The national question and radical politics in Nigeria

Abstract

In his introduction to Billy Dudley's posthumous book (1982:8), A.D. Yahaya stated that: The political future of the country as one indivisible nation is resolved with the end of the civil war ... It is therefore not conceivable for the present generation of Nigerians who were so much part of the struggle for the survival of the federation to resuscitate the unity of the country as a political issue. The major political issue today is, therefore, not the unity of the country. It would seem, however, that events in Nigeria since 1983, such as the No Nation! No Destiny!broadcast of the FRCN Kaduna; the acrimonious and chauvinistic campaigns associated with the 1983 elections; the incessant disputes over the question of Federal Character; and the debacle over Nigeria's affiliation to the Organisation of Islamic Countries, tend to suggest that the unity of the country cannot be taken for granted. The Civil War did not resolve the National Question in Nigeria. What is true is that the Nigerian state was able to overcome a specific challenge to its integrity. This does not, however, mean that no future challenges are probable, or that the state would always have the capacity to overcome such challenges. The emergence of Anya Anya II in the Sudan is a case in point. The unity of the country cannot, therefore, be necessarily guaranteed by the state as currently constituted. This paper is an attempt at examining some of the theoretical and political issues relating to the resolution of the National Question in contemporary Nigeria. The first section attempts a definition of the problematic, while the second looks at the specific manifestations of the National Question within the Nigerian political economy. The third section examines the solutions put forward for resolving the National Question within mainstream Nigerian politics; while the fourth considers the relationship between radical politics and the National Question. The final section attempts a summary of the entire discourse.