Nigeria Today

[p023] NIGERIA TODAY 179 The imperialist carve-up of Nigeria still separated from Nigeria. In 1906 Lagos was integrated with Nigeria. All this time Northern Nigeria was ruled and governed by the Royal Niger Company (now United African Company). It was in 1914 that both Northern and Southern Nigeria were united administratively when they found that it was not economically profitable to have two Nigerias. In 1948 when the national struggle for independence was at its height and workers were drawn into the struggle with a general strike and demonstrations that resulted in shooting, the imperialists once more decided to carve the country up again so as to weaken the nationalist movements and the growing trade unions. This led to the present regional set-up in the country. In order not to be confronted with competition from the rising bourgeoisie in the South, the British colonialists made sure that the backward semi-feudal North should rule and dominate the country politically. The Northern ruling class until January this year have been ruling the country (with the help of the imperialists), against the will of the people. The imposition of the feudal lords on the rest of the country by British imperialism had brought crisis upon crisis within the ruling classes of the country. At present the country is divided into four r2gions and a federal capital. The Northern Region, which is three times bigger than all the other three regions put together, is dominated by emirs, feudal lords of the Hausa-Fulani tribes. The North is more backward in development. Illiteracy is three times higher in this region than in any other. The population have strong Moslem traditions and beliefs. Out of a total population of

[p024] 180 29 million people, the Hausa and Fulani tribes number 13,600,000. Most of the export crops come from the North: cotton, benniseed, cotton seeds, groundnuts and gum arabic. Tin and nearly all the world output of columbite comes from the North. The Eastern Region with 124 million people is dominated and ruled by the 7,800,000-strong Ibo tribe. The Ibos are the most enterprising petty bourgeois in the country. This was due mostly to the land problem in the Eastern Region. Unlike other tribes with sufficient fertile land, the Ibo land is arid. The fertile part is not enough to sustain the Ibo community. Faced with this problem the Ibos resorted to trade and spread out to other parts of the country to make a living. With their acceptance of Western (European) teachings, culture and Christianity, and by spread- ing European culture and its ways of life to the North, they challenged the sacred and traditional assumptions of feudal Islamic doctrine. This the feudal emirs of the Fulani-Hausas detest most vehemently. It is true to say that the Ibos were welcomed in all the tribes. There was nothing like tribalism until the imperialists made use of the contradictions of the ruling class in Nigeria. The other minority tribes in the Eastern Region, the Ibibios, Efiks and the Eastern Ijaws occupy the most fertile land, and these tribes did not migrate. Nearly all the petty trade and businesses like transport, petrol stations, market stalls, hotels, buildings (houses) and retail trade in the North are owned by Ibos. They also occupy better posts in both private and government establishments. When the nationalist movement was gathering momentum, the imperialists exploited these con- tradictions within the ruling class of the Ibos and the Northern feudalists and instigated tribal animosity. It was the Ibos whom the church missionaries used in the North to break through the stronghold of the Moslem order. It is not the fault of the Ibos that they should dominate the life of the country by occupying all the better posts and business. The other tribes, mostly in the Moslem North, shunned and fought against the white man’s culture and education. In the North they had already established their own Islamic schools before the arrival of the white man. Other tribes in the South (excluding the Ibos) quickly accepted the white man’s educa- tion and the churches of the various missionaries, the rest were contented with their land and their primitive tribal way of life. They resented the "jobs. FOURTH INTERNATIONAL, NOVEMBER 1966 idea of learning foreign languages to look for But by the time capitalism had made itself felt in the country and was destroying their primitive social system, forcing them out of their land to sell themselves for wages in the towns and cities, the Ibo occupied the better posts in the firms and secured the monopoly of the market as petty traders and businessmen. The only jobs avail- able for other tribesmen were unskilled jobs as they could not read and write in English. The Ibos, using their privileged positions in the estab- lishments introduced tribalism by employing their own men in better jobs. Although Christianity is strong among the tribes in the Eastern Region, nevertheless there are very few Christians who do not believe in ju-juism, or worship in ju-ju shrines. From the East we get coal, lead, zinc, iron ore, limestone, palm oil, palm kernel, timber, copra, rubber, natural gas and oil. The Western Region with a population of 114 million is the only region in which the entire people belong to one ethnic tribal group, the Yorubas. The ruling class are semi-feudal lords, powerful aristocratic land-owning chiefs (Obas) and native petty bourgeoisie. The people of the region are a mixture of Moslems and pagans. In some parts a kind of communal economy pre- vailed. The land in this region is the most fertile land. This region supplies limestones, lignites, cocoa, timber and copra. The Midwestern Region which was carved out of the Western Region in 1963 is the smallest region with a population of 24 million people. Apart from the Oba of Benin who is a feudal chief, the rest of the tribes in the region have been living in a sort of primitive communism up to a very recent period. There are many lands in this area or region still owned by clans and communities in spite of capitalist development and private plantations. Apart from foreign businessmen, it is difficult to find a rich class in this region. Paganism is very strong in this region. From this region we get rubber, timber, plywood, palm oil, palm kernel oil and natural gas. The struggle for power between the various ruling classes of the three major tribes in the country (the Ibos, Yorubas and the Hausas) to dominate each other and to get control of the Federal capital of Lagos has brought the country to the brink of Pakistanism. In short, the fight between the ruling classes in the country is who should have the larger share of the nation’s cake.

[p025] NIGERIA TODAY There is common agreement among them as to the exploitation of the working class in the country. Though the late Major General Ironsi appeased the feudal lords of the North and assured them of his intention to keep their properties and their ways of living safe, they still did not trust him because he was an Ibo man of the ruling class. And more than that, they needed political power to save the decaying traditional rights of feudalism and the Islamic teachings and customs from the threats of bourgeois culture. The people whom Ironsi was appeasing, because of their class interest plotted with Northern soldiers in the army and removed him from office. Thus the July 29 coup staged by Northerners in the army, which culminated in the mass slaughter of Ibos and other minority tribesmen of Southern origin in the North, was done in the interests of the ruling class of the North. It is a lie to say that the coup was done for the interest of the whole people in the North as the bourgeoisie will like us to believe. The poor farmers, the Hausa workers, and the rest of the toiling masses who were deceived by the feudal lords and in- duced to murder Ibos and other tribesmen from the South did not benefit from the coup. The toiling masses, be they Ibos, Yorubas, or Fulani- Hausas, have not at any time benefited by the ‘tribal wars’. Rather, they have kept them divided as a class. The removal of Ironsi created unforeseen problems for the Northern ruling class. Their hope of coming back to dominate the country has proved forlorn. Lt.-Col. Gowon, the man whom they placed at the head in Lagos, is not in a position to fulfill their dream. He is too weak to do so. The coup has brought the country to Lt.-Col. Yakubu Gowon, replaced Ironsi as com- mander of Army. 181 the verge of tribal war. It has disintegrated the army. Regional Governors are loyal to the ruling class in their respective regions and not to the Federal Military Government of Gowon. The minority tribes making use of this situation are demanding the creation of states. Ironsi was the only one holding the army together. Since his removal Gowon has not been able to convene the Military Council. A big vacuum has been created since the removal of Ironsi. While Gowon is in a hurry to hand over power to the civilians, his problem now is to find a suitable person for the job. Up to now he has not got the man that will be acceptable to the various ruling classes and the masses. The conflicts among the military Governors and Gowon, particularly that between the Eastern Region Commander Lt.-Col. Ojukwu and Lt.-Col. Hassan Katsina of the North is irreconcilable. Up to now Ojukwu of the East addresses the head of Military Government Lt.-Col. Gowon by his military title and not as the Head of the Military Government as others do. Lt.-Col. Ojukwu, the Military Governor of the Eastern Region, said, ‘It was recognised that the factors which made for Federation no longer exist’. On August 29 he declared in his Region a mourning day for the Easterners who were murdered in cold blood. On May 29 and July 29 Lt.-Col. Gowon declared the mourning uncon- stitutional. In spite of Gowon declaring the ‘mourning unconstitutional, the mourning took place just the same. The Military Governor of the Northern Region talks of, ‘North must act as one and his people are brothers’. He no longer says Nigerians must act as one and live as brothers, as when he was first appointed after the January coup. Since the infamous coup of July 29 the coun- try has been on the brink of disintegration. To what extent the ruling class will be able to break up the country, whether by secession or by confederation wherein the present regions shall become sovereign states, or whether it shall remain as it is depends mainly on_ several factors. Firstly the attitude of British imperialism. Whether a united Nigeria will be more convenient to make more super-profits or, on the contrary, whether by carving out nations out of Nigeria Britain will preserve its investments and prolong its stay in the country and protect itself against any future threat from a united working-class struggle. Secondly, it depends largely on the class consciousness of the working class and the rest of the oppressed classes in the country. And

[p026] 182 Maj-Gen. Ironsi above all, the building of a Marxist leadership to direct the masses to take the road of class struggle. The most tragic side of the events in the country is the complete absence of working- class leadership, leaving the toiling masses at the mercy of both the feudal lords and the weak sub- servient petty native bourgeoisie. Since political parties are banned the only body that could have given leadership to the masses is the trade union movement. But unfortunately, the five trade union central organisations are divided and, one way or another, they are heavily tied into the various interests of the bureaucratised international trade union move- ments of the world: the ICFTU, WFTU and International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ICCTU). The five Central trade union organisations are: Nigerian Trade Union Congress (NTUC) led by Stalinists of the Moscow camp. Although the congress is not an affiliate of WFTU nevertheless it derives its funds from there and its policy is the same as that of the WFTU: ‘peaceful co- existence’. The United Labour Congress of Nigeria (ULCN) is an affiliate of ICFTU. Its leaders are paid by both ICFTU and American African Labour Centre, an Anti-Communist organisation. Nigerian Workers Council (NWC) is another anti-Communist front affiliated to the ICCTU. Labour Unity Front (LUF) is a neutral FOURTH INTERNATIONAL, NOVEMBER 1966 organisation led mainly by ex-Stalinists and petty trade union bureaucrats who live comfortably on the union’s check-off dues. Although not affiliated to any international body, most of the unions in it are affiliates of various trade depart- ments of WFTU and ICFTU. LUF was formed as a pressure group to commit the other central organisations to do something. But the Stalinists have weakened the fighting ability of it since the leaders committed the organisation to the banned bourgeois parties of the South in the 1964 general election. The Northern Federation of Labour (NFL) has no international affiliation but its main purpose is to support the feudal Northern Govern- ment. It was formed to regionalise the trade unions. The feudal government of the North felt that the other four central bodies were support- ing the bourgeoisie of the South against them. It was this that led to the formation of the NFL. But due to the stand of the workers at the time when the question of unity was uppermost in their minds, the NFL did not make any headway. Up to now it is very insignificant. The first national dock strike of 1963 brought about the unity of four central labour organisa- tions when the rank-and-file trade unionists all over the country wanted a sympathetic strike to support the dockworkers who for 14 days without pay battled with the whole of the state machine; the army, police and the law courts. It was this that led to the formation of the Joint Action Com- mittee (JAC). But the leaders of JAC betrayed the dockworkers and allowed them to be defeated by refusing to call other workers on strike. It was this JAC after long agitation of the rank-and- file workers and trade unionists (mostly those who were in LUF) that was forced to call the general strike of June 1964. The majority of the former federal ministers fled from Lagos to hide during this great strike. Right from the start, the workers raised political slogans: ‘Down with Balewa Government’, ‘Imoudu (the president of Rail and Port Workers Union and leader of LUF) our Prime Minister’. When Balewa, the then prime minister, gave an ultimatum for the workers to return to work, the Workers Defence Committee too gave an ultimatum for Balewa to resign. In the East, workers went and closed down the law courts which were trying the strikers. When the Workers Defence Committee and other rank-and-file trade unionists were issuing political leaflets, the Stalinists joined with the right-wing leaders to denounce the Committee and called the Committee adventurists, splitters and

[p027] NIGERIA TODAY confusionists. They went so far as to make state- ments that the strike (which was directed against the government for its refusal to agree with the wage recommendation made by the Morgan Com- mission set up by the same government) was not political but rather purely economic. The strike, which was called off against the will of the workers by the leaders of JAC, brought a lot of victimization and retrenchment to the workers. When the JAC leaders, including some Stalinists, went round to call off the strikes in various towns, they accepted presents from the regional premiers for the good job done in keep- ing the strike away from the ‘trouble shooters’. The presents included large robes and cash. Before and after the strike, the demand by all the affiliated unions in the four centres was that the JAC should be turned into a Central Labour Organisation. While LUF and ULCN were ready for the demand of the workers, the NTUC led by the Stalinists were campaigning to have a loose confederation. Finally, the opportunist leaders and Stalinists in the NTUC and Imoudu of the LUF, who wanted to carry out their class colla- boration theory of ‘revolution in stages’, broke the militant JAC into pieces in the 1964 general elec- tion by allying the JAC with the bourgeois parties of the South. The right-wing ULCN and the NWC, who were then in a crisis, used this as a pretext and broke away from the JAC. Since then the trade union movement has been divided. The execrable role of the Stalinists in the trade union movement in Nigeria is too long to be included in the compass of this article. But there are certain roles which we cannot avoid pointing out. The JAC which was once the spokesman of the working class is finished. The possibility of uniting the unions to form something like JAC is now remote. The Stalinist-controlled NTUC, because of its policy of peaceful co-existence, has not made any move to mobilize its supporters for any action since the events of July 29. Dr. Tunji Otegbeye, the leader of the banned Socialist Workers Party (Stalinist party of the Moscow camp) who in fact controls the NTUC, said that ‘there is no revolutionary situation in Africa and Nigeria’ and that ‘anybody who talks of revolutionary situation in Africa is an adventurist’, And to carry out their class collaboration, Dr. Tunji Otegbeye suggested a way out to solve the insoluble dilemma for the ruling class of Nigeria in a pamphlet he has just published. In it he said, ‘There is therefore the great need for a 183 natural front of the army, workers, farmers, pro- gressive businessmen who will command respect of the nation and be in a position to formulate and effectively interpret government policies to the people. This is the great need of the hour,’ said he. Dr. Otegbeye is not formulating a new theory or device to sell out the workers. He has only borrowed a leaf from his masters in Moscow. He is only trying like his cousins in Moscow and King Street to pretend that the crisis in Nigeria has nothing to do with the class struggle but rather is above it. Dr. Otegbey’s theory of a ‘natural front’ of all classes (excluding only the feudal lords of the North) to solve the problem for the ruling class of Nigeria is not new. It is exactly what Stalin and Bukharin in their formula of ‘bloc of four classes’ prescribed in China; it later led to the massacre of the Communists by Chiang Kai Shek’s troops in 1927. Instead of Dr. Otegbeye calling a meeting of trade unions to discuss the situation in the country, he attends the meetings of tribal chiefs, feudal lords and bourgeoisie of the Yoruba lands. Goodluck, the president of the NTUC, attends those of the Lagos dignitaries. Bohra, the General Secretary of the ULCN, attends those of the Mid- west ruling class. These trade union leaders are manoeuvring with the ruling class to secure positions when power is handed back to civilians. For them, trade unionism is to be used as a bargaining force for privileged posts in capitalist society. In the wings the imperialist powers are watch- ing the events in the country. They have not come out openly to take sides. But the British, USA, West German representatives in the country are scheming behind the scenes and ready to intervene at any moment they feel their invest- ment is in danger. Out of the 12 oil companies in Nigeria, nine are from the USA. Every year as they discover more oil wells in commercial quantity Nigeria can be turned into another Congo or Vietnam at any moment by the imperialist powers. When the fighting started on July 29, the oil companies met the Military Governor of the East where most of the oil has been found. They asked him for assurances about the security of their investments. The Military Governor, Lt.-Col. Ojukwu, not only assured them, but he took im- mediate practical steps by sending soldiers and police reinforcement to the oil areas. In turn, the oil companies too assured him of their co- operation in any event.

[p028] 184 Col. Adeyinka Adebayo, Governor of Western Nigeria Why are the oil companies worried? Who are they afraid of when the head of the Military Government, Lt.-Col. Gowon of Lagos, Col. Adebayo of the West, Lt.-Col. Ejoor of the Mid- west and Lt.-Col. Hassan have also given similar assurances to foreign capital in the country. It is simple. The traditional militancy of the working class comes from the industrial towns of Aba, Port Harcourt, Warri and Burutu where the oil is found. Burutu was the scene of shootings during the struggle for independence. During the 1964 general strike the demand for workers and farm- ers government started from Aba and Port Harcourt where the oil refinery is. Aba is not only an industrial town, but the people from that area, called Ngwas, are warriors. The women from the Ngwa land have led many riots against the ruling class, mostly at the time of national struggle. The fear of the oil companies and other monopoly firms in the country is that the ruling class to whom they handed power to look after their investment are too weak, therefore they can- not in actual fact control the toiling masses for long, in spite of the division among the labour movement and the treachery of the labour leaders. As a result of the bloody massacre of South- erners in the North, fear of ‘tribal war’ has gripped the people. To use Lt. Col. Ojukwu’s own words; ‘In May thousands of people of Eastern Nigerian origin were premeditatedly slaughtered like rats FOURTH INTERNATIONAL, NOVEMBER 1966 Lt.-Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu, Governor of Eastern Nigeria Province sickbeds in hospitals, not to mention the market places, including some in their women in labour rooms, massacres in places of worship, offices and streets.’ ‘In July the army trained and disciplined to pro- tect themselves and the country against an enemy turned against itself.’ ‘Officers and men of Eastern Nigeria origin were systematically eliminated by soldiers from the Northern Region.’ Nobody knows actually how many people have lost their lives. Even in Lagos where Gowon is at the head, soldiers molest civilians with impunity. For the past two and a half months there has been a mass exodus of people fleeing from one region to another. Over 65,000 people have arrived in the Eastern Region. Many more are fleeing to their homes. Communications from the South to the North are almost paralysed. Business in the North is almost at a standstill as there are no Northerners to fill the immediate vacancies in firms and government establishments which have occurred as a result of Southerners fleeing from the North for safety. Lt.-Col. Ojukwu has ordered out all non- Easterns from his own region. This has inflamed the hatred of the Hausas in the South against the Ibos. In all these, it is the workers who are suffering from the insensate war between the ruling groups.

[p029] NIGERIA TODAY The big transport owners, whether they be Ibos, Hausas or Yorubas, are making huge profits daily as fares have risen from £1 10s. Od. to £6 and from £2 10s. Od. to £7 10s. Od. The very Ibo ruling class and their transport owners who are supposed to be fighting for the whole interests of the Ibos cannot provide transport free to their own Ibo men. The same thing is happening in the Yoruba and Hausa areas. They (the trans- port companies) are extorting every penny from the fleeing masses who have not experienced such a situation before in their own country. Some people who have lived in other regions all their lives do not recognise their home regions. The agents of the transport owners spread dangerous rumours to scare people to run away from one region to the other so that they continue to have people to carry in their vehicles. Lorries that have been thrown into the scrap yards have been brought back on to the roads to make profit out of the terror-stricken peasants and workers. Ojukwu of the East has the biggest problem to solve: the problem of how to resettle 65,000 people and to find them jobs. The non-Easterners whom he had ordered out from his region, do not add up to more than 6,000. Although one million pounds was voted for this project, by the time these 65,000 find employment in the East he will certainly need more than that. Like any other part of the country, unemployment in the East too is very high. There are no figures available. In the East houseboys or servants earn 8/- a month. Some are prepared to serve you provided only that you feed them. Prostitution is very high among the tribes in the East. The reason why prostitution is higher among the tribes in this region than the other tribes in the country is not mainly due to unemployment. Its origins go back further than that and emanate from the arrival of the church missionaries. Before the arrival of the imperialists with thei1 brainwashing machines (the church missionaries) polygamy was common. Some men would marry up to 50 or more wives. This is no exaggeration. But when the church missionaries introduced monogamy, the majority of those who accepted this bourgeois institution and had already married polygamously, drove away all the wives except the one whom they happened to like best. They did not only drive out the unfortunate ones, but also demanded the bride-price which they paid on their heads. These unfortunates who have no landed properties to farm (as women have no right to claim their father’s landed property) have no other means by which they can pay 185 back the bride price but to take up prostitution. When the young men too considered polygamy a sin against God, this created a _ surplus of unmarried women in the Christian areas. These women too resorted to the same trade. So today in Nigeria, where Christianity is strong, you have a very high rate of prostitution. Thus, amongst the Owerris in the Ibo land, the Efiks, Ibibios, the Ijaws in the East and the Urhobos and the Ishekris in the Midwestern Region who accepted monogamy as a form of marriage, prostitution is very prevalent. Balewa Abubakar As the Military Government makes gestures about returning to civilian rule, the former politicians such as Dr. Azikiwe who was dethroned as president of the Federation when he was yachting in the Caribbean, Owolowo the leader of the banned Action Group party who was jailed for ten years for attempting to overthrow the government and only released recently by Gowon, and many other discredited former politicians are now back on their saddles. The ecclesiastical rogues and humbugs who masquerade as missionaries are praying every day for peaceful co-existence among the various ruling classes. The feudal lords of the North, aristo- cratic chiefs of the West and the bourgeoisie of the East are meeting with their respective military governors on how to preserve their class interest. The constitutional conference of _ selected sections of the ruling class from the various regions has not found a solution to the problems. It was in the midst of the conference that fresh fighting and killing started off in the North and East. The burning question of the minorities which the British colonialist played down during the struggle for political independence has come up in this conference. One of the reasons why some regions who wanted to secede changed their mind is because of the demands of the minority

[p030] 186 tribes who want to have states of their own. The ruling class of the Ibos from the East who connived with the feudal lords of the North and carved out the Midwestern Region from the West, have always vehemently opposed the creation of more states in the East. The reason for opposing the creation of more states by the Ibo ruling class is because oil is found in the minority areas in the Eastern Region. The minorities have complained bitterly that the Ibos have oppressed them and the oil royalties have not been used to develop their areas but rather used for the benefit of the Ibos. In the North too the minority tribes have lodged similar complaints against the Hausa-Fulani domination. Like imperialism, the Ibo bourgeoisie and the feudal landlords are now adapting themselves to the capitalist market and expansion. To do this they need to keep the people of the minorities down. The feudal Northerners who want to keep the North as it is, have been forced by events to agree on the creation of states. The head of the Military Government who comes from a minority area in the North will not hand over power to the ruling class without seeing to it that the demand of his Tiv people in the Middle Belt are met. Ojukwu too has been forced to agree on the creation of more states. If more states are created, the feudal domination of the political life of the country will be greatly weakened. Never- theless, creation of more states will not solve the ' FOURTH INTERNATIONAL, NOVEMBER 1966 problems facing the country. No matter how the feudal lords of the North, the aristocratic land-owning semi-feudal chiefs of the Yorubas and the Ibo petty bourgeoisie may quarrel among themselves, one thing is certain: as soon as the working class with the rest of the toiling masses becomes class conscious and unites on a socialist policy to take class action to solve the problem facing them in the country, these warring lords of the ruling class will come together for their class interests to fight the oppressed class. The solution in Nigeria and other parts of Africa imperatively demands working class leadership. Neither the bourgeoisie nor the feudal lords can unite the country and wipe out tribalism and any other form of racialism in Nigeria. The belated capitalist development of Nigeria precludes the cleansing of the semi-feudal refuse in the North, nor can the feudal North succeed in imposing its decaying system on the backward capitalist society in the South. All of them are too weak. Finance capital only wants to make use of them to prolong its stay in Nigeria. It is only the working class (small as it may be) with the alliance of the poor farmers in the North, West, Midwest and East that can unite the country by bringing about a socialist system of production. But this cannot be achieved without a Bolshevik leadership. Such a leadership must be built in Nigeria and Africa. This is the task of the Fourth International.

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