16 THE CAROLINA TIMES ' SAT.. MARCH 8. 1982 -
aShagari's Foes Consider Forming Coalition
i
Ugandan Rebels Strike Kampala
AN, Nigerian Presi
dent Shehu Shagari and
his ruling National Party
(NPN) are increasingly
worried about the 1983
; elections following the
January announcement
of an ! "electoral
alliance" among major
opposition parties. -
Speaking at the
University of Jos in
Plateau State recently,
Shagari called for an
.:. "ethical revolution" and
. lashed put at those who
continued to sow the
seeds of disunity and
political contention a
thinly-veiled reference to
the more outspoken
elements of . the
parliamentary opposition.
Previously, in a strict
ly political context, the
Nigerian leader told an
NPN convention that a
merger among minority
parties would constitute
an ' "ill-motivated
alliance and gang-up"
posing dangers to "the
stability and health
development of our na
tional policies."
Last month's Cabinet
reshuffle was taken by
many observers as an ef
fort to displace the
weaker personalities in
the Federal ministries
with an eye to the 1983
elections. Many
Nigerians, however,
were reportedly disap
pointed at the lack of
any major policy in
itiative to go along with
the reshuffle.
The most significant
personnel shift was the
appointment of former
Industries Minister
Adamu Ciroma to head
the Agriculture Ministry.
The farm sector has been
Shagari's' top . economic ,
priority, and Ciroma, ac
claimed for his efficien-.
cy, is mqst probably ex-;
pected to produce at
least , one concrete
achievement to which the
government can point,
come campaign time.
The strength of the
challenge to Shagari's
NPN depends largely on
the outcome of negotia
t ns now under way
among the Unity Party
(UPN), the - Nigerian
People's Party (NPP),
the Great Nigerian Peo
ple's Party (GNPP) and
a dissident faction of the
People's Redemption
Party (PRP). Following
a January meeting in
Benin involving all four
groups, UPN Senate
leader Jonathan Odebiyi
was made chairman of
an inter-party committee
to determine the shape of
the alliance, but he has
since gone oh record as
saying a genuine merger
by 1983 was quite unlike
ly. Speculation in the
press, consequently, has
' focused on the prospect
of limited electoral
cooperation in which the
opposition parties would '
support one 'presidential ;
candidate, UPN leader
Chief Obafemi ;
Awolowo, and possibly '
agree not to contest
legislature seats likely to
be won by other
members of the coali
tion. As West, Africa
magazine observes,
however, such an ar
rangement would imply
thai "each party will win
its traditional stronghold
and the political
geography and climate
of Nigeria will remain
unchanged." Except, of '
course, that the- NPN
would likely suffer
numerous setbacks.
Though the Nigerian
constitution requires
registered political par
tic to demonstrate sup-.
port and to maintain of
fices n all parts of the;
country, regional and
ethnic factors remained
extremely important in
the last election. The
UPN is clearly strongest
among the Yoruba (in
the west); the NPP has
an avid following among
the I bo (in the cast); the
PRP is most formidable
: il i .' i . i
in i iic iiuiin; anu uic
GNPP ran strongest in
the north and middle
belt. The NPN. often
labeled a 1 party of
hucinKiTM,n and nmf.
sionals, is ' considered
more national in
rharxrtpr hut it alert mi.
joys firmest support in
the Islamic north.
Nigeria's "Second
Republic" has
undergone severe growVJ
ing pains at times since
the military handed over
power to civilians in
1979, but some commen
tators argue that the .
traditional politics based
on ethnicity and regional
interest is slowly giving
way to a politics based
on ideology. The current
merger negotiations pro
vide a test for this
theory.
The likeliest
ideological partnership
in the proposed alliance
couples the UPN with
the PRP dissidents.
AwOlowo's party,
though far from a
revolutionary socialist
force, has laid claim to a
progressive' political
' label, putting forth as its
basic program the provi
sion of free education at
all levels, free health
care, integrated rural
development and full
employment. Similarly,
the PRP's initial plat
form, considered by
some the most radical
manifesto, called for im
proved social services,
the repeal of some tradi
tional taxes on the
peasantry and other
economic changes to
help the long-overlooked
wage laborer and rural
dweller.
While PRP leader
Aminu Kano decided
early on to refrain from
confrontation tactics in
dealing with the vic
torious NPN, many par
ty radicals dissented, and
in 1980 the PRP split.
Among the leaders of .
the PRP radical branch,
which will be forced to
re-register under a new
name if it is to contest
the 1983 elections, are
the governor of Kano
Sate, Muhammed
Abubakar Rimi, and the
former Governor of
Kaduna, Balarabe Musa.
Musa was impeached last
June by the NPN
controlled j state
legislature, a showdown
that deepened antipathy
toward the ruling party
and sowed the seeds of
the new opposition
front. Weeks later Kano
Governor Rimi was
Shaken by Aa violent'
uprising in Kanq city
something apparently
triggered by the criticism
his left-leaning ad
ministration addressed
to the local emir.
The UPN's Awolowo
and the PRP radicals
tend to cast their
criticism of Shagari and
the NPN in class terms.
"We must not under
rate the feudalist reac
tionaries who are now
using the NPN as their
rear guard platform,"
Awolowo told a party
congress in December.
"They ; obsessionally
believe that it is their
destiny to rule. . . .and
they regard all others
outside their class as
serfs and underlings."
Kano governor Rimi
saw the violence last- July
as proof that the north's
traditional Muslim
feudal establishment
would balk at nothing in
the effort to fend off
forces of social change.
"This terrible scandal,"
he says, "goes a long
way to confirm the fear
of the Nigerian populace
about the partisan role
of the police in propping
up the NPN neofascist
regime in our body
politic."
The UPN and PRP
dissidents have, by no
means worked out the
specifics of a populist
platform - for 1983,
however, and, even if
they had, the rhetoric
would probably be lost
on the NPP and GNPP
Secretary General Alex
Fom accuses the ruling
party . of being
4 s h am c 1 c s s I y
materialistic," but he
also says that discussions
on a socialist' program
for the opposition
alliance would be a
"waste of time." GNPP
officials arc likewise con
sidered ' wedded to. a
middle-of-the-road,
'pragmatic' approach. .
Organizers of the ant i
NPN coalition ,. clearly
have their work cut out
in the months ahead, but
even a modicum of suc
cess in coordinating elec
toral strategy and back
ing key candidates could
damage Shagari's party.
The NPN enjpyed a
working legislative ma
jority for a time, thanks
to a temporary alliance
with the NPP, but it now
controls roughly only
forty per cent of the seats
in each house, and the
president is having , a
tough time with his
legislation, as witness
last year's revenue
allocation dispute.
Ironically, even the
government's Electoral
Bill has, been ' bogged
.down in numerous revi
sions, and Shagari
recently addressed a let
ter to legislators asking
that the bill be spared
further amendments.
" 'AN Fighting return
ed n to i' the Ugandan
capital ' Kampala last"
week, as guerrillas trying
; to oust President Milton
Obote launched attacks
on army barracks and
troop-carrying .', govern
ment vehicles, leaving
' more than 150 , soldiers
dead. -V':':- .
The barracks were at-.
tacked in the early hours
of February 23, and the
guerrillas reportedly cap
tured a number of
weapons from the army !
arsenal. Two days later,
two trucks loaded with
soldiers were reportedly
destroyed within 25
kilometers (17 miles) of
Kampala. : . -' -
X: In retaliation; govern
ment troops were said to
be searching Kampala
homes for, suspected in
surgents. A BBC cor
respondent in the city
said at least forty
civilians had been killed
by the soldiers. ,
Responsibility for, the
attacks, was claimed by
the Uganda Freedom
Movement, which joined
other Obote opponents
in the Uganda people's
Front formed last month
in London. The front
was announced by two
former presidents, God
frey Binaisa and Yusufu
Lule, . who served bet
ween the ouster of Idi '
'Amin in 1979 and ' the
election of Obote in
:December 1980.;
The opponents 'accuse
Obote of rigging the elec
tion . with , , Tanzanian
assistance, ..Tanzanian
troops joined with a
combined .Ugandan bp-
position- army to , oust
Amin, then stayed on to
maintain stability until
they were withdrawn last
year. :. ;:; '-'V'
Obote declared a New
Year's amnesty ' and
released thirty opposi
tion . politicians.
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