Following the revelations around the true age of Nigeria under-17 captain Fortune Chukwudi, Sabella Ogbobode Abidde writes in full support of the honesty of one of the player's former coaches, Adokiye Amiesimaka. As Amiesimaka faces ridicule and defamation of character, Abidde decries the behaviour of the supposedly religious individuals attacking a man who was only telling the truth.

In this week’s Pambazuka News, Sabella Ogbobode Abidde discovers why titles matter in the Nigerian context, where not properly addressing ‘certain people with their earned, dashed, or forged title, could get one into trouble’. ‘Some Nigerians, it seems, do not like to be ordinary people,’ Abidde writes, ‘They have to be somebody. They have to be important, a very, very important person – whether or not they add value to the community they live in.’

In this week’s Pambazuka News, Phanice Shamalia reports on ‘Sexually Speaking’, a lively discussion among 30 Kenyan women hosted by Storymoja as part of its monthly Women in Leadership forum. After ‘an afternoon of candid conversation’ on how various issues of our lives affect our sexuality’, Shamalia writes, participants concluded that it ‘is possible to have a healthier sex life, a confident sex life, and an educated sex life. One step is by attending sessions such as this one, with informed, opinionated women who are willing to share their knowledge.’

With Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni reportedly overseeing donations to former MPs, Vincent Nuwagaba decries 'the worst form of corruption'.

In light of the Kenyan ruling class's clear vested interest in autocracy, Samuel Abonyo makes the case for a federalist system of government to achieve better representation and prosperity for all across the country.

With Nigeria's Yar'Adua administration pursuing a policy of 'deregulation', Ayodele Ademiluyi calls on Nigerian workers to oppose the country's direction and stand up for their rights. Critical of the marked gulf in the decision-making power of labour's leadership and ordinary workers, Ademiluyi also stresses the need for greater democratic organisation in the struggle to effectively challenge the excesses and exploitation of the government.

Two Somali 'pirates' captured after they attacked a Spanish fishing boat are likely to spend a long time behind bars, Agustín Velloso Santisteban writes in this week’s Pambazuka News, given that they are also poor, black and Muslim. Highlighting the struggle for survival and hardships so many Somalis face, Santisteban suggests that there are other more dangerous ‘pirates’ out there that ought to be pursued and brought to book for far worse crimes.

Tradition is not an adequate justification for maintaining the practice of female circumcision in Sierra Leone – or anywhere in Africa, Joseph Kaifala writes in Pambazuka News. Both ‘obsolete’ and ‘unnecessary’, the practice runs counter to progress and the upholding of human rights, says Kaifala.

Taking issue with suggestions that Uganda's 2009 riots can be compared with the country's 1966 constitutional crisis, Kintu Nyago argues that the two scenarios are like 'chalk and cheese'.

With Nigeria's ruling elites seemingly intent on continuing to rob their country blind, Kola Ibrahim stresses the need for a nationalised economy rooted in a genuine workers' democracy.

The news that Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize last week has created much discussion around the world as he has only been in office for nine months. In this week’s Pambazuka News, Ama Biney finds Obama unworthy of the prize as he still presides over one of the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world, as well as just having pushed one of the largest military budgets through Congress. The main question for Biney is, has a man whose country is at war received the prize for peace or has he received the prize simply for prizing peace?

The tragic events at Durban's Kennedy Road have gained much-desired media attention, with the KwaZulu-Natal government likely ushering in a ‘healing process’ as a result of this attention. However, Niren Tolsi calls this so-called healing process a 'sham'. He writes that Abahlali baseMjondolo (ABM) members have refused to attend 'stakeholder' meetings out of principle and out of fear for their personal security. Indeed, Tolsi stresses that most of the participants were in fact not even from Kennedy Road, but were African National Congress (ANC) members from other areas brought in an attempt to give legitimacy to the meetings. In response, the ABM calls for a return to democracy in Kennedy Road and a guarantee of safety for them and their families.

In this week's Pambazuka News, Tafadzwa Thelma Madondo writes about last year's xenophobic attacks in South Africa and their dramatic consequences for foreign women and children. Madondo argues that the government did not do enough to protect the most vulnerable to violence and that more has to be done to guarantee everyone’s safety in South Africa in the future.

Saluting the contribution of Ethiopia's 'patriot-soldiers', Alemayehu G. Mariam commends the courage, patriotism and resilience displayed by the country's defenders in this week's Pambazuka News.

In this week’s Pambazuka News, Kola Ibrahim reflects on the life of the recently deceased Gani Fawehinmi, one of Nigeria’s leading human rights lawyers and activists. Gani, as he was affectionately known, had not only been an advocate for human rights in Nigeria but addressed other issues such as the capitalist system in general that led to human rights abuses indirectly, writes Ibrahim. Gani Fawehinmi must not be forgotten and seen as a role model for the Nigerian youth in its struggle against the injustices of neocolonialism, Ibrahim concludes.

Reflecting on the recent wave of protests and strikes across South Africa, just three months after Zuma won the election with two-thirds of the vote, Peter Dwyer examines why the country’s poorest have taken to the streets to express their anger. ‘Whenever the ANC government fails to deliver, it comes up with excuses and blames it on individuals. It’s true that its councillors lack commitment and skills, but it is the national leadership that is also to blame,’ said one protestor, ‘and meanwhile people have to suffer. The only way the government notices us is when we express our anger and rage. Then they understand how we feel.’

In this week’s Pambazuka News, Okello Oculi reminisces about the relationship between Makerere University alumni, the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem and Professor Ali Mazrui. In particular Oculi contemplates how Tajudeen might have responded to a recently announced joint initiative between Ugandan President Museveni and Makerere University to honour Professor Mazrui by establishing a new centre for Global Studies and scholarship fund in his name.

The West African Students Union (WASU) was a key organisation in the de-colonisation process of the African continent and one of the first pan-African organisations. In his historical analysis, Daniel Yao Dotse brings us closer to understanding the organisation itself and how it nurtured the growth of the great pan-Africanist and President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah. In this week's Pambazuka News, Yao Dotse discusses the heydays of the organisation, its demise and ultimate rebirth in 2004.

Appalled by the recent threats to kill human rights defenders made by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, Sam Okudzeto and Maja Daruwala of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) call on the Commonwealth to seek assurances of Gambian and foreign citizens' safety in the country.

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