Baba Aye's

General Muhammadu Buhari, an ex-military head of state won the popular vote last week, defeating the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. This would be the first time an incumbent government’s party would be so defeated. The first two republics were overthrown by the military in the wake of manipulated general elections that threw up severe political crises. General Buhari’s All Progressives Congress claimed the high ground of “change”. The campaign of “the people’s General” as Buhari was re-christened revolved around: ending corruption; defeating insurgency in the northeast and; eradicating unemployment. Buhari’s reputation as an austere and truth-speaking ( “Maigaskiya ) “strongman” was played up as evidence he would deliver on APC’s campaign promises. Although Buhari won with just under 3million votes of the 28 odd million votes cast, support for his bid was very palpable from diverse quarters, including some socialists described “Buharism” as a spectre of socialism!...

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama spoke “directly to...the people of Nigeria”, reminding us, so to speak of our triumphant struggles for independence and subsequently against military dictatorship. He then pointed out that: “a historic opportunity to help write the next chapter of Nigeria’s progress” lies in the general elections which commence on March 28, with the most keenly contested presidential election in Nigeria since Independence in 1960. Elections for national legislators will hold on the same day, while those for governors and state legislators are scheduled for April 11 [1] . The two sets of elections were earlier scheduled to take place on February 14 and 18, respectively. A week before they were to commence, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced a six-week postponement. The military service chiefs had written a letter to the electoral umpire demanding postponement. The excuse was that the military was in the midst of an offensive ag...

“I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those that do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice, and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the systems of exploitation... It is incorrect to classify the revolt of the Negro as simply a racial conflict of black against white, or as a purely American problem. Rather, we are today seeing a global rebellion of the oppressed against the oppressor, the exploited against the exploiter.” – Malcolm X Today makes it exactly 50years that Malcolm X was brutally killed as he prepared to address a session of the Organisation of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) at the 400-person capacity-filled Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, New York. Till date, the conspiracy behind this dastardly assassination of one of this impressive revolutionary described as “our shining black prince” at his funeral is yet to be unravelled. But his exemplary life continues to in...