MANY parts of the world were in festive mood this Wednesday marking  Christmas, but thousands of Australian volunteers were at war, fighting hundreds of fires ravaging their country.

MURITALA Ramat Muhammed was the charismatic General who emerged Head of State following the July 29, 1975 coup. In a counter-coup on February 13, 1976, he was cut down in a hail of bullets. The  frightened regime which survived him was shocked it had no inkling such a coup was in the offing. It, therefore, decided to establish a secret service which would combine internal security, local and foreign intelligence gathering, counter-intelligence and propaganda.

MANY parts of the world were in festive mood this Wednesday marking  Christmas, but thousands of Australian volunteers were at war, fighting hundreds of fires ravaging their country.

IN the heady days of the  Babangida and Abacha military regimes, the State Security Services, SSS, frequently invaded the Imaria Street, Anthony Village, Lagos office and home of  Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, BRK, leader of the pro-democracy movement in the country.

THE Labour Party was born in 1900 by trade union and socialist parents and what its leader, Jeremy Corbyn tried to do in this month’s British elections, was to return it to its origins which emphasise a social pact between the state and the people. He tried to return Britain to the path of collective welfare for all, not one of dog eat dog or every man for himself and God for us all.

TRAGICALLY, our country is headed back to the odious days of General Sani Abacha when dissent was regarded as criminal, protest as a coup and reason as treason. In the last few days, patriotic Nigerians including people in this government who disagreed with the invasion of our courts by hooded armed men, and resort to self-help by the President Muhammadu Buhari government, have been ordered to shut up. Countries like the United States and United Kingdom and organisations like the European Union and Amnesty International who have raised concern about the violation of basic freedom and refusal by the government to respect the rule of law, have also been asked to shut their mouths. All these are a rehearse of the antics of the Abacha regime.

NABIL Suleiman stood before the Nigerian audience. His speech was quite short. It did not matter because his being told  the story of pain. Apparently, he has done well for himself but it is an inner fulfillment he seemed to crave and an end to the suffering of his people, the Palestinians.

A LARGE chunk of the media last week was taken over by reports and comments about the earthshaking, or is it ground breaking foundation laying ceremony of the Transport University in Daura. The star of the ceremony was not President Muhammadu Buhari, but his Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi who regaled us with tales how he coerced the Chinese into agreeing to build the institution.

AGEING is a natural process, but some age faster due to a variety of reasons including ill health, lack of good nutrition and troublesome children who raise their blood pressure. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, established primarily to counter the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, has aged quite fast due to some of these reasons. So much that when its 12 biological and 17 adopted children gathered in Britain to mark its 70th, it was difficult to say whether it was really a social party or a gathering of grumbling children amongst whom there was no love lost.

By Owei Lakemfa MOBOLAJI Johnson was an officer in a profession with a command structure where people were trained to obey the last order. But as military governor of Lagos State, Johnson was known not to obey the last order; on a  number of times, he insisted on practicing federalism in a military regime. He […]

By Owei Lakemfa POPE Francis this week sent humanity on another soul searching mission. During a visit to Japan, he held out the mirror in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and invited the world to look at itself. The only imagery that stared back at us, was the savagery of the atomic bombs dropped in both Japanese […]

I WAS tempted before the November 16, gubernatorial elections in Kogi State to suggest that incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello should simply be given a second term as elections were unnecessary. This would have saved us the enormous funds wasted in the elections. Those killed before, during and after the elections, might still have been alive. Those maimed and scarred for life, buildings burnt and property destroyed might have been averted.

IT follows a familiar pattern. African  leaders who are courageous enough to speak the truth to powerful countries, pay quite heavy prices. They are vilified, victimized, blackmailed or sometimes murdered.  Ambassador Arikana Chihombori-Quao, who was the African Union, AU, Ambassador to the United States until this month, is lucky. All she got for speaking out for Africa against its continued looting particularly by France, was a sack. At least the ambassador of Zimbabwean origins, is alive.

IT was a Nigerian event. The crème of our  medical profession gathered in their hundreds at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. It was simultaneously an international event as they were joined by leaders of National Medical Associations from the Commonwealth Medical Association, CMA, which was holding its 25th triennial conference. 

By Owei Lakemfa   THE political events and turmoil in Bolivia were expected. I was convinced about this far back in 2012. That year, I was in Washington and a childhood friend introduced me to one of his neigbours, a Bolivian. He was surprised I knew about his country and its history including its 1825 […]