By Uche Chris
David Hundeyin hardly needs any introduction in Nigeria given his investigative journalism exploits and running battles with different levels of our government. He has earned his stripes. I read the article in question a couple of months ago, and was somewhat bemused basically because of its narrow, strait-jacket view of elite, which has assumed notoriety in our society.
Everything in this world seems to have a corrupted Nigeria version. Take for instance, democracy. It’s obvious to even the blind that what we practice is a far cry from the Lincolnian definition of “government of the people by the people and for the people.” Others like federation, unionism, traditional rulers etc have assumed meanings and interpretations quite at variance with their original conceptions.
To the immediate subject, the word elite has no direct association with money; it is only so in Nigeria. An elite traditionally and historically is a person, or group, of high birth, social status, or “representative of the choicest group in society.” So, elite has nothing much to do with money. Rather, it relates more to social background, such as princes and princesses, professional attainments, and influence or authority.
The element of authority relates also to Bottomore’s definition in his book, Elites, where he argues that the elite of any society are those of influence and authority, official or not, capable of influencing and shaping public opinion and policy. In this context, a money bag without a good social, professional and moral background may not be classified as an elite.
In contrast, a Rev. Father, medical doctor, lawyer, accountant, bankers, entrepreneur, journalists, and all other professionals of some above average level of education, earning and training is an elite. However, in Nigeria, most of these professionals account for less in social influence and public policy formulation and direction.
The tragedy of the Nigerian condition is the monetization of everything about our lives that only those who have en-massed wealth legitimately or not, is the standard of all definitions of relevance, influence and authority.
