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Amnesty Reports on Ivory Coast Abuses

Selah Hennessy, VOA

Human rights abuses have been committed by forces loyal to the incumbent leader of Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo and by forces loyal to his rival Alassane Ouattara, an Amnesty International investigation reported Tuesday.

Gaetan Mootoo is one of the Amnesty researchers who went to Ivory Coast to investigate human rights abuses there. The team stayed for four weeks.  “Human rights violations are being committed by both the security forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo and by the Forces Nouvelles, an armed opposition group which is supporting Alassane Ouattara,” Mootoo said.

Alassane Ouattara is internationally recognized as the winner of the November election but Laurent Gbagbo, who has been president since the year 2000, is refusing to step down.

The Amnesty research has found that forces loyal to Mr. Gbagbo have committed extrajudicial executions, rape, and used excessive force. Amnesty says a number of people have also disappeared after being arrested.

But Amnesty says the Forces Nouvelles, former rebels loyal to Mr. Outtara, have also been responsible for abuses.

Mootoo says they received credible testimonies of rape, arbitrary detention, and ill treatment by members of the Forces Nouvelles in the western region it controls. He says African leaders who arrived in Ivory Coast Monday in order to try to mediate the situation need to address violations on both sides of the political divide.

“What we would like the African Union to do is to put Human Rights on the agenda of both parties so that they are aware of what is happening in that country,” Mootoo said.

Rinaldo Depagne is a senior West Africa analyst with the International Crisis Group. He’s based in Dakar, Senegal.  He says Amnesty International should make a clear distinction between abuses carried out by either side. “It’s very important to highlight the abuse on both sides,” he said. “But it is also very important not to put them in the current circumstances on the same level because they are not.”

He says Mr. Gbagbo is carrying out what he calls a “real strategy of terror”. On Monday Ivorian troops broke up demonstrations calling for Mr. Gbagbo to step down – according to witnesses several people were killed.

Depagne says the situation in the West is specific to that region.  Human Rights Groups, including New York-based Human Rights Watch, say the far western regions of Ivory Coast are characterized by a breakdown of the rule of law and that assaults, rapes, and robbery are regularly carried out with impunity.

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Zimbabwe PM Tsvangirai’s MDC Urges S. Africa’s Zuma to Act on Crackdown

Blessing Zulu & Sandra Nyaira, VOA

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s formation of the co-governing Movement for Democratic Change is asking South African President Jacob Zuma to intervene to halt what it calls an escalating crackdown on opponents of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party which is destabilizing the unity government.

Mr. Zuma, mediator in Zimbabwe for the Southern African Development Community, sent a team of facilitators back to Harare on Tuesday to in a bid to patch up the frayed unity government. Zuma foreign policy advisor Lindiwe Zulu said the team is following up on a road-map to elections and lingering issues related to the 2008 Global Political Agreement for power sharing which is the basis of the two-year-old unity government.

She confirmed facilitators will meet the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee late Tuesday and meet Wednesday with negotiators for the three governing parties.

Sources said the top item on the agenda – at least for the MDC – was the recent surge in political violence, continuing invasions of white-owned property, and alleged hate speech carred in state-controlled media including radio, television and newspapers.

The facilitators undertook to consult with JOMIC – established to measure compliance with the Global Political Agreement – more frequently to better follow the situation on the bround. JOMIC sources said the facilitators expressed concern about reported violence.

Tsvangirai MDC sources said they will present the facilitators with documentation on incidents of violence they say were perpetrated by ZANU-PF militants, the police and the army, and wuold urge Mr. Zuma to personally involve himself without further delay.

MDC ministers confronted their ZANU-PF counterparts about the alleged crackdown in a heated cabinet meeting on Tuesday, sources said.

Political analyst Trevor Maisiri told VOA Studio 7 reporter Blessing Zulu that Southern African leaders must change tactics in Harare to get power sharing back on track, and that Zimbabwe needs a full-time mediator “monitoring events every day.”

Meanwhile, former MDC lawmaker Munyaradzi Gwisai and about 50 members of his International Socialist Organization remained behind bars on Tuesday after lawyers failed to secure their release. They are accused of plotting an Egypt-style uprising.

Their lawyer, Marufu Mandevere, told VOA reporter Sandra Nyaira that police were given permission to hold the accused while the attorney general reviewed the case.

Events in the Mideast and North Africa have stirred much discussion in Zimbabwe, but many say an Egyptian-style revolt is unlikely to take place in Harare.

Among them is publisher Ibbo Mandaza who expressed skepticism this week on the VOA Zimbabwe Service’s LiveTalk program, noting that the level of fear among Zimbabweans is considerable and the the country’;s security services are much more closely bound to President Mugabe than in Arab countries where support eroded as protests rose.

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Obama: A Poem By Tunde Oseni

President Barack Obama

Tunde Oseni

The man who has changed the world

The change is not just about the post

The change for hope that we all can share

The change in our thought that we can be what we dream

That is what Barack Obama has brought to us

Americans were wise enough

Americans uploaded the face of change

Amidst worldwide applause

And it matters less if midterm elections went roundabout

Obama is not just a man

Obama is not just a politician

Obama is actually an idea

Of what we can do if we have faith and hope

With ‘yes, we can’

Obama inspired the world

With ‘yes, we can’

Obama made millions shed tears of joy

Obama phenomenon has come to stay

Obama philosophy will never go astray

Obama the idea will never go away

Obama indeed has come to show the way

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Valentine Day Celebrations and The African Culture and Concept of Love

The annual worldwide celebration of love has come and gone again, with its attendant glitterati and paparazzi. The origin of this annual celebration appears to be mired in a series of controversies. However, there is a common denominator in all explanations bandied around the origins of the valentine day celebrations, and that is the concept of love.

It is this concept that has been subjected to different interpretations by different people and cultures the world over and has made the celebration of valentine a very controversial issue. In the view of the African celebration of the day, some of us are tempted to run against the grain of popular opinion  by attempting to situate this annual ritual within the context of cultural imperialism or what the late Nigerian Afro beat maestro tagged “Kolo Mentality”. It  is a corrupted aphorism for the relics of colonialism which has affected the psyche of the average African who sees him or herself as more European or more white than the average European or white.

The natural and pristine African value that we know of is communalism, that is, love and brotherliness to all in the community. It is a natural African value that presupposes that when an African cooks a pot of soup it belongs to all and sundry in the community irrespective of whatever contributions individuals have made to the materialization of that pot of soup. Furthermore, a child in the typical African community is brought up and looked after by the whole community aside from the biological parents. In a nutshell Africans practice and celebrate love all the days of their lives, hence on deeper thought, the idea of setting aside a special day of the year to celebrate love seem preposterous when examined within the context of the reality of daily life in Africa.

However, as we continue to bask in the euphoria of the annual ritualistic celebrations of  valentine’s day,  it is important for Africans to ponder on the immortal words of the late reggae superstar Bob Marley who admonished us to “emancipate ourselves from mental slavery”.

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The Future of Africa, Kofi Annan

I am delighted to be here today and for this chance to meet and speak to students, staff and friends of Exeter College. Let me begin by thanking Andrew Hamilton, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, and, Frances Cairncross, Rector of Exeter College, for the warm welcome I have received. It is, of course, a pleasure to be back at Oxford – a university which has produced such important scholarship on the United Nations and on Africa.

I also want to say how honoured I am to have been asked to launch the 700th anniversary celebrations of Exeter College. I notice that this anniversary does not officially take place until 2014, so you have obviously decided to start early! And rightly so. Such a long and distinguished history deserves a long celebration.

Exeter is not just one of the oldest colleges in the university but has a unique spirit, and a proud, outward-looking tradition. You attract the brightest and the best to teach and study, which is why I look forward to the question and answer session with both excitement and trepidation.

Among your alumni is, my fellow countryman John Kufuor who, I am delighted to say, is here today. I know the pride that he takes in having studied at Exeter College. The college will take equal pride in his achievements as President of Ghana, for embedding democracy and advancing economic and social development.

John began his studies here in 1961. Not long before, I had begun my own studies at university in America. What I remember most of that era was that African hopes for self-determination were brimming over. It was a time of great expectations and excitement for young people like ourselves. There was a widespread belief that freedom from our colonial rulers would bring progress and prosperity.

We expected the new African nations would forge their future together. That we would control our natural resources and join the community of nations as equal partners. Sadly, as history has documented, many of our hopes were soon dashed. Newly independent African states struggled to contain the impact of arbitrary borders that split ethnic groups and communities, and fuelled tensions. In many countries, the unifying force of independence movements gave way to one-party states as African governments sought to centralize political and economic power.

The continent became a land of “big men” and the battle-ground for proxy wars of the Cold War. Development stagnated, deadly conflicts raged, the rule of law and human rights were neglected. Half a century ago, Africa stood at a cross-roads. For many reasons, some which have their roots in Africa, others outside, Africa took the wrong path. But today, a new wave of optimism has taken hold.

Africa is once again being seen as a continent of opportunity – the last emerging investment frontier. We see this optimism in the number and diversity of businesses and countries flocking to invest in the continent. It is an optimism based on strong economic growth which even the global financial crisis was only able to reverse briefly. And increasingly, this growth is being used to diversify economies and invest in the bedrock of successful societies – in education, in health and vital infrastructure.

This is not the picture of Africa that is normally painted in the global media. Too often we hear the stereotype of a broken continent, stricken by disease, war and poverty. A stereotype, too, in which problems in one country infect opinions of the continent as a whole. Curiously, the reverse is rarely true.

Very few people could name the country with the world’s most sustained and strongest economic growth over the last four decades. The answer is Botswana, a stable and successful democracy ever since independence in 1964. It underlines why we have to remember that Africa consists of 53 diverse nations – soon to be 54 with the result of the referendum in South Sudan. But even taking into account that countries are progressing at different speeds, Africa’s fortunes have been turning around in the last decade.

Real GDP grew by nearly 5% annually between 2000 and 2008 – twice the level of the previous two decades. According to the African Development Bank, 6 African countries are forecast to enjoy growth this year above seven per cent; 15 countries above five per cent; and 27 countries above three per cent. Direct foreign investment has soared from $9 billion in 2000 to $52 billion in 2011.

This momentum is expected to continue and can be accelerated if we tackle remaining barriers to progress by investing in energy and infrastructure, and strengthening regional integration. Improved regional integration is essential to increase trade within Africa, which stands at just 10% of total trade compared to 67% within the EU.

But even so, the IMF already believes the continent will have as many as seven of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world over the next decade. Even higher growth rates are necessary to lift millions out of poverty and hunger and position Africa as an essential part of the global economic system. Africa’s improved economic performance and prospects have, of course, become the subject of a growing amount of analysis by banks, policy makers and international organizations.

There is debate about the role and impact of painful macroeconomic reforms which were encouraged and, in some cases, forced on African countries by the Bretton Woods institutions. It is now widely acknowledged that these structural adjustment programmes had terrible consequences socially and institutionally.

But the fiscal discipline they put in place helped to cushion African economies against external shocks, encouraged the growth of reserves and well-regulated banking sectors. It is clear, too, that another major reason for increased investment and growth has been Africa’s natural resources and its attractiveness to emerging economies, particularly China.

With at least 10% of the world’s oil and gas reserves, 40% of its gold, and 80% of its chromium and platinum, Africa is well placed to continue to benefit from the wealth beneath its surface and the boom in commodity prices.

China’s burgeoning interest in Africa has also had other spillover effects. Asian demand for African commodities improves the terms on which the continent trades. This, in turn, encourages investors from elsewhere to look at Africa with different eyes.

But important as China’s influence has been, recent research has shown that Africa’s economic success is not simply tied to its natural resources, or to one country. Profitable economic partnerships are also being developed with Brazil, Turkey, India, Malaysia, and countries in the Middle East. World class African companies are also making inroads in these markets.

These South-South relationships are providing important opportunities for peer learning on appropriate development strategies to eradicate poverty and address inequality. Last year’s report by McKinsey, aptly named “Lions on the Move”, found that just a third of Africa’s growth up to 2008 was due to its natural resources.

Other sectors such as telecoms, financial services, agribusiness, construction and infrastructure are also thriving, creating both income and jobs. The report found that Africa’s strong growth owes as much, if not more, to increased stability including the end of conflicts; growing investment in human and physical infrastructure; progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and reducing the risks and costs of doing business.

Even more encouraging are changes in Africa’s demographics which can help to harness Africa’s potential over the coming decades, if sustained by good public policies. These include a fast growing and young labour force, rapid urbanization and a burgeoning middle-class of consumers.

The diaspora is also playing a positive role, by transferring skills, bringing much needed innovation and entrepreneurship to the continent, and increasing financial flows from remittances. Africa is also benefiting from the spread of mobile phones and ICT. It is helping countries to “leapfrog” over unsustainable forms of production and consumption; and delivering social services in health, education, and weather information.

And perhaps most importantly, the continent has benefited from a new generation of African policy-makers who are managing economies better, paying attention to social development, and building the institutional capacities needed to increase regional trade and economic cooperation. All these are positive factors for the future.

Even one of Africa’s biggest challenges – how to feed its citizens and tackle widespread hunger – can be seen to offer hope if the right policies and investments are put in place. Currently, Africa is the only continent which does not grow enough food to feed its own people. Its farmers have been locked out of the scientific and technological advances which have transformed crop yields across the world.

The result is that hundreds of millions of people go hungry every day. And it is a scandal which climate change is already making more severe. But Africa also contains 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land. If we can promote a uniquely African green revolution – drawing on the experiences of Asia and Latin America – not only can we meet food shortages within the continent, but provide exports to improve food security across the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, you would be forgiven for thinking that I have become hopelessly optimistic since leaving the United Nations. After all, we have seen false dawns in Africa before. And I would not, in any way, wish to under-estimate the enormous challenges the continent still faces. We have recently seen a reminder of the stubborn political obstacles that can get in the way of progress in the crisis in Cote d’Ivoire. The refusal of incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo to concede defeat in an election that was independently monitored and certified to be fair, risks embroiling the country in a new civil war. Africa – and indeed the world – cannot afford such a development.

Indeed, if there is one area, which above all, will determine the direction of Africa’s future, it is the quality of its governance and leadership. Leadership not just within individual countries in Africa, but regionally, across the continent as a whole. In contrast, lack of good governance and poor leadership is the single biggest obstacle to development. It promotes corruption and increases the likelihood of inequality, instability and conflict.

I believe that Africa’s economic growth could double and make a profound impact on poverty eradication if it can get its politics right: if we can see best practice from within the continent spread across all of it. Ladies and gentlemen, a continent at peace with itself requires more than the absence of war. It requires that we embrace respect for human rights and the rule of law, and transparent, effective and accountable governance.

Important steps towards a more democratic and rules-based political culture have been made since the 1990’s. We have seen more multi-party elections in Africa, greater adherence to democratic principles, and the growth of civil society. And the AU’s Charter on Democracy and Africa Peer Review Mechanism – even though works in progress – are landmark instruments of good governance currently absent from many other developing regions in the world.

However, in many African countries, there remains a profound mismatch between the aspirations
of its people and the caliber and integrity of those leading them. Let me briefly mention two areas where I believe political leadership and good governance will be decisive factors in charting Africa’s future:

First, protecting the integrity of elections, and second, addressing the root causes of conflict through institutional reform. As you may know, no less than 17 African countries are holding elections this year.

Each one has the potential to exacerbate existing tensions within society, or of entrenching more democratic institutions and improved governance in these countries. I have already mentioned the troubled election in Cote d’Ivoire.  If Gbagbo is allowed to prevail, elections as instruments of peaceful change in Africa will suffer a serious setback.

Leaders must understand that they enter elections to win or to lose – that peaceful transition of power is the cornerstone of sustainable democracy and durable peace. The African Union and the international community must do more to protect the integrity of the electoral process. Otherwise election-related violence and conflict will erode much of the progress we have seen on the continent.

Elections must be backed by institutions and laws that uphold the rights of all citizens and create a pluralist society rather than defend ethnicity or special interests. But let me deal with the claim, made by some commentators recently, that it is the power-sharing agreement in Kenya which I helped broker, which has given encouragement to those defeated in elections to cling onto power.

Unlike elections in Cote d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe, there was no clear winner in the 2007 elections in Kenya. The scale of violence that ensued in Kenya was catastrophic. Hundreds were killed, injured and raped; thousands fled their homes and the country was burning. The political settlement ended the terrible violence which flared up as a result of the disputed election itself.

The resulting national accord not only led to the first coalition government in Africa, but it also committed Kenyans and their leaders to undertake a profound agenda of institutional reform, to tackle impunity, and promote national reconciliation and cohesion.

One of the tangible results has been a new Constitution and a Bill of Rights which should be a source of pride for all Kenyans, and inspire forward-looking constitutional development across the region. We now need to see real courage and commitment to ensure that the rest of the reform agenda is implemented. It has not been an easy journey. But I hope, as most Kenyans do, that full implementation of the new Constitution will help to tackle the root causes of conflict and prevent such a crisis from erupting again.

It will also demonstrate that concerted action to address national identity and citizenship issues, to reform land tenure, to bring government closer to the people through devolution, and making sure that women have a strong voice in their societies, are key to building strong and cohesive societies.

Ladies and gentlemen, what Africa needs to do now is to keep building on the progress that has been achieved so far. This requires a comprehensive strategy for the future – one that gives equal weight and attention to security, development, rule of law and human rights. They cannot be separated. They all reinforce each other and they all depend on each other.

The international community must support African efforts to reform and provide the resources to help build government capacity and capability. But good governance in Africa must be complemented by fair rules and good governance at the global level.  Africa can no longer be a by-stander as decisions are made about its future, whether it’s to do with the global trade regime, regulating international finance or tackling climate change.
And African countries should have fair representation on the decision-making bodies of inter-governmental organizations, such as the Security Council and the G20.

Finally, let me say a few words about the events in North Africa which I believe have broader lessons for authoritarian regimes everywhere. These popular uprisings show that the democratic aspirations of people cannot be contained and that human rights are not a luxury, let alone a plot from outside. Wherever people live, they want their voice to be heard, their rights respected, and to have a say in how they are governed. They yearn for decent jobs, opportunity and a secure future for their children. They believe that the rule of law must apply to everyone, no matter how powerful.

The demand for more inclusive, more accountable and more responsive Governments is, I believe, unstoppable. It’s a voice coming from right across the population but most strongly from the younger generation. It is this generation – their dynamism, their determination and ambitions – which is, I believe, the major reason for confidence in Africa. It is also the generation which is all around us today.

It may be, of course, that the issues I raised today can seem a long way from your lives here in Oxford. But remember that you are the first generation who can call yourselves citizens of the world. Wherever you come from, whatever you are studying, you have to think beyond your borders. It is how you respond to the inter-linked challenges in front of us that will decide the future direction of your world. It is your world now.  It is a big responsibility. You must have the courage to change it for the better.

I, for one, have confidence that you are up to the task. Thank you

Excerpts of a Lecture delivered by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, for Exeter College on February 13, 2011 Courtesy: Kofi Annan Foundation Published at TalkAfrique.com on 22.02.2011. Courtesy Tunde Oseni, Exeter University, United Kingdom

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Seaweed May Provide Clue to Fighting Malaria Parasite

By Steve Connor, Science Editor, The Independent

A red seaweed found off the Pacific island of Fiji has been found to contain a powerful class of natural substances that can effectively destroy the malaria parasite, scientists said yesterday.

The first laboratory tests have shown that the substances are toxic to the Plasmodium falciparum parasite which causes the most dangerous form of malaria and is developing disturbing resistance towards existing drugs.

Researchers believe that the substances, called bromophycolide compounds, are produced by the seaweed as a chemical defence against attack from marine fungi. But they also appear to be effective against the malaria parasite, said Julia Kubanek of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

“The seaweed is marshalling its defences and displaying them in a way that blocks the entry points for microbes that might invade and cause disease. Seaweeds don’t have immune responses like humans do. But instead, they have some chemical compounds in their tissues to protect them,” Dr Kubanek said.

“The bromophycolide structural class is unique… there are no antimalarials like it. Even though it looks like the mode of action may be similar to that of chloroquine and other quinine antimalarials, our bromophycolides are effective in vitro against a chloroquine-resistant strain,” she said.

“That means that the resistance mechanism that the parasite has evolved to the quinines does not work against bromophycolides,” she said.

One of the most powerful anti-malarial drugs at present is artemesinin, which was derived from a shrub used in Chinese herbal medicine, but in some regions of the world drug-resistance has already developed against it, which is why scientists are interested in finding alternative anti-malarials.

The tests in the test tube need to be repeated in animal models before the drug, which can be synthesised in the laboratory, can be used in clinical trials, Dr Kubanek said.

“We need to show that bromophycolides are effective in a mammalian model, since no in vivo work has been done yet. We may need to design a more potent and more selected derivative, since even in vitro we see effects on non-parasite cells,” she said.

“Bromophycolides are not as potent as artemesinin and we don’t yet now how fast they work in humans, or even if they work in humans. So much work is left to be done. But we are hopeful that we will be able to design a strong antimalarial from this lead,” Dr Kubanekadded.

Meanwhile, scientists have warned against the spread of a new Madagascan malaria that infects previously immune individuals, threatening a new scourge of infection. The strain of Plasmodium vivax has broken through a natural genetic barrier that until now has protected millions of Africans.

Scientists say there are already signs of the strain spreading from the island of Madagascar to the east African mainland. In some regions they believe it could take over from Plasmodium falciparum as the continent’s dominant malaria strain.

Seaweed clue to fighting malaria

The Press Association

A tropical seaweed may provide scientists with a new weapon against malaria, research has shown.

Chemical compounds used by the seaweed to ward off fungal attacks have shown promising activity against the malaria parasite in the laboratory.

Researchers now hope to test the most effective compound in mice.

They are also trying to synthesise a more potent artificial version of the chemical.

New drugs are urgently needed to combat the malaria parasite, which has developed resistance to most available treatments.

Each year malaria kills around one million people around the world, mostly in poorer regions such as sub-Saharan Africa.

The anti-fungal compounds were found on the surface of Callophycus serratus, a seaweed found in waters off the Fiji islands.

Scientists spoke about the research at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington DC

Study leader Dr Julia Kubanek, from the Georgia Institute of Technology, said: “The language of chemistry in the natural world has been around for billions of years, and it is crucial for the survival of these species. We can co-opt these chemical processes for human benefit in the form of new treatments for diseases that affect us.”

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What a Constrast: Women in Mauritania Taking Dangerous Products to Help Them Gain Weight

Women Mauritania aer taking substances to help gain weight

 Nouakchott (Mauritania) – While force-feeding of young girls is waning in Mauritania, particularly in urban areas, many girls and women are voluntarily using high-tech and dangerous methods aimed at achieving the corpulent form long a status symbol in the country.

“Force-feeding by way of physical abuse is practically a thing of the past; it is generally limited to remote rural areas,” said Zeinabou Mint Taleb Moussa, head of the NGO Mauritanian Association for Mothers’ and Children’s Health (AMSME). “But young women wanting to gain weight and [resorting to extreme measures to do so] is indeed a reality.”

Mauritanians told IRIN of recent cases in which young women died from taking drugs – including products formulated for livestock – to gain weight.

While aesthetic standards are slowly shifting and some women refuse the destructive practice of forcing weight gain, traditionally in Mauritania a plump figure on a woman signifies wealth and well-being. For generations families force-fed their daughters litres of cow’s or camel’s milk daily in part to improve their marriage prospects.

A proverb of Mauritania’s Moor ethnic group says: “The woman occupies in her man’s heart the space she occupies in his bed.”

But in recent years, despite health warnings, some girls and women are voluntarily turning to other methods, like taking cortisone products – including one designed to make cattle gain weight; appetite-inducing syrups; and psychotropic medicines.

“Some months ago, my cousin went to the village to prepare for marriage,” said an AMSME member who requested anonymity. “This preparation includes fattening up, and she died from an overdose of drugs designed to make one gain weight.”

In another case, a young girl in a slum in the capital Nouakchott recently died after taking drugs designed for cattle, said Souleimane Cherif, president of the Mauritania pharmacists’ association.

Social researcher Mohameden Ould Ekahe said one of the animal drugs women take “to self-fatten” is locally known as ‘dregdreg’ – a Hassaniyya word meaning a shaking of the heart, for one of the health hazards it can pose. “They want to meet the standard of a society in love with fat women,” he said.

The products are easy to obtain and that is part of the problem, pharmacist Cherif told IRIN.

“Regulations are not strictly applied mostly because of the profits for some in the medical sector,” he said. “Furthermore the state’s resources are relatively limited. Still the authorities have made efforts in the past three years, including removing certain products from the markets.”

Despite these efforts and a 2010 law stipulating harsher penalties for irregular drug sales, anyone can buy the products in markets and pharmacies. It is difficult to say how much money is spent on such products for these purposes, as much of the trade is on the black market.

Many women also request birth control pills just for the potential weight-gain, and appetite-inducing syrups, said Anna Fall, a midwife at a health centre in a lower-class neighbourhood of Nouakchott.

The push to pack on extra weight carries the threat of cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, diabetes and high blood pressure, said Mohammed Lemine Ould Cheikh, the health centre’s head doctor. “Most women don’t know that these medicines are dangerous; otherwise they wouldn’t take them. It’s a question of literacy.”

Taleb Moussa said it is not all down to ignorance; some girls trying to put on weight dismiss the dangers of misusing drugs. “I was in a pharmacy one day and I saw some girls buying these products. I told them it’s dangerous; they laughed and went about their business.”

Indeed, social pressure and long-held standards persist.

Marième Diallo, 53, was force-fed as an adolescent. Her two daughters, 14 and 19, are slim and refuse to gain weight; Diallo said she will not force them, and for that she is derided by friends. “Recently my neighbour came round, telling me it’s not normal, it’s dishonourable for my family that my daughters are thin. She wanted to take them to the village to make them gain weight.”

Many men still see size as a measure of beauty. “For some men it is still humiliating to have a skinny wife,” AMSME coordinator Khadija Sakho told IRIN. “They are ashamed to have their friends come round.”

(Source: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
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Lessons From Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan

By Dr Said Adejumobi,  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

‘What we want are bread, freedom and dignity’ – Egyptian demonstrator!

AS the ‘bigwigs’ of the PDP (Nigeria’s all conquering political party) gathered in Abuja in the second week of January 2011 (precisely Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011) to pick a presidential candidate for the party, two other important events were taking place simultaneously elsewhere on the continent.  In Tunisia, the ‘people’s power’ was at play in which what seemed to have been a minor incident triggered the pent-up anger of the people leading to the ousting of a 23-year political dictatorship of president Ben Ali. At the same time, in Sudan, a referendum was going on for the secession or otherwise, of the South of the country. As we now know, the results of both events in Sudan and Tunisia proved positive – the peoples’ power held sway. South Sudan has overwhelmingly voted for independence, which would kick off in July.

Barely did the torch of freedom light up in Tunis, the domino effect was felt in Cairo. Cairo’s popular Tahrir Square became the counterpoint of peaceful political resistance against a 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, boosted by the West and sustained by an edifice of political repression. Eighteen days into the resistance – exactly on Friday, February 11, 2011, Hosni Mubarak made a shameful exit from power, ending the prospects of a Mubarak political dynasty, which he was nurturing.  Dictatorships by their internal logic are weak and cowardly – they require determined resistance to crack and disappear.

But what is the common denominator in the events in Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan and the presidential candidacy selection of the PDP in Nigeria?  All these events are about the acquisition, management, and mismanagement of political power and its consequences. The PDP may not be a one-man dictatorship, but it is an organised political dictatorship, which has ruled Nigeria for 12 years, and its principals boasting openly that whether the Nigerian people like it or not, they will rule the country for 60 years uninterrupted.  Unchecked political power in Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan, as it is in Nigeria, led to a culture of impunity in which the voice and vote of the people did not count; in which the leadership gloated and pretended that all was well; in which wisdom was absolutised by a few; and in which corruption flourished, unhindered.

The difference between Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan and Nigeria, is that for the former three countries, the process has run full cycle and the dare consequences have matured and unfolded; in Nigeria, the cycle is yet to be completed – the contradictions are fast building up, and the process of change is in incubation! As such, the recent events in Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan should be of interest to those who manage political power in Nigeria, especially the PDP, as an organised political force in the country.  There is major paradox in the cases of Tunisia and Egypt as the site of a peoples’ revolution in the 21st century in Africa. Both countries, though ruled with iron fist have recorded remarkable economic progress, with qualitatively better social and human conditions, incomparable with that of Nigeria or most Sub-Saharan African countries. These countries are amongst the few countries in Africa that are likely to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving poverty in their countries by 2015 – Nigeria is far from it!

Tunisia’s economy grew at an average of about  five per cent from the 1990s; inflation was squarely under control, and foreign direct investment flowed in. The World Bank in an assessment of the Tunisian economy in 2004, noted, “Tunisia has one of the fastest growing economies in North Africa and the Middle East since the mid-1980s. It has progressed from being a lower to a middle income country with a per capita income of $2,240”. Literacy rate in Tunisia is about 80% with the right of education codified in law in July 2002.  The percentage of six-year old in school was 99.2% in 2008/2009.  Female education and empowerment is a major priority in Tunisia.  The percentage of female students in secondary school was 58% and that in higher education – 60% in 2010.  About 30% of women occupy decision-making positions in the country. Under the country’s Code of Personal Status of 1956, polygamy was outlawed, and women given equal rights in marital relationships.

Health care services are free, qualitative, and accessible, while access to potable drinking water is about 94% and electricity about 99% for the population in Tunisia.  Given these indicators, life expectancy is very high in the country – 76.2 years for women, and 74.6 years for men, compared to the African average of about 42 years.  Tunisians live a much better life than Nigerians can ever imagine!

Egypt is not as lucky as Tunisia. Although its economy grew at an average of about 6% from 2005-2010, inflation rate was about 17% in 2009, while youth unemployment continue to soar. About 40% of Egyptians live on less than $2 per day. In spite of this, life is much better in Egypt than it is in Nigeria. Over 70% of Nigeria’s population lives in groaning poverty. Even as the demonstrations were going on in Tahrir Square, electricity was regular in the neighbourhoods.  Was it to be in Nigeria, all the protesters may have been shot by the police under the cover of darkness!  But the better living conditions in Tunisia and Egypt could not hold back the process of change.  Although bread may be available, freedom and dignity were absent!  The people fought to reclaim their freedom and dignity!

In Sudan, the people of Southern Sudan have existed as second class citizens in their country right from independence in 1956, and successive governments in Khartoum have cemented that.  Sudan like Nigeria has had a chequered political history with coups, military rule and counter-coups. Two major regimes, both of a military nature, have in succession dominated power in Sudan. The first is that of Colonel Gafaar Mohamed el-Nimeri who ruled from 1969-1985, and the second that of Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, 1989-present.

These two leaders rather than reform Sudan, to erase the colonial legacy of divide and rule between the North and the South, exacerbated it. Religion, ethnicity and race were invoked as instruments of political legitimation, which furthered the marginalization of the South in national life. The consequence was a protracted civil war, which eventually ended with the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on 9th January 2005 after three years of painful negotiations. A major part of the agreement is that after five years a referendum would be held for self-determination by the South. The assumption was that in five years the wounds would have been healed, mistakes corrected, and a united Sudan emerged.

This never happened! South Sudan has now completed its final rites of independence.

What are the lessons of Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan for Nigerian leaders? When the leaders deny their people bread, freedom and dignity, resistance and revolution are inevitable.  We rarely need the prophesy of an Atiku or the lamentations of a Ben Nwabueze to know that change is inevitable in Nigeria. But what we do not know is when, how, and in what shape and form the change would be?

Our leaders have planted the seeds of change in the society. Graduate unemployment in Nigeria is over 50%, poverty rate – of less than $2 per day is over 70%, basic infrastructures have completely collapsed – electricity, water, good roads, etc, there is general insecurity,  and an oil exporting country imports refined petroleum for its local use so that oil buccaneers can live off the sweet of the people. Nigeria runs perhaps the most expensive civilian government in the world – the National Assembly consumes significant percentage of the national budget; some past leaders, who were virtually broke before luck smiled on them with state power now own private jets that they travel in; and some others who have little or no knowledge about the oil industry now own oil wells, which they sell for raw cash. The picture is that of a jungle.

Power, as shown in Tunisia, Egypt and Sudan ultimately belongs to the people. It may take long but the people will invariably rescue it from their tormentors. If Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak had premonition about how things would turn out, they would probably have done things differently. Nigerian leaders have the opportunity to change course, initiate progressive reforms and restore hope for their people. If this is not done, there are signposts already of what the future holds for them!

This article first appeared in The Guardian (Lagos) 21 February, 2011.