Baba Aye's

The arrest of Omoyele Sowore on Monday, 22 June underscores the highhandedness of Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, who had unjustly revoked Sowore’s bail a week earlier. But it also does more than that; it is yet another demonstration of the draconian nature of the Nigerian state. We are often told that the court is the last hope of the common wo/man. But, like all other apparatus of state, including the military, police, and prisons, it primarily serves the interests of the ruling class and is aimed at repressing any force that stands up against the power of our oppressors. This arrest like the earlier ones, is yet another dastardly attempt to repress Sowore and the revolutionary politics he stands for. And just like the plethora oof earlier arrests. It will not work. Putting the current arrest in perspective For the records this otherwise comical drama of repression needs to be put into proper context. The not-so-secret police in Nigeria otherwise legally...

The 2027 general elections are around the corner. The elections will take place amidst the worst economic distress for working people in recent history. This is compounded by mounting insecurity and social crisis. Nonetheless, politicians have started warming up for campaign. Different sections of the ruling class are coming up as usual with empty promises. But now more than ever, the working masses, the marginalised youth, and oppressed people across the country need an alternative that challenges the systematic rottenness of social, economic, and political life. Issues shaping 2027 A recent poll by Business Day confirmed that, towards the 2027 elections, the topmost concerns of Nigerians are the economy and security. This is not at all surprising. While there has been economic growth since the Bola Tinubu administration of the APC regime came into power in 2023, the lives of poor working-class people have got worse. It is now more difficult for the vast majority of the population to ...

As 2025 ended and 2026 began, how would you describe Nigerians’ lives in the outgone year? Last year was a terrible year for poor working people in Nigeria. For the few that were still lucky to have salaried work, their wages could hardly take them home. House rents shot through the sky. For many people, their rents doubled between 2024 and 2025. Insecurity made travelling and even living in people’s homes a challenge of survival. While the economy did grow, it was only to the benefit of the few rich and powerful people, who became richer while the poor became poorer.  Would you say there are signs that the New Year will be better for the Nigerians? There are signs for sure that this year will be better for rich people. In the second week of the year, the news filtered in that the NGX, which is the Nigerian Stock Exchange, crossed the centi-trillion naira mark for the first time. While this hides the impact of things like the devaluation of the naira, regarding actual value, ...

Goke Akinrinde of the CWA majestically receiving participants The Campaign for Workers and Youth Alternative (CWA), the Nigerian section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) held a symposium with the theme “The 2019 General Elections & the impending Nigerian Revolution” on 8 December 2018. It posted its report of the meeting a few days later. The   the intention of the symposium, according to its organisers was t"o provoke a debate among the Left on the state and stage of class struggle in Nigeria and the best way to prepare for the impending class war". This is itself a good thing. The report threw up debate with a handful of comrades involved. I joined the fray at the point where there seemed to be contradictions between the conclusions in the course of discussion at the symposium by some of the leaders of the CWA and others that participated in it. For example, Akinrogunde Goke Tosin claimed that “whereas the discourse tilted towards an ackno...