The Practice of International Development by Jerrold Keilson & Michael Gubser

Author:Jerrold Keilson & Michael Gubser [Keilson, Jerrold & Gubser, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Business & Economics, Government & Business, Political Science, Public Policy, City Planning & Urban Development, General
ISBN: 9781466586727
Google: rLnbNAEACAAJ
Goodreads: 30145241
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2016-04-01T12:49:30+00:00

Conclusion: The Walls of Kano

In October 1999, on a diplomatic stopover in Nigeria, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright requested to visit Kano and its ancient city walls. Embassy officials in Abuja scurried to accommodate her wish amidst reports of “palpable joy” in the northern metropolis.142 Her interest is striking, as few Westerners have even heard of the Sahelian entrepôt, let alone its notable monument. Kano’s walls, which date back 900 years, are now quite dilapidated, little more than earthen berms or dirt glacis for much of their 14-kilometer girth.143 German and American funding has restored some of the 15 original gates, but most of the ancient fortification has succumbed to harmattan winds and urban traffic. In one regard, of course, this decay reflects a culture of neglect: Few Kanawa worry about their fabled rampart. But in another sense, north Nigerians are more attuned to the past than Americans. If Westerners compartmentalize history in museums and monuments, Kanawa see it as a living tradition.144

Why should northern history matter to aid donors and project implementers? Recent calls for greater historical awareness in development practice seem particularly apt in Kano, where people live in and around the relics of the past, moving daily through the ancient gates. The Emir’s palace, a hub of downtown activity, embodies an Islamic tradition that defines life for most residents. Like many Africans, Kanawa do not expect Westerners to appreciate their tradition, and efforts to learn the language or understand cultural nuances are met with pleasant surprise. But more than most places, north Nigerians resent the slight suggested by indifference and take umbrage at descriptions of backwardness that ignore the region’s proud past. Aid programs in general tend to favor culture-neutral techniques over processes invested with local value. But this insistence not only limits cross-cultural understanding, it also prompts a local reticence that may stall program activities—or even thwart them. During the notorious polio vaccine crisis of 2003–2004, when Kanawa rejected inoculation as a Western plot, it was tempting for Westerners to blame a benighted culture. The truth is more complex, involving political snubs by southern and international leaders alike. Aid programs and their technical interventions are not devoid of historical implication, for they hark back to patterns of earlier Western encroachment when scientific reforms justified colonial hubris.145 North Nigerians will collaborate with Western programs as long as implementers respect local concerns and encourage local leadership. But historically based suspicions run high, and an impatient or cavalier attitude that ignores or dismisses local values can alienate potential allies. “There is a need for a new development assistance paradigm,” admonished one respondent, “that is realistic, transparent, and rooted in the needs of the recipients as identified by them.”146

Aid projects erect their own walls, packaging social change in three-to-five-year compartments bounded by the managerial brick-and-mortar of contract requirements, target outputs, and interim deadlines that try to map the uneven terrain of development. In theory, the walled compounds of multiple donor projects should join together to form a sturdy architecture of social change.

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