Since the New Year, more than 80 people have been killed in clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria’s central Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states. Herders, mostly from the Fulani ethnic group, and farmers often clash over the use of fertile land. For a very long time, the Nigerian government did not offer a…
More than 300 child soldiers have been released from armed groups in South Sudan, the United Nations has announced. The 311 children, including 87 girls, will now begin reintegrating into their communities, the UN mission in the country (UNMISS) said in a statement on Wednesday. “Children should not be carrying guns and killing each other,”…
Kenya’s National Super Alliance leader Raila Odinga has demanded fresh elections by August but ruled out any plans to lead a coup against President Uhuru Kenyatta. In a three minute BBC interview, Mr Odinga maintained that he did not recognise Mr Kenyatta as the President “since he does not have the legitimacy of the people”.…
The Forestry Commission has commenced an exercise to reclaim 50 hectares of land destroyed by illegal miners in the Apramprama Forest Reserve, near Jacobu in the Amansie Central District in the Ashanti Region. Under the project, large and deep trenches left by the activities of ‘galamseyers’ will be reclaimed and a tree-planting exercise carried out.…
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines child as “a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”. Children at birth take on the social and economic status of their parents and are generally subject to abuse if special…
A Deputy Minister for Information, Ama Dokuaa Asiamah Agyei, has noted that the delay in passing the Right to Information Bill, is largely because other equally important Bills are also fighting for attention. She thus explained that, the delay does not mean the Bill is not a priority, and that other bills from different sectors…
At this year’s Paris edition of Nuit des idees (the Night of Ideas), Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie made two remarks that caused a stir. The more widely publicised one was her gentle rebuke of interviewer Caroline Broue’s question as to whether there are bookstores in Nigeria. Adichie replied, “I think it reflects very poorly…
The People’s Tribunal on Economic Crime in South Africa will open its first hearings this Saturday, 3 February, at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. People’s Tribunals have been led by citizens and civil society for over four decades to address human rights abuses and war crimes in many contexts, including Palestine and Indonesia. Importantly, the South…
Mark Ritchie, former Minnesota Secretary of State and former president of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, sent Felix an email about a very interesting interview with Kevin Watkins, the CEO of Save the Children Fund (UK). The interview and commentary was by Russell Hargrave in devex: “Save the Children CEO on a…