Moderator's Caution

[Toyin Falola]

The debate on Biafra may by sliding out of control, yet it is a debate worth having at this historic juncture. As I have said before, any debate that leads to the loss of innocent lives is irresponsible. I cannot close an open debate that moves a nation forward, but at the same time, I don’t want to be insensitive to the consequences on the lives of people. Our country is very fragile and I want all parties to carefully weigh their words and utterances, even as we all commit ourselves to justice for all citizens, living in peace and harmony with one another, and also to protect the country we inherited from our fathers and mothers. Exercise caution. You and I must seek ways to diffuse the growing tension and not exacerbate it. When mobs arise, there is nothing you can do in your locations, and you will go to work and eat your food, while others carry corpses.

Toyin Falola

Department of History

The University of Texas at Austin

104 Inner Campus Drive

Austin, TX 78712-0220

USA

512 475 7224

512 475 7222 (fax)

http://sites.utexas.edu/yoruba-studies-review/

http://www.toyinfalola.com 

http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa  

http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs 

http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue   

[Nimi Wariboko]

Dear All:

I join Professor Falola to urge caution. I have followed the debates with keen interest and I want to say that the issues at stake are too important for us not to treat with caution. Let us try to understand where people are coming from and seek ways of resolving the tension. The country Nigeria belongs to all of us and we must all endeavor to give all her citizens a sense of equal belonging, even as we urge the government to protect its sovereignty. Many of us, not all, need to rise above deeply rooted ethnic rivalry and antagonism to search for a better model of coexistence of all groups and a robust framework of social justice in the country. In such a time as this, we cannot afford to let down our beloved country. Thanks.


Nimi Wariboko
Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics
Boston University

On 12/7/15, 7:09 PM, "Toyin Falola" <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

The debate on Biafra may by sliding out of control, yet it is a debate worth having at this historic juncture. As I have said before, any debate that leads to the loss of innocent lives is irresponsible. I cannot close an open debate that moves a nation forward, but at the same time, I don’t want to be insensitive to the consequences on the lives of people. Our country is very fragile and I want all parties to carefully weigh their words and utterances, even as we all commit ourselves to justice for all citizens, living in peace and harmony with one another, and also to protect the country we inherited from our fathers and mothers. Exercise caution. You and I must seek ways to diffuse the growing tension and not exacerbate it. When mobs arise, there is nothing you can do in your locations, and you will go to work and eat your food, while others carry corpses.

Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
104 Inner Campus Drive
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222 (fax)
http://sites.utexas.edu/yoruba-studies-review/

http://www.toyinfalola.com <http://www.toyinfalola.com>
http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa <http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa>  
http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs <http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs>
http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue <http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue>   

[Rex Marinus]

Dear Nimi, may I just ask a question: what do you suggest to be the model that should make "coexistence" of all groups in Nigeria possible and less antagonistic? You talk about giving her citizens a "sense of equal belonging," and I totally agree with you. But what is equal belonging if we have built into that worldview, at the highest level of policy, the notion that people are "alien" in their own country? A governor stages the "deportation" of citizens of the same country, and it goes without consequence; another sacks all "non-indigenes" from state service, and there is little protection by the federal government, and Lagos state imposes selective taxation on its Igbo residents, and it is called justice; people burn shops belonging to Nigerians in Kano, or Kano state destroys trailer loads of alcoholic beverage belonging businessmen from other parts of Nigeria, and nothing happen; a child from one part of the country is prevented from attaining his/her dream because s/he comes from the wrong end of the geography, and it is called "quota." In actual fact, the federal government of Nigeria has routinely failed to protect people from the excesses of people who have been "goaded" on to acts great injustice by "public intellectuals" who justify these , and have managed to turn infamy into polite culture, or at least some pretense of that. Not too long ago, FAS put the OPC on the list of terrorist groups. Once,  OPC had declared Yoruba secession, and its willingness to use violent means to accomplish it. Dr. Aluko led a loud protestation to FAS and caused it o remove OPC from that list. But today, he wants Nnamdi Kanu tried and hanged, just on the strength of statements attributed to him in a meeting in the USA, and for which those in the meeting put him to task. Social justice never happens when we keep convenient silence in order not to be seen as offensive. We need always to hold each other accountable otherwise we shall keeping going to well, as the poet Okigbo says, until we smash all our calabashes.

Obi Nwakanma

---

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To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Moderator's Caution

 

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[kenneth harrow]

dear obi
i recently finished geschiere's The Perils of Belonging where he describes the situations in Cameroon, and the Netherlands, where much of what you described below could have been written about those two countries (especially cameroon), if you just changed the names.
the argument he makes is that since SAPs and the new economic neoliberal order has led to a readjustment of the relationship between national power and local power, in favor of the latter, this has led to a heightened degree of autochthony as a guiding political principle.
in a period where the xenophobes are winning in europe, where trump wants to stop muslim migration to the u.s, and where the people of the street have received his proposal happily, we are surely in a new age.

if a non-nigerian were to step back--and without knowing the details of the country as well as the indigenous people, without being partial to one ethnicity over another--and view the situation you describe from another planet, the first question he or she would have to ask is, why is this happened there and at this time.
geschiere has his answer. yours seems to imply that the govt has a choice in stopping these events; but what if it were weaker than that (which the existence and extent of boko haram seems to imply), what if the govt is subject to pressures which limits its ability to act?
just asking
ken

-- 
kenneth w. harrow 
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu

[John Mbaku]

What is today called the Federal Republic of Nigeria, like many other countries on the continent, is a collection of identity groups involuntarily brought together by colonialism to form a single political and economic unit. What was created through colonialism was a "multilayered and group-based citizenship" in which loyalty to an individual's ethnic or identity group is more important than respect for the nation and its institutions. What should have taken place during the decolonization and post-independence periods is a total transformation of the critical domains to create a common (Nigerian) citizenship or identity for all groups--under such an arrangement, the foundation for the polity would be the ideas of peaceful coexistence, democracy, economic freedom and respect for each other, and not group identity. These ideas, of course, would have been transformed into a set of rules (i.e., the constitution) to regulate socio-political interaction in the post-independence society. This is the source of the majority of problems that now plague the country, including the desire by various identity groups to exit the existing arrangement. If someone is really serious about understanding the "national question" in Nigeria (and indeed, other African countries), they should start by reading the following book:

Douglass C. North, John Joseph Wallis and Barry R. Weingast, Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009). Note that this book is not specifically about Nigeria, but it provides important tools can be used to analyze and understand countries such as Nigeria, which are confronted with significant ethnic and religious diversity and which must find a way to provide for these diverse groups to coexist peacefully. 

--

JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.
J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)
Graduate Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Attorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in Utah)
Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics &  John S. Hinckley Fellow
Department of Economics
Weber State University
1337 Edvalson Street, Dept. 3807
Ogden, UT 84408-3807, USA
(801) 626-7442 Phone
(801) 626-7423 Fax

[kenneth harrow]

where geschiere would point in a different direction than you, john, is in the shift of priorities and powers following independence.
i don't believe colonialism continues to guide the structures and deficiencies in africa. the period following independence was one in which powerful trends to create and develop national identities were generated. there was also a neocolonial enterprise that was very strong, particularly in francophone states, but that enterprise wanted strong national identities and states so that the home countries' interests could be carried out. for instance, to control and benefit from crop production you needed those national boards that ran all the cacao and peanut and tea and coffee production and exportation.
that ended in the 80s with SAPs; and the world bank loans were conditioned so that state enterprises were ended, as much as possible
the argument continues, and i don't want to take any time to repeat what most people know, but the result was what i said in my last email: greater local autonomy and power, which was courted by the state which had, up to them, actually quashed the local structures.

the role of colonialism and its heritage is secondary to this. we are missing the ball if we keep returning to how they screwed things up from the start. the external pressures on nigeria, on africa , now, are radically different from those of 1960, and are largely determining much of the show.
anyway, my 2 cents.
i just read books, and email
ken

-- 
kenneth w. harrow 
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu

[John Mbaku]

ken:

Even with external pressure, Nigerians can still engage in necessary reconstruction to provide themselves with the appropriate governance architecture. Nevertheless, they must first understand what the relevant issues are and they cannot do that without fully understanding how colonialism created a dysfunctional system. Doing so is not the same thing as blaming colonialism. No one is advocating that Nigerians simply blame their problems on colonialism or external forces and do nothing else. But, in order for there to be effective state reconstruction, there must be a full understanding of the history of the evolution of what is today called Nigeria. Please, reread what I wrote earlier. The Nigerian state, as currently constituted, is not capable of effectively managing diversity and providing for peaceful coexistence. This is not due to lack of political will or honesty on the part of the country's ruling elites. The only way to manage an ethnically and religiously diverse country is to build a common citizenship based on "ideas" and not identity. 

[kenneth harrow]

hi john
maybe the problems lay w the opening structures, as you suggest. but aren't all states comprised more or less of heterogeneous populations? if it isn't ethnicity or region, it is clan. consider somalia. what are the determining factors that guarantee a people's acceptance of peaceful coexistence? what enables us to buy into the social contract? you seem to be implying more homogeneity would help, or am i reading you incorrectly?
ken

[John Mbaku]

ken:

It is not how the country is composed (several subcultures, as Nigeria is, or a single culture, as is South Korea) that is the problem. The problem lies in the failure of the country to fully articulate and put into place a common citizenship or identity based on values other than ethnicity, religion, or geographic identity. Read what I wrote again. 

[Okechukwu Ukaga]

Ken:

You are reading John incorrectly. He is not implying that homogeneity will help. 

Instead he is calling for "build a common citizenship based on "ideas" and not identity."

OU

[Bode]

so what is that common idea that the idea of a nation does not already present? Can you and John spell it out? 

[John Mbaku]

It is spelled out in the original piece! Read it. 

[Bode]

"the foundation for the polity would be the ideas of peaceful coexistence, democracy, economic freedom and respect for each other, and not group identity.”

I read it John and I am not sure how democracy, and economic freedom could be  "transformed into a set of rules” in which "ethnic and religious diversity” would be totally transformed to create a common Nigerian citizenship? Please expatiate….

[Anunoby, Ogugua]

I concur.

All groups inclusive of states and ethnic groups “comprise more or less of heterogeneous populations”. One might even say more not less of heterogeneous populations. Beyond the clan, there are towns, villages, and families. Within a polygamous family for example, there is separateness by mother. Whether or not a group is homogeneous therefore, depends on how far back the cut-off point is. If one believes the Bible account of creation for example, all human beings are blood relatives- descendants of Adam and Eve. There have been so many cut-off points since that today, you have distinctness by race, geography, language, physical appearance, and religion and so on.  President Obama and Dick Cheney according to reports, are blood relatives if one goes back far enough. Are they really? I will say not in a meaningful or practical way after many generations.

This in my opinion, is why ethnicity and the distraction it is continues to be to national integration, cohesion, and wholeness in especially emerging countries is regrettable. I am tempted to say stupid but I will not. Ethnicity is important. It may even be cherished but not at the expense of national cohesion if the choice is to be a country. Countries in my opinion should not be about ethnicity/blood. Countries like great companies are about ideas. When soundly articulated, communicated, and upheld, it is the  fidelity and sincerity of their promise- on such issues as equality, freedom, justice, merit, and security among others that causes people regardless of ethnic and other differences to believe and trust enough to buy into the social contract, support the state and one another, and live for the most part in amity.  

 

oa

[Nimi Wariboko]

December 8, 2015
 

Dear Obi:

Let me begin by thanking you for responding to my post of yesterday. The questions you are asking me suggest your openness to finding reasonable solutions to the problems of citizenship and national identity in Nigeria. The pain of injustice that filters out from the facts you stated clearly shows how the Nigerian state attacks its own citizens and the individual is alienated from the state. The state which has refused to recognize the worth or citizenship of Nigerians have steadily attacked its own people. Indeed, as Professor Peter Ekeh informed us, in Nigeria state and society have drifted apart; starting in the era of slave trade, intensified by colonialism, and exacerbated by post-independence politics. The terms of exchange between the state and the individual are clearly ill-defined.

I do not think any reasonable Nigerian rejoices at the pain that a large number of Igbo feel based on the issues you have raised. Indeed, no group of individuals is totally exempt from the attack on their citizenship and personhood by the rapacious Nigerian state. All of us as citizens have been ill-treated by the state and I say this not to devalue any Igbo sense of deprivation, but to call us to work through this problem together. It might be the Igbo who feel alienated today, but tomorrow it might be Ijo, Kanuri, Hausa, or Yoruba. It will be a monumental failure of Nigerian intellectuals and leaders to see a problem that affects any group as limited to that group.

I have read what Professors John Mbaku, Kenneth Harrow, and others have written in response to the questions you asked me. I am grateful to them for making my job easier. Let me also offer my opinion on the philosophical planks that might go into building a model of national coexistence that will foster a sense of belonging. This is only going to be a sketch. I will only state four of the planks; three are closely related and one is a wildcat. First, we need to recognize that the state building project in Nigeria has failed or at least it is not serving the interests of all Nigerians. We need to redefine the polity and the terms of engagement so that the state and the society will be well articulated. This work will be done at the level of institutions; building strong institutions that can deliver services and also hold leaders and functionaries accountable to the people. Second, at the individual level, we will need to put in place the virtues and capabilities that every Nigerian must have in order to be all that he or she can be. The goal is to create a society where all Nigerians will flourish, be their best irrespective of their ethnic origins. Third, we need to generate (or gather) the values and norms that as a country we should foster and promote in order to create the appropriate polity and effective citizens’ functioning for economic and political development.

These suggestions might not be specific enough for you, and they are deliberately so. The project of giving every Nigeria a sense of belonging is one that we all need to embark upon. On this forum we have some of the best brains in Nigeria, Africa, and the world. We can generate a document to spark debates in Nigeria or to guide public policy. Of course, I realize that producing another document will not necessarily solve Nigeria’s problems. I also know that nation building is a constant task and we have to improvise our ways toward the optimum (but not once-for-all) solution. We should not lose hope in the state building project. The pains of today are real, but the hope of a glorious Nigeria tomorrow invites the best from us today.
 
Here is the wildcat idea. Give every group the option of exiting from the polity through a referendum. Let us write into the constitution that every 25 or 50 years any group or collectivity can decide to leave the union. Its members will vote and if there is a two-third majority that supports exiting from the union, the others will let then go in peace. Meanwhile, let us all work hard to make the union excel and if at the end of 25 or 50 years, a group is still aggrieved enough to want to leave the others will let them go. Perhaps, knowing that there is an exit strategy might make some groups to feel that they are not doomed to stay within Nigeria forever. We need to let aggrieved groups or collectivities know that others will not put undue obstacle on their path to paradise. Let every group has the democratic “option” to buy or sell its membership in the union.
 
Personally, I want Nigeria to stand as it is today. All groups are relevant and important for the realization of the potentials of the country. I believe in a united Nigeria. I do not think that fragmentation or succession is the solution. If we do not properly define the terms of exchange between the state, society, and individuals, then we are only transferring the problem from a bigger pot to small one when we fragment.


Obi, I hope this is helpful.


Nimi Wariboko
Boston University

 
On 12/8/15 3:18 PM, Rex Marinus wrote:
    

Dear Nimi, may I just ask a question: what do you suggest to be the model that should make "coexistence" of all groups in Nigeria possible and less antagonistic? You talk about giving her citizens a "sense of equal belonging," and I totally agree with you. But what is equal belonging if we have built into that worldview, at the highest level of policy, the notion that people are "alien" in their own country? A governor stages the "deportation" of citizens of the same country, and it goes without consequence; another sacks all "non-indigenes" from state service, and there is little protection by the federal government, and Lagos state imposes selective taxation on its Igbo residents, and it is called justice; people burn shops belonging to Nigerians in Kano, or Kano state destroys trailer loads of alcoholic beverage belonging businessmen from other parts of Nigeria, and nothing happen; a child from one part of the country is prevented from attaining his/her dream because s/he comes from the wrong end of the geography, and it is called "quota." In actual fact, the federal government of Nigeria has routinely failed to protect people from the excesses of people who have been "goaded" on to acts great injustice by "public intellectuals" who justify these , and have managed to turn infamy into polite culture, or at least some pretense of that. Not too long ago, FAS put the OPC on the list of terrorist groups. Once,  OPC had declared Yoruba secession, and its willingness to use violent means to accomplish it. Dr. Aluko led a loud protestation to FAS and caused it o remove OPC from that list. But today, he wants Nnamdi Kanu tried and hanged, just on the strength of statements attributed to him in a meeting in the USA, and for which those in the meeting put him to task. Social justice never happens when we keep convenient silence in order not to be seen as offensive. We need always to hold each other accountable otherwise we shall keeping going to well, as the poet Okigbo says, until we smash all our calabashes.
 

Obi Nwakanma
 


 
 
 
 
 

---

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> <mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com>  on behalf of Nimi Wariboko <nimi...@msn.com> <mailto:nimi...@msn.com>
 Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2015 12:28 AM
 To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
 Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Moderator's Caution
 
 
 

Dear All:
 
 I join Professor Falola to urge caution. I have followed the debates with keen interest and I want to say that the issues at stake are too important for us not to treat with caution. Let us try to understand where people are coming from and seek ways of resolving the tension. The country Nigeria belongs to all of us and we must all endeavor to give all her citizens a sense of equal belonging, even as we urge the government to protect its sovereignty. Many of us, not all, need to rise above deeply rooted ethnic rivalry and antagonism to search for a better model of coexistence of all groups and a robust framework of social justice in the country. In such a time as this, we cannot afford to let down our beloved country. Thanks.
 
 
 Nimi Wariboko
 Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics
 Boston University
 
 
 On 12/7/15, 7:09 PM, "Toyin Falola" <toyin...@austin.utexas.edu <mailto:toyin...@austin.utexas.edu> > wrote:
 
 

The debate on Biafra may by sliding out of control, yet it is a debate worth having at this historic juncture. As I have said before, any debate that leads to the loss of innocent lives is irresponsible. I cannot close an open debate that moves a nation forward, but at the same time, I don’t want to be insensitive to the consequences on the lives of people. Our country is very fragile and I want all parties to carefully weigh their words and utterances, even as we all commit ourselves to justice for all citizens, living in peace and harmony with one another, and also to protect the country we inherited from our fathers and mothers. Exercise caution. You and I must seek ways to diffuse the growing tension and not exacerbate it. When mobs arise, there is nothing you can do in your locations, and you will go to work and eat your food, while others carry corpses.
 

Toyin Falola
 Department of History
 The University of Texas at Austin
 104 Inner Campus Drive
 Austin, TX 78712-0220
 USA
 512 475 7224
 512 475 7222 (fax)

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[Mobolaji Aluko]

Obi Nwakanma:

Thanks for reminding me about my "loud" role in getting the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) removed from the Federation of American Scientist  FAS's terrorist watch list back in 2002 or so.   This was not even during the military days.  In fact, I staked my reputation in the US on the petition to have the OPC removed, and I was surprised that within one day - in fact in less than 24 hours -  I got a note from FAS saying that the OPC had been removed, and effectively apologizing for the error.

This is because I KNEW and continue to KNOW about the foundation and operations of the OPC as a non-violent self-determination,pro-democracy group in Nigeria, and vouched that it was non-violent.

Apparently you are unhappy about that?

And having lived peacefully in the USA since December 1978, I was believed by the authorities of FAS, who must have cleared matters with others.  The fact of the matter was that OPC, among others (such as IYC and INC, two Ijaw groups), was mischievously listed by FAS as a terrorist organization, as the handiwork of some ethnic Nigerian entities (Nigerian members and/or associates of FAS) with an anti-democratic agenda, and we pushed back on them at that time.  We know their identities.

I will leave you below with a reportage by Laolu Akande back in 2002 - Laolu is now the Special Assistant (Media) to Vice-President Osinbajo.

But before I do so, let me continue to debunk your lying ways:  I do not want Nnamdi Kanu hanged....but based on his loud video-taped solicitation for money for guns and bullets in Los Angeles, and his announced entry into Nigeria, in this day on wanton and senseless terrorism the world over, I believe that the Federal Government has acted responsibly in inviting him for a chat to explain his intentions in visiting our "foreign" country (if he came as a British citizen) or in visting his home (if he comes as a Nigerian) or in visiting a jungle called "Nigger-area" (if he came as an angry Biafran.)  It is as simple as that......his actions have consequences.

I cannot explain myself more explicitly.

Finally, let us start on the road to peaceful co-existence by wishing others well, and NOT only one's self or one's ethnic group, or having some strangely expansive super-menschen mentality that is paradoxically tainted with a siege mentality and debilitating marginalization complex, all now coupled with war mongering.  All those do is cause punches to be pulled.

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

_________________________________________________________________________________________

http://nigeriaworld.com/columnist/laoluakande/083002news.html

My experience in the hands of German security agents, by OPC official

By Laolu Akande New York, NY, USA

---

"My experience in the hands of the German Security agents, I must confess is a departure from my experience in the hands of security agents in Nigeria. The Germans were very friendly and the interrogation was done professionally and in a friendly atmosphere."

hose were the words of Mr. Kayode Ogundamisi, the Secretary General of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, in an exclusive interview with The Guardian yesterday-on Thursday about his experience with German security agents who probed him for three hours on Wednesday on his relationship with OPC.

The Germans told him they were informed by a US group, Federation of American Scientists, FAS, that OPC is a terrorist group. FAS also listed Egbesu Boys, Ijaw Youth Congress and the Ijaw National Congress in the same category.

Although the OPC official said they conducted a background check on him and concluded he was ok, he believed that they would still most probably still put him under surveillance. "They said I was OK, but I am sure I will be on their surveillance."

But the OPC functionary said, "the way they tried to destroy NADECO is what they are now doing to the OPC, Egbesu Boys, Ijaw Youth and some other organisations. I remain steadfast and committed; they are strengthening my resolve to fight on. This indicates that we are making a headway."

Ogundamisi, who is based in Dusseldorf said it all began on Sunday on his way back from London, when German Immigration were attracted by the fact that "I have traveled to over seven countries in three months. And I told them I have been involved in campaign against anti-immigration policies in Europe."

By Monday the security visited Ogundamisi's house and invited him over to their offices for interrogation on Wednesday.

Ogundamisi, who was also an official of NANS in his student days in Nigeria, said the four Germans who probed him came from the anti-terrorist unit of the nation's Department of Internal Security. "They asked me about my activities from Nigerian the past and I told them that I have been peacefully involved in self determination campaign for the Yorubas in Nigeria."

According to Ogundamisi, the Germans told him the Nigerian Intelligence Agency tipped them off about him. "They said the NIA said I have been mobilising for arms and ammunition. But I denied this and explained to them that such baseless allegations are mere attempts to maliciously cast the activities of the OPC."

He said they also informed him that the Federation of American Scientists' report listing OPC among terrorist groups was actually the real report that spurred them to ask him down for the interrogation.

But by yesterday- -Thursday- Ogundamisi had to return again to the office of the German anti-terrorist unit, and he was accordingly given a clean bill of health. "I just came from Bundes office today, I had to report again today. But I would not be going back again since they have given me a final clearance this morning."

In recent times, the German government has been clamping down on activists groups in the country, including those seeking self-determination like OPC.

Infact Ogundamisi said the agents linked him with Egbesu Boys, Ijaw National Congress and Ijaw Youths Congress, all included in the list of terrorist groups named under FAS's guide list. He said he did not deny the link, but explained that the groups were all non-violence but only fighting for self-determination. He was also asked what was the relationship between the OPC and the Egbe Omo Yoruba of the USA and Canada.

Dwelling more on the details of the questioning, Ogundamisi said they asked him about charges proffered against him by the Babangida military government over the allegation that he was among the organisers of the SAP riots and also about the formation and the history of the OPC. He said he explained that under the IBB regime, he was arrested unduly under DN2 and was never convicted.

"I also explained to them that OPC is a self-determination group. I told them I have always campaigned peacefully and have never been involved in violence. I also directed them to their embassy in Nigeria for information about the formation of OPC," Ogundamisi said during the telephone interview. He added that in fact the OPC has since been silent, stressing that it was a strategic decision to allow for peace in the country.

They also asked him about the 2003 elections. His reply: "I told them elections are not the real issues in Nigeria, but the issue is about the right of ethnic groups to self determination."

Commenting further Ogundamisi said he loved Nigeria, but that does not stop him from championing the interests of the Yoruba people. He said his interrogation was motivated by people who wanted to "malign my name internationally, because we have been receiving invitations all over Europe, so I envisage that these are moves to destroy OPC internationally."

He said there are 5th columnists in Nigerian embassies "trying to cause trouble for some of us." For instance he said sometimes in Kenya after the restoration of civil rule, "Nigeria's military attaché in that country told the Kenyans that I was wanted in Nigeria. That was when Dr. Fasheun was arrested."

Since the incident on Wednesday, Ogundamisi said he has been receiving several calls and has been assuring all his callers that he is OK and fine. "I want to tell all our members at home to remain calm and committed."

_____________________________

[kenneth harrow]

hi oke, i answered that point, a bit, in asking who does the building, how do we build the builders?
who will educate the educators--says plato?
ken

[kenneth harrow]

hi john
 i think i reread it enough. the question you pose concerning common citizenship is not so easily solved, in my view. how can you explain the radical division of france, say, between petainists and the left. it wasn't being left incorrectly formed that divided the country between pro and con fascists. you want "the country" to accomplish this task for the citizens, the task of common citizenship. well, i hear trump appeal to american first, common citizenship against a common foe. this is the strategy employed over and over by nationalists, ultranationalists, xenophobes, you name it. if you begin with a different premise, namely that we are not united in purpose and goal or identity, but must compromise with competing interests, we will do better. i don't know how you manage to get that to work. i know mamadou diouf thinks senegal has managed to do so. perhaps switzerland has? the u.s. hasn't really, but at least has the possibility of getting there some day. how will nigeria accomplish this? i don't know the answer.
your answer is circular reasoning: nigeria must build this, but, of course, you need to have that "nigeria" built for it to do the building....
i don't discount the role of leadership entirely; but when i think about trump or le pen, i know that there is no demagoguery without a population that supports it.
is there a current african state that comes closer to your ideal? could we imagine the answer to be burkina faso, and if so it is because of the populace, not the leadership.

ken

[kenneth harrow]

since everyone is always recommending we read something, i am going to say that one of my political guides is Hegemony and Socialist Strategy by Mouffe and Laclau. in it they claim that to forge a meaningful political entity action is based on the need of competing groups to recognize and acknowledge their differences, competing goals, and yield to the hegemony of the other in order to forge a meaningful politics.
it is grounded in socialist values, but very much differs from the monism of the communist ideal.
"one idea," if i might say it, is a bad idea. i fear total thinking as the basis for totalitarian politics, and prefer that the idea on which a nation be founded rests on compromise and giving way to those with whom you disagree, even not liking them, but working together anyway.
ken

[Godwin Okeke]

Dear Obi Nwakanma,
I write to ask if you can oblige me with your email address. I have some important information for you. I can be reached at: gok...@unilag.edu.ng
Thank you.
G.S.M. Okeke
Pol. Sc. Dept.,
UniLag
--------------------------------------------

On Wed, 12/9/15, Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Moderator's Caution

To: "USAAfrica Dialogue" <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2015, 2:38 AM

 By Laolu Akande
New York, NY, USA

"My experience in the hands of the German
Security agents, I must confess is a departure from my
experience in the hands of security agents in Nigeria. The
Germans were very friendly and the interrogation was done
professionally and in a friendly

atmosphere."hose were the words of Mr. Kayode Ogundamisi,

the Secretary General of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, in
an exclusive interview with The Guardian yesterday-on
Thursday about his experience with German security agents
who probed him for three hours on Wednesday on his
relationship with OPC.The
Germans told him they were informed by a US group,
Federation of American Scientists, FAS, that OPC is a
terrorist group. FAS also listed Egbesu Boys, Ijaw Youth
Congress and the Ijaw National Congress in the same

category.Although the OPC

official said they conducted a background check on him and
concluded he was ok, he believed that they would still most
probably still put him under surveillance. "They said I
was OK, but I am sure I will be on their
surveillance."But the
OPC functionary said, "the way they tried to destroy
NADECO is what they are now doing to the OPC, Egbesu Boys,
Ijaw Youth and some other organisations. I remain steadfast
and committed; they are strengthening my resolve to fight
on. This indicates that we are making a headway."Ogundamisi, who is
based in Dusseldorf said it all began on Sunday on his way
back from London, when German Immigration were attracted by
the fact that "I have traveled to over seven countries
in three months. And I told them I have been involved in
campaign against anti-immigration policies in
Europe."By Monday
the security visited Ogundamisi's house and invited him

over to their offices for interrogation on Wednesday.Ogundamisi, who was

also an official of NANS in his student days in Nigeria,
said the four Germans who probed him came from the
anti-terrorist unit of the nation's Department of
Internal Security. "They asked me about my activities
from Nigerian the past and I told them that I have been
peacefully involved in self determination campaign for the
Yorubas in Nigeria."According
to Ogundamisi, the Germans told him the Nigerian
Intelligence Agency tipped them off about him. "They
said the NIA said I have been mobilising for arms and
ammunition. But I denied this and explained to them that
such baseless allegations are mere attempts to maliciously
cast the activities of the OPC."He said
they also informed him that the Federation of American
Scientists' report listing OPC among terrorist groups
was actually the real report that spurred them to ask him

down for the interrogation.But by

for peace in the country.They also

asked him about the 2003 elections. His reply: "I told
them elections are not the real issues in Nigeria, but the
issue is about the right of ethnic groups to self
determination."Commenting
further Ogundamisi said he loved Nigeria, but that does not
stop him from championing the interests of the Yoruba
people. He said his interrogation was motivated by people
who wanted to "malign my name internationally, because
we have been receiving invitations all over Europe, so I
envisage that these are moves to destroy OPC
internationally."He said
there are 5th columnists in Nigerian embassies "trying
to cause trouble for some of us." For instance he said
sometimes in Kenya after the restoration of civil rule,
"Nigeria's military attaché in that country told
the Kenyans that I was wanted in Nigeria. That was when Dr.
Fasheun was arrested."Since the
incident on Wednesday, Ogundamisi said he has been receiving
several calls and has been assuring all his callers that he
is OK and fine. "I want to tell all our members at home
to remain calm and committed."_____________________________

On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 4:18
PM, Rex Marinus <rexma...@hotmail.com>

[Rex Marinus]

Dear Ken,

I have not read Geschiere, but I might sooner find out what he's talking about. But the essential question you raised is, does Nigeria have the political means, even if it wished, to protect its citizens, particularly since SAP has reordered the dynamic of that relationship of consent and governance. And my answer is that the primary principle of nationhood is to offer that protection, and once a nation is unable to guarantee security, safety, and the protective membrane of justice - economic, political, and social justice - to the subscribers to nation, that is, her citizens, such a nation must be allowed to wither. National-belonging must have its benefits otherwise, it begins to feel like confinement; and it begins ultimately to raise the kind of questions Nigeria is raising right now for an important segment of that nation. In any case, I do think that the Federal Government of Nigeria has the capacity to enforce citizenship rights if it chooses to do that. It is the matter of restructuring its Ministry of Justice, and re-orienting the National judiciary, and creating enforcement mechanisms that will restore citizenship rather than ethnic rights. And in actual fact, the current Nigerian situation was long forewarned by Nnamdi Azikiwe and the nationalist party in 1953/54. It would require a redefinition of the social contract, which must recognize individual rights as the primary basis of consent, rather than ethnic rights. I did not enter into my relationship with Nigeria as an Igbo, but as Obi Nwakanma, who happens to be Igbo among other things. In my relationship with Nigeria however, and this is the general problem, Nigeria has managed to hitch the horse to the wagon, rather than the wagon to the horse.

Obi Nwakanma

---

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2015 12:31 AM

[John Mbaku]

"the foundation for the polity would be the ideas of peaceful coexistence, democracy, economic freedom and respect for each other, and not group identity.”

Nigerians of all identities could come together and agree to create a nation based, not on the fact that one has to be Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, etc., to belong to that nation, but that anyone who wanted to be a citizens of that nation would have to share and believe in the nation's common values. But, what are those common or shared values? Well, right now, Nigerians, through a bottom-up, people-driven, inclusive and participatory process, must define those values and elaborate them in a document (constitution?). Thus, one need not be a Kalahari to be a Nigerian. One need only believe in and respect the values that undergird the Nigerian polity as created by its founding "fathers and mothers." Some of these values would include, for example, the peaceful coexistence of all groups, regardless of how they are defined,  economic freedom--the right of all citizens to engage in trade and commerce, own property, alienate property, state and operate a business for profit, etc., respect for each other, and any others that Nigerians believe are important to them (e.g., cultural and religious rights). These values can be informed by the traditions and customs of the various identity groups that currently make up the federation, as well as by the realities of 21st century global political economy (Nigerians might decide to adopt "market socialism" as a guiding principle to organize their economic affairs or they might prefer capitalism).  Citizenship in such a polity would come with benefits and obligations. One important obligation is for each citizen to respect and obey the law.  

[kenneth harrow]

john
there are two ways to regard a state's obligations. one you state is the right to engage in economic/commercial activities.
the second you don't state is the safety net.
most people aren't suffering from the failure of the state to protect their right to trade or work freely; they are suffering because of economic hardship, which i don't think you account for. i believe the state needs to insure the well-being of its citizens, not simply to insure there is no interference in freely engaging in economic activities. the latter is neoliberalism, and it results in vast disparities in wealth, and no help for those in need.
ken

[kenneth harrow]

dear obi
the nation has not gone away, except in the extreme transitional situations of somalia and libya. but there are considerable regions of nations where the state's control over territory, and over the economic activities, has been vastly reduced. your response indicates a failure of will power, i suppose, if you believe the national govt has the power to act and fails to do so. the vacuum left by a diminished state seems obvious when considering the continued existence of boko haram, and the regions it controlled, and still controls. but nigeria does not seem exceptional to me, which is why i cited geschiere. my only real response to you is that things have changed from the initial 1960s-80s period and the times since then; we have to account for the changes, which is what i tried to do in citing geschiere. although he writes primarily about cameroon, i know that the SAPs and world bank loans had similar impacts through the continent.
that said, despite the global-local paradigm, states are still there and exercise power. just not in the same configuration as in the past
ken

[Bode]

Obi,

I am surprised that you hold up the individual "as the primary basis of consent," In what seems to be your Archimedean moment you state: "I did not enter into my relationship with Nigeria as an Igbo, but as Obi Nwakanma." You have bought into the mythology and the ideology of the bourgeoisie state totally and uncritically. Individuation and individualization work as the convenient and manageable unit of control. This is why Marx urged the formation of collectives. Second, if Foucault might be our guide here: "the individual, [Obi Nwakanma] is not a pre-given entity which is seized on by the exercise  of power. The individual [Obi Nwakanma], with all his identity and characteristics, is the product of a relation of power exercised over bodies, multiplicities, movements, desires, forces. There is much that could be said as well on the problems of regional identity and its conflicts with national identity." 

I cite this passage first to show that the problem we are discussing here is not unique to Nigeria or the postcolonial state as John seems to suggest. two: it was not Obi Nwakanma who consented to a relationship with Nigeria, that relationship, its possibilities and limits has always already been predetermined to produce and define Obi as an individual, as an ethnic, and national subject. Thus, Obi represents the contradictions of the nation that he is protesting. Obi can renegotiate this relationship but not as an individual or on an individual basis. This is where politics comes in and it must necessarily be an alliance with other Nigerians. Unfortunately, Obi is putting his support behind a secessionist movement  because he objects to the status of his individual relationship with Nigeria. This makes me doubt seriously Obi's commitment to the individualism he is espousing. But Obi has no individual relationship with Nigeria any longer, as far as i know, he is in the diaspora. His interest in the issue is a statement of his commitment not as Obi Nwakanma to Obi Nwakanma but to his ethnicity, to the Igbo. In other words, the exertion ethnic rights becomes the solution to the violation of individual rights. This set of paradoxes makes me wonder what the agenda is in the first place: is it really about citizenship, or it is a convenient pretext for the resurgence of ethnic nationalism? I think a commitment to individual rights and to justice can be maintained consistently without using it as a springboard to assert ethnic rights. 

[Bode]

It is getting to the point now that when I see the term "citizenship rights" in the context of Nigerian political discourse what I hear is pure political rhetoric calculated to provide indirect legitimacy to current agitations which are ethnic and not national, which are not about building the nation but dissolving it. The ethnic agitation and the discourse of citizenship rights are two sides of the same coin: one is political, the other intellectual.

[John Mbaku]

Ken:

How do you define "safety net"?  Besides, I have already covered that--the people of Nigeria can decide how they want to structure the state and that would include what functions they want the state to perform. 

[M Buba]

Dear Obi,

On the question of what model(s) to adopt in order to make coexistence of all groups possible, the moderator suggested that we regard our country as an 'inheritence' for the coming generations. Even on that score alone, Nigeria deserves to continue to exist as one indivisible nation, where the various groups acknowledge their differences, yet still agree to work together, as Ken Harrow noted. This is the legacy that our founding fathers have bequethed to us so that we may pay it forward.

On a global scale, our country is in the top 5 of the most diverse nations in the world. Diversity, in whatever shape, is an attribute of nature, and any talk of diminishing the presence of this asset through secession and related violent upheavals should concern our world as a whole. We just need your brain and the genius of other Nigerians to begin to harness this diversity for the greater good of all citizens in all corners of Nigeria. So, come back home for an extended period, if you're not already here.

I also think you've undervalued the immense goodwill towards non-indigenes in many other states. I know of states where education is free at all levels for all Nigerians. In other states, all groups live side by side in harmony, free to roam and exercise their constitutional rights, including those of worship and property ownership.

In a word, CAUTION is the word, as the moderator continues to emphasise.

Malami

Prof Malami Buba

Department of English Language & Linguistics

Sokoto State University

PMB 2134, Birnin-Kebbi Rd,

Sokoto, NIGERIA

[kenneth harrow]

hi john
i can imagine a govt having two different functions:
one is the traffic cop who insures that the traffic flows--i.e., whatever functions the society needs to interact, to produce, to live together, needs to be insured by the authority that derives from the govt. your free economic working might derive from that
the second function is to insure that all those who need outside assistance--say, to be treated medically, to have enough food and shelter, to be clothed, --economic needs that not all can provide adequately for themselves, w ill be secured by the state's safety net.

i've come to believe that the second function is the primary one for which we need a govt. those more conservative than myself will believe the former is the primary function of govt
ken

[John Mbaku]

Ken:

What you are talking about is the guarantee of "economic and social rights" (e.g., the right to adequate and affordable housing; the right to food; the right to a job; etc.). The guarantee of these rights by the government would depend on how each society decides to set up its governing process. The post-apartheid government in South Africa, for example, guarantees economic and social rights but because of the realities of economic scarcity, the government has been forced to implement a rationing program for access to certain goods and services (e.g., specialized health care--you can read about the dialysis cases, as an example of rationing made possible by scarcity). In the establishment of the governing process, the founding fathers/mothers of the country can determine the nature of the economic systems and hence, the extent to which economic and social rights would be guaranteed. 

[Anunoby, Ogugua]

Is the Nigeria project ever going to be successful if conversations on it continue to be about emphasizing the acknowledging of differences, calling fellow citizens non-indigenes in their country of birth, and so on when they should be more on emphasizing the acknowledging of similarities, and a common destiny and future, and creating a country in which all citizens are free to make the best life they can anywhere they choose to live in the country?  What does “immense goodwill towards non-indigenes…” mean in a country of equal citizenship rights? Is goodwill to fellow citizens a favor? Should it not be a duty instead?

Diversity well utilized should be more a strength more than it is a weakness. Countries become great because her people have a common purpose and share ideas/values. They drift from one avoidable internal crises to another because they do not it seems to me.

The country may indeed be an “inheritance for the coming generation”. Does the present generation intend it to be? That is the question.

 

oa  

[Salimonu Kadiri]

The pain of injustice that filters out of the facts you stated clearly shows how the Nigerian State attacks its own citizens and the individual is alienated from the state - Nimi Wariboko.
I do not think any reasonable Nigerian rejoices at the pain that a large number of Igbo feel based on the issues you have just raised - Nimi Wariboko.
 
What you believe to be facts stated by Obi Nwakanma is as follows: A governor stages the deportation of citizens of the same country, and it goes without consequence; another sacks all "non-indigenes" from state service and there is little protection by the federal government ...  The impression created in the mind of readers by Obi Nwakanma is that a governor deports Igbo citizens in Nigeria as if they are aliens and another governor (understandably not an Igbo governor) sacks all 'non-indigenes (Igbo) from state service. Premised on the impression given by Obi Nwakanma's supposed facts, you logically stated that no reasonable Nigerian rejoices at the pain that a large number of Igbo feel. Obi Nwakanma has carried his sense of Igbo victimization to the extreme and he forgets that the word deportation is only applicable to foreigners in Nigeria and the power to deport any foreigner from Nigeria is vested in the federal and not the states' government. It is false to claim that a governor in Nigeria deports Igbo citizens within Nigeria. On July 24, 2013, the Lagos State's government relocated to Anambra State fourteen vagrants and detoxified drug addicts that had been kept at Lagos Rehabilitation and Training Centre Ikorodu after being removed from under various bridges they had converted to their residents. The effort of the Lagos government to relocate the fourteen vagrants and detoxified indigenes of Anambra began on April 9, 2013, through a letter signed by O. T. Ajao, Special Adviser, Office of Youth and Social Development and addressed to Anambra State government informing it about the home coming of the evacuees from Lagos to Anambra for the purpose of integrating them with their families. On 15 April 2013, Chukwudum Ucheoma, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Anambra State, replied requesting for particulars of the fourteen indigenes of Anambra State to be relocated from Lagos and Lagos State complied. In addition, the Anambra State Liaison Officer in Victoria Island Lagos helped to screen the under the bridge dwellers and certified them to be indigenes of Anambra. However, on August 1, 2013, the Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, wrote to President Jonathan protesting the relocation of the fourteen Anambra indigenes which he claimed were 72. The title of his letter was: Unconstitutional, Illegal and Forced Deportation of Nigerians to Anambra State from Lagos. Nigerians are guaranteed the right to live or settle in any part of the country freely and without molestation according to Chapter III and IV of the 1999 constitution. We have 36 states in Nigeria and each State collects revenue allocation from the federal government to manage its affairs. The revenue allocation given to each State does not envisage mass movement of people from one state to the other. The right to freely live and settle in any part of the country cannot and should not be to move from ones indigenous home state to live and defecate under the bridge in another state. What Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and Obi Nwakanma should have worked for is to allow the share of revenue allocation of any citizen to be transferred along with him/her to any state of his/her choice to live or settle.

 

When Obi Nwakanma made it look as if only Igbo were relocated from Lagos, he was being dishonest. On 11 May, 2010 Lagos State relocated 70 destitute to Ita Oshin end of Abeokuta North Local Government, yet, Ogun is a Yoruba State just as Lagos.  In June 2011, Lagos State relocated 196 beggars to Sokoto State, 75 to Kano State, 83 vagrants to Oyo State, 67 to Osun State, 21 to Ekiti State and 7 to Ondo State. Contrary to Obi Nwakanma assertion, not only Igbo vagrants were relocated from Lagos to their respective states. While Peter Obi pretended that Lagos State government was wrong in relocating Anambra's vagrants to Anambra from Lagos, the Anambra State Government under his leadership relocated 29 beggars to their home States in Ebonyi (another Igbo State) and Akwa Ibom.(http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/9600/2011/12/04/anambra-orders-arrest-child-beggars.html/).

 

When Obi Nwakanma said that another (governor) sacks all non-indigenes from state service, he mischievously impress upon readers that the sacker was non-Igbo and the sacked were Igbo. Yet, it was Imo State (an Igbo State) which had dismissed all Abia indigenes in its public service in 2002 and remitted to Abia State (also a fellow Igbo State) in 2010 the files of all pensioners of Abia origin to Abia State so that their State could take over the burden of paying their pensions. In October 2011, 1800 Anambrians were expunged from Abia State Public Service and sent back to Anambra because Abia State claimed it was no longer capable of catering for non-indigenes of the state. According to Odogwu Emeka Odogwu in the Daily Champion of 4 December 2011, Abia State Government sacked 3,000 non-indigenes fellow Igbo from her work force and asked them to go back to their respective states in Southeast.

 

Records since the end of the civil war show that persons of ethnic Igbo have played central roles in the governance of Nigeria. Only ethnic fanatics would maintain that ethnic Igbo have been marginalized and targeted for economic punishment in the scheme of things in Nigeria. The evidence brought forward by Obi Nwakanma  to corroborate the persecution of Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria is false and should be rejected as hogwash.

S. Kadiri

 

---

Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2015 20:20:59 -0500

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Moderator's Caution

From: nimi...@msn.com
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

[Nimi Wariboko]

December 10, 2015
 
 
Dear Kadiri:
 
Thanks for the analysis and the perspective you have provided on Obi Nwakanma’s facts. Your analysis and viewpoint precisely support my thesis that the Nigerian state steadily attacks its own citizens. It does not matter if the state operates through the local, regional, or federal level. It does not matter if the victims are Igbo, Ijo, Kanuri, Hausa, or Yoruba. It does not matter if an Igbo or Yoruba governor perpetrates the cruel and dehumanizing attacks in the name of the state. Nigerians are alienated from their state. No well-meaning Nigerian will rejoice if any person or group suffers pain.
 
The pain of any Nigerian invites reflection and self-examination, nudging fellow Nigerians to put themselves in the place of the sufferer, and thus enabling them to see similar possibilities between their own experiences and the victim of the state. This kind of imagination and response is highly relevant to public reasoning in a democratic society. I say this to gesture to the need for the nation to develop in her citizens the form of imaginative and emotional receptivity to the struggles and concrete circumstances of those who might not belong in the same class, ethnic group, gender, religion, or political affiliation. The pains that ordinary Nigerians suffer at the hand of the state, their employers, and so-called “big men” cut my heart anytime I see or hear about them. I try to put myself in their places and the emotional pain is often unbearable. I do not see myself as different from other victims of the state and its police forces or big men/madams. I think that the sense of similar possibilities and vulnerabilities has helped me to develop the competence to imagine how people who are not like me live and to not resort to a reductive approach to concrete issues. (By the way, your essay does not suffer from a reductive approach to concrete issues.)
 
Nwakanma in his essay has called attention to the plight of the Igbo and I responded by saying that no reasonable Nigerian rejoices at the pain the Igbo feel. This should not be construed to mean that only the Igbo feel the pain of our rapacious and cruel state; other groups and collectivities do. There is no eternal scale to measure and compare sufferings at the hand of the Nigerian state, especially if we believe that we are all woven into one fabric of a nation. The pain of one is the pain of all. We are all victimized by our state. Even if only ten percent of what Nwakanma said is true it is enough for any group to feel pain and it is enough to trouble me. The problem Nwakanma has raised and on which you have brilliantly commented is not an Igbo problem. It is a Nigerian problem, period. We should all mobilize against the state to force it to recognize the worth of our citizenship and personhood.
 
My point is that we all as Nigerians need to shift more of our attention to the state and the terms of engagement with its citizenry than focusing on ethnic groups and ethnic rivalry. I am happy that your analysis focuses on facts and correction of facts as you see fit. This is a worthy endeavor on your part and I salute you. I also salute Nwakanma for letting us know the pain he feels as an Igbo man. We need these kinds of approach, the give and take of reasons, and a robust space for the joys and pains of citizenship in the Nigerian public square if we are to forge a pluralistic, democratic culture of civic debate and honest evaluation of the Nigeria’s state-building project. Thank you, Sir, for your intervention in this debate.
 
 
Nimi Wariboko
 

On 12/10/15, 10:24 AM, "Salimonu Kadiri" <ogunl...@hotmail.com> wrote:

The pain of injustice that filters out of the facts you stated clearly shows how the Nigerian State attacks its own citizens and the individual is alienated from the state - Nimi Wariboko.
I do not think any reasonable Nigerian rejoices at the pain that a large number of Igbo feel based on the issues you have just raised - Nimi Wariboko.

What you believe to be facts stated by Obi Nwakanma is as follows: A governor stages the deportation of citizens of the same country, and it goes without consequence; another sacks all "non-indigenes" from state service and there is little protection by the federal government ...  The impression created in the mind of readers by Obi Nwakanma is that a governor deports Igbo citizens in Nigeria as if they are aliens and another governor (understandably not an Igbo governor) sacks all 'non-indigenes (Igbo) from state service. Premised on the impression given by Obi Nwakanma's supposed facts, you logically stated that no reasonable Nigerian rejoices at the pain that a large number of Igbo feel. Obi Nwakanma has carried his sense of Igbo victimization to the extreme and he forgets that the word deportation is only applicable to foreigners in Nigeria and the power to deport any foreigner from Nigeria is vested in the federal and not the states' government. It is false to claim that a governor in Nigeria deports Igbo citizens within Nigeria. On July 24, 2013, the Lagos State's government relocated to Anambra State fourteen vagrants and detoxified drug addicts that had been kept at Lagos Rehabilitation and Training Centre Ikorodu after being removed from under various bridges they had converted to their residents. The effort of the Lagos government to relocate the fourteen vagrants and detoxified indigenes of Anambra began on April 9, 2013, through a letter signed by O. T. Ajao, Special Adviser, Office of Youth and Social Development and addressed to Anambra State government informing it about the home coming of the evacuees from Lagos to Anambra for the purpose of integrating them with their families. On 15 April 2013, Chukwudum Ucheoma, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Anambra State, replied requesting for particulars of the fourteen indigenes of Anambra State to be relocated from Lagos and Lagos State complied. In addition, the Anambra State Liaison Officer in Victoria Island Lagos helped to screen the under the bridge dwellers and certified them to be indigenes of Anambra. However, on August 1, 2013, the Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, wrote to President Jonathan protesting the relocation of the fourteen Anambra indigenes which he claimed were 72. The title of his letter was: Unconstitutional, Illegal and Forced Deportation of Nigerians to Anambra State from Lagos. Nigerians are guaranteed the right to live or settle in any part of the country freely and without molestation according to Chapter III and IV of the 1999 constitution. We have 36 states in Nigeria and each State collects revenue allocation from the federal government to manage its affairs. The revenue allocation given to each State does not envisage mass movement of people from one state to the other. The right to freely live and settle in any part of the country cannot and should not be to move from ones indigenous home state to live and defecate under the bridge in another state. What Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and Obi Nwakanma should have worked for is to allow the share of revenue allocation of any citizen to be transferred along with him/her to any state of his/her choice to live or settle.

When Obi Nwakanma made it look as if only Igbo were relocated from Lagos, he was being dishonest. On 11 May, 2010 Lagos State relocated 70 destitute to Ita Oshin end of Abeokuta North Local Government, yet, Ogun is a Yoruba State just as Lagos.  In June 2011, Lagos State relocated 196 beggars to Sokoto State, 75 to Kano State, 83 vagrants to Oyo State, 67 to Osun State, 21 to Ekiti State and 7 to Ondo State. Contrary to Obi Nwakanma assertion, not only Igbo vagrants were relocated from Lagos to their respective states. While Peter Obi pretended that Lagos State government was wrong in relocating Anambra's vagrants to Anambra from Lagos, the Anambra State Government under his leadership relocated 29 beggars to their home States in Ebonyi (another Igbo State) and Akwa Ibom.(http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/9600/2011/12/04/anambra-orders-arrest-child-beggars.html/).

When Obi Nwakanma said that another (governor) sacks all non-indigenes from state service, he mischievously impress upon readers that the sacker was non-Igbo and the sacked were Igbo. Yet, it was Imo State (an Igbo State) which had dismissed all Abia indigenes in its public service in 2002 and remitted to Abia State (also a fellow Igbo State) in 2010 the files of all pensioners of Abia origin to Abia State so that their State could take over the burden of paying their pensions. In October 2011, 1800 Anambrians were expunged from Abia State Public Service and sent back to Anambra because Abia State claimed it was no longer capable of catering for non-indigenes of the state. According to Odogwu Emeka Odogwu in the Daily Champion of 4 December 2011, Abia State Government sacked 3,000 non-indigenes fellow Igbo from her work force and asked them to go back to their respective states in Southeast.

Records since the end of the civil war show that persons of ethnic Igbo have played central roles in the governance of Nigeria. Only ethnic fanatics would maintain that ethnic Igbo have been marginalized and targeted for economic punishment in the scheme of things in Nigeria. The evidence brought forward by Obi Nwakanma  to corroborate the persecution of Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria is false and should be rejected as hogwash.
S. Kadiri


 

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Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2015 20:20:59 -0500
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Moderator's Caution
From: nimi...@msn.com
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com

Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Moderator's Caution December 8, 2015
 

Dear Obi:

Let me begin by thanking you for responding to my post of yesterday. The questions you are asking me suggest your openness to finding reasonable solutions to the problems of citizenship and national identity in Nigeria. The pain of injustice that filters out from the facts you stated clearly shows how the Nigerian state attacks its own citizens and the individual is alienated from the state. The state which has refused to recognize the worth or citizenship of Nigerians have steadily attacked its own people. Indeed, as Professor Peter Ekeh informed us, in Nigeria state and society have drifted apart; starting in the era of slave trade, intensified by colonialism, and exacerbated by post-independence politics. The terms of exchange between the state and the individual are clearly ill-defined.

I do not think any reasonable Nigerian rejoices at the pain that a large number of Igbo feel based on the issues you have raised. Indeed, no group of individuals is totally exempt from the attack on their citizenship and personhood by the rapacious Nigerian state. All of us as citizens have been ill-treated by the state and I say this not to devalue any Igbo sense of deprivation, but to call us to work through this problem together. It might be the Igbo who feel alienated today, but tomorrow it might be Ijo, Kanuri, Hausa, or Yoruba. It will be a monumental failure of Nigerian intellectuals and leaders to see a problem that affects any group as limited to that group.

I have read what Professors John Mbaku, Kenneth Harrow, and others have written in response to the questions you asked me. I am grateful to them for making my job easier. Let me also offer my opinion on the philosophical planks that might go into building a model of national coexistence that will foster a sense of belonging. This is only going to be a sketch. I will only state four of the planks; three are closely related and one is a wildcat. First, we need to recognize that the state building project in Nigeria has failed or at least it is not serving the interests of all Nigerians. We need to redefine the polity and the terms of engagement so that the state and the society will be well articulated. This work will be done at the level of institutions; building strong institutions that can deliver services and also hold leaders and functionaries accountable to the people. Second, at the individual level, we will need to put in place the virtues and capabilities that every Nigerian must have in order to be all that he or she can be. The goal is to create a society where all Nigerians will flourish, be their best irrespective of their ethnic origins. Third, we need to generate (or gather) the values and norms that as a country we should foster and promote in order to create the appropriate polity and effective citizens’ functioning for economic and political development.

These suggestions might not be specific enough for you, and they are deliberately so. The project of giving every Nigeria a sense of belonging is one that we all need to embark upon. On this forum we have some of the best brains in Nigeria, Africa, and the world. We can generate a document to spark debates in Nigeria or to guide public policy. Of course, I realize that producing another document will not necessarily solve Nigeria’s problems. I also know that nation building is a constant task and we have to improvise our ways toward the optimum (but not once-for-all) solution. We should not lose hope in the state building project. The pains of today are real, but the hope of a glorious Nigeria tomorrow invites the best from us today.
 
Here is the wildcat idea. Give every group the option of exiting from the polity through a referendum. Let us write into the constitution that every 25 or 50 years any group or collectivity can decide to leave the union. Its members will vote and if there is a two-third majority that supports exiting from the union, the others will let then go in peace. Meanwhile, let us all work hard to make the union excel and if at the end of 25 or 50 years, a group is still aggrieved enough to want to leave the others will let them go. Perhaps, knowing that there is an exit strategy might make some groups to feel that they are not doomed to stay within Nigeria forever. We need to let aggrieved groups or collectivities know that others will not put undue obstacle on their path to paradise. Let every group has the democratic “option” to buy or sell its membership in the union.
 
Personally, I want Nigeria to stand as it is today. All groups are relevant and important for the realization of the potentials of the country. I believe in a united Nigeria. I do not think that fragmentation or succession is the solution. If we do not properly define the terms of exchange between the state, society, and individuals, then we are only transferring the problem from a bigger pot to small one when we fragment.


Obi, I hope this is helpful.


Nimi Wariboko
Boston University

 
On 12/8/15 3:18 PM, Rex Marinus wrote:
    

Dear Nimi, may I just ask a question: what do you suggest to be the model that should make "coexistence" of all groups in Nigeria possible and less antagonistic? You talk about giving her citizens a "sense of equal belonging," and I totally agree with you. But what is equal belonging if we have built into that worldview, at the highest level of policy, the notion that people are "alien" in their own country? A governor stages the "deportation" of citizens of the same country, and it goes without consequence; another sacks all "non-indigenes" from state service, and there is little protection by the federal government, and Lagos state imposes selective taxation on its Igbo residents, and it is called justice; people burn shops belonging to Nigerians in Kano, or Kano state destroys trailer loads of alcoholic beverage belonging businessmen from other parts of Nigeria, and nothing happen; a child from one part of the country is prevented from attaining his/her dream because s/he comes from the wrong end of the geography, and it is called "quota." In actual fact, the federal government of Nigeria has routinely failed to protect people from the excesses of people who have been "goaded" on to acts great injustice by "public intellectuals" who justify these , and have managed to turn infamy into polite culture, or at least some pretense of that. Not too long ago, FAS put the OPC on the list of terrorist groups. Once,  OPC had declared Yoruba secession, and its willingness to use violent means to accomplish it. Dr. Aluko led a loud protestation to FAS and caused it o remove OPC from that list. But today, he wants Nnamdi Kanu tried and hanged, just on the strength of statements attributed to him in a meeting in the USA, and for which those in the meeting put him to task. Social justice never happens when we keep convenient silence in order not to be seen as offensive. We need always to hold each other accountable otherwise we shall keeping going to well, as the poet Okigbo says, until we smash all our calabashes.
 

Obi Nwakanma
 


 
 
 
 
 

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[M Buba]

Dear OA,

It's the constitution (section 318) that created the distinction between those who 'belong to … a community indigenous to that State', and those who don't. So, the distinction is more than a 'conversation' piece. 

And last time I checked, the 'Indigenous' People of Biafra and MASSOB were busy attacking Hausa properties, torching the Onitsha Central Mosque, as well as at least 6 trucks belonging to Dangote group. All this happened in the last 10 days! So, 'immense goodwill' is something to be celebrated wherever there is peaceful coexitence berween the various ethnic groups

Malami

Prof Malami Buba

Department of English Language & Linguistics

Sokoto State University

PMB 2134, Birnin-Kebbi Rd,

Sokoto, NIGERIA

[Rex Marinus]

Malami, thank you for your response. But let me make this very clear: the problem in Nigeria is not that Nigerians cannot agree to work together. It is that there is an institutional, self-preserving process that has criminalized Nigeria's diversity. We may acknowledge our differences, and we are indeed different in many ways, the trouble is that there is a fundamental inscription into the workings of Nigeria, to use difference as an excuse to perpetuate fear of the "corrupting influence" of the "other" and justify injustice, which is preserved institutionally.

I'm all for working together. I am all for preserving a fair and just unity, and creating a country where no child, whether s/he is born in Kaura Namoda or Bonny must come to feel welcome in any part of Nigeria. Where individual conscience is respected. Security is guaranteed. Its our obligation to make that happen, and not to sweep the complaints of people, who experience the pressure of deeply felt injustice, under the carpet, or make any discourse of the experiences of any part of the country tabooed. I want to see the day in which a young woman walking down the streets in her Jeans trousers in Sokoto or Kano is not harassed or molested; then indeed, wake me near the altar, and this poem will be finished. I salute you.

Obi Nwakanma

 

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of 'M Buba' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 9, 2015 6:55 PM

[M Buba]

Dear Obi,

You might as well get on with the poem, because I can assure you that the only harassment that a young woman in jeans will get on the street in Sokoto will be from construction workers, which is the case the world over. They will whistle (in admiration), and men will always be men, Obi :-)

Malami

Prof Malami Buba

Department of English Language & Linguistics

Sokoto State University

PMB 2134, Birnin-Kebbi Rd,

Sokoto, NIGERIA

[Rex Marinus]

This, I'm many people will understand as a slip: "I am all for preserving a fair and just unity, and creating a country where no child, whether s/he is born in Kaura Namoda or Bonny must come to feel welcome in any part of Nigeria. " But just to be clear: I meant to say "feel unwelcome", of course.

Obi Nwakanma

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Rex Marinus <rexma...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2015 7:33 PM

[Anunoby, Ogugua]

Thank you for your reference to the constitution which in my considered opinion, is a major reason for Nigeria’s problems.  You provide clear evidence that some framers of the constitution wanted a country that was united in name only. The did not want a Nigeria that works for all Nigerians equally. How else does one explain the unending emphasis of difference and not similarities in that constitution? This is why many Nigerians believe that there are Nigerians for whom Nigeria is not a country but a business. Is it any wonder therefore, that the country is in the bind that it is?

Dr. Ochonu posting today pointed out that the report on the touching of a mosque in Onitsha is false. Who knows how much else is orchestrated false reporting. It is instructive that your concern is the attack on “Hausa properties…and 6 trucks belonging to Dangote group”. Why no concern for the property and trucks of other victims who may not be Hausa? Where is you charity and humanity if I may ask?  Why no concern for the lives and limbs cut short and maimed respectively as a result of the violence of Nigeria’s security forces? Is it not possible that your beloved Hausa may have been victims too?

Nigeria’s challenges are unlikely to be resolved satisfactorily if all some Nigerians do at every opportunity is bat only for their part of the country. They are more likely to be if all Nigerians bat for the country most of the time instead.