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Blessed Isi Momodu
momodu_blessed@hotmail.com
Kassel, Germany
Reflections on Bourgeois
politics in Nigeria
Arresting the menace of military banditry in Nigeria
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Reflections on Bourgeois politics in Nigeria
by Blessed Isi Momodu
The registration of more
political parties in as much as it has enriched the political spectrum
thus providing majority of Nigerians a robust option of choice of a
poluitical party has confirmed once more that freedom and true
democracy can not been won on a platter of gold thanks to our untiring
Gani Fawehimi of the National Concience Party (NCP) who has continued
to wage an uncompromising struggle against the brazen illegalities of
the (In)dependent National Electoral Commission.
The geographical entity
called Nigeria like many neocolonial states is a class society.The
Nigerian ruling class over the years has metamorphosized into a
formidable triangle of the devil. It is this evil triangle, the real
enemy of the nigerian people, that has held the vast majority of the
monstrously oppressed and exploited Nigerians in a perpetual state of
abject poverty.A closer look at this triangle will reveal that the
Fulani Oligarchy with its local Nigerian allies in the North,
middlebelt, East, West and South for the porpose of convenience
referred to as civilian wing of the ruling class occupies an Angle A,
while the Nigerian Army also known as the military wing of the ruling
class takes the Angle B, the third angle C is taken by their
international backers such as western governments, IMF/World
Bank,other financial institutions, transnational corporations etc.
Angles A and B otherwise referred to as Nigerian section of the ruling
class despite perceived internal contradictions are mutually
dependent.They maintain a docile and subservient socio-economic and
cultural relationship with their international backers.
Many Nigerians out of
relative obscurity and to varying degrees have decried the decay in
the country. It is pertinent to add here that the extent of decay is a
direct reflection of the character of the ruling class in Nigeria.
Karl Marx in the 19th
century posited that „ The dorminant ideas in any society are the
ideas of the ruling class“. Those who have been mismanaging the
affairs of Nigeria and holding the land together by force are
characterised by a high level of socio-economic ineptitude, unbriddled
corruption,halfheartedness,treachery, cultism, assasinations, the
trade mark 419, religious fanatism, ethnic bigotry etc. These
attributes of the ruling class, which now pervades all sections of the
society, portray Nigeria to the outside world as a dangerouse and
corruption infested enclave. The net result of these all is an
insignificant breed of wealthy parvenus on one hand who shamelesly go
to Europe and America for medical care, send their children abroad for
education while majority of our people on the other hand are submerged
in mass poverty, mass hunger, mass unemployment, mass illiteracy,
infrastructural decay and a collapsed educational and health system.
The Nigerian ruling class
has evidently demonstrated their inability despite our abudant
material and human resources to move the country forward along the
path of socio-economic well being,peaceful coexistence, mutual
dependence and high moral and spiritual purity. To divert our
attention from their monumental and provocative failure, members of
the ruling class privately or governmental, individually or
collectively under ethnic cocoons like Afenifere, Arewa, Ohaneze etc
are delibreately or inadvertently using the machinery of state to whip
up ethnic and religious sentiments resulting in incessant,
internecine violent conflagrations that consume the very victims of
their criminal inaction.
The ruling class in Nigeria
has ran essentially an IMF/World Bank economic policies with the
reults for every body to see. Infact, the first so called development
plan of 1953 which placed emphasis on means of transportation was
drawn with the help of a team of IMF officials who visited Lagos.
Economic advisers of successive maladministrations in Nigeria have
been apologists of IMF/World Bank school of thought.The April 1986
economic stabilisation act (Austerity measures) of the inept and
corrupt Shagari government, the structural adjustment programme(SAP)
of dictator IBB have all been based on IMF/World Bank economic
policies. Remember that the IBB coup against Buhari was an IMF coup as
IBB in his coup speech said he wanted to break the deadloch in IMF
negotiations.The IBB military dictatorship in an interview with
members of the daily times editorial board in 1992 expressed suprise
that the Nigerian economy has not collapsed depite its helplessnes.
This statement was an admission of failure on the part of the ruling
class. At the same time most Nigerian Academicis who have been learned
salesmen of capitalist exploitation and imprialist subjugation were
chorusing the song „ No altrenative to SAP“ in mass media despite the
home grown alternative economic blueprint put forward by the likes of
Profs. Adebayo Adedeji, Baba Omojola Oluwide, late Profs Bade Onimode,
Ola Oni,Claude Ake etc.
It is clear that the
bourgeois ruling class in Nigeria has only succeeded in using the
remnants of the looted Niger Delta oil money in building a consumer
economy prone to the vagaries of market ecocnomy. This economy is in
ruins.Before the June 12 debacle, IBB dictatorship in 1986/87 had
betrayed the collective will of the Nigerian people when he disbanded
the political bureau shortly before making its report public. It was
in this report that majority of Nigerians after more than a year of
political debate expressed their wish to put the means of production
under their democratic controll. Dr. Edwin Madunagu, a member of the
bureau who refused to be used had more to say on this.It is most
disheartening that the nigerian ruling class has not been able to
execute the most elementary task of a state wether bourgeois or
proletarian. This include a peoples’ constitution, reliable census
figures, true federalism, drinkable water, food, electricity,
functioning educational and health systems. It was in recognition of
this that Pa Imoudu, late Dr. Kolagbodi, Gani Fawehinmi, Prof.
Olorode, Beko, Falana, Students, Labour and represebtaives of
democratic organisation across the country in 1987 though
vilified,humilated and driven out of the National theater, lagos, in a
private residence managed for the first time to introduce the need for
a sovereign national conference on the ploitical agenda in Nigeria.
This has sinced been hijacked by ethnic warlords to bargain for the
spoils of office.
At no other time than now
thus Nigeria need a change, a radical departure from the present way
of things. Can the avalanche of new political parties deliver on this?
Your guess is as good as mine. All those desirous of a change
including Balarabe Musa of PRP, Dr. Abayomi Ferreira (lt.col rtd)
ought to rally round Chief Gani Fawehinmi who has been time tested and
trusted as a mobilising vehicle of change in the bumpy road of
struggles in the Nigerian political landscape.
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"Karl
Marx in the 19th century posited that „ The dorminant ideas in any
society are the ideas of the ruling class“. Those who have been
mismanaging the affairs of Nigeria and holding the land together by
force are characterised by a high level of socio-economic
ineptitude, unbriddled corruption,halfheartedness,treachery,
cultism, assasinations, the trade mark 419, religious fanatism,
ethnic bigotry etc. These attributes of the ruling class, which now
pervades all sections of the society, portray Nigeria to the outside
world as a dangerouse and corruption infested enclave. The net
result of these all is an insignificant breed of wealthy parvenus on
one hand who shamelesly go to Europe and America for medical care,
send their children abroad for education while majority of our
people on the other hand are submerged in mass poverty, mass hunger,
mass unemployment, mass illiteracy, infrastructural decay and a
collapsed educational and health system."
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