I noticed since when I was an undergraduate that when you read an introductory sociology text from Britain and another from the U.S. there is a marked difference in tone and this has had decisive impact on my thinking since from my youthful days.
The British texts, once they define society, the next chapter they impressed on you is SOCIAL STRATIFICATION where they focus a lot on power. British sociology then in my view impresses on the student to understand that without understanding social stratifications and the workings of power in society, one cannot even understand culture, let alone politics etc.
American introductory sociology texts try as much to diminish the importance of power in understanding the workings of society maybe because of the presumed dominance of the "pluralist" tradition in AMerican reasoning or the fear of being characterized as leftist or socialist in orientation.
I think a lot about Nigeria, and yesterday when I went to the store, I felt like I had something shameful, a stigma to hide. ANd I realized it was just my reflection on the embarrassment that Nigeria to herself and her people that the country cannot hold an election as scheduled and the excuses given are just childish. This issue is not about who one supports now, but rather it is about institutions functioning very well. You cannot mobilize millions of people and then decide to change the date abruptly.
It is obvious there is a lot going behind the scene. In fairness to many newspapers who may be considered supporting APC, so far for anyone that has invested time to read what has been published by such newspapers, events have proven them right, not wrong. I read about ten Nigerian newspapers daily to just get an idea of what is doing on about the elections.
This is a serious provocation on the part of the government. If the council of state did not work, then there was the second option, and they proceeded to it. President GEJ is the commander in chief and the service chiefs are serving under his pleasure. 21 electoral commissioners said the elections should proceed, 16 said no, so where is the democracy? If in years the government cannot handle the insurgency why now and how can we be sure that they will succeed when thousands of them were killed like rats and no one in Abuja seriously cared. But as a Professor of the University of Ilorin pointed out in the African Examiner, the consultation ought to have involved the real representatives of Nigerian people. So we have the Washington Consensus and Liberal Democracy, but the substance of the process is that of a dictatorship. Dictatorships operate in many forms. As scholars we must both understand the formal and the substantive, the virtual and the real.
I lament for the country. Many of our elites do not respect our people. Even those who take care of animals do not want to abruptly change their routine. In some cases, animals receive more care than the way some of our people are treated in Africa. Afterall it is not only the white person that can treat the black man badly as it was all assumed by many before. Your fellow black man can treat you like trash depending on his or her values.
Samuel
On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 1:43 PM, 'Funmi Tofowomo Okelola' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:
"Nigerians must be vigilant. The postponement is just the first move. Jonathan's endgame is not to have elections at all." --Helon Habila @Helonhabila--Copied from his Twitter timeline.Funmi Tofowomo Okelola
-In the absence of greatness, mediocrity thrives.
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Samuel Zalanga
Department of Anthropology, Sociology & Reconciliation Studies
Bethel University, 3900 Bethel Drive #24
Saint Paul, MN 55112.
Office Phone: 651-638-6023
Department of Anthropology, Sociology & Reconciliation Studies
Bethel University, 3900 Bethel Drive #24
Saint Paul, MN 55112.
Office Phone: 651-638-6023
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
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Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
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