Lindsay Barrett and Mia Mottley: The Pull of the Diaspora, by Owei Lakemfa
Lindsay Carlton Eseoghene Barrett was a twenty-five-year-old Jamaican when he came from Britain to Nigeria in July 1966 on a few weeks’ visit. Those weeks have stretched to over sixty years, with the playwright, poet, journalist and photographer becoming one of the best-known Nigerians. He was eighty-five years on September 15, and not unexpectedly, I […]
Dribbling Johnson on Brexit and Trump in Syria
By Owei Lakemfa One of the largest religions in the world is football. It is also the most non-sectarian of the lot. At the heart of football are the dribblers; they are the prophets and chief priests of this religion. They are the game makers and changers whose mesmerizing footwork is a primary […]
Sense and nonsense: Thesis on governance in Nigeria
A trite is that there is nothing new under the sun. However, governance in Nigeria demonstrates that a lot of things can be new under the sun. For instance, there were widespread announcements mainly in the ubiquitous social media that 77-year-old President Muhammadu Buhari was getting married to a newly appointed minister. I am sure we all knew it was a joke because it is no joke running a complex country like Nigeria. So, adding another woman to a matrimonial home with a strong matriarch can be quite combustible.
The Kurds as burnt offering
By Owei Lakemfa PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Sunday October 6 disclosed on phone to his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdoan, that America was withdrawing its troops with immediate effect from northern Syria. His tone indicated that America was abandoning its Kurdish ‘allies’ at the mercy of merciless Turkey. Erdogan took the […]
We’ve paid toll before stepping on the road
There is a tradition in Nigeria to pay for services not rendered. Electricity companies refuse to provide pre-paid metres and bill you while supplying darkness. You are made to pay multiple taxes similar to ransom because it is a hostage situation. Apart from spending the petro-dollars, internally generated revenue and foreign loans, our government is ever in need of more money. Don’t ask me what it is used for; I am a patriot. For this, we are made to pay tax on virtually everything, including communication tax, cash withdrawal tax, cash deposit tax, stamp duty on bank account, stamp duty on POS transaction and higher Value-Added- Tax for Tax-Devalued-Life
Democracies gone crazy: Egypt’s Sisi and Indonesia’s Widodo
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi sees himself as the saviour of his country. Therefore, when in September street protests broke out asking him to step down, he was furious. Within two weeks, he detained over 2,300 persons, including hundreds that were picked up in their homes. The detainees include 111 minors, aged between 11 and 17 years and 68 women.
