Chinua Achebe Calls for Revolution in Nigeria

Renowned writer, Chinua Achebe, has called on Nigerians to rise up in unison and challenge the bad leadership and looting of the country, Next newspaper from Lagos reports. Speaking on Thursday when the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, visited him at his home in Bard College, an elite liberal arts university in the suburbs of New York, Achebe said Nigeria was doomed if its people do not act to halt corruption and ineptitude among its ruling elites.

Kenya: Eating Until it Cracks in a ‘Government of National Impunity’

Next month’s issue of Konkret will have an article about state violence, impunity and the theft of public resources in Kenya, written by Jan Bachmann and me. The ‘government of national impunity’ comes under increasing international pressure to go against those responsible for the deadly fights after the elections 2007. ‘Given that some of Kenya’s most ambitious and thrusting young politicians have blood on their hands, it’s very hard to see those really responsible for the 2008 violence being held to account’, we hear from Michela Wrong, author of It’s Our Turn to Eat.

Nneka: Effusing a Message From Warri, Niger Delta, to the World

<UK Independent> It’s been four years since Nneka Egbuna emerged from Germany as the gung-ho Nigerian rapper/singer/songwriter with a socio-political bone to pick, and yet she’s still indifferent to fame. “I’m just happy that more than one person listens to me,” shrugs the 27-year-old when asked if she has the desire to break the US now that she’s been recognised by the Mobos as the Best African Act, and Channel O, the premier African music network based in South Africa. “It’s not about being popular. It’s about the love of doing the music. It’s about giving people hope; it’s not about me, it’s not about Nneka herself, it’s about having a voice and it’s about having a message behind the voice.” Full text here. Promo video for Nneka’s latest release here.

Armed Groups, Power and Domination: The Dilemma of Violence

Klaus Schlichte published his book In the Shadow of Violence recently with Campus Verlag. The political scientist provides an ambitious study about the use of violence, questions of legitimacy and the stabilisation of domination by armed groups. He draws on extensive evidence from the fields, a good part of it cumulated by himself and his students. Read my review here.

In Guinea Conakry, the Dadis Show Is Over

More than 130, perhaps up to 200 Guineans are estimated to have been killed by the army and police in the capital Conakry on 28 September. About 150 women are said to have been raped. They wanted to take part in a protest rally against the intentions by the military under Moussa Dadis Camara to prolong its stay in power after elections planned for early 2010. There are reports that the looting, firing and stealing by ’security forces’ continues. The Dadis Show in which high-profile political entrepreneurs had to appear on TV and confess their misdeeds finally came to an end.

About the Incorporation of Identity, the Commodification of Culture

Ethnicity, Inc., the latest publication by John L. and Jean Comaroff, presents comprehensive empirical evidence for one of the latest trends in the Brave New World of neo-liberalism: the commodification of cultural difference and the incorporation of ethnic or national identities. In course of a racy and stirring travel from the Bafokeng in South Africa to the casino capitalism of the Seminole in Florida to Britain, PLC, the anthropologists offer rich material in order to develop their theoretical insights into the working of modern ethno-business and its relationships to global shifts in governance. Read my review of the book in the coming issue of iz3w.

Niger Delta: Bomb Attacks and an Amnesty

After a massive military intervention, the Nigerian central government wants to pacify the oil-producing Niger Delta with an amnesty. This strategy will most likely fail, but nevertheless prepare the ground for the 2011 elections. Read an updated English version of my text published by Konkret 9/09 here.

US Policy Towards Somalia: More of the Same, Once Again

The killing of a suspected al Qaeda militant cell leader in Southern Somalia by US special forces is big in the news. French soldiers are also suspected to have taken part in the raid which left several people dead. Taken together with the arms shipment and the finance of weapons acquirements by the US (see Foreign Policy’s report here), nothing points to a new approach of the Obama administration vis-à-vis the war-torn country.

Discussing the Occult, Witchcraft and Religion in Africa

An exciting debate is currently under way about the study of beliefs in an invisible world that are widespread in African societies. Terence Ranger started this dispute with a literature review in Africa journal two years ago where he pointed to the affinity between academic works on ‘the occult’ and popular Western ideas about Africa as a backward and superstitious continent. At the Aegis conference in Leipzig, scholars such as Filip de Boeck, Peter Geschiere, Stephen Ellis and Isak Niehaus discussed the matter. The August 09 issue of Africa presents a rejoinder to Ranger by Gerrie ter Haar and Ellis as well as a contribution on that subject by Birgit Meyer.

Nigeria: A Different Bailout Is Possible

‘The bonus culture must come to an end’, demands the acting chief of European Ministers of Finance, Anders Borg. Nigeria’s Central Bank is far ahead in that regard. Several CEOs of top banks were arrested last week, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigates them and several high-profile debtors. Find my text on the issue in the latest edition of Jungle World.