Bode,
You keep goading me. I have nothing to say. There is no equivalency here.
Xenophobic positions, such as yours, are a well-known to cause of violence and genocide, which in turn is what Professor Falola's warning asks us to be aware of. As such, I have an obligation to call that out, anytime. Professor Falola pointed out that "without a diversified economy, xenophobic arguments will be made," but that in no way means we should not call out xenophobia, particularly when it comes from people who should know better.
There you have it.
Ugo
From my mobile phone
--Ugo,
I hope you have something to say here as well.--On Sun, Oct 25, 2015 at 10:48 AM Bode <ominira@gmail.com> wrote:Dear Moderator,I would be the first to apologize for retaliatory name-calling. Thanks.BodeOn Sun, Oct 25, 2015 at 9:07 AM, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:--On a "Republic of two thousand kings" by Professor Osuntokun which I posted to generate a vibrant debate, it is time to make my intervention before I begin to reject future postings on the subject:
1. Scholars are expected to define and work for the ideals, as in our struggles to eliminate racism in the US, and dangerous group politics in Africa that have produced genocide in Rwanda, and civil wars everywhere.
2. In defining those ideals, we are privileging civic/secular institutions over the primordial. The primordial has its values, and they structure our identities, but it has its limitations in terms of citizenship in modern states. Scholars have to look for the best in those primordial and look for the best in the evolution of our modernity. No one can ask me not to eat my favorite food, amala and abula, as I cannot stop anyone from eating their dishes. But my food preference should not be the total determinant of my being and politics.
3. We have to be sensitive to people's lives. Irrespective of practices, anything that can lead to violence, killing the innocent, exodus of people, etc. must not be encouraged. Any statement or measure that lead to the death of one person is irresponsible anywhere in the world.
4. Local cultures must be respected. I have had alcohol in Sokoto, but I went to the spaces they created for it. I even had cold beer in Maiduguri but in spaces they allowed me to. The hotel in Sokoto said I should not bring alcohol into the room. I think it is disrespectful for me to smuggle alcohol into the room. If Muslims want no pork, why make institutional arguments over the selling of pork. If the Ondo people say they must have only one King, let it be, if only to protect the poor and the powerless, and call the leaders of groups and associations by other names, Chairman, President, etc. I am a Nigerian in Ondo, not an Ondo man, and this difference has to be respected. If they celebrate their Ogun festival, if I cannot join them, that should not be time when I will bring my Ibadan festival to their doors. They have the right to be angry.
5. Our cultures are in transition, and there are those who profit from the maintenance of the old. That profit may generate their conclicts.
6. Without a diversified economy, xenophobic arguments will be made. We have not created enough opportunities for our people. We accumulate resources that are not distributed very well. Every human being deserves the right to good food, good health, access to water, and a good bed to sleep at night. We should work for this common good, see them as fundamental rights of citizens. The empty stomach of a Kanuri is not different from the empty stomach of an Ijo man.
7. The poor are short-changed. New warlords have emerged all over the country collecting money from poor traders, transporters, market women, etc. The contemporary Eze, Sarkin, kabiyesi etc. are not "traditional" but new devices in the political economy of resource extractions and expression of bigmanism. The politics of the "big man" is a dangerous one which scholars should be careful to support.
8. All scholars must support and promote the efficiency of the informal sector, as this is the key to the survival of the majority of our people.
Dear scholars, stop calling yourself names that undermine our collective integrity as migrant scholars: silly names as eccentric, Old Lady, xenophobia, eccentric, separatist, tribalist, etc. Make your arguments, as Mbaku, always the hero in all these arguments, do.
Toyin FalolaDepartment of HistoryThe University of Texas at Austin104 Inner Campus DriveAustin, TX 78712-0220USA512 475 7222 (fax)
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