In the private garden of a well-known Marxist scholar and activist in
Abuja, Dr. Udenta O. Udenta, history was made earlier in the
week as a group of free thinkers gathered to raise wine
glasses at 7.30 pm of that blessed evening in toast for the
birth of what should be seen as The Nigerian Illuminati. The group felt challenged by the growing need to remedy the
Nigerian nation that is in a state of flux. Truly, strategic
efforts are now needed more than ever before to fix it.
There is now a growing need for critical thought,
questioning, mastery, deconstructing prevalent orthodoxies,
reinventing national values and striving for a system of
national relationships founded on coherent set of national
patriotic ideals.
When Europe faced similar problems, their intellectuals
resorted to what has now come to be known as The Illuminati,
to reach out to the deep in search of solutions to address
their then challenges.
The Abuja Illuminati is an adaptation of The Illuminati of
yore. This has become urgently necessary seeing that the
nation’s leaders across board lack the required knowledge to
effectively deal with problems of development and
governance. This has long brought disastrous consequences on
the nation and its peoples and need to halt it without
further delay. This is an onerous goal The Abuja Illuminati
has set out for itself.
Historically, The Illuminati refers specifically to the
Bavarian Illuminati, an enlightenment group founded as far
back as May 1, 1776. In modern times, it is also used to
refer to an organization which acts as a shadowy "power
behind the throne", as a modern incarnation or continuation
of the Bavarian Illuminati. In the present context of The
Abuja Illuminati, the emergent group is to strive to shape
events to enthrone a new virile nation through research,
discussions and allied efforts.
As the Illuminati was believed to be behind the French and
subsequent Revolutions so shall The Abuja Illuminati strive
to change the Nigerian nation for the better through a
revolution of thought and action and by creatively
interpreting phenomena and values that appear settled and
through research and discussions and readily making
available to government and policy makers and policy
implementers time-honoured solutions to the nation’s myriad
problems.
It is important to note that in the time past during the
period when the Illuminati operated in many countries, many
influential intellectuals and progressive politicians were
members and remained subservient to authorities so long as
statecraft is inherently development-oriented and humanistic
in nature. Where there is a fundamental disconnect, the
Illuminati’s intellectual and philosophical depth will
prevail.
The Abuja Illuminati is therefore not conceived as
opposition to government or alternative government but a
body set up to make needed research information available to
government and the public, by pushing the level of national
discourse and the modes of social intervention and practice
to a higher level of praxis and affirmation.
Even in Europe and America where knowledge is readily
available, The Illuminati could be said to have survived in
loose forms to this day as enunciated by Conspiracy
theorists who believe that world events are being influenced
by the Illuminati. Conspiracy theorists have claimed that
many notable people were or are members of the Illuminati.
Presidents of the United States are a common target for such
claims.
Because of its overriding need, The Abuja Illuminati is to
be modeled after the Illuminati as obtained in Europe in
past, as a forum for robust discussions on government,
nation building and citizen development.
There is therefore an overriding need and justification for
the emergence of the intellectual discussion group. The
emergence of the Abuja discussion group principally arose
from the need to bridge the void existing between the
intellectual content of the state and the mundane, inept
conception of statecraft with its mediocre and incoherent
intervention strategies. The group’s real aim therefore is
to look beyond raw and mundane politics to confront the
fundamental challenges of development besetting Nigeria and
Africa and proffer workable solutions to them.
The Abuja Illuminati is driven by mainly socialist scholars
and intellectuals based in Nigeria particularly Abuja and
environs. They are set to launch into profound research,
writing, public speaking, networking with strategic public
institutions, the private sector, and civil society
organizations and with time, will reach out to all the
development research hubs in parts of Africa and worldwide.
The Abuja Illuminati is as such a platform where members
meet to share ideas and reach a consensus on national and
developmental matters. There is no doubt that they will find
ways of reaching policy makers to share their ideas and make
them really utilitarian.
From the conception, it is an open forum, open to all
intellectuals, scholars, researchers and writers alike, who
have something tangible to share and critical questions to
ask on nation building, citizen development and more.
• Law Mefor, author, journalist and consulting psychologist,
is a member of The Abuja Illuminati and is also the National
Coordinator, Transform Nigerian Movement; e-mail:lawmefor@yahoo.com;
cell: +234)0(803-787-2893.
Published
January 24th, 2011
