NIGERIA AND MARXISM For some time now, the polity has been heated by attacks and counter

attacks by people who claim they are speaking for a particular region or nation. These arguments were rooted in the deportation of destitute by the Lagos State government. A move that in my opinion was done in the best interest of Lagosians, which is a composition of representation from all over the country. Some people are now coming out claiming that they are speaking either for the Igbos or the Yorubas or for themselves. As a young Nigerian, one of the sad things I have noticed about this country is the fact that the elites have found three weapons through which they have continuously manipulated the common man and subjected him to their so called superior opinions. The first weapon is religion. When the great Economist and Sociologist, Karl Max once described it as the opium of the people, it was as if he had Nigeria in mind. Our elites have known for long that we are very passionate about our religion especially the ones that found their ways into this country from foreign lands. In some parts of the country, people are even ready to kill because of these foreign religions. It has become a major problem that in some cities in the northern part of the country, people reside along religious lines. Any mistake to do otherwise may have unimaginable consequences. The irony of the whole thing is that in such cities, a visit to the highbrow areas will reveal to you that the elites from the two warring religions live side by side and wine and dine together. The second thing the elites have always used against us is region. As soon as an elite has ran out of favour with colleagues, he starts singing the regional song and making it look as if an insult on him is an insult on the entire tribe or nation as they may call it. They will stand as if they have been selected to defend the tribe in question thereby injecting their personal opinions and making them to stand as the voice of everyone. But when real issues that affect the existence of such tribes and nations come up, such elites will be quick at selling their people and pocketing the change. The third weapon the elites use against us in this country is poverty. They know very well that having stolen so much from the country, there is nothing left for the people. Again, Karl Max had once said that the class which has the

means for material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means of mental production. Based on this position, they just give us crumbs and because we are hungry, we forget about their sins and hang on to the crumbs and as soon as it is running out, they quickly dish out some more. So if they tell us to go left, we tilt towards their command without questioning. Of course Karl Marx had pointed out that people must question everything. But how many Nigerians will stand up and objectively question the government? The late King of Reggae, Robert Niesta Marley said in one of his songs that you can fool some people sometimes but you cant fool all the people all the time. It is when elections are around the corner that our politicians remember us. It is unfortunate that most of those who find their way to the National Assembly are only concerned about their houses instead of their constituencies. Again, Karl Marx in one of his statements had made this observation: the oppressed are allowed once in every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them. People are beginning to see things from Marxs perspective and the heat is getting intense. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.