Crawford Young succeeds brilliantly and seductively in inciting a yearning for “another history” of governance in Africa in the last 50 years

France has over the decades been a key player in the violent drama of Central African Republic politics. But there are other interested parties involved. CAR is a case study of how neo-colonial greed can destroy a country

A glimpse of the African side of India shows people with severe psychotic problems apparently related to their poverty and intense subjection to racist contempt.

How genuine is the anger that has been expressed in some quarters about Africa accepting a gift of the new African Union headquarters from China? There are so many other issues of urgent concern around the continent that the critics should direct their wrath to as well.

Okello Oculi writes about a Nigerian documentary series featuring inspiring stories from African women.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's failure to understand the workings of communal democracy in Africa put him in a weak position to negotiate for peace in Côte d’Ivoire, argues Okello Oculi.

When Washington and Brussels ordered the killing of Patrice Lumumba 50 years ago, ‘little did they know that they were inventing an immortal African martyr for freedom; and making a vital investment for Congo’s rebirth today,’ writes Okello Oculi.

African countries should look at the post-Cold War experiences of China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ‘to produce our own intellectual infrastructure for development and progress with freedom and dignity’, writes Okello Oculi.

Attending the NEPAD Forum in Abuja last week, Okello Oculi is disappointed by a lack of enthusiasm for the most interesting ideas raised. Meanwhile, the last-minute trade fair running in parallel to the forum is ‘a success by the mere fact of its taking place’.

Caught up in a riot by passengers on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from China, Okello Oculi connects the event with the flagging fortunes of a town in south eastern Nigeria.

Cheikh Anta Diop was a historian, anthropologist, physicist, and politician famous for his theory that the Ancient Egyptians were Black Africans. Okello Oculi remembers a series of meetings he had with Anta Diop in the 1980s.

The diaspora has a key role to play in using the resources at their disposal to build the power of Nigeria and the rest of Africa, argues Okello Oculi.

In Frantz Fanon’s analysis of colonial relations in Algeria, Okello Oculi looks at Nigeria’s political trajectory from independence until today. Fanon argued that violence was a means to regain self-respect. Oculi critically examines this claim in the context of Nigerian events such as the war in Biafra and violence in the Niger Delta.

Cameron Duodu should write a book about people whose minds were liberated by Basil Davidson’s recasting of history, says Okello Oculi.

In this week’s Pambazuka News, Okello Oculi comments on the fact that although the local post-election violence tribunal in Kenya has experienced delays in its creation, the dreaded time for the perpetrators and the political figures who encouraged the post-election violence has come. Furthermore, Oculi argues that although in the past the Anti-Corruption Commission was limited due to the fact that it had no legal mandate, this is not so with the new tribunal. In this inspiring piece, Oculi tells us that although justice has been slow, it is coming through Kofi Annan’s pan-African reform vision.

Following the troubling deaths of Guineans under the repressive rule of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, Okello Oculi argues that Camara's action represents the latest incident of a 'lethal psychotic disorder' manifested by an African leader. Camara's actions are reminiscent of those of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Oculi contends, and necessitate an immediate response from ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group).

In this week’s Pambazuka News, Okello Oculi reminisces about the relationship between Makerere University alumni, the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem and Professor Ali Mazrui. In particular Oculi contemplates how Tajudeen might have responded to a recently announced joint initiative between Ugandan President Museveni and Makerere University to honour Professor Mazrui by establishing a new centre for Global Studies and scholarship fund in his name.

As tensions between Uganda's Buganda region and the national state continue, Okello Oculi urges the country to resist the exploitation of ethnic and religious divisions in this week's Pambazuka News.

There are many African rulers that hang onto power, coming very close to the practices of a monarch, writes Okello Oculi in this week's Pambazuka News. This is a dynamic exacerbated by the involvement of the World Bank and NGOs in Africa, who supplement the income of these kleptocrats and who sustain themselves through refusing to condemn the practices of corrupt leaders. We must fight the creativity of leaders like Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville in hiding the sources of their wealth, Oculi urges, and support a common legal norm to bring those that are breaking the law against human dignity and development to justice.

If those in charge are not to continue blocking greater pan-African unity, there need to be more conferences on a United States of Africa, argues Okello Oculi in this week's Pambazuka News. Thoroughly dissatisfied with his own recent experience of a conference between African scholars in Dakar, Senegal, Oculi stresses that while politicians' direct involvement in academic events can be beneficial, it should not come at the expense of intellectual freedom to debate and critique.