Baba Aye's

Comrade Ayodele "Iturity" Akele The death of Ayodele Akele marks the loss of one of the fiercest and most consistent class fighters in Nigeria, over the last four decades. From June 1980, when, as a students’ leader at Yabatech he emerged as founding Secretary General of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) he trod a path of self-sacrifice and unrepentant struggle as unionist and socialist activist. At the time of his death, he was National General Secretary of the National Conscience Party (NCP). As a quantity surveyor, he worked at the Lagos State Property Development Corporation (LSPDC) from where he was elected Lagos State Chairman of the National Union Public Corporations Employees (NUPCE) in the late 1980s till 1996 when NUPCE along with CSTWUN and RSEU, merged to form the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreation Services Employees (AUPCTRE). Beloved by rank and file workers who had implicit trust in ...

Comrade Abdulkareem Motajo with Giraldo Mazola Collazo the Cuban Ambassador to Namibia, in 2017 The news from Abiodun Aremu on a WhatsApp group on the Nigerian Left earlier this evening packed a heavy blow in one paragraph. Comrade Adulkareem Motajo, who had a diabetic condition, passed on yesterday night in Cuba. Arymson had been contacted by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples (ICAP). The message was a painful one: “…I'm very sorry to write to you at this time. Unfortunately, I am writing to give you a sad news. Our brother, friend, Comrade motajo died a few hours ago around 8 pm… The medical team did everything in their hands to save him but It was not possible. I'm So sorry.” Comrade Motajo was a soldier’s soldier on the left for his boldness. To me, this was not about his being clearly the closest socialist in the country to the Cuban people. It was his readiness to throw body, heart and soul with audacity into practical work, even when this could cos...

#RevolutionNow activists demonstrating at the offices of the secret police (SSS/DSS) In our article for Issue 64 of Amandla in June, which analysed the February/March elections and related developments, we pointed out “the hollowness of liberal democracy in Nigeria”. In the months since then, the regime represented primarily by the ruling All Progressive Congress has become more authoritarian, whilst clinging to the shell of liberal democracy in form. The Coalition for Revolution (CORE) in Nigeria, further exposed the repressive essence of the regime. The state has violently tried to suppress the #RevolutionNow campaign launched by CORE in August without much success. This marks renewal of radical politics . Attacks on press freedom, disregard for court orders and the crushing of peaceful demonstrations have become the order of the day. The likelihood of this slide towards a quasi-fascist order is likely to go further except curbed by struggle from below. This is in the ...

On Friday, 20 September, the federal government   of Nigeria filed seven counts of treasonable felony and money laundering against Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters, and National Chair of the African Action Congress. Four days later, the court granted him bail, with conditions which included his lawyers’ submission of his (Sowore’s) international passport to the court. The conditions were immediately met by the radical lawyer, Femi Falana. But the state refused to release him, only to drag him to a more pliant court where horrendous bail conditions were set, including: a bail bond of $280,000; no public speaking, including to the press; restriction of his movement to Abuja, the federal capital territory. Olawale “Mandate” Adebayo, the 21-year old #RevolutionNow activist who was equally charged with him had his bail bond set at $140,000. The lifelong activist was arrested on 3 August by the Department of State Services (DSS, the secret police). This was an ...