Biafra secession: ‘A significant majority of the people in the southeast are fed up with Nigeria’
As disaffection mounts in southeast Nigeria, many Igbos, who waged the Biafra secessionist war in the 1960s after independence, say they still feel as if they are treated as second-class citizens more than 50 years on – a sentiment they say has been aggravated by an aloof and unsympathetic President...
Nigerian separatist Kanu, once arrested in Kenya, has rekindled Biafran secessionism in southeast states
When President Muhammadu Buhari flew into southeastern Imo State last week to commission a handful of development projects, he was greeted by deserted streets and shuttered businesses: Residents were demonstrating against his leadership by staying at home. Dressed in traditional Igbo attire, matching the outfit of his host, Governor Hope...
China and Russia quickly fill the aid void left by the United States and its allies
As international donors gathered in Geneva this week to discuss humanitarian relief for Afghanistan under Taliban rule, neighbours China and Pakistan have already reached out with aid and discussions of future assistance. The economy in the war-torn country is in crisis and a humanitarian crisis is looming, experts say. Yet...
Ousted Guinea president Alpha Konde was victim of democracy eating its defenders and abusers
Guinea President Alpha Condé’s already tarnished democratic credentials took a further hit last year when he tweaked the country’s constitution to extend his decade in power. Now he has become the latest casualty of a wave of military takeovers sweeping a region that looked to have shed its “coup-belt” moniker....
Rejected ammunition request may have jettisoned Guinea president out of power
In 2016, Mamady Doumbouya, a commander in the Guinean army, asked his superiors if he could have ammunition to train his troops in marksmanship. He never received it, he said, because they feared he would use the rounds to launch a coup. Five years on, Doumbouya did just that. On...
White supremacism: Taliban success in Afghanistan is a model for Americans who believe in civil war in the US
As the United States-backed government in Afghanistan fell to the Taliban and US troops raced to leave the country, White supremacist and anti-government extremists have expressed admiration for what the Taliban accomplished, a worrying development for US officials who have been grappling with the threat of domestic violent extremism. That...
Fighting between community militias in South Sudan creates high levels of food insecurity
South Sudan is also one of the most dangerous countries in the world for those trying to help – 17 aid workers have been killed since January, according to the Aid Worker Security Database. “Life this year is worse ,” Abuk Kat, a mother of six from the conflict-affected...
Terrorism: Taliban power grab in Afghanistan raises Islamist insurgency worries and fears in Africa
The return of the Taliban in Afghanistan has taken the world by surprise. In Africa, it compounds the worry and fear in countries struggling to crush Islamist insurgencies. For over a decade now, there’s been a surge in the activities of extremist groups in East and West Africa, the Sahel...
Abdul Ghani Baradar: Taliban poised to become president of Afghanistan after ouster of US-backed Ashraf regime
With Taliban seizing control of Kabul and all top provincial capitals of Afghanistan, its top leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is most likely to become the next president of the war-ravaged nation. On Sunday, speculation was rife that Abdul Ghani Baradar would transform into the brand-new president of Afghanistan by...
Fall of Kabul: No reason to believe a new Taliban regime in Afghanistan won’t be another humanitarian eyesore
Afghanistan’s US-trained forces appeared to readily collapse in the face of a concerted push by Taliban forces. Names and places that became familiar to Americans during their country’s long involvement there – including Kunduz and Kandahar – fell like dominoes in recent days as the Taliban swept toward the capital....
