Paul Kagame or Goodluck Jonathan: Who is the Better Interviewee?
CNN’s Christine Amanpour interviewed two African heads of state in the past week: Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan. After answering questions from Amanpour – which of the two Presidents sounded more reassured, articulate and convincing?
KAGAME’S INTERVIEW:
http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/28/rwandas-president-kagame-we-have-a-problem/
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j8VAEbANsM
GOODLUCK JONATHAN’S INTERVIEW:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WCau2ZCMaY
Desmond Tutu Interviewed by David Frost
Great interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Tutu talks about the Apartheid era, his correspondence with former South African PM John Vorster, the Sharpeville Massacre, and his role as a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He speaks very frankly about past and present issues, and claims South Africa has “lost the plot” in recent years.
Apartheid really tested his faith, and he admits ”I really got very angry with God, and would rail at God and say: For goodness sake, how can you allow such and such to happen?”
How Well Do You Know Africa?
Think you know lots about Africa? Well, here is a chance to show off how much you really know about Africa. Take the 10 question quiz below. Answers to the questions will be posted here in due course.
NO CHEATING, no use of Google (or other web search engines!), no checking Wikipedia! ;-)
1) In what year did Ghana become independent?
2) What is Africa’s most populous city?
3) Which African country did Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organisation flee to after being driven out of Lebanon?
4) Which is the only African country never to have been colonised by a European nation?
5) Jean Bedel-Bokassa was the leader of which African country?
6) Who was Egypt’s first military leader?
7) What is Africa’s largest country?
8) From which country did Paul Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front invade Rwanda in 1994?
9) Who was Nelson Mandela’s non-political profession before he was jailed for life?
10) Which country is Timbuktu in?
Thousands Displaced by Floods in Nigeria
The heaviest rainfall in Nigeria has caused 100,000 people to be displaced from their homes in Yola, Adamawa State. Thousands had their homes and businesses destroyed when water from rivers overflowed (exacerbated by water released from a dam in neighbouring Cameroon).
How the Internet is Changing Africa
Good report in the UK’s Guardian newspaper about the explosion of the internet in Africa. Goof focus on the economic benefits it has brought to African businesses and how it has changed Africans’ communication habits.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/26/new-technology-farming-films-africa
A few stats:
*In 2001, a sim card cost approximately $100 and local calls cost 33 cents per minute.
*By 2009, a SIM card could be bought for $1.33 (a 98.6% reduction) and calls had reduced to 24 cents per minute.
*There are more than 100 million mobile phone lines in Nigeria.
*In 2009, more than 31 million Nigerians accessed the web, with 30% or more doing so via mobile phones.
Nigeria’s First Female Olympic Gold Medallist – Chioma Ajunwa-Opara
Nigeria’s Chioma Ajunwa-Opara, the only woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal for Nigeria. She won gold in the long jump at the 1996 Olympic games.
She was the first African woman to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic games.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/10/sport/chioma-ajunwa-nigeria-long-jump/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2012/08/10/african-voices-chioma-ajunwa.cnn
After her athletic career, she is now a police officer. She also spoke about allegations of taking performance enhancing drugs.
Don’t Tell My Mother that I am in Lagos
Nice documentary on the National Geographic Channel hosted by Diego Bunuel – about life in Lagos and what confronts a newcomer to the city. Of course, there is an obligatory visit to a Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lagos.
UN Peacekeepers in Africa
There are currently over half a dozen United Nations peacekeeping missions in Africa.
Good discussion by the Economist on the various United Nations peacekeeping operations in Africa from Sudan, Congo, Somalia et al.
Charles Taylor Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison
Liberia’s ex-President Charles Taylor has been sentenced to 50 years in jail by the UN war crimes court in the Hague (Special Court for Sierra Leone). Judge Lussick passed the sentence. Taylor is the first Head of State to be sentenced to jail by a war crimes court.
xr7h1q_liberia-s-taylor-jailed-for-50-years-for-war-crimes_news
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18259596
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/30/charles-taylor-sentenced-50-years-war-crimes
