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 off its garments of denial, acknowledge its gory periods and try to make peace with itself. It began on Thursday May 27, when President Emmanuel Macron made a soul searching visit to Rwanda where he saw hundreds of skulls; all that remained of kids and the elderly, children, men…
Author: Owei Lakemfa
Abdulrauf Adesoji Aregbesola, the Minister of Internal Affairs is an enigma with a knack for attracting youths and maintaining devoted followership. Since his days as the chief mass mobilizer in Alimosho-Lagos, Works Commissioner in Lagos State, berthing in Osun State with his ‘governance unusual’ and current station, his work and charisma entice many and of course, attracts antagonists. He has a Mandela sense of history, a Magafuli streak of stubbornness and audacious courage. Even within the ruling All Peoples Congress, APC, he does not back down from a fight he thinks is inevitable. During the February 2019 Presidential campaign rally in…
ON the eve of Africa Day, this Monday, May 24, 2021, soldiers went to Malian President, Bah Ndaw, not to salute him, but pick him like a chicken. They did the same for the Prime Minister Moctar Ouane. The duo was taken to the Kati Military Camp, Bamako. The soldiers were carrying out the orders of the Vice President, Colonel Assimi Goïta. The next day, Nigeria, the giant in the region issued a feeble statement signed not by the Foreign Minister or any high official, but by the Ministry’s Spokesperson condemning “the detention” when even high school students knew what…
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 the streets and fear in government houses. The country was in the grip of a general strike organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC for the establishment of a National Minimum Wage. Then there was a news break. Bob Marley, the international soldier of oppressed peoples worldwide, tireless fighter for human rights, Pan Africanist and humanist was dead at 36! It was unbelievable. If there…
THE last time I was in Chad was in 2014. In its capital, N’Djamena, I couldn’t resist the feeling that I was in a big rural village. Many of the side streets I went, were either un-tarred or in need of some repair and in some cases, water logged. Desperation was written on many faces as poverty played widely popular football marches on the streets. One day, one of my hosts came to pick me. Not far from the hotel gates, he pointed at what looked like a road tunnel and asked me if I knew what it was. He…
How do you react to a preventable war in which just in Lagos alone – one of the thirty six states in Nigeria -700,000 human beings are annually taken prisoner, and worldwide, 229 million are taken prisoner with over 400,000 yearly sent to early graves? That is the situation with the ancient human war against malaria. Yet humanity has for over 70 years been in a position to win this war but fails to do so largely due to the failure of governance, lack of interest and sabotage by those who profit from this human calamity. This Sunday, the World Malaria Day was held, with the usual speeches…
I have a confession. Sometimes, I have caught myself thinking about the world and what humans have done to it. Many times, I have been lost in thought about humans and what they have done to other human beings. Several times, I have caught myself debating who have been the most vicious colonialists who for lust and greed and in order to plunder riches, sent millions of other humans to early graves. Does this infamous trophy go to the British who massacred the Kikuyus in Kenya for daring to demand freedom? Even after the massacres and defeat of the people,…
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 not see the light of day. Usually, such investigations are to keep the concerned official quiet while the report will be kept handy, in case the need arises to descend on such officials. In Nigeria’s dog-eat-dog system, the father can devour the daughter and life…
