Africa

Photo: PDP National Headquarters, Abuja.

Multi-Religious Nigeria's Ruling Party Picks 2 Muslims as Top Candidates

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — If the flag bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s presidential election, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, thought a “placeholder” would be a lightning rod and maybe soften the blow of his final decision, he has seen by now that he is mistaken. There is a gathering storm.

Tinubu’s decision on July 12 to choose a fellow Muslim as his running mate has riled many Christians, who make up nearly 49 per cent of the country’s population. They are doubly upset that it took him five weeks after his nomination to decide what they always suspected he would do: pick a Muslim running mate to complete what is now Nigeria’s first Muslim-Muslim ticket in nearly 30 years.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 16 July 2022

Facebook Blasted for Publishing Amharic Hate Speech

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A proliferation of incendiary hate speech has turned up on social media’s Facebook for Ethiopia in ads that call for people to be killed, starved or ‘cleansed’ from an area, compare people to animals and call for genocide.

Phrases used are highly offensive and dehumanizing. Several posts amounted to a call for genocide. None of the sentences was dog-whistles or in any way difficult to interpret or mistake.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 11 July 2022

Nigerian Pop Star Takes Down Air Pollution in Latest Hit

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Grammy-award winner Damini Ogulu, popularly known as Burna Boy, has picked a smoking topic for his latest record dubbed “Whiskey”.

“Port Harcourt residents dem no dey breathe fresh air, my people! When you wake up in the morning, you cough black soot,” the song begins.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 11 July 2022

Photo: (left) Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chair of the African Union Commission and (right) Fortune Charumbira, President of the Pan-African Parliament. Source: News Zimbabwe.

Mugabe Supporter to Head Pan-African Parliament

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — As members of the Pan-African Parliament hotly disputed the election of senator and chief Fortune Charumbira as their next president, a familiar figure could have turned the exercise upside down.

The familiar figure was ex-President Robert Mugabe. Charumbira, an unapologetic Mugabe supporter, once faced censure from Zimbabwe’s High Court which ruled that his comments publicly supporting Mugabe’s Zanu PF party were unconstitutional as chiefs are required to be neutral.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 05 July 2022

Photo: Protesters on June 29, 2022 (twitter #AriseGhana ). Source: The African Report

Ghanaians Take to The Streets Over Intolerable Living Costs

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — “Mr President, where is our money? The high cost of living will kill us.”

Those were the cries that filled the streets of Accra as the usually peaceful people of Ghana could no longer stop their anger and frustration over intolerable living costs, record inflation, and misleading information about the economy shared by the government.

Over the past week, hundreds of Ghanaians clashed with police and denounced their government’s inaction on the crisis.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Cities & Communities; 04 July 2022

Photo source: Global Information Network

Ghana Cracks Down on LGBTQIA+ Community Despite Opposition

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Legislators in Ghana with unapologetic support from President Nana Akufo-Addo have come up with a new law making life even harder for LGBTQIA+ persons in the West African country, a bill which essentially strips the community of all human rights.

Dubbed the “most homophobic document the world has ever seen”, the 36-page Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, which is yet to be considered by parliament, would criminalize LGBTQIA+ activities in the religious West African country.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 04 July 2022

Image: Two bronzes are being returned today: Commemorative head of a king; King with four attendants © Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin; Claudia Obrocki, Martin Franken

Germany Will Return Two Historic Bronzes to Nigeria

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) — Germany has taken a historic step toward addressing colonial injustice. It has agreed to return valuable bronzes to Nigeria. More than 1100 fascinating bronzes pillaged from the former Kingdom of Benin (today's Nigeria) are stored for some 125 years in the stockrooms and collections of 20 German museums. These are not only magnificent artefacts. They are some of Africa’s greatest treasures.