Top Nigerian politician takes sabbatical at OU
By Ernest Waititu
November 21, 2007
When one of the leading opposition politicians in Nigeria decided to take leave from his busy political life to read and write, he chose Ohio University, and especially its Alden Library, as the places for this self-improvement.
Last week The NEWS talked to Usman Bugaje during one of his 10 days at OU, just after he had met and talked to a class of graduate students in African Studies at Yamada International House. He was hurrying to the library to catch up on his research.
Bugaje serves as national secretary of Action Congress, the largest opposition party in Nigeria. He told The NEWS that he was at OU to read and refresh his memory and to take a "break from the taxing life of the party and the murky politics in Nigeria."
Bugaje has held prominent positions in his country ranging from special adviser in political affairs to the president, to chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the House of Representatives to Nigerian envoy to The Sudan.
Bugaje has on different occasions fallen out with various governments in Nigeria. He was, for instance, detained by the military government of the late Sani Abacha, who led the country for five years in the '90s.
When Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 under the leadership of Olusegun Obasanjo, Bugaje was appointed special adviser to the president but later fell out with Obasanjo when he criticized corruption and bad governance in his administration.
Nigeria is the world's fifth-leading oil producer and one of the top exporters of oil to the U.S. Political turmoil in the country and rebel activity in the oil-rich Niger Delta region has sometimes led to a spike in oil prices in the world market, which has affected the price of gasoline at the pump for many Americans
Bugaje's party lost a controversial election last April to the current president of Nigeria, Umaru Yar'Adua - the self-appointed successor of the previous president Obasanjo. Last week in Athens, Bugaje decried the flawed elections.
He said they prevented him and his party officials from forming the government and creating change in Nigeria - the most populous country and one of the leading economies in Africa.
On the elections, he said he was sad that they were fraudulent. "I feel very sad but it is no use sitting down and agonizing. The proper thing is to organize and see how we can stop that kind of nonsense from happening again," Bugaje said.
Asked about a way forward for Nigeria and Africa, Bugaje, who prefers calling himself an "activist," responded, "We have to build democratic institutions. But in the short term we need to have activists come into politics so that in their presence, the quality of debate will take shape and people will mobilize along issues."
To be able to lead his party and country in that direction, he added, he needs to keep abreast with global issues through reading and research. This is the kind of engagement that brought him to OU.
Bugaje praised OU's Alden Library for being well equipped with books and journals on history, education and African Studies -- his main research interests.
Steve Howard, director of African Studies Center at the university, said that African Studies was proud to host Bugaje at OU. "It is important as a program that we make connections with eminent persons from the continent (of Africa)," he said, adding that it's also beneficial for students to meet, mingle and learn from such personalities when they're on campus.
Howard also noted that very busy eminent people in Africa need a place to escape and reflect on their lives, read and write, access OU's excellent Africana Library and get in touch [academically] with some of the problems they are involved in their daily lives. This is what the African Studies program sought to provide to Bugaje, he said.
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