OPINION

Kenya won a seat on the UN Security Council on 18 June during the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The seat is one of the three non-permanent seats allocated to Africa. David Monda, a scholar at the City University of New York, argues that there is nothing to celebrate over Kenya’s victory —– June 18, 2020 is …

Funmi Ajala* writes on the worsening security situation in Nigeria, currently ravaged by a combination of a particularly brutal Islamist terrorism and widespread murderous banditry. —– Loss of Monopoly of Control In his explosive book, Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink, retired American diplomat John Campbell retorted that, “The (Nigerian) federal government has failed to provide basic security for its citizens and has …

Alice Bah Kuhnke and Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, both members of the European Parliament, in this opinion piece, note that Europe has seen an increase in right-wing extremism and a shift to the political right in the last decade. This, they argue, has led to an increase in both racially and religiously motivated attacks against minority communities. The authors call for …

Political leaders for obvious reasons are not trusted by the people to act in their best interest in Nigeria like in most of Africa. The state that the people hold responsible for their problems will hardly be trusted when it says it’s acting to save the same people from an invisible enemy like the coronavirus.

The maltreatment of African residents in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou last week is poisoning popular attitude to the Chinese not only across Africa, but also in the global African diaspora. Even though Beijing has denied any racism in the coronavirus-related incident and has pledged to improve its treatment of Africans in the country, the anger of Africans is …

Professor Jason Osai* of the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, writes on the biblical Psalm 23 and why he holds that this “covenant between God and man” is often misinterpreted and misunderstood by Christians. He identifies the “fundamental determinant of the utility, efficacy and functionality” of the two-party pact and how to make the Psalm work for humanity. In …

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the world, causing mass disruptions to daily life – rattling markets, suspending travel plans, cancelling sports and music events, the disease is instigating a reappraisal of life as we know it. Our contributing editor and medical doctor at the Berlin Charité hospital, Michael Nnaji, writes on important lessons to be drawn from the crisis. …

In this opinion piece, Albert Mashika (Caritas Africa) and Maria Nyman (Caritas Europe) take a look at the relationship between the EU and Africa in view of the upcoming EU-AU Summit in October. They explain why they think that the European Commission’s proposed new strategy on Africa overlooks the huge and often negative influence that EU member states and companies …

A one-day Workshop christened Diaspora Voting Initiative held in Abuja on Monday, 17 February. Organised by the UK-based Nigeria Diaspora Voting Council, the event was attended by Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser on Political Matters to the President who represented Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Rt. Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives: Hon. Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman/CEO …

The power-sharing deal signed in 2018 between President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar has already been extended twice – in May 2019 and November 2019 – delaying the formal end to a war that has killed nearly 400,000 people, displaced millions, and pushed tens of thousands to the brink of starvation. The new deadline is 22 February. Unresolved …

Tuesday, 11 February 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison after 27 years of incarceration by the then South African apartheid regime. Liberian peace activist Leymah Roberta Gbowee delivered a lecture at an event organised by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to commemorate the historic day in Cape Town’s City Hall. Ms Gbowee, who was awarded the …

A video clip, showing religious tolerance in Muslim-dominated United Arab Emirates, trended on social media at the festive season. Prof Jason Osai* contrasts the powerful images of the video with his experience growing up in the Nigeria of the 1950s and he explains why religious divisionism has become a powerful source of dichotomy and conflicts in many parts of Africa …

It’s important that the community of people of African descent in Germany recognises Hamado Dipama and his kind for we’re all beneficiaries of the fruits of their labour.

The re-arrest of rights activist and journalist Omoyele Sowore right inside a courtroom in session on Friday (6 December) in Abuja has confronted Nigerians with a sad reality. It’s the reality that after the spectacular peaceful change of political power in Nigeria in 2015 through an election, the first time in the nation’s history, democracy has suffered a serious setback …

While 60% of the working age population in Africa are employed, many of the jobs are lacking in dignity, decent pay, security and social protection.  Young people are more affected by this as they constitute the majority  of the population, and also have fewer opportunities for jobs with dignity. 

The Ethiopian Prime Minister, who was awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, is surely a reformer, but he predominantly garners recognition beyond his country’s borders. Despite the Nobel committee’s well-meaning intentions, it’s the wrong choice, argues German journalist and head of Deutsche Welle’s Amharic desk, Ludger Schadomsky. Despite a number of somewhat questionable recipients — such as former US …

Just as oil-producing nations pushed for oil refineries to add value to crude oil, so governments today want the world’s Big Tech companies to build data centres on their own soil. The cloud that powers much of the world’s tech industry is grounded in vast data centres located mainly around northern Europe and the US coasts.

The leader of Ghana’s left-wing political movement, Economic Freedom Fighters, has made a case for a united continent, stressing it is the only way Africans can achieve true economic development. Ernesto Kofi Yeboah observed that while Africans are fighting among themselves, its wealth is being carted away by Western powers. He spoke at the 1st West Africa Peace Dialogue on …

Granted that prior to the experience of Ekweremadu, an Ivorian Minister suffered the same fate, albeit more violently, in Paris and that the then ailing President Muhammadu Buhari was picketed and heckled out of London and, more recently, picketed in Tokyo, the incident at Nuremberg has elicited reactions that have brought such actions to the front burner of national and international discourse on governance and responsible government with special reference to Africa.

Yohannes Gedamu, scholar and university teacher, explains how Ethiopia’s federal system is responsible for the political turmoil in the country despite Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s efforts to liberalise the democratic space. For almost three decades Ethiopia’s federal structure – enshrined in the country’s 1994 constitution – has been defended by the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front. It’s …