Allegations of corruption and collusion between bourgeois politicians, big business and the state no longer come as any surprise to workers in Ireland, nor anywhere else in the world. Tony Healy of Fightback Ireland looks at the close relationships between capitalist politicians, big business, and the bankers.

The abduction by the Islamic fundamentalist Boko Haram group of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok in the north of the country and the way the Nigerian government has reacted to it has highlighted the truly corrupt nature of the regime. It has revealed its utter cynicism in the face of the real suffering of the masses. Fred Weston comments on the contradictions in Nigerian society.

We publish here an article by Musa Atiku, a Marxist in northern Nigeria, who provides an overview and an analysis of the activities and origins of Boko Haram, the Nigerian Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organisation who are responsible – amongst other atrocities – for the recent abduction of 300 schoolgirls.