This week’s publication has so much to crow about. African scholars and technocrats are going places. They are giving the lie to racists and White supremacists who believe that Blacks cannot do well in intellectual matters. Yes, the Nobel Awards were handed out last week and none came to Africa. But do not worry.
An African has won the 2017 World Food Prize. This prize is to Agriculture what the Nobel Prize is to the Sciences and English Literature. Norman Borlaug, who instituted the World Food Prize, won the Nobel Prize in 1970 for his contributions towards feeding millions of hungry people around the globe. We captured the Word Food Prize award roundly in Spotlight on Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the Nigerian technocrat who currently heads the African Development Bank. The other spotlight is on the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC.
Africa won other vital awards this week. The World Tourist Awards honoured various landmarks in Africa such as the Mountain while Ethiopia Airways and Cape Town International airport won in the Aviation category. But it was not all about awards. There was celebration, nay Felabration, too. The iconic Nigerian super-star, who founded Afro-beat and took it round the globe may have died, but certainly not forgotten. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was a legend. The Lagos state government in Nigeria said as much loudly and clearly last week. Browse through our report on Fela.
If you are inclined to think that politics is the bane of development in Africa, you may be right. In Liberia, the contest for the country’s presidency is on course. The ex-soccer star, George Weah, is seeking to create a new record, not in sports but in politics. A complete neophyte to politics, who has neither served as a city clerk nor as a town mayor, is fighting hard to win the Liberian presidency. It is certain that a run-off between the two or three leading contenders will be announced later. But no one can say for sure that the one already announced in Kenya, East Africa, for next week will hold. You ask, why? One of the umpires has pooh-poohed the arrangements for the re-run. Not only that she quit from the IEBC and fled her country, Roseline Akombe also says things are not as cool as they seem with the electoral body in Kenya. Where does that leave the people?
The World Bank and the IMF ordinarily do not take instructions from national governments. But the current Head of the World Bank has spilled the beans. First, he took directives from the Nigerian leader to focus attention on Northern Nigeria only. Apparently, Mr. Kim has been operating along the lines of such directives. And without any pressure from the aggrieved party, he recently vented out his frustration publicly. News in Africa online captured this scenario. Please click on it.
Our Personality Profile for this week features the life and times of the late revolutionary Head of State of Burkina Faso, Captain Thomas Sankara. His brief sway in power earned him a cultist image especially among the youths and unskilled workers in West and Central Africa. The legacy he left behind after only four years in office would not be equaled by his successor who held power for 27 years! See for yourself why Thomas Sankara lives in the hearts of his compatriots and millions of African youths.
The play-offs for the 2018 World Cup in Russia will end by the first weekend of next month but the permutations for the draws slated for December 1 have begun. Only the teams for Pot 1 have been clearly known. Which teams will go into the three remaining pots for the draws? See whether your idea tallies with ours here.
As usual, our regulars – ICT, Environment, Health, Entertainment, Media, Agriculture, Economy, Women, The Diaspora Matters and Sports – are loaded. Click on any of them and let us know what you think.
Have a rewarding browsing.
Pat I. Chukwuelue
Editor In Chief
