Bullets, bombs and blogs

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Although we are well into the new year and Dibussi covered a number of blog posts on the ‘Nigerian bomber’, the topic continues to dominate the Nigerian blogosphere.
Chippla’s Weblog’s first post on the Nigerian bomber asked us to be mindful that terrorist could be anywhere – in our families, work colleagues, friends and so on. I think this some what paranoid and I don’t agree that terrorists could be found in just ‘any’ family, not least of all because there is a huge gap between being sympathetic and taking that to the level of suicide. In my mind, the choice to become a suicide bomber is a predictable outcome of a devout commitment to a lack of critical thinking… There is no logical purpose, no defence in ideology, religion or anything else. Simply a desire to commit mass murder – not something that can be found anywhere! To return to Chippla… In this post he comments on an invitation he received to join a Facebook group ‘150 Million Nigerians who have disowned Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’ and explains why he will not be joining the group. I too find the notion of ‘disowning’ unpalatable:

‘To ‘disown’ connotes a refusal to accept as one's own or to repudiate. Irrespective of what one may say or think, Umar Farouk is a Nigerian. And while his actions certainly do not represent what one could expect from a ‘typical’ Nigerian male adult (Muslim or not), disowning him does not in any way help understand why he did what he did and ensure that such does not happen again.’

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Nigerian Curiosity comments on the placing of Nigeria on the ‘list of Terror Prone countries’ and the continued absence of President Yar’Adua who has been in Saudi Arabia for the past 6 weeks with no word on his condition or whether he is alive or not. A BBC report on 12 January claims they spoke to him by phone but this doesn’t necessarily prove anything and the question remains as to why he has not spoken to members of his own government and the Nigerian media:

‘Alas, it is little surprise that Nigeria failed to launch an adequate offensive in the days since the 'knicker bomber' incident. And so, while Nigerians endure embarrassing treatment at airports the world over, their President is somewhere only he knows (hopefully recovering), their legislators are on holiday and those officials who speak on the incident and its fallout, have little to no diplomatic authority to engage international allies and persuade them and Nigerians themselves that steps are being taken to address valid concerns. Granted, Abdulmutallab only spent 23 minutes in Nigeria en route to Detroit. Yes, his radicalisation likely began in England and obviously was completed in Yemen. Of course, valuable information from his father, Great Britain, and other informants was not shared/acted upon efficiently by US agencies.’

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Africa is a Country comments on the ‘tragic’ attack in Angola on the Togolese football team bus during the African Nations Cup in which three people were killed. The attack was to highlight the conflict over the ‘disputed province of Cabinda’. Jacobs points out how the Western media have used the attack as a way of questioning South Africa’s ability to host the World Cup:

‘What’s even more tragic is that it took a random attack on a football team to get the media to give attention to the conflict in Cabinda. Then there’s European observers who can’t help themselves in exploiting the tragedy, making connections to South Africa’s ability to host the World Cup next year. In the process they let their racism get the better of their knowledge of geography.’

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Gukira has a thoughtful essay on the problematics of ‘the homosexual’ in ‘African queer studies’ The discussion speaks to the debate as to who brought what to Africa – homophobia or homosexuality?

‘My goal is not to dismiss ‘the’ homosexual from queer African studies, but to be more deliberate about using its figural status, that is, to be more attuned to the act of cultural translation required to ‘use’ this figure in African studies.

‘Doing so requires a few space-clearing gestures. The first involves re-thinking the use of anthropological studies.

‘Within lgbti African studies, the figure of the homosexual has most frequently been approached in functionalist terms. Homosexuals and homosexual-like figures are ‘accepted’ and even ‘revered’ in certain traditional communities. They are both integrated into and integral to the lifeworlds so studies, fulfilling useful social and cultural roles, be it as spiritual leaders and advisers or as alternate social couplings, supplemental to other hetero-formations.’

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Meskel Square ‘dares’ to suggest 5 reasons to be optimistic about Sudan in 2010... Oil, talks and process, low expectations, external pressure, war and fatigue:

‘A lethal cocktail of rising violence, chronic poverty and political tensions has left the peace deal on the brink of collapse,’ warned ten aid groups in a report on Thursday. ‘Sudan is sliding towards violent breakup, and time is running out,’ said the International Crisis Group in December. International efforts to ‘prevent all-out war in Sudan are failing,’ said the US-based Enough Project soon after…

‘But another oft-repeated truism about Sudan is its ability to come up with the unexpected, to catch even the mot seasoned ‘Sudan expert’ by surprise…

‘So, might the most unexpected – and therefore the most truly Sudanese – outcome of the next 12 months be flawed but grudgingly-accepted elections, followed by a painful but grudgingly-accepted separation? What happens in the 12 months after that, of course, is another question. What do you think?’

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Radical Africa reports on the revolt by African migrants in Southern Italy following a racist attack.

‘A racist attack on African migrant farm workers in the Southern Italian region of Calabria by a gang of local youths armed with air rifles has provoked a series of disturbances in the town of Rosarno. Last night hundreds of cars were damaged and set on fire as the migrants sought revenge for the attack that left several of them injured.

‘Earlier today, some migrants erected road blocks on the main roads into the town, whilst shop windows were again smashed as up to 2,000 immigrants gathered to protest outside city hall, chanting “we are not animals” and waving placards saying “Italians here are racist”. They demanded to see the town’s government commissioner, Francesco Bagnato, appointed last year when the town council was dissolved to try and combat local influence of the mafia.’

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Sahel Blog questions whether the recent international pressure on Guinea’s military junta will lead to democratic elections:

‘When I think about politics, I tend to give more weight to institutional and environmental forces than to specific individuals, but this situation in Guinea is teaching me some lessons about individuals’ impact and the repercussions that wild chance and pure contingency can have. What if the bullet had missed Camara? What if Konate has a fatal heart attack? The fate of these individuals is playing a huge role in shaping the country’s trajectory right now. I’m not saying Konate is some kind of hero or savior, but it does seem we should hope, for the sake of Guinea’s prospects of avoiding a civil war, that Konate stays in good health and follows through on a transition to civilian rule. The military junta survived Camara’s absence, but things could get even shakier soon if Konate too is absent and there is no clear leadership in the country.’

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Black Looks: Sadly the new year began on a very personal note, with the murder and attempted murder of two young men in London. The men Darren and Junior Deslandes were close friends of my sons and my first post of the year is the public press release issued by the Deslandes family on the murder, the treatment of the police at the crime scene and the response of sections of the UK media.

‘Darren and Junior Deslandes are the children of Wintworth, Sr and Lurline Deslandes. Wintworth, Sr worked in the City for 25 years as an insurance underwriter. In 1999, Mr and Mrs Deslandes bought and became pub landlords of the Newton Arms in Queen’s Road, Thornton Heath. They turned the then-struggling Newton Arms into a popular and well-loved community pub renowned for its family atmosphere. A friendly place that was a home away from home for regular patrons who were of all ages and races. ‘Was’ because now that has all been destroyed by a callous act of senseless violence by what can only be described as a devout coward.

‘The Deslandes family hosted a private party to celebrate New Year’s Eve this year with extended family, friends and pub regulars, all of who were welcome to bring guests. Unfortunately, one regular patron brought his nephew with him, the man who later murdered Darren in cold blood and has left Junior fighting for his life.’

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* Sokari Ekine blogs at Black Looks.
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