Poverty, corruption, conflict are factors in Nigeria’s SARS protest movement
What may be worse than law enforcement officers in U.S. cities receiving police training in Israel? Nigeria’s recently disbanded notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad or SARS receiving police training from the United Kingdom College of Policing. According to the African program director for the International Crisis Group, Dr. Comfort Ero, “We should acknowledge that SARS was part of the UK...
Libyan sides agree plan on implementing ceasefire deal
Military officers from Libya’s warring parties have agreed practical steps towards implementing a ceasefire agreement, following the signing of an historic accord in Geneva in October, the UN mission in the country, UNSMIL, has reported. The two-day meeting of the Joint Military Commission (JMC)—which comprises five members each from the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA)—concluded...
10,000 women and the spark for Nigeria’s independence
In the recently released documentary “Journey of an African Colony,” executive producer and narrator Olasupo Shasore captivates his audience by physically visiting many of the locations discussed in this seven-part series on the colonial history of Nigeria. Facts in this documentary and the release Sept. 30, coincided with the 60th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence from Great Britain. The information comes...
Kenyan author accepts writing prize in his Gikuyu language
(GIN)—Ngaahika Ndeenda, a theatrical piece about a wealthy farmer, a peasant and his marriageable young daughter, was a commercial success when it appeared in 1977 in Kenya. But because it appeared in Gikuyu, the author’s mother tongue, it angered the government which slapped the authors—Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Ngũgĩ wa Mirii— in jail. Set in post-independence Kenya, the play looks...
Sanctions do more harm than good
AFRICA WATCH The sanctions concept has been around a long time. According to Foreign Policy global news publication, sanctions have a long history of use by nation states blockading their enemies, or by those that have come under the sway of Western imperialist powers. A case can be made, that for Africans and Africans of the Diaspora this form of...
Sudan being pressured to normalize ties with Israel
The hot debate around the possibility of a Sudan-Israel “bilateral relationship,” mentioned in an article originally published by United States Institute of Peace and posted on brookings.edu mentions “the fragility of Sudan’s political transition and the risks that premature normalization could pose for the strategic interests of the United States, Israel, and the UAE.” The issue isn’t about a...
African Union seeks permanent seats on Security Council
African leaders over the years have repeatedly called for enlargement of the 15-member United Nations Security Council, the only UN body whose decisions are mandatory. Security Council resolutions have the power of international law and the council includes nations who hold permanent seats with the power to veto resolutions. Through the African Union, leaders this year are again calling for...
UN: Africa loss $800B in illegal transfers in recent years
GENEVA—The United Nations estimates that illegal outflows of capital from Africa totaled over $830 billion in the first 15 years of this century, much of it linked to movements of high-value commodities like gold, diamonds, and platinum—straining the ability of the continent’s governments to provide services like health care, education, and infrastructure. The UN Conference on Trade and Development on...
Thousands of African workers kept in appalling conditions
Hoping to escape the war, death and destitution rampant in their home countries, thousands of African workers embark every year on a grueling journey to the affluent Persian Gulf countries looking for employment. The more fortunate ones will end up doing backbreaking manual labor earning a pittance, barely enough to make ends meet. Should they be unlucky, a fate worse than...
The U.S. role in 1966 coup against Ghana’s President Kwame Nkrumah
The West African country of Ghana celebrated the anniversary of the Sept. 21 birth of its first prime minister and first president, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah. Celebrated annually and called “Memorial Day,” Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African country to achieve independence. Independence from its British colonizer occurred on March 6, 1957. If March 6, 1957 is a day to be...