RACISM: An evil and methodical global system of oppression and consequent decimation.....

W.E.B DuBois

By Contributing Editor - Ayodeji Komolafe

"A system cannot fail those it was never meant to protect"..... W.E.B. DuBois

The afore-stated quote with the requisite attribution to the great W.E.B. DuBois essentially sums up the crux of the piece. Racism, as I have always stated is not a behavior, nor is it a word, action or an attitude. Racism at its very core is an institution with its attendant benefactors as well as victims.

There is nothing more disheartening than to hear people of an ethnic background in particular refer to an individual, an action or a statement as racist. The institution is what is racist. Yes, the institution that deemed the Black man and woman as less than human and forced people of African descent in particular into an artificial class, then proceeded to accuse them (to this day regardless of geographical location) of all manner of sin with the sole intent of damning and systematically subjugating them.

Whether it is in South Africa (pre or post apartheid), Brazil, Argentina (where Blacks have been systematically exterminated over time) and other parts of South America, the United States of America or countries in Europe like France and England, the system has always ensured that "people of color" (Blacks in particular) remain at the bottom. Brazil for example, has the second largest concentration of people of African descent (Blacks) after Nigeria. 

In Brazil, the poverty level among its Black or "colored" population is terrifying with the unemployment rate among the latter in Brazil well over the 50% clip. The same scenario plays out in the United States with Black unemployment rate nearing 10% (Blacks make up only 13% of the US population) and 1.6 times the US national unemployment average. 

The same pattern of subjugation is also found in South Africa where the majority population of close to 90% is black (African) but the broad unemployment rate among South African Blacks (who are the majority) stands at close to 40% and should be more if the unemployment among the "mixed-race Blacks" (designated as coloreds by the former racist apartheid regime) is also taken into consideration. 

In the third quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate for Black South Africans was a staggering 36.9%, which is higher than the national average and has been for the past decade. This is more than three decades after the supposed end of apartheid!

The sole intent of racism (as an institution) as designed by White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASP) was to ensure the continued dominance of other ethnic (non-White) groups by minimizing the traditional ways, religion, ideals and institutions of non-White racial groups, while promoting those of the colonialists and western imperialists as superior to those of the former.

It is not surprising that countries like Japan, China and the Asian Tigers, who have maintained their core culture and traditions are the ones that have been able to compete and even out-duel the so-called global WASP economic powers. The Chinese, Japanese and the Asian Tigers have kept their culture and institutions the way they have always been even in the face of some of the most debilitating wars and conflicts with the West, as they understand its existential importance to their survival.

African countries on the other hand continue to imbibe the alien cultures and values of the West with its attendant negative consequences. As a people, we (Africans) have essentially abandoned our traditional institutions including our language, thus embarking on a journey that may not augur well for the future survival of our people. 

The debilitating effect of colonialism and racism continue to take its toll on our people, our institutions and our way of life. In sports for example (soccer or football for one), we disregard our best local talent and seek even the most unqualified White expatriates to fill the same role, while paying them exorbitant amounts of money, a fraction of which the local handlers would gladly take, and produce better results than the White mercenaries.

Our women have been told that their natural beauty is not enough, and that they must purchase and wear human hair procured from dead women in India and other parts of Asia and Europe to be considered beautiful. The same racist institution also tells them they must bleach their skin so they can be light skinned like Beyoncé (the white held ideal of Black beauty) and inculcates the Black woman with anti-male propaganda that has inevitably seen the Black man and the Black woman increasingly at odds with one another.

The most obvious example(s) of the effects of racism are the US elections in 2016 and the most recent one this year, 2024, that saw Donald J. Trump elected as the 45th and soon to be 47th POTUS. There is no question that Donald Trump's first election in 2016 was in response to the election of his predecessor, Barack H. Obama as the 44th POTUS. Obama (who is half White and half Black) was elected in 2008, against all odds as the so-called first Black POTUS. 

He (Obama) endured some of the most contentious times any POTUS has ever endured in the history of the United States and by the end of his tenure, the majority White population already had enough and any White person, no matter how unqualified, would do. The election of Donald Trump was essentially a White backlash to the election of the first Black POTUS!

The 2024 elections followed the same trajectory with the backlash this time against perceived marginalization of Whites (talk about an oxymoron) by DEI (Diversity Equity & Inclusion) programs that seek to promote equality of representation and opportunity across the national landscape. 

When you see all these scenarios, it is clear to see that racism is an institution, an evil and methodical system of continued oppression, marginalization and consequent decimation of a class of people by and with the apparatus of national and global economic, executive, judicial, legislative and military power.

Africa and Africans must wake up from their slumber. We must realize that the second scramble for the continent is already in effect and those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. 

Rather than looking to join global organizations like the G20 or BRICS, the impetus should be to strengthen our traditional and cultural institutions at home, while also forging greater regional and inter-regional cooperation amongst African countries and economies. 

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), ECCAS, EAC, SADC, COMESA, CEN-SAD, AMU and the IGAD are Regional Economic Communities (RECs) recognized by the AU (African Union) for the sole purpose of fostering greater cooperation towards ensuring the economic prosperity of the African continent. 

The focus should be inward first. Then when you engage externally, you do that with a united front and from a position of strength. The economic policies being espoused by the West are geared towards maintaining the status quo and African leaders must NOT mortgage the future of the continent to please those who seek to bring the continent to its knees.

#racism #imperialism #neo-colonialism #white supremacy #panafricanism

Band of thieves and purveyors of ineptitude.....

"BARBARIANS AT THE GATE"

CC™ Viewpoint 
By Boyejo A. Coker - Editor-in-Chief

It actually does not matter what aisle of the 'political' spectrum you belong to, this rudderless leadership has failed Nigerians, more-so even worse, since the inception of the 4th Republic in May, 1999.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held sway for fifteen mostly inglorious years (1999-2015) under the stewardship of the following:

a) Rtd. General Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007)

b) The late Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (2007-2010)

c) Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (2010-2015).

For at least 12 of those first 15 years of the 4th Republic, corruption, by and large, became the norm while the climate created by avaricious greed, further engendered a general state of lawlessness.

Kidnappings and killing orgies became commonplace and have continued unabated, till today.

While some may say that there was a certain degree of accountability, with the accompanying restoration of some semblance of sanity during Yar'Adua's brief reign, the truth remains that his vision of a better Nigeria was never going to see the light of day, given the scavengers and marauders he was surrounded by.

For this piece, we will absolve Umaru Yar'Adua of some of the PDP misrule when one considers that he was never in charge, as the cabal (whose stranglehold on the proverbial throat of Nigeria has never been in doubt) led by the one Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo et al essentially pulled his strings. When he (Yar'Adua) then dared to think for himself, he was murdered by the demonic powers behind the Nigerian throne of oppression.

Then came Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo again, as in his quest to maintain his inordinate hold and that of his fellow 'barbarians at the gate' on the destiny of Nigeria, he ensured that the next Nigerian leader would come from his "political family tree' (unfortunately, nothing good has ever come from any Obasanjo tree including his biological family tree). Thus, the dysfunctional reign of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, an absolute and utter misfit for any public office, was visited upon Nigerians.

It remains telling that only Goodluck Ebele Jonathan could have made an ethnic and religious bigot attractive to the same Nigerians that had rejected him (Muhammadu Buhari) a resounding three times (2003, 2007 and 2011) prior to his resounding victory in the 2015 general elections.

In case some have forgotten how we got here, this was the "scorecard" of the PDP misrule, particularly under Jonathan:

a) Coffers-to-personal account accountability (or lack-there-of) where public funds were used for personal gain including the extravagant wedding of GEJ's daughter http://www.myjoyonline.com/…/goodluck-jonathans-daughter-re….

b) An aviation industry (once led by Femi Fani-Kayode and then later by the certificate forging Stella Oduah) that was nothing short of a death trap. I should know as I lost a close relative, Deji Falae (Ondo State Commisioner for Culture and Tourism at the time) to one of those unfortunate but far-too-common air crashes under the PDP misrule.

c) Fabricated economic numbers embellished masterfully by sycophants in the Finance and Economic Ministries to obfuscate the fact that the average Nigerian could not afford the most basic amenities under the Jonathan misrule.

d) Religious over-reach where Jonathan consistently employed openly the advise and services of so-called Christian Pastors and even embarrassed the country by taking his whole cabinet to Israel to "pray". Can you imagine the outcry from the same hypocritical CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) and their egunje leadership if PMB had gone to Saudi Arabia with his whole cabinet to pray?

e) Under Jonathan, the bigotry and balkanization of Nigeria was effectively set in motion as Jonathan was essentially committed to the disintegration of Nigeria; and this was made even more apparent with the systematic decimation of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Jonathan, in an act of subterfuge against the Nigerian state, then employed foreign mercenaries (former South African soldiers under the apartheid racist regime) to fight Boko Haram at the end of his unfortunate misrule. 

f) Do Nigerians also forget that Jonathan attempted to scuttle the democratic process during this period of shame and disgrace to the Nigerian nation by postponing the elections?

g) The use of the DSS to terrorize, intimidate and kill (thousands of people disappeared without trace) Nigerians in the North, the SE and the SW (in particular) with Femi Fani-Kayode, Ayo Fayose and Musiliu Obanikoro leading the assault on political opponents in the SW with the firm support of the DSS, much like the days of Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, that weaponization of a State Security apparatus against the citizenry has continued under the autocratic administration of Muhammadu Buhari.

h) Nigeria became a pariah state under Jonathan and effectively lost its voice both on the African continent and globally. Anyone who underestimates the forces that are against this current administration with its stated desire to sanitize the nation must be truly misinformed. The forces are both spiritual and physical and I will caution Nigerians that those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.  

And the circus has continued under the rudderless and despotic rulership (note I didn’t use the term leadership) of Muhammadu Buhari, who has proven himself to be just as incompetent a leader as he was as a soldier. Sadly, the teeming masses of hardworking and highly industrious Nigerians remain saddled with an unbecoming band of brigands and marauders as so-called leaders.

Nigerians need to realize that they are merely pawns in the game of high stakes chess being played by a corrupt and morally bankrupt political class. The truth is they (the political class) even intermarry and are not bothered by ethnic or religious so-called differences, while at the same time fanning the embers of ethnic and religious warfare among the desperately poor who just would like to have a fair shake in life, for once. 

As the late Sunny Okosun said in his famous song from almost three decades ago, "Which way Nigeria. Which way to go?" The answer lies squarely in the hands of the Nigerian people and the sooner they realize how much power they have to make a change, the sooner that change will come.  

Heaven, as they say, helps those who help themselves. 

Yes, racism is still very much alive and will always be here.....

CC™ Editor's VideoSpective

This ABC experiment on racial prejudice is quite revealing and speaks not only to the prejudices carried by the "majority", but those unfortunately imbibed by the recipients, as a result of centuries of a sense of diminished self-worth, resulting from institutional and related racial prejudice.

Watch and learn.....

Insecurity: Catholic leaders lament over “endless ocean of blood” in Nigeria

CC™ PersPective

By Oladipupo Mojeed 

Nearly 200 Christians were brutally killed in Nigeria within a week, sparking outrage among Catholic leaders who are now calling for urgent action to stop what they describe as an “endless ocean of blood.”

Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto, a leading voice in Nigeria’s Catholic community, condemned the latest wave of violence after the Palm Sunday massacre in Zikke village, Plateau State, where at least 56 Christians were murdered by armed Fulani militants.

Kukah said: “This is another tributary of blood. Flowing into an invisible ocean of blood that now threatens to swallow the Plateau.”

The massacre in Zikke was just one in a series of coordinated attacks.

According to reports, five other predominantly Christian villages near Jos were also attacked, with over 50 additional lives lost.

Victims, including women and children, were burned in their homes. Survivors described harrowing scenes of destruction, the air still thick with the smell of smoke and death.

“This is Nigeria — no amount of blood is ever enough to make us pause,” Kukah added.

Catholic leaders argue that the Nigerian government’s response to terrorism and armed herdsmen has been grossly inadequate.

They cite growing impunity, ethnic bias, and an unwillingness to classify Fulani militias as terrorist groups.

Over the past decade, more than 20,000 Christians have reportedly been killed, primarily in the country’s Middle Belt and southeast.

Critics accuse the government of allowing these armed groups to operate freely, even as Christian communities are denied the right to self-defence.

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja echoed the call for communities to defend themselves in the absence of state protection.

He said: “You can’t just sit there while somebody comes to kill your family. You must rise up and protect your communities against these bloodthirsty criminals.”

Catholic leaders are now urging the international community—including the United States and the European Union—to designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern and to classify the Fulani extremist groups as terrorist organizations.

“This is no longer just a Nigerian problem. It is a moral crisis the world can no longer afford to ignore,” Kukah warned.

POLITICS NIGERIA

Australian PM basks in win, promises ‘orderly’ government

CC™ PersPective

Australia’s left-leaning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese basked Sunday in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil.

Residents clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee Jodie Haydon visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and TV journalists.

Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt.

“We will be a disciplined, orderly government in our second term,” Albanese said, after scooping ice cream for journalists in a cafe he used to visit with his late mother.

“We’ll work hard each and every day,” he promised, but took a quick break first for a Sunday afternoon visit to a craft brewery, Willie the Boatman, that serves “Albo Pale Ale”.

Dutton, a hard-nosed former policeman, who critics tagged “Trump-lite” for policies that included slashing the civil service, endured the rare humiliation of losing his own seat.

US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, and the chaos they unleashed, may not have been the biggest factor in the Labor Party victory, but analysts said they helped.

“If we want to understand why a good chunk of the electorate has changed across the election campaign over the last couple of months, I think that’s the biggest thing,” said Henry Maher, a politics lecturer at the University of Sydney.

“In times of instability, we expect people to go back to a kind of steady incumbent.”

The scale of Albanese’s win took his own party by surprise.

“It’s still sinking in,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

“This was beyond even our most optimistic expectations. It was a history-making night. It was one for the ages,” Chalmers told national broadcaster ABC.

But the win came with “healthy helpings of humility”, he said, because under-pressure Australians want “stability in uncertain times”.

Albanese has promised to embrace renewable energy, cut taxes, tackle a worsening housing crisis, and pour money into a creaking healthcare system.

Dutton wanted to slash immigration, crack down on crime and ditch a longstanding ban on nuclear power.

Before the first vote was even counted, speculation was mounting over whether the 54-year-old opposition leader could survive an election loss.

“We didn’t do well enough during this campaign. That much is obvious tonight and I accept full responsibility,” Dutton told supporters in a concession speech.

Economic concerns have dominated the contest for the many Australian households struggling to pay inflated prices for milk, bread, power and petrol.

“The cost of living, it’s extremely high at the moment… Petrol prices, all the basic stuff,” human resources manager Robyn Knox told AFP in Brisbane.

The 36-day campaign was a largely staid affair but there were moments of unscripted levity.

Albanese tumbled backwards off the stage at a heaving campaign rally, while Dutton drew blood when he hit an unsuspecting cameraman in the head with a stray football.

Leaders around the world congratulated Albanese on his triumph.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he hoped to “promote freedom and stability in the Indo-Pacific” with Australia, a “valued ally, partner, and friend of the United States”.

An unnamed Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Beijing was “ready to work” with Australia’s government.

Albanese said he had spoken with the prime ministers of Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, and received “some good text messages” from leaders in Britain, France, “and a range of others”.

The premier said he planned to speak with the leaders of Indonesia and Ukraine, promising to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion: “That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is.”

AFP

Discovery: Scientists ‘switch off’ autism symptoms using $3 epilepsy drug

CC™ HealthWatch

By Adriana Diaz

Scientists are reporting a breakthrough discovery: A $3-per-pill epilepsy drug may be used to “switch off” autism symptoms in mice, according to a new peer-reviewed study published Tuesday in Molecular Psychiatry journal.

Autism spectrum disorder is a complex developmental condition that impacts how an estimated 5.4 million (2.2% of) adults — and one in 44 children — in the United States perceives and socializes with others. It is often accompanied by abnormalities such as epilepsy or hyperactivity, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

A team of experts at Germany’s Hector Institute for Translational Brain Researchfound that the medication lamotrigine — an anti-seizure drug first approved for use in the US in 1994 — was able to curb behavioral and social problems linked to the disorder.

Now, their findings are being hyped as the closest thing yet to a potential cure for humans.

“Apparently, drug treatment in adulthood can alleviate brain cell dysfunction and thus counteract the behavioral abnormalities typical of autism,” lead researcher and cellular biologist Moritz Mall said in a statement. “[This occurs] even after the absence of MYT1L has already impaired brain development during the developmental phase of the organism.”

Lamotrigine, which is sold under the brand name Lamictal, among others, is a medication used to treat epilepsy and stabilize mood in those who suffer from bipolar disorder.

The drug, which typically sells for just under $3 per pill, works by reversing changes to brain cells caused by a genetic mutation.

Scientists have spent years searching forthe molecular abnormalities that contribute to ASD and have identified MYT1L protein as one that plays a role in various neuronal diseases. 

The protein is a so-called transcription factor produced by almost all the nerve cells in the body that decides which genes are or are not active in the cell. It also “protects the identity of nerve cells by suppressing other developmental pathways that program a cell towards muscle or connective tissue.”

Mutations of the protein have previously been linked to other neurological diseases and brain malformations. 

To test impact of the protein on autism symptoms, researchers at HITBR genetically “switched off” MYT1L in mice and human nerve cells. They found that this led to electrophysiological hyperactivation in the mouse and human neurons impairing nerve function. 

The mice lacking MYT1L suffered from brain abnormalities and showed several behavioral changes typical to ASD, such as social deficits or hyperactivity.

Researchers noted that the most “striking” reaction was the discovery that the MYT1L-deficient neurons produced extra sodium channels that are typically restricted to cells in the heart muscle. 

These proteins are critical for electrical conductivity and cell function as they allow sodium ions to travel through the cell membrane. Nerve cells that overproduce these sodium channels can result in electrophysiological hyperactivation — a common symptom of autism.

“When MYT1L-deficient nerve cells were treated with lamotrigine, their electrophysiological activity returned to normal. In mice, the drug was even able to curb ASD-associated behaviors such as hyperactivity,” the statement continued.

These promising results come as autism rates have skyrocketed in the NYC metro area. Autism diagnoses have tripled in the New York-New Jersey metro area: from 1% of the population in 2000 to 3% in 2016. 

It is believed that part of the drastic increase of these diagnoses is due to the growing number of diagnoses of children without intellectual disabilities, which are therefore less likely to have been identified previously.

But earlier, more accurate diagnoses don’t completely explain the upward trend, which was based on estimates from the CDC. Experts have warned that the growing trend of women giving birth later in life may be partly responsible for the rise. 

Meanwhile, clinical human trials studying lamotrigine’s impact on MYT1L are being planned — and while the research is currently limited to mice, the results are promising, researchers stressed.

SOURCE:  NYP

Islam As A Mask For Arab Imperialism, Neo-Colonialism And Racism In Africa

CC™ VideoSpective

Gaddafi Assassination - Former US Lawmaker’s Explosive Interview With Tucker Carlson

CC™ VideoSpective

The Africa News Network (TANN)

Francics Ngannou, a mixed martial artist and professional boxer, reportedly involved in fatal motorcycle accident

CC™ PersPective

Former UFC heavyweight champion and boxing star Francis Ngannou was reportedly “involved in a fatal motorbike accident in Cameroon” on Sunday, April 27, 2025, according to multiple news outlets in the country, including Camer.be, Lebledparle, and ActuCameroun.

The publications state that Ngannou, 38, was riding a motorcycle in the Omnisports district of Yaounde when he “was in a collision with a 17-year-old girl.”

Local press have identified the victim as Ntsama Brigitte Manuella. Reports indicate that she sustained severe injuries to her arm and leg in the collision.

According to these sources, Ngannou “rushed her to hospital himself” to the Yaounde General Hospital, where she later died.

Ngannou is reportedly “devastated” by the tragic incident. It is also reported that he “paid her medical expenses.”

Cameroonian authorities are expected to conduct an investigation into the circumstances of the crash, which occurred over the Easter weekend.

The initial report of the incident came from Cameroon-Online, which presented conflicting accounts. One account claimed Ngannou was in a vehicle that struck the victim on a motorbike, while another stated she was a pedestrian, and he was riding the bike at the time of the collision.

A month prior to the reported accident, Ngannou posted photos of himself on what appeared to be an off-road motorcycle in the Cameroonian countryside. However, it remains unknown if this was the same motorcycle involved in the fatal crash.

This news follows a period of significant personal tragedy for Ngannou, whose 15-month-old son, Kobe, passed away suddenly in April of last year.

Ngannou last competed in October of last year, where he knocked out Renan Ferreira to win the PFL heavyweight title upon his return to MMA. Before that, he had transitioned to boxing after leaving the UFC as a free agent, participating in high-profile fights against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia, both of which he lost.

GUARDIAN

Bolt introduces electric tricycles in Lagos

CC™ PersPective

By Royal Ibeh

Bolt, the leading ride-hailing platform in Africa has introduced electric tricycles in Lagos, with a bold target of deploying 1,000 units by the end of 2025.

The initiative is part of the company’s broader vision to enhance urban mobility, empower drivers, and promote environmental sustainability in Nigeria’s most populous city.

The launch, which took place in Lagos, underscores Bolt’s commitment to offering transport solutions that reflect the economic and infrastructural realities of African cities. By targeting fuel cost reduction and long-term vehicle ownership for drivers, the company hopes to ease the burden of rising operational expenses in the country.

Central to the initiative is a “Lease-to-Own” model developed in partnership with SGX. Through this model, drivers can acquire brand-new electric tricycles without any upfront payment and own them outright after 24 months of consistent service. This model not only supports financial inclusion but also gives drivers more control over their livelihoods.

Drivers under the scheme will operate exclusively within SGX-managed fleets on the Bolt platform and will enjoy flexible lease terms, which vary based on weekly performance.

The electric tricycles also open up a lower-cost category for commuters, making transport more accessible in high-density and underserved areas of Lagos.

Bolt’s regional director of Rides Operations, Africa and International Markets, Caroline Wanjihia, at the launch event in Lagos, on Wednesday, said this initiative will transform how mobility works for the people who power Bolt’s platform, by giving them tools to reduce fuel spending, avoid upfront vehicle costs, and eventually own their tricycles.

“We are putting more control and earning potential directly into their hands. Nigeria, with its vast and dynamic population, is key to our strategy of making mobility economically viable and accessible for everyone,” Wanjihia averred.

The General Manager, Bolt Nigeria, Osi Oguah, added that the launch will address two critical challenges in Nigeria’s transport sector – driver income and commuter access.

“By introducing electric tricycles with flexible, lease-to-own options, we’re helping drivers save money, own their vehicles, and build sustainable livelihoods. At the same time, we’re offering commuters, especially in underserved areas, a more affordable and accessible way to move around their city. We have an ambitious target of having 1,000 electric tricycles by the end of 2025,” Oguah said.

Designed for maneuverability and affordability, the tricycles fill a critical mobility gap in parts of Lagos that are underserved by existing transport infrastructure.

This initiative aligns with Bolt’s goal to ensure inclusive mobility where access to affordable, reliable transport is not limited by location or income level.

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