Nigeria: Really independent?
This year's Nigeria independence lecture will take place at the School of Oriental and African Studies on Saturday 7 October 2006 at 2pm. Organised by the SOAS student society Friends of Africa, the presentation will focus on the relationships between Nigeria's independence struggle, pan-Africanism, and the Zikist movement - which took its name from Nigeria's first president Nnamadi Azikiwe. The lecture will be followed by a discussion and performance poetry.
Friends of Africa SOAS Student Society Press Release
2 October 2006 Is Nigeria really independent?
This year's Nigeria independence lecture will take place at the School of Oriental and African Studies on Saturday 7 October 2006 at 2pm. Organised by the SOAS student society Friends of Africa, the presentation will focus on the relationships between Nigeria's independence struggle, pan-Africanism, and the Zikist movement - which took its name from Nigeria's first president Nnamadi Azikiwe. The lecture will be followed by a discussion and performance poetry.
On 1 October, Nigeria will be 46. In spite of its immense oil wealth the government is unable to provide basic social amenities such as affordable health care and education for the majority of the population. "85% of [Nigerian] oil revenues accrue to 1% of the population: of $400 billion in revenues, perhaps $100 billion has simply gone missing since 1970. In 2003, 70% of the nations oil wealth was wasted or stolen, in 2005 it was only 40%. Over the period 1965-2004, income per capita fell from $250 to $212, between 1970 and 2000, the number of people subsisting on a dollar a day or less grew from 36% of the population to 70%, from 19 million to a staggering 90 million people." (Monthly Review, September 2006)
For the elite that currently misgovern Nigeria, life has never been so good. The Nigerian body politic is more of a "Lootocracy" than a democracy, with the looting and privatisation of state resources by elected officials reaching the highest pinnacle of government. Last December, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, at the time the governor of Bayelsa State, was arrested on charges of money laundering. In the investigation that followed seven London bank accounts were traced to him.
This state of affairs raises questions about the quality of Nigerian independence. What role does the legacy of colonisation play? To what extent are the local elite responsible for the present chaos? Do next year's elections offer any hope of change? How can radical transformation of Nigeria's political economy in favour of the poor and oppressed occur?
The 7 October event will consider these issues, the Pan African scale of them, and celebrate the memory of patriots like Mokwugo Okoye, Raji Abdullahi and Osita Agwuna of the Zikist Movement, who tried to orient the independence struggle such that it would lead to a Nigeria whose resources would be used for the benefit of all.
The School of Oriental and African Studies is on Thornhaugh Street, WC1, nearest tube Russell Sqaure.
Contact Tokunbo Oke 07950 28 65 65