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THE DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHY OF EMMANUELONYECHERE OSIGWE ANYIAM-OSIGWE, VOL. 3

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THE DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHYOF

EMMANUEL ONYECHERE OSIGWE ANYIAM-OSIGWE VOL. 3

Economic Existence, Awareness and Responsibility

Dipo Ireleand

Adebola B. Ekanola

Hope PublicationsIbadan, Nigeria

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First Published 2010 byHope Publications Ltd.

GAAF Building110-112, Oyo Road

P.O. Box 22331University Post Office

Ibadan, Nigeria02-8711227

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© Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan 2010

ISBN 978-8080-53-7

All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in a retrieval system ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed by: Omoade Printing Press, Box 22761 UI, Tel: 080-23790165, 080-32203113, Ibadan

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Contributors

Dr. Christopher Agulanna, Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy,University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Dr. J. A. Aigbodioh, Reader, Department of Philosophy, Ambrose AlliUniversity, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria.

Prof. R. A. Akanmidu, Department of Religions, Faculty of Arts, Universityof Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.

Dr. Ike Odimegwu, Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, NnamdiAzikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.

Dr. Abiodun O. Folawewo, Lecturer I, Department of Economics, Facultyof the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Prof. Dipo Irele, Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan,Nigeria.

Dr. (Mrs.) E.O. Oduwole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy,Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Dr. Adebola B. Ekanola, Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy,University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Prof. Kolawole A. Olu-Owolabi, Department of Philosophy, University ofIbadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Dr. Wale Olajide, Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University ofAdo-Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.

Dr. Osisioma B.C. Nwolise, Senior Lecturer, Department of PoliticalScience, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Dr. Bonaventure N. Haruna, Senior Lecturer & Chris M.A.Kwaja, AssistantLecturer, Department of Political Science, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria.

Prof. J. C. A. Agbakoba, Department of Philosophy, University of Nigeria,Nsukka, Nigeria.

Dr. Francis N. Offor, Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Universityof Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Dr. Martin F. Asiegbu, Senior Lecturer, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki,Nigeria.

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Contents

Foreword……………………………………………………… viiiPreface………………………………………………………… xiii

1. Personal Moral Values and Economic DevelopmentChristopher Agulanna…………………………………. 1

2. The Mindset Factor in Economic DevelopmentJ. A. Aigbodioh ........................................... 20

3. Poverty and the Question of JusticeR. A. Akanmidu……………………………….. 35

4. The Role of the State in Economic Development: A Studyin Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe’s Development Philosophy

Ike Odimegwu…………………………………. 495. The Informal Economy and National Development

Abiodun O. Folawewo…………………………… 676. Economic and Social Stability in Africa

Dipo Irele………………………………….. 917. Anyiam-Osigwe on Culture and Economic Development in Africa

Ebun.O. Oduwole…………………………………… 1048. Reconciling Profit and Social Development in Osigwe

Anyiam-Osigwe’s Business EthicsAdebola B. Ekanola…………………………………. 116

9. The Idea of Corporate Social Responsibility in theDevelopment Philosophy of Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe:Critical Interogations and Reconstructive Interventions

Kolawole A. Olu-Owolabi………………………………… 13610. Economic Liberation and the Search for Community

Wale Olajide…………………………………………… 15411. Corruption and Underdevelopment

Osisioma B.C. Nwolise……………………………… 170

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12. Africa and the International Economic Order: Challenges and Prospects for a Continent at a Crossroad

Bonaventure N. Haruna & Chris M.A.Kwaja ... ... ... 19513. Man, the Millennium Development Goals and

National DevelopmentJ. C. A. Agbakoba…………………………………. 207

14. The Group Mind Principle and The Challenges OfGlobal Economic Crisis

Francis Offor……………………………….. ... ... ... ... 22215. Anyiam Osigwe on Science, Technology and Africa’s

Economic Development: Attitudes, Illusions and PresumptionsMartin F. Asiegbu ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 235

Index…………………………………………………………………… 256

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Foreword

In 1999 the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation commenced the processof subjecting the treatises of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigweto wider intellectual interrogation. In view of the broad intellectual interestgenerated by the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Lecture Series, opinions fromthe realm of the academia recommended that the entire treatises ofEmmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe be subjected to formalacademic appraisal in order to establish their coherence as a body of thoughtas well as test their intellectual validity. The response of the Foundation tothis recommendation commenced a dialogue among the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, the Africa Institute for Leadership, Research andDevelopment and the Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan.

This text on the third pillar of the Holistic Approach to Human Existenceand Development is an indication of the dexterity and commitment of theDepartment of Philosophy, University of Ibadan, in providing a credible androbust academic platform for the realisation of the desired objective. Also,the Foundation immensely appreciates the contributions of distinguishedacademics from various Universities and Research Institutions in Nigeriaand the African sub-region who have offered their intellectual capital inadvancing this project in the last three years. We also deem it essential andappropriate to pay a very well deserved tribute to Professor Olusegun Oladipoof immense memory, an intellectual giant, moral crusader and a beacon oflight whose motivating impact, no doubt, provided the panacea at that earlybeginning of this odyssey.

The Economy and Social Stability:The thrust of this foreword is to provide a brief but broad based perspectiveof Anyiam-Osigwe’s treatises on the economic integral. Anyiam-Osigwe’sHolistic Approach to Human Existence and Development identifies theeconomic wellbeing of the human being as one of the cornerstones thatensures the realisation of one’s fullest potentials. For him, to a large extent,social stability is a function of economic stability. In that regard, he aversthat a primary and obligatory function of government is the economic

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enhancement of the citizenry. In recognising the fundamental importanceof economic enhancement to the social system, Anyiam-Osigwe advocatesthe promotion of institutions and organs through which the people can beorganised for their economic enhancement as a civic responsibility. Anyiam-Osigwe gave social expression to this perspective through a number ofprojects and initiatives. In establishing the Nkwerre Chambers of Commerce,Industry, Mines and Agriculture, the Rural Enterprises Promotion Scheme,among others, he lent his initiatives to organising the peasantry and providingthem viable platforms and institutions for their economic enhancement.

Values and Economic developmentWithin the framework of the concept of a Holistic Approach to HumanExistence and Development, Anyiam-Osigwe strives to give concretenessto the character ethic. In his words, the ethical premise is the social capitalthat underpins peace and security and to that extent underscores an enablingsocio-economic environment.

Existence, he avers, transcends the temporal dimensions and derives, mostessentially, from a much higher octave of consciousness. In the ThreeConstituents of Existence Hypothesis, his postulation on existence establishesthe pre-eminence of the metaphysical. It not only shows the relationship betweenthe spiritual, economic and socio-political integrals but also identifies the centripetalrole of the spiritual integral in human life and in human experience in its entirety.

Herein resides Anyiam-Osigwe’s ontology on the whole question ofexistence. It is a metaphysical worldview that apprehends the link betweenthe psychic superstructure that is largely beyond our perceptual immediacyand the physical infrastructure that we see. It is a worldview in which thespiritual integral integrates into or determines the values that constitute thedriving wheel of human activities and progress. These values, he classifiesas the metaphysical capital that is centripetal to holism (wholesomeexistence). To that effect, the thrust of his treatises sensitises us to man’sability to “transcend his temporal capacity towards enhancing his mentalpowers to comprehend and appreciate existence and its purpose at a muchhigher octave above the mundane”. This enables man to function with abetter insight into the complexity of self and Being.

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His treatise emphasizes value guided conduct or principle-baseddisposition in our socio-political and economic life to that degree that itactively reinforces our spiritual development.

For Anyiam-Osigwe, just as there is a spiritual premise for materialwell being, there is a material premise for spiritual well being. In that regard,the economic well being of an individual is a sine qua non for his or herspiritual well being. In his words, ‘‘values are weightier than gold and cannotbe held in a weak vessel’’. Drawing from his submissions, Anyiam-Osigwe’sperspective is underscored in his observation that while being moral is notnecessarily deriving from economic enhancement, economic enhancementis fundamental to the sustenance of the moral thrust in man’s daily existentialchallenges. He explains that the intrinsic relationship between spiritual wellbeing and material well being implies that the process or means by whichwe pursue and attain economic well being must also be spiritually edifying; inother words, the process and means must be incorruptible and value laden.

Africa and the Global Economic OrderIn acknowledging the role of the modern nation state in the economic process,he argues that the role of the state in the generation of economic activitiesand in the distribution of opportunities and the benefits of the productionprocess has constituted a fundamental factor in the social space. This,however, requires the creation of the enabling environment for economicactivities and coexistence. It is in this context that he emphasises the moralpremise for peace, coexistence and economic activities. Thus, he assertsthat a primary social responsibility of government is to provide value guidedleadership; responsible and responsive leadership that sustains and integratesinto the overall moral premise of the social order.

In appraising Africa’s place and challenges in the global economicorder, he notes that corruption on the part of the officials of governmentnegates the appropriate utilisation of the resources of the economic systemand in most cases engenders a rent seeking culture that sets the entiresocial system in moral chaos.

In systems that are victims of the orgy of corruption, the lack ofmotivation, exacerbated by the appalling index of social inequality, stifles

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initiative and renders dormant the potentials of the individual. Rather thanharnessing the positive energy inherent in the social system resulting fromthe diverse and enriching contributions of the citizenry to that system, thereis an unguarded social melee in which every individual struggles to grab themost he can from the so called national cake. Anyiam-Osigwe opines thatin such societies the resources of the state are plundered, vandalised, leftredundant and wasted. In this regard, he avers that the influence of thesuperstructure on the characterisation of the social whole is fundamental.

Taken from another dimension, whether in societies that are said tooperate an open market system or limited economic models, governmentsignificantly determines the dynamics of the economic space. He arguesthat ideological disputations may focus on various dimensions of socio-economic relations; however, any economic model that does not integrateinto the moral cannons as its basic underpinning cannot convey genuine andmeaningful development. He notes that it is by the favourable disposition ofthe leadership to propriety in all undertakings, both private and public, thatthe enthronement of value guided conduct as the guiding essence of thesocial whole is entrenched. Anyiam-Osigwe clearly asserts that without themoral element, the attendant brutish social environment in which the egopredominates alters the premise for an investment friendly environment.

In appraising Anyiam-Osigwe’s perspective on the economic integral,we draw from his assertion on the abundance of the universal order. In theview of Anyiam-Osigwe, deriving from the ontological dimension of thehuman being as an integral part of the abundance of the universal order,poverty is an antithesis in human existence. As the universe of which manis a microcosm is in limitless abundance, he contends, so is man’s endowmentand capacities limitless; even within his sentient existence. The universe, heavers, is infinite and ever unfolding. Its abundance is reflective in thebewildering dimension of the unfolding of new galactic realms. In the samedimension, man is innately endowed with an infinite realm of knowledgefrom which he draws to interpret and apply on his environment. As theabundance of the universe is empirical in the unfolding of new galacticrealms, so also has the abundance of the human consciousness continued tounfold new dimensions of scientific development and epochs of social evolution.

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Anyiam-Osigwe identifies man as the primary resource of the developmentprocess and argues that the bane of Africa’s under development is the undueconcentration on secondary resources which he identifies as the resources ofthe environment or natural resources. On the other hand, countries that areguided by the understanding of the limitless resources of the human being asthe primary integral of the development process, such as the Asian Tigers forinstance, have elevated their economic index to first world levels.

What I would now like to do at this juncture is to pose some of what Iconsider to be the enduring questions provoked by Anyiam-Osigwe’s postulations:

! How best can Africa achieve her potentialities within the frameworkof the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe development philosophy?

! How can humankind actualize the noble intent embodied in the threeconstituents of human existence hypothesis of Anyiam-Osigwe in aworld order unduly slanted in favour of the material dimension?

! Do we have the will to pursue holistic human development?! Do we have the courage to develop character as we pursue economic

well being?! Can our culture today be reengineered to respond to the deeper

metaphysical impulses hidden within its constitution?! Can we find the tools to show our children the confluence between

the spiritual, the moral and the economic?! Can we redefine our location in history as a people by lifting the banner

of holism?

It is my sincere expectation that we will find answers to some of thesequestions in the proceeding chapters. The Foundation is also looking forwardto far reaching and fruitful deliberations at the forthcoming InternationalConference on the Development Philosophy of Anyiam-Osigwe that is beingorganised for November, 2010, by the Department of Philosophy of theUniversity of Ibadan.

Michael Anyiam-OsigweCoordinator GeneralOsigwe Anyiam-Osigwe FoundationLagos, Nigeria.

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Preface

It is with great pleasure and honour that this preface is written to the volume3 of The Development Philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere OsigweAnyiam–Osigwe with the main title, Economic Existence, Awareness andResponsibility. The essays in this volume are the outcome of the seminarand workshop presentations held in University of Ibadan between Februaryand April, 2010.

It is noteworthy that this volume is focused on the third pillar of OsigweAnyiam- Osigwe’s Holistic Approach to Human Existence andDevelopment. The first and second pillars were on Personal values,personal Awareness and Self-Mastery and Enhancement of Socio-Political Existence and Order respectively.

Both attempts have earlier culminated into the publication of two volumeson the Development Philosophy of the sage, Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe. Themain thrust of this volume is to critically scrutinize the thoughts of OsigweAnyiam – Osigwe on economic existence in all its ramifications. In doingthis, resource persons, drawn from the six geopolitical zones of the country,ruminated on the following issues: “The Role of the State in EconomicDevelopment”, “Poverty and the Question of Justice”; “EconomicLiberalization and the Search for Community”; “Personal Values andEconomic Development”; “Culture and Economic Development”;“Corruption and Underdevelopment”; “The Economy and Social stability”;‘Africa and the International Economic Order “The Millennium DevelopmentGoals and National Development “The Mindset Factor in EconomicDevelopment”; “Reconciling Profit and Social Development in OsigweAnyiam-Osigwe’s Business Ethics”; “The Informal Economy and NationalDevelopment”; “Science, Technology and Economic Development”; “TheIdea of Corporate Social Responsibility”; and “The Group Mind Principleand Economic Development”. The wide array of topics covered is aneloquent testimony of the richness and pro-active approach at confrontingthe problems at the economic sphere of our existence, especially in Africa,as championed by Chief E.O. Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe.

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We want to thank the Osigwe Anyiam–Osigwe foundation for theunflinching material and moral support to the project which has furtherpromoted the Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan and theUniversity of Ibadan in the community of scholars. Many thanks also go tothe authorities of the University of Ibadan for their total commitment andsupport to the project. We thank in particular, Prof. A.A.B. Agbaje theDeputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) for always championing our cause toensure the success of the project. Adequate recognition is given to allacademic and non-academic staff of Department of philosophy for puttingall they had at their disposal to the success of the project.

With all sense of appreciation, honour and nostalgia, we remember theimmortal contributions of late Prof. Olusegun Oladipo, a quintessential AfricanPhilosopher, humanist, intellectual of the first order, a peace-maker and abridge builder. He saw this project from its initial teething periods to itspresent enviable position. He served as co-editor for volumes 1 and 2 andhe actually provided the intellectual and moral support for the entrenchmentof the Development Philosophy of Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe within theintellectuals corners of University of Ibadan and other Universities withinand outside Africa. At the most difficult period when we were getting tired,he urged us on and revitalized our strength with his intellectual wisdom.Rest in peace, great one!

Finally, we thank God for helping us to achieve this golden goal. It is amighty way forward indeed.

Dipo IreleAdebola b. Ekanola

Olatunji A. Oyeshile, Ph.D.Ag. Head Department of PhilosophyUniversity of IbadanIbadan, Nigeria.

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Blurb

This is the third volume of The Development Philosophy of EmmanuelOnyechere Osigwe Anyiam–Osigwe with the main title, EconomicExistence, Awareness and Responsibility. The title is derived from thethird pillar of Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe’s Holistic Approach to HumanExistence and Development. The first and second pillars were on Personalvalues, Personal Awareness and Self-Mastery and Enhancement ofSocio-Political Existence and Order respectively

The expectation is that this volume would further stimulate academic interestin the ideas of the sage philosopher, Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe, who wastotally committed to the quest for development in Africa.