By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — While a professor at the University of Nairobi, Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was the catalyst of the discussion to abolish the English department. He argued that after the end of colonialism, it was imperative that a university in Africa teach African literature, including oral […]
A Schoolgirl Is Latest Victim of Nigerian Religious Strife
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Religious conflicts have escalated dramatically in recent years. Throughout the 1950-1996 periods, these conflicts constituted 33% to 47% of all conflicts. Few continents are exempt from this picture of faith-based conflict and today Nigerians are grappling with a troubling theological issue following the stoning death […]
Big Oil and Gold Miners Get The ‘Unwelcome Mat’ From African Grassroots Groups
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Oil companies and gold mines in Africa are facing increasingly fierce challenges from grassroots community organizations trying to address serious climate concerns. Shell Oil, to give an example, was hit with legal challenges as both the company and individual Board members faced opposition from Friends […]
Big Oil and Gold Miners Get The ‘Unwelcome Mat’ From African Grassroots Groups
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Oil companies and gold mines in Africa are facing increasingly fierce challenges from grassroots community organizations trying to address serious climate concerns. Shell Oil, to give an example, was hit with legal challenges as both the company and individual Board members faced opposition from Friends […]
Shipwreck Museum in Cape Verde Recalls a Dark Past
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The Republic of Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) is an archipelago island nation to the west of Senegal and Mauritania, consisting of 10 volcanic islands that lie between 320 and 460 nautical miles west of Cap-Vert, the westernmost point of continental Africa. The official language is […]
European Union Sued for Not Responding to Eritrea’s Rights Violations
By Robert Johnson BRUSSELS (IDN) — The Foundation Human Rights for Eritreans, a Netherlands based organization, has decided to sue the European Union and international bodies for failing to respond to human rights abuses by the Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki and his associates. At the press conference on May 10, the Foundation’s lawyer, Emiel Jurjens […]
Rock Bottom Spending on Women’s Health in Sierra Leone
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — On its web page titled U.S. Relations with Sierra Leone, the State Department gushes with warmth and affection for the African country—once called the ‘Province of Freedom’—which remains among the world’s poorest countries, ranked 180th out of 187 countries in the United Nations’ Human Development […]
Sierra Leone Teacher Activists Arrested for Demanding ‘Living Wages’
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | FREETOWN (IDN) — Schoolteachers in Sierra Leone say they’ve had enough after the arrest of Mohamed Salieu Khan, interim chair of the Teachers Solidarity Movement (TSM). On April 26, he was grabbed by police outside the popular AYV TV station after speaking about the dismal plight […]
German Deal with Namibian President on Hold Because Herero and Nama Were Left Out
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Reparations—a system of redress for egregious injustices—are not a foreign idea imposed from the outside on the United States. On the contrary, the U.S. has given lands to Native Americans, paid $1.5 billion to Japanese Americans interned in the U.S. during World War II, and […]
Whistle Blower Reveals U.S. Role in Zuma’s Corruption Inquiry
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Business consultant Athol Williams said he witnessed high-level corruption under the presidency of Jacob Zuma—but a good portion of it emanated from a U.S. company with connections to U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, according to a new report.