Of Bridges and Walls: Finding Common Ground, Rising Above Divisions (2)

Alex Otti

I would like to state that oftentimes, racial divisions are deliberately promoted, not only by politicians and their supporters, but also by persons of influence working in public-facing institutions, including media, religious and cultural organisations, academia and others who for some strange reasons, believe that stoking the embers of racial division wins them laurels. Our message to them this afternoon is a direct one: we are done; we are done listening to narratives that only see evil in others; we are done paying attention to sermons and editorial ideas that promote division, we are done taking instructions and advice from those who exploit racial suspicions for political and economic gains. Our major assignment going forward is to embrace a more optimistic worldview in our relationship with one another, appreciating that all of us, irrespective of skin colour, come from the same origin and shall be remembered in the end, not by how biological anthropologists describe us, but by the efforts we commit to improving the social experiences that define our community.

This brings me to the subject of power and power relations. Power within the context of this interaction shall be taken to mean the capacity to influence outcomes. It can be derived from positional privileges or by virtue of one’s moral stature. Understanding power dynamics in our community presents a critical pathway to appreciating how race relations shape social behaviours and expectations. Every community has one or two dominant groups with extensive influences within social and economic institutions and structures. In the global context, however, you find different racial configurations and patterns of dominance across multiple frontiers of expressions. You can attribute this to all manner of factors from historic and geographical advantages to genetic configurations and cultural appetites. In different cosmopolitan environments, you may realise that individuals of certain racial origins naturally gravitate towards particular fields of endeavours while others are drawn to other pursuits as they seek distinct pathways to attaining the promise of fulfilment over the course of their lives. I am in no position to question what path an individual or a group chooses in its quest for economic and social freedom because again, we are all built differently and what appeals to one group may not excite others on account of unique natural dispositions.

At any rate, while it is fine to freely seek and follow our preferred path in life or pivot elsewhere with time, it is unacceptable to deliberately create structures that shut out other members of the society from certain paths for reasons of racial prejudice. When persons of a particular racial identity assume, for whatever reasons, that they are being shut out of certain fields, resentment and suspicion are bound to follow but the appropriate response to such development need not be bitter hatred. This, again, is where respectful dialogue comes in. The key to progress lies in the willingness to engage, ask questions, present the facts and insist that every expression of racial injustice be addressed fairly. Changes may not happen immediately but it helps to take the first step which is to open up a front for regular conversations with those who pull the levers of power; whether they are financiers, politicians, administrators, media moguls or heads of institutions. It is necessary to express our fears and seek a holistic remedy, not out of pity but as a matter of right. In seeking balance and fair representations, one must also resist the temptation to seek to replace one dominant race group with another for what may eventually follow could be endless cycles of race agitations and suspicion. One must also point out that the success of this approach is dependent on the willingness of the other party to engage.

In all of these, it is quite critical to guard against racial indoctrination, whether it is telling one group that they are superior or suggesting to the other that they are victims. Such mindset makes it impossible to build consensus. It is best to keep the focus of every interaction on our shared human heritage, common dreams, fears and hope for the future. Whether we accept it readily or not, the threats that we face in the modern age affect all of us. From poverty and social tension in the developing economies to the epidemic of loneliness and political distrust in the west, it helps to be mindful of the truth that there is no society without its set of peculiar challenges. As earlier stated, our campaign at all times should never be directed at individuals but at structures and systems that take attention away from our common problems as members of one human family. Being a community of enlightened people, we have to be on the watch out for bigots and race profiteers, whether they are seemingly on our side or against us for in the end, it comes down to the same thing: pursuit of private agenda masked as group interest. We should rather emphasise the philosophy of fairness to all, ill-will to none. Above all, individuals who wield whatever form of power in the community would do well to keep an eye on the common good; power owes a distinct responsibility to the society; whether it is derived from the office we occupy or the status attained on account of intellectual, political or economic advantage. The privileges that come with power should be targeted at expanding the field of opportunities for everyone, creating platforms for open competition — one that promotes success earned through the brilliance of enterprise and persistence of efforts.

In our State, Abia, located in the south-eastern part of Nigeria where I serve as the Governor, we are guided by our faith in the infinite possibilities of the human mind. This conviction explains why we are investing rapidly in systems that expand the capacity of the mind to dream and dare. Over the last 3 years, we have consistently earmarked 35% of our annual budgetary outlay to education and health in pursuit of distinct outcomes in the area of human capital development. We are sold to the belief that when the right environment is created and individuals, especially the young people, are given the leverage to become all they can be, again through hard work and discipline, the entire society becomes better as output levels rise, just as the streams of opportunities expand for everyone.

We are careful to leave no one behind so we have not only made basic education qualitative and free, it has also been made compulsory that every child of school age must be in school and nowhere else during school hours. We currently have an active taskforce that goes all over the place to monitor compliance; any child seen outside the school environment during school hours is supposed to be picked up and taken to either the parents or guardian for questioning and possibly sanction. Interestingly, in close to 2 years since we introduced this, no child has been picked up. It is therefore not unexpected that school enrolment has jumped by more than 150% in the last academic session alone. We are deliberately committing generous resources to training, school infrastructure, technological tools and other systems that are relevant to building the technical capacities of the products of our school system at basic, secondary and tertiary levels. The target is to expand the capacity of our people to be active participants in the emerging global economic order.

It is important to take this discussion beyond race and briefly extend it to other prejudices within race. What immediately comes to mind is the issue of xenophobic attacks in South Africa. Here, fellow Africans are scapegoated for all sorts of issues and people have been killed. At micro levels, people get discriminated against in the same state for reasons of what part of the state they come from and in the country on the basis of what state of the country they come from and sometimes, what language they speak. To deal with this in Abia, we came up with the directive that once you live in Abia, you are from Abia. In recruiting close to 10,000 teachers recently and close to 1,000 healthcare professionals in the last one year, we paid no attention to state of origin. It was strictly based on merit. The two times we have appointed Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Service; they were strictly based on merit. It was on that basis that for the first time, a Head of Service who was neither from Abia State nor from the Southeast was appointed. Finally, I would also like to acknowledge that Nigeria and probably some other countries have had to design models that aim to address inequality and uneven development by coming up with quota systems and what we refer as “federal character.” The jury is still out on whether this approach does not end up creating its own challenges with unfair practices and prejudices.

The abiding commitment to human capital development through formal and informal education and my belief in equality of humans irrespective of race or creed explain my delight at being part of this event. Beyond the opportunity to address a global audience on the important subject of racial harmony and the superiority of bridges over walls, I was also drawn to this event because of the opportunity it presents to visit this magnificent campus community, interact with the officials and see what valuable lessons we can pick to further strengthen our own system back home. I want to once again thank the University management for opening its doors to persons of different ethnic and racial backgrounds. Through your culture of openness, you are actively redefining the place of education in building a fair and just society where everyone is offered the room to dream and thrive. I am also happy to observe that you have several Nigerians schooling and working here. Evidently, your influence is global. I am optimistic that these compatriots would leverage the knowledge they gain here to build something noble for themselves and the larger human community. I would also like to thank Dr Wisdom John Okoye and his team for the efforts and collaborations that made our participation at today’s event a reality.

Let me now end by talking to my compatriots and by extension, every participant from the developing countries. The development assignment before us is daunting but the worst thing to ever do is to throw our hands in the air and seek comfort elsewhere. Everything we see in the developed economies, the giant development strides, especially in the last 50 years, should simply inspire us to believe that yes, we may not have woken up as early as we should but as we say in my part of Nigeria, the dawn begins when you rise. The journey ahead may be difficult but we now have a long list of references to guide us as we fast-track our own development journey.

One advantage we have in the new age which was absent 70 years ago during the first wave of independence across our continent, is that we now know what works and what doesn’t; we now know with certainty that democracy drives prosperity but civil rule in itself is no guarantee of either freedom or development without the active participation and vigilance of the citizens. It is also now beyond dispute that corruption does not only stifle growth, it steals from the dignity of man. Therefore, fighting all expressions of corruption, from stealing of public funds to nepotism, is a key development priority that we must all pursue as we push to build a new narrative. Of equal importance is the consensus that war and all forms of violence would only entrench poverty and create opening for the continuous stealing of mineral resources from our backyards. Development requires peace and stability; therefore, dialogue and sincere engagement must replace arms and violent rhetorics. Above all, efforts have to be targeted at building an inclusive society for no community thrives when any part of it feels sidelined. As we have learnt, the human potential is limitless; it does not matter the skin colour or ethnic identity of those you agree or disagree with, efforts must be made to bring everyone to the room, whether it is in the distribution of political opportunities or at the table where economic decisions are made; everyone is important and must have a fair sense of representation; that is what it takes to drive enduring development, one that makes us equal partners at home, and gives us a strong voice on the global stage.

•The concluding part of the keynote address Delivered by Dr Alex Otti, OFR, the Governor of Abia State; at the University of Northampton’s Annual Conference on Racial Justice on Thursday, July 2, 2026