ABSU: Running a university as a local village contraption, by Owei Lakemfa
Professor Nnamdi Chinwendu Nwaeze holds three degrees in economics, all with distinction. When, on August 11, 2026, lecturers of the Abia State University, ABSU, where he professes, went on strike, he applied his economics profession by comparing the N400,000 some of the lecturers are paid with the income of the commercial tricyclist who makes an average […]
My mother was a woman
By Owei Lakemfa 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 […]
The battles between young General Buhari and retired teacher, Ajasin
By Owei Lakemfa 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 […]
The international politics of observing elections
By Owei Lakemfa THE 2023 Nigeria presidential and National Assembly elections were contentious and controversial with some calling for outright cancellation. While we all have our views none of which should be discountenanced, I find it curious that some quote the reports of international election observers as if it were the gospel truth. As someone […]
After the presidential election, came the rains
By Owei Lakemfa 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 […]
Epitaph for the living
By Owei Lakemfa A NUMBER of European leaders harbour the quixotic thought that as the first year of the War in Ukraine rolls by today, February 24, 2023, the Ukrainians will militarily defeat Russia. They prefer a continuation of the war, and, their writing the epitaph of Russian and Ukrainian youths who will be killed, […]
Hapless Nigerians caught in party and Supreme Court politics
By Owei Lakemfa The raging arguments today include whether or not President Muhammadu Buhari should have obeyed the Supreme Court ruling on the continued use of the old currencies. One argument is that it was the Federal Government that was sued, not the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. But our forebears have a wise saying: […]
It’s easy defending criminality when you’re not the victim
By Owei Lakemfa I EXPECTED a backlash when on February 3, 2023, I published a piece: “Recreating the Holocaust in their own image.” It came as expected. The various reactions reinforce my position that our world can be a far better place if only otherwise decent humans would not rationalise evil. But it is quite […]
Affliction strikes Nigerians the second time
By Owei Lakemfa I AM walking back from the position of many Nigerians that these are the worse of times for the country. It would have been difficult to dispute what appears to be a truism. We are buffeted by rampant cases of terrorism, banditry and sectarian violence. Inflation is over 20 per cent, we […]
George Muchai: Murder of a trade unionist
By Owei Lakemfa IT has taken me eight years to get around to writing this. George Muchai, Deputy Secretary General of the Kenyan Central Organisation of Trade Unions, COTU, was also the serving Member of Parliament for the Kabete Constituency. I was the Secretary General of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, OATUU, the […]
When government prompts the citizenry to violence
By Owei Lakemfa A Lebanese man on September 16, 2022, wielding a gun, held up the Byblos Bank in Ghazieh, Southern Lebanon. No, not to rob the bank or its customers. Just to retrieve part of his money trapped in the country’s banks! So, to retrieve part of his money, he had to hold up […]
