further on the discourse with Osita


Dear Osita,
Beautiful! That conception of an "organic intellectual" apologies to Gramsci which your summation splendidly captures is exactly what I stand for and mean by an intellectual's leading role. In responding and reacting to those societal problems of the people he/she does present a deeper picture of their realities to the masses, within the critique of what is.

....calling what appears commonsensical as "false consciousness" is not a look down on the masses. Conversely where and when the connection you pointed out is practical and real; you see it, and seek to move people beyond it.

Ciao!

Baba Aye
Zimmer 10, Heckershauser Str., 19A
D34127, Kassel, Germany
+49-1628714379
babaaye.blog.co.uk (titbits of my life, sort of)
solidarityandstruggle.blogspot.com (on theory and practice)
Skype name: iron1lion

"if you are the big tree, we are the small axe, ready to cut you down"
- Bob Marley

"We will no longer hear your command, we'll seize the control from your hands
we will fan the flames of our anger and pain....Amandla, Ngawethu"
- UB 40


--- On Sat, 1/3/09, OSITA MBA wrote:
From: OSITA MBA
Subject: Re: [FOIcoalition] MILITARY RULE. AN ABERRATION
To: FOIcoalition@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, January 3, 2009, 9:29 AM

Dear Baba

Bearing in mind that I used the word “intellectualism” in the sense of the practice of being an intellectual, my notion of intellectualism is the use of analytical thinking to grapple with societal issues in way that is meaningful to others who may not have the skills, time or opportunity to articulate their concerns. Therefore the intellectual must go beyond abstract erudite ideas and theories to respond and react to problems facing the people. In my opinion, the ability to connect with the people is a prerequisite to the fulfillment of what you described as “the leadership role of the intellectual.”

Cheers.

Osita
--- On Sat, 3/1/09, Baba Aye wrote:

From: Baba Aye
Subject: Re: [FOIcoalition] MILITARY RULE. AN ABERRATION
To: FOIcoalition@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Saturday, 3 January, 2009, 2:29 AM

Dear Osita,

Out of curiosity please...which "notion of intellectualism" do you subscribe to?

And for the records, my "living" in the west is tied to studies here after which I go back to the trenches from whence I came.

My regards,
Baba Aye
Zimmer 10, Heckershauser Str., 19A
D34127, Kassel, Germany
+49-1628714379
babaaye.blog. co.uk (titbits of my life, sort of)
solidarityandstrugg le.blogspot. com (on theory and practice)
Skype name: iron1lion

"if you are the big tree, we are the small axe, ready to cut you down"
- Bob Marley

"We will no longer hear your command, we'll seize the control from your hands
we will fan the flames of our anger and pain....Amandla, Ngawethu"
- UB 40


--- On Fri, 1/2/09, OSITA MBA wrote:
From: OSITA MBA
Subject: Re: [FOIcoalition] MILITARY RULE. AN ABERRATION
To: FOIcoalition@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Friday, January 2, 2009, 9:35 AM

Baba
You of all people, being a guru in comparative analysis, must surely know the difference between comparing two things and advocating for either. My point is that things are so bad in Nigeria today that the colonialism of the pre-Independence era and the dictatorship of Gaddafi's Libya seem, in my view, to be lesser evils. It is not an endorsement of colonialism or 'Gaddafism', but a sad reflection on the tragic lot of Nigeria and Nigerians.

In your previous contribution you opined that: “if we could assume that "ordinary" Nigerians would prefer to swap either colonialism or military dictatorship for the corrupt here and now is it for us as intellectuals to make such assertions? Whither then the leadership role of the intellectual as a fitila to throw light into the dark recesses of false consiounsness that cannot but like a misty morning at times prevent them from seeing the sun of their self-emancipation?”

I dare say that it is not for you and me that are fortunate enough to have sorted our basic human needs out and are enjoying the benefits of living in a Western country to tell people that don’t know where their next meal will come from that the reality of their plight is ‘false consciousness’ . I do not subscribe to your notion of intellectualism.

Also, there is an assumption in Innocent’s proposition that “the worst democracy is far better than the best military rule” that a civilian (as opposed to a military) government is necessarily the same as a democratic government. You repeated this fallacy in your reply to Anthony when you referred to “democracy vs. military regimes”

This is a dangerous fallacy that plays into the hands of the electoral fraudsters in Abuja. Yaradua’s government, for example, is a civilian, but not a democratic, government. It is at best a civilian dictatorship. A democratic government derives its power from the people and Yaradua’s government lacks that attribute. The recent Supreme Court decision did not, and in any event cannot, change that fact.

Osita



--- On Fri, 2/1/09, Baba Aye wrote:

From: Baba Aye
Subject: Re: [FOIcoalition] MILITARY RULE. AN ABERRATION
To: FOIcoalition@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Friday, 2 January, 2009, 12:05 AM

Dear Innocent,
I agree with the principle in your statement.My good friend Osita....your position is not clear. Since the operating word is "democracy" and we rather have a "kleptocracy" should we advocate for a military (and non-Klepocratic; unlike IBB &Abacha which would not be the best military government's example) government.. ..especially with what our young graduates are going through in Libya, or not? I am caught between "not at all advocating for..." and the "clue to the answer" I'm supposed to decipher from the Libyan experience for example.

My regards,
Baba Aye
Zimmer 10, Heckershauser Str., 19A
D34127, Kassel, Germany
+49-1628714379
babaaye.blog. co.uk (titbits of my life, sort of)
solidarityandstrugg le.blogspot. com (on theory and practice)
Skype name: iron1lion

"if you are the big tree, we are the small axe, ready to cut you down"
- Bob Marley

"We will no longer hear your command, we'll seize the control from your hands
we will fan the flames of our anger and pain....Amandla, Ngawethu"
- UB 40


--- On Thu, 1/1/09, OSITA MBA wrote:
From: OSITA MBA
Subject: Re: [FOIcoalition] MILITARY RULE. AN ABERRATION
To: FOIcoalition@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Thursday, January 1, 2009, 5:34 PM

Pastor Innocent

You’re quite right to state that “the worst democracy is far better than the best military rule” but I would add that the key word in the proposition is 'democracy'.

Abraham Lincoln provided the most popular definition of democracy as ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’. What we have in Nigeria at the moment is a government of the thieves, by the thieves, for the thieves’ i.e kleptocracy.

(Without at all advocating for a return to military rule), is the best military rule better than the worst kleptocracy? I think the thousands of Nigerian graduates doing menial jobs in Libya will provide a clue to the answer!

Osita



--- On Thu, 1/1/09, Innocent Adjenughure wrote:
From: Innocent Adjenughure
Subject: Re: [FOIcoalition] MILITARY RULE. AN ABERRATION
To: FOIcoalition@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Thursday, 1 January, 2009, 3:18 PM

The worst democracy is far better than the best military rule. Military rule is an aberration and should not be condoned anywhere in the world.

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