Baba Aye's

What is your take on the controversies over the real-time e-transmission of election results?  The controversies surrounding the transmission of elections say a lot about the nature of electoral politics in Nigeria. You can recall the court rulings in 2023 that the IReV could not be considered as the coalition centre. And electronic transmission of election results was deemed to be at the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). We all know who benefited most from the non-electronic transmission of results in 2023 and also stands to benefit by not enabling the transmission as a compulsory element of the 2026 Electoral Act. It is the ruling party. So, not surprisingly, opposition parties from the same ruling class of bosses joined the chorus of calls to make e-transmission compulsory. But, their point of departure is not the same as that of civil society organisations and the only party which represents a revolutionary alternative in the country is the A...

As Nigeria commemorated its 65th Independence Day anniversary, I spoke with Ejikeme Omenazu of the Independent newspapers on several issues dwelling on the history and current situation of Nigeria, ranging from how far the country has fared, to the Civil War, the so-called indivisibilty of Nigeria, the non-difference-difference, if I may of the different sections of the local ruling class, the travails of Omoyele Sowore and Aliko Dangote's union bursting antics.  It is now 65 years after Nigeria's independence; how has the country fared so far? It depends on the question of which class you are talking about. Nigeria has fared badly for working-class people. At independence, workers, poor farmers and the urban poor were not as badly off as they are now. Hunger and insecurity did not stalk the land. They yearned for things to be better. They had high hopes that with independence, their lives would become better still. But it did not take them long to see that this was not goin...