Although some states in Nigeria have enacted relevant laws, not much has been done in terms of public enlightenment, enforcement and attitude change. Domestic violence is still treated as a ‘domestic affair’.

Obafemi Awolowo University is celebrating 50 years of service to the people of Nigeria through teaching, research and community service. But strangely, the university administration banned the students union last year.

In the Great Lakes region of Africa, regional solidarity has been dealt a heavy blow following the mysterious deaths of five leaders in just two decades.

Washington’s corporate interests are hidden behind ‘humanitarian interventions’. That is the story of the US involvement in Libya, Uganda, Sudan and other parts of Africa.

A recent Unesco report confirms that poor funding, inadequate facilities and outright criminal neglect of education take their toll on quality in one of Africa’s richest countries.

Shanta Devajaran, the bank’s chief economist for Africa, was the architect of the influential 2004 World Bank World Development Report that portrayed teachers as drunk and rioting in the streets.

Reports of extra-judicial killings and injury of citizens by police officers point to the need for an independent body, like the one established in Kenya, to oversee the operations of the police service.

Nigerian security forces deployed to quell the Boko Haram menace in Maiduguri have denied engaging in extra-judicial killing of unarmed civilians. Local people should expose the militants among them so that the government can withdraw the troops.

Where the country will be in another 50 years depends on what Ugandans and their leaders begin to do now. No miracles are going to happen.

It is regrettable that in the past decade, the so-called international community appears to have made a sport of blaming Rwanda, a tiny country of less than twelve million people, for every unrest experienced in Africa’s largest country - in terms of land mass - the Democratic Republic of Congo, a nation of over 70 million inhabitants.

There is ample evidence to show that national independence does not mean much for most citizens of Uganda. The upcoming anniversary should be a day to reflect about where Ugandans want to take their country in the next 50 years.

The struggle for justice and peace in Congo has cost many human lives, caused horrendous suffering and destruction. What is needed now is for all actors to set aside their differences and hold a national dialogue in the interest of the people.

Workers at Lonmin's Marikana mine, west of Pretoria, have just accepted an offer of a 22 per cent overall pay increase, ending weeks of bloody strikes in which dozens died. Police brutality and the exploitation of workers were the defining features of the strike.

Even the one tilling a soft ground retires, says a popular Ugandan saying, but President Museveni insists that there is nobody to replace him.

O neocolonialismo na África é dinâmico e apresenta elementos novos, como a entrada de China, Índia e Brasil na disputa pelas riquezas, mão-de-obra e mercado do continente negro, antes território das potências europeias, da URSS e dos EUA.

Helping Africa has become a self-perpetuating for profit non-profit business. It has become what Teju Cole calls the white savior industrial complex. This does raise the questions, are there ways in which help can actually be useful? Where help can actually do more good than harm and offer more than miracle water?

There's been a series of high profile gaffes by world leaders when referring to Africa. What is to be done?

Debate is raging about the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P), a set of principles established by the United Nations in 2005 but still in a formative stage as regards implementation. A recent conference discussed R2P.

Certain governments in East Africa have recently come under scrutiny for cracking down on peaceful protests. Yet freedom of assembly is a fundamental right enshrined in international law and in the constitutions of these nations.

The anti-apartheid struggle has been betrayed. But all is not lost. The people must once again unite and wage a new struggle to liberate themselves.