The threat of the mighty United States of America, USA, on Tuesday, August 7, 2023, to invade the little Niger Republic is not for its love of democracy, Nigeriens, or Africans. It is basically in the nature of hawks to circle the sky looking for prey, especially chicks. There were American and French troops in Read More…
Tag: Owei Lakemfa
Let me breathe, I don’t want to die
Two different but related cries ring in my head. “Let the Poor breathe” and “I don’t want to die.” The first is the cry across the country as the masses are being suffocated by inflation and over 90 million poor get hungrier. The second is the plaintive cry of young medical doctor, Vwaere Diaso, whose Read More…
Before marching to Niamey, let us pause
THE new military rulers in Niger Republic, the country which marked Independence Day on Thursday, August 3, 2023, have a Sunday ultimatum from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS. It is that they give up power and restore elected President Mohammed Bazoum to power or face serious measures, including possible invasion. ECOWAS also Read More…
The coup in Niger and the Moncada Barracks attack
EXACTLY 70 years separate the July 26, 1953, suicidal attack on Moncada Barracks by Cuban youths who wanted to remove the military from power, and this Wednesday’s coup in Niger Republic which removed elected President Mohamed Bazoum and restored military rule. The coup plotters, styling themselves as the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Read More…
A nation that lost its way
AS an aspirant in 2022, the President of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, made a pilgrimage to Keffi, Nasarawa State. He needed the blessings of one of the most consummate and influential law professors the country has ever produced: Onje Gye-Wado. The latter from 1999, was for four years, Deputy Governor of Read More…
Oladipo Diya: The man who rode on a tiger’s back
In the rascally days of the military, when generals were wedded to coups, a military officer arose in their ranks called Oladipo Donaldson Oyeyinka Diya. He was unknown to the public until January 1984 when the coup plotters led by General Muhammadu Buhari, who had overthrown the Shagari administration, announced him as the Military Governor Read More…
They sell the needy for a pair of shoes
I woke up at the weekend to a letter written by Professor Ibrahim Adamu Yakasai of Bayero University, Kano. He had on March 25, 2023, performed a civic duty as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Returning Officer for the Tudun Wada/Doguwa House of Representative elections. He had announced with his professorial authority that Ado Read More…
My mother was a woman
I AM blessed because I am blessed by women. This Wednesday, March 8, I received messages from some women wishing me a happy International Women’s Day. They know I am not part of their gender. But they are aware that I support, speak and fight for gender equity, equal rights and justice for all irrespective Read More…
The battles between young General Buhari and retired teacher, Ajasin
The battles I describe, took place four decades ago. They speak to character and governance; some of the problems we have today and why the country is in turmoil. They were between a then 42-year-old General Muhammadu Buhari and 76-year-old Michael Adekunle Ajasin who had retired after 54 years of teaching from July 1921 to Read More…
After the presidential election, came the rains
AFTER the presidential election on Saturday, February 25, 2023, the rains came down in Abuja. No, they were not pitiful tears even when Nigeria, an otherwise prosperous country has been reduced to a beggarly state. Rather, they were rains cleansing the country, starting with a thorough wash of the county’s seat of government to prepare Read More…