African Blog Review – August 7, 2008

Naama Chronicle writes about Nigeria’s failure to achieve food self sufficiency:

“Nigeria - the country with vast natural resources that could serve as a large base for commercial agricultural activities and turning it into completely self-sufficient on food supplies - imports $3 Billion worth of rice, wheat and fish.

When you think about Nigeria’s geographical location and land and water resources, the thought of importing rice, wheat and fish to this country is almost inconceivable...

According to [Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr. Abba Sayyadi Ruma… Nigeria has the capacity to produce five million metric tonnes of fish but could only achieve a dismal 500 metric tonnes annually.

Apart from poor resource management, here is another reason behind the stalemating agricultural development of not Nigeria alone, but of many other African countries: the lack of the desire on the part of the local commercial banks to participate in agricultural development, thus significantly limiting (or degrading to zero) the access to the sources of financing for medium and small- scale farmers.”

Mzati Nkolokosa
http://mzatinkolokosa.blogspot.com/2008/08/who-goes-back-to-lilongwe.html

Using Malawi as an example, Mzati Nkolokosa argues in favor of the incorporation of elements from Africa’s indigenous culture and political systems into the modern African state:

“Weeks ago, Michael Jana, a lecturer at Chancellor College, wrote in defense of the involvement of traditional leaders in local governance. His argument was that Malawi does not need ward councilors because there is an established local structure of traditional leaders....

Village heads are best suited to represent people in development matters. They know every person in their areas... Your village head knows the needs of the people better than a ward councilor. The challenge is that we have copied what we think are democratic structures from the West at the expense of our own democratic structures. This assumes that democracy is not African which is not true.

‘Who killed African democracy?’ asks Professor Ali Mazrui, one of Africa’s brilliant minds. ‘The cultural half caste who came in from western schools and did not adequately respect African ancestors. Institutions were inaugurated without reference to cultural compatibilities, and new processes were introduced without respect for continuities. Ancestral standards of property and legitimacy were ignored.’”

Neba Fuh
http://www.nebafuh.com/2008/07/compromise-poli.html#more

Blogging from Norway, Neba Fuh wonders why Africans generally lower the bar when it comes to analyzing the actions of African leaders:

"Generally, Africans have a vexing tendency to always dwell on the 'bad, worse and worst' comparison. They rarely dwell on positive comparison, that is,' the good, better and best' situations. When established dictators are under all kinds of pressure to relinquish power, fellow Africans come out with defensive negative comparisons insinuating that, these autocrats are not worse than their contemporaries. It is like the student who took the last-but-one position in his end of year class exams, but was quick to point out that at least, he wasn't the last in the class!

When we decry the dictatorial rule of the Biya regime, some analysts rush to point out that he is not worse than his neighbours. When there is an opportunity to oust dictators like Mugabe of Zimbabwe who has plunged his country into an economic quagmire coupled with extreme brutalization of his people because of their political opinions, fellow Africans come out with all kinds of negative comparisons and hypotheses…

I strongly believe that any pressure to force a dictator to relinquish power, no matter where it is coming from, should not be compromised. Any African dictator who is forced out of power brings a smile to at least one hopeless African. Africa's future rests not on this cream of dictators! They are of no use! They can't bring the momentum Africa needs to move from its present inertia to a more progressive track, comparable to the South East Asian boom. The talk about African unity remains a fictional gaffe, except these greedy autocrats quit. The Biyas, Obiang Nguemas, Bongo, Qhaddhaffis, Mubaraks, Mugabes, El Bashirs, Kibakis etc can not execute any African vision.”

The Vigilante Journalist
http://www.vigilantejournalist.com/blog/

The Vigilante Journalist attempts to explain why Kenyan youths are alienated from Kenyan society:

“In the absence of a culture that is sustaining hope both at home, in school and post school, the youths are creating their own brand and merchandising wholly hinged on destroying everything their pseudo-society market sees as supreme. The pressure to be achievers, the incompetence of their political system, the poverty in their society and the emergence of a quasi-celebrity culture in this landscape has given birth to the emergence of the school as sub-culture. And it is a culture rooted in resistance. Burning and mayhem has become a badge of honor and no amount of colonial era subjugation tactics or traditional African nostalgia tidbits from the mouths of also-rans, is the remedy.
...
As mainstream Kenya grapples with the tools of conspicuous consumption, mis-governance and modern day capitalistic mythologies of achievement, so too has it to grapple with the price and consequences - the alienation amongst its youth. These are the kahluas we drink when we fail to provide vision and an inclusive culture to our youth and the necessities and security to life: the obligations of every legitimate state. We will not succeed by marketing state and patriarchal hegemony. Youth anywhere will always be amenable to brands because it’s a time of identity formation and brands sure do help. When our national brand is impunity, incompetence, consumption and chest thumping, our youths are simply buying in. Any student of the nineties in Kenya would have known it would be the fire next time.”

The Sword of Truth
http://sofawarrior.blog.com/3456392/

Writing on The Sword of Truth, Sofa Jawaro comments on this week’s military coup in Mauritania:

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has always condemned military coups as a barrier and a fundamental obstacle to democracy. This was manifested when a supplementary protocol was signed in Dakar, Senegal in 2001... The background of the Protocol stems from violent conflicts in post-independence West Africa as a result of widespread military coup d’états.

... the Military coup should be condemned in all possible ways. Firstly, it contravenes ECOWAS protocols. Secondly, the ousted President leads a democratically elected government which is a ‘legally constituted political authority’

In an already politically volatile region due to threats of extremism and illegal drugs trade, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU), the United States (US), the European Union (EU), and the United Nations (UN) must condemn the coup as a blatant contravention of the Mauritanian peoples will."

Constitutionally Speaking
http://constitutionallyspeaking.co.za/?p=635

South African blogger Pierre de Vos argues that while Jacob Zuma should be considered innocent until proven guilty as he goes on trial for corruption, this should not prevent the public from making value judgments about his person:

“Mr. Zuma – and the ANC leaders who support him in his dark hour – is therefore correct to insist that no one should assume that Mr. Zuma is guilty of an offence merely because he was accused of wrongdoing by the NPA. They are correct, also that he should not be treated as a criminal merely because he is an accused in a criminal trial.

However, does this mean that we should be prohibited from making any value judgment about Mr. Zuma’s character and his fitness for high public office until such time as he is either acquitted or convicted by a court? I think not.

When we make value judgments about an individual – especially individuals in the public sphere – we are not required to establish beyond reasonable doubt that any allegations of wrongdoing by that person are true or not – just as we are not required to establish beyond reasonable doubt whether an individual is a good or bad person, a kind or nasty person, a good or bad leader, before we decide whether we want to befriend that person or elect him or her to high public office.”

* Dibussi Tande, a writer and activist from Cameroon, produces the blog Scribbles from the Den

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org/