Yusuf Bala Usman, noted historian, fiery politician, co-author of the 1977 Minority Report of the Nigerian Constitution and prolific writer, departed on September 24, 2005.
Given his role in the Nigerian life, intellectual prowess and mentorship of generations, were he alive, what would he be telling Nigerians? Those who were close to him or understood the various strands of his thought process decided to speak for him. So, if Bala came back today, what would he say about the Nigerian condition?
Professor Attahiru Jega, former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and ex-Chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, addressed the electoral and governance system. He posited that in the first two Republics, political parties “captured power, personalised it, accessed state resources, commandeered it, vandalised it, trampled upon citizens’ rights, and governed recklessly, undermining rather than satisfying popular needs and aspirations.” But he added that if Bala Usman were to come back today, he would be terribly amazed at how worse things have become, and disappointed in many so-called radical intellectuals for their complicity and duplicity in condoning what is happening.
He strongly felt that if Usman were alive today, he would have wanted to see people-oriented political parties based on ideology, committed to free, fair, and credible elections, candidates with integrity, and elections with a level playing field. Usman, he said, would have worked for “good democratic governance by elected officials dedicated to satisfying the needs and aspirations of all Nigerians.”
Dr Iyorcha Ayu, former Senate President and ex-Minister in the Education, Industries, Environment and Internal Affairs ministries, was Usman’s friend for 50 years. Usman, he said, is not dead because “thinkers don’t die”. Usman, he argued, saw the objectives of unity as pulling people together and liberating them, and not governing on the basis of ethnic politics as the Buhari and Tinubu administrations have done.
Professor Michael Kwanashie, economist and policy expert, said Usman was interested in globalisation and how it marginalised Nigeria. The country and the world, he said, are not developing because a tiny few lord it over the rest such that less than two per cent of the world population controls the wealth of the universe. Usman, he said, was against poverty, adding that what is needed today are not reforms that deliver the same negative results, but a revolution in our thinking process.
Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, outstanding scholar-activist who studied politics in Nigeria and France, said Usman did exceptional work by encouraging generations of Nigerians to improve the country. He submitted that Usman’s most important contribution was promoting the understanding of the world, especially power relations and imperialism. Jibrin argued that were he alive today, Usman would have been extremely excited that the system of domination that had for over two centuries held sway is being challenged by other powers. Usman, he said, would have been interested in how Nigerians keyed into this and worked for the remaking of the world.
Jibrin argued that since Usman’s demise, the Nigerian situation had worsened with the control and manipulation of the people by the ruling elites as weapons to continue the looting of the national treasury. A main instrument in this, he said, is religion which Usman wrote so much about because it has been used to divert the focus of the people from critical issues of development. He said in the last 40 years, Nigeria has witnessed the most phenomenal growth in religiosity and that no nation in the world can compete with it in terms of the time, energy and resources invested.
Warisu Alli, Professor of International Relations, argued that the world can talk of multi-partyism today because of the entrance of new forces like China, Russia, India, Brazil, and other BRICS countries. Alli submitted that what Nigeria needs to do today is to withdraw from the security agreement it has entered with Israel which is carrying out genocide before our very eyes. He also suggested that Nigerians should revive a political movement like the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, in order to stimulate and energise radical politics in the country. This, he said, is inevitable, as the political class has no capacity or inclination to oppose imperialism. Nigeria, he said, has to move towards multi-polarity.
I made a presentation on the Working Class. I said 20 years after Usman left, the situation of the working people has become so bad that inflation hovers between 24 and 35 per cent and the National Minimum Wage is not being paid by many employers, including some state governments. I also pointed out that basic rights such as that to unionise are being denied many workers. If Usman were alive, I argued, he would have opposed such repression, including fighting the Dangote group which is making unionisation a crime amongst its employees.
Usman, I said, would not have accepted the situation where the Federal and state governments would not implement the agreements reached with ASUU since 2009. Such treatment of agreements, I said, endanger negotiations and collective bargaining in industrial relations. The way out, I submitted, is for conscientious Nigerians to help rebuild the Student Movement that has been captured by the state, strengthen the trade unions, professional organisations like those of doctors and lawyers, and associations in the informal economy.
I recalled that Usman, in 1984, delivered a widely discussed paper on the dangers of middlemen and their collaboration with the transnational corporations, TNCs, to exploit the country. I said, today, he would have been shocked to find out that even the TNCs are fleeing from our elites by closing down their factories, while our ruling elites now invest in politics as the best business with huge returns.
I also argued that unlike two decades ago when there was mass production with workers being able to go to work and farmers freely tending their farms, today, workers and farmers in places affected by widespread banditry and terrorism can no longer work. I argued that under such circumstances, Usman would not have made excuses for such criminals on any basis, including their religious or ethnic origins. Rather, he would have argued that those who commit crimes should be punished.
I submitted that were Usman to be alive, he would be agitating that Chapter Two of the Constitution be made justiciable. The Chapter directs state policies on the ownership and control of business enterprises, and the management of the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom, and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice, equality of status, and opportunity.
Mr Sani Zorro, former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, who spoke on Usman’s contributions to journalism and, demanded the implementation of a New World Information and Communication Order.
