Politics

Any visit to Africa by an American President who also happens to have an African father is bound to generate heat. Obama’s recent visit to Africa that took him through Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania did just that. He tellingly excluded Kenya, the birth place of his father; and neighboring Uganda, a country fighting a proxy war in Somalia for America.

What drives President Vladimir Putin is to make Russia once again a respected and admired brand as it was in the days of the Soviet Union. In his arrogance Putin underestimates what real power Russia already has. He does not realize what card to play. It is not his hang tough policies in the international arena, especially where America is concerned. It is Russia's culture.

If you took away the $101.7billion petro dollars that the Niger Delta brings yearly to the Nigerian economy the government would collapse. Nigeria in all probability would become a failed state. The oil revenue is a huge sum of money by any standards and makes up as much as 90% of the Country’s entire budget. The fierce completion for political power in Nigeria is about the control of oil money. The inevitable result is the corruption, bad governance and lack of freedom.

Never in the history of mankind have the living conditions and prospects of so many people changed so dramatically and in so short a period. Great Britain the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, took 150 years to double its output. Following later the United States took 50 years. Both countries had a population of less than 10 million each at the point at which they industrialized.

Land grabbing in Amuru District in Acholiland, northern Uganda, has become a chronic problem. Today land grabbers frame their case in terms of investments and development for what they say is a free and empty piece of real estate. We will develop your land. We will bring you riches and employment for your sons and daughters.

In the African experience, as in the Irish experience, the past is part and parcel of the present. The day-before-yesterday is part of today. Samuel Huntington is wrong that the clash of civilizations is something to be confronted after the end of the Cold War. The Western world made sure there have been clashes of civilizations for the last four hundred years

Extreme poverty on the continent is in decline, and progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals has accelerated. A number of very poor African countries, including Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia have made recent and substantial improvements in their levels of income equality.

China today is a sitting duck. But not so long ago China was a closed door and for most of the world; mysterious, unknown and unknowable. Now the massive and most populous country on the planet and the world’s second largest economy is wide open.