Battered ECOWAS Applies Cosmetic Make-Up

 By Owei Lakemfa

The highlight of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Authority of Heads of State and Government Summit of December 15, 2024, was the formalisation of its break up. Three of the 15-Member countries, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic which are now ruled by  military regimes, had given notice of withdrawal.

Some of us had hoped that while ECOWAS would acknowledge the three countries’ notice, it would stall for a political solution. It should be a very serious issue for even one country to leave, not to talk of three which is one fifth of the entire membership.

Trumpism Set To Upset The World

 By Owei Lakemfa

Unto us, a man-child is again born by the United States, US, electorate. Donald Trump is actually a reincarnation sent to upset the world.

*Trump

Friends like the European Union and neigbouring Canada are jittery for he is unpredictable and, foes like China are girding their loins. Trump is the weird one the incompetent and visionless Biden administration has given a smooth ride back to the White House.

Nigeria-Vietnam: When Your Friend Tells You The Truth

 By Owei Lakemfa

The primary reason a group of Nigerians had a meeting in Abuja with embassy and trade officials from Vietnam on Wednesday October 30, 2024 was to explore business opportunities for cooperation and development.

That quickly changed to nagging questions such as why Vietnam which was a physically flattened country back in May 1976 when it began diplomatic relations with Nigeria is, today, fast developing, while Nigeria is fast degenerating and steadily under-developing? Why is the Vietnamese Foreign Exchange Reserves $92.3 billion and that of Nigeria $39.07 billion?

The Nigerian Alignment Is Faulty

 By Owei Lakemfa

It was a triumphant occasion. The venue was the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment, Giri, Abuja. The joyous occasion was the destruction of over 2,400 illicit arms. The chief celebrant was the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, NCCSALW. The five-star guests included the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, members of the National Assembly, representatives of the service chiefs, heads of other security agencies and top military brass.

The man given the honour to set fire on the arms, was the National Security Adviser, NSA, Malam Nuhu Ribadu. He waxed lyrical as he carried out this task. However, his claims that soldiers and policemen were selling arms to terrorists, bandits and criminals, were within days, challenged by the Defence Headquarters.

Abiola, Tinubu And I On A Derailed Train

 By Owei Lakemfa

I am excited. After about two months in police cells and the Kuje Maximum Prison, three #EndBadGovernance protesters: Michael Lenin Adaramoye, Mosiu Sodiq and Opaluwa Eleojo, are back home. They are on bail. They join the trio of Loveth Angel, Nuradeen Khamis and Abayomi Adeyemi, earlier let out on bail.

Incredibly, they face treason charges. Not because they were anywhere near where violent protests erupted, but a sort of vicarious liability. They are resident in Abuja but the authorities are holding them liable for the violent protests in other parts of the country.

The Oppressors Who Love The Oppressed

 By Owei Lakemfa

It is bizarre. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, calling on the government to protect the poor from the impact of the fuel price hikes it engineers! To add to its criminal thought process against the Nigerian people, the same IMF is telling the Tinubu administration that fuel prices in Nigeria are too low and need to be increased because it is allegedly selling below market price. What market?

To understand this, we need to know that the Western Europe-owned IMF and its Siamese American twin, the World Bank, have since 1981 told every successive Nigerian government that our petroleum product prices are too cheap and must be increased.

Tajudeen Abass: A Dutiful Speaker At Work

 By Owei Lakemfa

As a young man, I quite often heard the Latin phrase: “Vox populi, vox dei”, meaning: “The voice of the people is the voice of God”. Democracy, whatever the brand, is supposed to uphold this.

*Bola Tinubu and Tajudeen Abass

But the Nigerian people might be too busy to speak; too hungry to talk. Under such circumstances, they need to remain silent. But who better to speak for the people than the National Assembly? That is why parliamentarians are assembled: to speak for their otherwise preoccupied constituents.

Smoking While Off-Loading Petrol

 By Owei Lakemfa

Heart surgeon, Masoud Pezeshkian, was sworn-in as President of Iran on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. His primary concern seemed to be about lifting the unilateral sanctions the United States, US, had imposed on his country. Reviving the economy is fundamental for the citizenry and the sure way of winning their hearts.

However, he would have been forced to have a change of heart within 24 hours. The first major challenge he is faced with now is how to react to Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh. The latter had accepted Iran’s invitation to attend his swearing-in ceremony. At the occasion, Haniyeh who had been well received, flashed the victory sign. But the very next day, Israel assassinated him in Tehran.

Remake The World By Ending Colonialism: The Abuja Agenda

 By Owei Lakemfa

Expression of shock and incredulity were reactions from a number of persons and organisations across the world who were invited to the International Conference for the Eradication of Colonialism. The general question that followed was: “Are there still colonies in the world?” Indeed, there are 61 territories and peoples who list themselves as colonies or what the United Nations, UN, classify as Non-Self Governing Territories.

However, the UN officially recognises only 17 such territories. These are American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, French Polynesia, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands and Western Sahara.  The 17th territory is called Falkland Islands by Britain and, Malvinas, by Argentina.

ECOWAS Continues Its Blunders As West Africa Splits

 By Owei Lakemfa

West Africans on July 7, 2024, witnessed the tragic split of their region into two opposing blocs. The first time since the 1975 establishment of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.

Eleven regional Heads of State met in Abuja under the ECOWAS umbrella while three of their counterparts: Presidents Assimi Goita of Mali, Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso and Abdourahamane Tchiani, Niger, met in Niamey for the inaugural Summit of the Alliance of Sahel States, AES.

Universities Without Electricity: Nigeria’s Contribution To 21st Century Knowledge

By Owei Lakemfa

June 2024. Festivity was in the air. Professors and students, staff and high class visitors were in attendance. The highlight was a first class dinner. Africa’s book factory, Professor Toyin Falola, flew into the country to deliver the farewell lecture. It was all in honour of Professor Abd-Rasheed Na’Allah, out-going Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, UNIABUJA. But, trust spoilers.

They are never far away from festivities. As the wining and dining went on with fine speeches seeing off the VC at month end, students of the university were lamenting the N500 daily they pay to charge their cell phones. It was the second week the university had been plunged into darkness. It was not that the university is new to power outages, but this particular one had lengthened to pay farewell to Professor Na’Allah.

The African Sunset In South Africa

 By Owei Lakemfa

The loss of majority in parliament by the African National Congress, ANC in the May 29, 2024 South African elections was a sunset for the continent. It means that the unrepentant Pan Africanist organisation with its vow to the mass of the people and unrepentant commitment to humanity as manifested in its unprecedented war against genocide in Palestine, might be compromised under a coalition. 

*Ramaphosa and Zuma 

The uniqueness of the ANC in   South African and international politics is that it has never really been a political party. Rather, it is an all-comers  movement of people dedicated to freedom and social justice. It is built on a tripod: coalition of people with different ideologies and religions, the South African Communist Party which espouses socialism, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, COSATU.  The current President Cyril Ramaphosa is from COSATU.

Governance Is Not Rocket Science

 By Owei Lakemfa

Governance is not about sharing blame, making excuses, or the individual exonerating himself. It is about getting the job done.

*Tinubu

So, when in the face of serious financial and economic crises which have seen hunger envelop the land like a shroud and the national currency waterboarded, Olayemi Michael “Yemi” Cardoso, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor exonerates himself, something serious must be wrong.

Nigeria Is On The Road To Haiti, Not Venezuela

 By Owei Lakemfa

The Nigerian masses are troubled. They are hungry, angry and losing faith in civil rule. The times call for leaders at all levels to be at work, seeking solutions. Unfortunately, many government officials are spending scarce resources and precious time carrying out propaganda.

The political traders blaming the demonstrably inept and kleptocratic Buhari regime, for our current woes, are engaged in a needless diversion. It is like beating a dead horse; what would the country gain from such waste of time and energy?

A Walk Amongst Writers And Odia, A Living Legend

 By Owei Lakemfa

I drove to Mamman Vatsa Writers Village, Mpape, Abuja. It is a huge sprawling estate of multiple storey buildings, many under construction. It is easy to get lost in this maze that is the home of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA. Somebody from the hilly top pointed at a building in what may well be a valley.

*Ofeimum

Outside the huge theatre, I found nobody. I was confident there were people inside. But it was like a void. Finally, I found somebody who confirmed a reading by Odia Ofeimum was scheduled for the theatre. But that was still some three hours away. I knew that, but I was also aware a pre-reading session was going on. The task was to locate it.

The Civilian Coups In Senegal, Guinea Bissau, And ECOWAS Ambivalence

 By Owei Lakemfa

There are civilian or constitutional coups in Guinea Bissau and Senegal, yet the regional body, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, is pretending otherwise. It appears interested only in military coups, not those carried out by its bosses in the Heads of State Summit.

Yet, the ingredients of a coup are present in both countries where the constitution is subverted, the President assumes dictatorial powers, parliament is illegally banned as is the case in Guinea Bissau or emasculated as in Senegal, and the judiciary is under siege to do the bidding of the President.

Nigeria: The Creeping Celebration Of Vanity: The JAMB Question

 By Owei Lakemfa

My experience in highbrow Asokoro on Friday, January 19, 2024 was like a nightmare. I had an important appointment and I felt comfortable I was going to be some 40 minutes early. Then it happened: blocked roads in the narrow streets. That was when it dawned on me this was the day the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on gubernatorial elections in some eight states. Now, Asokoro is where the Governors have their lodges in the nation’s capital, and some with their supporters had blocked the roads.

I was, like many motorists, trapped, but just when I thought I had extricated myself, the worse happened: Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule and his supporters were celebrating further down, and the road was completely blocked. There was no escape. While they celebrated in Abuja, there were protests and bonfires in the state. At the end of the wild celebrations, Governor Sule told the press at the Presidential Villa that those protesting in his state were just “1,000 people (who) are protesting somewhere”.

Usual Sing-Song: Outrage Over Plateau Killings

 By Owei Lakemfa

In the 2023 Christmas period running from December 23-25, armed assailants in co-ordinated attacks wiped out 20 communities in  Magu, Bokkos and Bakin areas of Plateau State. They killed over 200, injured a minimum 500 and put  over 10,000 in flight.

The headlines  expressing ‘Outrage over Plateau killings’ are tragically, familiar and might  have as well been cast ten, fifteen years ago. The perpetrators are same; a trained, vicious, co-ordinated  bunch, some  assembled from  West and Central Africa states.

A Peep Into 2024 Nigeria

 By Owei Lakemfa

The  year 2023 held a lot of hope for Nigerians as the Buhari administration  which had put the country on autopilot, was programmed to end its tenure by mid-year. Indeed, the past year had begun as a traumatic one with a currency change   which impoverished the people as they could not readily access their  bank accounts or money.

The Naira, rather than be a means of exchange became a commodity traded in the streets. The local currency was  so  scarce that people paid as high as 15-20 per-cent as commission for Naira notes.  Unfortunately, in the first seven months of the Tinubu administration, governance has not changed in a fundamental way. If  anything, the economy for the people got worse with the ill-advised and ruinous increases in PMS prices and the water boarding of the of the Naira. These are the major factors   that  pushed inflation  to 28.2 per-cent. Also in 2023, the Tinubu government was unable to end the scarcity of the Naira leading to it being traded in the streets, sometimes at rates as high as 10 per-cent.

Tinubu’s Foreign Policy: Driving Nigeria In A 4D Wagon

 By Owei Lakemfa

Ambassador  Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, the Honourable  Minister of Foreign Affairs, stepped out on Thursday December 21, 2023 to explain to  Nigerians the four-dimensional space built by the Tinubu administration for the country’s foreign policy. Tuggar, 56, a player in the oil and gas industry had in the last six years, been Nigeria’s Ambassador to  Germany.

*Tinubu

This opportunity  of  a wide audience including the diplomatic community, intellectuals, active and retired public servants   to examine  the new policy, was provided by the ever thoughtful and visionary Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria, ARCAN. 

The ARCAN, led by Ambassador John Kayode Shinkaiye,   one of the country’s greats in African diplomacy, asked me to chair the occasion which had the succinct theme:   ‘The Foreign Policy Agenda under Tinubu Administration.’