Understanding Nigeria and the New Imperialism: Essays 2000-2006

8/20/2019 Understanding Nigeria and the New Imperialism: Essays 2000-2006

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Understanding Nigeria and the New Imperialism: Essays 2000-2006Edwin Madunagu - 2006

Editors Biodun Jeyifo, Bene Madunagu, Kayode Komolafe and Chido Onumah

Contents

Editorial Note Foreword Introduction Part Nigeria !

" #egemony through Elections $%&%'((' )

'" Beyond Party Mutations *%+%'((' *

$" tudying the -.acha /ears *%%'((

0" In Praise of the O1uta Panel 0%%'(( 0

)" -rguments O2er the Middle Belt %&%'((( +

&" haria as a Power3 Bloc 4ea1on 5%$%'((( '(

+" In 6efence of the Nigerian Nation (%*%'((( '$

*" Bac7 to Fundamental Issues '0%*%'((( '&

5" Contending Pro1ositions Clarified &%0%'((( '5

(" Nigeria8s Political Parties ')%)%'((( $'

" ettling -ccounts with Biafra 0%)%'((( $)

'" 9he Case -gainst Pri2atisation 0%'%'((( $*

$" o2ereign Conference or Ci2il 4ar: &%$%'((( 0

0" 9he Politics of the enate Pro.e +%*%'((( 00

)" Profession -mong Professions ')%+%'((' 0+

&" Im1eachment in Nigeria '%5%'((' )(

+" Once -gain, the National ;uestion 5%5%'((' )$

*" Minimum 6emocracy in Crisis '&%5%'((' )&

5" 6emocrats of 6ou.tful Con2iction $%(%'((' )5


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'(" Ma7ing a ise and Fall of a aint '+%)%'((0

')" 9he Politics ofNigerian #istory 5%)%'(()

'&" 9he Mo2ement of Nigeria8s Presidency '&%)%'(()

'+" Claimants to the Presidency '%&%'(()

'*" Nigeria and the -merican Prediction '$%&%'(()

'5" Notes on @eo1olitical -lliances *%*%'(() $(" Further Notes on >esource Control %5%'(() $"4hat >eally #a11ened in 55*: '0%(%'((' $'" Political -ssassination '%%'((' $$" ClassifyingPresidential Candidates $%$%'(($ $0" 4here are 9hey 9a7ing the Country: '%'%'((' $)" Battle forthe oul of Education 5%*%'((' $&" #istory and Political Inter2ention 0%%'((' $+" Ba.angidaA-.acha AO.asano ')%0%'((' $*" 9raditional >ulers in a 6emocracy '%$%'((' $5" -s1ects of ourOwn 9errorism +%$%'((' 0(" 6o 4e 6eser2e this @o2ernment: '%'%'((' 0" Ethnic Politics+%'%'((' 0'" Ideology and @o2ernance 0%'%'((' 0$" 9ransient nity Ins1ired .y 6eath $%%'(('00" Organising for 1ecific truggles +8+%5%'(( 0)" Frustrated Nationalist E!1ectations '&%+%'(( 0&"Emerging Political -ssociations +%&%'(( 0+" Culture and Politics in Nigeria 0%&%'(( 0*" Once-gain, the Nigerian tate +%)%'(( "05" 9he tate of Political >ealignments '5%$,'(( )(" -rgumentsO2er the Constitution '(%'%'(($ )" More Com1le! than PoliticD '*%*%'(($ )'" 9he tate of Our Nation ')%$%'((0 )$" 4hat Is a Free and Fair Eiectio" ,0%'((' )0" @o2ernance and the 9hird 9i"8('(( ))" Not By logans -lone 8*&%'(( )&" -ntecedents of the Fourth >ec '%0 )+" Further>eflections on the F '(( )*" In earch of Foundations %' =(($

)5" 6isasters and the tate +% '()

&(" Pacification and >esistance %'%'(() *'

&" Not By eAelection Chances *%'%'(('') +0" 6efending O.asano in the Name of 6emocracy G$%*%'((( ''* +)" O.asano and the 9hirdPower Bloc '$%%'((( '$ +&" O.asano8s 6egree of Freedom *%)%'((( '$0 ++" O.asano8settlement with #istory '+%+%'((( '$+ +*" O.asano8s PostAElection Manifesto (%+%'(($ '0( +5"Criticising Olusegun O.asano '%&%'(( '0$ *(" O.asano in Cross >i2er tate $%'%'(( '0& *"


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9he -greement that Produced O.asano )%$%'(( '05 *'" O.asano8s Election Manifesto $(%)%'(('')' Pirt $ -frica and the 4orld *$" >esurgence of Euro1ean Fascism %+%'((' ')+ *0" 9hePhili11ine 6emocracy %$%'(( '&( *)" -frica and the International Community '%5%'((( '&$ *&"9he 4arning from ganda '(%0%'((( '&& *+" 9wenty /ears of Him.a.we= - Balance heet $(%$%'((('&5 **" #istory and 4omen ofemem.ering -ntonio @ramsci $%%'(() $*5 '+" Message from Bala sman (%'%'(() $5''*" For -l.ert Einstein &%&%'(() $5* '5" 9he tory ofNi7olai Bu7harin 8')%*%'(() 0( $(= ForComrade John @arang *%5%'(() 0(0 $" -s 4e Mourn 6e1arted Comrades &%(%'(() 0(+ $'"Comrade Ita E7eng #enshaw %+%'((0 0( $$" 4ho >e1laces Bade Onimode: '+%'%'(( 0$ $0"Malcolm and -.dul >ahman Ba.u &%&%'((' 0& $)" ?o2e Francis -rthur Neri.e L (%)%'((05 $&" -nthony Enahoro 1ea7s -gain 0%$%'((' 0'' $+" Mar!ists On >esource Control $%)%'((0') $*" ->eading of Bola Ige )%0%'(( 0'* $5" Colonel -.u.a7ar mar 5%'%'((0 0$ 0("-wolowo8s Peo1le8s >e1u.lic '*%%'((' 0$0 0" For Comrade 9ony Enguru.e $%%'(() 0$+ 0'">emem.rance and >eAdedication (%%'(() 00( 0$" >eAreading 9he Man 6ied *%%'((0 00$00" Boro A aro 4iwa A 6o7u.o '%(%'((0 00& Part ) 9heory%>eflections 0)" ettling -ccountswith NC 5%0%'(( 0) 0&" 9he Nigerian Constitution *%$%'(( 0)0 0+" Bac7 to First Princi1les:''%$%'(( 0)+ 0*" - Collecti2e -ssessment of the Present )%&%'((( 0&( 05" Between Machia2elliand Political #y1ocrites '$%$%'((( 0&$ )(" Between Po2erty and tate >o..ery '5%&%'((( 0&& )"Clarifications on Ethnic Politics '%'%'((( 0&5 )'" Confirming the Nature of the tate +%'%'(((0+' )$" Notes on the E2olution of tates '0%'%'((( 0+) )0" For 9hose In earch of-nalogies&%%'((( 0+* ))" @lo.aliation and #uman Progress $%0%'((( 0*

)&" May '5, #istory and the ?aw *%&%'((( 0*0 )+" Ideology and the Ethnic ;uestion &%+%'((( 0*+)*" Political Hones and Power Blocs '+%0%'((( 05(

)5" >eflections on the 4omen8s ;uestion '(%+%'((( 05$

&(" 9he Fall and >ise of Nati2es $%+%'((( 05&

&" 9he @lo.al 6ictatorshi1 5%(%'((( 055

&'" 9ransition to 6ictatorshi1 '*%5%'((( )(' &$" Collegiality and Collecti2ity: &0" Notes on the8 New Em1ire %*%'((' 5%'%'((' )() )(* &)" #umanist >esolution in Crisis 5%%'(($ ) &&"Contradictions in the Em1ire '5%)%'(($ )0 &+" ?eftists and Communists 5%(%'(($ )+ &*" 9he@hosts of the Past 0%'%'(($ )' &5" #istory and 8Fetish8 6emocracy"" '5%%'((0 )'0 +(" Prefatory Notes on 8New >oads8 %$%'((0 )'+ +" Politics and Cou1s in Nigeria &%)%'((0 )$( +'" 1ea7ingto Power %%'((0 )$$ +$" Prefatory Notes on -uschwit $%$%'(() )$& +0" >eflections on #uman>ights +%0%'(() )$5 +)" 9heory of #istory >e2isited '%)%'(() )0' +&" 6emocracy= In earch of6etermination $(%&%'(() )0) ++" ocialism >e2iewed and >enewed '+%(%'(() )0* +*" Notes and>eflections on 9errorism (%%'((' )) +5" Election 6ilemmas for >adicals $%5%'(( ))0

*(" >e2iewing ocialism= Matters -rising )%'%'(() ))+

*" Nigerian @eo1olitics '%$%'((& )&(


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*'" ?egislature and @o2ernance '+%%'(($ )&$

*$" Bac7 to Bar.arism $%'%'(() )&&Editorial Note

-s indicated in the title of this .oo7, the *$ essays collected in this 2olume s1an the years '(((A'((&"

Because they were all written for a wee7ly news1a1er column, each essay stands entirely on its ownand in this res1ect, the reader can start with 2irtually any essay in any section of the .oo7 without feelLthat the 1articular essay is deAconte!tualied" -s we all 7now, successful column writing in2ol2esmastery of the art of condensation, of the art and rhetoric, saying a lot with 1recision, economy andclarity" 9hese are all hallmar7s of Edwin Madunagu8s ournalistic 1rose" Ne2ertheless, writing a wee7lycolumn also entails a form of sustained dialogue with one8s readers, with oneself e2en" 9his meanscontinuity .etween 1articular essays and it also means returning again and again to 1articular issues,e2ents and 1ersonalities" 9his is the .asis of distri.ution of the essays in this .oo7 into fi2e thematic 1arts or sections" -s much as 1ossi.le, the essays in each 1art ha2e .een arranged within achronological seuence" #owe2er, this 1rinci1le of organiation has not .een rigidly a11lied and thusoccasionally, a succession or grou1 of essays is chronologically out of seuence" Eddie Madunagucontinues to write his wee7ly column and his readershi1 continues to e!1and e2ery wee7 and e2eryyear" ndou.tedly, there will .e future omni.us editions of these essays" For now, we as7 ourcom1atriots to oin us in cele.rating the rich har2est of re2olutionary and humanistic thought andimagination 1resented in and through the essays collected in this 1resent 2olume"Editors"

Foreword

-gainst the 6ialogue of the 6eaf and the 6amned= Eddie Madunagu on Nigeria and the NewIm1erialism

My friend and comrade, Edwin Madunagu or Eddie as he is generally 7nown was .orn in 50&, theyear of my own .irth" For this reason, it came as a startling, .ut fran7ly 1leasing disco2ery for me as Iread some of the essays collected in this 2olume that for Eddie, the year of our .irth also constitutes a2ery s1ecial founding moment for the nationA.eing of our country, Nigeria" In this short 1refatory note,

I shall not re2eal which 1articular essays in the 2olume ad2ance this thesis and with what arguments" Iwill sim1ly urge the reader who is intrigued .y this fact to try to identify the 1articular essays inuestion and come to an assessment of the 2alidity of the thesis" Beyond that, I can state here that innone of the essays that ad2ance this 2iew of 50& as a foundational moment for the comingAintoA.eingof Nigeria does Eddie gi2e the slightest indication that this 2iew has anything to do with his own 1ersonal .iogra1hy, that is with the fact that he was .orn in that year" I .elie2e that we should regardEddie8s lac7 of selfAconsciousness on this matter as .eing generally reflecti2e of his total selflessness asa re2olutionary socialist"

Ne2ertheless, it is also the Case that throughout 2irtually all the essays collected in this .oo7, Eddie is 1resent as a distincti2e 2oice, as an irreduci.ly uniue consciousness" In my concluding 1aragra1h atthe end of this 1iece, I shall return to this matter of 50& as the year of Eddie8s .irth and my own and


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a founding moment for the .irth of Nigeria .ut for now, I wish to .riefly e!1lore the other matter of the 1er2asi2e 1resence of Eddie8s uniue 1ersonality or consciousness in the essays collected in this .oo7"

-t the most a11arent le2el, this o1erates in terms of the 1er2asi2eness of the 1ersonal 1ronoun I inthe 2ast maority of the essays collected in this 2olume" But the matter goes much dee1er than this merelinguistic mar7er of 1ersonhood and s1ea7ing 2oice" 9his contention is 1erha1s .est e!em1lified .y the

fact that nearly in all cases where this first 1erson s1ea7ing 2oice is indicated, what Eddie is doing issu.ecting his own e!1eriences, his own o1inions and intuitions, e2en his most wellAconsideredanalyses, reflections and theories to rigorous scrutiny in the light of the e!1eriences, 2iews andanalyses of others among his com1atriots and the wider glo.al community" -s a matter of fact, onmany occasions in these essays, Eddie either .egins or closes an essay with the assertion that a 1articular interlocutor or com1atriot whose 2iews or acti2ities he, Eddie, is discussing critically is ateacher of his" -nd since the whole world 7nows Edwin Madunagu as a Mar!ist and socialist, it willcome as a sur1rise to readers of this .oo7 that many of those so identified as his teachers are eithernot Mar!ists or socialists at all or are Mar!ists and socialists with whom Eddie has significantideological and 1olitical differences"

In 1resenting this .oo7 to its 1otential readers in Nigeria and .eyond our national .oundaries, I wish to .ase my o.ser2ations and reflections in this short 1refatory note on this 1articular 1oint" If one had todescri1ti2ely identify the single most defining thing a.out the essays collected in this .oo7, 1erha1sone would ha2e to say it is the 2astness of the to1ics, issues and 1ersonalities co2ered" But this is onlyslightly more o.2ious than another defining as1ect of the .oo7, this .eing the fact that, as a totality, theessays are addressed to a 2ery large and di2erse .ody of grou1s and indi2iduals within the Nigeriannational community and the .roader community of all thin7ing and 1rogressi2e 1eo1le in the world"

1ecifically, and with regard to the Nigerian national community, the essays in the .oo7 are addressedas much to leftists and radicals as to democrats humanists of the ci2il society organiations, humanrights community stalwarts and cham1ions of ethnic minority rights and ad2ocates and defenders ofwomen8s rights conser2ati2e to li.eral constitutionalists and ust 1lain Naia 1atriots" 4hat is e2enmore remar7a.le a.out the a11arently deli.erate choice made .y Eddie to widen the community of hisaddresses and interlocutors in these essays is the fact that he is uite meticulous in addressing e2ery 1erson, contention or community that he engages with scru1ulous attention to what each 1erson orinterlocutor or community re1resentati2e has to say" Indeed, this 1rinci1le is so rigorously anduncom1romisingly followed in all his essays that it .ecomes clear that the 1rinci1le has the status of acategorical moral and discursi2e im1erati2e with Eddie as a re2olutionary socialist= you do much harmto your cause if you don8t listen well to what others are saying, if you don8t gi2e as muchac7nowledgement to what dri2es and im1els others as you would want others to gi2e to what dri2esand im1els you" Please read any essay in this .oo7 to see if this is an o2erstatement read in 1articularessays on or a.out figures li7e Chief-nthony Enahoro, /usuf Bala sman, ola -deyeye, 9ayo -71ata,Bola Ige, and >eu.en -.ati to see how 2ery careful Eddie is in getting their 2iews and 1ositions rightAto the utmost degree that this is 1ossi.le A .efore or while su.ecting them to scrutiny" In the light ofthe immediately 1receding o.ser2ation, I would argue that this .oo7 is as good as any 1resentlya2aila.le in terms of a .oo7Alength summation of 2irtually all the issues, the forces, and, let it .e said,the 1er1le!ities, which together constitute what Nigeria in 1articular and, more generally -frica and thede2elo1ing world, face for their sur2i2al at this historical moment" ?et me .rea7 this down, as the-frican -merican .rothers and sisters would 1ut it"

Eddie ta7es great, almost su1erlati2e care to see7 out those among his com1atriots and others in theworld at large who are saying and doing things that will, for .etter or for worse, affect the li2es of all of


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us and 1erha1s of future generations as well" -nd he eually ta7es great care to 1resent their 2iews and 1ositions as faithfully as 1ossi.le, almost with the e!actitude of the mathematician that he is" For thisreason, in many of the essays collected in this .oo7, Eddie has more or less 1resented e!tremely useful,almost matchless summaries of the following su.ects and issues= what the defenders of ethnic minorityrights or indigenous 1eo1les are saying and demanding, most elouently in relation to the terri.lehuman, en2ironmental and economic de2astation of our dee1ly trou.led Niger 6elta region what the

di2erse 1ro1onents of the geo1olitical restructuring of Nigeria are saying, es1ecially with regard witharguments for and against a o2ereign National Conference NC what the rise of ethnic militias 1ortend for our country and the contem1orary world where education, the media, contem1orarye2angelical religion and, more generally, 1o1ular culture stand in relation to local and internationalstruggles for glo.al ustice and attem1ts to come to a .etter understanding of the o1erations of a newim1erialism which, though it .ears the traces of the old im1el ialism, is still an unfolding 1henomenon, still in a 1eriod of ince1tion .efore the sort of effecti2e ideological and geo1oliticalconsolidation which the old im1erialism enoyed for a.out four hundred years" If you wish to 7now themost u1AtoAdate contending 2iews and 1ositions on these and many other issues of great, searingrele2ance to Nigeria and the world at large, 1lease read the essays in this .oo7 carefully and you willcome away a much .etter informed 1erson" It would of course .e wrong to gi2e the im1ression that theessays in this .oo7 merely gi2e e!cellent summati2e discussions and nothing more on the issues andto1ics listed a.o2e, if .y e!cellent one means to im1ly neutrality" 9his is far from the case, as e2enthe most cursory and unreflecting of readers of the .oo7 will uic7ly disco2er" For Eddie is not only anacti2ist, militant 1artisan for the realiation of 1o1ular democracy and socialism for our country, ourcontinent and the nations and regions of the world, he is indeed a des1erate 1artisan, e2en a .itterlyfrustrated and disa11ointed 1artisan" 9his is indeed the 1oint from which deri2es the title for myo.ser2ations and reflections in this 1refatory note= against the dialogue of the deaf and the damned"

4hat this im1lies is the fact that at the emotional and ideological .ase of nearly all the essays in this .oo7 is Eddie8s anguished consciousness that .oth within the community of Nigerian radicals andleftists and the .roader community of the national intelligentsia A of all shades of ideological o1inion Ano meaningful con2ersation e!ists rather what we ha2e is a dialogue of the deaf and the damned" -dialogue of the deaf8 .ecause interlocutors and dis1utants in our national con2ersation don8t ta7e thetime to listen at all to one another, let alone hear one another as the same issues, the same ideas arere1eated and recycled again and again" -nd a dialogue of the damned .ecause we seem headed for acatastro1he that we might not sur2i2e this time around as we sur2i2ed A after a fashion, at least ourCi2il 4ar of 5&+A+(" I ha2e s1o7en of the des1eration, the des1air e2en, which mar7s many of theessays in this .oo7 as the author again and again comes u1 against the di2erse manifestations ande!1ressions of this dialogue of the deaf and the damned" must now s1ea7 of the .oundless ho1e andresilience that also mar7 the same des1airing essays and may indeed .e regarded as the dialecticalo.2erse of the des1eration, the des1air" -nd on this 1articular 1oint, I wish to 1lace as much em1hasisas 1ossi.le on the word 8understanding in the title of this .oc7"

?et me .riefly e!1lain what I mean .y this 1oint" nderstanding Nigeria and the New Im1erialism=Eddie8s re2olutionary o1timism here lies in a .elief that things in our collecti2e e!1erience that mayseem too daunting, too confounding can .e effecti2ely confronted and transformed if one ma7es theeffort to understand them A in all the 1ositi2e e1istemological and 1olitical meanings of that word"-nother way of 1utting this is to say that what you don8t understand you can8t engage successfully"nderstanding may 2ery well not a2ert a looming catastro1he, .ut it is at least a 1reAcondition, a sineua non of the 1ossi.ility of 2ictory" On this 1articular 1oint, the most urgent message in this .oo7 is toleftists, radicals and all lo2ers of 1o1ular democracy in Nigeria and that message is as clear as it is .racing= if you would ad2ance your cause and hel1 to mo2e our country and our continent out of the


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1resent rot, you must first come to an understanding of your own 1resent utter disarray, your own 1resent selfAmystifications and your a2oidance of the hard, .itter facts of the negati2e e!1eriences ofthe 1ast cou1le of decades" I could identify and name the many issues on which, according to Eddie,the left in the country today stands utterly confused and may.e di2ided, .ut I8ll name only three= thecall to restructure or reAfederalie Nigeria along ethnoAnational lines the de1th of the retreat fromantiAca1italism and antiAim1erialism that totally dominates the wor7 and the utterances of so many of

those struggling against the local and foreign .ases of our national malaise and the dire materialconditions of the maority of our 1eo1les and the lac7 of attention toAthe wor7ings of the newim1erialism in naturalied and seemingly neutral discursi2e categories li7e the internationalcommunity .eyond the more easily identifia.le instrumentalities of institutions li7e the IMF, 9he4orld Ban7, the 49O, the @* ummit, and the Economic Forum of 6a2os"

Mostly, the essays in this .oo7 1ro1ose the efforts needed to come to an understanding of these issuesas collecti2e and colla.orati2e research 1roects" But Eddie also ad2ances some e!traordinarily .oldand 2isionary theses that, on another occasion and in another conte!t, I will ho1e to gi2e a fullerela.oration" For now, it suffices for me to say that the elouence, clarity and force with which head2ances these theses mar7 Eddie out as 1erha1s the re2olutionary conscience of our generation" I saidearlier that I would end this 1refatory note where I started= on Eddie8s naming, in some essays in this .oo7, of 50&, the year of his .irth, as a crucial founding moment of Nigeria8s nationA.eing" I also saidthen that this was done com1letely unselfconsciously, without any regard at all to tine coincidence of 1ersonal .iogra1hy and national history" On the .asis of that o.ser2ation, I now ma7e the followings1eculation, a sort of #egelian s1eculation= what it is that mar7s out certain indi2iduals as thosethrough whom the historical 1rocess comes to the consciousness of their communities or their nationsis often 1recisely this fortuitous con2ergence of 1ersonal .iogra1hy and the national historical 1rocess"

-t any rate" as the readers of this .oo7 will readily find out, Eddie is dee1ly conscious of an Qlc R ationto his his and ours" 9his is a great .urden, .ut it is also a great ho1e" I com1liment this .oo7, 1roducedfor the occasion of the &(th .irthday of the AA+"AA'e and com1atriot, to readers with a full consciousnessof .oth o11ortunity"

Biodun Je2ifo, I.adan, -1ril '((&

Introduction

9his .oo7 is a cele.ration of the life, wor7s and struggles of a comrade and friend, Edwin I7echil7wuMadunagu" Madunagu was .orn on May ), 50&" ince the early +(s he has 1layed 1rominent roles inre2olutionary 1olitics in Nigeria" E2en though Eddie, as he is 1o1ularly 7nown, has .een a teacher,author, organier of radical struggle and an acti2ist fior more than three decades, he is more widely7nown as a news1a1er columnist" Madunagu oined 9he @uardian in Fe.ruary 5*) as a mem.er of theEditorial Board" 9hough he was trained as a mathematician, his ideological clarity and his gras1 of 1hiloso1hy, history, economics, and 1olitics has made his 9hursday column essential reading foranyone trying to understand the social and economic tur.ulence that rules our world" 9his hastremendously endeared him to the younger generation of Nigerians" Madunagu8s 1assion andcommitment to the Nigerian wor7ing class, to 1easants, women and youths is legendary"

4hile 1aying tri.ute to a comrade and friend, Peter -yodele Curtis Jose1h 9o >emem.er and to#onour, 9he @uardian, he noted= Of all the contem1orary social de2elo1ments that currently saddenme, one of the most 1ainful is the disconnection of Nigerians, es1ecially the younger ones, from their


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own history, including the history of their own immediate en2ironments" O2er the years, Madunaguhas sought, through his writing, to address this historical disconnection" For the 1ast '( years,Madunagu8s articles in 9he @uardian ha2e 1ro2ided a 1latform for 1rogressi2e de.ate and struggle" #ehas sought to 1o1ularie socialist and PanA-fricanist alternati2es to the de2elo1mentA1olicy 1aradigm 1romoted .y the 1olitical elite under the tutelage of the international financial institutions and, moregenerally, 4estern im1erialism, es1ecially in the new forms which many of the essays collected in this

.oo7 su.ect to enlightening critiue" Madunagu .elie2es Nigeria can still .e rescued from the currentrot" 9o this end, he has used his column to e!1ose the .an7ru1tcy of tructural -dustment Programs-P and other social and economic 1olicies that see7 to undermine our so2ereignty and dee1enca1italist domination of all facets of our national life .y these new forms of im1erialist dominationsu.sumed under the seemingly neutral moni7er ofthe international community" Indeed, one ofthegreat merits and the eually great urgency of many of the articles in Madunagu8s wee7ly column sincethe start of the new millennium 1ertains 1recisely to his lucid e!1ose of the 1olicies, world2iews andassum1tions fueling the o1erations of this soAcalled international community

Madunagu8s articles encom1ass e2ery im1ortant national and international issue= su11orting cam1aignsagainst domestic 1olicies that are inimical to our 1eo1les8 interests showing wor7ing 1eo1le and themasses the need to reect the status uo and 1ursue de2elo1ment solutions that are collecti2ely selfAreliant and euita.le and e!1ressing solidarity with 1eo1les on the front line of the glo.alconfrontation with im1erialism such as Palestine, Cu.a and Ira"

Of the social issues facing Nigeria today, one of the most challenging is renewing the radical and 1o1ularAdemocratic traditions of struggle in our society" 9he im1ortance of this renewal cannot .eo2erem1hasied" -s Nigeria continues to drift, it is im1erati2e for the new generation to ha2ealternati2e 1aradigms of discourse on society .eyond the current glo.alied neoli.eral discourse andanalysis" Madunagu has .een a cham1ion of this alternati2e discourse and this .oo7 aims to further thede.ate on the way forward" It see7s to draw attention to and e!amine the reconstitution that Nigeria so .adly needs from 1ast and 1resent struggles" -mong other im1ortant things, the .oo7 is an attem1t tomo.ilie an effort to 1re1are oursel2es to 1lay a role in the struggle against im1erialist e!1loitation ando11ression A in Nigeria and worldwide" 9hese are daunting challenges and we ho1e this .oo7 will offerthe occasion to launch a 1roect of renewal to confront these challenges"

egemony !hrough Elections "#th $une% 2002

NO9#IN@ in recent times, has shown the true character of the Nigerian state, the Nigerian rulingclasses and the 1ower .locs de2elo1ed therefrom, as clearly as the current .uildAu1 to the '(('%'(($elections, es1ecially the guidelines for the registration of new 1olitical 1arties recently 1u.lished .y, orrather through, the Inde1endent National Electoral Commission MEC" I should hasten to add,howe2er, that the guidelines, as re1rehensi2e as they are, say nothing, one way or the other, a.out the 1ersonal integrity of the leaders and functionaries of the Commission, e!ce1t 1ossi.ly that they are notre2olutionary democrats" Not e2en a saint 1ut to ser2e the Nigerian ruling classes and their social


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system can do much .etter" In fact, if a saint is inserted into the Nigerian social system to regulate thestruggle for 1ower he or she will emerge from the e!ercise 1ainted de2ilA.lac7" e2eral 1oliticians and 1roAdemocracy ad2ocates ha2e argued that the INEC guidelines are in contradiction with the 555Constitution in some critical areas, and against the s1irit of that .asic document" 9he twoA1ointassertion is 2ery correct" But the matter goes .eyond that" I su.mit that a true democrat must uestion .oth the Constitution and the Electoral -ct, and then the INEC guidelines, their legitimate .a.y" 9he

monstrosity of INEC guidelines is a direct 1roduct of the 1ower structure in Nigeria, the Constitutionand the Electoral -ct" In short, in the final analysis, it does not matter whether the INEC 1eo1le areacting out a scri1t, 1re1ared .y someone or some authority, or acting out their own scri1t, ins1ired .ythe Constitution, the Electoral -ct and their own consciousness and understanding" 9he 1oint is thatthere is a 2ery limited degree of freedom for any election um1ire o1erating today in Nigeria" But Iagree that the INEC guidelines can .e .attled on its own grounds" Nigerians ha2e a lotto learn fromsuch a .attle" 9hey will learn 2ery uic7ly from such a .attle A ifit is rigorously and uncom1romisinglywaged A that the e!isting 1olitical system is hea2ily weighted against true democrats, the 1oor, themarginalised, the e!1loited, the dis1ossessed and the internal colonial su.ects" ?et us therefore ta7e aloo7 at this 1articular child of the Nigerian system, the INEC guidelines and its 1arent, guardian andins1irer, the 555 Constitution" INEC o1ened its @uidelines for the >egistration of Political Partiesdated May ), '((' with the following definition= -1olitical association for the 1ur1oses oftheseguidelines is defined as an organisation or 1ersons= see7ing registration as a 1olitical 1arty in order to 1artici1ate in an election .y meeting all 1rescri.ed statutory reuirements section " 9he 555Constitution defines an association and a 1olitical 1arty section ''5" It does not define a 1oliticalassociation" 9his was done .y INEC" Now, if the Constitution which is the nation8s .asic law definesan association, then any other definitions of su.Asets of association made .y any institution or organderi2ing its e!istence, 1owers and functions from the Constitution, must not detract from the generaldefinition offered .y the Constitution" 9hey can only signify and ela.orate on what differentiates onety1e of association from the others" - su.Aset does not detract from the ualities of the full set of whichit is a1art" For instance, if INEC wishes, it can su.Adi2ide the set of associations into su.Asets= 1olitical,cultural, social, ethnic, religious, occu1ational, etc, as the 555 Constitution recognises and 1ermits inection ''5" o far, so good" ection '' of the Constitution states= No association, other than a 1olitical 1arty, shall can2ass for 2otes for any candidate at any election or contri.ute to the funds of any 1olitical 1arty or to the election e!1enses of any candidate at an election" 9his is one of the mostcriminal 1ro2isions in the Constitution, a guarantee that, through elections, the 1resent 1ower structure,hea2ily weighted against the masses, will .e maintained and 1er1etuated A until such a time that thewretched of the Nigerian earth will acce1t their fate as immuta.le @oing .y the letter and s1irit ofthe 555 Constitution from which INEC has a.stracted and then e!tended and inter1reted, e2eryassociation, defined .y the Constitution as any .ody of 1ersons cor1orate or unincor1orated who agreeto act together for any common 1ur1ose, and includes an association formed for an ethnic, social,cultural, occu1ational or religious 1ur1ose, can a11ly to INEC to function that is the word used .y theConstitution as a 1olitical 1arty which the same .asic document defines as including any associationwhose acti2ities include can2assing for 2otes in su11ort of a candidate for election to the office ofPresident,


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the Nigerian nation .e 1ermitted to function as 1olitical 1arties: 4hy can8t a small grou1 in thiscountry, which .elong to all of us, start in a small 1lace, test its message" 1latform and strengthelectorally in a small area, if it chooses to do so, and then de2elo1: 9he NE 8"AR=erian state and itsinstitutions and agencies say that this will endanger the cor1orate e!is= e of Nigeria and detract fromcurrent efforts at de2elo1ing, national unity" 4hat should these small grou1s do: 9he Nigerian statere1lies that they should find accommodation within the .ig national 1arties that ha2e functioning,

wellAfurnished and wellAeui11ed offices and documented mem.ershi1s in at least '0 states" But insee7ing this accommodation they must dissol2e themsel2es into the .ig 1arties since, according to?NIC guidelines, section ), e2ery 1arty mem.er must .e so in his or her 1ersonal ca1acity" Nogrou1, as a grou1, can see7 legitimate alliance with another grou1 or 1arty to wage a common electoral .attle" It must dissol2e itselfinto a large grou1" 9his is another criminal 1ro2ision, similarly aimed at 1er1etual hegemony" In any case we all 7now that with 2ery few e!ce1tions, only .ig 1oliticalformations infinitely endowed financially can fulfill INEC8s material and .ureaucratic conditions" =-so7now that these .ig 1olitical formations are not sim1ly dominated .y the 1ower .locs, they are owned .y the 1ower .locs" -nd their agenda is clear= the 1er1etual domination of Nigeria within the economicframewor7 of ca1italist glo.alisation, neoAli.eralism, mass im1o2erishment and ensla2ement and the 1olitical ideology of war against glo.al terror" -ny national or international dissenter is a terrorist"President Olusegun O.asano has, in recent 1ast made two statements which deser2e some res1onse"#e insulated himself from any 1ercei2ed shortcomings in INEC guidelines, saying that it was not hisduty to write the guidelines he did not write them and, hi fact, had no time for such e!ercise" -nyonewho is dissatisfied should go to the court" But he was of the o1inion that guidelines are necessary forthe registration of 1olitical 1arties" Fine tal7" But we should 7now, going .y the nature of the state ingeneral and Nigerian 1olitical history in 1articular, that INEC guidelines could not ha2e seen the lightof day if the President did not a11ro2e of e2ery line of it" If we do not 7now this then we should go .ac7 to an elementary school of1olitical science and 1olitical history" In another statement re1orted in9he @uardian of May '&, '((', President O.asano ga2e si! reasons why he fa2ours democracy" 9hereasons are that democracy is the only means .y which leadershi1 can .e .rought in or remo2ed 1eacefully it does not allow for leadershi1 till death do them 1art, as leaders ha2e to 1eriodically testtheir 1o1ularity it allows for com1etition where the 1eo1le can udge .y 1rogramme and record it haschec7s and .alances with three, four or e2en fi2e arms it allows for dialogue and it gi2es minorities a2oice" 9he first fi2e reasons are mere 1ro1aganda" INEC guidelines are a negation of the si!th" Nigeriahas .een declared a democracy .y the ruling classes, their 1ower .locs, and the internationalcommunity8 whose endcrsement is now the decisi2e criterion worldwide for designation as ademocracy" 9he forthcoming elections, e2en the current 1re1arations for them, are a furtherconfirmation of the designation of our country as a democracy" But 1o1ular and truly democratic 2oicesin Nigeria are saying that is a huge lie= that Nigeria is not a democracy and that the electoral 1rocess,including INEC guidelines, are mo2ing the country e2en further away from the direction of democracy"9hese 2oices must .ecome stronger, louder and shar1er"

&eyond 'arty Mutation "(th $uly% 2002

9II EE 1olitical 1arties were registered for the 555 general elections that .rought @eneral OlusegunO.asano to office as ci2ilian President ofthe Federal >e1u.lic ofNigeria" 9hese were the Peo1les6emocratic Party P6P, the -ll Peo1les Party -PP and the -lliance for 6emocracy -6" ?et usrecall how these three 1arties emerged" - large gathering of leading mem.ers of the Nigerian rulingclasses and their 1oliticians and intelligentsia was ta7ing sha1e towards the end of @eneral ani-.acha8s regime" 6rawn from all 1arts of the country, the gathering, 7nown at a certain time as @A$0,saw itself as the successor to ani -.acha whene2er it 1leased @od to terminate his neoAfascist regimeeither directly or through the agency of his messengers" Many Nigerians did not 7now how it ha11ened, .ut -.acha died suddenly in June 55*" 9he @A$0 was the largest and most national sa2eAtheAnation


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grou1 that immediately transformed into 1olitical 1arties" It named itself the Peo1les8 6emocratic PartyP6P, which .rought memories of the econd >e1u.lic National Party of Nigeria NPN" 9henegotiations to consolidate the P6P .ro7e down when a faction led .y -woists, the heirs of late ChiefO.afemi -wolowo, o.ected to three of the 1arty8s foundational elements" 9he first was the nearAa.sence of welfarist 1ers1ecti2es in the 1rogramme of the 1arty the second was the nonArecognition ofthe national uestion and the third was the strong 1ositions occu1ied in the 1arty .y 1eo1le 1ercei2ed

as antiAdemocrats and recent colla.orators of military dictatorshi1" 9he faction withdrew anda11roached the second largest gathering, the -ll Peo1les Party -PP" Negotiations again .ro7e downon the three uestions which the grou1 insisted were nonAnegotia.le" 4hen the -woists 1ulled out ofthis second effort they decided to form their own 1arty, the -lliance for 6emocracy -6" 9here wereother disaffected grou1s" .ut they 1ossessed neither the will not the 1ower to 1ull out" 9he three 1artiesP6P, -PP and -6 that finally emerged from this 1rocess of mutations that is, com.inations anddissociations I called, and still call, the 1arties of Nigeria8s two 1ower .locs" In June '((', three and ahalf years after the registration of P6P, -PP and -6, the Nigerian state decided to recognise, or rather,was com1elled to officially recognise, further mutations ofNigeria8s 1olitical foi illation" 9hree new 1arties= National 6emocratic Party N6P, nited Nigeria Peo1le8s Party N9P and -ll Progressi2e@rand -lliance -P@- were registered, .ringing the total to si!" 9o .etter understand what ha11enedin June, we may go .ac7 to what ha11ened in 5+*%+5, as @eneral Olusegun O.asano 1re1ared toinaugurate the econd >e1u.lic 5+5A5*$" 9hree esta.lishment 1arties

were the first to emerge" 9hese were the National Party of Ni geria NPN, the Nigerian Peo1les PartyNPP and the nity Party of Nigeria PN" - dis1ute later de2elo1ed in NPP .etween the Hi7istsfollowers of 6r" Nnamdi -i7iwe and the su11orters of 4airi I.rahim , one of the founders of the 1arty" 4hat the country was told was that 4airi I.rahim and his su11orters wanted the 1ost of1arty National Chairman and the 1osition of 1arty 1residential candidate to go to one man= 4airi I.rahim "9he Hi7ists thought that this was a greedy 1ro1osition" -lthough admitting that 4airi was anim1ortant figure in the 1arty, they, felt that he should .e satisfied with one of the two 1ositions, 1refera.ly, 1arty chairmanshi1, and lea2e the other, 1refera.ly 1residential candidature, to Nnamdi-i7iwe, the other 1illar of the 1arty" But 4airi reasoned differently" ?et me attem1t a reconstructionof his argument in my own words, 1lease= 9he 1osition of 1arty national chairman is meaninglesse2e+n if it is something if the 1arty does not win the 1residential election which is still to come" Onthe other hand, 1residential candidate is no 1osition at all= after the election, you .ecome either the 1resident or nothing" o, in the case the 1arty loses the 1residential election, .oth 1ositions A 1artychairmanshi1 and 1residential candidature A will come to almost nothing although on .alance, the 1artychairmanshi1 will mean something in the nothingness while the 1arty 1residential candidature will .enothing in nothingness" In this case, it will .e .etter to .e 1arty chairman" #owe2er, if the 1arty winsthe 1residential election, the 1resident will com1letely dominate, and o2ershadow, the 1arty chairman"In this case, it will .e .etter to .e the 1residential candidate" ince the future is un7nown, since no one7nows how the 1residential election will go, it is safer to com.ine the two 1ositions, so reasoned4airi, the leading financier of NPP" 9he Hi7ists, .eing more e!1erienced in 1olitics, saw theirreconcila.ility of the two 1ositions, and uic7ly seied the 1arty machinery, com1elling 4airi andhis su11orters to withdraw and form another 1arty, the @reat Nigeria Peo1les Party @NPP" - similarde2elo1ment in the NPN was more dramatic" - large national mo2ement ofNigeria8s ruling classeswas growing in th .owels of the military dictatorshi1" -fter the regime lifted the 'Ayear old .an on 1olitical acti2ities 5&&A5+*, the national mo2ement .ecame the National Party of Nigeria NPN"#ow Ma8am -minu Kano and many of his su11orters e2er got themsel2es into the national mo2ementis a story we may not go into here" But history found them there, discussing with the most conser2ati2ere1resentati2es of the Nigerian ruling classes" 4e can only guess what actually went on .ehind theclosed doors .ut we were told a fraction of it, namely = -minu Kano, a giant in Nigerian 1olitics, the


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the role of the author in the -.acha regime ha2e so far generated" But .efore 1roceeding to the 1arameters, I should first 1ro1ose some general reuirements for an o.ecti2e study of -.acha years"9he study has to .egin from the start, not from some con2enient 1oint in the middle" 6efinitely thestory will not start from when -.acha started assassinating his o11onents in 55) not in early 550when the National 6emocratic Coalition N-6ECO was formed on the 1latform of o11osition to theConstitutional Conference and another 1rolonged military administration or later that $ ear SS lien he

started harassing and detaining radicals, unionists and 1atriots, and dissol2ing their organisations" 9he-.acha years did not start e2en on No2em.er +, 55$ when -.acha staged his cou1" 9he -.achayears started in 6ecem.er 5*$" #a2ing said this, I can now 1ro1ose the following 1arameters for thestudy of -.acha years= 4hat we 7now of @eneral ani -.acha .efore he .ecame Nigeria8s I lead oftate on No2em.er +, 55$ how he .ecame #ead of tate the acti2e 1olitical forces and thecorrelation and .alance of these forces immediately 1rior to, and at the time .e .ecame #ead of tatehow and why -.acha was a.le to draw into his go2ernment such an array of res1ected Nigerian 1atriots and leftist 1oliticians continuities and discontinuities .etween the Ba.angida regime and the-.acha unta the dialectical and tur.ulent relationshi1 .etween the -.acha regime and the 4estern 1ower .loc during that regime the range of o11osition that the -.acha regime had to confront and howthe regime confronted it the 1olicies and go2ernance of the regime, or rather, the Nigerian state under-.acha the world and Nigeria under-.acha the roles and what was e!1ected of mem.ers of the4estern 1ower .loc such as Ba.ato1e and Ja7ande in the -.acha regime and the crisis of the regimeand its demise" It is a long list, and some of the 1arameters do o2erla1"

9his is my 1ro1osal to anyone who intends to do a serious study or serious re2iew of a study of the-.acha years" -nalysing the -.acha years is not sim1ly a uestion of descri.ing the atrocities of ane2il man and the refusal of Ba.ato1e and others to a.andon the e2il man when called u1on to doso, con2eniently forgetting that Ba.ato1e and some of-.acha8s ministers were literally drafted anddonated to the e2il man" Perha1s I am um1ing the gun" Most Nigerians outside the military firstheard of ani -.acha when, as a Nigerian army .rigadier, he announced the cou1 of 6ecem.er 5*$"9he cou1 terminated the ci2ilian go2ernment of President hehu hagari, reAelected four monthsearlier" -.acha, 1erha1s, did not write the cou1 .roadcast which he made .ut those who listened to the .roadcast will remem.er the harsh deli2ery which -.acha ga2e to it" -.acha .ecame commander ofthe second di2ision of the army in I.adan" -.acha did not announce the cou1 that .rought I.rahimBa.angida to 1ower on -ugust '+, 5*)" #e s1o7e later, .efore the formal assum1tion of office .y thenew military 1resident" -gain, we recall the 1articularly harsh deli2ery of his own radio statement" #e .ecame Chief of-rmy taff" If you do a news1a1er research on the


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-.acha insisted not only on .ecoming the Minister of6efence in Ernest hone7an8s Interim National@o2ernment IN@, .ut also on .eing named the most senior minister and the first in the line ofsuccession in the go2ernment" -nd he succeeded hone7an -ll these facts were o1en enough to .e7nown .y Nigerian 1oliticians, 1olitical acti2ists, human rights and democracy cam1aigners .efore-.acha staged his cou1 d8 etat" If so, why did leftist radicals and 1rogressi2e 1oliticians such as-.u.a7ar >imi, Iyorchia -yu, ?ateefJa7ande, E.eneer Ba.ato1e, etc, agreed to oin -.acha8s

go2ernment: 6id Ba.ato1e and others .elie2e that -.acha could .e used to achie2e a democratic, ifnot re2olutionary, o.ecti2es: Or that he would not attem1t any atrocity on them 7nowing that

they were the 1illars of his go2ernment: Or, that he would .e remo2ed from office .efore he could startany atrocities: Or, that -.acha was, in fact, not as .ad as he was 1ortrayed: Or, that the sweetness ofoffice, 1ri2ileges and money .alanced the danger of wor7ing under -.acha: If I may ma7e a lea1= 4hyha2e Nigerian leftists .een 2ictims of glittering 1olitical messianism= Murtala Muhammed, I.rahimBa.angida and now Olusegun O.asano: 4hy was Murtala Muhammed hailed as a hero in life as wellas in death largely .y Nigerian radicals of outhern origin when the facts of atrocities committed .yhim and under him in the 1resent Edo and 6elta states during the ci2il war were 7nown: 9o concludethis fragmented inter2ention= I do not .lame or hold E.eneer Ba.ato1e, 1ersonally res1onsi.le foracce1ting to ser2e under @eneral -.acha I hold 1olitical forces larger than him res1onsi.le" I do notacce1t the udgment that he ought to ha2e left -.acha8s go2ernment sim1ly .ecause he was instructedto do so .y a fraction of the 4estern 1ower .loc" #a2ing .een nominated into a go2ernment whichthose who nominated him did not control, Ba.ato1e as an intellectual and acti2ist was .ound to enterinto new relationshi1s and acuire new insights and 1ers1ecti2es which they did not ha2e" #e couldtherefore not remain a carrier of the ideas of his 1atrons" But I hold that he ought to ha2e left thego2ernment at a certain 1oint" #e could ha2e esca1ed from the country as some others did .efore andafter him" But that is, if he could" Fi2e grou1s were res1onsi.le for @eneral ani -.acha coming to 1ower" 9hese were the antiA-.iola grou1 in the -rmed Forces antiA-.iola for whate2er reasonsleaders of the June ' mo2ement who were also the leaders of the ocial 6emocratic Party 6Pand fractions of the >adical Mo2ement in Nigeria" 9hey were the grou1s whose su11ort Oladi1o 6iyao.tained for -.acha" 9hey are res1onsi.le for the coming to 1ower of @eneral ani -.acha" But theyare not res1onsi.le for the atrocities of the -.acha regime" 9hey were, in fact, the 1rime 2ictims" 9hoseres1onsi.le for the atrocities of the-.acha years are gradually .eing re2ealed"

In 'raise o the .puta 'anel /th $anuary% 200"

#E re2elations that ha2e so far .een made at the 1anel are 2ery significant and useful, not necessarilyto the 1anel or the go2ernment that set it u1, .ut to the 1eo1le whose ultimate duty to themsel2es is toutilise the re2elations to understand the 1ast and reconstruct this country along genuinely democraticand humanistic lines" 9he re2elations ha2e filled some of the ga1s in our 7nowledge of the immediate 1ast, and we are richer .y that fact" 9hose who accuse some witnesses of not .eing sufficientlyforthcoming or of not fully admitting their own roles in state atrocities are missing the significance ofthe 1anel" 9he O1uta 1anel is not a.out admissions" It is a.out re2elations" u11ose e2ery witness whohas so far a11eared .efore the 1anel had made admissions a la >ogers, what would we ha2e gained:#ow would this ha2e assisted us in organising an agenda for national reconstruction: It also does notmatter that most of the witnesses a11earing .efore the 1anel ha2e told some lies, or e2aded some truths,or e!aggerated or underA1layed some incidents" 4e should e!1ect this" 4hat matters is that im1ortantre2elations ha2e .een made and that these are credi.le or 1lausi.le when 1ut in the conte!t of our own7nowledge" 4e are Nigerians and ha2e .een li2ing in this country" 4e are not strangers from the 1lanetMars" 9hose who set u1 the O1uta 1anel may ha2e .een ins1ired .y some as1ects of the outh -fricane!am1le .ut they cannot re1roduce the o uth -frican history or their 9ruth and >econciliationCommission" For one thing the O1uta 1anel is not a.out reconciliation" It is a.out truth" 9he Nigerian


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go2ernment may not e2en .e sincere in its declared reasons for setting u1 the 1anel some go2ernmentleaders may e2en har.our 2indicti2e or narrow o.ecti2es" 9hese 1ossi.ilities are not im1ortant" 9heim1ortant 1oint is that the 1anel has turned out to .e significant and useful" 9he significance of there2elations on the deaths of ani-.acha and Moshood -.iola, namely, that these two Nigerians weremurdered in the same manner and, 1erha1s, .y the same 1eo1le, and for the same strategic o.ecti2e, isnot sim1ly that they confirmed some strongly held sus1icions" I concede that this confirmation is

im1ortant" But .eyond the element of confirmation, the re2elation e!1osed the hy1ocrisy of the Nigerian state and the 1erfidy ofmainstream Nigerian 1oliticians and ruling .locs" 4hen -.acha died,some news1a1ers and magaines carried a statement alleging that the man was murdered" 9heallegation was su11ressed .y the go2ernment of @eneral -.u.a7ar" I su.mit that no national or 1o1ular interest was ser2ed .y this su11ression" -.u.a7ar only e!1loited, for his own gain, the 1u.lic angeragainst -.acha" 9he 1u.lic deser2ed to 7now

how -.acha died" -nd this for two reasons" First, to 1re2ent yesterday8s colla.orators in .loodydictatorshi1 a11earing as today8s democrats and 1atriots" 9wo= -.acha had the right not to .e murdered"#e could .e arrested, tried and e2en e!ecuted under recognised laws of the land, or s1ecially 1romulgated re2olutionary laws" But he had the right not to .e murdered" Once you a.ridge the sco1eand a11lication of human rights A G"1t .riefly and for reasons which are 2ery clear and in the ultimateser2ice of human rights A you ha2e su.2erted the essence of human rights" - few days .efore -.iola8sdeath, one of his wi2es raised alarm o2er the amount of 1ressure to which her hus.and was .eingsu.ected" 9he ecretaryA@eneral of the nited Nations, that of the Commonwealth and all sorts ofinternational di1lomats and 1eaceAma7ers descended on -.iola who had .een in ca1ti2ity in -.ua formore than four years" 9hese were the 2isits re1orted in the media" 9here must ha2e .een other 2isitsfrom within and outside the country that were secret" 1ecifically, -.iola8s wife denounced the 1ressure .eing mounted on her hus.and to renounce what he and many Nigerians regarded as an electoralmandate to .e the 1ostABa.angida 1resident of Nigeria" he warned that the authorities would .e heldres1onsi.le for whate2er ha11ened to -.iola" 9he re1ort of this statement was carried cons1icuously inthe nation8s leading 1rint media" - few days later -.iola died" 9he rest is 7nown" My uestion is= Isthere anyone in -.dulsalami -.u.a7ar8s go2ernment, or in -.iola8s family, or in the June 'Mo2ement, who did not 7now in July 55* that -.iola was murdered .y or with the acti2ecolla.oration of those who dominated his life in the last days, namely= the military go2ernment, thesecurity agents, the international di1lomats, acting for their 1rinci1als, the International Community: Ishall answer my own uestion and say No" I shall howe2er lea2e the followAu1 uestions for thereaders to as7 and answer= they are o.2ious" 9he murder of-.acha and -.iola A the former anincum.ent #ead of tate the latter a strong contender A was the Nigerian 2ersion of a long 1ractice thatis uni2ersal= the use of cou1s d8 etat and assassinations .y senior functionaries of the state to resol2edifficult 1ro.lems in their regime" >emem.er John F" Kennedy, the youngest -merican 1resident whoseassassination in 5&$ was 1lanned and e!ecuted in the highest circles of the -merican state" - fewmonths after -.acha assumed 1ower in No2em.er 55$, Chris -li, the Chief of-rmy taff and -llisonMadue7e, his na2al counter1art, were suddenly remo2ed from office, and retired from the -rmedForces" @i2en that Chris -li was a 7ey 1layer in the remo2al of the Interim National @o2ernmentIN@ ofEmest hone7an and the constitution of.oth the Pro2isional >uling Council P>C and theCouncil ofMinisters, 1olitical o.ser2ers and analysts strongly sus1ected that there must ha2e .een a 1ower struggle within the regime" It too7 si! years for a confirmation to come through theinstrumentality of the O1uta Panel and the testimony of #ama -lAMusta1ha" 9he other s1eculation,namely that the Enternal struggle was o2er the fate of Moshood-.iola, was also confirmed" omeonehas as7ed, nai2ely, I thin7= why were only two generals remo2ed when, as it was alleged, se2eralgenerals were in2ol2ed: My res1onse is that in an internal 1ower struggle, the 2ictor can only cut offthe wea7est lin7s in the chain of command" 9here are those that cannot .e


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4hen senior military officers 1resent the leaders of a ruling military unta of which they are 1art withdemands, they are 1oised for a military cou1" 9he significant 1oint here is not that Nigerian armygenerals were 7neeling and wee1ing when confronted .y the 2ictors in a 1ower struggle" I don8t seeanything strange or a.normal in someone, soldier or ci2ilian, faced with death, 7neeling, wee1ing and .egging to .e s1ared" 9o refuse to wee1, or .eg, or 7neel is to .e e!ce1tional" -nd the Nigerian ruling

class does not 1ossess many e!ce1tional .eings" 9he significant 1oint for me is that no general, e2ennow as a free man, has had the courage to admit that he attem1ted to o2erthrow ani -.acha and ustifythe attem1t" 4hat a 1ity


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*rguments .er the Middle &elt "st $une% 2000

-I?EN9 .ut interesting de.ate is currently going on o2er the identity of the Middle Belt region of Nigeria" I shall 1ic7 out fi2e contri.utions tothis uncoordinated dialogue as re1orted in 9he @uardian of -1ril &, May &, May * and May '$, (((" On 4ednesday, -1ril ), '(((, a grou1 of1rominent 1oliticians, academics, 1u.lic ser2ants and retired senior army officers 1aid President OlusegunO.asano a solidarity 2isit in -.ua" 9he country was then ust emerging from the haria Ci2il 4ar

and the conseuent calls for confederation and renewed ad2ocacy of a o2ereign National Conference"1ea7ing under the um.rella of Middle Belt Forum, the 2isiting grou1 made a num.er of im1ortant 1ronouncements which we should e!amine closely" First, it categorically o11osed Confederation ando2ereign National Conference" econdly, it said that the nine states that ma7e u1 the Middle Belt arenot 1olitically North, adding that the meeting of go2ernments of the 5 Northern states whichgo2ernors of the Middle Belt usually attend is a .usiness and economic gathering" 9hirdly, the 2isitorssaid that the forum8s o.ecti2es remained an indissolu.le and nited Nigeria that is ust, euita.le,sta.le and secular, where no 1articular religion would .e the religion of any 1art or the wholecountry" Fourtly, the forum reiterated its .elief in Nigeria8s 1resent federal structure, adding that the 1resent si!Aonal 1olitical structure in Nigeria was merely a creation of the Inde1endent NationalElectoral Commission INEC" ?astly, the forum declared that the Middle Belt ha2ing .efore 1aidwith the .lood of its citiens to 7ee1 the country united was 1re1ared to do so again to 1rotect thecountry as 1resently constituted"From the com1rehensi2e 1resentation made .y the Middle Belt Forum we may isolate two issues whichare not li7ely to .e acce1ted .y the Northern 1ower .loc .ut which the 4estern 1ower .loc and other 1olitical forces in the outh are li7ely to em.race= the insistence on the secularity of the Nigerian stateand the Middle Belt not .eing 1olitically North" 9hese are the only contro2ersial elements in theForum8s manifesto outlined a.o2e" -n immediate comment which can .e made on the latter issue isthat the area which today is 7nown to us as the Middle Belt was 1art of a larger area created asProtectorate of Northern Nigeria and amalgamated with the Protectorate of outhern Nigeria and theColony of ?agos in 50 to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria" ?ord ?ugard was the creatorand first go2ernor of the united colony" 9he name Middle Belt came into use a.out+

two decades to the end of colonial rule 5&(" It was .oth geogra1hically and 1olitically North untilMay 5&+ when the North was car2ed into si! states" From that date the term North .ecameuestiona.le 1olitically" 9oday, the Middle Belt is still geogra1hically North" It is, howe2er, not Northformally and constitutionally" 9he Middle Belt8s 1olitical northernness as claimed .y some 1oliticiansis therefore a legitimate de.ate issue" -ccording to >ichard 7lar in his .oo7 Nigerian PoliticalParties, the Middle Belt com1rises more than half of the territory of the North and nearly $) 1er centofthe 1o1ulation" 9he uestion of secularity of the Nigerian state raised .y the forum is 1olitical it is,in fact, the strongest 1oint in the forum8s address" It is a 7ey demand for the sur2i2al of the country" 9hegist of B alara.e Musa8s recent inter2iew with 9he @uardian May & is that although the Middle Belt isreal, it cannot .e se1arated from the Core North on the .ases of higher ideals such as economic andsocial de2elo1ment since, according to him, the Middle Belt is actually more .ac7ward economicallythan the Core North" I understand the Core North to mean the former Northern >egion minus theMiddle Belt" Balara.e8s argument, is first, that e!ce1t in Benue and Plateau states, there is nowhere inthe Middle where #ausa%Fulani Moslems constitute less than $( 1er cent ofthe 1o1ulation and that insome 1laces this fraction rises to o2er )( 1er cent" econdly, he argues that of the ')( ethnic grou1s in Nigeria, I thin7, a.out '(( are from the Middle Belt" Balara.e asserted that the Middle Belt has ne2er


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.een de1endent on the Core North" 4hat Balara.e Musa is saying here, in effect, is that though theMiddle Belt is real, it is inse1ara.le from the North or Core North using religion and ethnic grou1ingas criteria" -lthough I am una.le to confirm Balara.e8s 1ercentages, I com1letely endorse his thesis thatethnic or religious se1aration is im1ossi.le in Nigeria in general and in the northern 1art of the countryin 1articular" But the Middle Belt can .ecome 1olitically and culturally inde1endent of the Core North whate2er the historical lin7s .etween the two areas" #a2ing said this, I must also say that I find

it difficult to acce1t Balara.e8s thesis that the Middle Belt has not .een de1endent on the Core North" 9his flies in the face of concrete historical e!1erience" Potter 6a.u1, a former 6e1utyIns1ectorA@eneral of Police, is the chairman o f Middle Belt Progressi2e nion whose aims, accordingto him, are to foster unity among tri.es and tri.al nationalities of the Middle Belt, irres1ecti2e of theirreligions, social and 1olitical affiliations" ee his inter2iew with 9he @uardian, May &" -lleging thatthe Middle Belt has .een a 2ictim ofmarginalisation, 6a.u1 said that the nion will fight for the 1olitical, social and economic emanci1ation ofthe Middle Belt Hone within a nited Nigeria">eminded of what Balara.e Musa said on the ethnicAreligious com1osition of the Middle Belt, 6a.u1re1lied that #ausa%Fulani Moslems are settlers in the Middle Belt" #e had earlier confirmed writing tothe go2ernors of the Middle Belt states to withdraw from the meetings of northern go2ernors as a wayof car2ing out a se1arate identity for the Middle Belt" Echoing the same 1osition, the 1ea7er ofKogitate #ouse of-ssem.ly regretted that the Core North used us to achie2e their 1olitical gains only todum1 us as soon as it comes to sharing the loot 9he @uardian, May *, '(((" I com1letely endorse6a.u18s 1ro1ositions on the uestion ofmarginalisation and the need for 1olitical, economic andsocial emanci1ation of the Middle Belt" But the argument that a grou1 of Nigerians are *

settlers in any 1art of the country is 1otentially 2olatile, and should not .e made" 9he struggle againstmarginalisation and internal colonialism should remain 1olitical" Partisans and militants of the MiddleBelt ha2e to define their territory, o.ecti2es and strategies more clearly" 9he 1ro.lem is much morecom1le! today than it was .efore the creation of ' states" 9he Middle Belt Forum says, on the onehand, tha i=cts"A 1resent Middle Belt one is a creation ofthe Inde1endent National ElectoralCommission 9N9EC A suggesting that it does not ta7e the one as real or 1o1ular" On the other handit says that the Middle Belt is se1arate from the Core North, a serious 1olitical statement in defenceand 1romotion of Middle Belt identity" o, what is the real 1osition of Middle Belt 1artisans andmilitants in relation to the 1resent Middle Belt one: One ofthe roots of this contradiction in my 2iew,is that the Middle Belt as defined .y the Constitutional Conference of 550%5) is not the same as theMiddle Belt of Jose1h 9ar7a8s nited Middle Belt Congress MBC of 5)(s and 5*(s" 9ar7a8sMiddle Belt is much smaller than the 1iesent Middle Belt" 9he real Middle Belt will emerge when inconsidering the uestion of1olitical restructuring, a shift is made from ethnic and religious criteria to 1o1ularAdemocratic ones" 9he @uardian of May '$ carried a re1ort of se1arate inter2iews which thenews1a1er recently had with I.rahim 9ahir, a former minister and uni2ersity teacher and -meh E.ute, aformer enate President" 4hile the latter echoed the demand for a se1arate identity for the Middle Belt,the former called the Middle Belt nothing .ut a fictitious grou1" #e said the Middle Belt was aconce1tion of British colonial officials adding that the 1eo1le who classify themsel2es as MiddleBelt can ne2er .e found in a single .elt, that is" they are scattered all o2er" Ignoring 9ahir8s insults,we may say that the only legitimate conclusion that can .e made from his thesis is that se1aration alongethnic or religious lines in the Middle Belt, or in any other region in Nigeria, is im1ossi.le" #is thesiscannot .e an argument against the legitimate struggle against internal colonialism"5


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&haria as a PowerABloc 4ea1on 5th March, '(((yO may .e angry, as I am" /ou may .e disa11ointed and frustrated as many 1eo1le are" /ou are

1erfectly entitled to what those who ha2e tried to transform humanity s1iritually called righteousindignation" But to understand the .loody e2ents of Fe.ruary '((( A for whate2er reasons, includingthe desire to oin in searching for a solution A you ha2e to loo7 at the conce1t of 1ower .locs, if youha2e ne2er done so, or return to the conce1t if you ha2e encountered it, or attem1t to loo7 at theFe.ruary e2ents through the 1rism of the 1owerA.locs, if you are familiar with the conce1t" I can aswell state my conclusion= 9he .loody e2ents ofFe.ruary, the haria Ci2il 4ar, were simultaneously acontinuation of the 1owerA.loc struggle in Nigeria and unantici1ated fallouts from that struggle" 9hereare three main attitudes to the conce1t of the 1owerA.loc as I ha2e tried to a11ly and de2elo1 it in thiscolumn since the Ba.angida era" 9he first is that the conce1t is a surrender to tri.al or ethnic 1olitics, or to ethnic understanding ofNigerian 1olitics" 9his is a 2ery serious charge" 9he charge is serious notnecessarily .ecause it is made .y some of my admittedly reduced circles of comrades" It is o.ecti2elyserious, as serious, in fact, as the charge of waging war against @od once formulated and a11lied .yIranian mullahs with de2astating conseuences" But I 1lead= I ha2e not em.raced ethnic 1olitics andha2e not su.scri.ed to ethnic reading or understanding of Nigerian 1olitics" 9o do so is to .e insane" Iha2e merely loo7ed at a 1henomenon and called it .y its real name, detesta.le as it may .e to me" 9hesecond attitude A which is in o11osition"to the first A is that of anger o2er the restriction of thea11lication of the conce1t to only two 1olitical grou1s or alliances instead of s1reading it across thecountry and seeing a 1owerA.loc e2erywhere and in e2ery 1olitical action" I 1lead= the conce1t of 1owerA.loc is de2elo1ed to differentiate .etween 1olitical formations, according to their strategicstatus, not to him1 them together" PowerA.loc is not a chieftaincy title which one can acuire once thefinancial conditions are met" - 1owerA.loc cannot .e created at will, nor does it emerge s1ontaneously"Once the historical conditions emerge, one can engineer it into .eing" 9he"third attitude is that ofindifference, if not irritation= 4hat is this 1owerA.loc thing: 9his man is always writing theories thatmay .e a11lica.le in >ussia or Cu.a, .ut are irrele2ant here" 4ell, what can I 1lead here: -ll I can sayis that I am writing as a Nigerian a.out Nigeria, the only society I can claim to 7now and to which I amattached, for .etter or for worse"'(

-fter than7ing @od for the country8s latest re1rie2e A I don8t 7now how many more re1rie2es thecountry can enoy .efore it is all o2er A Nigerian 1atriots and genuine democrats, es1ecially the younger ones, should learn to loo7 e2ery 1henomenon in the eye and call it .y its name" PowerA.locs" 4hat arethey:-nswer= @i2en a state such as Nigeria, with defined .oundaries, 1owerA.locs are large 1oliticalgrou1s which are in 1ower or are 1ushing for 1ower" 4hat are the relationshi1s .etween 1ower .locsand social classes and grou1s: -nswer= - 1owerA.loc is constituted .y fractions of classes" In otherwords, class fractions are the constituent elements or units of a 1ower .loc" In economic straggles, thestruggles for material wellA.eing, social classes o1erate at the le2el of modes of 1roduction anddistri.ution of material means of li2elihood" But 1olitical struggles are waged .y 1ower .locs and 1olitical grou1s at the le2el of the social formation, where .y social formation we mean the aggregateof the modes of 1roduction e!isting in a state" Perha1s this can .e resented more clearly and coherently=


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ocial classes and their fractions wage .oth economic and 1olitical struggles" In economic struggles,they o1erate in 1ure forms, with or without alliances" But in 1olitical struggles, where the uestionof1ower is 1osed, social classes and their fractions must see7 alliances .eyond their s1ecific classes ifthey intend to go .eyond ineffectual 1rotests" - 1owerA.loc is a strategic 1olitical alliance cuttingacross class .oundaries .ut under the hegemony of a class fraction" ?et me now differentiate .etween 1owerA.locs and other 1olitical aggregates which we may ust call 1olitical grou1s A the ty1e which, in

lighter moods, I would call crayfish grou1s" E2ery.ody is free to 1lay 1olitics, and many do"Organising 1rotests or demonstrations is 1laying 1olitics casting your 2ote in a rigged election is 1laying 1olitics attending a 1olitical rally with or without material inducement is 1laying 1olitics .eing engaged as a thug is 1laying 1olitics carrying masuerades or dancing trou1es to welcome 1oliticians at air1orts is 1laying 1olitics in fact the masuerades and dancers as well as those who laterattend to the needs of the 2isitors in 2arious ways are also 1laying 1olitics" 9he nature of 1olitics issuch that you can 1lay it e2en in your home= It has countless forms and countless o11ortunities" Butwhen the chi1s are down, when uestion of1ower is 1osed, the crayfish 1olitical grou1s ste1 asideand the 1ower .locs assert themsel2es" 9here are only two 1owerA.locs in Nigeria and this has .een thesituation since the end of the ci2il war 5&+A5+(" 9he war itself was a landmar7 in our country8s 1olitical history 9hese 1owerA.locs are called Northern and 4estern not .ecause they are #ausa or#ausaAFulani and /oru.a res1ecti2ely .ut on account of the social and geogra1hical location of theircores, their centres of gra2ity" 9his 1oint must .e em1hasised, the Northern and 4estern .locs are notethnic fonAnations, although each has a core which is .oth ca1italist and ethnic" #owe2er, a core is acore only if it has a co2ering, a core without a co2ering is not a core" - 1owerA.loc therefore has .oth acore and a co2ering" Each of the two 1owerA.locs in Nigeria has a national co2ering" 9he threego2erning 1arties in Nigeria A the P6P, the -PP and the -6 A as we see them are mere co2erings for thetwo 1owerA.locs" If you loo7 well and listen well you will see the cores" E2ery serious 1olitical crisis,such as the 1resent haria crisis, e!1oses the core as it has now done" 4ith this rather longintroduction, I can now ma7e my su.mission= the introduction 'I

of the haria .y some states in the northern 1art of the country A ins1ired and su11orted .y 1owerfulforces outside go2ernment A was a continuation of the struggle .etween the two .locs in the country">eligion or religious mani1ulation is .eing used as a 1olitical wea1on in the continuing struggle to shiftthe .alance of 1ower" haria is a new front in the war of the 1owerA.locs= if you lose, or are losing, on afront, you o1en a new one" E2en when you are winning, you may consider o1ening a new front in order to achie2e 2ictory more uic7ly or decisi2ely" - dangerous front has .een o1ened in Nigerian 1oliticsdangerous .ecause it has .een o1ened .y a 1owerA.loc, not .y isolated e!tremists" 9he .attle for Nigeria may .e decided, in the short run, on this front" -nd if it does, one way or the other, theconfiguration ofNigerian 1olitics will change" 4e ought to 7now where 1ower resides in Nigeria, aswell as the real candidates and the real lineAu1 in the struggle to shift it or reAadust it" 9a7ing forms andshadows for essences and realities can .e tragic" In this light those who thin7 that it is the P6P that is in 1ower at the centre or, that P6P and -PP are in real o11osition to each other, or that when the chi1s aredown -6 will o11ose O.asano are tragically wrong" In s1ite of the 1owerA.loc character of our 1olitics President O.asano may, if he is consistent, unite Nigerian nationalists, 1atriots and democratson this haria uestion" 4hat he ma7es of this national unity is uite a different matter" ince e2entsare really mo2ing 2ery fast, all I can ad2ise now is that whate2er ha11ens, the o11ressed and thee!1loited of this land as well as all Nigerian 1atriots, nationalists, democrats and human rights acti2istsshould ensure that this uestion is not resol2ed against them"


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''

+In 6efence of the Nigerian Nation (th -ugust, '(((I9#E .ottomAline is that the Nigerian nation e!ists" Nigeria is not a geogra1hical e!1ression e2en ifit could .e so descri.ed sometime in the1ast" Nigeria may, today, .e a study in all the tragedies thatmay .efall a human society .ut it is sionetheless a nation" I am ma7ing this affirmation to drawattention to the tendency of 6therwise 1erce1ti2e and 1rogressi2e Nigerian commentators to 1reface orconclude their analyses of the Nigerian situation with .road udgment and swee1ing generalisation thatlea2e us with nothing, that ignore 1ositi2e or redeeming elements of our e!1eriences, that dismisso.ecti2e historical realities that our ram1aging ruling elite cannot destroy that ignore the fact thatthere are genuinely 1atriotic and nationalistic social forces that are continuously struggling to 1romotethat wellA.eing of the Nigerian nation and its 1eo1le A while others are, of course, 1ulling in theo11osite direction" I com1letely endorse my com1atriots8 analyses and denunciation of the .an7ru1tcy, 1hilistinisin, selfishness, treachery and alienation ofthe 1resent class of ci2ilian rulers" -lthough I feel a .it uncomforta.le with the descri1tion of some ofthese 1ersonages, es1ecially the 1ast ones, as rougeleaders, I am 1re1ared to acce1t that 1erha1s my discomfort arises from the fact that this is the termused .y the international community to descri.e Fidel Castro, Muammar @addafi and addam#ussein, among others" -nd the term is .eing used 1recisely at the moment the community isconsidering a.andoning it" #owe2er, my real 1ro.lem is with the nearAconclusion among some of mycom1atriots that there is no "=Cigerian nation and that our duty is to .uild one, through a o2ereign National Conference = su.mit that, in s1ite of all the tragedies that ha2e .efallen us, and continue to .efall us, the Nigerian nation e!ists and has e!isted for more than half a century" 9o refresh ourcollecti2e memory and for the 1articular .enefit of young Nigerians and foreigners, we may ste1 .ac7into history" 9he 1rocess of constituting Nigeria too7 a.out 0( years around the turn of the 5th centuryand was formally concluded in 50 with the amalgamation of three British colonial territories theColony of ?agos, the outhern Protectorate and the Northern Protectorate to create Nigeria as a BritishColony" Colonial igeria was first administered as two semiAautonomous territories= the outh and the North" In 5$&, the outh was .ro7en into two= the East and the 4est" In 50&, at the close of 4orld4ar II, Nigeria was transformed into a unitary colonial state" 9his date can .e regarded as the .eginning of decolonisation" 9his transformation was institutionalised and effected, in 1art, .y thecreation, in ?agos, the colonial ca1ital, of a ?egislati2e Council that'$

made laws for the whole country and included re1resentati2es ofnati2es from across the country" -tthe ris7 of sounding too formalistic, I would ta7e 50& as the date of .irth of the Nigerian nation fromthe 1oint of the British colonial 1ower" Incidentally the creation of the Nigerian nation .y Nigeriansthemsel2es too7 1lace a.out the same time A with the formation of the National Council ofNigeria andCarneroons NCNC in 500, the formation of the Hi7ist Mo2ement in50& and the 'Amonth tour50& A 50+ of Nigeria underta7en .y the NCNC under the leadershi1 of #er.ert Macaulay, Nnamdi-i7iwe, and Michael Imoudu then 1resident of the >ailway nion" 9he tour was underta7en to


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collect a national mandate to 1resent a 1etition to the colonial office in ?ondon as7ing for anaccelerated ad2ance of Nigeria to full inde1endence as a united country" 9he delegation o.tained themandate it sought" 9he tour started from the North, where Macaulay died, 1roceeded through the East,and was concluded in the 4est and ?agos where a massi2e crowd welcomed it .ac7" ?ater that year the NCNC sent a delegation to ?ondon" 9he se2en NCNC delegates were= Nyong Essien, Hanna Bu7ar6i1charima, Funmilayo >ansomeAKuti, Paul Kale, Nnamdi -i7iwe, -dele7e -dedoyin and OlurunA

Nim.e" O7ey Ndi.e, my friend and younger com1atriot who shares this 1age with me, recentlydeclared in ustifia.le anger 9he @uardian, July '(= It is sim1ly silly to recommend that Nigeriansado1t a system nwritten Constitution merely on the ground that it has wor7ed for the English"""where is our Magna Carta: 4hat is the National or cultural cement that holds Nigeria together: In whatmoments of history are Nigerians a.le to locate a shared national memory: I acce1t the first 1art ofthis declaration" But to the latter 1art, I res1ond= 9he Freedom Charter ado1ted .y the NCNC in itsKaduna National -ssem.ly in 50* after its nationAwide tour and su.seuent 1rotest 2isit to ?ondonwas su1erior to the English Magna Carta of '), for the latter was a class agreement to wage waragainst the colonial 1ower" 9he declarations and 1roclamations of the 2arious Nigerian 1olitical 1artiesand the resolutions and agreements of Constitutional Conferences that 1receded Nigeria8s inde1endencewere su1erior to the English Magna Carta" 9he resolutions of the Nigerian ?a.our Mo2ementem.odied, in 1articular, in the @eneral tri7es of 50), 5&0, 5+0, 5*, 5**, 550 and e2en '(((and the mo2ement8s memorandum of the Political Bureau in 5*& were all su1erior to the EnglishMagna Carta of ')" If you remind me that the Nigerian resolutions and agreements ha2e .eenundermined and su.2erted .y ethnicity, religious mani1ulation, ne1otism, corru1tion, intolerance, strifeand ci2il war, I would re1ly that an English monarch was once .eheaded, that England once had amilitary regime and that, e2en now, a ci2il war is going on in Britain" -nation de2elo1s .y means ofcontradictions and tur.ulence" I do not acce1t that any Federal @o2ernment in Nigeria sinceinde1endence consciously set out to destroy the Nigerian nation" I would argue that e2ery Nigeriango2ernment since inde1endence has set out to reconstruct the Nigerian nation in 1articular ways" 9hemission they set themsel2es was the reconstruction of the Nigerian nation according to their 2isions ofa strong ca1italist state, resting on the e!1loitation and o11ression of large'0

ments o f the 1o1ulation and de1endent on the central ca1italist nations" E2ery regime 1arsued thismission with the means a2aila.le to it and with the logic of the .alance of forces which it inherited orwas a.le to 1romote" I hate .eing as7ed to choose .etween unacce1ta.le o1tions A li7e .eing as7ed tochoose .etween .eing shot, or hanged, or sim1ly star2ed to th" I would therefore find it e!tremelydifficult to choose .etween the regimes Nigeria had since inde1endence A if the criterion is theconscious 1romotion of 1o1ular interests" I do not want to sound li7e a nihilist .ecause I am not one"-ll I am trying to say is t the Nigerian nation e!ists and has e!isted for more than half a century thate2ery me, e2ery social force with the 1ossi.le e!ce1tion of some of those o1erating .etween ly 5&&and January 5+( since inde1endence, has tried, not to destroy the nation .ut to reconstruct thisactuallyAe!isting nation in a 1articular way using the means a2aila.le to it that ta7ing s R long 2iew ofhistory, it is difficult to do a 1o1ular ran7ing oftlw regimes which Nigeria has had since inde1endenceand that the mission of contem1oraries is not to found a Nigerian nation A since it e!ists .ut toreconstruct the Nigerian nation along 1o1ularAilemocratic lines, dissol2ing the e!isting 1owerA.locs,eliminating class, religious, ethnic and gender domination and o11ression" It is legitimate to do a


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com1arison .etween Nigeria and other countries as mem.ers of the same human society, as mem.ersof the international community, or as mem.ers of regional grou1ings" It is also legitimate to com1are Nigeria with some other countries of the world on the .asis of shared historical e!1eriences orcontem1orary conditions or as1irations or on the 1rinci1le ofre2olutionary internationalism" But in eachcase, there is a limit to this legitimacy and it has to .e recognised and res1ected" For instance, while itmay .e legitimate to s1ea7 of some uni2ersal 1rinci1les of democracy, there is sim1ly no model of

democracy, 1ast or 1resent, which can .e legitimately recommended for Nigeria" ltimately, Nigeriahas to .e udged and de2elo1ed on its own grounds"')

Bac7 to Fundamental Issues '0th -ugust, '((( %9 is now clear that Nigeria8s 1olitical elite from theouthern 1art of the country ha2e, in s1ite of our 1rotestation, reduced the conce1t of o2ereign National Conference NC to that of o2ereign Conference of Ethnic Nationalities CN" 9hetragedy of the situation is that they ha2e succeeded in suc7ing into this reduction the radical 1oliticalforces which originated the conce1t of NC a decade ago" I am now almost con2inced that if a nationalconference, so2ereign or not, e2er ta7es 1lace in the near future it will .e a conference of ethnicnationalities" -nd it will .e a disaster" I hasten to add here that I ha2e no reason to o11ose, and I am noto11osed to a conference of ethnic nationalities, ust as I cannot o11ose a national conference ofreligious mo2ements, or traditional rulers, or women, or men, or children" 4hether such a conference iswhat it claims to .e A genuinely re1resentati2e and national is uite another matter" 4hat I am o11osedto is the reduction ofNational Conference to Conference of Nationalities" -National Conference in thesense I attach to the term, is a Conference of Nigerian 1eo1le, not sim1ly as re1resentati2es of ethnicgrou1s, .ut 2ariously as re1resentati2es of social grou1s and classes, state institutions, 1olitical, social,cultural, and 1rofessional organisations, trade unions, women8s mo2ements, student mo2ements, etcthat constitute the Nigerian nation" In short, a national conference is a conference of the ci2il societyand the Nigerian state in all their com1le!ities" Most of these other social aggregates are national inhistory, com1osition, ideology and structure, and cannot .e .ro7en down into ethnic com1onentse!ce1t in a ci2il war" I a11laud the meeting of-fenifere and Ohanee to arrest ethnic communal2iolence in the ?agos area" But I insist that when they meet, they meet as two ethnic organisationsamong other similar organisations" -fenifere and Ohanee may .e wealthy, they may .e 1owerful, theymay.e the dominant ethnic organisations in the areas they claim to re1resent" But their re1resentationof their ethnic grou1s is limited in two directions" First, there are many indi2iduals, grou1s andorganisations in -fenifere and Ohanee catchment areas that either do not .elong to them or do notowe allegiance to them, or .oth" 9his is true of the two organisations .ut -fenifere is relati2ely moredominant in /oru.aland and Ohanee in Ig.oland" It will .e ridiculous to dismiss these andre.ellious indi2iduals and grou1s as inconseuential or re1resenting no.ody" In the second 1lace,neither the /oru.a ethnic nationality, nor the Ig.o ethnic nationality can .e adeuately re1resented .yan ethnic organisation such as -fenifere and Ohanee" 4hy: Because of the insertion and integrationof the two ethnic nationalities in the Nigerian nation, Nigerian'&

Torny and the Nigerian state for a.out a century" Because these relationshi1s are, and .een, dynamicand dialectical, the /oru.a and Ig.o ethnic nationalities, li7e other is nationalities in Nigeria, ha2eacuired characteristics, attri.utes and e2en territories ire simultaneously /oru.a and nonA/oru.a, Ig.o


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and nonAIg.o" Conclusion= It will .e tAnely difficult and 1otentially catastro1hic to restructure NigeriaAso long as it remains country along ethnic lines" It is .etter to 1ursue a1olitical strategy of systematicreduction ethnic and regional domination, e!1loitation and o11ression, while 1romoting 1o1ular ocracyat all le2els" I- is also clear that the 1olitical class as a whole has acce1ted the si!Aonal 1olitical coralature for Nigeria" 9he si! ones are listed as outhA4est, outhAouth, outhAEast, rthACentral, NorthAEast and NorthA4est" 9his means that geoA1olitical restructuring i not feature in the agenda of a

o2ereign National Conference if one is con2ened at the Illithest of the 1olitical elite" 9hey will .e leftwith true or fiscal federalism and resource control" It has .een re1orted that a meeting similar tothe one .etween -fenifere and DM ee recently too7 1lace .etween re1resentati2es ofNorthACentralthe Middle Belt the outhAouth" 9he con2eners of the meeting, held in Port #arcourt, said it wasaimed at 1romoting N4 interests of minority ethnic grou1s 9he @uardian, 0%*%'(((" I commend andsu11ort itG But one 1articular difference .etween the two meetings -fenifere%Ohanee and MiddleI?%outhAouth should .e noted" 4hereas the former was a re1resentati2e meeting of only two ethnicnationalities /oru.a and Ig.o the latter re1resented not less than )( ethnic nationalities which,within the conte!t ofthe Nigerian nation, are ethnic minorities" since the nationalities in the -lliance arenot eual in sie, 1o1ulation, de2elo1ment, urces, economic and 1olitical 1ower, etc, and since one 1art of it is in the outh and other in the North, it can .e said that the Middle Belt%outhAouth -llianceis a miniAigeria" I therefore 1ro1ose that whate2er degree of autonomy is granted the 1olitical nes in arestructured federation, the ethnic minority 1ro.lem will remain within the onal framewor7" E2en ifwe attem1t to o2ercome this 1ro.lem .y ma7ing the state an autonomous omit in a restructuredfederation, the 1ro.lem will remain" 4hy: Because none of the states lithe Middle Belt and the outhAouth has less than ,( ethnic grou1s" - decision toU confer autonomy on local go2ernments will .eworse" 9he recent crisis in the enate had to do with enators8 allowances, .enefits and materialcomfort and contracts for their 1ro2ision" Enough has already .een said and written and done on thissu.ect" I ha2e also aired my 2iew, namely, that the enate e1isode as 'c ted out .y the 1oliticians was adeceitful selfA1urgation that was ins1ired neither .y honesty nor altruism" 4hile I acce1t that 1articularindi2iduals may .e guilty of state ro..ery, I su.mit that the entire 1olitical class is guilty ofe!1ro1riating the Nigerian 1eo1le" 4hy: Because e2en without state ro..ery, the remunerations,allowances, .enefits and comfort e!1ro1riated legally .y 1u.lic officers are scandalous in a countryli7e ours" I therefore Fa. mit that a radical downward re2iew of the remunerations, allowances and .enefits of Nigerian 1u.lic officers is now necessary" -ttention has .een drawn to the increasingtendency on the 1art of state go2ernmentsiIN iIN'+

to t c ?ail ltcnil and unconstitutional actions, sometimes in defiance of federal res1onsi.ility andwishes, E!am1les cited include the institution of haria in some Northern states, the esta.lishment orencouragement of1aramilitary organisations in some outhern and Northern states and, recently, thethreat .y outhAouth states to amend federal laws in res1ect of control of resources" 9he 1roection isthat at a certain 1oint in this 1rocess there will .e nearAanarchy in the country in res1onse to which theFederal @o2ernment will agree to con2ene a national conference" My tentati2e res1onse to thisdialectical scenario, this gradual .uildAu1 of uantity to the 1oint where anew uality emerges, is this=Only the 1romoters of haria ha2e shown the determination and courage to 1ursue their 1rogramme tothe 1oint where a serious national crisis occurs" E2en if this ha11ens, the President will most li7elyintensify his chosen course of a11easement and conciliation" #e will not call a national conference


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unless the 1romoters of haria not only agree to it, .ut ad2ocate it" By words or deeds, the 1oliticalactors now agree that the 1arty system which they are o1erating has failed and that new 1arties ha2e toemerge" NonAactors reached this conclusion long ago" 9he ruling Peo1les 6emocratic Party P6P is at .est an uneasy alliance of se2eral 1arties and, at worst, not a 1arty at all" 9he -ll Peo1les Party -PPhas no ideological orientation or 1olitical agenda different from that of P6P" 9he -lliance for6emocracy -6 has lost its national foundation and may continue to e!ist only .ecause it is in control

of go2ernments in some contiguous states and is 1laying a decisi2e role in a Federal @o2ernment whichit does not control in the folinal sense" My ho1e is that when the time of forming new 1olitical 1artiescomes 1eo1le li7e -nthony Enahoro, Es7or 9oyo, -.u.a7ar >imi, Balara.e Musa and 9uniBraithwaite will form 1arties A li7e others ha2e done and insist either that state registration of 1arties .ediscontinued or that their 1arties .e registered" But let me add that the 1resent 1arty system will notcolla1se on its own" I ho1e noAone still su.scri.es to the .an7ru1t theory that a social system cancolla1se under the weight of its own contradictions alone" Conscious human 1ressure is alwaysnecessary"'*

5Contending Pro1ositions Clarified &th -1ril, '((( #E current national de.ate on the future of Nigeria,a de.ate that has .een going on since the

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Understanding Nigeria and the New Imperialism: Essays 2000-2006

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