BRITONS HUGGED THEMSELVES and celebrated Monday, July 19, 2021 “Freedom Day” as the eclectic Boris Johnson government eased COVID-19 restrictions. That day, a dark sturdy man with tribal marks was led away from the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou, Benin Republic. He had lost his freedom, and an uncertain future awaited him. The arrest or capture Read More…
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, and some state governments, like Kaduna, say they neither negotiate nor pay ransom to bandits. But government being incapable of preventing the mass kidnap of citizens, especially school children, and inability to rescue them, leaves families and friends with no choice but to negotiate with the bandits and pay hefty ransom. So, Read More…
BAGRAM AIRFIELD and Military Base, 70 kilometres north of Kabul was the epicentre of the 40-country coalition war to oust the Taliban from Afghanistan. At a point in 2012, over 100,000 U.S. troops passed through Bagram which is also a notorious detention centre where no human rights are observed. It was the symbol of American and NATO might Read More…
THE NEO-COLONIAL TRAJECTORY of almost all African states, the neo-liberal policies they pursue and their anti-people programmes, lead in virtually all cases, to constant conflicts between African political leaders and workers. So it is rare for workers to eulogise their political elite. So, for them at the continental level to collectively eulogise and honour a particular African president is Read More…
I CANNOT BELIEVE I am writing this. The events are a nightmare that will not go away. Pa Joseph Oritseretsolokumi Ayomike, an 83-year-old man of culture and immense intellect, and his wife, Dr. Chinyere ‘Chichi’ Shirley Ayomike, opera soloist/duetist, Technical Vocational Education and Training, TVET, expert, and a senior lecturer at the Delta State University, Read More…
Some years ago, as Secretary General of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, OATUU, I had diplomatic immunity provided directly by my host, Ghana, my country, Nigeria and the African Union which extended to me the privilege of its diplomatic passport. With the AU passport, I entered and exited countless African countries without visa Read More…
The bloody five-year pro-democracy uprising that forced the military back to the barracks after a cumulative 29-year military dictatorship began on Monday July 5, 1993. Hundreds of lives were lost. Some of the bloodiest battles were fought in Ibadan on Tuesday April 14 and Friday May 1, 1998. Ibadan is the traditional capital of the Read More…
They were five days that began to reset the world. Days in which significant steps were taken to redress years of senseless and mind boggling genocide against hapless peoples while the rest of humanity watched unconcerned. The five days of May 27 to June 1, 2021 provided some relief, and assurance that humanity might yet throw Read More…
In picture above: Bob Marley in 1979, before the Reggae Sunsplash concert in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Photograph: Denis O’Regan/Getty Images One day I shall always remember is May 11, 1981. Nigeria was in turmoil. There were protests across the country while some cities were deserted. Factories were closed as were offices. There was hope in Read More…
HADIZA Bala Usman, politician and social activist, was until last Thursday, May 6, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA. But on that day, President Muhammadu Buhari yanked her off and ordered an investigation of her stewardship in the agency. As in almost all such cases, the report of the investigation may never Read More…