Baba Aye's

As the February 14 elections draw nearer it becomes clearer that there are two classes of Nigerians; the rich who milk the country’s wealth and set it ablaze and the poor whom they see merely as milk cows and cannon fodder. Recent media reports that politicians and bosses of big businesses are moving their families abroad (particularly to the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates) present a grave cause for concern in this direction. It is equally a pointer to the palpable possibility of severe national crisis in the wake of the elections. United Action for Democracy denounces this flight of the rich whilst they contrive an inflammable conundrum for the poor. UAD equally finds it worrisome that thousands of “non-indigenes” have also had to relocate back to their states and zones of origin out of fear of the possible aftermath of February 14. These are evidently ominous signs. This is the time for working people and their organisations to stand up against the destr...

soldiers with their jackboots and guns in Baga after the 2013 massacre The fishing community of Baga by Lake Chad in Borno state was under siege for a week at the beginning of January . Amnesty International described the ensuing bloodbath as the “deadliest massacre” by Boko Haram , estimating that some 2,000 persons were killed. President Jonathan, who condemned the “dastardly terrorist attack” against Charlie Hebdo cartoonists within hours of the tragic event in Paris, did not say a word about this tragedy. The attacks on Baga and over 16 towns and villages in its Local Government Area started on January 3. The insurgents overran the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) of the Chadian, Nigerien and Nigerian armies. Fleeing soldiers, men, women and children from Baga were pursued into the villages and bushes, killed and buildings set ablaze. Baga and its environs have become ghost towns in the aftermath of the assault. The dead were left unburied, a...

Almost 4million people marched in more than 200 cities and towns across France on Sunday 11. This “unity rally” was a response to the recent killing of 20 persons in Paris. 41 heads of states including Francois Hollande of France, Angela Merkel of Germany, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali, David Cameron of Britain, Mahmoud Abbass of Palestine and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel led a multitude of 1.6 people from the Place de la République to the Place de la Nation in Paris. Demonstrations also took place in several cities like London, Montreal, Madrid, Brussels and Berlin. The initial call for mass demonstrations was made by the trade unions. The French state latched onto it with the aim of appropriating the mood of anguish and defiance from below for “national unity”. “I am Charlie” and “liberte!” were popular slogans expressing this defiance against the despicable murder of the Charlie Hebdo magazine’s editorial board members, in the manifestations across France. One cannot but cond...

President Jonathan and his class of looters, set on making life worse for workers The Nigerian economy is in crisis and working people have started to feel its pangs with sky rocketing prices of commodities as the naira has been devalued by almost 10%. But, this bad situation is set to get worse with the unfolding implementation of austerity measures. The only way to avoid this impending doom is through struggle. We have to start mobilizing against anti-poor people austerity measures now . As we organize to fight against the bosses’ putting the burden on poor working people, there are questions we must find answers to. There is abundance of natural resources in Nigeria and our labour creates vast wealth. Why then are we being told that the country is broke? When the price of oil skyrocketed, what was the benefit for the working class, urban poor, and poor farmers? Why is the economy suffering a crisis? Who are those that will bear the brunt of the austerity measures being intro...