Afr.j. polit. set. (1999). Vol. 4 No. 1, 83-98 
Exiting From The State in Nigeria 
Eghosa E Osaghae* 
Recent literature on politics in Africa and the third world is replete with accounts 
of the rise of "mostly anti-system, mostly grassroots, movements with a variety of 
political social and economic goals ... which are often beyond the control of the 
state" (Haynes, 1997: vii, 3).' Another account refers to groups which interact 
with the state "by bypassing it ... by defining [themselves] in relation to 
economic, political or cultural systems which transcend the state, by submerging 
the state with its spectacular claims and mobilisations" (Bayart, 1991: 60; also 
Bayat,1997). 
The phenomenon described in these accounts is referred to in the literature as 
exit, defined as disengagement or retreat from the state by disaffected segments of 
the citizenry into alternative and parallel social, cultural, economic and political 
systems which are constructed in civil society and which compete with those of the 
state (cf Azarya, 1988, 1994; Azarya and Chazan, 1987; Bratton, 1989; Young, 
1994).- This is a deviation from the marriage between citizens and the state which 
is consumated in terms of reciprocal rights and duties. Exit is commonly regarded 
as a strategy for coping with "a domineering yet ineffective state" (cf duToit, 
1995: 31), but it also represents the resistance of weak and marginalised segments 
which in extreme cases can lead to separatist agitation or even secession. An 
analytical distinction can accordingly be made between exit from the polity and exit 
from the state.* The former involves bypassing or avoiding the organised civil 
order without necessarily disconnecting from the state. Such qualified exit which 
is more prevalent amongst the ordinary peoples, for whom exit is a matter of 
survival, results from the fact that however much they try to avoid the state, those 
organising ihe parallel systems continually need the state one way or another. 
Following the example of the "Black Market" in Ghana where two thirds of the 
annual cocoa export in the early 1980s was done illegally, it has been observed that 
1027-035.1 €> 1999 African Association of Political Science
84 Eghosa E Osaghae 
parallel systems operate with some measure of collusion from state officials (du 
Toit, 1995: 12). Also, voluntary ethnic and kinship self-help associations which 
have historically formed the bulk of exit sites in most parts of Africa have been the 
targets of the state's neo-paternalistic designs (as has been the experience of 
Harambee in Kenya) or have themselves been involved in the nepotistic and 
corrupt competition for state resources and patronage. 
Exit from the state on the other hand, is more manifestly political and elitedriven 
and involves a high degree of, or aims ultimately at, disconnection from the 
state. This can take the form of emigration (or -voluntary- exile) which has 
increased with the intensification of globalisation and has been occasioned by the 
advent of so-called global citizenship, renunciation of citizenship and, at the level 
of the group, separatism and secession. But whether from the state or polity, exit 
amounts to a renunciation of the state's responsiblity for one's welfare and security 
and consequently a renunciation of its claim over the citizen's loyalty which 
proceeds simultaneously with aclaim to ownership of the parallel sites of solidarity 
and self-governance. This is expiessed in the cultivation and adoption of counterstate 
identities, notably ethnic or religious and deviant anti-system identities (such 
as secret cult identities adopted by students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria). Exit 
entails movement away from rather than toward the state; a transfer of identity, 
loyalty and support from the state to parallel sections of civil society by aggrieved, 
alienated or marginalised citizens and groups. 
This paper is about exit from the state in Nigeria which reached a climax in the 
1980s and 1990s with the extensive emigrations of citizens and an upsurge in the 
number, activities and significance of parallel and self-governing economic, sociocultural 
and juridical systems. In the face of the increased inability of the state to 
provide expected public goods and services, and the authoritarian assault of 
personal military dictatorships which further alienated the citizenry, most ordinary 
people turned to various parallel groups - fundamentalist religious movements, 
ethnic self-help unions. Black Market networks, the streets, secret cults, exile, etc. 
- for survival, refuge, reproduction and empowerment. The high profile of shadow 
state activities4 performed by social movements and voluntary self-help organisations 
in areas that traditionally belong to the state, such as provision of potable water and 
electricity, maintenance of public schools and security of life and property, tell the 
story of exit from the state. 
But this is only the more obvious part of this process. Why, in the first place, is 
there such extensive exit? What forms does exit take and what are the parallel 
systems and groups that have developed? What identities have flowed from these 
groups and how are they constructed and sustained? Is exit a recent phenomenon? 
II not, what changes have taken place over the years? Why, for example, has 
emigration or exile become a popular form of exit in the recent past? How has the 
state responded to exit and its attendant withdrawal of support, which has further
Exiting From The State in Nigeria 85 
compounded the chronic crises of legitimacy and national cohesion it has suffered 
since inception? What are the implications of exit for Nigerian nationalism? We 
will attempt to answer these and other questions by first examining the factors that 
predispose people towards and shape exit, as presented in different theoretical 
formulations. This appraisal will be done in very general terms, drawing comparisons 
with other African situations. We will then do a critical examination of the 
phenomenon of exit in the Nigerian context. 
Exiting From The State: Theoretical Perspectives 
The various explanations for exit can be summarised into three complementary 
"theories" of exit which explain why people exit from the state whether as 
individuals or groups, and the categories of people who are the more likely to exit. 
These are (i) the theory of indigenousness; (ii) the theory of marginalisation; and 
(iii) the theory of extraneousness or globalisation. 
The theory of indigenousness attributes exit to the resilience of indigenous 
African norms of social organisation, namely the norms of (organic) group 
solidarity and mutual self-help which are expressed in the practices of sharing and 
community - as opposed to individual - welfare. Although these norms are often 
presented as "naturally" African, historical evidence suggests that they evolved 
and became a significant part of the social structure following the failure of pristine 
states of the pre-colonial era to protect the interests of their people, and defend them 
in times of adversity. The case of kinship which has remained a key organising 
principle of exit structures illustrates this historical fact. According to Ekeh (1990, 
1995), kinship bonds rose to prominence in the era of the slave trade when precolonial 
states, many of them slaving states, were unable to protect their citizens 
from the ravages of slave raids and the dehumanising trade - many states in fact 
sold their very people into slavery! Spurned by states expected to protect them, & 
people were forced to rely on the (self) defence offered by parallel kinshi, 
solidarity networks they organised to fill the void created by the pristine states. The 
failure of the colonial and post-colonial states in crucial areas of citizen welfare and 
protection and, in particular, the violence and terrorism which they unleashed 
against their own citizens, reinforced the need for kinship-based self-help networks 
and structures in the contemporary era. 
These networks have taken on various forms - hometown associations, ethnic 
solidarity movements, cultural organisations, community development associations, 
credit societies, burial societies, etc. They have been mainly engaged in 
shadow state activities through self-help efforts, although governments have also 
been lobbied to these ends. The main beneficiaries of these activities were and 
continue to be the hometowns and ethnic home areas of the unions, but in a number 
of cases where patterns of residence made for concentration of ethnic groups (such 
as the sabon garis or stranger quarters in northern cities in Nigeria) and/or where
86 Eghosa E Osaghae 
strangers suffered structural discrimination, the cities of domicile also benefited 
(Osaghae, 1994). 
Social change and modernisation have brought about immense diversity in the 
organisation of parallel structures beyond kinship and natural affinities. Networks 
of self-help, community welfare, solidarity and sharing have subsequently been 
organised around youth interests, religion, labour, gender, professions, the community 
and their like. These networks are particularly active in the informal 
economic sector where they have given rise to credit unions, cooperatives, and 
savings and loans associations. One point that emerges from all this is that exit is 
not an anomaly from the point of African social structure. It is in fact positive. The 
other point though, is that it is those who are excluded from state power and denied 
the resources, privileges and protection that flow from it, that are most likely to seek 
the comfort and defence provided by parallel structures. 
This complements the explanation offered by the second theory which hinges 
on marginalisation. The premise of this theory is that exit, like voice and loyalty, 
is a product of state power relations that exists in a polity (cf Akc, 1985). 
Consequently, individuals and groups who are weak, oppressed, deprived, dominated, 
excluded, alienated, systematically discriminated against, and unable to 
influence the course of state action - in short, the marginalised - are the most likely 
to withdraw into parallel systems which offer alternative access to social reproduction, 
empowerment, self-worth, security and defence against the ineffective state. 
Conversely, those who wield or control state power or are its beneficiaries are the 
least likely to exit. 
The question then arises, why would marginalised groups opt for exit rather than 
confront or challenge the state for redress? One answer is that exit is a form of 
protest which invariably calls for redress. The other, more practical, reason lies in 
the authoritarian character of the African state. Repression, intolerance of dissenting 
views and opposition; disregard for constitutional rule, human rights, accountability 
and consultation; and lack of accountability in public policy which define the 
state's actions towards its citizens, breed cynicism and alienation of the marginalised 
who gradually lose their sense of membership of the state and participation in 
public affairs. Where the perception that the state belongs to "others" is strong, the 
impetus to create "our" own "state" (read as space) becomes stronger. This is the 
logic of exit.5 
The third theory, extraneousness, defines exit as the product of a constellation 
of global factors. The point of departure here is the view popularised by dependency 
and world system theorists that the peripheral position of African countries 
in the global (capitalist) system, subjects them to numerous global forces. Accordingly, 
some forms of exit may be explained as the effect of those global forces and 
trends. One aspect of this theory attributes the changes in state-society relations in 
general to the enduring effects of colonialism. Specifically, the fact that the
Exiting From The State in Nigeria 87 
colonial state was an imposition whose raison d'etre was at variance with the 
interests of the colonised, has been identified as one of the historical antecedents 
of exit from the post colonial state because it created the problem of ownership of 
the state (Osaghae, 1998a). This position has been criticised on grounds that the 
colonial state was not a wholly a colonial creation, and that at independence the 
African elites appropriated and reconstituted the colonial state to serve their own 
nationalist projects (Bayart, 1991). This criticism is valid but it tends to deny the 
primacy of colonialism in understanding post-colonial formations and processes 
(cf Ekeh, 1975). Admittedly colonialism was not a one-way traffic, but its effects 
on the colonized social formation were not mitigated by accession to political 
independence. In significant ways, the pathologies of the post-colonial state are a 
legacy of its colonial precursor. 
The other strand of extraneousness analyses exit first, as a local variant of 
current global trends, and, second, as the consequence of certain global factors 
which encourage and facilitate exit. In terms of trends, studies in different parts of 
the world, including the advanced industrialised countries, suggest that large 
segments of mostly marginalised groups are exiting from the state owing not only 
to the growing inability of the state to satisfy the material and welfare aspirations 
of citizens, but also to the failure of the state to respond to the demands for 
inclusive, social and political democracy which have exploded all over the world 
with the rise of gender, labour, and youth movements and the ascendancy of issues 
of human rights and equality. Besides the retreats into criminal gangs, drug 
networks, parallel economies, and so on, there has also been aphenomenal increase 
in emigration, which has given rise to the concept of global citizenship. Brain-drain 
and exile are aspects of this form of exit. 
The effect of globalisation is better understood if we consider how global factors 
facilitate various forms of exit. Black markets, smuggling rings, piracy and trade 
in pirated and fake goods, and scam syndicates cannot thrive without the collusion 
of powerful international networks which produce and purchase the goods and 
services put into circulation. Drug, pornographic, criminal and prostitution networks 
also owe a lot to supplies and patronage from their global networks, while 
the spread of popular music such as rap and reggae, fashion, and religious 
movements have been supportive of new, mostly deviant identities by youth and 
other social groups. For example, the rise of fundamentalist Moslem sects in 
Nigeria has been aided by generous external support, including awards of scholarships 
to students. 
Also, the activities and support of various international non-governmental 
organizations and inter-govcrnmental organizations, including the World Bank. 
IMF and donor community who are promoting civil society as the engine of 
development, have contributed to the phenomenal increase of NGOs and shadow 
state activities in Africa. For example, the political forms of exit which involve
88 Eghosa E Osaghae 
minorities and other marginalised groups demanding political autonomy and the 
right of self-determination have been boosted by the rise of international human 
rights organisations, and the oversight functions performed by the United Nations, 
European Union, Commonwealth and other international organisations which 
have become more interventionist in the domestic affairs of African countries, 
ostensibly in furtherance of good governance and democracy. Finally, the revolution 
in information technology that has produced electronic mail, cable and 
satellite communication systems and the internet has further opened up Africa 
society to the direct effect of global trends and forces of change. 
Although globalisation plays a crucial role in deciding such forms of exit, any 
suggestion that Africa is a passive receptacle of pressure emanating from the rest 
of the world, or that domestic forces do not also shape those of globalisation is 
clearly untenable. This is precisely the point made in Bayart's critique of the theory 
of extraneousness. For example, the exit groups constructed around gay and 
lesbian identities in Western society have not been openly embraced in most parts 
of Africa because of cultural and social taboos of a country such as Nigeria for 
example. The dynamics of exit therefore need to be analysed with reference to the 
realities of the African situation. For this reason, the theory of extraneousness 
should be considered alongside those of indigenousness and marginalisation 
which emphasize domestic factors. 
Having tried to explain why citizens exit from the state, we now examine the 
forms and character of exit from the state in Nigeria. 
Forms of Exit from The State 
We begin our analysis of the various forms of exit with a brief outline of the 
objective state of exit in Nigeria. From what has been said so far, it is clear that exit 
has characterised relations between the Nigerian state and important segments of 
the citizenry for quite a long time. But the 1980s and 1990s were remarkable for 
the unprecedented numbers and forms of retreat from the state. The construction 
of parallel economic systems; proliferation of ethnic and kinship organisations and 
scores of grassroots non-governmental organisations; expansion of the scope of 
"self-help" shadow state functions performed by these groups; the rise of secret 
cults and other deviant networks in institutions of higher learning, and of religious 
fundamentalism; the phenomenal emigration of Nigerians abroad into exile, all 
attest to the increased extent of exit. Based on the theoretical insights provided 
earlier, this can be attributed to the following factors. 
(i) The rapid economic decline in the country, growing foreign debt, structural 
adjustment and wanton corruption which further reduced the capacity of the 
state to provide jobs, subsidise education and health care, maintain social 
services, protect lives and property, and even pay salaries to civil servants. 
This forced people to devise various coping strategies to fend for themselves
Exiting From The State in Nigeria 89 
by all means, fair and foul. Some of the more popular coping strategies were 
practised by the underclass, and culminated in exit from the state. 
(ii) There was an unprecedented extent of repression and personal dictatorship 
unleashed by the military governments of the period when existing and 
potential sources of opposition and counterhegemonic activities (independent 
media, grassroots organisations, labour unions, ethnic minority 
organisations, student organisations, professional associations, opposition 
parties, human rights and pro-democracy groups) were outlawed or suppressed. 
Political activists and opponents were harassed, detained or assassinated. 
The execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni minority rights 
activists, the assassinations of Dele Giwa a popular journalist; Alfred 
Rewane an old democrat, and Kudirat Abiola (wife of the late Bashorun 
Moshood Abiola, winner of the annulled 1993 presidential election), and the 
large numbers of political detentions and imprisonments, were some of the 
highlights of the reign of terror which, in defiance of condemnation and 
sanctions by the international community, alienated people from the state 
and destroyed the social and economic bases for survival for most Nigerians. 
The reign of terror drove many people into the safety of exile, or it drastically 
curtailed the vibrant culture of protest and resistance for which critical 
segments of civil society, notably the press, popular musicians and university 
students had become well known. 
(iii) The capture of state power by regional and religious leaders and the 
marginalisation and virtual exclusion of others, notably southerners, ethnic 
minorities and non-muslims from enjoying the benefits of belonging to the 
state. For example, the annulment of the 1993 presidential election which 
was won by the late Bashorun Abiola - a Yoruba Southerner - was believed 
to be the culmination of a grand design by a powerful Northern cabal to keep 
Southerners out of power. 
(iv) The high degree of insensitivity to the suffering of the masses of the people, 
as well as the blatant lack of accountability in public affairs nurtured a culture 
of cynicism on the part of most ordinary Nigerians. 
(v) Corruption and the virtual collapse of governmental structures and agencies 
which further worsened thecrisis of legitimacy afflicting the state. The police 
had been unable to keep pace with the explosive increase in violent crimes, 
due partly to poor funding and partly to the corruption of the force. The 
impartiality of the judiciary had been called into question because of 
pervasive corruption. Public utility boards, including oil refineries, were 
unable to provide amenities and services even with the phenomenal increases 
in the costs of such services which had taken them beyond the reach of most 
ordinary Nigerians. The civil service had been wrecked by all forms of 
corruption. The worsening crisis of confidence and credibility provoked by
90 Eghosa E Osaghae 
the decay of public institutions encouraged and accelerated the construction 
of parallel economic, socio-cultural and political systems. In particular, it fed 
the rise of pseudo-criminal networks, syndicates and gangs of smugglers, 
drug dealers, and their like. 
The various forms of exit we have discussed above may be distinguished by the 
extent to which they approximate complete renunciation of bonds with the state 
(degree of exit) or, in more qualitative terms, according to the character of exit 
which relates to the original impetus for that option. In our earlier discussion of 
degrees of exit, we distinguished between exit from the polity and exit from the 
state. In what follows, we use the latter approach to examine forms of exit in 
Nigeria under the following headings. 
Political Exit 
This involves the construction of parallel political structures typically autonomous 
political organisations (not including political parties), and aspirant local and state 
units within the federation, seeking varying degrees of autonomy from the state for 
reasons of disaffection with existing political structures and power relations. 
Political exit which often entails some degree of confrontation with the state and 
the construction of parallel political and judicial systems, can take on a wide variety 
of forms. The most extreme of these include demands for, or assertion of, local 
political autonomy, separatist agitation or secessionist movement, all of which 
directly challenge the unity of the state and invite countervailing measures of a 
repressive kind. The unsuccessful attempt by the Igbo-led Biafria Republic to 
secede from the Nigerian federation which led to civil war (1967-70); the 
declaration of a Niger Delta Republic by Adaka Boro and other aggrieved youths 
of the Niger Delta minorities in 1967; the loud demands in the 1980s for the 
abrogation of the federal system and its replacement by a confederate system by 
disaffected Southern - especially Yoruba - politicians; the threats of secession by 
aggrieved majority ethnic groups, including most recently those by some Yoruba 
leaders to secede as Oduduwa Republic on account of Northern domination; and 
the separatist agitations and assertion of local political autonomy by minorities of 
the oil-bearing Niger Delta and other minority groups. All these exemplify such 
extreme forms of exit. 
So also do the politico-religious muslim fundamentalist sects and movements, 
notably Maitatsine, Izala, Shi' ite and, to some extent, the Musi im Students Society. 
Since the early 1980s one or the other of these groups have operated in various parts 
of the north of the country against the secular constitution of the Nigerian state. 
Their main goal is the establishment of an Ayattolah (Iran)-type Islamic state. 
Members of these movements have disconnected from the state and claim to be 
governed by their own laws The Sharia (amounting to a parallel judicial system); 
they refuse to subject themselves to (what they consider to be an unjust and illegal)
Exiting From The State in Nigeria 91 
authority of the secular state, or to pay taxes (a parallel political system); and attack 
adherents of other faiths who they believe must be conquered, jihad style, as a 
prerequisite for the establishment of an Islamic state. 
Next to these would be the assertion of cultural, linguistic and political rights 
and identities, often involving a drive for self-determination and self-governance 
by weak, marginalised, excluded and dominated groups - typically minorities. In 
such cases, milder forms of political exit would include civil disobedience, refusal 
to vote in elections (such as the decision by the Ogonis to boycott the 1993 
presidential election) or to pay taxes, and the symbolic assertion of the autonomy 
of parallel political structures through the adoption of (alternative) "national" flags 
and anthems and the resuscitation of traditional political institutions. The declaration 
and celebration of "national days (and weeks)" by pan-ethnic organisations in 
several parts of the country, especially the Yoruba south-west, in the 1980s and 
1990s, symbolise the articulation of such mild forms of exit - in this case by 
retribalisation. 
The activities of a typical national day or week which is presided over by the 
traditional leader of the ethnic group, and during which flags of the group are 
hoisted and anthems sung, include the adoption of a development plan for the next 
year or longer, and cultural activities and rituals which reinforce the groups's 
identity, solidarity and autonomy. An interesting variant of exit by retribalisation 
is to be found in the emergence of what elsewhere I have called migrant ethnic 
empires. This involves the construction of "tribal authorities", headed by elected 
"kings", by Igbos and Yorubas in most cities in the north of the country. These 
"empires" perform a host of important parallel political, social, economic and 
judicial functions, ranging from traditional shadow state functions to cultural 
revivalism, political representation and mediation of disputes (Osaghae, 1994, 
1998b). 
Socio-Economic Exit 
This is by far the most popular form of exit for most ordinary Nigerians (the urban 
poor, youth, students, women, unemployed, rural dwellers, the disabled or handicapped, 
street children) who feel neglected, marginalised, and unprotected; and 
have become cynical and distrustful of the ability of the state to discharge its 
responsibilities towards them. Most of these people consequently attach greater 
importance to the self-help associations, networks and social movements they 
organise and belong to, which give meaning to their lives, meet their sociopsychological 
needs, and perform shadow state functions which the state is 
unwilling and unable to perform. Many Nigerians, especially the youth have turned 
to ethnic and religious organisations for solace in the face of unemployment; 
women's and credit associations have become more significant for those lacking 
capital to start micro enterprises; traditional health care institutions have increased
92 Eghosa E Osaghae 
in popularity as most ordinary people cannot afford the high costs of modern health 
care; parents who cannot afford exorbitant fees are withdrawing their children 
from primary and secondary schools to Ouaranic schools and informal sector 
training centres from where, on graduation, they become mechanics, traders, 
tailors, cobblers, carpenters, masons, drivers, etc. 
The parallel structures of socio-economic exit can be classified into formal and 
informal.The formal have an organisational form, and include the various ethnic 
associations (hometown, village, lineage-extended family, and pan-ethnic associations) 
whose specialty is the broad spectrum of shadow state activities, market 
women's associations and credit (esusu) societies which give loans to their 
members to set up enterprises, and also to farmers associations; secret cults, 
religious and spiritualist organisations. Neighbourhood associations such as 
"landlords associations", for example, have virtually replaced the state in the 
provision of security and supply of water and electricity in their localities. There 
is also a host of traditional associations and movements such as age-grade societies, 
guilds, and women's societies. The number and variety of these organisations, 
especially associations based on ethnicity, student secret cults, fundamentalist 
muslim sects and born-again pentecostal churches have steadily increased since 
the 1980s, suggesting an upsurge in the number of ordinary people retreating from 
the modern sector controlled by the ailing state. 
The informal structures on the other hand have a fleeting membership and 
organisation. They represent mostly the exit (read as protest or resistance) of the 
underclass - the unemployed, alienated youth, slum dwellers and their like. At one 
end of these structures are the relatively autonomous informal sector constituents 
- the associations and networks of street traders, hawkers, artisans, unskilled 
labourers, and so on - whose goal is to dominate or control the space claimed by 
their members and keep the authorities at bay as much as possible. There are also 
the social movements arising from religious practices such as faith healing, from 
popular music, such as "Fuji", "Afro-beat", and "Juju", and from popular fashion 
which express popular anti-system sentiments. 
At the other end are pseudo-criminal networks and gangs of "area boys", 
prostitutes, drug addicts, drug cartels, fake documents syndicates, and urban street 
children and touts; economic pirates; smugglers and black market operators who 
control the illegal trade in foreign exchange, pirated goods, fake drugs, smuggled 
goods, and counterfeit currency. There are also the advance-fee fraud syndicates, 
popularly known in Nigeria as '"419", which use local and international connections, 
including government officials and law-enforcement officers, to dupe rich 
people within and outside the country. While also emphasizing autonomy from the 
state in their day-to-day operations, the main interest of these networks lies in 
furthering the welfare of their members and protecting them from the lawenforcement 
agents of the stale.
Exiting From The State in Nigeria 93 
Exile 
A third form of exit which straddles the political and socio-economic divide is 
exile, or emigration. This form of exile which has increased in popularity since the 
1980s especially among the youth, academics and professionals, is highly individualistic, 
as the impetus for exit varies from one person to the other. Most people 
go into exile to escape political persecution or death from repressive governments. 
Others go for socio-economic reasons of material enhancement or better life 
("greener pastures"), and self-actualisation. As it were, exiles prefer the status of 
(political or economic) refugees, legal and illegal immigrants and naturalised 
aliens to threats to their life or becoming wretched if they remained at home. The 
opportunities offered by the American visa lottery and illegal visa syndicates have 
further encouraged the exile traffic. 
But exile is not altogether an individual matter. Exiles have formed various 
associations and movements abroad. Many of these are in fact external branches 
of popular (kinship, ethnic, religious, traditional, regional, gender, alumni) associations 
at home, and persist in various forms as self-help development networks 
some of whom aim their activities and programmes at constituencies back home. 
In the 1990s, exile organisations became radical in response to the repressive 
political situation and deteriorating economic conditions back home in Nigeria. 
Most of them, including the traditional" ethnic and religious organisations, became 
outspoken critics of the government at home, demanding one form of social justice 
or the other on behalf of their groups. 
But this radical stage belonged to the manifestly political, sometimes revolutionary, 
pro-democracy, anti-military government movements. Notable among the 
new groups are the Association of Nigerians Abroad which has branches all over 
Europe and America; Nigerian Democratic Movement, National Democratic 
Coalition (NADECO-Abroad), and the National Liberation Council of Nigeria led 
by Wole Soyinka The activities of these groups have centred on exposing the 
atrocities of the military governments in Nigeria, mobilising the international 
community against them and, in concert with pro-democracy organisations at 
home, championing the cause of democratisation in the country. These groups 
have made elaborate use of high-tech information systems as the base of exit. For 
example, the internet and electronic mail have been used to stimulate debates on 
political issues, and to motivate and mobilize members of the exile community 
against the undemocratic governments at home. The groups are also believed to 
have set up Radio Kudirat, an international opposition radio station that has been 
used to further the cause of the opposition movement. 
One interesting dimension of the political exit expressed in Radio Kudirat is the 
construction of a parallel political system outside the country, and rejection of the 
state as presently constituted. There is a tendency to use the old national anthem. 
"Nigeria we hail thee" in place of the current anthem. "Arise O compatriots" (a
94 Eghosa E Osaghae 
practice associated with several student organisations within the country when 
demonstrating against the military governments). Another is the mobilisation and 
funding of non-governmental organisations within the country to oppose the state. 
The other significance of exile lies in the fact that the composition of exiles show 
clearly the interface of power and exit. Where it involves large numbers of people 
from particular segments of the citizenry, exile becomes a good indicator of which 
groups suffer discrimination, marginalisation or exclusion, or whose members feel 
most aggrieved. The profile of those going into exile from Nigeria shows the 
following, 
i. Youths, academics and professionals constitute the vast majority, with 
women making up a significart proportion; 
ii. Most of the others are opposition elements - human rights and pro-democracy 
activists, leaders of separatist minority movements, retired military 
officers, fugitives and so on - who had to flee the country under threat of 
assassination, detention and repression; 
iii. Roughly 90 percent of all exiles come from the south of the country. 
Response of The State 
We conclude this paper by examining the response of the state to exit as we have 
defined and analysed it in the preceding sections. What are the implications of exit 
by important segments of Nigerian society; and what dangers (or benefits) does it 
portend for the state? Although exit involves retreat from the state, it seriously 
challenges the state's legitimacy and nation-building projects. This is because at 
the core of exit is a process of denationalisation, that is a weakening of the 
individual's loyalty to and identification with the nation-state. In the opposite 
direction is the simultaneous strengthening of rival solidarities and identities 
opposing the rule of the state. In particular, the strengthening of groups of ethnic, 
religious and regional solidarity which attempt to rival the state, directly challenge 
the unity of the nation and the state's claim to the citizen's loyalty. 
Above all, the politicisation and manipulation of these nation-challenging 
groups by mostly disaffected and displaced elites pose serious danger to the 
survival of the Nigerian state. Aggrieved and politically ambitious elites have 
easily mobilised exit constituencies against the state, thereby transforming exit 
into confrontation with the state. Indeed, anti-state mobilisation projects have been 
on the increase since the 1980s. Some of the more prominent examples include the 
activities of Islamic fundamentalist sects (Maitatsine, Shi'ite, for example) in 
various parts of the north who aim at establishing an Islamic state; the uprising of 
the Niger Delta oil minorities, notably the Ogoni, led by the late Saro-Wiwa and 
the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People to demand local political 
autonomy and adequate material compensation for damage and loss caused by the 
hazards of the oil industry; the rise of radical opposition movements within the
Exiting From The State in Nigeria 95 
exile communities abroad; and the rise of ethno-regional leaders and separatists 
especially in the aftermath of the annulment of the June 1993 presidential election, 
which was regarded among the Yoruba as the height of an alleged grand design by 
Northern elites to monopolize federal power. 
Besides these, the effects and implications of other exit sites and identities are 
equally foreboding for the state. Deviant and pseudo-criminal networks such as 
secret cults on campuses, black markets, smuggling rings and underground 
movements have been used for sabotage activities, and for other activities which 
generally represent defiance of and challenge to state authority. For example, 
smugglers and foreign exchange black market operators, sometimes with the 
backing of powerful elites and state officials, sabotage official policies and 
regulations on trade and currency. 
Area boys, touts and members of criminal gangs have been responsible for the 
theft of electric cable wires which cause prolonged outages of power supply, and 
the theft of other materials which paralyse public amenities and services. The 
phenomenal increase in violent crimes, including assassination, armed robberies, 
and bomb attacks all over the country is partly attributed to elements within these 
exit groups. For example, the Edo state police command attributed the increase in 
armed robberies and other violent crimes in the state in the 1990s to students of 
institutions of higher learning in the state, especially those who belonged to secret 
cults. (Aspirant members of these cults are usually required to prove their bravado 
which is a condition of membership by leading or taking part in robberies, rape, 
drug use, or assaulting law-enforcement officers). Therefore the gravity of the 
challenges and threats posed to the state by the various forms of exit cannot be 
overemphasised. Accordingly, the state must be expected to react to them in 
defence of itself. Indeed, the typical African state is said to be hostile to grassroots 
and non-governmental organisations (World Bank, 1989). But the response of the 
Nigerian state to exit in general has been mixed. As long as the sites of exit do not 
constitute clear threat to the survival of the state, successive governments have 
often exploited them for political advantage. This has been the case with numerous 
exit groups, especially, ethnic associations which operate as self-help community 
development associations. Even informal structures such as area boys networks 
have been patronised by successive governments. 
Even in the case of groups that openly challenge the unity of the nation and the 
legitimacy of the state - such as those seeking secession or autonomy - attempts 
have been made to co-opt them and address, at least, some of the underlying 
problems of marginalisation which give rise to political exit. The creation of more 
states and local government units; the introduction of such associative or power 
sharing devices as the federal principle which requires that the composition of 
government and its agencies should be reflective of the country's federal character; 
and rotational presidency are some of the more prominent of these attempts. But
96 Eghosa E Osaghae 
they do not go far enough, because the fundamental disjunctures between the state 
and society which alienate large segments of the ordinary people and cause them 
to disclaim the state, remain unresolved. 
On the other hand, the state has been more accommodating of the positive 
dimensions of exit especially those associated with shadow state activities of 
parallel structures. In fact, stale power holders have capitalised on them for 
purposes of buy ing political support. The activities of such exit groups have helped 
to mitigate the shortcomings of the state and prevent the deepening of its legitimacy 
crisis, and consequently a cycle of confrontation with it. As the World Bank 
(1989: 60) puts it, "In self-defence individuals have built up personal networks of 
influence rather than hold the all-powerful state accountable for its systemic 
failures". 
Thus, self-help development activities have received various forms of support 
from the federal and state governments. These have ranged from the encouragement 
given to groups to form community development associations and cooperatives, 
to the creation of special agencies such as the National Directorate of 
Employment which activated small and medium scale private enterprise, the 
People's and community banks which were expected to advance credit to grassroots 
organisations, and corporatist programmes like the Better Life (later Family 
Support) programme whose goals included poverty alleviation through partnership 
with and funding of parallel structures. Although these measures address some 
of the material problems that lead to exit, they do not address the more fundamental 
problems of cynicism and mistrust of the ability or willingness of the state to protect 
the interests of ordinary people. 
Notes 
* E.E. Oshaghae is Professor and Head of Political Studies at the University of 
Transkei, Umtata, South Africa. 
1. The use of the concept of the state has become so loose that one often has 
difficulty knowing when what is actually meant is government, ruling class, 
personal ruler, or regime. While all these relate to specific aspects of the state 
and can actually be regarded as its embodiment, it is important to specify the 
meaning of the concept. In this paper, state is used in its most inclusive sense. 
2. Following Albert Hirschman's famous categories, relations between these 
movements and civil society at large, and the state, have been characterised as 
exit or disengagement, which involves retreat into parallel economic, sociocultural 
and political systems; voice or confrontation, which involves resistance 
and opposition; and loyalty or collaboration, which entails partnership 
with the state (cf Azarya, 1988; Lemarchand. 1992). These categories are not 
however mutually exclusive and could in fact be seen as points on a graded 
continuum which begins from complete withdrawal (through secession, for
Exiting From The State in Nigeria 97 
example) and opposition at one end, to complete acquiescence at the other. This 
way, exit may be perceived as a variant of voice or resistance, as is clear from 
Scott's (1985, 1990) characterisation of peasant and underclass retreat as the 
resistance of the weak. 
3. lam grateful to Professor Ali Mazrui for drawing my attention to this important 
distinction. 
4. By shadow state activities is meant the production of public and social goods 
by parallel non governmental organisations (NGOs). Such activities as the 
provision of credit and recreational facilities, building of schools, police posts, 
postal agencies and hospitals, construction or maintenance of roads, and award 
of scholarships undertaken by community development associations and other 
NGOs through self-help efforts constitute the core of shadow state activities. 
5. However, as we noted above, exit does not preclude confrontation with the stale 
in order to seek redress; in fact, exit as a matter of political expression, is not 
incompatible with confrontation as it also usually embodies some form of 
symbolic or silent protest and resistance on the part of the oppressed. 
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