When Great Institutions Falter, Great Nations Build More Institutions, Not Fewer in Pursuit of an Ijaw Institutional Renaissance – Professor Mondy Selle Gold
The concerns recently expressed by well-intentioned patriots regarding the constitutional integrity, governance structure, and institutional direction of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) deserve serious, sober, and intellectually honest reflection. Institutions do not derive their legitimacy solely from historical significance, emotional attachment, or the authority of tradition. Their enduring relevance rests upon constitutional fidelity, procedural transparency, ethical accountability, inclusiveness, gender equity, and the confidence they inspire among the people they exist to serve.
History, however, reveals an even more profound truth. When an institution encounters prolonged internal challenges, visionary societies do not place their collective destiny in suspended animation while awaiting its restoration. They neither retreat into silence nor surrender their future to uncertainty. Instead, they establish new institutions, strengthen existing ones, and broaden the foundations of collective advancement.
This is neither an act of rebellion nor a rejection of tradition. Rather, it reflects the natural evolution through which enduring civilizations renew themselves, reinforce their institutional architecture, and prepare for future generations. Great societies are not distinguished by the absence of challenges but by their capacity to respond with creativity, resilience, and purposeful institution-building. When one institution experiences turbulence, wise societies do not abandon their aspirations. They create additional platforms capable of advancing shared objectives, thereby strengthening their collective ability to address emerging challenges and seize new opportunities. The Ijaw Nation must therefore never allow its future to become constrained by the uncertainty surrounding any single institution.
The Ijaw Nation represents one of Africa’s most historically significant indigenous civilizations, comprising millions of people across the Niger Delta. Nigeria and extending through a vibrant global Diaspora. A civilization of such complexity, geographical reach, intellectual capacity, and historical responsibility cannot reasonably entrust the entirety of its collective aspirations to a single socio-cultural organization, regardless of its importance. Such a proposition finds little support in history or in the experience of successful societies, for no modern nation, ethnic nationality, or global community achieves lasting progress through institutional singularity alone.
History Clearly Demonstrates That No Great Nation Advances Through a Single Institution
The Jewish people provide a compelling example. Their global advancement has been strengthened by numerous institutions, including Jewish Agency for Israel, World Jewish Congress, American Jewish Committee, educational foundations, philanthropic networks, research institutions, and community organizations. No single organization carries the entire burden of Jewish identity, advocacy, development, and global engagement.
Similarly, the Kurdish people provide a compelling illustration of how a dispersed nation can preserve identity, advance political aspirations, and sustain cultural continuity through a diverse ecosystem of institutions rather than reliance upon a single organization. The Kurdish population is estimated at approximately 30 to 40 million people, making them one of the largest ethnic groups in the world without a sovereign nation-state. Their historic homeland, often referred to as Kurdistan, extends across parts of Türkiye, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, with significant Kurdish diaspora communities established throughout Europe, particularly in Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Despite this geographical fragmentation and the complex political environments in which Kurdish communities operate, they have formed cultural organizations and developed numerous institutions serving different dimensions of Kurdish life, including political movements, humanitarian agencies, academic institutions, media platforms, women’s organizations, youth networks, and international advocacy groups. Organizations such as the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kurdish cultural associations across Europe, and numerous humanitarian and educational organizations demonstrate that organizational diversity can preserve national identity and strengthen collective influence even in the absence of a unified sovereign state. The Kurdish experience reinforces a fundamental principle: The existence of multiple organizations pursuing complementary objectives does not weaken national cohesion; instead, it broadens the reach of advocacy, reinforces cultural preservation, and accelerates collective progress.
The Scottish experience provides another powerful example of institutional plurality strengthening national development. Scotland, with a population of approximately 5.5 million people, possesses a sophisticated network of institutions operating across political, cultural, economic, academic, and global spheres. While the Scottish Government provides democratic governance within the United Kingdom, Scotland’s national advancement is also supported by organizations such as the National Trust for Scotland, universities including the University of Edinburgh, business networks, cultural organizations, historical societies, economic development agencies, and diaspora organizations representing millions of people of Scottish heritage worldwide. The Scottish diaspora, estimated at tens of millions of people globally when including descendants of Scottish emigrants, has contributed significantly to cultural preservation, investment, education, and international relationships. Scotland’s progress has never depended upon one institution claiming exclusive authority over Scottish identity or destiny. Instead, its influence has been amplified by a constellation of institutions, each contributing expertise, resources, and strategic capacity toward shared national objectives.
Among Indigenous peoples worldwide, institutional diversity has similarly become a cornerstone of cultural survival, political empowerment, economic development, and intergenerational continuity. In Canada, the First Nations, representing more than 600 recognized communities and a population exceeding 1.8 million Indigenous peoples when including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis populations, have developed numerous institutions operating at local, regional, national, and international levels. Organizations such as the Assembly of First Nations, tribal councils, Indigenous educational institutions, economic development corporations, environmental organizations, cultural preservation bodies, and youth leadership networks serve different but interconnected purposes. Rather than weakening Indigenous representation, these institutions have expanded capacity for treaty advocacy, economic empowerment, environmental stewardship, and cultural revitalization.
Likewise, the Māori people of New Zealand, whose population is approximately 900,000 people, have built a robust network of iwi (tribal) organizations, Māori trusts, educational institutions, economic development entities, cultural foundations, and political advocacy bodies. Institutions such as Māori Television, iwi-based development organizations, Māori educational initiatives, and community foundations have played critical roles in preserving language, strengthening economic independence, and ensuring Māori voices influence national policy discussions.
Nigeria’s Ethnic Nationalities Already Demonstrate the Power of Institutional Multiplicity
The Nigerian experience itself provides irrefutable evidence that institutional diversity strengthens, rather than diminishes, the collective identity, influence, and advancement of an ethnic nationality. Some of the nation’s most historically influential communities have never relied upon a single institution to articulate every aspiration, address every challenge, or represent every dimension of their collective existence. Instead, they have developed broad institutional ecosystems in which different organizations contribute unique expertise, perspectives, resources, and strategic capabilities toward common objectives.
Among the Yoruba people, for example, the advancement of Yoruba identity, culture, political consciousness, economic development, and intellectual influence has been strengthened by the contributions of multiple institutions, including Afenifere, the Yoruba Council of Elders, the Yoruba World Congress, Oodua Liberation Movement, Oodua Peoples Congress, professional associations, traditional leadership platforms, business networks, academic organizations, youth movements, women’s organizations, and extensive diaspora institutions across North America, Europe, and other parts of the world. These organizations do not represent a collapse of Yoruba unity; rather, they demonstrate a sophisticated understanding that a complex people requires multiple platforms to address political advocacy, cultural preservation, economic empowerment, education, and international engagement.
Similarly, among the Igbo people, Ohanaeze Ndigbo remains a respected and influential institution within Igbo affairs. However, its relevance has existed alongside a wide network of complementary organizations, including the World Igbo Congress, World Igbo Summit Group, Alaigbo Development Foundation, Igbo World Assembly, professional associations, business and investment networks, women’s organizations, youth movements, intellectual forums, educational foundations, and diaspora organizations spread across continents. The presence of these institutions has not weakened Ohanaeze Ndigbo. Instead, it has expanded the collective capacity of the Igbo people by creating additional channels for leadership development, policy engagement, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, research, cultural preservation, and global representation.
The remarkable progress achieved by these ethnic nationalities did not emerge because they restricted themselves to one organization. It emerged because they understood a fundamental principle of nation-building: A people’s destiny is too expansive, their challenges too complex, and their opportunities too numerous to be entrusted to a single organizational structure.
Therefore, the Ijaw Nation should not fear institutional expansion or interpret the emergence of complementary organizations as a threat to unity. Rather, it should embrace strategic institutional multiplication as a catalyst for greater resilience, innovation, influence, and enduring national advancement. The experiences of transformative movements across history demonstrate that collective progress is rarely achieved through the dominance of a single institution; instead, it emerges when diverse organizations, each equipped with distinct capabilities and areas of expertise, converge around a shared vision.
Historic Experiences Demonstrate That Transformational Movements Advance Through Institutional Unity, Not Organizational Exclusivity
The American Civil Rights Movement provides one of the most compelling examples of this reality. The struggle for racial equality in the United States was not carried by one organization alone. Rather, it was advanced through the coordinated efforts of several institutions, each possessing unique competencies and strategic approaches. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) pursued constitutional litigation and challenged racial discrimination through the courts, including landmark legal battles that reshaped American constitutional history. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) mobilized churches, faith leaders, and communities through nonviolent mass movements. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organized grassroots activism and empowered young people to participate directly in the struggle for justice.
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) holds a particularly personal significance for me because I became a registered member of the organization in the mid-1980s while living in Brooklyn, New York. My association with CORE provided me with a deeper appreciation of the sacrifices, courage, and strategic discipline that shaped the American Civil Rights Movement. Founded in 1942, CORE became one of the most influential civil rights organizations in the United States, advancing direct-action campaigns such as the historic Freedom Rides, sit-ins, and other nonviolent initiatives designed to confront segregation, dismantle racial injustice, and expand the promise of equal citizenship. My connection with CORE reinforced a fundamental lesson that has guided my understanding of institution-building: Lasting social transformation is rarely achieved by one organization alone, but through the cumulative efforts of committed institutions and individuals united by a vision greater than themselves.
These organizations did not weaken one another because their methods differed. They strengthened the movement because each institution addressed a different dimension of the struggle. Their philosophies, strategies, and operational approaches were sometimes distinct, but their shared commitment to human dignity, equality, and justice enabled them to collectively transform American society. History does not remember the Civil Rights Movement as a victory achieved by one organization; it remembers it as a triumph produced by the combined courage, sacrifice, and institutional contributions of many organizations working toward a common vision.
The same principle is vividly illustrated by the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. The dismantling of one of the twentieth century’s most oppressive systems was not accomplished by a single organization acting in isolation. While the African National Congress (ANC) provided visionary political leadership, its efforts were substantially reinforced by a broad coalition of complementary institutions pursuing the same overarching objective through different strategies.
These included the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), which championed African nationalism; the United Democratic Front (UDF), a nationwide coalition of hundreds of civic, religious, youth, student, women’s, and community organizations; the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), whose organized labor campaigns and nationwide strikes exerted significant economic and political pressure; and the South African Council of Churches (SACC), under the moral leadership of leaders such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, which mobilized faith communities against racial injustice. The struggle was further energized by influential student organizations, women’s movements, civic associations, international solidarity campaigns, and the global anti-apartheid movement, all of which applied sustained diplomatic, economic, intellectual, and moral pressure on the apartheid regime. Each institution contributed distinct forms of resistance, advocacy, mobilization, and international engagement that, when woven together, became an irresistible force for democratic transformation.
The lessons from these historic experiences are both profound and enduring: The triumph over slavery in the United States and apartheid in South Africa was not the achievement of a single organization; rather, it was the collective victory of a broad institutional ecosystem comprising diverse movements, organizations, leaders, and communities united by a common mission. This remains the enduring framework of successful nation-building and the unmistakable hallmark of resilient societies.
The Ijaw Reality Requires Expansion of Capacity, Not Contraction of Vision
The contemporary challenges confronting the Ijaw Nation are multidimensional, deeply interwoven, and extraordinarily complex, demanding a caliber of strategic sophistication, institutional dexterity, and collective foresight proportionate to the scale of the historical moment before us. The realities of the twenty-first century require far more than passionate advocacy alone. They necessitate recalibrated strategic capabilities, adaptive institutional architectures, interdisciplinary collaboration, and an unvarying commitment to a shared national renaissance.
Therefore, institutional plurality should not be interpreted as a manifestation of division or diminution of collective purpose. Rather, it should be understood as an expansive reservoir of intellectual capital, strategic capacity, and transformative potential. In complex political environments, progress emerges when institutions recalibrate their capabilities toward common objectives, transcend narrow organizational boundaries, and cultivate a synergistic ecosystem where complementary strengths converge in service of a greater national vision.
The future permutation of the Ijaw Nation will depend upon our ability to construct such an ecosystem of purposeful institutions, each contributing its distinctive competencies toward strengthening economic self-reliance, expanding intellectual influence, shaping national policy discourse, enhancing international visibility, and accelerating sustainable transformation.
The defining question before the Ijaw Nation, therefore, is not which institution should possess exclusive authority over the pursuit of collective progress. The more consequential question is how every capable institution, organization, professional, traditional authority, and member of the global Diaspora can contribute meaningfully to the construction of a prosperous, influential, resilient, and sustainable future for generations yet unborn.
Within this broader framework, the Ijaw National Congress should continue to serve as an important apex socio-cultural institution with a historic role in articulating collective interests. However, the emergence of complementary organizations should be viewed not as a challenge to existing structures, but as an opportunity to expand the intellectual and institutional capacity of the Ijaw Nation. Such organizations can provide specialized expertise in critical areas including public policy research, economic development, environmental advocacy, legal strategy, leadership cultivation, international relations, technological innovation, and youth empowerment.
The fundamental inquiry should therefore not be: “How do we prevent additional institutions from emerging?”
The more constructive, visionary, and historically consequential question is: “How do we ensure that every institution, regardless of its mandate or origin, contributes responsibly, collaboratively, and effectively toward the advancement, dignity, and enduring prosperity of the Ijaw Nation?”
A Defining Moment for the Ijaw Nation
As I reflect upon the historic experiences, present realities, and future possibilities of the Ijaw Nation, I am firmly convinced that our collective destiny should never rise or fall solely with the condition of a single institution, regardless of how historic, respected, or symbolically significant that institution may be. Institutions, like all human creations, experience seasons of strength, transition, and challenge. However, the enduring strength of a people is not determined by the uninterrupted perfection of one organization; it is determined by their ability to cultivate a resilient ecosystem of institutions capable of preserving identity, advancing knowledge, empowering communities, and responding effectively to the complexities of a changing world.
Great nations are never constructed upon singular pillars. The present moment therefore represents not merely a period of institutional reflection for the Ijaw people, but a historic opportunity to expand our vision and strengthen the foundations upon which our future will be built. If today’s challenges inspire the emergence of new centers of excellence dedicated to scholarship, economic transformation, environmental protection, leadership development, constitutional governance, cultural preservation, and international advocacy, future generations may look back upon this era not simply as a season of uncertainty, but as the beginning of an unprecedented institutional awakening.
The Ijaw Nation has never suffered from a scarcity of intellectual brilliance. We have never lacked courage in the face of adversity. We have never lacked vision regarding the possibilities of our collective future. What this defining moment demands is the audacity to transcend temporary circumstances and build institutions that outlive personalities, withstand generational transitions, and faithfully preserve the enduring aspirations of the Ijaw people. As the enduring saying reminds us, “a rising tide lifts all boats,” the emergence and advancement of purposefully designed organizations should never be perceived as competing currents, but as complementary forces that elevate the collective aspirations, intellectual capacity, economic prospects, and global influence of the entire Ijaw Nation. When institutions are founded upon visionary leadership, shared values, and a commitment to service, their success becomes a collective asset, strengthening the foundation upon which the entire Ijaw Nation can rise.
The wisdom of former South African President Nelson Mandela remains profoundly relevant: “It always seems impossible until it is done.” His words remind us that transformative achievements are often born when courageous people refuse to be constrained by the limitations of the present and instead dedicate themselves to building the possibilities of the future.
Let me reemphasize the fact that a great nation is not strengthened by a single organization standing alone, particularly when legitimate concerns or perceived constitutional challenges arise within that institution. The future of the Ijaw Nation will not be secured by preserving institutional limitations or resisting constructive evolution; it will be secured by expanding institutional excellence, cultivating visionary leadership, and empowering every generation to contribute meaningfully to the enduring national project.
Great leaders must rise above uncertainty, recalibrate their vision, refine their strategies, and courageously construct new pathways toward a stronger and more enduring future. Great leaders cannot allow temporary obstacles to extinguish generational aspirations. The great leaders in Ijaw Nation cannot surrender to the storm; they must become the architects of the next horizon.
Professor Gold is a recipient of the United States President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, recipient of the Colorado State University Best Faculty Spotlight Award, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Leadership and Governance USA.
