The national question and radical politics in Nigeria

Abstract

In his introduction to Billy Dudley's posthumous book (1982:8), A.D. Yahaya stated that: The political future of the country as one indivisible nation is resolved with the end of the civil war ... It is therefore not conceivable for the present generation of Nigerians who were so much part of the struggle for the survival of the federation to resuscitate the unity of the country as a political issue. The major political issue today is, therefore, not the unity of the country. It would seem, however, that events in Nigeria since 1983, such as the No Nation! No Destiny!broadcast of the FRCN Kaduna; the acrimonious and chauvinistic campaigns associated with the 1983 elections; the incessant disputes over the question of Federal Character; and the debacle over Nigeria's affiliation to the Organisation of Islamic Countries, tend to suggest that the unity of the country cannot be taken for granted. The Civil War did not resolve the National Question in Nigeria. What is true is that the Nigerian state was able to overcome a specific challenge to its integrity. This does not, however, mean that no future challenges are probable, or that the state would always have the capacity to overcome such challenges. The emergence of Anya Anya II in the Sudan is a case in point. The unity of the country cannot, therefore, be necessarily guaranteed by the state as currently constituted. This paper is an attempt at examining some of the theoretical and political issues relating to the resolution of the National Question in contemporary Nigeria. The first section attempts a definition of the problematic, while the second looks at the specific manifestations of the National Question within the Nigerian political economy. The third section examines the solutions put forward for resolving the National Question within mainstream Nigerian politics; while the fourth considers the relationship between radical politics and the National Question. The final section attempts a summary of the entire discourse.

Diversity and discord: Ethnicity, horizontal inequalities and conflict in Ghana and Nigeria

“…As shown by both objective and perceived inequalities, severe horizontal inequalities constitute a structural feature of Nigerian society and feed into a number of cleavages in Nigerian political life. Abdul Raufu Mustapha (1986) identifies eight major and sometimes overlapping cleavages: these include the cleavages between the three majority ethnic groups; between the north and south; between the three majority ethnic groups on the one hand and the 350-odd minority ethnic groups on the other; between the 36 states of the federation and the six zones-three in the north and three in the south-into which they are grouped; and finally, between different religious affiliations. Since the late 1950s, different ethnic groups have been in competition with one another over representation in government and state institutions.…”

Individualistic and Collectivistic Orientations: Examining the Relationship between Ethnicity and National Attachment in Ghana

“…In addition to ethnicity, I include religion. Raufu Mustapha (1986) points out that religion can, under certain circumstances, be an equally salient mode of attachment. Under colonial rule, religion became an instrument of protest.…”

Urban inequalities and the identity-to-politics link in the Netherlands and Nigeria

“…In the same vein, most inequalities in contemporary urban Nigeria have their basis in the country's colonial history (Ukiwo 2005;Mustapha 1986). Before amalgamating the Northern and South Protectorates, the colonial government ran the two as separate administrative entities each according to a distinct set of policies.…”

“…The southern Nigerian educated elite had by this time become politically active and a source of concern for the colonial administration (Falola & Heaton 2008;Afigbo 1991). To prevent a similar development, western education was stalled in the north as a matter of policy (Umar 2006;Mustapha 1986).…”