I was beyond delighted when I got the invitation. For many years, I had heard, watched and read so much about Rwanda and I could not wait to be on the ground. For a nation that had come to be defined almost solely by one word, I could not wait to take the environment all in for myself and make… Read More »Kwibuka! A Week in Rwanda
Everybody loves gold. It sparkles, glitters, beautifies everything around it, adorns the lives of its users, and most importantly enhances the economic and social stratifications of the world; gold separates the ‘haves’ from the ‘have-nots’. Ever since gold was discovered in the world about 7000 years ago, it has attracted the fascination of man, and it became associated with wealth… Read More »Forget the African Gold
It’s a very beautiful afternoon, and I’ve just had an extremely sumptuous lunch at the expansive dining hall of the newly-commissioned Qatar National Convention Centre. Besides the aesthetics of this gorgeous architectural masterpiece, I’m bowled over by the professionalism and courtesy of the staff here; everywhere I turn, someone is making a slight bow to say hello. At lunch, the… Read More »Heartbeat of the African Diaspora
Just like every single one of the four million people who were forced to leave their families, cattle, and burning villages behind, she walked for hundreds of miles into the great unknown after the outbreak of civil war in Sudan in 1985, not aware if she would ever return to the place she had always called home. Several years after… Read More »Beauty of the Dark Continent
Over time, Nigerians have proven to be very patient people; they understand that there will always be a wide hollow between the fortunes of the average citizen and those of the political elite. They have lived through military regimes in which successive dictators have stashed away so much of the nation’s wealth in foreign personal accounts and determined by free… Read More »Moving Nigeria Forward (VI): Silencing the Wolves
Only a few weeks ago, President Goodluck Jonathan made a very difficult decision by his own standards and hosted a media chat, where he fielded questions from members of the national media and attempted to address some of the concerns of the Nigerian people. Whether or not he really answered any questions at all remains a debated issue, but he… Read More »Moving Nigeria Forward (IV): Respect to the People
In an ever-evolving world, it is not entirely strange to look to the past to garner inspiration for moving forward, but it is quite unsettling to persistently agitate for the glory days in history. This exactly is what Nigeria has grown to personify at the moment. Very little in the present gives satisfaction to the older generation or the new… Read More »Moving Nigeria Forward (III): Back to the ’70s
Nigeria, a country with an estimated population of 167 million people drawn from about 400 indigenous tribes is an idea that many argue should never have been in the first place. So much has been made of the decision of Lord Frederick Lugard and the British regime in 1914 to amalgamate three divergent groups of people; the northern and southern… Read More »Moving Forward (1): Rethinking the Idea of Nigeria
In a little less than seven days, reasonable newspaper adverts will be rejected, relevant news items will be relegated, respected writers will be disregarded and a cacophony of celebratory clatter will ring far and wide across the Nigerian media space, all for one reason: Goodluck Jonathan would have officially spent a year on the throne! Yeah, May 29 is… Read More »Before The Noise Resumes
Fred Swaniker was only 18 years old when his father died, and his mother who was a full-time school teacher decided to establish a private school in Botswana where they lived. Having migrated with his family from Ghana at the age of four, and lived in a separate African country every four years, Fred was no stranger to challenges, but… Read More »Civic Engagement for Africa’s Future
Just two weeks ago, I saw the movie ‘Darfur Now’. The movie told the story of the oppression of the Sudanese people by their own government which culminated in the separation of the country into Sudan and South Sudan. It was nothing but a gory sight. There were soldiers on rampage all around the country: raping women, killing children, dropping grenades… Read More »All is not well
Many writers and scholars have identified the failure of leadership (political and otherwise) as the greatest challenge facing Africa, but I’ll differ in identifying the lack of qualitative education as Africa’s greatest challenge – and conversely, her greatest opportunity. Politically, leadership has failed time and again, for several reasons – the prevalence of greed among our rulers, the lack of… Read More »Let’s Educate Africa