The National Discourse: On the Art and Method of Building a Nation. “On the august quest for the nation’s identity, and the dedicated pursuit of the nation’s identity ” Volume 1; The Structure of State and Society. By Ibrahim Atingo

A project of the Young Africans Leadership Academy (YALA) Library and Press ‘The National Discourse’ Series is a guided philosophical inquiry centered on the nature structure and composition of African States and societies with a view to unearth the persisting structural contradictions deeply underlain within the institutions that hinder the efforts of nation-building resulting in endemic chaos and conflicts that further dwarfs progress and development in Africa. 

Premised as it were on the thesis that these structural contradictions are by-products of the aborted process of conceiving a nation from the colonial womb under general conditions of depravity and desperation, thus complicating the eventual identity of the new nation and endeavoring to create an impossible balance between the desires, ambitions and aspirations of the new nation and the overwhelming pressures of the former masters to retain control of vital resources. The contemporary African states are thus, in large part, a compromise product of both a people taking pride in the fullness of the armor that is their long-standing history, tradition and culture, and an imposing foreign ideology that is on the one hand the relic of an era of subjugation and exploitation and on the other hand the standard template for the nation’s institutions and the pen that outlines the roadmap for the nation’s future. 

This series seeks to provoke a meaningful conversation and constructive debate that will illuminate the path out of these structural contradictions by crafting a strong national identity, that is often a product of responsive and responsible political institutions, built from the material of local environment and inspired by designs that echo a deeply felt and genuinely appreciated historical, cultural and ideological solidarity among the different groups of the nation. Presenting a workable formula of cooperation in a common cause, equitable sharing of the available resources and the fair distribution of the wealth of the nation, are the fundamental precursors to a well-organized political system and the foundational bricks for a nation that can boost of prosperity and longevity, and the primary object that informs the undertaking of The National Discourse project.