Godfrey Eloho, Author at TalkAfrique

July 2, 2011July 2, 2011

The Refugee Challenge and Responsible Leadership in Africa.

I was not pleased with the way the last refugee’s day was celebrated world-wide, particularly in Africa countries. The reason is not because I’m one and was expecting something from the day. The reason has to do with the hypocrisies which characterized those speeches that were made to mark the day.

The World Refugee Day is a special day set aside by the United Nations General Assembly and the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U, now AU) to be celebrated on the 23^rd June of every year. While long speeches were delivered to traumatized refugee audience all over their camps across Africa and other parts of the world where they are found, the cardinal challenges they are faced with in their daily lives are seldom given reprieve. So the celebration would have meant much less to them considering the condition under which they live.

Refugee cases were given prominence by African leaders in the 1950s due to the upsurge of civil conflicts that were taking the centre stage in Africa nations. Taking a cue from the United Nations definition of who refugees are, the then O.A.U defines them to be ‘persons forced to cross national boundaries because of ‘external aggression, occupation, foreign domination and events seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of their countries of origin or nationality’. This definition excludes the issue of internally displaced persons within a particular country. Moreover, the pronouncement made it possible for persons from war-torn countries to seek asylum in other neighboring countries. From ‘Rwanda Genocide’ era, to ‘Blood Diamond’ days in Sierra-Leone cum the dark days of Liberia civil conflict, to the recently election-induce crisis in Cote d’Ivoire, their situation has not improved despite the huge amount of money been expended by United Nations Humanitarian Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other donor nations and agencies.

A good perusal of the issue will clearly give a lead to the main cause of this external displacement of persons from their country of origin, to where they seek refuge. Apart from colonization and decolonization rhetoric of countries of these externally displaced persons, the cause of African refugees as in elsewhere in the world is bad governance. Most African leaders have not come to terms with the tenets of democracy as is being practice in the developed parts of the world. Besides, to them governance means keeping large segment of the population in perpetual poverty and feed their families fat with the state’s resources. While democracy has its own peculiar hitches in terms of its domestication in African soil, its observance still remain the best mode of governance system that promotes human freedom, dignity and equality as well offers alternatives to citizens. From Angola to Uganda, Rwanda to Guinea, from Sierra-Leone to Liberia; Mozambique to Somalia, Cote d’Iviore to Egypt, Tunisia to Libya or Sudan, the insurrections precluding persons’ displacement are as a result of failed state-leadership, sit-tight-attitude of incumbents, repressive governments and incessant clamp-down on opposition. Therefore, avenues for the resurgence of refugees are created in many African countries by leaders without due regards for how to make life meaningful for their people.

Furthermore, the presence of refugees has not only created humanitarian concerns in countries that play host to them, but they have also visited a lot of challenges on the victims. The first challenge that refugees pose to host countries is that of security. As people fleeing conflict-ridden areas, proper checks are seldom made, so some of them (rebels and civil population) journey with arms into the new territories where they would be camped in the same place. This may well create problem for the civil population of host country. Again experience has shown with the case of Rwanda refugees, that there were reprisal attacks by Interahamwe and the former Rwandan army members responsible for the genocide in the refugee camps they have control over. Also, camps close to the Rwandan border were allegedly used by to launch attacks. This was because they traveled with arms in their possession.

Moreover, healthcare situation in refugee camps is nothing to write home about. Medical supplies are usually limited, so hardly would everyone in medical need would have all s/he is supposed to get full dose(s). Due to the nature of the living condition in the camp, certain diseases are rapidly spread easily. In most cases the need may overwhelm the support staff.

Another challenge they are faced with is that of xenophobia from the host countries. There is always this hostile feeling and resentment towards refugees, from some of the host country’s citizens that they (refugee) are wont to take their jobs. Thus, would be less likely to act friendly towards the refugees. This has been demonstrated in few African countries with particular reference to South Africa and recently Ghana. However, there are many countries who have acted very friendly and helpful in many instances towards refugees they are hosting in their various resettlement schemes.

Sexual exploitation is another challenge that teenage ladies and married women are faced with in various camps. Proofs abound how ladies have exchanged sex for bar of soap or food items. They are being taken advantage of by gullible men, or in most cases men (soldiers) who are charged to guard and protect them. The net outcome of this immoral indulgence would be teenage pregnancy which would pose a bigger challenge for these teenage mothers-to-be or mothers and the humanitarian workers in such a precarious environment. Another fall-out of this exploitation is this transmission of sexually transmitted infections and sometimes, HIV/AIDS which has more profound implication for their health.

The challenges of refugees are enormous. But there are solutions. The main solution to the challenges of refugees in Africa as in elsewhere is responsible and responsive leadership. The major problem with the continent is that of irresponsible government in many countries. When leaders are responsible, they will know when the ovation is loudest, and also know when to leave office instead of manipulating the constitution. They will honor election results to forestall post-election violence. They would create thriving economies that would empower more persons. They will allow space for the civil society group to operate to broaden the polity. History has shown that less repressive governments which give expression to all manners of opinions to flourish are the most successful and prosperous. Until our leaders place the state interests first, there will always be favorable conditions for citizens especially women and children to be uprooted from their homelands.

June 21, 2011June 27, 2011

Is There Hope for The African Child?

The theme for this year African Child’s Day, was ‘All Together For Actions in Favor of Street Children’. This was targeted at some estimated 30million African street children and was celebrated all over the African continent. June 6 of every year is set aside by the African Union (AU) to commemorate the wanton massacre of some children in the street of Soweto, during the black days of Apartheid in South Africa on June 6, 1976. They were gruesomely murdered because they came out to demonstrate against the authority in order for them to be taught in their local language in their school. Thirty-four years on, the remembrance still continue, which goes to show the crucial nature of the day for Africa as a continent.

Across the length and breadth of the continent, Continue reading “Is There Hope for The African Child?”

May 13, 2011

International Religion Extremism

In March, 2011, when pastor Wayne Sapp set afire the holy book of Islam, the Koran, he never thought his action in far-away Florida, would spiraled into a convolution of arson and human carnage elsewhere. In Kandahar, Afghanistan, some innocent staffs of the UN have paid the ultimate price. Religion extremism has come to define modern living. International diplomacy and internal politics of nations have been mired in incessant religion conflicts in a more lethal dimension since 9/11. It has been a battle between the West (Christians) and the Middle-East (Muslims), from Nigeria to Egypt, as in Bahrain and Afghanistan; there is no love between brothers and sisters of the two faiths. The death of Osama Bin Ladin, the inspirational leader of Al-Qaida group in a US military-led operation in Abbotadab, Pakistan might mark the denouement of the group operation. But that has not foreclosed the possibility of group’s total incapacity to carry out attacks on innocent souls in their usual characteristic manner. While the US is still trying to access Osama’s computers and flash-drives for sensitive information that could give leads to some other key members of the group, the US, other Western nations, as well the whole world would have to beef-up security to check their operations. The Marxian postulation of religion, as the ‘opium of the people…’ has been repeatedly confirmed with devastating events as that in Kandahar and other religion flashpoints in the world. Religion tolerance has become a hard pill to swallow.

April 2, 2011

The Way Libya May Go Next

Obama has spoken, Sarcozy has made up his mind, NATO has taken the lead; all in a bid to get the common enemy they called Maoummar Gaddafi out. But rebels fighting from Benghazi flank are crude in their approach as they lack regimental command structure. They have demonstrated that they want to take-over power, taking the advantage of the No-Fly-Zone clause of the UN resolution 1973. But Gaddafi troop are reclaiming areas like Adjabya and Sirte, earlier acclaimed to have overrun by the rebels, as more Libyan refugees in their thousands invading the small Italian Island of Lampedusa, Egypt and Tunisia, to escape the crisis.

While the rebels beat a retreat in the face of fierce attacks from Gaddafi’s troops, the prominent actors and top decision-makers in the regime are defecting to the opposition’s side. Moussa Kuossa, Ghaddafi foreign minister made a surprise entrance into UK, two days ago, and he was followed by others. Most of the defectors were staunch supporters of the tyrannical rule of Gaddafi all these years. Gaddafi is a mean man, he knows what the end would be sooner or later, thus; he would left no stone unturned in dealing with those he referred to as ‘cockroaches, rats, and drug addicts’. Whatever anyone thinks, the end is near for Gaddafi; either he gives way for peaceful transition or he faces humiliation as did Iraqi-once -strongman, Saddam Hussein.

Whatever the stakes are, there is every likelihood that those men bombing and firing missiles from war planes would have to come down; do some infantry job to keep Gaddafi men in check. Or they have to negotiate a soft-landing plank for Gaddafi to step aside. Anything short of this would still give the Libya maximum ruler more opportunity, to kill thousands of the civilian population the No-Fly-Zone is to protect. Because the 1973 is vague and open, various interpretations are being derived from it to achieve a specific purpose. Why is the UN resolution 1973 clause not being applied in Barhain, Syria or Yemen?

March 29, 2011

International Diplomacy Has Economic Face, and Not Humanitarian

Finally, NATO has reluctantly agreed to shoulder the burden of the ‘No-Fly-Zone’ air-raid mission of the Allied nations in Libya. The Coalition Forces has decided on the next line of action to take in Libya. They claim everything is being done in line with UN resolution 1973. But much is left to be achieved as major nations who spear-headed the air-raid would soon to find out. What the Coalition Forces did not realize before they moved in was the fact that Gaddafi is no mean man to be pushed aside just like that. He said at the heat of the battle that he would not be intimidated by the Coalition Forces; that he is ready to die in Libya’s soil. It is clear that the rebels are not organized in their bid to take over power from their leader of 42 years. They are confined to Benghazi which is far away from the capital, Tripoli. How successful will the insurrection be without them taking hold of the Tripoli?

The outcome of the London Conference is still very vague as it was not totally agreed on the use of ground troops in order to flush out Gaddafi troops. How far would they go to completely oust Gaddafi? Would they assist the rebels to export crude oil in order to raise finance for the humanitarian needs of the people? The situation in Libya still remains very critical. The international media which the whole world rely upon for first-hand information from Tripoli, are facing the challenge of access as Gaddafi will only allow them to report what he deems fit.

It is still unclear why Western Powers have not taken any military action against Mr. Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire, who has been on killing spree since January. Mr. Gaddafi and his Ivorian counterpart are doing this same thing-killing their civilian population. Why is Cote d’Ivoire’s case different? Is it because Gbagbo‘s soil cannot spew the ‘Black Gold’? International diplomacy has been reduced squarely to economic interest rather than humanitarian interest. Their strategic interest is oil, and nothing less. While the air-raids continued; only time will tell the consequences of the action so far taken. The World is waiting.

March 24, 2011March 24, 2011

Election Tension in Nigeria

ELECTIONS are periodic democratic exercises that lead to the change of government in a robust competitive and transparent manner. But elections in Nigeria since in the 1960s, have been reduced to violent clashes either between or among political opponents, rival political groups and some times between communities. Many lives have been lost without justice done to redress.

Barely few weeks to general elections, instead of political parties strategizing on the best methods of outwitting their opponents in the race; they are beating the drums of war. They are singing the swansong of disunity. Everywhere you turn in the country, there is tension and unspoken fear in the faces of the citizenry. Political rallies have been reduced to battle grounds between supporters of politicians. Rival political groups have made it so difficult for other political parties to campaign smoothly in their area of control, using all means, including state apparatus to bar them. From the city of Port-Harcourt to Jos; from Niger state to Akwa-Ibom state; the death-tolls from political rallies are increasing in geometrical progression. What we are seeing in the body polity today, are they different from events that led to Western riot in the then Western Nigeria, that was dubbed “Operation wild wild west” , consequent upon was the Nigerian civil war that lasted between 1967-1970?

It all began with verbal war on the pages of newspapers, and it has graduated to arson and the exchange of bullets in rallies. The effect has been death and destruction and creating cloud of fear among the population who are to vote. Which kind of signal are they sending to the electorates? The various political parties in the country do not care what happens to those whose votes they seek. For instance, presidential campaign rallies of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has recorded not less than 20 deaths since the ban on political campaign has been lifted. The gory recorded in Gen. Buhari (Rtd) Jos campaign rally; few days back still remain fresh. The story has not been different for others especially Governorship aspirants. We do not know where it would happen next! Are these signs of good days ahead?

Many challenges are responsible for these anomalies in the body polity of Nigeria. First, while the entrenched political class in Nigeria is after what they will benefit from the end-game of the election, they pay less attention to serious issues that have to do with the structuring of these parties before they get ready for election. In it is suffice to say that these political parties lack internal democracy that should guide party business; hence they are being reduced to mere organizations of few party stalwarts, who hijack the whole party affairs for their self-aggrandizements. It is only in Nigeria, that one man is stronger and bigger than his political party. He and his family with his cronies are above the laws guiding the code of conduct of the party activities. If all members of a political party receive equal treatment no matter the position one occupies, there will be discipline, and that would reflect in the way and manner the party affairs are to be conducted and vice versa.

One other challenge that gives roots to this pre-election massacre is the politics of non-tolerance. Opposition parties do not accommodate one another. In Nigeria political arena, the winner takes all, while the loser remains so for the rest of his life. Rather than pursuing an all-inclusive programmes that would cater for all political interests, the party that forms the government of the day become vindictive. Thus, nobody wants to lose an election and it ‘must be a do or die’ affair to win and be part of the government cake.

Another challenge is that of ethnicity, whether at the Federal or state level, the ethnic group one comes from can increases or decreases a candidate’s chance of winning an elective post. And over the years, despite the ‘gentleman’ arrangement in some quarters to zone both elective and ‘appointive’ posts in turns; ethnicity has been a major cause of fighting and killing of many persons before or after elections. In this case, diversity breeds destruction and death in our communities.

The strength of political opponents can only be tested on the field of different polling units on the Election Day. The test of democratic culture and party popularity rests with people’s votes. For people to come out of their homes and cast their votes for any candidate; there must be a peaceful atmosphere that will allow for freedom of choice to participate in the process. There is urgent need for true party restructuring in a manner that would be fair to all. Meanwhile politicians must learn to shed-off the attitude of ‘winner takes all’ and be ethnic-sensitive. Nigeria is the only country we have. We must not allow it to slip into the deadly hands of civil conflict just as Cote de’Ivoire. Those who beat the drums of war and talking tough should ask Mr Gbagbo, to tell them how sweet it looks to dance in a conflict-ridden economy.

First published in the NIGERIAN GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER, Nigeria

March 22, 2011March 27, 2011

Why Ex-President Gbagbo Must Stop Killing Innocent Civilians and Leave

[ad#Adsense-468×60]

Since the disputed presidential election in Cote d’Ivoire last November, in which the then incumbent president Mr. Laurent Gbagbo and Mr. Alassane Ouattara, a former prime Minister contested, it has been bad news over and over again for that small country. And it has been a disaster for Africa; a battle-field for reaping dead bodies of civilian population, especially those of women and children as well as a looting mine-field for criminals.

Results from the disputed presidential elections were declared in favor of Mr. Ouattara by the domestic election umpire and upheld by both the UN and AU observers who witnessed the elections. But a compromised Judge, who is alleged to be Mr. Gbagbo’s loyalist, subverted the whole process and countered the electoral Commission’s result in favor of the incumbent president. Mr. Gbagbo refused to relinquish power to the internationally acknowledged winner, Mr. Ouattara, claiming irregularities. The international community, after they exhausted their patience with him, has imposed all kind of sanctions on the country, and also blocked his access to fund from outside the country. The effect has been both gory and devastating. The UNHCR representative, as at last week told BBC that the death-tolls is around 400 as dogs feast on dead bodies in the streets of Abidjan, the nation’s capital. In addition, it had created refugee crisis with over 250000 refugees already moved into neighboring country of Liberia. Liberia is a country recuperating from a 15 year civil strife and still has its own refugee problem to deal with. Why would Mr. Gbagbo create a situation that has the potential to strain the fragile economy? Last month, thousands of Liberian refugees still in Bundubura Camp in Ghana, were at logger’s head with some Ghanaians over the death of one female refugee.

Ivory Coast is a country that has not known many political leaders in its post- independence existence. Since the death of Late President Houphuoet Boigny, who held unto power for many years; the country has been in leadership crisis and Mr. Gbagbo has now become the face of the story. Mr. Gbagbo is a professor of history, so he should not be ignorant of the politico-historical developments in his country. When the death of president Boigny left a leadership vacuum, there arouse a chaotic situation that saw Mr. Bedei and Ouattara as President and Prime Minister. They were both overthrown by General Robert Guei. By the time Gen. Guei, a military officer wanted to transform his government to a civilian government, through a dubious constitutional change, he branded ex-minister Minister Ouattara a foreigner and excluded him from the election process in 2000. Thus, by the time of the elections, the coast was clear for him and Mr. Gbagbo, an election that declared the latter winner but Gen. Guei refused to hand over power to him. What did Mr. Gbagbo do to claim his victory?

It was historic that ECOWAS supported him when he led a mass demonstration against Gen. Guei to hand over power. On the 25^th of October 2000, the General left and Gbagbo became president. The same circumstances that brought him to power are not different from those he is killing innocent souls to defend. Why does his ambition for power have no end? Why is he buying guns for students to mow down civilian population?

While the United Nations and the AU are still doing their best to restore normalcy to the Ivory Coast, they must speed up whatever means they chose to use to remove Mr. Gbagbo. He has refused to learn from the Libyan event that continues to unfold every day, the whole world is waiting for him to step down quietly and go into self-exile as did ex-president Charles Ghanky Taylor of Liberia. Mr. Gbagbo would be a threat peaceful governance in the Ivory Coast.

February 27, 2011

Between Muammar El-Gaddafi and the African Union

Tales coming out of Libya, a country that has been under the leadership of one-man rule for the 42 years are those of anger, frustration, popular uprising and death. The world has been lured to believe that all is well with the Libya’s economy, but recent occurrences have shown the opposite. Gaddafi has been anti West since he came into power and established his Jamariya government in 1969. He has waged wars on several fronts with the West. He is an ardent advocate for one Africa, where all autonomous nations would lose their sovereignty for a united African state.

The early years of the last decade was spent by Muammar Gaddafi in touring many African countries canvassing for support of African Heads of state and Presidents for a United States of Africa. Reports had it that he single-handedly contributed US$1million to fund the formation of the African Union (AU) to replace the Organization of African Unity (OAU) founded in 1963. He wanted to be the leader of a body that would be the equal of the United States of America (USA), where he will wield unlimited powers above other countries.

Nonetheless, Gaddafi’s dream for a Pan-African body, just like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, came to fruition. However, his personal ambition for a stronger union and weaker nation-states was dashed as Nigeria and South Africa opted for what some writers have referred to as ‘gradual incrementalism’( a situation whereby sovereign nations were allowed on their own to be integrated into the regional body but still retain their nationhood). This singular move clipped his ‘wings’ and tamed his fulsome ambition. They did this because he was never to be trusted.

Meanwhile, considering the manner he has conducted himself recently, does it show any sign of a leader who has his people at heart? He referred to the citizens as cockroaches, people under the influence of drugs and that he would fight streets to streets to live and die in Libya. What kind of leader is he; killing the same people he is now violently fighting to defend and protect? Ghaddafi should be told that patriotism is not by force.

Sordid enough, the leadership of the African Union has not yet led a high-power delegation to Libya to neither stop Ghaddafi nor condemn his scorch-to earth massacre using paid snipers. It is still unclear if he has some of these African leaders supporting him underground, because many of them are like him. Even the manner in which they are responding to the evacuation of their citizenry has left much to be desired. African leaders who are Ghaddafi-copies, who have made life miserable for their people over the years, should expect the Tunisia, Egypt and Libya-type of change soon.