| By William Pomeroy Niceris, the most populous and one of the shest countries in Africa, is approaching a Critical juncture in its history, one that could. ve a major effect on the course of all Afri- Can development. It is preparing to return to Tepresentative government after 11 years of Military rule, and it will be adopting a new Constitution that will help shape the charac- ter of Nigerian society for the years ahead. _ Since its independence from British colo- nial rule in 1960, Nigeria has been both arena battleground for the main contending forces in liberated Africa — the feudal and tribal groupings that tend to resist social change, the foreign imperialist interests that have shifted to more indirect neo-colonial Methods of retaining control, a rising Black Urgeoisie that seeks to replace. foreign €conomic interests while contradictorily Maintaining links with them, and a growing Wage-earning working class that supports €mands for non-capitalist and socialist orms of national development. British imperialism left behind a nest of Conflicts, divide-and-rule time-bombs, as it did all over Africa and Asia, intended to im- Pede national unity for independent de- Velopment. In Nigeria, the feudal Moslem faders in the northern part of the country Were set against the Christianized Urgeois-inclined southern leaders to frus- trate industrialization, while the tribal t Biafra” breakaway move was nurtured by imperialist oil companies in the latter 1960s to Balkanize the new state. hen military rule was initiated in 1966 it Was supported by left-wing and other pro- 8fessive forces because it curtailed Separatist tendencies and attacked the cor- Tupt politicians nurtured under colonialism. the.long war to. put down the ‘Biafra’ Ee. Secession, beginning in 1967, many issues ~~ gay (y of national unity and development were Clarified to the people, the imperialist hand Was exposed and aid from the Soviet Union and other socialist countries showed who WZeria’s real friends are. he military regime, however, particu- larly under the 1966-1975 leadership of Gen- ‘ral Gowon in its latter years, repressed Progressive as well as reactionary political is ies and groupings and restricted the re- atively large trade union movement. If it forged a unitary state and halted separatist visions, it also maintained social divisions, €pt unequal land tenure intact, and inten- Sified bourgeoisification and the growth of a tanveau riche engendered by, private capi- Although, from its colonial inheritance, Nigeria has taken a generally capitalist path of development under its various leaders Since independence, it has been compelled ward a mixed economy with a large public mector, most basic industries being in state enetship. State direction of the economy, in IS7ppcuaior development plans (1962-1968, 70-1974 and 1975-1980), has augmented in- Ustrialization. Oil wealth greatly aids this, 8 state-owned Nigerian National Oil Com- Pany having taken majority holdings in the ™perialist oil operations in the country. fj Nigeria, in fact, has steadily been trans- €tring foreign industrial and commercial USinesses to Nigerian hands. Beginning iH h a 40% holding, this has now been Toadened to a 60% holding in most cases. The trend, however, for all its nationalist “i8nificance, has strengthened the private | Sector, not the public sector. Industrialization and economic growth ave strengthened progressive forces in Class of about 300,000 at independence time a Brown to over three nition and will be We million strong by 1980. Among these 8ely industrial workers about ore million fy in trade unions. (Of the Nigerian popula- ree 4 72 million nearly 70% is still agra- _ Politicalization in Nigeria has grown WBeria as well. A wage-earning working - rapidly. A Marxist-Leninist party, the Socialist Workers and Farmers Party of Nigeria, was established in 1963. Although banned with.all political parties after the 1966 military coup, its adherents have re- mained active in the trade unions, univer- sities and people’s organizations and have helped foster an extensive consciousness of the socialist alternative. : : Public opinion along nationalist, anti- imperialist and internationalist lines has be- come strong. and has been the predominant factor in making Nigeria often a progressive influence within the Organization of African Unity. Nigeria’s anti-apartheid stand, its backing of the MPLA government of Angola, and its current support for the liberation movements in Southern Africa have undoub- tedly been due largely to this popular senti- ment. Pressures of mass Sera ce serene: i development have been grow- ing within igeria as well In December 1975 Nigeria’s one million trade unionists who had been divided into 2,000 unions and four big federations (one of which, the Nigerian Trade Union Congress with 300,000 mem- bers, was affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions) were finally united into one Nigerian Labor Congress. The step frightened the bourgeoisie and the military regime, which tried to disrupt the NLC by _ initiating inquiries into alleged trade union cor TOT somewhat more liberal group of army officers ousted the Gowon regime. Its first leader, General Murtala Muhammed, was killed in an abortive counter-coup, but his successor, General Olusegun Obasanjo, has pursued the same pledges, which are for a return to representative, elected civilian PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPTEMBER 16, 1977—Page 7 oes a cocina a ; government by October 1979. This step is being taken in five stages. In the first stage, in October 1975, a committee to draft a constitution was set up, with 49 members. It drafted a new constitution which was submitted to nation-wide debate in October 1976. The second state, begun at that time, has included local elections for the first time in 12 years. Those elected are to‘choose part of the. members of a Constituent Assembly (the rest. appointed by the military regime), which is to meet in the latter part of 1977 to” - discuss the draft constitution and proposals on it, and to adopt:a constitution by March 1978. In October 1978 the third stage will occur: lifting of the ban on political parties. Among others, the Socialist Workers and Farmers Party could function and organize freely then, presumably. The fourth and fifth stages, to be completed by October 1979, will see elections of state governments and then of a federal civilian government. This whole process, as devised by the military regime, with pressures from the various sectors of the society, hinges on the nature of the new constitution. As drafted by the committee, it is plainly a charter for a bourgeois society and the development of capitalism. In the national debate, however, strong alternative proposals, for a constitu- tion fostering a socialist path, have been put forward. An articulate minority on the drafting committee itself, especially in the Sub- Committee on Fundamental Objectives and Public Accountability, had called for a socialist orientation, declaring that ‘‘the long-term objectives of socialism in Nigeria should be to place in the hands of the state and the people the ownership and control of the means of production, distribution and exchange,’’ and that. ‘‘the pursuit of-a socialist ideology in the context of a demo- cratic society is the only solid foundation upon which the happiness and prosperity of the people can be based.”’ It is reported that the local elections held in December 1976, in whichcandidatesran as individuals and not representing. parties, saw the election of a number of socialist- inclined and other progressive officials who will exert an influence on the Constitutent Assembly. Nigeria’s universities for the past year - and-a half have in particular been sites of strenuous debate on the draft constitution. A symposium held at the University of Nige- ria’s Enugu Campus in February 1977 by the Daily Times of Nigeria produced a paper that sharply criticized the draft for erecting a judiciary system dedicated to the protec- tion of private property rights and the pre- servation of an unequal social system. Written by the university’s Professor Ikenna Nzimiro, it said that ‘‘the Constitu- tional Drafting Committee has emphasized a capitalist economy which they dress in white garb in the pseudo-name of ‘mixed economy’ and erected a judiciary system that reflects the capitalist base which they advocate.” It pointed out that the ‘‘social class which con- trols wealth, invariably controls the organ of - the super-structure. A constitution that gives room for wealth to be controlled by a few people ipso facto emphasizes the fact that the ideas of the few should prevail.” Nigeria’s Daily Times published on April 2, 1977, a long statement, ‘‘Socialism is the Answer,” by the Nigerian Study Group in New York. It criticizes the draft constitution because it “does not really represent the as- pirations of the majority. of Nigerians, but * only the idéals and aspirations of the ruling class in our society.”’ The New York Study Group, which is composed of Nigerian students and ex- change professors, said: ‘‘Supposing we have a social and political system in which individuals do not compete for contracts, then nobody will give or receive bribes for the award of contracts. Similarly, if we have free education at all levels of school, then no corruption, bribery or even tribalism will be reported with respect to the award of scho- larship, since that question will not arise. If we make politics financially lucrative as a source of economic wealth and power, the people will get attracted to it for that pur- pose.”’ Calling for a ‘‘fundamental social and economic reorganization of our country,”’ the Study Group hit at the draft constitution for its lack of provisions to end Nigeria’s domestic exploitation. The group also charged that personal interests motivated “most members of the drafting committee, who wrote the document, ‘either because they hope to emerge as post-military rulers or because they have business and financial interests which only a particular constitution could guarantee.”’ Pointing out that the drafting committee had only vaguely discussed measures for protecting the people from foreign exploita- tion, the Study Group declared: “There can be no foreign exploitation of a people who do not have an exploitative economic system, or without that system being first introduced. Foreign exploitation is possible in a country where an exploitative capitalist system op- erates. And unless a nation destroys domes- tic exploitation, its people will continue to be victims of foreign exploitation.” The debate on Nigeria’s drafted new con- . Stitution shows the deep sentiment among the people for the development of an equita- ble, just society that can be achieved only by directing the country toward the path of socialism. It is a sentiment that has come to the fore in many other African countries that are now implementing socialist programs. In Nigeria the social forces are in motion that are able to make a socialist orientation a major issue for the people.