The death of Professor Eskor Toyo on December 7, 2015, at the age of 86, marked the tragic end of an era. It was tragic not because his death was untimely or that he died young, but because his passage has left a monumental vacuum in revolutionary political thought in Nigeria. Born Asuquo Ita in1929 in Oron, in present day Akwa Ibom State, Eskor Toyo came from a family of noble parentage. He schooled in Oron, Calabar and Lagos. As a student of the C.M.S Grammar School, Obalende in Lagos, he joined the anti-colonial movement as a member of the youth wing of the National Council of Nigeria Citizens (NCNC) in the late 1940s. Toyo was a naturally gifted student and scholar. He passed his Cambridge school certificate and Advanced levels and was exempted from London matriculation. He got his Bachelor’s degree from the University of London, by correspondence, before travelling to Eastern Europe, where he did his postgraduate studies at the University of Warsaw in Poland. His Doctoral thesis in Economics was entitled, “Macro-Economic Analysis of Marx and Keynes”.
Toyo was a nationalist and liberation fighter, tactician of the Nigeria labour movement and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Toyo belonged to a generation of Marxist intellectuals who exerted enormous influence in the University system in the 1970s and 80s, just before the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. His contemporaries included Ikenna Nzimiro, Okwudiba Nnoli, Edwin Madunagu, Claude Ake, Ola Oni, Bala Usman, Omafume Onoge, Bade Onimode, Uzodinma Nwala and Inyang Eteng.
It was this generation of leftist intelligentsia who created the structural foundation for the popular democratic struggle which liberated the nation from military conquest. They did this through their seminal intellectual work, recruitment and mobilization of student leaders and the formation of radical political cells all over the country. At a time when the political class had been banned, the fascist military dictatorship in 1992 disqualified the politicians from further participation in politics. It went on to annul the June 12, 1993 elections won by M.K.O Abiola, thus closing every available opening for an end to military rule. But the pro-democracy movement came alive to save the nation, but not without great cost as many activists were killed, imprisoned,maimed or detained.
The military had taken sides in its intervention in Nigerian politics. It took sides against the people, in defence of the oppressive ruling classes, thereby enthroning regional inequalities, mass poverty, blatant corruption and criminal underdevelopment. What made Eskor Toyo somewhat unique and different was that he was one of the very few who came into the movement from the anti-colonial-nationalist era. Toyo started from the period of anti-colonial struggle as a young activist in NCNC, worked in some companies and establishments in Lagos and was part of the Nigeria Labour movement which was led by Michael Imoudu in the 1950s and 60s.
Why did Eskor Toyo and his contemporaries adopt the Marxist model? Well, no one can say exactly why but Marxism had become an inspiring and influential body of knowledge. It was appealing to many students, scholars and intellectuals, “because of the truism of its major postulations”. Moreover, its application by scholars and intellectuals in other climes led to the reversal of developmental trends from stagnation/underdevelopment to transformation/genuine development.
The global system today, with over 185 nation-states, reveals that we have passed through over 400 years of Western political thought, dating back to the renaissance period and the rise of city states. The wave of national liberation movements which swept the African continent after the Second World War came at a time when Marxist ideology had been deployed to create revolutions and Marxism had become a tool for freedom in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.
It was an era characterized by conflict of ideas and one in which various elite theories were being tested. The emerging Nigerian elite who studied in Britain and America adopted the capitalist formulations of John Locke, Adam Smith, Ricardo and Charles Darwin as articles of faith. There were others like Eskor who turned left.
The Marxist movement in Nigeria is one of the oldest in Africa. The radical/Marxist movement was nurtured in the early days of the anti-colonial struggle. The leadership of the NCNC “was known for their sharp anti-colonial rhetoric and mass-oriented activities— and championed a radical but liberal programme of struggle against colonialism.” The NCNC had within its ranks Marxists, socialists, labour activists, liberal democrats and traditionalists. Eskor Toyo was amongst the group of Marxist activists who formed the first Labour Party in 1964, led by Michael Imoudu. Others associated with the Labour Party then were Tunji Otegbeye, George Okoro, Emmanuel Ijeh, Baba Omojola, Sidi Khayan, Amaefule Ikoro etc. It is even believed in some informed quarters that there was a Communist movement behind the Labour Party of 1964, with the like of Jonas Abam, Alex Ukut, Olusegun Adebayo and Emmanuel Ifeajuna as the driving force.
At the University of Calabar in the 1980s, Toyo was by far the most popular University don on campus. A demagogic orator, polemicist, incisive debater and mobilizer, he was the rallying point for comrades, namely students, labour leaders, trade unionists and progressive professionals who subscribed to genuine democratic ideals.
In April 1989, Toyo and his comrades made another attempt at the formation of the second Labour Party in Nigerian history. The main platform used for the mobilization was the Directorate for Literacy-an organization floated by Toyo and Madunagu. At that time Bassey Ekpo Bassey was the elected Chairman of Calabar Municipal council. Biko Agozino was the secretary of the Directorate. They organized a very successful conference of labour leaders, political activists and radical intellectuals which laid the foundation for the formation of the party. The conference attracted many veterans, under the leadership of Paschal Bafyau as the President of Nigeria Labour Congress.
It is important to acknowledge the fact that even though the prodemocracy movement which the progressive intelligentsia created was able to defeat military dictatorship; it was not able to capture political power, thereby making the Nigerian scenario an unfinished business. This is so because the country was hijacked from the on-set in 1999 by returnee soldier-politicians who were yet to purge themselves of their totalitarian worldview.
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