Owei Lakemfa

When the people lie against the government, by Owei Lakemfa

When the people lie against the government, by Owei Lakemfa

The day Nigeria turned sixty-six as an independent country, it marked it with fine speeches and assurances by its leaders. Both those in government and those outside competed. On that Thursday, October 1, 2026, twenty youth corpers set out in two buses from the comfort and safety of their homes to serve their country. But […]
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Sam Nujoma, enthusiastically celebrated in Nigeria, by Owei Lakemfa

Sam Nujoma, enthusiastically celebrated in Nigeria, by Owei Lakemfa

Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma was on the verge of an historic victory on November 11, 1989. The votes for the first democratic elections in Namibia, his long suffering country, were being counted. The colonial South African Apartheid regime was billed to grant independence in March 1990. It was night. Suddenly, the lights went off. Nujoma and […]

Babangida’s journey in self-service: Pathetic attempts to rewrite history, by Owei Lakemfa

Babangida’s journey in self-service: Pathetic attempts to rewrite history, by Owei Lakemfa

Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, the retired General and head of the 1985-93 military junta who styled himself  ‘President’  has again intruded into our national consciousness. On Thursday, February 20, 2025, the General who was disgraced out of office 32 years ago,  unleashed  an unguided missile he called an autobiography. Titled: ‘A Journey In Service’, it was a failed […]

The politics of the AU as it turns to reparations, by Owei Lakemfa

The politics of the AU as it turns to reparations, by Owei Lakemfa

The Africa Union, AU, 38th Summit from February 15-16, 2025 promised to be challenging as the body had to elect a new Chairperson for the African Union Commission, AUC, which is its engine room. The Commission is the AU Secretariat and its Chair, its chief executive officer. In the last eight years, that seat had been […]

Ayo Adebanjo: Trajectory of Nigerian politics, by Owei Lakemfa

Ayo Adebanjo: Trajectory of Nigerian politics, by Owei Lakemfa

Ayo Adebanjo, 96, was a path through which Nigerian politics could be traced. The politics of the country was mainly about the ruling elites in military fatigue or civil dress ruling at the centre, and conscientious patriots opposing from the sidelines or working from the margins. Adebanjo belonged to the latter.  At 14, in 1943, he […]

Come and see American wonder, by Owei Lakemfa

Come and see American wonder, by Owei Lakemfa

There was a popular song when I was a child titled ‘Come and see American wonder.’ It was not so much about the celebration of the perceived wonders of the United States, US. It was more about the incredulous things emanating from ‘God’s own country’. Some of us thought that as far as the US was […]