Baba Aye's

Comrade Baba Aye, a veteran trade unionist and activist, is Co-Convener, Coalition for Revolution (CORE) and a Council Member of the Progressive International (PI). Baba Aye, a former Deputy National Secretary, Labour Party (LP)  former National Convener, United Action for Democracy (UAD) and Member of the National Implementation Committee of the Campaign for Democracy (CD during the June 12 struggle), in this interview with  EJIKEME OMENAZU , speaks on the State of Emergency in Rivers State among other crucial national issues. Excerpt: How would you react to the recent declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu? President Bola Tinubu’s decla­ration of a state of emergency in Rivers state is ill-motivated and un­dermines the democratisation pro­cess in Nigeria for what it is worth. In one fell swoop, it has set back the democratic project, questionable as it definitely is, by decades. A state of emergency is essentially just another name f...

The latest suicide bombings in Gwazo, in Borno State, caught security agents napping. What do you think about the incident? This development cannot, but fill one’s heart with sadness. My thoughts and sympathies go to the loved ones of the over 30 people killed in that synchronised suicide bomb­ings. The extensive use of women and girls to carry out suicide attacks over the years is a pointer to the heartlessness of the top hierarchy of Boko Haram strategy. Between 2014 and 2017, for example, they used over 200 females for this purpose. That is the highest number of the use of fe­male suicide bombers by any terror­ist group in the world. Some of them were earlier kidnapped and then coerced or brainwashed. That been said, it is also important to note that this recent development is a pointer to the point we have always made that it would be an illusion for the Nigerian government to think they can defeat insurgency in the North­east militarily. Without addressing the underlying cause o...