Dr Segun Osoba.

By Nehru Odeh

Dr Segun Osoba, renowned Marxist scholar, historian, activist and former lecturer at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University has lambasted the Nigerian ruling class, saying it is the cause of the hardship Nigerians are currently facing.

Osoba made this statement at his 90th birthday celebration which was held on Thursday 9 January 2025 at The White House in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

The event was organized by his son Dr Oluleke Osoba to celebrate an unrepentant Marxist scholar who has over the years fought for the betterment of the Nigerian masses and has shown rare commitment, uncommon integrity, uncompromising discipline and courage even in the face of harassment by successive military regimes in Nigeria.

Osoba, who at 90 still betrays an uncommon patriotism and doggedness, said the Nigerian ruling class has over the years robbed Nigerians of their resources while making themselves millionaires and billionaires.

Osoba, who has spent his entire life fighting for the betterment of the. Nigerian masses said he was just a tool in the hands of the people. He also added that there were many obstacles as he tried to do so because Nigerians inherited a thieving nation from the British.

“Our country inherited from the British a thieving nation. Our nation is essentially a thieving nation, where the ruling class robs the people of all the resources that they need to make progress.

“And as a result,  if you want to help the people, the ruling class would try as much as possible to grind you to dust,” Osoba lamented.

The nonagenarian, however, charged Nigerians not to relent in their efforts to fight for a better Nigeria.

“So my appeal to the people is not to relent. Those who believe in fighting for the people should never relent. Because if they relent, the thieves would thrive the more and the nation would decline the more.

“Nigeria is supposed to be one of the greatest nations in the world, one of the most populated, one of the most talented people in the world. But its primary problem is the people who rule the nation.

“From one generation to another, succeeding governments have produced many millionaires and billionaires and multiple millions of poor people.

“So if we don’t want the nation to remain the same,  then we need commitment from a large percentage of the people as possible to the struggle of the people for better health, better education, better business and higher standards of living,” Osoba maintained.

The event was well attended by academics, Marxists, socialists, activists, friends and family who came from far and wide to pay tributes to a man they fondly call ‘Comrade Doctor’ and who they believed had sacrificed so much for the betterment of the masses.

Osoba used the opportunity to thank family, friends and colleagues for celebrating his 90th birthday, wishing everyone and the country the best.

It would be recalled that Osoba was a member of the committee that drafted the 1979 constitution. Which laid the foundation for the Second Republic. However, when he and his colleague Dr Bala Yusuf Usman were not satisfied with the deliberations, they pulled out and wrote the popular Minority Report, which recommended no immunity clauses for Presidents and governors and a minimum age of 30 to be eligible to run for office.

Still, when  Osoba was asked to submit his papers in order to be considered for a professorship, which he was due for at the Obafemi Awolowo University, he refused to do so in protest against the system at the time and instead chose to be addressed simply as ‘Doctor’, a title he proudly wears to this day. Even when his colleagues and students knew he was deserving of a professorship.