BURNA BOY AND THE NIGERIAN DEMON

Grab your popcorn. I am about to play the Devil’s advocate here. Burna Boy is different. He is a Nigerian. We are different from every creature of God. Burna Boy is arrogant. It is the Nigerian in him. Show me a Nigerian you know who is very successful and has too much money that is not arrogant. Burna Boy talks bad about Nigeria and brings down the country. Talking about Nigeria. Talking down on Nigeria is the hobby horse of Nigerians. We are all as guilty of what we accuse Burna Boy of doing. We have to realize that we are a different breed of people. We are not ordinary. We are special. Even God who made us knows that. That is why He is having sleepless night trying to understand us. 

Burna Boy has a problem. Don’t we all. He is not perfect. Show me one human being that is perfect. We all should expect that from the next person. If we love them. Without having a problem you do not have a future. Until David faced and defeated Goliath. He had no future. That Americans are now canceling Burna Boy does not give us Nigerians the chance to join in the lynching being done to our brother. He is different just like the other successful wealthy Nigerian. He is arrogant. Just like the next Nigerian that came from nowhere to make a name for himself. The American people should not be the ones making a decision for us on how to love or hate Burna Boy. 

They do not understand us. Nobody does. The problem is we do not understand ourselves. We are different from other people. With this infinitesimal mistake. The Americans now want to destroy Burna Boy. The same way they try to destroy successful Nigerians living in their midst. You only have to rise to the pinnacle of your profession. And then you see how they will turn you into Burna Boy. They see the Nigerian in you. Suddenly you are different. Suddenly you are arrogant. Suddenly they cannot understand your accent. Now they want to bring you down. 

Burna Boy is our boy. His problem is our problem. He has done well for the reputation of our country. He is not perfect. At least he is not P Diddy or R Kelly. He is just a Nigerian with the Nigerian demon. Successful and unapologetically arrogant. Let the Nigerian that is not, throw the first stone.

THE ORIGIN OF AFRICAN LAST NAMES

African last names, or surnames, typically originate from tribal ancestries, occupations, or geographic locations within the continent (Adeola, 2021). They are often gender-specific and passed down from one generation to the next. In some cases, last names may even be indicative of a particular family's history and origins (Ngugi, 2023). In many African cultures, surnames are important as they help to identify a person's lineage and give insight into their heritage (Khamala, 2019). For example, in Ethiopia, last names often reflect the father's first name or occupation (Tesfaye, 2022). 

According to African folklore, “A long time ago there were two Kings. One could speak well in his language and the other had stuttering issues but was deemed the chosen and wise one. So, the wise king’s people tried to improve his speaking abilities by teaching him the languages; this gave birth to a new way of speaking or rather another language. The language was a bit similar to the original language but it gave birth to other languages of its own” (Okafor, 2020). Apparently, this is how African people got to speak the way they do, with a strong emphasis on tongue use in their languages. Over time, Africans formed leadership roles and introduced Chiefs or Kings to represent their communities. African surnames were formed by assigning them to each King to denote whom he was leading. This was particularly useful during travel, allowing others to identify which kingdom they were approaching (Keita, 2021). Gradually, this practice resulted in the adoption of unique African surnames by individuals across regions, long before colonial influences reached the continent (Biko, 2024). 

Overall, African last names can provide an intriguing glimpse into one's family history and cultural background—whether it be a traditional tribal name or a more modern surname that has been influenced by international trends over time. Understanding these various origins can help individuals better appreciate their own unique heritage and ancestry (Sankara, 2025). 

References

Sankara, T. (2025). Embracing Identity: The Significance of Surnames in Modern Africa. African Identity Journal, 22(1), 33-47.

Biko, S. (2024). Historical Context of Surnames in African Societies. Journal of African Studies, 19(3), 213-230.

Ngugi, W. (2023). Heritage and Identity in African Surnames. Journal of Cultural Heritage Studies, 15(2), 95-112.

Tesfaye, M. (2022). Surname Structures in Ethiopian Modifications. Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 13(2), 78-90. 

Adeola, O. (2021). Cultural Roots of Naming Practices in Africa. African Journal of Anthropology, 34(2), 87-102. 

Keita, A. (2021). The Evolution of African Kingship and Naming Traditions. Journal of Ethnographic Research, 12(1), 45-60.

Khamala, G. (2019). Understanding African Lineage through Surnames. International Journal of African Languages, 8(4), 200-215.

#Africa #BlackHistory #World

BURNA BOY BANNED IN THE USA!

The American audience is not happy with Nigerian recording artiste, Burna Boy, and they are not willing to hide their feelings towards him.

They have refused to buy tickets for his concerts, and some fans are choosing to intentionally fall asleep at his concerts just to mock him. Six years into the emergence of the African Giant era, and he not four years after he bagged his one and only Grammy award, the apathetic personality and choleric nature of the 34-year-old musician are beginning to work against him.

Unlike the Nigerian audience that Burna Boy has berated over the years, verbally abusing and even physically assaulting some fans, American fans are taking no prisoners, and they are treating the self-acclaimed African Giant by boycotting his concerts and expressing their displeasure across various social media platforms.

Why Are Americans Cancelling Burna Boy?

A couple of weeks ago, Burna Boy chased a couple out of his concert for sleeping during his performance in Denver, Colorado, United States of America. Eelive.ng gathered that the lady whom the singer-songwriter chased out of his concert was a grieving mother.

At the concert, Burna pointed at them and snapped: “When I stand up here and see you over there with your girl sleeping … it pisses me the f*** up,” he told the man. He then added, “Wallahi, I’m not doing another song until you go home,” prompting security to escort them out.

Pride Comes Before a Fall…

Burna didn’t stop there. After he was called out for his cruel actions, he went on Instagram live to brag about only performing for those who are wealthy and can afford him.

“Did I ask you all to be my fans? I’m only looking for fans with money these days,” he said in Pidgin English, a widely spoken language in Nigeria.

He added, “These days are a very, very treacherous period.”

“I was Exhausted”- Disgraced Concertgoer Explains Side of her Story

Chaltu Jateny, the woman involved in the Denver concert incident, later explained that she had been “mentally, physically, and emotionally drained” following the recent death of her daughter’s father. Responding in the comments of a viral TikTok video, she said she had attended the concert to distract herself from the grief and depression she was experiencing.

She added that she had hoped for a brief moment of joy at the show, but fatigue got the better of her. “We paid to be there … it is my money … not his,” Jateny said, describing the public shaming as “embarrassing and humiliating” and urging fans to show more compassion, reminding everyone that you never truly know what someone else is going through.

How Burna Boy’s Insensitivity Caught Up With Him

Earlier, eelive.ng published an article detailing how the self-acclaimed African Giant often disregards his fellow countrymen and has no honour for them. Though a massively talented musician, Burna Boy’s pride is his Achilles heel; he prefers to stomp on the well-being of others rather than trying to show empathy or cater to their well-being.

Unlike the Nigerian fan whom he stomped upon his head earlier in the year and got away with it, Americans are prepared to fight the Big 7 tooth and nail until they achieve their objective, which is to obliterate his cockiness.

Conclusion: The Consequences of Bad Behaviour

As of the time of this report, it was reported that Burna Boy allegedly cancelled 5 arena dates from his ‘NSOW Tour’ because of low ticket sales, as many fans have stopped buying tickets after the controversy.

It is important that Burna learns from this mishap and develops into not only a better performer but also learn humility and treats his audience with grace and dignity.

IGBO LEADERS SENTENCED ADAKA BORO TO DEATH FOR ATTEMPTING TO SECEDE WITH HIS PEOPLE FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA LIKE NNAMDI KANU DID, BUT SOME FORGET THE HISTORY SO SOON THAT IGBO PEOPLE WERE THE ONES FIGHTING FOR ONE NIGERIA BEFORE, BUT WHEN OJUKWU WAS NOT PLEASED WITH AGREEMENTS, HE DECLARED BIAFRA REPUBLIC

Let me take you to the memory lane before you shout injustice against IGBO PEOPLE. You do not expect NNAMDI KANU to go free when SIMON EKPA was sentenced in FINLAND, ADEYINKA GRANDSON was sentenced in UK. 

This was Isaac Adaka Boro on Tuesday, June 21, 1966, the day he was sentenced to death for treason by the government of Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi for attempting to secede from the Federal Republic of Nigeria. His actions were declared illegal by the Military Governor of the Eastern Region, Lt. Col Emeka Ojukwu, who invited the Federal Government to help quell Boro's separatists group, known as the Niger Delta Volunteer Force.

Unfortunately, or some may say, fortunately, just days before the sentence was to be carried out, the Ironsi government was overthrown on Friday, July 29, 1966 by Norther Military Officers led by Muritala Mohammed and others, YAKUBU GOWON was appointed as Head of States. 

Nigeria did not collapse when Isaac Boro was sentenced to death for leading a separatist movement. It was not considered an injustice by the people of Nigeria then, and nobody threatened repercussions against either Ironsi or Nigeria as a result of Boro's death sentence.Everyone agreed with the IGBO MAN AGUIYI-IRONSI, he was respected as the head, Ojukwu was supported by Nigerian Army in the East to supress the separatist movement led by Adaka Boro. Nobody was accussing Igbo or any tribe that IGBO man was the leader ruling Nigeria. 

History does not repeat itself. People repeat history, then falsely accuse history of repeating itself! Know this and know peace. Stop claiming victim, but take responsibilities. It is foolish to always think you can rule others but they cannot rule you. 

We can divide Nigeria without killing your own people in the east. How do you fight for your people, and you are killing them? This is where you got it all wrong. We know terrorists are killing to take over lands, but revolutionarist cannot be killing his own people and expect to go scotfree. You cannot also tell a whole Justice of the Federal High court that he does not know the law, acting like a thug, without behaving like someone who is well read as you claimed and expect to even get any reaeonable Judgement. You do not call a Judge by name, you address him as My Lord or Your Honour in low courts, but you kept talking like an illiterate, but still you claimed you know Law Nnamdi Kanu. You are too arrogant and shamefully, your only few igbo people could tell you the truth. 

I would advise you to be sensible when going through your appeal. Apply common sense and avoid acting arrogant for nothing. Work with your legal team, you have embarrased them so many times in public. They are even scared of you, so they lead you on instead of correcting you. Be real with yourself by acting like an Educated person.

Shaka Zulu’s Mfecane Wars – The Battles That Reshaped Southern Africa

In the early 19th century, southern Africa entered a period of dramatic upheaval—years of migrations, conflict, and political restructuring that historians would later call the Mfecane, meaning “the crushing” or “the scattering.”

At the center of this transformation stood Shaka Zulu, one of the most influential military leaders the region had ever seen.

Shaka did not rise from a powerful royal line.

He began on the margins—an outcast child with no secure position—yet he earned recognition through discipline, sharp observation, and an instinct for reorganizing systems that no longer worked. When he eventually became ruler of the Zulu, he inherited a small clan in a region already strained by drought, competition for land, and pressure from neighboring groups.

His response was to reshape everything.

Shaka rebuilt the Zulu military from the ground up. He replaced the long throwing spear with the short, heavy iklwa, a stabbing weapon that forced fighters into close combat. He tightened age-regiment structures, introduced relentless training, and demanded coordinated movement that mirrored modern infantry discipline rather than scattered clan fighting.

As neighboring groups clashed over resources, Shaka positioned the Zulu as a rising central power. Conflicts that might once have remained local evolved into broader territorial struggles. Groups that resisted were pushed aside, absorbed, or forced to migrate. Groups that aligned gained protection and access to emerging trade routes.

Battles during the Mfecane were not isolated events—they triggered waves of displacement.

Some communities fled north, founding new states like the Ndebele under Mzilikazi. Others moved east or west, reshaping political landscapes across what is now South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and beyond.

Shaka’s military influence was undeniable, but so were the pressures shaping the era: competing chiefdoms, environmental strain, and the gradual encroachment of European traders along the coast. These forces combined to produce a period of instability far larger than any one leader.

By the mid-1820s, the Zulu Kingdom had expanded significantly, becoming a central power in the region. Shaka’s rule, however, grew increasingly rigid and unpredictable, leading to his assassination in 1828. But the structures he created—military regiments, centralized authority, and a unified Zulu identity—continued long after his death.

The Mfecane remains one of the most complex chapters in southern African history.

It was a time when societies broke apart, reformed, and adapted under immense pressure. And Shaka's actions played a decisive role in accelerating those changes.

Whether viewed as a master strategist, a harsh reformer, or a product of turbulent times, his impact is clear:

the wars and migrations of the Mfecane reshaped southern Africa’s political map for generations.

Shaka Zulu’s Mfecane Wars – The Battles That Reshaped Southern Africa

In the early 19th century, southern Africa entered a period of dramatic upheaval—years of migrations, conflict, and political restructuring that historians would later call the Mfecane, meaning “the crushing” or “the scattering.”

At the center of this transformation stood Shaka Zulu, one of the most influential military leaders the region had ever seen.

Shaka did not rise from a powerful royal line.

He began on the margins—an outcast child with no secure position—yet he earned recognition through discipline, sharp observation, and an instinct for reorganizing systems that no longer worked. When he eventually became ruler of the Zulu, he inherited a small clan in a region already strained by drought, competition for land, and pressure from neighboring groups.

His response was to reshape everything.

Shaka rebuilt the Zulu military from the ground up. He replaced the long throwing spear with the short, heavy iklwa, a stabbing weapon that forced fighters into close combat. He tightened age-regiment structures, introduced relentless training, and demanded coordinated movement that mirrored modern infantry discipline rather than scattered clan fighting.

As neighboring groups clashed over resources, Shaka positioned the Zulu as a rising central power. Conflicts that might once have remained local evolved into broader territorial struggles. Groups that resisted were pushed aside, absorbed, or forced to migrate. Groups that aligned gained protection and access to emerging trade routes.

Battles during the Mfecane were not isolated events—they triggered waves of displacement.

Some communities fled north, founding new states like the Ndebele under Mzilikazi. Others moved east or west, reshaping political landscapes across what is now South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and beyond.

Shaka’s military influence was undeniable, but so were the pressures shaping the era: competing chiefdoms, environmental strain, and the gradual encroachment of European traders along the coast. These forces combined to produce a period of instability far larger than any one leader.

By the mid-1820s, the Zulu Kingdom had expanded significantly, becoming a central power in the region. Shaka’s rule, however, grew increasingly rigid and unpredictable, leading to his assassination in 1828. But the structures he created—military regiments, centralized authority, and a unified Zulu identity—continued long after his death.

The Mfecane remains one of the most complex chapters in southern African history.

It was a time when societies broke apart, reformed, and adapted under immense pressure. And Shaka's actions played a decisive role in accelerating those changes.

Whether viewed as a master strategist, a harsh reformer, or a product of turbulent times, his impact is clear:

the wars and migrations of the Mfecane reshaped southern Africa’s political map for generations.

#BlackHistory #SouthAfrica #World

Atiku to Tinubu: Nigerians Need Protection, Not Fairy Tales By Moonlight

The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga’s comments on Arise News TV yesterday on the freedom of the Kebbi school girls is to say the least a shameful attempt to whitewash a national tragedy and dress up government incompetence as heroism.

Truth be told, the release of abducted Nigerians is not a trophy moment; it is a damning reminder that terrorists now operate freely, negotiate openly, and dictate terms while this administration issues press statements to save face.

If, as Onanuga claims, the DSS and the military could “track” the kidnappers in real time and “made contact” with them, then the question is simple: Why were these criminals not arrested, neutralised, or dismantled on the spot? Why is the government boasting about talking to terrorists instead of eliminating them?

Why is kidnapping now reduced to a routine phone call between criminals and state officials?

This irresponsible and reckless narrative exposes the truth:

Under Tinubu, terrorrist/bandits have become an alternative government — negotiating, collecting ransom, and walking away untouched — while the presidency celebrates their “compliance.”

No serious nation applauds itself for negotiating with terrorists it claims to have under surveillance. No responsible government congratulates itself for allowing abductors to walk back into the forests to kidnap again.

Onanuga and his ilk should stop insulting Nigerians with propaganda.

If the security agencies truly had eyes on the kidnappers, then letting them escape is a national disgrace that smacks of complicity.

And if they did not have such capacity, then Onanuga is simply manufacturing lies to cover up a monumental failure of leadership.

Either way, the statement is an embarrassing admission that this administration has lost control of national security and is now trying to spin incompetence into achievement.

Nigerians deserve protection, not fairy tales by moonlight!

Signed:

Atiku Media Office

Abuja

November 26, 2025.

THE BOOMING BUSINESS OF TERRORISM IN NIGERIA

Federal High Court in Abuja heard yesterday how alleged terrorists’ negotiator, Tukur Mamu, was offered N50 million by leader of a terrorists group.

An official of Department of State Services stated this while testifying as sixth prosecution witness in Mamu’s trial for terrorism-related offences.

The witness said: “The second voice that played for five minutes is Shugaba’s, who is leader of a terrorist group, appreciating the defendant’s efforts and asked him to remove N50 million for his use from a ransom amount he was to deliver to them (the terrorists).”

The DSS official identified Shugaba’s voice among others audio conversations, he said, were extracted from Mamu’s mobile device during interrogation after he was arrested in Egypt.

Mamu was arrested on September 7, 2022, by Egyptian security officials at Cairo International Airport, on suspicion of financing Boko Haram terrorism activities.

He was alleged to have convinced the terrorists to discuss ransom with families of hostages of the train attack instead of the Chief of Defence Staff Committee set up by Federal Government for his personal financial gain.

He was said to have been nominated by the terrorists that attacked Abuja-Kaduna bound train in March 2022 which took hostages.

Mamu was alleged to have collected ransoms on behalf of Boko Haram terrorists from families, confirmed the amount and facilitated the delivery of same to the terrorists.

Led in evidence by prosecuting lawyer, David Kaswe, the DSS official told the court that, after Mamu was brought back from Egypt, he submitted his Samsung tablet and two phones to DSS’ officials.

The witness, who said he was part of those who investigated the case, told the court that when the defendant was intercepted in Egypt, he put a call to his in-law, identified as Mubarak Tinja and directed him to move out his valuables, comprising cash, cars and other items, from his house to a safe location, to avoid detection by security agents.

The sixth prosecution witness added: “The defendant was arrested in Egypt and returned back to Nigeria, where investigators received him.

“A search warrant was duly executed in his property and office in Kaduna, during which cash, in local and foreign currencies; cars and other valuables were recovered.

“In compliance with his directive to Tinja, and the other dependants in the house, some cars and cash were moved out to various locations.”

The witness said investigators later traced and located some items, including about 300,000 US dollars, seven cars, including Toyota Camry (Muscle); Peugeot 5008, Lexus, Mercedes E350 and Hyundai.

Car documents were tendered by prosecution through the witness, which the court admitted in evidence.

The witness added that when the defendant was brought back, he “handed his Samsung tablet and two phones to our exhibit keeper, who sent them to forensic department for forensic analysis.

“The outcome of the analysis, including voice notes between the defendant and terrorists, were part of the content presented to the interrogation team and items recovered from his home.

“He (the defendant) was interviewed, during which content of his phones and other items were presented to him.

“During the interview, the defendant admitted giving instruction to Mubarak to move his valuables from his house. He also admitted communicating with the terrorists, using his voice notes extracted from his two phones and Samsung tablet,” the witness said.

The sixth prosecution witness added that the defendant also admitted owning a pump action gun, which was recovered from his house, which he claimed was duly licensed.

The witness told the court that investigators later discovered that the licence expired in December 2021, nine months before he was arrested.

“In one of the voice notes extracted from the defendant’s phone, the terrorists requested him to teach them how to develop a website and the defendant promised to get back to them in that regard,” the witness said.

The DSS official said about 98 percent of the conversation on the voice notes are in Housa language, some of which were translated to English language because they were too many. The witness said he did the transcription.

Kaswe then applied to render the recorded voice notes stored compact disk plates and the flash drive, which the court admitted, following which about six of the recorded conversations were played in court.

When asked to identify the owners of the voices in the conversations, the witness said: “The last two voices are those of Baba Adamu, who is the spokesperson of the terrorists group.

“The first voice note was the defendant, where he was fixing a date for the delivery of ransom.

The second was …that played for 5 minutes is that of Shugaba, who is the leader of terrorist group, who was appreciating the defendant efforts and asked him to take/ remove N50m for his personal use from a particular ransome amount to be sent to them.

“The last note was Baba Adamu, asking the defendant to help them procure public address system, like speakers, for their preaching activities and the defendants assured that he would look into their requests.

“Adamu also requested that the defendant teach them how to create a website for their activities.”

The witness added that in the course of investigation, two victims volunteered written statements in which they recounted their experiences.

The DSS official said the victims, a male and female, were no longer available, because they expressed their unwillingness to attend court to testify because of fear and trauma.

The court admitted the statements of the victims, one was written in English by the female victim, while the other written in Hausa by the male victim was translated into English.

The court admitted in evidence eight statements made to investigators by the defendants and video recordings of the statements writing sessions.

Kaswe subsequently informed the court that he intends to bring a formal application for the court to visit where the items recovered from Mamu’s house and office are kept.

Further hearing in the case resumes at 11am on Wednesday.

COMRADE KWESI PRATT JNR.

Comrade Kwesi Pratt Jnr. Issues Clarion Call for African Reparations and Liberation at the International Conference on the 80th Anniversary Commemoration of the 5th Pan-African Congress

By Socialist and Progressive World

Accra, Ghana – In a powerful and unflinching address marking the 80th anniversary of the Fifth Pan-African Congress, veteran journalist and activist Kwesi Pratt, Jnr, declared that the struggle for Africa’s true liberation remains unfinished, demanding concrete action for reparations and a final break from neo-colonial economic chains.

Speaking to an audience of comrades, thinkers, and citizens in Accra-Ghana, Comrade Kwesi Pratt reframed the commemoration not as a passive remembrance, but as a proactive “rallying ground for a new generation of Pan-Africanists,” echoing the revolutionary spirit of the 1945 Manchester Congress where figures like Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore, and W.E.B. Du Bois declared that “Africa must be free.”

“We do not assemble to mark a date on a calendar; we assemble to claim our history and to shape our destiny,” Mr. Pratt stated, setting the tone for a speech that was both a searing historical indictment and a bold blueprint for future action.

“Naming the Crime”: A Record of Historical Exploitation

Comrade Pratt began by methodically outlining what he termed the “deliberate, calculated, systematic robbery” of the African continent. He forced the audience to confront the brutal arithmetic of the trans-Atlantic slave trade: over 12.5 million captured, nearly two million dying in the Middle Passage, their bodies “thrown overboard to the sharks.”

“The Atlantic became a cemetery without tombstones,” he said, emphasizing that the unpaid labour of enslaved Africans “built the modern world,” financing the rise of European cities and stock exchanges while stripping Africa of its most productive generations.

He highlighted the profound injustice of the abolition era, noting that Britain paid slave owners £20 million, equivalent to £17 billion today in compensation; a debt British taxpayers only finished repaying in 2015; while the victims and their descendants received nothing.

The advent of colonialism, he argued, was merely a new “mechanism of exploitation,” formalized at the 1884 Berlin Conference where Africa was carved up without African representation. Mr. Pratt catalogued its horrors: the 10 million killed in King Leopold’s Congo, the genocide of the Herero and Nama people in Namibia, and the millions who died in independence struggles from Algeria to South Africa.

“Colonialism stole not only our land and labour but our minds,” Comrade Pratt asserted, pointing to the estimated 90% of Africa’s cultural treasures, like the Benin Bronzes and Asante gold, that remain housed in foreign museums. “What civilisation parades the bones of those it murdered?”

A Global Double Standard on Justice

In a pivotal moment of his address, Comrade Pratt pointed to the global precedent for reparations to highlight the hypocrisy meted out to Africa. “Germany pays reparations to Holocaust survivors; the United States to the Japanese for the atomic bombings; Britain to Kenyan veterans of the Mau Mau rebellion,” he stated.

“Yet when Africa demands justice for four hundred years of slavery and a century of colonialism, we are told to forget, to move on, to be ‘practical’,” he continued, his voice echoing with defiance. “Yes, we will be practical but our practice must lead only to the defeat of neo-colonialism and the building of a new Africa free from degradation and all forms of poverty.”

The “Illusion of Sovereignty” and the Neo-Colonial Trap

Moving to the post-independence era, Mr. Pratt argued that freedom brought “the illusion of sovereignty without substance.” The borders drawn in Berlin remained, and trade routes continued to point outward. He paid tribute to leaders like Nkrumah, Lumumba, Sankara, and Cabral, who sought to break this pattern and were, consequently, “overthrown or assassinated.”

“Imperialism does not forgive defiance; it kills it,” he stated bluntly.

He laid bare the ongoing economic exploitation, citing that Africa loses over $80 billion annually in illicit financial flows and that more than $1.3 trillion has left the continent this way since 1970. “For every dollar of aid, twenty-four leave our shores in interest and profit,” he declared, lambasting institutions like the IMF and World Bank for imposing Structural Adjustment Programs that decimated social services and saddled African nations with crippling debt.

“In 1970, Africa owed $11 billion; today it owes more than $1 trillion. We spend more on debt servicing than on the education of our children,” Comrade Pratt noted, painting a picture of an economic system designed to perpetuate dependency.

A Blueprint for Action: From Demands to a Continental Tribunal

Mr. Pratt’s speech culminated in a concrete call to action, urging a transformation of the “cry for reparations from a chorus of scattered voices into the demand of a united people.”

He proposed the establishment of a continental tribunal empowered to prepare legal claims against former colonial powers, supported by a continental reparations fund financed by African states and diaspora contributions. He stressed the importance of coordinating with the Caribbean Reparations Commission, forging a united trans-Atlantic front.

However, Comrade Pratt made it clear that reparations are not solely about financial compensation from the West. “They are also about what we owe ourselves, the responsibility to rebuild, to heal, and to ensure that Africa shall never again be a playground for external powers.”

He called for a cultural and educational revolution to “reclaim the narrative” and “restore the dignity of African knowledge.”

A New Pan-African Vanguard

Mr. Pratt ended with a direct charge to every sector of African society. He called on governments to adopt reparations policies, parliaments to debate them, schools to teach this history, and diplomats, economists, and lawyers to carry the fight into international halls of power.

“Let our people carry it into the streets, into the farms, into the hearts of the youth who will inherit the struggle,” he concluded, his voice resonating with conviction. “We shall definitely win this struggle and Africa will become a centre of excellence it once was. There is victory for us.”

The address has been widely hailed as a significant moment, likely to reinvigorate the debate on reparations and Pan-Africanism, pushing it from academic circles and activist forums into the mainstream of continental political discourse.

I WAS MINUTES AWAY FROM BEATING OBASANJO AT MY PARTY.—- FAYOSE

𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐨 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 — 𝐅𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐬𝐞

I was enraged. I felt like taking the mic from Obasanjo’s hand and hitting it on his head

- Ayodele Fayose 

Former Governor of Ekiti State Ayodele Fayose said he would have physically assaulted Former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the uncomplimentary remarks he  he made about him during his 65th birthday. He said he restrained himself because of the presence of Vice President Kashim Shettima at the occasion.

“I was enraged. I felt like taking the mic from Obasanjo’s hand and hitting it on his head. This is being sincere.

“But to show maturity, not by age, but by self-respect and out of consideration for the vice-president’s presence, I kept my cool

How do you say such things to a man on his 65th birthday?

“If I knew this was how it would end, what do I need Obasanjo for? Am I contesting the election? Do I need his validation? No.

“Whatever differences we have had in the past, let’s put them behind us. If I have offended you, if you have offended me, let us put it behind.

“I never called to go and apologise to Baba. I did not offend him. He was the one who removed me from office. If anybody should apologise, it is he.

“We took pictures together. All in good faith. I changed $20,000 and gave it to him. How can you accept somebody’s money and come and be spitting on that person?”

Baba said he would be the one to speak last. I became suspicious.

He later directed the moderator to invite Vice President Kashim Shettima before him and requested that I and my  wife stand beside him throughout a speech that lasted one hour, 14 minutes.

PRESIDENT JULIUS NYERERE

President Julius Nyerere’s eight-day state visit to the People’s Republic of China in February 1965 came at a decisive moment in Tanzania’s early nationhood. The union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar was barely a year old and the country had only recently adopted a one-party structure under TANU. With limited resources, an overwhelmingly rural population and a tiny educated elite, President Nyerere was searching for a development path rooted in African realities. By then, Nyerere had already developed a worldview rooted in African communal life, enriched by Catholic moral teaching and the Fabian socialism he had studied in Edinburgh. What was missing was a convincing organisational model. China appeared to offer one.

When Nyerere arrived in Beijing on February 16, 1965, he was received by Premier Zhou Enlai, Vice Premier Chen Yi, and senior Communist Party officials. Over the next week, he toured communes around Beijing Municipality, agricultural schemes near Tianjin, factories in Shanghai, and people’s communes modeled on Mao Zedong’s rural transformation campaigns. Everywhere, he observed tightly coordinated mass mobilisation: young people in the Communist Youth League, cadres in village committees, and peasant cooperatives that formed the backbone of China’s development drive.

On February 20, Nyerere addressed thousands at Peking Square (Tiananmen), praising the Chinese people’s achievements since 1949 and declaring that Tanzania’s friendship with China would not be dictated by Western anxieties. He noted the “discipline and unity” with which China pursued national reconstruction, qualities he increasingly believed Tanzania needed.

Several impressions from the trip later shaped Ujamaa. First was China’s elevation of the peasantry as the anchor of socialist transformation. This resonated with Nyerere’s belief, already hinted in his 1962 “Ujamaa” pamphlet, that development must begin in the villages. Second was the moral example set by the Chinese leadership. Nyerere admired the frugality of officials like Zhou Enlai, which reinforced his conviction that African leaders must avoid elitism. Third was the doctrine of self-reliance. China’s determination to build with its own labour despite poverty deeply influenced Nyerere, eventually appearing in the 1967 Arusha Declaration as a foundational principle.

Still, he did not return a Maoist. Nyerere rejected Marxist class struggle, arguing that pre-colonial African societies lacked rigid classes. He insisted, in later essays collected in Freedom and Unity (1966) and Freedom and Development (1973), that Tanzanian socialism must be authentically African. China provided inspiration, not ideology: a working example of how a poor nation could mobilise its population for collective development.

The effect was visible almost immediately. From 1965 onward, Nyerere’s speeches increasingly emphasised communal production, leadership humility, and nationwide mobilisation for development. By 1967 these ideas were consolidated in the Arusha Declaration, which set out the blueprint for Ujamaa Vijijini, the villagisation programme that expanded between 1969 and 1973 under TANU and later CCM.

The 1965 visit also forged strategic ties. China became Tanzania’s most reliable partner, culminating in the TAZARA Railway (1970–1975), built by Chinese engineers and linking Dar es Salaam to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia, then the largest foreign aid project in Chinese history.

In retrospect, Nyerere’s journey to China was not an ideological conversion but an ideological crystallisation. It confirmed that Tanzania could craft a modern, self-reliant socialism grounded in African values while drawing practical lessons from other post-colonial nations. China showed him what disciplined, rural-centred development could look like, and Tanzania adapted that vision to its own history and aspirations.

#Africa #EastAfricanHistory #Nyerere #Tanzania #EastAfrica #World

How They Buy the Judges — And Break the Country

A lot happens in Nigeria that, if you did not witness it yourself, you would swear it was impossible. Some events are so bizarre, so grotesque in their violation of common sense and morality, that even D.O. Fágúnwà’s magical adventures in Ìrìnkèrindò Nínú Igbo Elegbeje pale beside them. Yet these are not tales from another world; they are the lived realities of our republic.

From time to time, I feel compelled to share some of these experiences — not to dramatize, but to awaken. Our democracy is sinking, and few institutions illustrate this decline more starkly than the judiciary. We complain about it almost daily, but nothing demonstrates its decay more vividly than the episode I am about to recount.

I am compelled to narrate this story in view of the contradictory rulings that recently emerged from Abuja and Ibadan over the contentious Peoples Democratic Party convention — judgments issued not on merit, but based on who has influence in particular jurisdictions. It is a dangerous sign of the times.

And may I tell you that the charade, the national disgrace that happened in Abuja between Minister Nyesom Wike and the young naval officer was a result of lack of trust in the judiciary which engenders a resort to self help from both sides.

A Meeting That Should Never Have Happened:

Several years ago, during a political dispute in Ekiti, I received an unexpected call from the late Senator Buruji Kashamu. He invited me to Lagos, promising to help resolve the matter. Out of courtesy, I went.

When I arrived, a prominent lawyer and another Ekiti politician were already seated in his living room. We exchanged greetings, and the conversation began casually enough.

Then came the moment that still chills me.

Kashamu excused himself, climbed the stairs, and returned with a briefcase. He set it down, opened it with a flourish, and turned to the lawyer with a smirk:

“Egbon, you refused when I asked you to write judgments for me. Each one would have earned you ₦50 million. Anyway, I have found another lawyer who does it very well.”

My friend looked at him, stunned. I sat rooted in disbelief.

Kashamu then brought out file after file — documents no private citizen should possess.

Inside that briefcase were:

• Judgments for cases already in court

• Judgments for cases he planned to file

• Judgments for cases he anticipated might be filed against him

All pre-written.

All waiting for the right judge.

He boasted that all he needed was to ensure his cases were assigned to “friendly judges.” Once that was done, he handed over the completed judgments — after greasing the necessary palms.

It was a moment of horror. A moment when the illusion of justice crumbled.

As Lord Denning once warned:

“Justice must be rooted in confidence, and confidence is destroyed when right-minded people go away thinking that the judge was biased.”

I walked out of that meeting with my faith in our judiciary deeply shaken. From that day, I resolved never again to take his calls.

Justice for Sale, Democracy in Danger

This story is not about one man. It is about a system slowly suffocated by those entrusted to protect it. When judgments are drafted in private homes before cases reach the courtroom, what we have left is not a judiciary but a cartel of influence, a black market of verdicts, and a criminal conspiracy wearing the robes of justice.

Let us be clear:

• Corruption in the judiciary is not ordinary corruption. It is corruption that eats the soul of a nation.

• It does not only steal money; it steals trust.

• It does not only distort outcomes; it destroys the foundation of society.

Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, one of Nigeria’s greatest jurists, once cautioned:

“The judiciary is the last hope of the common man. If the judiciary fails, where shall the common man turn?”

We are approaching that frightening moment.

Five Terrifying Implications of a Rotten Judiciary

(1). The Innocent Can Be Destroyed

When the gavel is for sale, an innocent man can be jailed for another man’s crime. A widow can lose the only land her husband left behind. A community can be dispossessed overnight.

(2). Criminals Become Untouchable

The powerful can violate laws, crush opponents, loot funds, and then secure court orders to legitimize their wrongdoing.

(3). Politics Becomes Warfare

When verdicts follow money, not evidence, elections become meaningless. Courts become battlefields where victory goes to the highest bidder.

(4). Public Trust Evaporates

Citizens lose faith in institutions. Cynicism becomes the national attitude. Society drifts towards self-help and anarchy.

(5). No Nation Can Thrive Without Justice

As Justice Learned Hand warned:

“If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: thou shalt not ration justice."

Yet that is precisely what we have begun to do.

How Did We Get Here?

This rot did not begin today. It accumulated slowly:

• Politicians seeking shortcuts

• Lawyers willing to sell their conscience

• Judges who traded honour for envelopes

• A system that rewards impunity

• A society too fatigued to resist

Now we live in a country where justice can be pre-written, transported in briefcases, and delivered like contraband.

A Nation at the Edge:

We stand at a dangerous precipice.

A country survives hunger.

It survives insecurity.

It survives economic crisis.

But no country survives the death of justice.

When courts lose credibility, citizens withdraw their loyalty.

When judges can be bought, the rule of law collapses.

When justice is for sale, tyranny becomes inevitable.

What Must Be Done:

There is no option but urgent, radical reform. We must:

• Purge corrupt judges

• Introduce transparent case allocation

• Strengthen oversight and discipline

• Protect judges from political pressure

• Digitize court processes to reduce human interference

• Enforce rigorous asset declarations

• Empower judicial whistleblowers

• Demand accountability from the NJC and legal associations.

Above all, we must restore dignity to the bench. A judge without integrity is more dangerous than an armed robber — for the robber can only steal property, but the corrupt judge steals justice, peace, and the future.

A Final Warning:

Some may dismiss this as another Nigerian anecdote. It is not. It is a mirror held up to a nation drifting towards catastrophe.

Unless we confront and uproot the rot in our justice system, we will one day wake up to find that we have no country left — only a territory ruled by the powerful and the lawless.

We cannot continue like this.

Justice must return to the courts.

Honour must return to the bench.

And truth must once again be something a citizen can expect — not something that can be bought.

Until then, Nigeria will continue to stagger like a giant robbed of its spine.

Source: Babafemi Ojudu

Who Were the Etruscans?

The AFRICAN CIVILIZATION That Helped Shape Early Rome

You may have seen eye-catching images like this circulating online but the real story of the Etruscans is even more fascīnating than the myths.

The Etruscans were a powerful and influential Civilization in Central Italy (modern Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria) long before Rome became an empire. Flourishing between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE, they profoundly shaped Roman religion, architecture, engineering, art, and even political symbols.

What the images show:

The artworks in this collage come from Etruscan tombs, statues, pottery, and frescoes. Etruscan artists often used bold pigments and stylized features, which looks exactly as Black Africans and different from later Roman art. These portrayals represent deities, performers, mythological figures, and everyday people, each reflecting the Etruscans’ unique artistic style.

What we Do know about the Etruscans:

They were a highly sophīsticated urban Society.

They influenced Rome in everything from city planning to religīous ritūals.

Their language was distinct neither Greek nor Latin.

Their artistic traditions blended local, Greek, and Near North African influences.

Rome absorbed Etruscan kings, rituals, symbols, and technology as it rose to power.

History becomes more powerful and more interesting when we look beyond viral claims and explore the evidence. The Etruscans weren’t just a footnote before Rome; they were a remarkable Civilization whose legacy still shapes Western culture today...

Black People, Black Nation & Civilization

THE AFRICAN ORIGIN OF PASTROLISM

Archaeologists have long believed that food production developed worldwide much the way it did in the Near East: as climate changes made wild grains less available, hunters and gatherers settled in villages and relatively quickly domesticated plants and then, over the next few thousand years, animals (Grigson, 1991, p. 119). However, recent genetic studies and excavations in Africa suggest that the patterns of domestication there were strikingly different (Abdulhamid, 2015, p. 27). This new research, emerging in the last few years in academic books and articles, shows that in Africa, wild cattle were domesticated several thousand years before plants, and that farming and herding spread patchily and slowly across the continent (Di Lernia et al., 2013, p. 2).

While the first undisputed remains of domesticated cattle appear in the African archaeological record about 5900 B.C. at a site in Chad, other studies suggest that cattle were domesticated in the same region as early as 9,000 years ago (Grigson, 1991, p. 139). A study of African cattle published in the journal Science in 2002 suggested that cattle were domesticated independently in Africa, rather than being imported from the Near East, as they were across most of Europe and Asia (Hanotte et al., 2002, p. 336).

The first pastoralists in Africa, who traveled with domesticated cattle, had probably captured wild animals at first to provide insurance as the Sahara, then partly covered in grassland, began to dry (Abdulhamid, 2015, p. 46). They moved south to savannas to find moister conditions (Di Lernia et al., 2013, p. 5). These cattle-assisted hunter-gatherers took milk, blood, and meat from their animals (Grigson, 1991, p. 140). Some pastoralists began to worship cattle, burying them in elaborate graves (Abdulhamid, 2015, p. 49).

At sites across the Sahara, cattle images appear in rock art (Di Lernia et al., 2013, p. 8). Pastoralism gradually spread west across the southern Sahara, and then south, reaching the equator around 2000 B.C. and South Africa by the first centuries A.D. (Grigson, 1991, p. 141). Like the hunter-gatherers with whom they shared their environment, pastoralists made great use of the abundant wild African grasses growing in the savanna, but did not plant them (Abdulhamid, 2015, p. 50). Both groups also made ceramics, an innovation that in the Near East came only with settled agricultural villages (Di Lernia et al., 2013, p. 10).

References

Grigson, C. (1991). An African origin for African cattle? — some archaeological evidence. The African Archaeological Review, 9, 119-139.

Abdulhamid, L. A. (2015). Artistic styles in the engravings of the ancient rock art in Wadi al Baqar (Valley of Cows) in the Sahara Desert in Libya. University of Newcastle.

Di Lernia, S., et al. (2013). Inside the "African Cattle Complex": Animal Burials in the Holocene Central Sahara. PLOS ONE, 8(2), e56879.

Hanotte, O., et al. (2002). African pastoralism: Genetic imprints of origins and migrations. Science, 296(5566), 336-339.

Marshall, F. (2000). The origins of African pastoralism. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 19(2), 163-187.

Smith, A. B. (2005). African herders: Emergence of pastoral traditions. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

#Africa #BlackHistory #World

BRAIDING AS A NORM IN BLACK CULTURE

Braiding has been weaved into the DNA of Black culture for generations. For many Black women, getting their hair braided serves as a right of passage. While braids may have gained more popularity and visibility in recent years, the style has a rich history spanning generations and continents.

Braids have been utilized for thousands of years around the world, dating back as early as 3500 BCE. The cornrow specifically may be the oldest braiding style. An ethnologist and his team discovered a Stone Age rock painting in the Sahara depicting a woman with cornrows feeding her child. Another Nigerian clay sculpture from 500 BCE showed a figure from the Nok civilization with cornrows etched onto its head. Certain looks and styles could indicate the clan you belonged to, religion, marital status, or age. Hairstyles would be passed down through the matriarchs of each generation. 

In order to understand the history of braids and Black American hair culture specifically, it is necessary to look at the impact of slavery on African women. Slavery brought not only physical and psychological trauma, but it also brought erasure. In an attempt to strip them of their humanity and culture, traffickers would shave the heads of women. Colonizers effectively attempted to take away the women’s lifeline to their homeland. Braids were also known to be used to hide rice or seeds in their hair in order to have food to eat on their Middle Passage journey. As women endured the hardships of slavery, there was no longer time to create intricate styles. Sunday, which offered somewhat of a relief from the harsh conditions, became the only day women could prep their hair. Since hairstyles needed to last the entire week, African-American women began to wear their hair in more simplistic styles. They chose to wear styles like single plaits that were easier to manage, and used the oils available to them, like kerosene, to condition them.

Remarkably, Black women used braids for another important use: a secret messaging system for slaves to communicate with one another. People used braids as a map to freedom. For example the number of plaits worn could indicate how many roads to walk or where to meet someone to help them escape bondage. Similarly in the early fifteenth century, hair functioned as a carrier of messages in most West African societies including the Wolof, Mende, Mandingo, and Yoruba. Hair was an important piece of a complex language system, in which it communicated the identity of the person wearing the braids.

African-American women did everything they could to hold on to their ancestral tradition of wearing intricately braided styles. Nevertheless, when Emancipation took place in 1865, it brought along a desire to leave all things which recalled the horrific time of slavery behind. During the Great Migration, Black women began to migrate and flock to cities like Chicago and New York. They usually took on jobs as domestics, one of the few positions open to them. But braids quickly became synonymous with backwardness. Plaits and cornrows were increasingly traded in for chemically straightened or pressed hair.

Perceptions of hair began to shift with the Black Power Movement of the 1960s. With it came the affirmation of Black people and the rejection of Eurocentric standards of beauty. During this time a deep desire developed to honor African roots, and the styles came to reflect that. Braids became an expression of self-acceptance and self-love. Cicely Tyson was famously known for wearing the first cornrows on television in 1962 on the CBS series East Side, West Side. More recently in the 90s and early 2000s more braided styles were seen in mainstream media with Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice, Queen Latifah in Set It Off and Brandy in Moesha. According to celebrity hairstylist Vernon François, braids reached new heights during this time. Alicia Keys’ look solidified this notion, showing that you could be a successful artists with braids. Beyoncé later also began donning traditional African hairstyles like in her Formation video wearing Fulani braids, and most recently in her Black Is King project.

#Africa #BlackHistory #World

BELLO MATAWALLE.... THE MAN TINUBU SENT TO BRING HOME THE KIDNAPPED VICTIMS...........A BRIEF HISTORY

Matawalle kept terrorists at the government house, and ransom was paid to terrorists through the government. Matawalle purchased 34 brand new 2019 Model Hilux and distributed to the terrorists leaders like Ado Aleiru, Halilu Subububu and Bello Turji.

A former senior aide to Nigeria’s Defence Minister and former Zamfara governor, Bello Matawalle, has accused him of continuing to maintain direct contact with notorious terrorist commanders whom he allegedly funded, equipped, and politically mobilised during his time as governor.

Buying Stolen Cows Directly From Bandits:

The former aide claimed the governor routinely purchased rustled cattle from terrorists at discounted prices, especially during festive seasons.

He said bandit leaders complained that when they took stolen animals to the market, owners often identified them, prompting Matawalle to buy directly.

“He uses to buy rustled animals from bandit with cheaper rate during sallah festive season… he decided to buy directly from them. And he bought them at flat rate… N150,000 each.”

He alleged that Matawalle regularly invited bandit commanders into Government House despite their involvement in killings, kidnappings, and mass displacement.

“He used to invite bandits to the Government House Zamfara during his tenure and discussed even political issues with them and how they would compel the communities to vote for him for the second tenure.”

Election Influence And 2027 Plans:

The former aide claimed the minister maintains the relationships for political leverage.

“Those of us that are close to him, we are suprised why would a minister be doing this but it is clear why he is holding them.”

He alleged that Matawalle used bandit groups to secure votes in 2023 and intends to do so again in 2027.

“Because they are still using them during political periods and 2027 election is coming.”

He added that many terrorists voted for the ruling APC on Matawalle’s orders: “Many of these terrorists voted for APC in 2023 because the minister was the governor and he told them to vote for APC and Tinubu also won them, because of their votes.”

AGBESE; WISE, INTREPID, FEARLESS: Dare Babarinsa, CON, Chairman, Gaskia Media Ltd

I first met Oga Dan Agbese in 1984 during the preparatory days of Newswatch, the pioneering Nigerian newsmagazine.  Before then, his reputation had preceded him as one of the stars among the alumni of our Department of Mass Communication of the University of Lagos, UNILAG.  Then we met at the home of Dele Giwa, off Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja, where I had gone to meet the four editors who were destined to shape our lives.  Agbese was the only one I did not really know among them then.  He had the reputation of being the man writing the Candido column in the old New Nigerian newspapers, a great institution that dominated our growing up years that is now regarded as Nigerian Journalism Golden Age. Candido, the man behind the mask, column was said to have been created by Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, one of Agbese’s illustrious predecessors as editor of the New Nigerian.  Here was he now before me in flesh and blood! We were to work together for five giddy years.  His influence was to remain with me forever. 

Newswatch early years was dominated by big dreams. I was among the four first editorial staff of Newswatch; Rolake Omonubi, Dele Olojede, Wale Oladepo and I.  Among the four founders, three of them were already well known to those of us coming from the stable of the Concord Group of Newspapers. Ray Ekpu was already a famous editor who ran the Sunday Times with so much vigour and creativity that the old conservative elements of President Shehu Shagari’s government felt very uncomfortable with him.  He was forced out and, in the end, resurfaced as the chairman of the editorial board of the Concord Group founded by that great man, Chief Moshood Abiola.  When I was a student at Unilag, Dele Giwa, as the feature editor of the Daily Times, was the man who made me a stringer for the paper. I was introduced to him by my friend and roommate, Waheed Olagunju, who later became the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry. I was writing a column for the Daily Times called Campus News every Friday.  Yakubu Mohammed, the editor of the National Concord, was the one who employed me and Oladepo in November 1982.  Mohammed was also the one Oladepo and I followed into Newswatch.  The man we did not know before was Agbese.

We soon found Agbese to be in a special class of his own.  To him, journalism was science.  To him, a journalist needs to be precise and unambiguous.  He should employ brevity if it would convey a clearer meaning than circumlocution.  He writes as he speaks; with precision and wisdom.  He put himself under the rigour of proof and demanded the same from us.  When we encounter Oga Agbese, we knew we were in a special master’s class of journalism.  He taught us a lot.  He demanded beauty of expression; not of flowery language, but of the kind of words that convey greater truth than the best photographs and paintings.  He was a special kind of artist. 

Like his other colleagues, Agbese regarded journalism as an instrument of service to Nigeria and humanity. He was resolute, resourceful and intrepid in the pursuit of his calling as a first-class journalist.  He believed in journalism as a pillar of any thriving democracy.  He put himself in the line of fine for his belief.  He was fearless. Therefore, he was one of the heroes who gave us democracy.  He endured with dignity and courage the constant harassment and intimidations during the military era.  In the formative years of Newswatch, he was designated the managing director until our editors decided to combine the office of Chief Executive and Editor-in-Chief and Dele Giwa was allowed to hold the two offices.  

But the journey was meant to be turbulent. What was meant to be a professional business concerns soon became a serious struggle with the operators of the Nigerian state.   On October 19, 1986, less than two years after Newswatch hit the news stand, Dele Giwa was killed with a parcel bomb and our life was changed for ever.  Our editors were at the centre of the storm.  The echo of that bomb still rings in our ears till today.

Less than one year after Giwa was killed, Newswatch carried a story on a panel report on the draft Constitution that would guide the Third Republic.  The military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida seems to have been looking for any excuse to pounce on the media house.  This exclusive story, which is based on the truth, was the excuse the regime used to outlaw Newswatch.  It passed a special decree, called the Newswatch Prohibition Decree, declaring that even the media house cannot seek redress in the court of law, declaring that “notwithstanding anything written in the Constitution or any other law,” Newswatch remained banned.  It was the beginning of Newswatch Second Session.  I remember Oga Dan and his colleagues, corralled in front of our office at Oregun Road, surrounded by security agents as they were being prepared for detention.

But no prison could keep the soul of a great person in bondage.  Despite the travails and vicissitude of those days, Agbese and his colleagues stood tall.  Agbese was figure of serenity under pressure, including the pressure of deadlines. He demanded from us his subordinates, the exactness of science and would not allow any fussy language to escape his scalpel as an editor.  He demanded what he gave.  His column, brimming with wits and wisdom, was a pilgrimage into Nigerian history and society.  His thoughts, deep and clairvoyant, ring with candour and bitter truth.  He was the one who described Chief Obafemi Awolowo as “the best President Nigeria never had,” in an essay he wrote to mark Awo’s 78th birthday.  When Awo died on May 9, 1987, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, was to quote him without attribution.  Agbese was an original thinker who thought us to value critical thinking.  

In October 1990, I went to inform him that I would be resigning.  By that time, it had become an open secret that I and four of my colleagues were planning to start another magazine, TELL.  He invited me to his house and we held a long discussion in his private study.  It was an intimate moment and our discussion was frank.  I learnt a lot of lessons on how to treat subordinates from the great men who led us in those giddy years at Newswatch.  

I am indebted to Agbese.  I leant Mass Communications in Unilag, but the great men of Newswatch thought me journalism.  Agbese was deep.  His solidity and courage give the impression of timelessness.  You have the feeling that nothing can scare him and when you enter his office, he would raise his head, with his glasses perched on his nose, you are confronted with something almost spiritual.  Agbese had a presence filled with ethereal force, creative and comforting.  He transmits his aura with effortless ease.  He was a great man.

My memoir, One Day and A Story, published by Gaskia Media Ltd in 2016, was based on my five years tour of duty in Newswatch.  After it was published, I went to my bosses at their new office on Acme Road to present copies.  I was received enthusiastically.  Our former General Editor, Olusoji Akinrinade, joined Agbese, Ekpu and Mohammed to give me a royal welcome.  I am happy that I had maintained a cordial relationship with my old bosses over the years.  Some years ago, when I approached Mr Mohammed to come and serve on the Advisory Board of Gaskia Media Ltd, he readily agreed. Recently I visited him at home to congratulate him on the publication of his enthralling autobiography, Beyond Expectations. With the death of Agbese, a significant chapter of that book has closed.

But Agbese, like all great thinkers and writers, would always be with us.  His corpus of works, which includes, Babangida: Military, Politics and Power in Nigeria, The Reporter’s Companion, and The Art and Craft of Column Writing, would ensure that down the centuries, future journalists, historians and youths, would continue to cherish the depth of his thoughts, the profundity of his knowledge and the sheer beauty of his rendering.  Now, he has embraced mortality, the ultimate fate of all of us, so that he can inherit immortality. His magnificent wife, Aunty Rose, and wonderful children, should take solace that the patriarch completed his assignment on this side of the Great Divide.  When he was with us, he was blessed with the wisdom of the ages like a living ancestor.  Finally, he has become a true ancestor.  May his valiant soul find eternal rest.

 The End

MAKONGENI COMES DOWN (1921–2025): The Story of an Estate That Built a Nation

When the first stone houses of Makongeni rose in 1921, Nairobi was still a young colonial outpost, dusty, ambitious, and rapidly growing. The British administration had just expanded the Kenya–Uganda Railway, and with the growth came thousands of African workers who built, maintained, and powered the colonial capital. Housing was scarce, conditions were harsh, and the railway workforce needed a planned settlement close to both the workshops and the city.

Makongeni was the answer:

Designed originally as a railway workers’ estate, it was one of the earliest formal African residential areas in Nairobi. The planners wanted a predictable, loyal, and healthy labor force—so they built simple but solid stone houses, straight streets, communal wash areas, and blocks arranged like a regimented camp. What began as functional colonial workers’ quarters soon evolved into something far more meaningful:

A home, a community, and a cultural cradle:

Through the 1930s and 40s, Makongeni became a hub of urban African life. Generations of public servants, mechanics, tailors, clerks, and railway artisans passed through its gates. Children played football in the dusty open fields, mothers traded vegetables at the estate markets, and men in overalls cycled to the railway yard at dawn. In the evenings, radios crackled with voice drama, Swahili taarab, and the news that shaped Kenya’s awakening.

By the 1950s, as nationalist waves swept the country, Makongeni had become a meeting point for ideas, debates, and union talk. Many early labor movements found their first audiences here. After independence, the estate transformed again—no longer a symbol of colonial control, but a foundation stone of a growing African city. Its houses, though modest, offered stability to thousands of families who would go on to educate teachers, soldiers, engineers, nurses, athletes, and shopkeepers who helped build post-colonial Kenya.

Through the decades, Makongeni stood stubbornly against time:

It survived the population boom of the 1970s, the economic squeeze of the 1980s, the political tensions of the 1990s, and the real-estate fever of the 2000s. Even as Nairobi grew into a metropolis of glass buildings and expressways, Makongeni retained its soul: the laughter of children in the courtyards, the echo of iron sheets flapping in the wind, the smell of kerosene stoves at dinner time, the warmth of neighbors who knew each other by name.

Now, in 2025, as redevelopment plans finally come to life and the estate begins to come down, Makongeni leaves behind 104 years of service, sacrifice, and memory. The walls may fall, but the legacy stands: a century-long story of Kenyan workers, families, and dreams woven into every stone and every pathway.

Makongeni was more than an estate:

It was a starting point, a home base, and a silent witness to Kenya’s journey—from railway colony to modern nation.

The memories will always be cherished:

And the spirit of Makongeni will live on in every family it sheltered, every worker it supported, and every story it helped shape.

#Africa #BlackHistory #World

THE AFRICAN GREAT GENETIC VARIATION

Africa is where modern humans evolved and is the starting place for the global expansion of our species (Campbell & Tishkoff, 2008, p. 403). African populations also have the highest levels of genetic and phenotypic variation among all humans (Beleza et al., 2005, p. 366). Archaeological evidence indicates that the continent has been inhabited by humans and their forebears for some 4,000,000 years or more (Stringer, 2011, p. 20). Anatomically modern humans are believed to have appeared as early as 200,000 years ago in the eastern region of Africa (Tishkoff & Kidd, 2004, p. 133).

Africa has the most physically varied populations in the world, from the tallest peoples to the shortest; body form and facial and other morphological features also vary widely (Hiernaux, 1975, p. 15). It is the continent with the greatest human genetic variation, reflecting its evolutionary role as the source of all human DNA (Campbell & Tishkoff, 2008, p. 405). Naturally blonde hair is often associated with white or Caucasian people (Loomis, 1967, p. 25). However, there are groups of dark-skinned people who have naturally blonde hair also (Beleza et al., 2005, p. 370). Some of these groups include the Aboriginal Australians (Aborigines) and the Melanesians (Friedlaender, 1975, p. 30). "The Aborigines are thus direct descendants of the first modern humans to leave Africa, without any genetic mixture from other races so far as can be seen at present (Friedlaender, 1975, p. 35). Their dark skin reflects an African origin and a migration and residence in latitudes near the equator, unlike Europeans and Asians whose ancestors gained the paler skin necessary for living in northern latitudes (Jablonski, 2006, p. 40). Similarly, the Solomon Island Melanesians have dark skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair (Friedlaender, 1975, p. 40). The children often have curly blonde hair which may turn darker when they get older (Loomis, 1967, p. 30). Blonde hair is also found in many of the women as well (Beleza et al., 2005, p. 375).

When people think of skin color in Africa, most would think of darker skin, but there is a huge amount of variation, ranging from skin as light to the darkest skin on a global level and everything in between (Jablonski, 2006, p. 45). Populations of indigenous people in southern Africa like the San people carry a gene that causes lighter skin, and scientists have now identified the rapid evolution of this gene in recent human history (Tishkoff & Kidd, 2004, p. 135). Africans are known to mostly have brown or black eyes, while Caucasians are mostly known to have varieties of colors (Loomis, 1967, p. 35). However, contrary to the popular belief, having blue eyes is not limited to Asians or Europeans; a significant number of Africans are known to have blue eyes (Beleza et al., 2005, p. 380). “Originally, we all had brown eyes, but a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in the creation of a ‘switch’ which literally ‘turned off’ the ability to produce brown eyes” (Eiberg & Troelsen, 2011, p. 20).

References

(1). Campbell, M. C., & Tishkoff, S. A. (2008). African genetic diversity: Implications for human demographic history, modern human origins, and complex disease mapping. Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, 9, 403-433.

(2). Beleza, S., Gusmao, L., Amorim, A., Carracedo, A., & Salas, A. (2005). The genetic legacy of western Bantu migrations. Human Genetics, 117(4), 366-375.

(3). Stringer, C. (2011). The origin of our species. Penguin Books.

(4). Tishkoff, S. A., & Kidd, K. K. (2004). Implications of biogeography of human populations for 'race' and medicine. Nature Genetics, 36(11), 133-137.

(5). Hiernaux, J. (1975). The people of Africa. Scribner.

(6). Loomis, W. F. (1967). Skin-pigment regulation of vitamin-D biosynthesis in man. Science, 157

TINUBU!!!! TINUBU!!!! TINUBU!!!!!

The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has declared 88 more students missing in the attack on St Mary Secondary School, Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State.

Many parents were said to have gone to school to evacuate their children but couldn’t find them after the attack.

Daily Trust had reported that terrorists invaded the school in the wee hours of Friday, kidnapping students and staff.

In an update on Saturday morning, Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna of the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese said a total of 303 students are now missing.

He had earlier said 215 students could not be accounted for after the attack, adding that four female and eight male teachers were kidnapped during the raid.

He said the school had a population of 430 pupils in primary section and 199 secondary students.

The Bishop denied any prior warning from either the government or security agencies as claimed by the Secretary to State government.

“We have asked the Education Secretary if he received a circular he said no; or if he was asked to send any to us, he said no. We asked if he was verbally informed, he also said no. Let them tell the world who they gave the circular to, or through what channel did they send it.

“We also asked the National Association of Private Schools, they did not get any such circular. They claimed the school was shutdown and reopened few days ago, that is also not true, we are law abiding”, he said through his aide, Daniel Atori.

LETTER TO PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU

Dear President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

‎His Excelency, Sir

‎Over 30 million Almajiri roam Northern Nigeria...boys and girls deliberately denied of education, protection, and opportunity. This is not just a religious or cultural crisis; it is the deep reservoir from which terrorism continues to draw strength.

‎Even if Sambisa Forest is levelled today, by tomorrow another battalion of indoctrinated youths will emerge, armed with dangerous ideology and convinced by extremist clerics that martyrdom is their pathway to honour.

‎Sir, remember one of your major opposition supported the killing of a lady named Deborah over unverified allegation of blasphemy. That is how cheap human life is with indoctrinated illiterates.

‎You cannot bomb poverty. You cannot shoot illiteracy. You cannot arrest decades of religious manipulation with rifles.

‎A culturally and religiously backed banditry machine cannot be defeated by guns alone. It is almost 2 decades since we've been fighting banditry and teorrism. Until the political actors who weaponised ignorance and poverty are held accountable, and until the youths are deradicalised, re-educated, and economically empowered, the cycle will continue...no matter the billions we spend.

‎Is State Police the Answer?

‎Not yet.

‎Creating state police in the current climate is like lighting a match in a room soaked with adulterated petrol. On one side are heavily armed bandits.

‎On the other are angry, unemployed youths who may be hastily recruited and given uniforms, power, and the freedom to settle old ethnic or political scores. (even this writer will fight anybody who calls Lagos a no man's land), so please, don't give me a gun!

‎A policeman posted from Maiduguri to Lagos cannot immediately understand the crime culture of Mushin, Ketu, Ikorodu, Surulere, Ajangbadi, Ọkọ̀ta or Agege.

‎This lack of local intelligence fuels the dangerous romance between police and criminals...a trend worst observed in Lagos and Ogun. Almost all the policemen in Lagos and Ogun State are cultists.

‎Nigeria’s over-centralised policing system no longer fits our complex, multi-ethnic reality, yet decentralisation without preparation will undoubtedly throw us into anarchy.

‎What Then Should We Do?

‎We must redesign Nigeria, not patch it.

‎The next two years MUST be devoted to a sober, inclusive national dialogue  not the cosmetic conferences of the past orginzed by Obj and GEJ, to decide whether:

‎We return to a regional system,

‎or we design a uniquely Nigerian model of federalism that reflects our diversity, security challenges, and aspirations, instead of this copy and paste brand of democracy that is taking us to where we don't know.

‎The calls for restructuring are now deafening. The cracks in our union are widening. Internal sabotage has become normal...the kind that led to the tragic death of Brigadier Uba. The kind that inspires desperate pleas for foreign military intervention, even if Nigeria burns.

‎If an Arewa Region emerges tomorrow, the Northern elite and the talakawa alike would have no choice but to confront terrorism or be consumed by it.

‎If a Biafra Region is granted constitutional self-governance within a restructured Nigeria, the agitation that makes them see Nigeria as a “zoo” would evaporate; the Ibos would finally build the Eldorado they envision. They'll defend their territory against fulani invasion.

‎The Middle Belt and minority groups would, for once, choose their destiny...not be annexed by the political greed of others.

‎Aṣíwájú…Leadership Is Timing

‎Akanbi Ọmọ Olódó Idẹ, there is no shame in being the last president of the old Nigeria, if you will be the first architect of a new one.

‎You once said: “The quality of a leader is the ability to do what ought to be done, at the time it should be done.”

‎That time is now:

‎But the task before us is not to divide Nigeria, it is to restructure Nigeria before it collapses under the weight of its contradictions and internal sabotage.

‎Let the regions breathe.

‎Let justice be local.

‎Let security be community-rooted and intelligence-driven.

‎Let every nationality build according to its values, strengths, and vision.

‎If we must preserve this union, we must rebuild it. If we must prevent chaos, we must reform deliberately. If we must secure the future, we must let the people shape it.

‎Nigeria does not need to be broken...it needs to be REBORN.

Source: Olasunkanmi Shobowale

‎