact that the majority of people in Lagos more easily fall victims of fraudulent leadership than the majority of the provincial people. It may also be the explanation for the unexceptionable and offensive ignorance of the masses of British people about the inhabitants of their colonial territories. By their ability to read, a most extensive field of distorted, lying and libelous literature about the Colonies is open to the Britons.
I have said all these not in an attempt to discredit literacy; but merely to show that it is not the unalloyed good that it at first appears to be. In honest hands, literacy is the surest and the most effective, means to true education. In dishonest hands, it may be a most dangerous, in fact a suicidal, acquisition. Now, what is education, and in what way can it contribute to the attainment of national freedom? In my own humble opinion, education is that process of physical and mental culture whereby a man’s personality is developed to the fullest.
A man whose personality is fully developed never fears anything; he cringes not, and never feels inferior to anyone; no matter the colour, status, or strength of such a one; he is self-reliant, and will resist any form of enslavement until the last breath in him is exhausted. He may be an employee, or a servant; but he is a self-confident and courageous servant who does his work with efficiency and probity, but with no thought of servitude. His breadth of mind enables him to exercise his freedom in such a manner as not to endanger the interests and freedom of others. He is a citizen of the world – free from narrow prejudices. He is what he is because the three main constituents of his entity – his body, brain, and mind – are fully developed.
Mens Sana in Corpore Sano.
It is dangerous to develop only one or two of those three constituents and leave the others or other undeveloped. A couple of illustrations will make this clear. Ifa man’s physique is fully developed but his brain and mind are left undeveloped or only partially developed, what we have is a being powerful enough to hew stones and draw water for others, and discernment that he is unable to appreciate and assert his human rights. The slave-owner, the unconscionable capitalist, and the economic imperialist realize this fact well enough. Consequently, they see to it that their victims are so fed that they can work efficiently for their masters, but so unaccustomed to brain and mind culture that they remain for a long while loyal slaves.
If a man’s body and brain are fully developed whilst the mind remains undeveloped or only partially developed, then you have a typical European who misuses the scientific and economic resources which a virile and hard-working nation has provided him. By his want of education, and lack of a sense of spiritual valves, he denies freedom to a class, and by doing so, brings about a situation called revolution or war in which the freedom of all is seriously threatened and in some cases completely submerged by a deluge of war, as is now the case in Germany, Italy, and Japan.
If the mind alone is developed and both the body and brain are neglected, then we have the sorry figure of a religious fanatic who condemns everything, and everybody but himself, and whose only prophecy is one of pessimism, catastrophe and gloom for mankind; he is a slave to imaginary fears, and drags into bondage with him, those who believe in his arrant doctrines. If this triunal development is indispensable to true education, then only few people in the world can claim to be educated. Even some Europeans are uneducated. Comparatively, these pink-coloured folks excel us in the bodies and brains of most of us. For this simple reason they have more cunning – I use CUNNING not WISDOM – to impose their rule upon us. If they are truly educated, that is if their minds are also well-developed, they would not stoop to the mischief of putting us in economic and political bondage. For then they themselves would be free in the true sense of the word, and know full well that freedom being indivisible must be equally enjoyed by all those with whom they come into contact.
In the case of us Nigerians, only bodies are fairly developed. Our brains and minds largely remain undeveloped, and only partially developed in a few cases. For this reason, we make very contented and
docile slaves. Our dominant craving is for food, clothing, and shelter, and we do not seem to care how we get them.
In order to wrest our freedom from our British overlords, we need must develop our bodies and brains to the fullest.
And in order to benefit by that freedom, when won, we must also develop our minds to the fullest.
The surest foundation for the development of these things is, as we have said, literacy. But we also pointed out that this literacy may also be used as a basis for the cultivation of abysmal ignorance. Our British overlords have not failed to exploit the literacy of some of us to our own detriment. It is, therefore, our duty to see to it that as literacy spreads, we sow on its fertile soil seeds which will bear the fruits of correct political awareness leading to sane Nigerian nationalism. We must combat any educational scheme which tends to develop our bodies fairly well, our brains only partially, and tends to becloud our minds. For this is only a device for our permanent enslavement. But when our bodies, brains and minds are properly developed, we shall be free as individuals, and Nigeria herself will attain to national freedom.
CONTINUES NEXT WEEK
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