We begin with
a proposition which may be framed this way: “The question as to how Nigerian
Leftists should vote in the 2019 general elections will not arise if there are
in existence, and participating in the elections, political parties that are
serious, clearly Leftist, ideologically anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist and
categorical on each of the burning questions before the Nigerian people, before
the country, and before the nation”.
The proposition
is enclosed in quotation marks—though it is new and comes from me—merely to
indicate that it is fundamental at this critical point in Nigeria’s political
history. My main references here are my published essays in the last 12 months
on the need and the possibility of a resurgence of the Nigerian Left.
Our first task
here is to try to explain some of the key terms of our proposition which,
though loaded in form, is actually very simple and straight forward given the
references I have just cited. This first task will be followed by an
explanatory note on the proposition as a whole.
There are
three other terms that require explanatory notes: ideological condition of being
“clearly Leftist”; concreteness, definitiveness and clarity of manifesto; and
“ideologically anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist”. The first can be
summarized as commitment to the massive redeployment and redistribution of the
nation’s resources to the working and toiling masses, the poor and the “rejects
of life”; the second is “the people’s manifesto” which has been one of the
central elements of my campaign and has virtually been presented in my published
essays of the past 12 months; and the third is the requirement that the general
character, proclamation and “body language”— if not programme content—of
political Leftism in Nigeria of 2018 should be anti-capitalist and
anti-imperialist.
With this
extensive “glossary” at the back of our minds what our central proposition is
saying may be broken down as follows: If there are, in existence, Leftist
formations which satisfy the elementary general conditions that are embodied in
the proposition, we ought to simply urge Nigerian Leftists to vote for them and
their candidates where practically possible. If there are more than one
formation in this category competing for a particular position, then Leftists
should apply further (revolutionary) criteria
to make a choice.
If, however,
there is no Leftist formation satisfying the elementary general condition—which
means that Nigerian Leftists and the popular masses are facing non-Leftist
parties of varying sizes, strengths and colorations—Leftists may apply the two
age-long dialectical criteria of choice which may here be framed as questions:
Under what possible regime will the Nigerian Left be most able to grow stronger
as an independent movement? And under what possible regime will the popular
masses achieve wider and deeper freedoms and greater material and spiritual
well-being?
For the
avoidance of doubt, and for emphasis, the second criterion may be broken down
into: One: Massive redeployment and
redistribution of resources to the popular masses in a way that leads to rapid,
radical, substantial and measurable amelioration of the present harsh
conditions under which the popular masses live and reproduce their lives. Two: Introduction
of a new structure of power and governance which will enhance people’s power and
popular democracy. This new structure is conceived by factions of the ruling
class as fiscal federalism, devolution of power or geopolitical restructuring.
But I have conceived and presented it as “restructuring under popular democracy”
or “popular-democratic restructuring.” Three:
Democratization of the state. (Here it is important to note that what we are
employing is the language of “electoral struggle” and not that of “call to
arms”!).
The attributes
which we have, in this piece, prescribed to Nigerian Leftists as minimum
general conditions for the adoption of a political party for voting purposes
are abstractions from elements of a draft platform (people’s manifesto) which
we had earlier—in a series of published essays over the last 12 months—prescribed
for the establishment of a strongly-rooted and substantial organization of the
Nigerian Left, or a Leftist “organization of a new type”.
The main
difference is that we are not, and should not be imposing, too rigorous
conditions on the strategy, tactics, methods and internal regime of a political
party if we are only considering it for voting purposes and not for membership.
It is because this new organization of the Left—signaling a resurgence—has not
emerged that we are proposing conditions for adopting (existing) Leftist or
non-Leftist parties for voting purposes. When the organization of our
expectation emerges the debate of what parties to adopt or vote for ceases and
direct struggle for power genuinely begins.
In an essay
entitled In this 20th year of
“democracy” and published on June 13, 2018, I proposed a scenario for the
emergence of a Leftist “organization of a new type.” I re-present the relevant
segment: “A small ad-hoc group of Nigerian Leftists—from the ranks of
revolutionary Marxists—should volunteer and select themselves and assume the
revolutionary responsibility of convening an all-Nigeria “unity meeting” of
Leftists (Marxists, socialists and radical democrats). The ad-hoc group should
present the following to the meeting: a draft people’s manifesto, a draft
memorandum on participation in electoral politics, a draft newsletter, a
provisional coordinating and documentation centre, a draft “unifying name” and
a draft programme and structure”. Every other thing will follow from that
meeting.
In the absence
of this “organization of a new type”, how do we advise the masses (that is,
beyond hard-core Leftists) as the campaigns begin? In the first place,
political sense dictates that we advise and encourage the masses to exercise
their right to vote. In the second place, the irreducible need for political
consistency and credibility dictates that we popularize the conditions we have
prescribed to the Leftists. But in doing this we also need to reduce the
insistence. For the masses are not being mobilized for a national examination
or war of survival! The range of choices before the masses—in the absence of Leftist
intervention—eloquently says so. Only for Leftists is it imperative to
apprehend the possible dynamics of the current situation in the country. And this
situation goes beyond campaigns for the 2019 elections.
To conclude:
In my piece, Differences in the Nigerian
Left of October 4, 2018, I acknowledged that major and minor differences do
exist and have existed for long in the movement. This is an objective fact of
history. I also know that a new organization of the Nigerian Left which
hopefully will emerge on the platform we have been articulating will not
embrace all tendencies and all formations in the movement. The hope, however,
is that if the resurgence project is pursued with seriousness, honesty and
dedication, the emerging formation will pull together most of the virile and
truly Leftist formations and individuals in the Nigerian Left. Only then will the
struggle enter a new phase.
*Contributed by Edwin Madunagu,
mathematician and journalist, writes from Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.
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