response on the Zero Corruption Coalition's press conference 19/12/08
I have followed this debate with the uttermost of amazement and cannot but sing along with Femi Kuti that "I sorry for my contiri"! Only a few of the contributors have even begun to tackle the crux of what inheres in Osita's summary view (the consequences of which, I argue could be decisive in our remaining at the point of on-the-spot- marching or marching forward). It has been reduced to a case of "two fighting..." and now without summing up possible lessons in it, we hear the call of let's close the chapter as if the issues at stake are do we like it funk or do we like it disco? paloma or lorenzo' daughter?
I strongly believe that implicit in Osita's position is a challenge for us to major in the majors, get our priorities right in terms of the mobilization of resources. What have been the responses that have taken us away from the profound discoveries of the zcc's press conference? What are our own views?
Chidi misrepresents the hyperbole of 100s of university auditoriums as 100s of universities! It is not illogical for even one university to have 100s of auditoriums. And since he took the liberty of elasticity, to cover other institutions in Lagos, I will help to build that list not just to show how empirically faulty his position on the limitations of Osita's hyperbole is, but because some other groups drawing lessons from all these turenche might actually want to consider such venues for their programmes. UNILAG ; 12 (including lecture theatres, SUB, amphitheatre, excluding the common rooms ->10, quadrangles, large classrooms not designated as halls or theatres), FCE(T) Akoka; 2, Project Time/St. Augustine COE, Akoka; 1, FTC Yaba; 3, FSRL Yaba (now taken over by Unilag); 2, Yabatech; 3, LASU; 4, AOCE; 4, LASU Epe campus; 2,(LASU's campuses in Surulere, Anthony village etc also have, but I don't know the exact numbers), LACOPED, Epe; 2, LASPOTECH (Ikorodu, Isolo, Surulere, "toll gate", ...all but S/Lere have at least ); 2 (i,e x 2 + 1 = 5)....I could go on and on still, but the whole essence here is to show that we can talk of a fairly large number of alternatives that could justify an hyperbolic stretch of 100s! and more importantly that groups could think of using.
It is also false to conclude that no school, primary or whatever can allow such activities as Bassey claims. Some one else talked about the regression of our institutions as spaces for progressive discourse since the '80s. While noting that yes, there have been conjunctural changes not only in Naija but globally since the collapse of the Berlin world in '89 that make the more radical less fashionable, it would be a self-defeatist pontification of arrant nonsense to come to such conclusions. I make bold to say that from '88 to date, the only year I have not had the opportunity to present a paper or address a radical gathering in a higher institution in Nigeria -at programmes organised by either campus-based or extra-campus groups-was this year (& I did get two invitations by an African Youth collective that I hadn't even worked with before to speak at programmes in UNAAB (a university!) & NUT secretariat, Abeokuta; but I was already here in Kassel..) The moral of this is simple; you don't conclude that the people are not moving -warts and all like Cromwell- simply because your practice is cut off from them, at any level. And talking of campuses, beyond halls in general that require as Chidi put it the red-tape of the senate building we mean more, though not limited to, the Students Union Buildings. Rafs traditions could have informed this (he was NANS asst. sec; 27/10/92 - 06/12/923). The benefits of this for the overall movt. are even more political than financial (including though not limited to recruiting newer layers of younger activists)
Besides campuses, what of Imoudu hall and the halls of unions, or even NUJ social centre Shomolu (or its no longer there? if we pay a little there sef, e no good to take support the journalists collective rather than bills to cozy hotel owners?). Here too, I stress the political binding & networking that inheres in this approach.
The main issue here though is not venue par se, but priorities. I attended a Conference and demonstration at Hamburg, we used an old former factory and all slept on the floor in sleeping bags. The group included respected elements of the intelligentsia, young and old people (especially the indomitable Helge - I call her the 21st Century Rosa Luxembourg; a national student leader in '62, she was a leading light in the '68 movt, here). Similarly, I have been to programmes before now within Africa and Europe that people are paired in rooms of cheap hotels to save costs, but where and how do we do our own workshops and press conferences?
This is a key issues in the struggle to change the approach of ngos in Naija, when like zcc such now deem themselves to be, to be part of or to represent a "movement" with all the connotations that go with it, then it becomes even doubly important. Chibuzor for example argues that Osita's diverts discourse from the long-winded (though not exactly lacking in content) conference text. But I would be very happy to know what is new in it...that an individual cannot just write and send to an op-ed page. When a movt. makes such, the difference is that it brings the force of a counter-hegemonic current to bear on it, otherwise we cannot talk of a movement talkless of its state (of inertia?). ZCC is supposed to have >100 groups affiliated to it. If just 10 persons per group come together that is > 1,000. This is a great number for a manifestation of its seriousness. A demonstration by this number would attract more press men and women as well as national and international attention than a cozy call. It will also inspire more people to join or support the cause
The communique also is so loud on what it expects govt (this same one...?) to do, but silent on what csos are or should be doing. My evangelical friends say that God's vengeance will start in his own house. Well, being more secular, I cannot but rather suggest that ngos particularly those in the anti-corruption groove should make examples of themselves. To the best of my knowledge, only a few publish annual reports of their activities, even though nobody elected them to speak for us. So they remain unaccountable to nobody but themselves and the donors from the very beginning to the end, year in year out. Examples should be set with detailed reports well circulated on what amount was gotten from which source, what work was done with what, what amount went to work, what went to "chop" (of course workchop is legitimate, but not when less gets spent on IEC materials for example than the amounts for the ED's estacodes and tour claims!).
In essence I will sum up with IW's take on this issue that "we are not yet working for SYSTEMIC CHANGE and it is not due to lack of IDEAS". To change this, there is need amongst other things for us to change our value system, priorities, strategies, approaches and framework of actions. We need to redefine our spaces, repertoire of discourse and mobilization of resources.
Who knows, if such could be done, we could go beyond de-colonizing our literature as Chinweizu et al sort....to winning the total liberation of our motherland?
BA
I strongly believe that implicit in Osita's position is a challenge for us to major in the majors, get our priorities right in terms of the mobilization of resources. What have been the responses that have taken us away from the profound discoveries of the zcc's press conference? What are our own views?
Chidi misrepresents the hyperbole of 100s of university auditoriums as 100s of universities! It is not illogical for even one university to have 100s of auditoriums. And since he took the liberty of elasticity, to cover other institutions in Lagos, I will help to build that list not just to show how empirically faulty his position on the limitations of Osita's hyperbole is, but because some other groups drawing lessons from all these turenche might actually want to consider such venues for their programmes. UNILAG ; 12 (including lecture theatres, SUB, amphitheatre, excluding the common rooms ->10, quadrangles, large classrooms not designated as halls or theatres), FCE(T) Akoka; 2, Project Time/St. Augustine COE, Akoka; 1, FTC Yaba; 3, FSRL Yaba (now taken over by Unilag); 2, Yabatech; 3, LASU; 4, AOCE; 4, LASU Epe campus; 2,(LASU's campuses in Surulere, Anthony village etc also have, but I don't know the exact numbers), LACOPED, Epe; 2, LASPOTECH (Ikorodu, Isolo, Surulere, "toll gate", ...all but S/Lere have at least ); 2 (i,e x 2 + 1 = 5)....I could go on and on still, but the whole essence here is to show that we can talk of a fairly large number of alternatives that could justify an hyperbolic stretch of 100s! and more importantly that groups could think of using.
It is also false to conclude that no school, primary or whatever can allow such activities as Bassey claims. Some one else talked about the regression of our institutions as spaces for progressive discourse since the '80s. While noting that yes, there have been conjunctural changes not only in Naija but globally since the collapse of the Berlin world in '89 that make the more radical less fashionable, it would be a self-defeatist pontification of arrant nonsense to come to such conclusions. I make bold to say that from '88 to date, the only year I have not had the opportunity to present a paper or address a radical gathering in a higher institution in Nigeria -at programmes organised by either campus-based or extra-campus groups-was this year (& I did get two invitations by an African Youth collective that I hadn't even worked with before to speak at programmes in UNAAB (a university!) & NUT secretariat, Abeokuta; but I was already here in Kassel..) The moral of this is simple; you don't conclude that the people are not moving -warts and all like Cromwell- simply because your practice is cut off from them, at any level. And talking of campuses, beyond halls in general that require as Chidi put it the red-tape of the senate building we mean more, though not limited to, the Students Union Buildings. Rafs traditions could have informed this (he was NANS asst. sec; 27/10/92 - 06/12/923). The benefits of this for the overall movt. are even more political than financial (including though not limited to recruiting newer layers of younger activists)
Besides campuses, what of Imoudu hall and the halls of unions, or even NUJ social centre Shomolu (or its no longer there? if we pay a little there sef, e no good to take support the journalists collective rather than bills to cozy hotel owners?). Here too, I stress the political binding & networking that inheres in this approach.
The main issue here though is not venue par se, but priorities. I attended a Conference and demonstration at Hamburg, we used an old former factory and all slept on the floor in sleeping bags. The group included respected elements of the intelligentsia, young and old people (especially the indomitable Helge - I call her the 21st Century Rosa Luxembourg; a national student leader in '62, she was a leading light in the '68 movt, here). Similarly, I have been to programmes before now within Africa and Europe that people are paired in rooms of cheap hotels to save costs, but where and how do we do our own workshops and press conferences?
This is a key issues in the struggle to change the approach of ngos in Naija, when like zcc such now deem themselves to be, to be part of or to represent a "movement" with all the connotations that go with it, then it becomes even doubly important. Chibuzor for example argues that Osita's diverts discourse from the long-winded (though not exactly lacking in content) conference text. But I would be very happy to know what is new in it...that an individual cannot just write and send to an op-ed page. When a movt. makes such, the difference is that it brings the force of a counter-hegemonic current to bear on it, otherwise we cannot talk of a movement talkless of its state (of inertia?). ZCC is supposed to have >100 groups affiliated to it. If just 10 persons per group come together that is > 1,000. This is a great number for a manifestation of its seriousness. A demonstration by this number would attract more press men and women as well as national and international attention than a cozy call. It will also inspire more people to join or support the cause
The communique also is so loud on what it expects govt (this same one...?) to do, but silent on what csos are or should be doing. My evangelical friends say that God's vengeance will start in his own house. Well, being more secular, I cannot but rather suggest that ngos particularly those in the anti-corruption groove should make examples of themselves. To the best of my knowledge, only a few publish annual reports of their activities, even though nobody elected them to speak for us. So they remain unaccountable to nobody but themselves and the donors from the very beginning to the end, year in year out. Examples should be set with detailed reports well circulated on what amount was gotten from which source, what work was done with what, what amount went to work, what went to "chop" (of course workchop is legitimate, but not when less gets spent on IEC materials for example than the amounts for the ED's estacodes and tour claims!).
In essence I will sum up with IW's take on this issue that "we are not yet working for SYSTEMIC CHANGE and it is not due to lack of IDEAS". To change this, there is need amongst other things for us to change our value system, priorities, strategies, approaches and framework of actions. We need to redefine our spaces, repertoire of discourse and mobilization of resources.
Who knows, if such could be done, we could go beyond de-colonizing our literature as Chinweizu et al sort....to winning the total liberation of our motherland?
BA
Comments