Expect new things from first female president of Actors Guild of Nigeria, says Gloria Young - By Bamidele Adeleye

Gloria Young

Nollywood actress, Gloria Young has expressed confidence in the new leadership of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, to take the movie industry to the next level.

In an exclusive interview with WorldStage Newsonline in Lagos, Young said the new leadership headed by a woman for the first time, would transform the industry.

Former beauty queen, Ibinabo Fiberisima was on Saturday, September 30, 2012 sworn in as the new president of Actors Guild of Nigeria.

According to Young, “this is the very first female president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria. We hope that new things will come up from there.”

She however called on other members in Nollywood to support her and ensure that she succeeds.

Speaking on the growth of Nollywood over the years, she said, the industry had done well and that other African countries were now trying to copy it.

“We have done very well, other African Countries are trying to copy what we are doing and I believe we are going places,” she said.

On the contribution of the industry to the national economy, she said it had created many jobs and still creating more.

 “More actors are been discovered, we need people who can carry cameras, we need people who can carry light. Job opportunities abound in the industry,” she said.

On the standard of movies coming out in the industry, she said “you are who you are.  You can’t change who you are. If that is what the people are looking for, give it to them. Nigerians are commercial oriented. Everybody wants what is happening. Don’t forget that drama is a mirror of the society. It is what is happening in the society that we are just showing you.”

She said Nollywood would continue to come up with relevant movies that will educate and appeal to the conscience of the people.

She however called on the government to support the industry, adding that “it is not just about financial alone” but other areas they could come in to further transform the industry.

WorldStage News | Expect new things from first female president of Actors Guild of Nigeria, says Gloria Young

Using theatre to promote better living at the grassroots

IN Erema community located in one of the South-South Local Government areas of Rivers State called Onelga, people not only practice Christianity as their religion, traditional worship with shrines and worship grounds in the community is also strong. Some of the shrines seem also to be responding to modernity as bottles of coca-cola and Fanta, Five-Alive and other assorted foreign gin and wine bottles are seen displayed at the feet of the shrines as offering to the gods and the spirits.

The annual New Yam festival called the Egwu-ogba festival provided evidence that accounts for how the Erema people are still close to their traditions and roots. The festival, which has fire carrying as its major effect, is a source of spiritual purification for the people and the entire land. During this festival, confessions are made, evil practice renounced, sacrifices are offered and promises by the people to live peacefully and happily with one another through the year are made.

Anama-Oji

THE Anama-oji (Village Square) is a very important cultural and political space where the community meets to discuss and take major decisions as a people. The space is symbolic because it serves both political and cultural purposes. Any case decided at the Anama-oji becomes binding on the people. It is traditional democracy as the case may be. The Civic Centre, which is a space for community interaction and other community activities, is also a dominant feature in the community. Most of the community leaders are not comfortable in accepting ‘visitors’ to attend the community meetings held at the Anama-oji.

The Anama-Oji is the proverbial equivalent of the National Assembly of Nigeria at Abuja. However, in the case of the Erema people, the decisions taken at any meeting of this ordinary looking but hallowed turf is binding on all members of the community. Indeed, it is correct to say that most of the members accept and believe in the power of the Anama-Oji and its mystical significance.

Doing TFD in Erema

IN October 2008, Cordaid (Netherland) awarded a grant to the Nigerian Popular Theatre Alliance (NPTA) to conduct training on participatory drama, specifically Theatre for Development (TFD) and Participatory Video (PV) as part of the grant activities in the Niger Delta area. The overall purpose of the grant was to strengthen the participation of ordinary people in the Niger Delta communities in non-violent civic action, advocacy, and peace promotion initiatives. The strategy was for the project to work with various NGOs who were working at the ground level in the Niger Delta.

The mandate was to engage with community groups using TFD and other Participatory Learning Approaches (PLA) resources to discuss community issues and how to carry along all community members on board in a horizontal and participatory way towards solving community problems and facilitating peaceful coexistence and violence-free resolution of conflicts, especially amongst the youths as they respond to elders and oil companies.

In actual sense, the entire journey of the project began from the training organised for the participants from the Niger Delta area. The training was conducted at the Drama Village, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from March 16-25, 2009. Within the project activities, and according to the implementation schedule, the first main activity was the training of SDN programme staff and leaders of NGOs that SDN works/collaborates with in the Niger Delta. The training was conducted by the Theatre for Development Centre (TFDC), the research and training unit of the Nigerian Popular Theatre Alliance.

It was attended by fifteen persons drawn from SDN and ten other NGOs/CBOs from three core States (Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers) in the Niger Delta region. The training in Theatre for Development (TFD) and Participatory Video (PV) was to offer a hands-on training to the participants in the techniques of TFD and PV. To take the participants through the process of collectively devising drama with community members; To coach the participants in the techniques and processes of story-boarding through to shooting a video of their stories; To provide advocacy techniques that would be useful in community work; To embark on community visits that exposes the participants to the practice of TFD in communities; to impart facilitation techniques.

Community Issues

The community work phase of the project threw up critical issues bothering the community chief of which is leadership. The Erema community participants explained during the presentations that there was apparently no control over leadership positions in the community as every person who has made some money and garnered some influence imposes himself on the community as leader. This has caused a lot of friction in the community over the years and has given rise to camps emerging as members of the community align with the various leaders.

They observed that the situation is as a result of lack of a coherent document or process of people ascending to power. This situation has implications and the only way out is to resort to producing a document that will guide the election or selection processes of the leadership in Erema community. According to their report, there is already an existing machinery set up to make this work facilitated by a Senator from the community. However, it has not produced results as the community people have become suspicious of the sponsorship and control of the project. The community people believe that there is a presence of some personal interest in it.

Participants also hinted that other institutions like the CDC, Youth and women group all operate their various constitutions. However, there is no central constitution that holds the various divides of the community together.

In an exhaustive interaction with some of the stakeholders in the community who were visited during the advocacy exercise in the community, the problem was emphasized as very pressing in the community.

There are also issues around the negative treatment of women in the community, which manifested loudly in the challenges experienced by widows in Erema community. Fortunately, this is an issue already being tackled by the Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) in their work in the community with women. The women complained of relegation to the background and usually have no say in the community in spite of the organized women group with the women leader at the helm. Widows are especially subjected to hardship by being denied essentials of livelihood by the families of their dead husbands even in terms of portions of land to farm in order to fend for their children. They are also ‘encouraged’ or forced to remarry into their late husband’s family. This has become endemic and a source of frustration for the women. This scenario cuts across in terms of women’s participation in civic responsibilities in the community.

At the end of the performances and the post performance discussions, the community came to some tentative agreements on the issues of leadership, widowhood practices, treatment and participation of women in community affairs, etc. For instance, the community agreed to conclude the process of reviewing and fashioning a constitution acceptable to all that will regulate the activities of everybody in the community.

There was also the agreement on the need for the fairer treatment of women with some misgivings. Could this be the reason why the men vehemently refused that the performances and post performance discussion should not take place at the Anama-Oji? While the women had no problem with this, the men insisted that the performances and post performance discussions should happen at the civic centre constructed by Shell Petroleum Development Company. Will the men respect decisions reached at the civic centre like that of Anama-Oji? Only time will tell!

Prof. Oga Steve Abah, the leader of the Nigerian Popular Theatre Alliance/Theatre for Development team, said he was happy with the outcome of the project: “Our original intention was to use the tools of video and drama to give voice to the voiceless in the Niger Delta; to enhance their ability to take positive action devoid of violence. How do you get women, youths and the men to start talking about their common problems and finding solutions without resorting to armed struggle that has become the hallmark of the Niger Delta crises recently?

“In some respects, we succeeded. But the water hyacinth issue, which is one of the several issues the project unearthed, has brought home not just the environmental crisis but the disproportionate nature of the sufferings of the different groups in the Delta and this time, the scale is tilted against the women”.

At the end of the day, the project ‘Local Voices’ helped to bring to public arena the voices of the women, the problem of the teenage girls, the increasing inability of the men to handle family and community issues and the drifting of the youth away from support for their community.

The project also trained members of the Community Development Committee (CDC) on leadership. The project team concluded that if what they heard from the women and men were anything to hold on to, then the project had made impact. As the project came to an end, Prof. Jenks Okwori and Samuel Kafewo who were part of the facilitating team said: “We have worked enough over these past three years with the CDC and community members for them to take the issues forward.”

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102758:using-theatre-to-promote-better-living-at-the-grassroots&catid=74:arts&Itemid=683

Arojah Theatre Returns with ‘The Wizard of Law’ in honour of the CJN

The Abuja based group, Arojah Royal Theatre will on Wednesday 31st October return to the stage with the late Professor Zulu Sofola’s play, ‘The Wizard of the Law’ which is being dedicated to the honour of the first ever Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar.

The play which will feature the likes of Oyewale Oluwatoba, Jovita Anyanwu-Chukwuemeka, Oluwaseun Odukoya and Zeb John among others; is a satire about an old lawyer, Ramoni who has met with reverse and tries to impress his wife during a festive period by purchasing nine metres of lace material on credit at a time he is penniless. The cloth seller, Rafiu, takes advantage of this opportunity to inflate the prices of clothes in other to make a heavy gain. Unable to pay the debt, Ramoni gets into more trouble and desperately looks for a court case through which he could raise the money to pay his debt.

The Executive Producer of the play, Om’Oba Jerry Adesewo said “We were planning to stage the play to celebrate the International Day of Justice in July, that was to come immediately after our last outing. We missed the timing and so decided to find another relevance for the play. That was when the idea of using the production to commemorate the appointment by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, of Honourable Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar as the first ever CJN because we feel it is a lanmark achievement.” He added that the whole idea is to celebrate the CJN by hosting her, her family, friends and well wishers to an evening of theatrical performances.

Directed by Adesewo Fayaman-Bay, the Abuja presentation of The Wizard of Law, which is supported by the National Centre for Women Development, African Independent Television, NTA Entertainment and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) will also starred the likes of Zubairu Jide Atta and Lara Owoeye-Wise.

Arojah Theatre’s last outing was in June 2012, when the group put up a weeklong festival of theatre in honour of the Executive Secretary of the National Institute of rCultural Orientation (NICO), tagged Festival of Barclays Ayakoroma’s Plays (FESTIBAP) which was held at the French Cultural Centre.

“This is the first of a very busy last quarter of the year for us. Apart from the monthly Play Reading Party we organise in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Centre, we have two other outings this year and I think it is good but for us as practitioners and for the theatre loving residents of the nation’s capital”. Jerry Adesewo said, adding that the group will stil stage two plays, Adinoyi Onukaba-Ojo’s ‘Sssooommmaaallliiiyyyaa’ which will be entered as Abuja’s entry for the annual Festival of Nigerian Plays (FESTINA) and Dr. Seyi Adigun’s HIV/AIDS awareness play, ‘Call for me My Osheni to celebrate the World Aids Day 2012.

The Wizard of Law comes up on Wednesday 31st October October, 2012 by 6pm prompt @ the National Centre for Women Development, Abuja with a Matinee for students of FCT schools.

Two Years of Fayemi in Ekiti, Articles | THISDAY LIVE

Two Years of Fayemi in Ekiti, Articles | THISDAY LIVE

Raging war between literature and history

National Mirror, 10 October 2012 — ADENRELE NIYI AND TERH AGBEDEH

 

As Femi Robinson calls for school ban of Chinua Achebe’s classic Things Fall Apart
The storm generated by excerpts of Professor Chinua Achebe’s memoirs, There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra, which were published in The Guardian of London of Tuesday, October 2, is yet to abate.

The book, set against the backdrop of the Igbo-born octogenarian’s experiences during the Nigerian Civil War (1967 -1970), also explores roles played by some of the major actors, including deceased Nigerian statesman, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

The revered Yoruba leader was one of the members of General Yakubu Gowon’s cabinet during the dark days of violent internal conflict. However, in Prof. Achebe’s documentation of intricacies and manoeuvrings around the civil war, he fingered Obafemi Awolowo as the mastermind behind a strategic policy of starvation which weakened Biafra’s succession bid, decimated its population and brought the bitter conflict to a quick end.

Long before the release of There Was a Country in September, there had been speculations by some literary enthusiasts that if the new book by the famous writer of Things Fall Apart does not become a bestseller in the country following the differences of opinions it has generated so far, no other book will. While critics abroad have focussed on the literary content, there is nothing short of an outcry against the book in the country.

In the controversial excerpts reproduced from the book, Achebe wrote that: “The wartime cabinet of General Gowon, the military ruler, it should also be remembered, was full of intellectuals like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, among others, who came up with a boatload of infamous and regrettable policies. A statement credited to Awolowo and echoed by his cohorts is the most callous and unfortunate: all is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don’t see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder.

“It is my impression that Awolowo was driven by an overriding ambition for power, for himself and for his Yoruba people. There is, on the surface at least, nothing wrong with those aspirations.
“However, Awolowo saw the dominant Igbo at the time as the obstacles to that goal, and when the opportunity arose – the Nigeria-Biafra War – his ambition drove him into a frenzy to go to every length to achieve his dreams.

“In the Biafran case, it meant hatching up a diabolical policy to reduce the numbers of his enemies significantly through starvation – eliminating over two million people, mainly members of future generations.”
However, it was Achebe’s claims that the late revered Yoruba statesman used his position as the Vice Chairman of the wartime federal cabinet to “decimate” the Igbo as a race that stirred the hornet’s nest.
The contentious excerpts have since spawned passionate debates on the social media, especially on Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

Veteran theatre artiste, Femi Robinson, one of the pioneering cast of Village Headmaster, made his declaration on the new book yesterday where he called on the government to ban Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart in Nigerian schools.

Robinson said he decided to make this call because “it appears that the author of the book had, for years, been selling hate and disunity with the publication of his book and the promotion of the character, Okonkwo, as a role model to Nigerians”. Robinson, who said he had read sections of Achebe’s new book, explained that for many years he had asked himself why the Things Fall Apart came with that title.

“What fell apart and what could not hold?” He asked, saying that it was for this reason he had written a play titled: ‘Things Fall in Place’ “to counter some of what I considered dangerous propaganda by the book”.
Robinson went on to run an excerpt about the character of Okonkwo from his play, which shows him at the point where he returns from exile in Mbata. Robinson argues that Okonkwo was banished at the end of Achebe’s book and wondered if it had been a marketing gimmick to get international acceptance of the book.

“How many Okonkwos did the book breed before the war? How many unrepentant killers have we turned into heroes in all parts of the country? People who believed the centre can no longer hold because only they had the cultural ties that can keep it together.

“I am also a writer and I have always insisted that children should never be forced to buy books. I call on the Members of Senate, Members of the Houses of Representatives and all well-meaning Nigerians to ban this and any other forms of literature from being forced on the curriculum of schools and students”, Robinson said.

Referring to what he described as “Prof. Chinua Achebe’s clannish mindset from the early days”, Robinson said he was surprised the writer has not changed after 52 years of independence.

“Things may have fallen apart when he was young, but the youths today must be made to realise the need for the centre to hold. These days we do not need to go to war to settle our differences”.

However, poet and essayist, Odia Ofeimun, while speaking at the Book Party organised by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) for the 10 writers long-listed in the 2012 Nigeria Prize for Literature on Sunday, said the leaders who took the decision to go to war should now be given a proper trial and that Achebe’s new book will now encourage more writing on the war.

Ofeimun was personal secretary to Obafemi Awolowo who served in the Nigerian government during the war at the same time that Achebe was an ambassador to the Biafran government.

“All the leaders who took the decision that led to the Civil War should now be tried properly. Because the rest of us were angry, we allowed them to mislead us. It is wrong for people to use the falsehood of propaganda during a civil war”, he said.

The poet explained that leaders need to pay for what they did yesterday. “Ojukwu committed genocide against his people and he should not have been allowed to simply walk away. Nzeogwu was the leader of the Biafran army; he told them, we don’t have the guns, we can’t win this war”.

Ofeimun said the story of the Civil War “will now have to be told properly because Achebe has literarily taken the genie out of the bottle. We need somebody to begin to tell us why we were not ready for a war and they went ahead and committed genocide against their people”.

In a review in the London Review of Books, writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stated that Achebe mourns Biafra, but his anger is directed at the failures of Nigeria. His great disappointment manifests itself in a rare moment of defiance towards the end of the book.

This is not the first time Achebe is being criticised for his work: In 1975, he gave a lecture on racism in “The Heart of Darkness” that caused controversy.

Achebe chronicles the events surrounding the Nigerian Civil War, a three-year battle lasting from 1967-1970 and directly involving the author’s home and family. Already a noted writer at the time, Achebe supported Biafran independence. This book describes the state of the country prior to war, so that readers can understand its potential and carries on through the monstrous violence that took place.

http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/arts-and-lifestyle/arts/raging-war-between-literature-and-history/http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/arts-and-lifestyle/arts/raging-war-between-literature-and-history/

National Mirror - Young readers explore Nigeria at 52

Young readers explore Nigeria at 52

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JERRY ADESEWO 03/10/2012 00:14:00

Students of FCT Secondary Schools have joined the rest of the nation in celebrating the nation’s 52nd Independence Anniversary. More than 10 secondary schools gathered on Friday, September 28 for a special reading session under the auspices of the Explorers Club, one of Abuja’s foremost book and readers’ club, to commemorate the nation’s Independence.
Tagged ‘The Nigerian Story’, the event held at the Government Secondary School, Tundunwada, had both students and guests exploring Nigeria’s several decades-long history. Selected readers included Emmanuel Alex, a blind boy, who wowed the audience with his brilliance as he personally translated his own portion of reading into brail and read so flawlessly to the audience’s admiration.
A leadership parade, representing every leader whohas ruled this nation, from Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, with the exception of course, of Chief Ernest Shonekan, the then Head of the Interim National Government, was put up by the host school.
Speaking at the event, Director of the FCT Secondary Education Board, Mrs. Yelwa Fatima Baba-Ari commended the organisers, especially Dr. Jerry Agada Foundation for the initiative. She went on to charge students to embrace reading; “life is not complete without reading. The only route to success is reading, reading and reading; Tthere is no other alternative”, she stated.
Barrister D.C. Uwaezuoke, Director Basics and Secondary School who represented the Honourable Minister of State, Chief Nyesom Wike revealed that being part of the reading session had done him a great deal of good. “Reading is a necessary exercise, not just for those who seek wisdom but as a confirmed therapy against depression”, he said.
Earlier on, the founder and chairman of the Dr. Jerry Agada Foundation and former Minister of State for Education under the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua administration, Dr. Jerry Anthony Agada reiterated his commitment to promoting academic excellence through reading. “I am an example of what reading can do to anyone. To become a champion in life, to become a leader who is worth its while and to become the signpost of excellence, you must read!.

National Mirror - Young readers explore Nigeria at 52

PRESS RELEASE: 20 ASPIRING ACTORS SCALE NEXT MOVIE STAR HURDLE

From Lagos to Lafia in Nassarawa State, Akure to Abuja and everywhere in between, hundreds of aspiring actors, the sublime and starry-eyed talents, thronged the final auditions of the 2012 Next Movie Star reality show which held at the exclusive Troy Bar and Lounge in Ogba, Lagos, last weekend. 48 hours after it began, the judges, comprising trusted and tested thespians and arts buffs like Jude Orhorha, Bukky Ogunnote-Ogunade, Doris Simeon, Raphael Stevens and Jerry Adesewo settled for 20 of these wannabe actors as meriting a chance at fame on the NMS platform. 

The lucky 20 include Okeke Chimezie Ivan, Okeowo Oluwatosin Speens, Alaha Gift Iyua, Aitsegame Halimat Sadiya, Josephine Micheal Ukpong, King Ojikemba, Samuel Babatunde Jameson, Ifovboa Ehijemen Jude, Oruambo Chrystabel, Esigbone Ejiro Kingsley, Obi Lilyjean, Tonia Ese Oria-Arebun, Ajuyah Sarah Onome, Million Santong, Alabi Folake, Mina Horsefall, Musa Olajoju, Chigbufue Bright, Perpetual Andy and Nnachortam Patrick. Chosen from audition centres in Port Harcourt, Benin and Abuja, these variegated talents have thus qualified as prospective housemates for the show. However, four of them will be evicted from the training and grooming session which will last a whole week. 

The training and grooming session, especially, according to the executive producer, Sola Fajobi, “is one of the unique selling points of the Next Movie Star because this is where we prepare these aspiring actors for a future that can be bigger than their wildest imagination; a future that can see them become the biggest brand in the industry. We have respected facilitators and experts on various aspects of entertainment who come around for the sessions. However, it also affords us a closer look at the contestants and we have no choice but to drop those who do not measure up to the standards of the show.” 

Speaking after the auditions, popular cross over actress, Doris Simeon, averred that she was stunned and surprised at the quality of talents on display. “I used to think that they (the producers) just handpick those who would appear on the show; i never knew that it is such a labourious and long process. I think that is why some of their products go on to excel more than any reality show products.” Indeed, Simeon was not being superfluous. In its eighth year, many alumni of the Next Movie Star show have gone on to establish flourishing careers in entertainment. Kevin Chuwang Pam, Uti Nwachukwu and Karen Igho went through the NMS school and are today established entertainers after winning the Big Brother Africa show in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively. For others like Tonto Dikeh, Annie Macaulay-Idibia, Porttiah Yamahan, they are now major forces in Nollywood after being discovered and nurtured by NMS. 

Despite being privately funded for the past six seasons, Fajobi says, “Our resolve is to ensure that the quality of the show never drops and we keep pushing the bounds to discover more talents for the entertainment industry.” Following in the tradition of the last two seasons which saw the 2010 and 2011 winners, Akio Ilami and Tamara Eteimo getting cash prizes and a brand new SUV, this year’s winner will get same, and more.

Nigeria should appeal against Bakassi judgment – Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, urged the Federal Government to appeal against the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon.

Soyinka said this at the commemorative lecture of rights activist, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, at 79 in Lagos on Monday.

He said Bakassi remained a testing ground for Nigeria’s corporate integrity, stressing that the government should know what the people of Bakassi needed.

Soyinka said, “The crucial question that the International Court does not appear  to have considered remains this: what do the people of Bakassi want for themselves? To become Cameroonians? To become Nigerians? Or simply to remain Bakassians? Bakassi became a focus of interest and desire only because of her oil reserves and the greed of state corporations – presented as national interest.”

“So, let the next act commence. The final date of appeal is still ahead. It is within legitimate rights that the Nigerian corporation should appeal the judgment.

“This time round however, let the suppressed voice of Bakassi’s humanity be heard. There is a certain procedure known as Plebiscite. Simple, straightforward, and full of precedents – a time-tested reversal of the pattern of human deficit! Let us give voice to the people of Bakassi.”

Nigerian becomes first black VC in American varsity, Earns $30,000 higher than President Obama

A United States of America-based Nigerian lecturer, Prof. Ilesanmi Adesida, has become the first black man to be appointed the Provost/Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, United States of America.

Born in 1949 at Ifon, a town in Ondo State, Adesida, a professor of Electronic Engineering with outstanding works in nanotechnology, was appointed by the search committee of the institution on May 31, this year.

His appointment, according to a statement placed on the website of the institution, took effect from August 15 this year.

Before his appointment, Adesida was the Dean, College of Engineering of the institution.

According to the university’s Vice-President and Chancellor, Dr. Phyllis Wise, Adesida succeeds Linda P.B. Katehi-Tseregounis, who last served the role on a permanent basis.

Senior campus administrators who served in the position on an interim basis after Dr. Katehi-Tseregounis’ departure were Robert Easter and Richard Wheeler.

Adesida, a former Head of Department, Electrical Engineering, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Bauchi State, will oversee the institution’s academic programmes, policies and priorities, which have been designed to ensure the quality of the educational experience for students and to sustain an environment that encourages and supports academic excellence.  He was at ABTU between 1985 and 1987.

But now as the chief academic officer of UI, Adesida will work closely with the Chancellor,  other vice-chancellors, the deans of academic colleges and other units, academic staff, the Faculty Senate, and various committees in setting overall academic priorities for the university.

The university has a budget of $1.5b with more than $400m in research expenditures. There are 42,000 students and 3,000 faculty members. The university is renowned for its interdisciplinary collaborations, advances in human understanding, community outreach, global partnerships, and life-changing scientific developments.

By his appointment, Adesida, who graduated with a Bachelors of Science, Master’s and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1974, 1975 and 1979 respectively, will become one of the highest paid academics in the US.

According to UI’s Vice-President and the Chancellor, Dr. Phyllis Wise, the cerebral don will earn $430,000 per annum, about N67.51m. With this amount, Adesida’s annual salary is $30,000 higher than President Barrack Obama, who earns $400,000 per year.

Commenting on his appointment, Adesida, who is now a naturalised American, was quoted by a news agency as expressing happiness at the university’s gesture.

Adesida said, “I’m honoured and humbled to be selected as vice-chancellor/provost of this great campus (university). This is something I take very seriously. I know how to work very hard and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get the job done.”

According to the website of the university, Adesida is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Vacuum Society, and the Optical Society of America. He is also the past-president of IEEE Electron Devices Society.

His outstanding work in the field of Nanotechnology has received much acclaim in the scientific community. He has developed a body of work in the processing of semiconductors and other materials at the nanometer-scale level.

After his studies, he worked in various capacities at what is now known as the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility and the School of Electrical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

In June 2005, Adesida became the 13th dean since the inception of the College of Engineering in 1870.

He joined UI as a faculty member in 1988 and he is currently the Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology.

Adesida has previously served as the Director of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory and the Associate Director for education of the NSF Engineering Research Centre for Compound Semiconductor Microelectronics.

According to the university’s website, Adesida’s research interests include nanofabrication processes and ultra-high-speed optoelectronics.

He also has extensive experience in development of novel processes for wide band gap materials such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride.  He has also worked on ultra-high-speed photo detectors and photo receivers in various materials systems.

Adesida has chaired many international conferences, including serving as the Programme and General Chair of the Electronic Materials Conference, 2000-2003. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Vacuum Society and Optical Society of America. He is past-president of IEEE Electron Devices Society, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

According to an appointment notice on the institution’s website, Adesida will also continue as Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, non-tenured, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, with an increment of $5,000, effective August 16, 2012, for a total annual salary of $430,000.

“In addition,  Adesida will continue to hold the following appointments on terms which were effective August 16, 2011: Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, on indefinite tenure, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, non-salaried; Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, non-tenured, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, non-salaried; Professor, Coordinated Science Laboratory, College of Engineering, non-tenured, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, non-salaried; Research Professor, Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, College of Engineering, non-tenured, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, non-salaried; Institute Affiliate, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, office of the VC for Research, non-tenured, on an academic year service basis, on zero per cent time, non-salaried; and Institute Affiliate, Institute of Genomic Biology.”

HOMECOMING FOR THE PRIME MINISTER’S SON

It was a day full of reminiscences and power-packed emotions as soloist and monodrama exponent, Greg Mbajiorgu, took time off the annual conference of the Society of Nigerian Theatre Artist (SONTA) in University of Calabar to re-visit the premises of the State Secretariat of The National Youth Service Corp(NYSC) where he conceived, wrote and premiered his enigmatic solo artist play The Prime Minister’s Son 21 years ago.

Greg Mbajiorgu was accompanied on the historic re-visit by foremost theatre scholar, Professor Kalu Uka, who incidentally was part of the premiere of the play in 1991 as artistic /technical adviser alongside the late pioneer Nigerian playwright, James Ene Henshaw. Also on the visiting entourage were Sola Balogun,arts editor of The Sun Newspapers, Obi Okoli, popular Nollywood actor and Denja Abdullahi, poet, playwright and National Vice President of the Association of Nigerian Author(ANA).

The visiting team found themselves in the warm embrace of the management staff of the NYSC Cross River State secretariat and serving corp members, led by the State Director Engr. Ibangha. Greg Mbajiorgu, now a senior lecturer in the department of Theatre and Film Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, set the tone for the visit when he reminiscence on how the then State Director of the scheme in 1991, one Mr Ajayi, encouraged him to follow his passion and approved his desire to adopt the one man theatre show as his primary assignment and community development activity. According to Greg Mbajiorgu, in spite of opposition from certain quarters, the then NYSC State Director, gave him an office space and an accommodation within the secretariat complex as a corp resident dramatist, from where he unleashed his talent as a solo drama artist culminating in the conception, writing and performance of the mono actor drama The Prime Minister’s Son; which was taken round schools and communities in Cross River State. Speaking to a roomful of entranced corp members of the drama and dance community development group and management staff of the NYSC State Secretariat, Greg, in an emotional laden voice, declared that the NYSC scheme defined his career and served as launch pad for his later endeavour as a theatre enterprenuer. According to him ,he had it so good as a travelling solo theatre artist as a Corp member that while his colleagues visited banks to make cash withdrawals, he regularly went there to make deposits and later bought a car from proceeds of his performances and was financially disposed to buy a cow for his colleagues to party with. At the end of his inspiring speech to the corp members and an appreciative NYSC staff, Greg was on the verge of tears and Prof Kalu Uka, had to step in to convert as he said “Greg’s tears to joy” with a powerfully rendered praise song and an inspiring speech that bordered on showing gratitude and aiming for excellence. Engr Ibangha, the NYSC State Director responded to the speeches by thanking Greg Mbajiorgu for appreciating the contributions of the scheme to his successful career as an artist while noting that stories such as that of his highlight the relevance of the scheme to youth development. He called on the Corp members present to take a cue from the import of the visit to discover their talents and pursue their dreams.

The visit ended with the presentation of copies of the 20^th anniversary edition of the monodrama The Prime Minister’s Son by Greg Mbajiorgu to the State NYSC and the performance of a drama sketch entitled “Conundrum” by the State’s NYSC drama troupe within the same quadrangle where The Prime Minister’s Son was premiered 21 years back.

The Calabar visit thus marked the beginning of a series of events already scheduled to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the play The Prime Minister’s Son across Nigeria. The anniversary activities are conceived to highlight the past contributions of soloists such as the late Funso Alabi and others to the theatrical form which is in need of re-invention in Nigeria. The next stop will be in Abuja on the 27^th of September 2012 at the Korean Cultural Centre, by 4pm prompt, where a play reading, performance and critical interactive session have been scheduled for The Prime Minister’s Son under the auspices of the Arojah Royal Theatre.

By Denja Abdullahi

                                                                                                                         

REFLECTING ON OUR JANUARY UPRISING: RESULTS AND PROSPECTS

IN LIEU OF AN INTRODUCTION:

This will not be the anticipated long exploratory and analytical contemplation about our recent collective experience in general, and the January Uprising in particular; one that is expected to shine some light on theory and practice of our unfolding Revolution. Nevertheless, this will be, however short, a cursory attempt to understand the significance and lessons of that Uprising, and its place in the unfolding Global Revolutionary Crisis.

THE WORLD HISTORIC CONTEXT:

The defining characteristic of the present moment in world history are; the Global and comprehensive crises of capitalism on the one hand; and the Global and intensifying Resistance of the Victims of that crises on the other hand!

The first has led the Global Ruling Classes and their allies not being able to continue to rule in the Old Way (implementation of austerity and belt tightening measures across the globe; cuts in social spending – removal of subsidies; massive layoffs of workers; collapse of transnational corporations and whole country economies and their consequent bailouts; brought forward/early but inconclusive elections, and resultant hung parliaments and resort to coalition governments etc): While the second has arisen from the oppressed, exploited and ruled classes being no longer willing to be ruled in the Old Way (hence the massive waves of strikes in response to the financial and economic crises across the globe; the Arab spring; the Global Occupy Movement; the general strikes across Europe – UK, Greece, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany etc; the growing protest movement in Chile, India etc; The January Uprising in Nigeria; The February Uprising in Senegal; and along with all these, the toppling of governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Yemen, and ongoing civil war in Syria, etc). [This entire section is an elaboration based on Lenin’s conditions for Revolution].

The resultant effect of the combination of these two sets of conditions have been the ongoing and unfolding Global Revolutionary Crisis, of which the January Uprising in Nigeria [and the act that triggered it – the January 1^st announcement of the hike in fuel prices] is an integral part.

Both the Nigerian ruling class which adopted the mantra of subsidy removal as the corner stone of its economic policy; and the Nigerian citizens, the oppressed and over exploited working majority, who responded in anger and unleashed the January Uprising were acting within this global context, within this global social dynamic, within this global overt class struggle, and within this global historic confrontation between the elite privileged and indulged ruling class on the one hand; and the exploited, disdainfully dismissed oppressed ruled working classes on the other hand.

However, it is important and significant to point out that whereas a revolutionary crisis does exist globally as well as in our country; it is not automatic or historically fated that the outcome will be a victorious revolution. There are in fact three possible broad outcomes; A revolutionary victory, leading to the taking of steps to begin the revolutionary social self emancipation of the oppressed and exploited classes, and the revolutionary social transformation of the society; A second possible outcome, is the victory of the counter revolution – either by conservative [those who intend to main the essence and appearance of the status quo intact] or by reformist [those who recognize the urgent necessity to change the appearance of the system in response to the demands and anger of the revolution, but who are intent on retaining the essence of the system intact] wings of the ruling class; And finally there is also a third possible outcome – the mutual exhaustion of the opposing classes in struggle, that is of both the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary forces; and the elevation into power of a third force, arising from the middle classes, wedded to the ruling upper class, and attempting to arbitrate between the contending classes while granting reforms, intensifying repression, and retaining the essential character of the old order [Fascism was such an outcome, the various police state dictatorships under military jackboots, are some other variants of this outcome].

It is in this sense that it is true that every revolutionary situation is also conversely, that is at one and the same time, a counter-revolutionary situation; because revolutionary victory is by no means automatic and inevitable.

THE JANUARY UPRISING:

If anyone still doubts the revolutionary implications of the January Uprising, then we should take a deeper look at interpreting the actions and inactions of the major social forces who were locked into this historic, and quite overt class confrontation, which had moved from the realm of the mere daily and routine class struggle, to the realm of the more intense class warfare in the space of days.

The January Uprising was triggered in the immediate sense, by the instant debilitating impact of the January 1^st announcement hiking fuel price by the unprecedented 118%. The effect on living conditions was immediate and generalized touching both the lower and middle classes adversely. Trotsky it was who once said that to a slap on the cheek, human beings react differently; but to being hit by a sledge hammer, human beings will react in the same way. This was what the impact of the January 1^st announcement led to: generalized anger and a willingness and yet unconscious determination to fight back.

It was this seismic shift in popular consciousness which the regime and the fractions of the ruling class cohering around it failed to understand, factor into their calculations or eventually recognize when it hit them in the face! They were unable to understand this seismic shift, manifested in this generalized anger and action because from the very beginning their analysis of the situation refracted through the bighted spectrum of the comfort of the ruling and privileged elite, had prevented them from ever contemplating that such an action would have such a grave impact on the poor, let alone the middle class! Those elevated to the position of running our economy could not and did not understand the very nature of that economy; the centrality of the availability and affordability of petrol to the stability of the conditions of existence of the ordinary citizens in particular, and the stability of the economy and polity in general! Haven never had to pay for petrol from their own pockets over the last decade and a half, they could not understand the impact of their policy of hiking fuel prices on the majority of the citizenry who have to pay for the product from their meager earnings, and who also do not have access to looted state funds!

But confronted with the anger which erupted into organised mass protests almost immediately, and particularly from the 3^rd of January; and which became significantly enhanced with the conscious entrance of organised labour through the two labour federations from the 9^th of January; the regime became overwhelmed by the scale, scope, and also [let it be said] implications [immense potential] of the Uprising.

It was in this sense that the regime began to put pressure on the leadership of the uprising, and began to strategically deploy psychological warfare on the leadership. One approach was to continue to hammer on what it called the deteriorating security situation; the hijack of the protests by hoodlums [impoverished youths created as a result of the policies of the ruling elite, which have exiled a sizeable portion of the population to live on the fringes of society]; including the allegation that the general strike and mass protest was providing a platform for their political opponents in the opposition to undertake what the regime called  a regime change agenda. And every now and then, throughout the Uprising, and in the course of the engagements between the government side and the leadership of the uprising, the specter of bringing in the army to restore order was always brought into the fray. The leadership would also be reminded that the army is not trained to control crowds but to suppress the enemy!

It was because the regime was aware of the revolutionary implications and potential consequence of the January Uprising that it raised the boogie of deteriorating security situation [whose security? The peoples’ security? Or the regime’s security? Throughout the Uprising there was no single threat from Boko Haram etc!]; the boogie of a regime change agenda by the political celebrities; and the subtle threat of bringing in the army to crush the resistance, which it termed restoring order.

But why was the political opposition slow to organise its own protests under its own banner, but quick to seek to take advantage of the popular protest and literally graft itself to the revolutionary podiums provided by the uprising? Why was it quick to sensationally associate itself with and project the limited regime change agenda? Because it felt that an Uprising was taking place, outside of its control, capable of overturning the status quo, and sidelining it, relegating it to a foot note in the historical process. So for two reasons, it had to seek to intervene in the process and be seen to be intervening on the side of the popular masses. So it had to graft itself to the podiums everywhere across the country, and sought to take control of the process. It was helped in this process by a media steeped in sensationalism, and who unwittingly became a tool in the hands of the political opposition, and began to ascribe the movement and the protests to the leadership of the opposition. But let it be said very clearly; the opposition parties played the most deceitful roll in the uprising. We know the ruling party had an official position backing the regime’s policy; but the opposition parties which made public declarations against the policy and in support of the popular protests; had their leading representatives on the joint government delegation which engaged with the joint labour-civil society delegation; which with one voice and one voice piled pressure on the protest leadership to call off the strike and mass actions, and which were part and parcel of the psychological warfare strategy deployed against the joint labour-civil society delegation/leadership.

But why did the joint labour civil society leadership also act in the manner that they acted throughout the Uprising?

From the very beginning there was a common awareness, even if not to the same degree and level, of the potential of the crisis to deepen and raise more fundamental questions about control of state power.

Although there was no common agreement on how this possibility might be handled. The labour leadership was limited by the structure and horizons of the trade union movement; the historic role of the trade union is to mediate between employer and employee, and the historic role of the leadership of this trade union therefore is to organise and undertake this mediation. So from the very beginning, unless it broke with tradition and convention, unless it is compelled by a force from outside of the union movement, it would structurally limit itself to negotiation and mediation. It was in this sense that this labour leadership found itself in a bind, when compelled by its alliance with pro-labour civil society and citizens organisations [primarily organised into the United Action For Democracy (UAD) & Joint Action Front (JAF); it was given the mandate of total reversal to 65 naira – that is to say a mandate not to negotiate any new price, but only to negotiate a return to the status quo before January 1^st and the conditions under which proper all embracing dialogue, consultation and negotiation would take place. [By all embracing it is meant, a discussion that includes tackling all the issues in the petroleum sector – corruption, state of refineries, determining actual daily consumption, etc].

Noticing that the labour leadership felt uncomfortable being in this bind, and was therefore more susceptible to pressure and psychological warfare; the joint delegation of the regime [including leadership of the NASS, Representatives (7) of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum, and Representatives of the Federal Executive Council of the Federation] began to implement an agenda of subtly introducing a wedge into the Labour-Civil society alliance, disparaging civil society as being unrepresentative, beholden to foreign interest and local political interests etc.

The impact of this was the effective [temporarily in historical terms – because our alliance is a conscious and obligatory solidarity, not an act of charity] ‘parting of ways’ between the labour [NLC & TUC] & Civil Society [UAD & JAF] components of the Labour-Civil Society Coalition [LASCO] which became apparent in the late evening of Sun 15^th January into the early hours of Monday 16^th January 2012. This division which was already visible in the composition of the delegation that met with the presidency and the joint government team during this hours, became even more evident when the separate components of the alliance addressed separate press conferences on the 16^th of January 2012 – Labour, at labour house at 1pm; and Civil society at CDD office at 2.30pm. At the 1pm press conference, the labour leadership announced the unilateral call off of the general strike, after earlier unilaterally announcing in a press statement the unilateral call off of the mass actions and street protests! At the 2.30pm press conference and in subsequent separate press statements [by UAD  & JAF], the civil society component of the alliance announced their rejection of the newly imposed price regime in the January 16^th address by the president, and the unilateral call off of the actions by the labour leadership.

Why did this happen? Both the labour [NLC & TUC] and civil society [UAD & JAF] had come to an understanding of the deepening character of the crisis, anticipated by the civil society leadership from the beginning; but each drew separate conclusions from this understanding. For the labour leadership, it was time to retreat, to safe guard the unions from repression which was imminent and had already been placed on the agenda; and which was going to be unleashed from the 16^th of January if there was no resolution by the 15^th of January. For the civil society [UAD & JAF], this was the time to intensify the actions, to up the ante, by for example beginning the shutdown of oil operations and the actual more or less permanent occupation of strategic places across the country. We had no doubt that if the deepened general strike and mass protests entered the second week across the country, that the regime will be faced with the choice of either throwing caution to the wind and beginning a brutal repression as in Syria or Libya before it; or will cave in and return to status quo ante. After-all we had offered the regime a 90 day window of opportunity after a return to status quo ante within which a genuine dialogue process aimed at addressing all the issues in the sector would take place.

So in very concrete terms all the parties to the conflict encapsulated by the January Uprising were aware of its revolutionary implications and potentials, and were guided in their responses by these awareness and the various class interests that they sought to protect in the crisis.

THE UPRISING ON THE STREETS:

There can be no doubt now that the January Uprising was unprecedented in the history of our country, both in its scale – active mass protests & general strike (occupying of the streets and work stoppage); in its scope – happening simultaneously across the country (in virtually every state of the federation and across well over 50 cities and towns); but also as well as in its impact on popular and pan Nigerian consciousness – the retreat of primordial identities (muslims & Christians praying and marching together – 1^st undertaken in Kano even in the pre January 9^th days; people from different parts of the country and from all works of life marching together across the country).

The most significant expression in language of this new Pan Nigerian Consciousness and Unity, was the concept and symbolism of OCCUPY! Every city where action took place described itself as Occupy; some new groups emerged and actually adopted the name Occupy Nigeria [which was expressed as either Occupy Nigeria City-State Chapter e.g Occupy Nigeria Abuja chapter; or as Occupy – name of the city/state, e.g Occupy PortHarourt & Occupy Kogi. In one of the most visible expression of this new emergent reality; all media coverage was filled with stories of Occupy activities; and security agents also admiring the new Occupy spirit of Nigerians as in the expression by some security agents: ‘Nigerians are just Occupying everywhere’.

One other clear manifestation of the spirit of the new times, which demonstrates the nature of the seismic shift in popular consciousness and the real opportunities for change and transformation were incidences on the street when members of the police force actually either joined/participated in marches or very clearly cooperated with protesters during the protests; or when security guards at the gates of the National Assembly [NASS] or the gates of the villa, whisper to the joint labour-civil society delegation not to compromise and to protect the interests of ordinary Nigerians!

More significantly however was the actual build up of the street protests and mass actions in the course of the uprising! Each new day, a new city or town would join; and each new day the population actively participating in the protests would double or increase significantly! Lagos and Kano attracted active participants in the millions; and Abuja attracted unprecedented population of active participants in the region of half a million by Thursday 12^th & Friday 13^th of January 2012.

The slogans on the street were also changing and with it came more political demands! The regime and its supporters had thought and even boasted that the protest would not take place; and when it actually began, that it would not last more than 2 or 3 days! This was responsible for the flurry of activities including the House of Representative resolution procured during an unprecedented session of that house (– on a Sunday and with members recalled from holiday!) on January 8^th on the eve of the general strike and nationwide mass actions! It was also responsible for the panic mode of the regime after Wednesday 11^th January, when the federal government and the governor’s forum through the instrumentality of the leadership of the Senate took over the negotiations and engagements, with the active supervision of the presidency. From that moment on it was clear that the regime wanted a resolution within that week!

The firs flurry of activities spearheaded by the House of Representatives was to prevent the general strike and the nationwide mass action taking off; the second flurry of activities under the presidency and anchored by the Senate leadership was to terminate the general strike and nationwide mass actions as soon as possible, and to prevent it entering a second week.

In this everyone seemed to be agreed that entering a second week without some resolution would deepen the crisis to a degree where its outcome could no longer be safely predicted. On the streets in response to the disbelief of the regime in the sustainability of the mass street protests by the masses; such slogans as: ‘They said we shall be tired after 3 days; but if they do not meet our demands, we shall be tired of them after 5 days’! The import of this on a sitting government could not have been overlooked!

UNDERLYING THE SEISMIC SHIFT IN CONSCIOUSNESS:

Driving this popular anger unleashed was the deleterious and instantly debilitating impact of the January 1^st announcement on the overwhelming majority of the citizens. It was this anger, which neither the regime nor the ruling class fractions cohering around it could understand; that also drove the deepening of positions on the streets as the intransigence and insensitivity of the regime became even more manifest.

Two sets of social forces in broad generational terms, came together to make the Uprising: The first were youths, and their new formations, inspired by the Arab spring, threatened by the impact of the global financial and economic crisis, and unencumbered by the tempering experience of previous defeats, since they had not been parts of those earlier upheavals, and had therefore not directly tasted in the defeats even if they had been inspired by tales of those experiences.

The second were the veterans of the past upheavals, experienced, having a clearer understanding of the situation and its potential, but hampered by excessive caution, a product of past defeats and repression.

But the coming together of these two generational activist forces, over the previous period of organising, mobilising, and awareness raising in several forums and through several media, including active and political use of the new social media; produced a combustible mix which was set alight by the impact of the January 1^st Announcement!

Of course neither of these generational activist formations acted outside of class; rather they acted more or less consciously within parameters defined by the class struggle; and played more or less class conscious roles in the making of the Uprising from the beginning of active awareness raising in about July-August 2011, to the tentative and preparatory direct mass class actions undertaken in a number of cities between October and December 2011 [Benin, Ibadan, Lagos, Osogbo, Ilesha, etc].

THE IMPLICATION OF OCCUPYING:

What does it mean to Occupy? And quite a number of seasoned and experienced activists had either dismissed or questioned the strategy of Occupy in the period leading up to the January Uprising.

To Occupy is to project a counter power to that of the ruling class, to that of the status quo; or any of its institutions being targeted. So it presents a range of counter power projections from say the management of a corporation/business; through the symbolic power of whole sectors of the economy (for example Wall street symbolizing the financial sector]; through the political power of a part of the state and or its territory [say against a City council etc]; to the political power of the state/country – through the initiation of the Dual Power Situation [as with the Occupation of Tahir Square, Benghazi etc] and the victorious supplanting of the existing state power by the popular organ of power which had been at the core of the initiated Dual Power Situation.

Therefore to proclaim an aim To Occupy Nigeria; and proceed to organise mass actions executed as Occupying parts of the territories of Nigeria as part of Occupy Nigeria; is to at the very least declare an unconscious intent to radically transform the nature of the polity and the social order. It is a call to revolution, a prelude to revolution.

To want to Occupy Nigeria; is to seek actively or passively, consciously or semi consciously the Revolutionary Social Transformation of the Socio-economic Order in the Country; it is to desire a rupture with the past and present so radical and abrupt as to constitute a Revolutionary remaking or reconstitution of the entity.

This is what the ruling class understood by our actions in the January Uprising, but which consciousness was and is still not yet equally clear to all the social elements, social forces and individuals who participated in the January Uprising.

And against the backdrop of the continuing rot in the system, the continued business as usual processes as if nothing happened in January; this is what needs to happen to Take Back Our Country From the alliance of Treasury Looters and Cabals in Business and the Economy. It is this sense that we need to find ways of deepening our revolution; prepare for the next uprising [which will soon enough be forced on us again]; and Continue Our Revolution until victory!

LESSONS OF THE JANUARY UPRISING:

In lieu of a conclusion; what can we learn from our January Uprising? What must me take from this uprising to inform our participation in the next uprising in such a way as to assure a different, and revolutionary outcome from this time around?

1.   

    We need to build a nationwide and Pan Nigerian political platform that will consciously challenge this thieving, looting and decadent ruling class for state power. And a platform built upon the networks and harvests of activists and activist formations which played active roles in the January Uprising.

      2.      

This political platform must retain the alliance with organised labour, but must be autonomous and strong enough to actually be a check on the waverings of the labour leadership, and act without the labour leadership while taking the mass of working people organised in the trade unions with along with it.

3.       The Social Media can and have played a quite significant role in the mobilisation of popular consciousness and in raising awareness; but it cannot substitute for real live organisations, and concrete real live organising activities. In this sense it can only supplement the organisation. It can play effectively play the role of a collective Organiser, Educator, Mobiliser for a conscious political platform.

If we do not take concrete steps to build this political platform, we leave any uprising that again occurs open to being hijacked by dissident sections of the ruling class, or what is saying the same thing; we risk letting these opportunist elements, who have a stake in retaining the essence of the status quo, become the beneficiaries of the uprising; as they became in the aftermath of our anti military struggle and the Uprising triggered by the June Twelve Crisis!

By Jaye Gaskia

National Convener

United Action For Democracy [UAD]

March 2012.