Internationalist Segun Osoba, reunites Nigerian radicals, by Owei Lakemfa
The internationalist, intellectual, radical historian and generally accepted leader of the Nigerian Left, Olusegun Osoba, left on May 14, 2026, at 92. What followed the exit of a man who greatly influenced and led three generations of Nigerian radicals was a twenty-six-day programme of celebrating his life, times and works. It was as if a father […]
Umahi: Impunity, falsehood and denials as governance
By Owei Lakemfa GOVERNOR David ‘Dave’ Nweze Umahi of Ebonyi State reminds me of the colonial District Officer who was a law unto himself. I know Abakaliki, the state capital, was a major centre for slave trade four centuries ago, but Umahi governs the state as if it were still a slave colony where people have […]
Floods anywhere is a challenge to humanity everywhere
By Owei Lakemfa THE Confluence Hotel in Ganaja, Lokoja used to be my favourite spot whenever I visited Kogi State. Its main attraction to me was sitting down to watch the Rivers Niger and Benue warmly embrace in an eternal wedlock as their waters flow down south to the Niger Delta before emptying themselves into the […]
This is the face of poverty in Nigeria
By Owei Lakemfa Poverty is often presented as statistics. But what the Yusufu Bala Usman Institute did on September 21, 2022 was to produce a book, The Face of Poverty in Nigeria, which focused on the faces behind the statistics. As one of the reviewers, I summarised the Nigerian situation thus: If you are poor in […]
Ruto and Falana: Brother for enslavement and brother for liberation
By Owei Lakemfa His Excellency William Ruto, Kenya’s newly minted President, prides himself as the Hustler-in-Chief of the country. He says he is from the “Hustler Nation” – the informal economy where he used to sell chickens for survival. However, having a dog-eat-dog street ideology as he claims, does not preclude a sense of basic human […]
The National Industrial Court, NIC, should not be for hire
By Owei Lakemfa Once the Muhammadu Buhari government had failed to get striking lecturers in our public universities back to class, I knew it would head for the National Industrial Court, NIC, shopping for an injunction. Tragically that is what governments in the country and rich employers have turned the NIC into: a fishing pond […]
