african affairs & Caribbean events
West Africa
Secretary of State Clinton tours West Africa by visiting Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Cape Verde and Liberia. She stopped in Liberia to attend the inauguration of President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Ellen Sirleaf. When Secretary Clinton travels to Cote d'Ivoire she is expected to remind President Ouattara of his promise to enact proper reconciliation not only for crimes committed by the friends of Laurent Gbagbo in his bid for the presidency but his own forces also. It is intriguing how official United States policy supports reconciliation for other nations, yet is often unwilling to discuss it at home, when several injustices many along racial lines (Oscar Grant murder, Troy Davis execution, the exoneration of wrongfully convicted persons the majority of which are poor persons of color) regularly occur.
Muslims Declare Nigerian Unity in spite of the country's heightned strife between both Christian and Muslim extremists. The South East Muslim Organization (SEMO) also firmly reminded the Nigerian government of its responsibility to maintain the nation's infrastructure at this crucial time.
Boko Haram Leader calls recent attacks revenge by his group on Christians he claims began to attack other Muslims in Nigeria. The conflict between Christians and Muslims has been at a fever pitch in the northern part of the nation for decades. UWM believes we must pay close attention to the violence in Nigeria to properly understand its origin in order to prevent others from using the current state for their own political agenda.
Do not forget this African nation (the most populous on the African continent) has 1/2 the population of the USA, generates over $60 billion annually (97% of its total exported products) in fuel making it an extremely rich oil nation. As world demand for oil increases so will the negative coverage concerning this nation, in an effort to justify international interventions in the name of peacekeeping. If oil corporations such as Shell and Chevron can establish operations in the country to increase their profit, then the people of Nigeria have the most right to exercise a voice in the distribution of that profit. This is the cause of the recent protests concerning the end of fuel subsidy. Religious based violence plus discontent due to foreign corporate interests being placed higher than that of the people's interests equals the perfect opportunity for a third party to profit immensely from the confusion.
A State of Emergency in Nigeria has been declared by President Goodluck Jonathan in the wake of the Christmas day bombings which left over 40 people dead and were acknowledged by Boko Haram. He ordered the closing of the borders near the areas affected. What must be watched is how this current state will impact the Nigerian economy.
Shell Spills Oil in Nigeria which had closed the 200,000 barrels per day production at the Bonga facility. The Nigerian Senate has ordered Shell to contain the spill immediately. This story is interesting because in light of the BP oil spill which resounded around the world, this spill goes virtually unmentioned.
Southern Africa
Is Coca Cola propping up a dictator? King Mswati III of Swaziland has often been criticized for being one of the last absolute monarchs in Africa who has the majority of his citizens living in abject poverty. The latest information has Atlanta based Coca Cola admitting that it cannot account for how the money it pays in taxes to the Swaziland government is spent. Coca Cola has based an African franchise by establishing a manufacturing plant in Swaziland. The country has significant resources in sugarcane, pineapple, tobacco and lists $1.4 billion in exports coming from their soft drink concentrates out of a total gross domestic product of $6 billion according to the US State Department. This situation deserves watching as the people of African continent have had to suffer a miserable history of being milked dry of their wealth from both European and Western powers as well as by some corrupt dictators (transatlantic slave trade, Joseph Mobutu and Belgium, Sierra Leone/conflict diamonds, to name a few).
King Mswati III who has been in sovereign rule since 1986 has been criticized by Amnesty International for human rights abuses, has a fortune estimated to be at least $100 million while the average annual income of a Swazi is $2,280. Should King Mswati III fall the way of Charles Taylor or Muammar Khadafi and have charges by the International Criminal Court waged against him, don't be fooled into thinking that he is the obstacle to the progress of Swaziland. He is merely one piece of a much larger puzzle. History has shown when African dictators are brought to international scorn the corporate profiteers are usually given cover and protection.
Haiti & the Caribbean
After the devastating 2010 earthquake which killed an official estimate of 316,000 and cost between $8 and $14 billion, Haiti has yet again fallen off the radar. In its aftermath Americans gave $1.4 billion in aid. Yet as of January 2011 the American Red Cross has only committed 39% of all money raised for Haitian relief. To add insult to the injured a cholera outbreak which has been the cause of 7,000 additional deaths seems to have been the fault of the United Nations which is being asked to pay $100,000 for each inflicted family. There is also a demand on the UN to rebuild Haiti's water and sanitation system as cholera is caused by the spread of a bacteria toxin creating severe diarrhea in famined and poorly sanitized areas. Since rising up against its former slave master France and fighting to earn its independence, Haiti has continued to pay a steep price that few if any are prepared to acknowledge. (to be continued)
CARICOM Wants Universal Childhood Care as Trinidad and Tobago and st. Lucia have already implemented a free laptop for students program. The desire for childhood care is intended for the entire Caribbean region.
African Influence In the World
President Rawlings demands that Africa control its own Destiny, by pulling out of the Hague, being more forceful in its positions and protecting its citizens. The former Ghanian President expressed outrage when addressing the Pan African Parliament and challenged the body to be "a more recognizable organ of influence on the continent and more relevant to the changing face of politcs in Africa and beyond." UWM will closely monitor this parliamentary body for its response to President Rawlings observations. Should this body respond according to these observations and become more active, UWM would expect the conversation on foreign military intervention on the African continent to increase.
History has shown that when Africa has tried to exercise independent administration of its affairs, foreign military has been used in prevention (The Congo/Belgium, Guineau /France, Ghana/Britain). However, when Africa has had conflicts which occur in the aftermath of recovery from colonization resulting in high death rates, assistance is usually unavailable (Rwanda 1994, Uganda under Idi Amin, fighting in Sudan, etc).
Africans in India have much in common with African Americans in the fact they were able to preserve some of their cultural development in spite of the human tragedy of being enslaved to include the total separation from their ancestral home. The history of Africans in India can be traced back to the 12th century when Portugal began to import African slaves. Their historic and much overshadowed presence is in the initial stage of international recognition as researchers in Germany and America are taking notice.