Yusufu Bala Usman

Yusufu Bala Usman (1945 – 24 September 2005) was a Nigerian historian and politician, who was one of the scholars who shaped Nigerian historiography.He was the founder of the Centre for Democratic Development, Research and Training at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Quotes Anyone who refuses “…to face these fundamental facts about our economy and society, when we are on the verge of economic collapse, is not only unpatriotic, but actually treasonable. A representative is simply an indigene of an area who perpetuates the illusion that the various parts of the country are engaged in a competition for the allocation of scarce resources and he is a champion of one part. His representation begins and ends with ethnicity and the appropriation of the ‘scarce resources’ into his pockets. There is nothing inherently popular or democratic about rule by civilians in this country or anywhere in the world. The distinction between military rule and civilian rule is a purely legalistic one. one can only understand the essence of the crisis if we can identify the laws of motion of the economy bringing out its various contradictions well over 50% of the factories in the country closed down, and the rest grinding to a halt, working part-time, with the exception of the breweries, cigarette and soft-drink plants.” He said in December 1983: “only about 25% of the installed electric power generating capacity of 2,342 megawatts is being utilized. External links