Nigeria Warns Of Boko Haram Water-Poisoning Plot

Nigeria’s military has warned of a plot by the Boko Haram militant group to poison water sources in northeast Nigeria, various media outlets reported over the weekend. Officials have urged citizens to stock up on water and other necessary commodities while they investigate the issue.

Photos: President Buhari in India For Indian-Africa Forum Summit.

President Buhari is presently in India for the Indian-Africa Forum Summit. More pics after cut..

South Africa’s Student Revolt By NICKY FALKOF

 

Students marching at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg last week. Credit New York Times.

Last Wednesday, I arrived at the University of the Witwatersrand, where I work, and couldn’t get inside. Some major entrances to the campus in the center of Johannesburg were locked. Others had been barricaded by students. The university had expected a docile, two-hour protest; instead, a week before exams, the campus was shut down by a crowd of 2,000. It’s been closed ever since.

Students at Wits, as it’s known locally, are protesting because the poor are being priced out of higher education. 

Beyond oil: India needs to reimagine its ties with Nigeria By Siddhartha Mitter

 Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari spent the year 1973 in India as a young army officer receiving training at the Defence Services Staff College in Tamil Nadu. This week, Buhari returns as his country’s newly-elected civilian leader, and head of its delegation to the India-Africa Summit in New Delhi. He will be one of some 40 leaders at the summit, but his country has the most in common with India in terms of structure and scale.

African Poetry Book Fund Call for Entries for the 2015 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets

 

 

 

Alert! Submissions for the 2015 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets are open now, through to 1 December, 2015. Every year Prairie Schooner‘s sister organisation, the African Poetry Book Fund, publishes the first book of an African poet. The inaugural Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets was awarded to Clifton Gachagua of Kenya for his book Madman at Kilifi. The 2014 prize went to Somalian-American poet Ladan Osman‘s The Kitchen Dweller’s Testimony.

In Zambia, Schoolgirls Are Negotiating the Value of Their Education By Nicole Mormann

Zambian teen girls in school. (Photo:Take Part)

Convincing their child to go to school is a battle many parents face each morning in the U.S., but in Zambia, one of the world’s poorest countries, schoolgirls often find themselves trying to persuade their families to help them pay for school.

With 60 percent of the country living below the poverty line, the majority of Zambian families would rather take their children out of school to save money than invest in their child’s education. And if they do send them to school, they would likely invest in their son’s future over their daughter’s. This leaves young female dropouts vulnerable to getting pregnant or contracting HIV from older male partners whom they rely on financially, according to the study. 

Photos: Former Rivers State Gov Rotimi Amaechi's Thanksgiving Service in Portharcourt

Former Gov. of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi  on October 25th 2015 had a thanksgiving service in Portharcourt to celebrate 8 years of his victory at supreme court that restored him as governor of the state. The service was attended by several APC members, family, friends and well wishers. Amaechi accused the state governor, Nyesom Wike of borrowing N45 billion loan which he cannot account for. Read that after cut...

Zanzibar opposition claims victory in tense Tanzania poll

A man casts his ballot at a polling station during the presidential and parliamentary election in Ilala polling station, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, October 25, 2015.
Image by: Times

Seif Sharif Hamad from the opposition Civic United Front (CUF), the vice-president in the previous unity government, told reporters he had won Sunday's polls, claiming to have seen official documents of final voting figures.
There has been no announcement from the Zanzibar Electoral Commission and the figures given by Seif could not be verified, but the declaration is likely to raise tensions on the islands.

Photos: APC South Africa Chapter, 1st National Convention held on 17th October 2015 at the City of Tshwane Hall, Pretoria, South Africa.

 More pictures after cut....

Meet Shifah Musisi: the singing fashion designer Written by JOHNSON GRACE MAGANJA

In music circles, she is known as Shifah Musisi, but her real names are Shifah Nalubega.

She is best known for her afro soul music songs, Sanyu Lyange and Muntu Mulamu, off her seven-track album titled Olugendo, that have earned rotational air-play on radio and TV. But she also owns Marish Designs - a fashion and design house whose name she coined from her mother’s and her names.

Zimbabwe government battling to feed its people : Vice President Mnangagwa

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe sits with his wife Grace Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was sworn in as Zimbabwe's vice president, at the State House in Harare.
Image by: PHILIMON BULAWAYO 

According to Southern Eye, Mnangagwa said the Zanu-PF led government was facing serious challenges to secure relief food for the estimated 600 000 people in dire need.

This comes as the World Food Programme (WFP) said in August that around 1.5 million Zimbabweans were expected to go hungry this year after a dramatic fall in maize production.

Photos: Cristina de Middel’s Photographs Narrate The Story Of A Mythical Boy From Nigeria by Rose Holtermann

More pics after cut.....

Guinea president Conde wins re-election with clear majority

(Reuters)

Guinea's electoral commission on Saturday declared President Alpha Conde winner of an Oct. 11 election to give him a second five-year term.

Conde gained 58 percent of almost 4 million votes cast, avoiding a runoff vote that several observers had said was possible.

Opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo won 31 percent. He called for calm, but said he did not recognize the result and would ask his supporters to protest against fraud and rigging.

Outrage After Ugandan Police Strip a Female Opposition Official Naked in Public

A screenshot of YouTube video showing police officers arresting the opposition official.

An official from the leading Ugandan opposition party Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)
 was arrested and stripped naked in public by police after they had blocked the
 party’s leader, Dr. Kizza Besigye, on his way to hold a rally.
Zainab Fatuma, a National Executive Committee member and FDC secretary for environment,
 is seen in footage from the scene struggling against officers, who restrain her and tear off her clothes.
“Why are you undressing me?” she shouts repeatedly in the video.
However, the Uganda police force have denied that the police stripped her,
saying that Fatuma undressed herself.

On assimilation and double consciousness By Athambile Masola

 

Reuters

“In common with many Bombay-raised middle-class children of my generation, I grew up with an intimate knowledge of, and even sense of friendship with, a certain kind of England: a dream England composed of Test Matches at Lord’s presided over by the voice of John Arlott, at which Freddie Trueman bowled unceasingly and without success at Polly Umrigar; of Enid Blyton and Billy Bunter … I wanted to come to England.

Photos: In Nigeria's slave trade, women traffic other women into prostitution By Julie Etchingham

Julie Etchingham speaks with a small crowd 

 

The woman sitting before us in an interview room in Benin City's anti-trafficking headquarters cuts a slight figure. Faith, aged just 25, shuffles her feet nervously, her head bowed.

She is not what you expect to see when you're told you're to meet a people trafficker.

Of all the shocking aspects of Nigeria's endemic human trafficking crisis, this is perhaps the most chilling: that it is very often a crime against women perpetrated by women, themselves desperate to escape destitution. More than half the beds in the cells here are reserved for female suspects.

Photo of The Day: Chelsea and Nigerian Football Star, Mikel Obi and Girlfriend Olga Diyachenko and Their Twins

Footballer Mikel and girlfriend Olga Diyachenko with their newborn twins

Photo Of The Day. Afro Beat Star, Seun Kuti and Partner.

Seun Kuti and Partner on her birthday. Congratulations 

Guinea-Bissau forms new Govt

 President Jose Mario Vaz

Guinea-Bissau has formed a new government, ending a two-month political stalemate in the coup-plagued west African nation.

The country has been in turmoil since President Jose Mario Vaz fired prime minister Domingos Simoes Pereira on August 12 over a series of disputes, placing the head of state at loggerheads with his ruling African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde.

Nigeria schoolgirl tells House of Lords of brutal Boko Haram attack

Victoria Yohanna escaped when the fighters went out to kidnap more people Photo: The Telegraph 

 

 

A Nigerian schoolgirl will tell the House of Lords today of her terrifying ordeal during one of the biggest ever mass abductions carried out by the Boko Haram terrorist sect.

Victoria Yohanna, 15, was one of more than 400 people taken prisoner during an attack by a Boko Haram raiding party on the north-east Nigerian town of Baga on the shores of Lake Chad in January.

Photos: All Existing Boko Haram Enclaves Cleared by Nigerian Troops

The Nigerian troops on their official twitter page have announced that they have cleared all known Boko Haram camps, enclaves, and dens in the North East, in the last few days. The troops also vow to continue to fight Boko Haram insurgents till they go into extinction.  More pics after cut...

Street Art: In Jozi, the walls can talk

TRUNK CALL: Falko with the work in Newtown, Johannesburg, he produced for the fifth annual City Of Gold Urban Art Festival
Image by: Alon Skuy

 

Johannesburg is a gold mine - not just in the historical sense, but also for graffiti artists who travel from all over the world to colour its walls.

In its fifth iteration, the one-week-long City of Gold Urban Art Festival took place in Braamfontein, Newtown and Jeppestown - and attracted a palette of top international street artists.
Known only by his mural moniker, London graffiti artist Solo One thinks Jozi's streets are the best place to paint.

Jorge Risquet, Cuban Revolutionary Leader in African Affairs, Dies 40 Years After Angolan Campaign

 
A leading figure in the formation of the Communist Party of Cuba and numerous heroic efforts on the African continent, Jorge Risquet Valdes-Saldana passed away on September 28 at the age of 85.

Risquet was born on May 6, 1930, and later joined the revolutionary youth movement in 1943. He was Cuba’s Representative and Head for Latin America in the World Federation of Democratic Youth and carried out an internationalist mission in Guatemala in 1954.
During the United States supported Fulgencio Batista dictatorship he was kidnapped, tortured and incarcerated. He joined the Revolutionary Army in 1958 in the 2nd Frank País Eastern Front.

NGOs in Malawi: What happens when donors leave?

Manes Segula, 22, now a qualified nurse working for a government hospital was assisted by ECPP through out her education. Photograph: The Guardian

Malawi has almost 500 NGOs, most of which are funded by international donors. But many NGOs don’t work closely with local communities, so when they leave, projects collapse.
After working in the Mulanje district for 15 years, World Vision stopped facilitating a project that provided vulnerable children with school materials and basic healthcare, and the local community with low-cost maize. The people entrusted with maintaining the project failed to pay the rent and the landlord evicted them. Now only an empty building signifies the project ever existed. World Vision relocated to another area of the country.

Africa’s old men’s club out of touch with continent’s suave, burgeoning youth By David E Kiwuwa:

Robert Mugabe, the nonagenarian Zimbabwean president, is the poster boy for Africa’s ageing leaders.
Image by:  REUTERS

Its five longest presidencies stretch between 29 and 36 years, adding to a cumulative 169 years. Their longevity in office is matched by their old age, ranging from 71 to 92 years, and a combined 392 years.

Gabon’s Omar Bongo had been president for a whopping 41 years when he died in office at the age of 73 in 2011. Hastings Banda, Malawi’s self-proclaimed president for life, was in his late 90s when he was ousted from office in 1994. Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe is 91, making him the oldest leader in the world.
He is followed closely by:

FIFA ethics body suspends Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini for 90 days

FIFA President Sepp Blatter (R) speaks with UEFA President Michel Platini (L)
Image by:  REUTERS

 The committee also handed out a 90-day suspension to FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, who had already been put on leave by the soccer body, and banned former FIFA Vice-President Chung Mong-joon for six years and fined him 100,000 Swiss francs ($103,000).

Wangari Maathai was not a good woman. Kenya needs more of them. by Nanjala Nyabola

Environmentalist, Nobel Prize winner and pro-democracy activist Wangari Maathai was the embodiment of the idea that “good women seldom make history”. 

25 September marked four years since the passing of Kenyan environmentalist and feminist icon, Wangari Maathai. Around the world, the anniversary was marked by speeches, tree planting ceremonies and any number of other events that resonated with Maathai’s legacy as a feminist, an environmentalist and one of the foremost leaders of the post-Cold War democracy movement.

Photos: Illegal overfishing and the return of Somalia's pirates

 A hundred years ago, it was a bustling port that served the vibrant fishing community living along Somalia's coastline, the longest on mainland Africa.

Now, Durduri is a sun-bleached, wind-swept, white-sand graveyard of stone structures. There is no harbour, no jetty. The drying and smoking house is just a tumble of bricks. 

This is one of many historical coastal trading towns that have risen and fallen with empires. When the busy trade routes moved away, fishing was one of the few lifelines left.

Talk to locals now and you will find this too has dried up - they say there are no more fish in the sea. They blame not the pirates who brought the attention of international law enforcement to Somalia's waters, but the foreign fishing boats that have plundered sea-life stocks.

Is school feeding a “game changer” for Nigerian children?

Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s recent announcement that the Buhari administration plans to revive the school feeding programme across public schools in the country has met with its share of public debate and conjecture. Osinbajo has been repeatedly quoted as saying that the “one meal a day” school feeding program being proposed by the Nigerian government will attract N980 billion in investment, will create jobs, and will boost the agricultural sector. We applaud his bold declaration, recognizing the need to put in place a social safety net for our children and communities. It is a step in the right direction. We look forward to details on how this programme will be implemented in a way that truly addresses the core concerns of a society where about 11 million children under the age of five are stunted. More pics after cut...

Chris Okafor, GO And Two Pastors of the Liberation City World Outreach Ministries Lagos, Nigeria Deported From Zimbabwe after he prophesied Mugabe would die

 
According to News Day, Okafor, the leader of the Liberation City World Outreach Ministries, reportedly said in October last year that Zimbabwe would have a new president by March this year.
The prophecy may not have been well-received by Zimbabwean authorities, News Day reported.
Okafor is not the only "man of God" who has prophesied Mugabe's death over the past few years. In January, a controversial but hugely popular Malawian prophet, Austin Liabunya, predicted the supposed impending demise of Mugabe.

Making an African language compulsory at university may do more harm than good By Stephanie Rudwick

The status of languages is a political hot potato on South Africa’s university campuses. The country’s minister of higher education and training believes that all university graduates in South Africa should have learned at least one African language during their studies.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), located in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, became the first to heed the minister’s call when it introduced Zulu as a compulsory subject for all new students from 2014. This is part of its broader language policy, which emphasises “the need to achieve for Zulu the institutional and academic status of English”.
UKZN has been hailed for this move, but some have also warned that making only Zulu compulsory is a political decision that may contribute to linguistic and cultural nationalism.

Swazi Princess Sikhanyiso Dlamini Weaves Royal Raps in Defence of Monarchy

Her Royal Highness Princess Sikhanyiso Dlamini of Swaziland (C), the eldest daughter of the king of Swaziland, sits under a tree during an interview in Luve, Swaziland, on August 28, 2015. (AFP)

  Sitting on a cushion under a tree on a hot and dusty farm with a reality TV show crew standing by, Swaziland's royal princess Sikhanyiso Dlamini lays down a quick-fire rap.

"Where's my next breath? The one that you promised me.
Majesty of your faithfulness, and honesty," she sings, a stream of lyrics dripping off her tongue.

Wearing white sneakers, a faux tiara, and a traditional wrap around her body, the eldest child of King Mswati III is something of a cultural custodian in Swaziland, one of the world's last absolute monarchies.

The quest for economic freedom in South Africa is proving to be the ANC’s downfall

The conventional interpretation of economic freedom in the Western world refers to the freedom individuals have to work, produce, consume and invest in an economy. But in South Africa it is interpreted as the material security of people.

It is this economic freedom that continues to elude many in post-apartheid South Africa. The fruits of economic prosperity have not necessarily trickled down to the broader population.

What South Africa can do to harness a neglected resource – its oceans

South Africa could grow by developing its oceans economy. The starting point is to build the skills that are required by the industry. Shutterstock

The South African government plans to use the potential of the oceans economy to address the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. The ocean covers 70% of the earth’s surface and is an important source of food, energy and minerals.
In Africa, South Africa is uniquely bordered by the ocean on three sides. With the inclusion of Prince Edward and Marion islands in the southern ocean, the coastline is about 3 924 km long. This is equivalent to the distance between Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city, and Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
South Africa is also located along one of the busiest international shipping trade routes. This makes it an ideal halfway station for international trade.

Togo: dances, trances and a mysterious sacred stone

 
© AFP Emile KoutonThe colour of the sacred stone is believed to indicate what the future holds for the coming 12 months white with blue indicates good fortune, while red signals danger, according to followers

Bare-chested and with leaves wrapped around their necks, a small group of voodoo worshippers emerges from a dense forest in southern Togo.
The oldest among them, a man in his sixties with decorative beads around his neck, carefully holds up a blue stone and closes his eyes.

With 'The Fisherman,' new UNL professor Obioma tells story of his home

GWYNETH ROBERTS/Lincoln Journal Star

Chigozie Obioma, assistant professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize for fiction for his book "The Fishermen."

 

On Wednesday morning, the youngest author nominated for England’s prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction awoke at 5 a.m. and began writing in a sunroom near 24th and Sumner streets.
“It’s the best time to write when you’re fresh, you know,” Chigozie Obioma, 28, said.
The first sign of light inspires him, he said. Until it hits, he tends to pull himself away from the page to track the moon’s downward path.
“I can almost calculate when it will completely obliterate itself,” he said.

Photos: Death toll in Guatemala landslide reaches 131

At least 131 people were killed in mudslides that smashed into a village outside Guatemala City, officials said Sunday, three days after the disaster struck the Central American nation.

"Unfortunately, a new count shows that there are 131 confirmed dead and recovered," and still about 300 people missing and unaccounted for, said volunteer fire brigade spokesman Julio Sanchez.

He told reporters that several young children, including newborn babies, were among the dead in Santa Catarina Pinula.
 On Thursday night, following heavy rain, waterlogged earth and debris tore through the village of El Cambray II, in the municipality of Santa Catarina Pinula, destroying or damaging at least 125 homes. More pics after cut.....

Is education in Africa on the verge of a revolution? By Toby Shapshak

PICTURE: THULANI MBELE

Last week, in a classroom made from a converted shipping container, in a dusty low-income area of Nairobi, I saw the future of education in emerging countries.
Using 17cm touchscreen tablets with individual headsets, 40 learners at the Lighthouse Grace Academy in Dagoretti were led through a lesson by their teacher, watching a cartoonish animated movie. It could have been at my nephew’s school in Florida in the US, or any school where computer equipment and Internet access are provided as standard.

Photos: APC South Africa Chapter Holds 1st National Convention and Dinner in Pretoria.

 The All Progressives Congress, South Africa Chapter will be hold its 1st national convention on Saturday 17th October, 2015 at the City of Tshwane hall, beside wonderpark, Brits Road, Akasia, Pretoria North, South Africa with a business dinner 2 days after on 19 October 2015 at Tuscan BBQ Buffet resturant, Brooklyn Pretoria. Special guest of honour will be APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun and 3 State Governors from Nigeria. You can still be part of the convention and dinner. APC Change... Poster of the Business dinner after cut...

Photos: Miss Heritage South Africa 2015

Eastern Cape beauty Ziphozinhle Ntlanganiso has been crowned Miss Heritage South Africa 2015.

Ntlanganiso will now represent the country on a global stage when she takes part in the Miss Heritage Global pageant to be held in South Africa in November. The pageant will see contestants from more than 50 countries around the world participate.

The event took place on the 24th of September 2015 at The Venue in Melrose Arch.
Ntlanganiso will now represent the country on a global stage when she takes part in the Miss Heritage Global pageant to be held in South Africa in November. The pageant will see contestants from more than 50 countries around the world participate. More pics after cut...

Starvation and war: South Sudan's 'peace' deal in action

A refugee from South Sudan drinks water at a well during celebrations to mark World Refugee Day at the Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana District, northwest of Kenya's capital Nairobi, June 20, 2015. June 20 is World Refugee Day, an occasion that draws attention to those who have been displaced around the globe. R
Image by: REUTERS

 But here in the swamps of Koch in the northern battleground state of Unity, the political deal means little in lands where fighting, rape and the burning of homes has not stopped, worsening hunger levels already bordering on famine.
"We came to receive food," said mother-of-seven Nyaluak Gai, aged 24, waiting in lines of hundreds of people for aid handouts from the UN World Food Programme, WFP.

Photos: MC Oluomo's Aide, Olayinka Mamowora a.k.a Mamok Gunned Downed in Cold Blood at Oshodi, Lagos

 The battle of supremacy among rival groups within the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) known as union, Oshodi, Lagos State chapter turned ugly last night, Wednesday, 30th September with the brutal killing of Olayinka Mamowora, popularly known as Mamok, an aide of the Union's State Treasurer and Oshodi state chapter chairman, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya otherwise known as MC Oluomo. The Late Mamok a graduate of Ogun State Poly, Abeokuta was shot to death by over 10 assailants on Mosaku street in Oshodi. Mamok was kiiled inside a barbing saloon while shaving his head. Another pics after cut...

Read: President Buhari Nigeria's 55th Independence Speech

“October 1st is a day for joy and celebrations for us Nigerians, whatever the circumstances we find ourselves in because it is the day, 55 years ago; we liberated ourselves from the shackles of colonialism and began our long march to nationhood and to greatness.

“No temporary problems or passing challenges should stop us from honouring this day. Let us remind ourselves of the gifts God has given us. Our Creator has bequeathed to us Numbers – Nigeria is the ninth most populated country on the planet. We have in addition arable land; water; forests; oil and gas; coastline; and solid minerals

Photos:Independence Pictures From Miss New Nigeria Continental 2015

More pics after cut...