Let’s fess up to it! That Africa hardly wields any political significance in global politics and diplomacy is an unspoken secret. A lot of incidents happen within the African continent that is comparatively better handled elsewhere in the world. The discerning African mind has been waiting for decades, to experience moments of joy, pleasure and upliftment at one remarkable deed by African political leaders that will make it proud. Such moments have hardly ever been replicated since the wave of independence declarations from colonial intruders in Africa since the 1960s.

The hopes aroused by Kwame Nkrumah with his doctrine of Pan-Africanism, Leopold Sedar Senghor with his intellectual strain of poetic liberation verses, the passion aroused by Kenneth Kaunda with his emotional bond to the black race that dominates Africa, are today, only a far cry from all the expectations that were reposed on the future of the continent.

A continent that lived through years of supplying human slaves to the pleasure and benefit of foreign invaders has a carefully documented record of raids that were conducted on its shores by the same white-skinned invaders who chased fleeing able-bodied Black African men. Men that were captured, transported thousands of miles across the sea to be subjected to subhuman and animalistic treatment in sugarcane plantations! It is the same continent today, which unwittingly transgresses the honor of its own and willfully enslaves its people in a modern setting.

Today, the slave masters of old no longer come docking on the shores of Africa’s commercial hubs. They no longer have plantations where the Black African is deployed on the basis of classifications along the line of physical features, age and health. Today, our people run to the white man begging to be enslaved in a different manner, to afford the cost of quick wealth and the basic feeding of families at home as the case may be.

They throng like a herd of sheep, into waiting boats at the shores of North Africa running after the greener pastures that Europe imaginarily portends. They die in their hundreds in the middle of the sea traveling on ramshackle vessels provided by profit-hungry monsters, who rip the last bucks off the desperate sojourners hoping to replenish their purses when the promised land is reached.

Then you ask yourself: “Do they have governments in Africa at all?” The massive drift of Africans in recent years and months would have long been sufficient reasons, to prompt a call for action by a joint forum of political leaders in any frantic bid to address the situation or seek assistance from more influential countries. Unfortunately, this is negated like the operations of domestic gangsters across the continent, which routinely attack, rob, maim and more often than not, kill their innocent victims.

The latest count of Black African victims, who sought to cross the Mediterranean to access Europe in search of affluence and improved living standard, stands at 800 dead Africans on one single day. Hundreds of Africans rescued on make-shift death-trap boats provided by organized smugglers are not uncommon news any longer. Hundreds dying over several days and weeks do not shock the mind any longer, which attaches importance to the sanctity of human life.

Yet 800 deaths in one single day were enough to unsettle the European mind and warrant emergency summits of responsible leaders to find solutions. Not in Africa.

Some African leaders took a supportive stance, when the illegal overthrow and assassination of Muammar Gadhafi in Libya was the subject of international debate. No one pressed for an African solution with foreign support. Today, Gadhafi is no more. Libya is as good as non-existent as a functional state. The consequence is the aggravated loss of African lives across the desert and the Mediterranean Sea. Yet 800 deaths in one single day did not spur African leaders to action to find a lasting solution.

An African leader is on record to have hurried down to Paris to attend a summit with the French President on finding a solution to the brutal cases of insurgency in his own land while he was so indifferent to the need of visiting the scene of the mass abduction of children. The same African leader would hasten to express condolence to France at the loss of 12 individuals to terrorist attacks while scores were killed daily in his own country in the hands of terrorists, without a care in the world where and how it happens.

Today, tomorrow or the next day, a number of foreigners are due for execution by firing squad in Indonesia after being found guilty of drug smuggling. The foreigners include Africans, Australians and French citizens. For months now, Australia has been fuming and rampaging like an elephant in a china shop protesting the imminent execution of its just 2 citizens with threats of ‘dire consequences’. The French engaged in quiet diplomacy threatening ‘dire consequences’ as well if its citizens were executed. Yet several Africans have been executed in Indonesia several times before without any African country raising any of its most feeble voices in earnest protest.

All over the world except in Black Africa, dictators who refuse to embrace democracy as a viable system of government run their country, with a tremendous sense of welfarism. The absence of democratic institutions, which stall processes and the absence of the rule of law is often exploited to uplift standards in the country to the benefit of the citizens. We remember Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gadhafi, governments in China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirate etc. The alleged quest to install democracy ended up destroying landmark achievements in Iraq. The same is true of Libya.

China, Saudi Arabia and many other examples uplifted their individual countries by taking advantage of easy but oppressive dictatorial leadership. Yet in Africa with the highest record of dictatorships over several decades, poverty, infrastructural decay and corrupt enrichment are the norm not the exception. Indeed, there are no exceptions.

Then you ask yourself: “Do they have governments in Africa at all?” The same Africa that inspired hope when educated and intelligent minds swore that they could manage their own affairs and forced independence from colonialists! Expectations were high. Unfortunately, intolerance, immaturity and greed often led to chains of civil war across the continent with no hope of redemption. Over 50 years since the wave of independence across Africa, what is left to write about when talking of Africa south of the Sahara?

The latest low is brother-against-brother. It is black men spilling the blood of fellow black men in the most barbaric spate of primitivity ever imagined.

The dust has hardly settled on South Africans with their recent history of oppression in the hands of white minority rulers, who Shaka the king of the Zulus allowed a free hand in settling in prized territories across the Transkei, Natal and Zululand. The pains of Apartheid were suffered not too long ago. Hungry black boys in search of quick bucks often collaborated with the white racists and served as informants spying on the resistance movement. Any such informant caught was subjected to necklacing – the binding of a vehicle tire around the neck and setting ablaze of the informant to die in pain and agony.

No one cried out against this practice at the time. No one spoke up. The pain of Apartheid suffered by the black man was just too immense that we all thought such informants deserved their plight. Using this same infamous method as a tool of barbaric expression of hate is beyond any scientific expression.

It is true that the unusually massive presence of foreigners in a single country bears a huge potential for provoking resentment and violence by the indigenes. Scientific studies in different climes have uncovered the sense of insecurity felt by indigenes and how easily foreign elements can be the scapegoat in the society as ready excuses for the failure of governance. It is also true that the presence of a huge number of foreigners like Nigerians from a specific social stratum will most likely boost the spate of crime as is evidenced by many countries including European nations that are able to cushion such a hike. Drug-peddling as in Indonesia and the marketing of prostitutes in addition to fraud (the so-called 419 activities) are typical examples. In spite of all these though, it is also true that home-grown crime in South Africa is not of an insignificant dimension.

While rational understanding can be invoked for the reasoning of South Africans over the influx of so many foreigners into a country with such a huge problem of its own, it is impossible to comprehend the repugnant act of stoning and burning to death of a fellow man. “Ghana must go” is a sentiment that is not foreign to Nigerians. Yet, no Nigerian dreamt any idea of killing Ghanaians simply because they came as guests to earn a better living standard. It is simply as barbaric as it is crude primitivity at its very peak.

Yet, you do not hear African leaders calling for or summoning any emergency session of the African Union. It does not seem to matter to them. If such an incident were witnessed in any European country, the continent would be boiling with a flurry of political activities. If Africans were slaughtered this way in any other continent with the authorities tacitly or openly collaborating, some African countries would have summoned an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council. But an emergency session of the African Union is not deemed worthy of summoning. No collective cry of anger.

Is this Africa of Kwame Nkrumah’s dreams? Is this political inferiority what African brains bargained for in the struggle for independence? Where is hope and how long more shall it take for the ultimate spark of positive development to erupt and pick steam?

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Ngwa Bertrand

27.Apr.2015

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Officials from Niger say the Boko Haram Takfiri militants have carried out an attack against the country’s army soldiers in Lake Chad. Niger’s Defense Ministry announced the assault in a statement on Saturday, without indicating if there had been any casualties in Lake Chad, located along the borders of Chad, Niger and Cameroon. “At dawn on April 25, fighters from the terrorist group Boko Haram riding motorized canoes attacked the island of Karamga, a position northwest of the town of Bosso held by our defense and security forces,” the statement said. However, an unnamed official from the southeastern city of Diffa said the death toll was “very heavy in the ranks of the Nigerien army.”

Following the attack, Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou called a meeting of the national security council. Niger, along with Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria, has been involved in a joint operation against Boko Haram, which started its activities six years ago. The terrorist group, whose name means, “Western education is forbidden,” says its goal is to overthrow the government of Nigeria. The Takfiri militants have claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of Nigeria since the beginning of their militancy in 2009, which has so far left over 13,000 people dead and displaced 1.5 million.

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Ngwa Bertrand

26.Apr.2015

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Suspected Takfiri Boko Haram militants have stormed a town in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State, forcing hundreds of army troops to flee the restive area. Local sources said more than 2,000 armed terrorists entered Marte on Thursday and continued to fight with Nigerian government forces into Friday. The militants went on a shooting spree and killed several people, according to the sources. Imamu Habeeb, a local community leader, said the terrorists “appeared from various directions on Thursday,” adding, "They fought with soldiers over the night and the fight continued today (Friday), forcing hundreds of soldiers to flee.”

Shehu Dan Baiwa, a local fighter also noted that the militants, who were armed with bombs and tanks, “used the weapons without restraint and succeeded in killing several people.” Meanwhile, a senior local politician, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said Boko Haram had retaken Marte. If confirmed officially, it would be Boko Haram's third seizure of the town in the troubled Borno State.

 

Back in February, four nations of the Lake Chad Basin - Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria - launched a joint campaign, together with a contingent from Benin, to confront the threat from Boko Haram in the region. Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government. The Takfiri militants have claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of the country since the beginning of their militancy in 2009, which has so far left over 13,000 people dead and displaced 1.5 million.

 

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Ngwa Bertrand

25.Apr.2015

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Nigerian security forces have killed a senior commander of Boko Haram Takfiri militants during a gun battle in the country's northeast, the army spokesman said. The shootout occurred on the outskirts of the town of Alagarno in Borno State on Tuesday when Boko Haram commander Abu Mojahid was killed, army spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said on Wednesday. He said a number of terrorists were killed as the security forces clashed with the Takfiris, adding that the army had seized rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns from the militants.

The army continued its operation to root out Boko Haram militants in Borno State, including the terrorists' main hub in Sambisa forest, said Olukolade. Since 2009, the three northeastern Nigerian states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, have been the epicenter of Boko Haram violence.  The Nigerian security forces have, with the military support of some regional countries, regained control of the towns seized by the militants in northeastern regions. Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks and bombings in various parts of Nigeria, which have left over 14,000 people dead and 1.5 million displaced over the past few years.

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Ngwa Bertrand

23.Apr.2015

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Armies from Nigeria and neighbours Chad, Niger and Cameroon have in the past two months launched a concerted push to try to crush the insurgents, who have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in their battle to establish an Islamic state. The Sambisa forest in north-east Nigeria, a vast former colonial game reserve, is about 100 km from the village of Chibok from where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 secondary school girls a year ago. Intelligence officials had believed this was where they were being held, although US reconnaissance drones have failed to find them. UN Special Representative for West Africa Mohamed Ibn Chambas said this month Boko Haram militants seeking shelter in the Sambisa Forest may be using some of the captured girls as human shields.

A spokesman for the military was not immediately available for comment. An official in the Chadian army said Chadian and Cameroonian troops were ready to attack Sambisa, which lies near the Cameroon border, from the other side and would move in soon. Chadian troops were assembling in Mora, northern Cameroon, ahead of the joint operation, a Cameroonian army official said. The militants controlled an area the size of Belgium at the start of the year, but have since lost much of that ground.

Yet they remain a deadly threat to civilians, as illustrated on Friday when they slit the throats of 12 people in north-east Nigeria as the army was trying to evacuate the area around the former Boko Haram headquarters of Gwoza. Failure to crush Boko Haram or protect civilians was one reason President Goodluck Jonathan lost an election on March 28 to Muhammadu Buhari, who has pledged to spare no effort in battling the militants after he is sworn in on May 29.  Buhari also said he would do everything possible to rescue the Chibok girls, but could not promise to find them.

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Ngwa Bertrand

23.Apr.2015

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(Reuters) - Nigeria's military said on Thursday it was still advancing in Islamist group Boko Haram's last known stronghold, dismissing reports that land mines had forced them to retreat.

A pro-government vigilante and a security source had earlier said troops pulled back from the Sambisa forest after three vigilantes were killed driving over an anti-vehicle mine.

"It's not true that our troops are retreating, in fact we are still marching forward in Sambisa. Our troops are still in there," Defence Spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade said by telephone.

Earlier, a soldier who asked not to be named said: "The soldiers have retreated to Bama because of mines. They had been on the road but that made them vulnerable, so they moved to the bush but there are mines planted there (too)."

The Sambisa forest, a former colonial game reserve, is about 100 km (60 miles) from the village of Chibok, from where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 secondary schoolgirls a year ago.

Intelligence officials believed they were being held in the forest, but U.S. reconnaissance drones failed to locate them.

"Three of our boys were killed by a landmine as we progressed into Sambisa. We've suspended going farther," Muhammad Mungonu, the vigilante, told Reuters.

The militants controlled an area the size of Belgium at the start of the year, but have since lost much of that ground after a concerted push by troops from Nigeria and neighbors Chad, Niger and Cameroon in the past two months.

A Chadian military source said a joint military operation involving forces from Niger and Cameroon was expected to begin to encircle the Sambisa forest next week. Chadian troops will go in from the Cameroonian border, where they have been massing.

Over the last six years, Boko Haram have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in a battle to establish an Islamic caliphate. President Goodluck Jonathan's failure to crush the Islamists contributed to his defeat in Nigeria's March 28 election.

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Ngwa Bertrand

23.Apr.2015

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