Trusting in Spite of Ourselves
Acknowledging our inherent distrust is the first step. Building brands, capital, and rewarding the right behaviours is the pragmatic next one.
There have been many reflections on the topic of mistrust among Nigerians. But what lies at the crux of that mistrust? Before we rush to point fingers at kwarapshun or tribalism, we must pause to confront a deeper truth: mistrust isn’t a uniquely Nigerian defect. It is a persistent feature of humanity itself. So, let’s set our pace to the first principles set out in many Nigerians’ favourite book.
In the Bible, God — the literal creator of the universe — chose Abraham and his descendants (through Jacob) to be His chosen people. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph received his special favour. He deputised Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery. In the course of their liberation, they witnessed the Ten Plagues; they saw the Red Sea parted; God fed them with manna from heaven and smote them in the desert for centuries. Finally, God delivered lands they did not plough and cities they did not build into their possession.
Despite all those wonders, did the Israelites consistently trust each other, their leadership or even their God?
No! They did not.
The Bible is thousands of pages of lamentation about the Sisyphean task of managing complex societies. One minute, the Israelites chanted Our God is one! In HIM alone shall we trust. The very next second, they consorted with Astarte and butchered each other for sport. Sons killed fathers, and fathers killed sons. If the scribes up in Jerusalem, bitterly preserving all that mayhem for posterity, bothered with women — outside of concerns over adultery — there’d be more Jezebels than Ruths in the text.
You’ll have to forgive me for not holding — or pretending to hold Nigerians — to a higher standard than the chosen ones. Biblical writers captured the indubitable fact that a bestial impulse always lurks beneath the veneer of civilisation. Acknowledgement is the first step to chaining the beast. Should we fail and it escapes, we should try again — and keep trying! In the secular sphere, I defer to James Madison, the principal architect of the US Constitution, on this topic. To wit:
If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.
Individuals are skin-covered receptacles for ideas. Furthermore, each of us holds unique perspectives — a result of our socialisation within different environments. That fact quickly becomes a subject of contention when individuals encounter other individuals and when groups interact with other groups. Different worldviews are the basis of distrust. That is true of every society — past and present.
Understanding the means of resolution is the next step once acknowledgement is out of the way.
I happen to think that charisma, violence or the imperatives attached to the observation and adoption of superior methods are the primary means of resolving disagreements. For example, many Nigerians trust religious leaders and politicians who overcome necessary scepticism through the sheer force of their charisma. Violence created and preserved the federation. And should her frontiers remain unchanged, that would also be due to violence. Finally, millions of Nigerians trust that if they give telcos money, they will receive airtime or data in return rather than flee. The users’ trust is downstream of the superior utility of telecommunications compared to past communication methods.
I’m not one of those pundits constantly contending with perfection. Good enough is good enough for me. The levels of trust across Nigeria are good enough to afford a population numbering hundreds of millions a level of economic complexity. Every day, Nigerians lose their way and ask for directions without thinking twice. Everyone still eats food they did not produce, despite all the claims about a vast northern conspiracy to poison our food supplies. Parents entrust their children to non-family members, and people enter paid transport despite one-chance risks. Sure, some of that is desperation and the absence of options, but a measure of that is also trust. Even our warlords require collaboration across the ballyhooed ethno-religious divide to maintain their supply chains.
In count one, the prosecution alleged that Musa Kamarawa; Abubakar Hashimu, aka Doctor; Bashir Abdullahi; Samuel Chinedu; Lucky Chukwuma; Bello Turji (at large); Aminu Muhammad (at large) and Sani Lawal (at large), conspired among themselves to commit the terror act.
They were alleged to have provided material services to terrorists groups led by Turji, Kachalla Halilu, Danbokolo, Lawali, Atarwatse, Buderi and others, by procuring and supplying illicit drugs, including penta injections and cannabis plants (aka indian hemp); food items; military and police uniforms, camouflage.
They were also alleged to have supplied boots, caps and building materials, including bags of cement, cover zinc, bags of nails, M.M. iron rod, etc., to terrorist camps in the forests located in Zamfara, Sokoto and Kaduna States.
Source: How bandit kingpin, Kachalla Halilu, purchased gun truck, witness tells court (Premium Times, 03/15/25)
Nigerians encounter few issues verifying trustworthiness at the individual or macro levels. It is at the intermediate stages that progress is still needed. The path towards improving this particular vertical lies in capital accumulation and the creation of brands, on the one hand, and Nigerians gravitating towards brands with positive societal impact, on the other.
Everything else, including government performance, depends on what behaviours Nigerians choose to reward. That is the final and most vital point. The one thing we control as individuals is the choices we make. Far too many Nigerians engage in untrustworthy behaviour yet posture as if their actions have no ripple effect on broader society.
You might disagree with this perspective, but at least I hope you’ll trust that I think it the best course.