Owei Lakemfa

The spike in the drink of our political leaders, by Owei Lakemfa

The spike in the drink of our political leaders, by Owei Lakemfa

Democracy, at least theoretically, is about choice. I have no doubt that our political leaders agree. However, the problem many of those in power have is that Nigerian voters are not mature enough to exercise their right to make a choice. So, they need to be tutored and guided. But if the voters fail to […]
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The Black Church

The Black Church

After the church shooting, President Barrack Obama lamented “this type of mass violence doesn’t happen in other advance countries”. But which other country has three hundred million guns in private homes? It is not military might, technological advances or economic power that makes a great nation; but the worth of every life in it.

The roar of lions

The roar of lions

NIGERIAN Students were in disarray in 1981. After their heroic but deadly battle against military dictatorship three years earlier, they were now in factions. The Obasanjo regime had in 1978, sought to smash the Student Movement by banning the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS). Students had responded by establishing a bigger umbrella, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) which incorporated students from all tertiary institutions.

The priest as politician, fighter and saint

The priest as politician, fighter and saint

ONE of the most controversial personalities ever to don the cassock, is on his way to sainthood. After a quarter of century of protests and resistance, including by the church in his country, Oscar Romero has been beatified by the Catholic Church. This is coming eighteen years after then Pope John Paul II personally took up the battle to honour him.

APC, know thyself

APC, know thyself

The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is not a party in itself, but a party for itself. The mere fact that a coalition declares itself a party does not mean it automatically becomes a party which is a political movement built over a period-based defined principles. A political party is like a child that needs to grow, even if that child is a weird one that defeated his father in a contest.

Injustice in the name of fighting terrorism

Injustice in the name of fighting terrorism

Canada is perceived as a liberal country. Compared to neighbouring United States of America, USA, Canada’s racial tension seems lower, and the government accepts that it has the responsibility to provide basic services, including welfare, healthcare and social insurance. Opportunity for education is so good that many from the under-developed world make it a place of first choice.

Superior Strategy Over Party Supremacy

Superior Strategy Over Party Supremacy

The contest for the Senate Presidency yesterday, was billed to be one of the major fights of the current political dispensation. It was one between Senator Ahmad Lawan backed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and his fellow party man, Senator Bukola Saraki who refused to step down despite losing the party’s endorsement.

The way of the Senate

The way of the Senate

THE Senate made some of us proud on Wednesday when it pushed Nigeria into the record books; passing 46 bills in ten minutes. That is less than 13 seconds per bill. Even in the 100 metres race, that can fetch a gold medal.

Africa’s incomplete independence

Africa’s incomplete independence

African people who have no rights are beaten, kicked and killed; men, women and children. They are citizens who can, and are deported. Their natural resources are exploited without their consent, and from these, they derive no benefits.

A nation’s collapse and revival

A nation’s collapse and revival

By Owei Lakemfa LAST week was one of despair and hope. Collapse and revival. It was a week of exit, and an entry in which President Muhammadu Buhari gave a loaded inaugural speech which like a mini-skirt was revealing, but gave nothing away. Will he probe the past? He seems to say no, with his […]

Seeking unity for a united people

Seeking unity for a united people

WEST Africans were more united in pre-colonial times than under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which turned forty years yesterday, Thursday, May 28, 2015. There was generally, free movement of persons in the region before the colonialists, mainly French and British, imposed artificial boundaries even amongst the same ethnic group and introduced custom duties which have since then restricted movement and prevented integration.