the people say...
Nigerian military control is 'dictatorship'
To the editor:
I wish to express my observations on the article "Stop Dabbling in Nigerian Politics" by Mr. H. Oziri Ubamadu, which you printed March 18.
Ubamadu's article is an obvious manifestation of misunderstanding of not only the article "Nigeria: Notes, Comments and Observations" by Makau but even of the issue in question even though it concerns his country. He set out to refute Makau's arguments for the army takeover of Balewa's regime in Nigeria. He ended up to substantiate these points further without obviously realizing what he was doing.
Makau said that Balewa's regime was overthrown despite the myth that Balewa himself "was dignified, democratic, efficient ad nauseam before the coup. The State Department concurred. The intellectuals too. All this was done in spite of the obvious alienation of the Balewa regime from the people. African leaders criticized him but they were ignored. African students here, in the rest of the country, in Russia, and in other parts of the world, pointed out that Balewa's regime was not only corrupt, inefficient and above all illegitimate (in the strict political sense of legitimized power not by law but by embracing the aspirations and goals of the society) but also as pro United States of America."
THAT IS THE full quote; but Ubamadu preferred to select the very bit about the United States in order to serve his own purpose of heaping disrepute on the article and the paper in which the article appeared.
Even the one quotation he picked out from the whole article is incomplete. Makau did not say that "To be pro any block outside Africa is the cardinal sin for any African regime"; but he also continued thus, "Make no mistake about it, the Africans are not going to sell their independence to either Russia, United States or any other country." If Ubamudu should see this as being anti-American, then we must confess, he has his terms mixed up.
But as I said earlier, it might all have been done with intention. Patriotism, we know, has caused strange things in the past. Here we have a patriotic student who must come to the defense of his country, who could not see eye to eye with Zana Bucka Dipcharima, the former minister of Transportation in his government who said, "We must have a unitary state. No private domains. No tribalism. This revolt was motivated by disgust with politicians. Nigeria has always been called a model of democracy. Now we must become the model for military coups."
Now to see who is offering erroneous information about Nigeria, we shall take a look at what Ubamadu said next. "If Mr. Makau . . . understands democracy as the government of the people, by the people and for the people, then he will realize that the present military government of Nigeria is truly democratic. The handover of power to the military was voluntary and has been popularly accepted by the people of Nigeria.
"I am assuring all good people that the Nigerian military government will continue to be the showcase of democracy in Africa for which Nigeria has been known."
Where on earth has any military government been described by any other thing short of despotism? Does Ubamadu really distinguish between a government institution based on the choice of
the majority and one imposed on them?
But in case we forget, Ubamadu is from Eastern Nigeria, that part of southern Nigeria from which the leaders of the military regime emerged, that region in which the politicians escaped the military purges that attended the coup. There is no doubt that much of Nigerian politics is factially oriented along regional lines if not tribal. The country's various regions carved out to serve the varying tribal interests had resulted in the predominance of the more populated though less educated northern region.
Southerners like Ubamadu resent this situation. That is why they have been jubilant over the results of the coup. That is why Ubamadu could not put in a single word for the victim of Nigerian political circumstances, Alhagi Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a statesman unblemished in his person up to the time of his murder.
Rather than do that, he prefers to color a favorable image of his country's military dictatorship for the appreciation of Americans. No matter what policy this dictatorship adopts towards America, or for that matter towards any other country in the world, it will still remain a dictatorship and not a democratically instituted government.
No electorate voted it in; none can vote it out. The dictatorship can only end when the army is ready to end it . . . and that won't happen until the whole set-up of the democratically instituted Nigerian political framework that existed at the time of Nigerian independence is overhauled to the benefit of the southerners.
Emmanuel Akuchu Cameroon student
Better Union
To the Editor:
It has come to my attention this semester that the usual low-key, sub-surface student dissatisfaction with the Kansas Union is rising in a steady crescendo to a level of openly-expressed concern and clear dissatisfaction with the price of sales and the quality of services in the Union.
The Kansas Union is supposedly run for the benefit of the KU student body. However, the price of food and concession items is equal or above that charged by downtown merchants. And the service is often worse.
SINCE THE Union is run for the benefit of the student body and is financed mostly by it, I think we students have every right to inquire into how the union is run and why. If the union is being managed as well as possible, an open investigation would disclose this. If it is not, however, this would be every bit the legitimate concern of the student body.
The Kansas Union is a non-profit operation. This is truly amazing in view of a couple of considerations—that the price of food and concessions is equal or above that downtown, that wages in the union are barely equal to and often far below those downtown, and that each student pays a $12 student union fee every semester. Last year this student contribution amounted to $277,000. Roughly translated, this sum amounts to one quarter of a million dollars. Is this sum needed in addition to the profits from food, books and concessions to keep the union operation in the black? I submit that we have a right to know exactly how our student union fees are used and why.
The Kansas Union is a private corporation. Therefore, I assume that private individuals and/or organizations have a financial interest in it. If this is the case, what is the identity of these private interests? Do they at present receive dividends or any other financial return from their investment? Or are private concerns no longer involved?
I PROPOSE that several reforms be implemented immediately, not so much because the union can well afford them (in its sorry state it probably can't), but because the general principles of exploitation of labor and a monopoly market are concerned. I propose:
That the price of food be lowered immediately to the level of January, 1966. (Prices were raised between semesters.)
- That the minimum wage of $1.25 or its equivalent be extended immediately to all union employees presently paid below that level.
That a Student Union University Relations Committee composed of union and university administrators, faculty, and students, and patterned generally in regard to function after the University Human Relations Committee, be established to deal with student dissatisfactions concerning the union.
Eileen M. Wilcox Lawrence senior
Higher wages
How much is your time worth?
Eighty cents an hour? A dollar?
A buck and a quarter? What is
the going rate for an hour of lost
study time? Is there anything we
can reasonably do to raise the
student minimum wage on campus?
These are the questions behind the current organization of student labor on campus. We want to know from the student body what you want to do about student wages. The goal of the Student Labor Organization is to achieve a significant hike in student wages without adversely affecting the number of student-filled positions.
To do it, however, we must have the support and active participation of both the student body and the administration. No single faction, regardless f size or power, can make headway in this matter.
We have one and only one means of raising student wages without cutting back on the University budget in some other area. That is to go to the State Legislature, through the Board of Regents, and apply for additional funds beyond the wage allotment of the last few years. The Board of Regents meets on the 21st and 22nd of April to prepare the University budget request for the coming fiscal year.
Our first step will be to present a documented study of on- and off-campus wage scales. If the Board of Regents then decides to ask for a wage allotment increase from the legislature (as it has for the past several years), the role of the Student Labor Organization will take on a new character. We will then must support in the legislature through individual and group action to fight for the allocation from the state.
AT THE LAST budget session of the state legislature, the bipartisan Statement of Wage Laws contained a request for higher wages for university student workers. It failed, however, for lack of support. The situation would be entirely different, though, if both the Administration and the student body were to exert pressure on individual legislators.
The sources of pressure we could use are:
- Petition—the signatures of our 14,000 person student body, many of whom will be voting in the next election, would carry a good deal of weight.
- Student political organizations—the connections available through the CYR and the CYD would be invaluable in dealing with the state. Both groups have already been helpful in supplying names of the appropriate legislators to contact.
- The ASC and campus parties—the ASC is designed to further student interests, while both political parties have in some manner supported the goals we seek. Together, they form the recognized voice of the students. Their further help would be very useful.
- The administration and the Board of Regents—the strength of any budgetary request is directly proportional to the pressure with which the University is pushing it. If the administration would place a high priority on a student wage hike, the state legislature would not be likely to ignore this combination of university, student and political pressure.
The pivot point of the Student Labor drive depends on how strongly the student body responds to the call for ideas and support. Student Labor will represent the aims of the largest possible percentage of the students. To this end, we will soon get into distribution a questionnaire and be starting a series of informative and fact-gathering talks in the campus living groups. At present, we are already distributing a petition to request the student pay raise. The course of our future role, however, remains with you.
Mike Youngblood SLO President
2 Daily Kansan editorial page Wednesday, March 23, 1966
Hillfolk
Pom-pon program should be changed
KU has seen its first year of pom-pon girls.
Have they really performed their duties—what were their duties? Were they to urge the team and generate enthusiasm in the spectators or were they sophisticated, wearing the red and blue and moving to the beat of the band?
As for audience participation in their routines—there was none.
DURING BASKETBALL season the girls did their routines. They kicked, clapped and put on a fine show. All the audience watched and when the pom-pons quit, everyone applauded their performance.
After the girls had finished, the audience had to re-gear its attention to the game. Had KU not had a successful team this year, the whole affair might have turned into a nice entertainment period.
ENTERTAINMENT? Entertainment implies professional appearance. It will take many more hours of practice to show the precision of even some area high school groups.
During football season, it looked foolish to see the girls dancing to music at least half the student body could not hear. Another question—Do pom-pon girls belong at football games?
- Use cheerleaders during football season to organize student participation. The best way to communicate to the team in the stadium is with volume. Use the band occasionally, but rely on the strength of organized yells led by both boy and girl cheerleaders.
Our proposal:
- During basketball, hit 'em with effective devices for an indoor sport—music, the pom-pon routines, the organized yells.
WE ARE NOT saying the pom-pon girls were a complete flop. They have potential and for the first year, have done as well as could be expected.
Next week, the 1966-67 pom-pon girls will be chosen. The ASC Traditions Committee governs the use of the pom-pon.
Does KU agree with Hillfolk that the program should be revamped, or should other proposals be considered?
- Irvana Keagy
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