Long Reads: Adam Mayer and Baba Aye on Nigerian Politics from Independence to #EndSARS

Jacobin Radio

Jacobin

Socialism, History, News, Left, Jacobin, Alternative, Socialist, Politics

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2021

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by Features Editor Daniel Finn.

On this episode, Dan is joined by Adam Mayer, author of Naija Marxisms: Revolutionary Thought in Nigeria, as well as Baba Aye, Nigerian activist who works for the international trade union Public Services International.

Read Adam's piece "How Nigeria's Left Helped Shape the Country's History" here: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/06/nigeria-socialism-marxist-history

Produced by Conor Gillies, music by Knxwledge.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, you're very welcome to Longreads, a Jacquin podcast where we look in depth at political topics and thinkers.
0:06.0	My name is Daniel Finn and the features editor here at Jacquin and I'll be presenting the show.
0:12.0	Nigeria is by far the most populous country in Africa with an estimated 200 million people.
0:18.0	It also has the continent's largest economy and the world's second largest film industry.
0:22.0	It's soccer teams one of Africa's strongest.
0:25.0	Writers like Chinoa Chebe and musicians like Fela Kuti are world famous.
0:30.0	But Nigeria's politicians and political movements don't enjoy the same renowned.
0:35.0	The political histories of countries like South Africa or the DRC are much better known in the wider world.
0:40.0	The fact that Nigeria's culture is more famous than its political scene is rather ironic.
0:45.0	Many of the countries leading cultural figures have also been politically engaged.
0:50.0	Chinoa Chebe wasn't merely a novelist.
0:53.0	He was also a spokesman for the breakaway republic of Biafra in the 1960s.
0:57.0	Fela Kuti wasn't merely a musician.
0:59.0	He came from a family of political activists.
1:02.0	His mother, Funmalayo Ransom Kuti, was a pioneer of socialist feminism in Nigeria.
1:07.0	Fela Kuti himself provoked a wrath of Nigeria's military regime when he released the hit single Zombie in 1976.
1:14.0	Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Z
1:44.0	Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie, Zombie,
2:14.0	And the leaky toll gate in Lagos several different witnesses recorded footage of what appeared to be security personnel shooting at protesters who are blocking a major highway.
2:24.0	A number of people were reported killed.
2:27.0	It began as peaceful protest to demand an end to police brutality.
2:32.0	And for two weeks the government struggled but failed to come protesters.
	...

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