As a nation, Nigeria doesn’t work. The many crises of the past and current ones provide the evidence. The national conference called to discuss the way forward is yet another failed opportunity. The future of Africa’s giant looks pretty grim

The people of Iraq are once again on the receiving end of a ‘humanitarian’ war to save them from a situation that the U.S. created with the invasion in 2003 and the ill-fated attempt to dislodge al-Assad from power in Syria.

In a democracy worthy the name, no specific belief, conscience, thought, opinion or religion has special legal or societal status.

Who actually rules Somalia? The simple answer is, foreigners with vested interests. And as long as these external actors continue their meddling, regardless of the rhetoric, the Somali state-building project will stagnate

Corporal punishment is still a popular and lawful method of disciplining children in Zimbabwean schools. But this brutality violates children’s rights and contravenes the Zimbabwean constitution and international conventions. Corporal punishment should be abolished

Few are aware that the rainbow nation of South Africa continues to imprison freedom fighters who fought against apartheid. Many have languished in South Africa’s jails for years and have been sacrificed on an altar of reconciliation in a so-called “new South Africa.” They should be immediately released

Europe has transformed itself into a fortress, with anti-immigration legislation a centrepiece of foreign and domestic policy. Stringent visa regimes, among other restrictions, simply disqualify many aspiring migrants, forcing them to take ever more desperate measures.

Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), particularly in the eastern Kivu provinces, can be traced to its convoluted history of migration, citizenship and property rights.

The effects of climate change and the ways that it will lead to increases in migration are both myriad and complex. The issue is: how to assist those who will be displaced by the effects of climate change and not leave them to fall into the gaps of the legal systems we have erected

The ANC has been in power for twenty years. Whilst there have been some achievements, high unemployment, income inequalities, service delivery protests demonstrate that the promissory note of better life for the working class has been bypassed. A neoliberal democracy has benefitted a black elite and its white minority counterpart

South Sudan could have a transitional phase following the current crisis. Elections are set for next year, but they could be postponed for three years of transition. Various proposals on the leadership structure during the interim period have been made and are presented here

Africa has long endured the elitist rule of the ‘president for life’, under whose leadership governments have grown grossly unaccountable and corrupt. For the continent to realise effective democracies, presidential term limits must be imposed to ensure the political class is accountable to the citizens.

There have been numerous failed attempts to restore collapsed Somalia over the past two decades. A nation-building model that takes into account the society’s nomadic culture and the deeply embedded historical narratives that shape the people’s worldviews stands a chance.

Colonial era depiction of the Tutsi as a superior Hamitic race that invaded Rwanda laid the ground for severe ethnic polarisation. This myth resurfaced in the period leading to and during the genocide of 1994

More than a million African soldiers were engaged in this war, some as volunteers while most of them were forcibly conscripted. They fought in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Far East. But there contribution remains unacknowledged

Several countries in West Africa are currently undergoing constitutional review processes. As these processes progress, taking different forms in each country, all involved must remain mindful that the true purpose of a constitution is to uphold the will and the rights of the country’s citizens.

In Nigeria, as in other parts of Africa, politicians seem to think that public office is an opportunity to pamper themselves, their families and cronies at public expense. The people must rise up against these predators.

There are real worries about the state of Kenya's governance. President Kenyatta is reversing all the progress that has been made. But keen watchers are not surprised. His rise to power was the triumph of colonial-minded conservatives over progressive forces.

Jamaica’s national consciousness needs to be liberated from false and harmful narratives created by others, especially the US. And one of those false narratives is about the public life and contribution of former Prime Minister Michael Manley

Afrika today stands plagued by Western imperialism and neo-colonialism, with her wealth routinely plundered and her countries politically and socially divided. Black people globally must unite and resist this, putting aside their petty cultural, political and ideological differences.