Baba Aye's

There is no death in recent times that has left me as disconcerted as the tragic killing of Aremson by a hit-and-run driver on 12 October. I have tried to write, and each time got disoriented by the weight of emotions, some of which I still grapple with naming. This is not simply because of memories from over three and a half decades of friendship. I recalled our collaboration, the heated debates that continued late into the night before mobile phones, and the lengthy WhatsApp calls of recent times. My mind went to the cell we shared at Ikoyi prison during the June 12 struggle and the bed in a dingy hotel somewhere between Ojuelegba and Yaba as we put mechanisms in motion for the burning of tires to effect an NLC/TUC general strike that was called off at the last moment. I reflected on how my respect for Aremson soared when I visited him at home in August. Seeing the impact of a series of strokes on his health, and how he remained unbowed and unrepentant, I saluted him as one of the mo...

“A tale of two September 21s” was what first came to my mind as a title for this article (and I still see it as an alternative title). I intended to trace out the similarities and differences in the significance of two events, which in different ways affected the two main components of the labor movement in Nigeria. First was September 21, 1974, when internment led to the unity of the trade union movement . Despite repression, infiltration, self-serving momentary splits, and attempts at state incorporation, the spirit of unity that emerged that day has remained alive. The second was September 21, 2005, when the death of a leading revolutionary socialist and civil society activist inspired efforts at uniting the socialist movement . After five years during which the initiative atrophied, it became clear that it had failed. It was, however, probably the longest-running attempt at establishing an alliance of the left. There are lessons to draw from this understudied period of our re...