We have complained about and analyzed our problems long enough. It is now time for young people and new-breed politicians to elevate the discussion from mere rhetoric, sensationalism and fantasy to apt understanding of smart politics and solutions. This book presents facts and history to explain election-winning strategies and policy priorities. Let's not kid ourselves-most of our traditional politicians will remain corruptly oppressive, and rebellion or revolt will not succeed in Nigeria. So we only have two options: work hard to liberate ourselves from the oppressors by defeating them in elections or give up in despair. If we choose liberation, it will take us several years, but we can gradually start by unifying our efforts and learning the required political skills. This book will be enlightening to non-Nigerians, but I hope it will inspire Nigerians to urgent action.
When Nigeria hosted the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in 1977, it celebrated a global vision of black nationhood and citizenship animated by the exuberance of its recent oil boom. Andrew Apter's The Pan-African Nation tells the full story of this cultural extravaganza, from Nigeria's spectacular rebirth as a rapidly developing petro-state to its dramatic demise when the boom went bust. According to Apter, FESTAC expanded the horizons of blackness in Nigeria to mirror the global circuits of its economy. By showcasing masks, dances, images, and souvenirs from its many diverse ethnic groups, Nigeria forged a new national culture. In the grandeur of this oil-fed confidence, the nation subsumed all black and African cultures within its empire of cultural signs and erased its colonial legacies from collective memory. As the oil economy collapsed, however, cultural signs became unstable, contributing to rampant violence and dissimulation. The Pan-African Nation unpacks FESTAC as a historically situated mirror of production in Nigeria. More broadly, it points towards a critique of the political economy of the sign in postcolonial Africa.
The liberation struggle in South Africa ended apartheid and the last stronghold of colonialism in Africa. This struggle attracted the support of many African countries that contributed and helped the oppressed people of South Africa towards free elections. Nigeria is among the countries in Africa that contributed some of the most significant assistance to the anti-apartheid movement. As democracy and majority government replaced apartheid in South Africa, many young South Africans (the so-called ‘born free') are not aware of the contributions of Nigeria in the history of the liberation struggle. The book blames this ignorance on a deliberate policy of silence by the government and media in South Africa.
The main problem of the Nigerian state is essentially the faceoff between Egalitarianism/Republicanism and Feudalism/Jihadism. It is the logical outcome of bringing two different worlds together. Having taken the upper hand, the Feudalists and Jihadists have since foisted internal colonisation on the country as well as changed the tone of politics in Nigeria. At Independence in 1960 we adopted or inherited a federal structure whose political dynamics was based on liberal democracy. Indeed, the federal structure was adopted in a series of constitutional conferences representative of all Nigerians! But what we have now is a centralized state with power concentrated at the top and whose political dynamics is that of prebendal feudalism. Prebendal politics is anti-democracy and that is what is alienating virtually all the Nigerian peoples or ethnic nationalities as well as keeping Nigeria extremely corrupt, backward and underdeveloped. The sporadic blood-letting by marauding hordes in Central Nigeria and parts of Southern Nigeria is part of the impact of feudalism/jihadism; ditto the separatist movement in the Southeast, the restiveness in the South-South; the banditry in the Northwest; and the insurgency in the Northeast. Feudalism and jihadism have indeed nationalised marginalisation and oppression to the extent that most Nigerians, in both the North and South, are now asking for equality, fairness, equity, rule of law and freedom as well as the restructuring of the country. This book is about these problems and the task of freeing Nigeria from internal colonisation, more so now that the third Nigerian 'Mahdi' seems to have arrived. It specifically aims at redirecting the energies of Nigerian youths and the consolidation of the understanding between the Southeast, Southwest, South-South, the Middle Belt and sane voices from the Far-North that support the restructuring of the country; ditto the revival of the UPGA, in one guise or another, and the quaint NEPU spirit in the Far-North.
This book provides a Biblical and theological underpinning to the concept of ethnic liberation in Nigeria. It argues that the present economic, political, ethnic and religious structure of Nigeria represents injustice and oppression to those in the so-called “minority groups”. The situation has resulted in division, unrest and mutual suspicion among people of different ethnicities and religions. Bringing together liberation theology, biblical hermeneutical and social studies to foster dialogue between theories and human relations in Nigeria, the book presents an exegesis of Galatians 3:26-29, weaving out a theology of ethnic liberation. As such, it will be useful to theologians, students of religious studies and philosophy, and political historians, as well as the general reader interested in African studies.
This edited collection is the product of a National Research Working Group (NRWG) established by Said Adejumobi and supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). It analyzes the progress made in Nigeria since the return to democratic rule in 1999 and the prospects of democratic consolidation in the country.
