For Popular Armament of Oppressed Ethnic Nationalities! Form Armed Self-Defense Militia To Defeat the Salafist Invaders!

Emergency statement of the Revolutionary Socialist Vanguard (RSV), Nigerian Section of the RCIT, 28th July, 2022, https://communism4africa.wordpress.com

Amidst protests in Imo State to #EndEbubeAgu terrorists have threatened to launch massive attacks in Lagos, Abuja and other major cities. This comes after the ambush of the Presidential Guard Corps intervening to forestall a terror attack on a Law school leaving 2 soldiers dead and 14 others including a captain abducted.

The combined effect of the threat and the ambush within a time span of 48hrs from each other has led to the shutdown of schools throughout the length and breath of the federal capital territory. There are now heightened fears that a terrorist takeover may be imminent especially since a contingent of senators have moved the motion for the impeachment of president Muhammad Buhari but was blocked by the senate president Ahmed Lawan. Helpless and confused the Federal government vacillates over imposing a nationwide ban on motorbikes.

An Imminent Coup by Salafist Groups?

It has been revealed that over 44 reports were presented to the president warning him that an attack on Kuje prisons by terrorist cells was in the offing, but no measures were taken to avert it. This bears striking resemblance with the terrorist attack on Capitol Hill on January 6^th 2021 wherein president Trump was totally complicit.

Following the release of about 64 members of the Wahhabi-Salafist groups including some leading members from Kuje Prisons, hostages from the Abuja-Kaduna train attack of March 28 were freed by their abductors, the ISWAP terrorists. ISWAP has released a video of them torturing the remaining hostages and threatening to kill president Buhari and the Kaduna state governor, Nasir El Rufai.

The National Assembly can sense the danger of an overrun of whatever state forces will try to repel the takeover of the Salafist militias. They therefore stage performative actions suggestive of them impeaching the president and storming out of their chamber of lies after. Moreso, these politicians are literally ditching the government. The Senate is planning for a 7-week break. The president himself is off to Liberia in an ironic twist to speak at a summit on insecurity. The vice president is tucked away down south in Lagos where he is convalescing after a surgery. All these are pretext to abandon the capital for the purpose of a more seamless or bloodless transfer of power to broad forces of the Wahhabi-Salafist reaction including ISWAP, Boko Haram and the Fulani militia known as Bandits.

Peter Obi: The West’s Desperate Attempt to Save Nigeria

For months now, we have explained how Nigeria is a project of British imperialism founded on Northern supremacy and managed by the Fulani hegemon. Now with the onset of the worst capitalist crises which includes the climate catastrophe tensions have become heightened and the neo-colonial contraption becomes more impracticable. The settler colonialist Fulani headed northern hegemon must expand to survive. In the same way, conditions have taught the Middle Beltan and Southern ethnic nationalities that their lands have always been mapped out for conquest in service of Western imperialism.

Before now it was possible for Northern politicians to promise their extremist base an advancement of their Salafist conquest of Nigeria hence the fulcrum upon which ruling class factions vie for political power and through which the Buhari administration emerged victorious in 2015. But with the heightened rivalry between Northern and Southern factions of the ruling class which played out in the two jumbo parties having powerful southern contenders, the likes of Tinubu and Wike. The official arm of the northern hegemon is at its weakest and so it has lost control and support of its base who will rather take power themselves than use the usual functionaries.

At the same time, to maintain their power, wealth and position the northern elite cannot be seen to oppose their erstwhile auxiliaries so they beat a tactical retreat with covert support for their base. At this juncture is where Peter Obi comes in as the ultimate attempt to rescue the Nigerian conclave. To be sure, many political analysts and experts have expressed astonishment that Nigeria still exists. In fact, there are speculations that the British only intended for the amalgamation to last for one hundred years, that is till 2014. So Western attempts to keep Nigeria together have serious limitations and has such may not prevent the Salafist coup.

Obi’s departure from PDP immediately after a visit to 10 Downing Street; the UN’s resolution mandating the release and compensation of Nnamdi Kanu and the leeway for the NLC to hold a two-day warning strike in solidarity with striking university staff; show desperate attempts by Western imperialism to hold the Nigerian forte together. Furthermore, they demonstrate the loss of ability of the northern elite to call the shots for the time being.

It is true that even upon disintegration the UK and Western imperialism in generally can carry on imperialist exploitation, but it becomes more difficult and creates greater avenue for imperialist rivals from the East like China and Russia to plunge their talons into West Africa.

With the virtual desertion of Abuja, a coup by broad Salafist forces may be around the corner. Any other course of events will be predicted with much difficulty. What is sure, however, is that the asymmetric war of ethnic cleansing by these groups will accentuate in the coming periods. Even a Peter Obi victory will only make things worse as his trump card would be imperialist intervention in the conflict which could lead to a stalemate.

While we support the Buhari Must Go campaign gradually gaining momentum on social media we oppose all political support for the opposition politicians in the PDP. They must not be trusted or allowed to hold brief when the movement enters the streets.

We call for Popular Armament for the people of Middle Belt and South as well as Christians, Shi’ites, and other sections of the oppressed facing the ethnic cleansing and genocide. The Ondo state governor has vowed that should attacks like the Owo Massacre persist his government will arm civilians. This is an indirect way of telling the people to defend themselves. We call for the formation of armed self-defence militias in schools, villages, churches, communities, workplaces and major roads to repel these attacks. These self-defence militias shall organise self-defence classes and weapons training for the people. Searches combing surrounding forests must begin to flush out the terrorist cells in the woods.

In case of a successful Salafist coup the southern governments will most likely rely on the intervention of imperialist armies, albeit, they will be forced to exert some form of autonomy in order to resist the putschists. Revolutionaries must maintain an independent profile as they participate in any form this resistance may take and work for the total dissolution of Nigeria and the defeat of the Salafist forces.

No illusion should be had, Nigeria will not dissolve itself. Revolutionaries must work within the movements for national self-determination in the South to cast off the yoke of the southern ruling class and for democratic decision making in such movements. For us, the organs that can lead to the victorious emergence of the masses over the Salafist forces and freedom for oppressed ethnic nationalities are workers and community councils formed through democratic elections of its members which must be subject to recall.

No trust in the intervention of UN, EU, NATO and other imperialist organisations or their lackeys in ECOWAS. No trust in Russian nor Chinese imperialism too! Only through the collective might of the oppressed masses shall we be victorious! We shall overcome!