Baba Aye's

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...

We appear to be witnessing a renewed turn to bloody repression by the Nigerian state, probably meant to divert attention from its glaring lack of capacity to meet the December 31 deadline it set itself, for defeating the Boko Haram insurgency. Last week, hundreds of Shi’ite Moslems were killed in Zaria, ostensibly to prevent the Army boss, General Buratai from being assassinated. Sheikh El-Zakzaky, leader of the Shi’ite Islamic Brotherhood of Nigeria was also arrested. On Saturday, 5 members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) were also shot dead, and not less than 7 seriously wounded at Onitsha. This is coming up after an earlier killing of IPOB members last month. UAD unequivocally condemns this wave of macabre repression. It is an ill wind that blows us all, as poor working people, no good. The frequency of killings in this short period is a grave cause for concern. And the reaso...