African leaders ignore their youthful population at their peril.
Leadership
Politics and Society African icon, Thomas Sankara’s statue unveiled in Burkina Faso
32 years after his murder, Captain Thomas Isidore Sankara whose name evokes memory, pride, pain and anger has been given a fitting memorial with a 5 metre statue in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou. Former Ghanaian President and friend of Sankara, Jerry Rawlings attended the memorial.
Politics and Society Nigeria’s opposition leader Atiku Abubakar rejects election results
While Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari celebrates his re-election, opposition leader Atiku Abubakar has rejected the results and seeks to go to court. The question remains, will the Nigerian judicial system play its role impartially?
Politics and Society Emperor Haile Selassie statue joins list of Africa’s troubled memorials
Leaders go in and out of fashion, making statues built in their memory a tricky issue.
Politics and Society Do Nigerians want a young president?
Since the return of democracy in 1999, Nigeria’s burgeoning youth population has made the headlines come election time. This year’s election, the sixth in the current 20-year-long democratic dispensation, has highlighted the role of the youth in deciding who rules Africa’s most populous nation more than ever before.
Politics and Society Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed Ali wins African Excellence Award for Gender
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister showed off his African Excellence Award for Gender plaque at the closing ceremony of the recently concluded 32nd AU Heads of State summit.
Politics and Society Ethiopia’s new president prioritises peace and democracy
With its first female president and half of cabinet posts reserved for women, power dynamics are shifting.
Politics and Society Meet “Mama Due Process”, Obiageli Ezekwesili, seeking to be Nigeria’s first female president
Since independence from the British in 1960 Nigeria has never had a female president or vice–president. Oby Ezekwesili, a former World Bank Vice President, anti-corruption campaigner and one of the Nigerian status quo’s fiercest critics, is setting out to break the glass ceiling and occupy the highest office.
Politics and Society Mandela My Life is a welcome tribute to a hero, but avoids difficult questions
The desire to eulogise, as often appears to be the case in this exhibition, does not allow space for questions that might allow for a fuller explication of the nature of Mandela’s legacy and its relevance beyond South Africa.