OPINION

Photo: Zabarmari: Governor Zulum of Borno state, leads horrified kinsmen to bury 43 farmers killed by Boko Haram. Credit: Twitter handle of Zulum. Source: Premium Times.

Message from The Dead Borno Farmers

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – That the slain Borno farmers did not get military clearance is an inconvenient truth, but the real error of judgement was taking the government at its word.

In his inaugural speech on May 29, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the military chiefs – the same military chiefs there today – to relocate to the Northeast, the main theatre in the war on Boko Haram.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 03 December 2020

Image credit: The US NOAA's nautical charts provide the baseline that marks the inner limit of the territorial sea and the outer limit of internal waters. This determines where U.S. territorial waters begin for purposes of international law.

Time Overdue for the US to Ratify Law of The Sea Treaty

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Russia, China, Ukraine, the European Union, the United Kingdom including Northern Ireland, the defence budget, climate change, Iran, Afghanistan, Poland, Hungary, India Iraq, Taiwan, Japan, Cuba are all items that have surfaced in the press as reporters ponder on the issues that President-elect Joe Biden will confront in his foreign policy. It seems everyone has forgotten the important Law of the Sea treaty (United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) that remains unratified by the US.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 01 December 2020

Photo: Rex Essenow (left by Kester Kenn Klomegah) and NIDO Russia.

A Window Opens in Business Ties Between Russia and Nigeria

Interview by Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) – As part of efforts to connect Russia with Nigeria and to lure potential Russian investors and businesspeople to Nigeria and vice versa, a business lecture platform "Doing Business with Nigeria" has been created in November. Its primary aim is to get the Russian business community to understand the economic and investment potentials as well as the current market conditions in Nigeria.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; OPINION; 01 December 2020

Stunning Lack of G20 Responsibility for the World’s Poor

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio*

ROME (IDN | OtherNews) – The recent meeting of the G20 – scheduled to take place in Riyadh but held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic – has been an eloquent example of how the world is drifting, in a crisis of leadership. It was, in a sense, a showcase. Everybody had to accept the view that the host of the meeting, the ailing King Salman of Saudi Arabia, was accompanied on TV screens by his apparent heir, Prince Mohamed bin Salman, who is clearly the mastermind of the brutal assassination, dismembering and disappearance of the body of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 25 November 2020

Image: The ethno-religious composition of Syria. Credit: Institute for the Study of War. Public Domain.

Joe Biden's Dilemma on Syria

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – If you like confusion in foreign policy take a new look at Syria, the country that has the worst civil war since the one that raged in Angola in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Syria is now a near-total wreck. Four of its historically important Christian cities are in ruins. More than half a million civilians are dead and many more wounded. Millions are without jobs. This legacy that happened on the watch of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump now lands in Joe Biden’s in-tray.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 24 November 2020

Photo: Axum airport in northern Ethiopia, in 2016. According to reports, forces from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front have meanwhile destroyed the airport. Credit: Matt Tempest. Source: EU Observer

EU Called Upon to Urgently Engage in Peace Efforts for the Horn of Africa

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Representatives of non-governmental organisations and academia from all around Europe have called upon the European Union (EU) to urgently appoint senior High-level Envoys for the Horn to engage in and provide support to international, in particular African, efforts to curb the crisis in the Horn of Africa.

The appeal is addressed in a letter to the President of the EU Council Charles Michel, President of the Commission Ursula Von der Leyen, and President of the European Parliament David Sassoli.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 24 November 2020

RCEP Augurs Hope for 10 ASEAN States and Their 5 Partners

Viewpoint by Chandra Muzaffar

This article is being reproduced from the Website of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) presided over by Dr Chandra Muzaffar.

KUALA LUMPUR (IDN) – Amidst the gloom generated by the twin health and economic crises, the birth of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a ray of light auguring hope.

More than a million lives have been lost worldwide as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, there is massive unemployment and entire societies have been devastated.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 23 November 2020

COVID-19 and Lessons from Traditional Chinese Medicine

Viewpoint by Jayasri Priyalal*

SINGAPORE (IDN) – They are fighting an invisible enemy taking a warpath. Many countries grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic interpret the situation like a war. Frontline heroes are found in battlefield scenarios.

These heroes come from different professions, medical and healthcare workers being the binding force, the rest including, security, transport, postal logistic, financial service providers, and employees attached to retail industries etc. Aside from them, many unsung heroes are working in hospitals, morgues, in burial grounds and the health and sanitary service providers who provide an invaluable essential service to keep the communities together.

: Opinion Editor; COVID-19; 22 November 2020

Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL/Caltech; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA; Ultraviolet: ESA/XMM-Newton. Source: Vox

Black Holes Pervade the Spirit of 2020

Viewpoint by Prabir Purkayastha*

NEW DELHI (IDN) – The Nobel P rize in physics for 2020 has been shared by Roger Penrose, the mathematical physicist, for his work on the theoretical basis of black holes, and astronomers Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez, who led independent teams, for verifying the existence of such a black hole at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy. Penrose showed that the consequence of Einstein’s general theory of relativity is the formation of black holes, not only in collapsing stars but also in certain dense regions of space.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 November 2020

Photo: The late Ghana President Jerry Rawlings sitting at a public function. The second phase of Ghana’s post-colonial history – from 1981 – is intensely controversial, centring on Rawlings himself. Source: Jerry John Rawlings Facebook

Legacy of Late Ghana President: A View from Nigeria

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – The saying that a prophet is not appreciated at home may well be referring to former Ghanaian president, Jerry Rawlings, who died on November 12 from COVID-19 related complications, three weeks after his mother passed.

Ghana took to seven days of mourning, but Nigeria is crying more than the bereaved. Among Nigeria’s political elite, there has been a “condolence contest.” And among the wider public, the outpouring of grief and tribute on social media makes Ghana look like Rawlings’ distant second home.