Elizabeth Pisani has been doing the junket since her book, the Wisdom of Whores, was released. Reviews, and interviews galore. The book, I suppose, is trying to batter conventional wisdom on what we think we know about AIDS transmission and treatment. I haven't read the book, so I hope this isn't too much of a simplification. The reviews should give more of an idea.
I saw her HARDtalk last week, in an interview that was remarkable in its level of broken taboos. Go to the HARDtalk page, and watch the interview. On the right hand side of the page, click on the third clip on Africa. She talks about the sexual practices of Africans in relation to the transmission of HIV.
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
As only Africans could
"Shut up there, what do you know about football? All you people know, is to fight." The little corner of the canteen at work erupts in to fits of chuckles. The Ghanaian cleaner is putting his Somali colleague in his place. He was basically saying that when it comes to football, or anything for that matter, Somalis should keep schtum.
One doesn't get this level of frankness anywhere else (apart from anything involving Hugo Chavez). In relations between African countries, people say what they feel. No restrictions brought on by political correctness, or worse still, politeness. The joy though, I hope, is that these sorts of statements pass by without rancour. The Somalian takes it on the chin, and grins. Ghanaians aren't perfect either, and his turn to swing for the Ghanaian's jaw will come, as surely as night follows day.
The incident reminded me of school, and the aura of devilish mischief I must have exuded. We teased each other mercilessly, and I think sometimes I may have been slightly more merciless than others. The most popular joke in school had to do with Somalia. Our good friend, G, had been caught up in the civil war which started in the late 80s. If I remember his story correctly, he'd trekked with family from Mogadishu to Ethiopia. He'd learned to sleep with a Kalashnikov under his bed, in case he had to protect his family in the lawlaess badlands Somalia had become.
And were we sympathetic to G's plight? Were we heck. The fact that he'd been involved in such drama gave us more ammunition with which to fayah him (to use a Nigerian colloquialism). There'd been pictures of Somali suffering on the news, so we had an idea of what was going on. The joke? What is the fastest animal in the world? A chicken running through Somalia.
One doesn't get this level of frankness anywhere else (apart from anything involving Hugo Chavez). In relations between African countries, people say what they feel. No restrictions brought on by political correctness, or worse still, politeness. The joy though, I hope, is that these sorts of statements pass by without rancour. The Somalian takes it on the chin, and grins. Ghanaians aren't perfect either, and his turn to swing for the Ghanaian's jaw will come, as surely as night follows day.
The incident reminded me of school, and the aura of devilish mischief I must have exuded. We teased each other mercilessly, and I think sometimes I may have been slightly more merciless than others. The most popular joke in school had to do with Somalia. Our good friend, G, had been caught up in the civil war which started in the late 80s. If I remember his story correctly, he'd trekked with family from Mogadishu to Ethiopia. He'd learned to sleep with a Kalashnikov under his bed, in case he had to protect his family in the lawlaess badlands Somalia had become.
And were we sympathetic to G's plight? Were we heck. The fact that he'd been involved in such drama gave us more ammunition with which to fayah him (to use a Nigerian colloquialism). There'd been pictures of Somali suffering on the news, so we had an idea of what was going on. The joke? What is the fastest animal in the world? A chicken running through Somalia.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Africa-EU love-in (or not)
Africa and the European Union finished their "parlay" (Nigerian hack mode...) on Sunday. The most dramatic event didn't even take place in Portugal, where they were meeting, but in London. John Sentamu diced his dog collar live on Andrew Marr's show, saying he wouldn't wear it again until Bob Mugabe relinquishes power in Zimbabwe. It was an incredibly symbolic gesture for the Anglican Union's number two to make, and so immensely media savvy. We live in a visual age - it was one of those jaw-dropping televisual moments.
On Friday, as the great and the good of Africa and Europe were gathering, the BBC World Service programme, The World Today brought together some Nigerians to tell the EU what they want from them, how they see the partnership panning out. Listen below:
On Friday, as the great and the good of Africa and Europe were gathering, the BBC World Service programme, The World Today brought together some Nigerians to tell the EU what they want from them, how they see the partnership panning out. Listen below:
Also, see the response of some of Africa's newspapers to the summit.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Hosea 4:6
Today's Observer has a harrowing piece on child witches in parts of Nigeria. The children are beaten and bound - treated like animals. It always infuriates me to read or hear about stuff like this. Not because it's about Africa, and it reflects badly on me (my ego isn't so easily bruised), but it taps into my righteous indignance as a human being. There are some things which should be seen as universally evil, about which there cannot be any debate, and this is one of them.
I see no religious or cultural justification for treating children - who cannot defend themselves - in such a manner. It displays some of the basest and most abhorrent (an overused word) behaviour of humankind.
Stories like this are reported often enough, taking place in Britain, and in Africa. But I know how easy it is to brush it aside as some kind of filicidal fringe. It isn't. I remember my days at a boarding school in Nigeria, one of the Federal Government Colleges. One of the boys in my dorm was cursed enough to be branded a witch, along with his siblings. Nobody would eat with him. If you've been to boarding school, you'll know how important sharing food is to the collective experience and the strong bonding that goes with it. For nobody to touch your food, is for you not to exist. Nobody would be seen hanging around him, or any of his family. The kid was probably only about 11 years-old, and he already knew what it meant to be ostracised. I've written about this before.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is one of my favourite plays of all time. Like I've said before, when Arthur Miller wrote it, he used the Salem witch trials as an allegory for Senator Joseph McCarthy's hounding of suspected communists. He probably didn't write it with Nigerian snake oil salesmen and helpless African children in mind.
Hosea 4:6 says, "my people perish for lack of knowledge." Have I taken it out of context, and twisted it for the purposes of this post. Maybe. But people are perishing because of their ignorance, and I think it's apt to use a Bible passage to illustrate this point.
Watch the video. Read the piece. Get angry.
I see no religious or cultural justification for treating children - who cannot defend themselves - in such a manner. It displays some of the basest and most abhorrent (an overused word) behaviour of humankind.
Stories like this are reported often enough, taking place in Britain, and in Africa. But I know how easy it is to brush it aside as some kind of filicidal fringe. It isn't. I remember my days at a boarding school in Nigeria, one of the Federal Government Colleges. One of the boys in my dorm was cursed enough to be branded a witch, along with his siblings. Nobody would eat with him. If you've been to boarding school, you'll know how important sharing food is to the collective experience and the strong bonding that goes with it. For nobody to touch your food, is for you not to exist. Nobody would be seen hanging around him, or any of his family. The kid was probably only about 11 years-old, and he already knew what it meant to be ostracised. I've written about this before.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is one of my favourite plays of all time. Like I've said before, when Arthur Miller wrote it, he used the Salem witch trials as an allegory for Senator Joseph McCarthy's hounding of suspected communists. He probably didn't write it with Nigerian snake oil salesmen and helpless African children in mind.
Hosea 4:6 says, "my people perish for lack of knowledge." Have I taken it out of context, and twisted it for the purposes of this post. Maybe. But people are perishing because of their ignorance, and I think it's apt to use a Bible passage to illustrate this point.
Watch the video. Read the piece. Get angry.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Something of the Fidel
I was in the US just last week, trying but failing to just chill out, and visiting la famiglia (both in crime and blood). It had been eight years since I went, but it was still easy as pie to slot in and feel at home. I also did the "Chinese bus" trip from New York to DC, which made me turgid with middle-class guilt about labour, unions, safety. All because I didn't pay top dollar on the Greyhound instead.
While visiting my uncle (real uncle, not "uncle" in the African sense) in Maryland, he asked about work, how I was doing, etc - as uncles are wont to do. "I love the BBC", he said. "But". But what, uncle? "But why do all the stories about Africa involve animals and doom and gloom?" This is a tough one to defend, especially because often I work on the Africa desk. Also because I don't like the Dark-Continent-as-one-huge-Safari pre-colonial view of the continent. Still, please don't send me any complaints about misspellings, pronunciations, or anything else to do with the BBC.
People want to hear good news about Africa when the truth is that good news isn't reported about anywhere else. The nature of news is such that it's about what's happening now. "Man scoops dog's poo from pavement" isn't as newsy as "man bites dog." For all the sins attributed to the BBC, it does do is fair share of "good news" stories. It's just that it does them in the context of current affair documentaries. I've just seen one on BBC World: Survivor's Guide - The Nurse Next Door. Set in northern Nigeria, it displays the kind of community healthcare needed to sustain and enhance the wellbeing of Africa. Rural areas are too often marginalised in planning in Africa, and the documentary shows there are solutions. There's something of the Cuban healthcare system about it, a touch of Fidel. Watch below (hopefully):
While visiting my uncle (real uncle, not "uncle" in the African sense) in Maryland, he asked about work, how I was doing, etc - as uncles are wont to do. "I love the BBC", he said. "But". But what, uncle? "But why do all the stories about Africa involve animals and doom and gloom?" This is a tough one to defend, especially because often I work on the Africa desk. Also because I don't like the Dark-Continent-as-one-huge-Safari pre-colonial view of the continent. Still, please don't send me any complaints about misspellings, pronunciations, or anything else to do with the BBC.
People want to hear good news about Africa when the truth is that good news isn't reported about anywhere else. The nature of news is such that it's about what's happening now. "Man scoops dog's poo from pavement" isn't as newsy as "man bites dog." For all the sins attributed to the BBC, it does do is fair share of "good news" stories. It's just that it does them in the context of current affair documentaries. I've just seen one on BBC World: Survivor's Guide - The Nurse Next Door. Set in northern Nigeria, it displays the kind of community healthcare needed to sustain and enhance the wellbeing of Africa. Rural areas are too often marginalised in planning in Africa, and the documentary shows there are solutions. There's something of the Cuban healthcare system about it, a touch of Fidel. Watch below (hopefully):
Sunday, August 05, 2007
As I said I would
I did say that I would try and find a discussion on media coverage of Africa. This discussion was between the Nigerian Guardian's Reuben Abati, and BBC World Service programme, The World Today presenter, Max Pearson. Broadcast February 16. Before you get het up about the abrupt end, there were time constraints. Five and a half minutes on an item is a lot, believe me.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Caine Prize
For some bizarre reason my titles aren't working. Anyhoo, this year's Caine Prize has gone to Uganda writer, Monica Arac de Nyeko. The real news though, is the subject matter - a lesbian affair. It'll be interesting to see what African media say about the award.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Where anything goes
I saw Last King of Scotland last week, and saw Babel last night. I now know that I'm fed up of doom and gloom. The next time I go out, I want to watch a chick flick, maybe something with Lindsay Lohan. I'd like to leave my brain at the door, because it seems that when I don't, I watch these films with great unease. So much for slice of reality, I'd like an unreal Hollywood ending, a good chuckle.
The problem with watching a film like Last King of Scotland, is that you know how it ends. Just as when watching Shooting Dogs or Hotel Rwanda, we all know what eventually happens. We all know that the cheers and exhilaration that greeted the charismatic Idi Amin's rise to power will soon be severely tempered by the babarous side of Amin's persona. Without knowing anyting about post-colonial Ugandan history, it's always been that way in Africa. Africans ove the next regime more than the last. So as the characters all crack jokes, full of jovial asides, patting each other on the back in revolutionary solidarity, I sit as an audience member, tense, waiting for the inevitable to happen.
No more. I had nightmares after watching Last King of Scotland, thinking that militias were coming after me. That kind of thing just isn't good for my constitution. One reviewer on the radio call Africa's place in films "the place where anything goes". You have government brutality, government corruption, corporate corruption writ large (Constant Gardener), lawlessness. There is no redemption for the African. And to add insult to injury, Africa is still the white man's burden. Be it Constant Gardener, Blood Diamond (Dicaprio's a Rhodie though), Last King of Scotland: only the white man wants to save Africa.
Go to Africa, and you can shoot a film with everything in it. I think I've reached saturation point. I want to watch a comedy set in Africa, a romance set in Africa. Enough of the brutal dictators, genocides, corrupt governments, corrupt people, let's see a human story. Let's see a lightening of the dark continent.
Last King of Scotland is still a good story. Forest Whitaker should win an Oscar for it. His protrayal of Amin as a charming, yet brutal man is earth shattering. You can feel him lovingly clasping you in his bossom, yet you could still be crushed in that same clasp. It's a frightening place to be. The director, Kevin MacDonald captures 70s Africa with a beauty I haven't seen before. This was a continent full of hope. The decrepit thieving postcolonial presidents had been replaced by idealistic military regimes - so everyone thought. Only for the yoke of military rule to crush the spirit of a continent even more forcefully. The music is before my time, but still nostalgic. Buy it!
Babel. Babel. Babel. Alejandro González Iñárritu's last film in the "death trilogy" (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, the first two), is a painful film. There are moments of touching poignance, such as the wedding scene in Mexico (they were spraying money!), the peeing scene (watch to see what I mean), even the knickerless terrorism (no spoilers here). But none of these detract from the pain of miscommunication. How often have you travelled somewhere and you have trouble explaining to the waiter that you'd like the beef well done, not slightly mooing? Now think of a life and death situation, think of preconceived prejudices, and you have Babel. We all spoke the same language, we tried to build a tower to the heavens, God scattered us for our audacity, and now we miscommunicate in a variety of ways.
The doom and gloom is enough to almost make me want to watch a Nollywood home video, but not quite.
The problem with watching a film like Last King of Scotland, is that you know how it ends. Just as when watching Shooting Dogs or Hotel Rwanda, we all know what eventually happens. We all know that the cheers and exhilaration that greeted the charismatic Idi Amin's rise to power will soon be severely tempered by the babarous side of Amin's persona. Without knowing anyting about post-colonial Ugandan history, it's always been that way in Africa. Africans ove the next regime more than the last. So as the characters all crack jokes, full of jovial asides, patting each other on the back in revolutionary solidarity, I sit as an audience member, tense, waiting for the inevitable to happen.
No more. I had nightmares after watching Last King of Scotland, thinking that militias were coming after me. That kind of thing just isn't good for my constitution. One reviewer on the radio call Africa's place in films "the place where anything goes". You have government brutality, government corruption, corporate corruption writ large (Constant Gardener), lawlessness. There is no redemption for the African. And to add insult to injury, Africa is still the white man's burden. Be it Constant Gardener, Blood Diamond (Dicaprio's a Rhodie though), Last King of Scotland: only the white man wants to save Africa.
Go to Africa, and you can shoot a film with everything in it. I think I've reached saturation point. I want to watch a comedy set in Africa, a romance set in Africa. Enough of the brutal dictators, genocides, corrupt governments, corrupt people, let's see a human story. Let's see a lightening of the dark continent.
Last King of Scotland is still a good story. Forest Whitaker should win an Oscar for it. His protrayal of Amin as a charming, yet brutal man is earth shattering. You can feel him lovingly clasping you in his bossom, yet you could still be crushed in that same clasp. It's a frightening place to be. The director, Kevin MacDonald captures 70s Africa with a beauty I haven't seen before. This was a continent full of hope. The decrepit thieving postcolonial presidents had been replaced by idealistic military regimes - so everyone thought. Only for the yoke of military rule to crush the spirit of a continent even more forcefully. The music is before my time, but still nostalgic. Buy it!
Babel. Babel. Babel. Alejandro González Iñárritu's last film in the "death trilogy" (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, the first two), is a painful film. There are moments of touching poignance, such as the wedding scene in Mexico (they were spraying money!), the peeing scene (watch to see what I mean), even the knickerless terrorism (no spoilers here). But none of these detract from the pain of miscommunication. How often have you travelled somewhere and you have trouble explaining to the waiter that you'd like the beef well done, not slightly mooing? Now think of a life and death situation, think of preconceived prejudices, and you have Babel. We all spoke the same language, we tried to build a tower to the heavens, God scattered us for our audacity, and now we miscommunicate in a variety of ways.
The doom and gloom is enough to almost make me want to watch a Nollywood home video, but not quite.
Monday, January 15, 2007
In an ideal world
In an ideal world, every pregnancy would be planned, and no foetuses would be aborted. Seventeen year old girls wouldn't hesistate to tell their mothers that they're not the virgins their mothers think they are, and that in fact, they're carrying a living being within them. All men who get women pregnant would accept responsibility and do what it takes to raise a child. They wouldn't threaten to deny paternity, and they wouldn't abandon their pregnant young partners.
In an ideal world, sexually active couple who don't want children will use contraception. The pill, condoms, IUDs, diaphragms, would all be used. In an ideal world, every pregnancy would be wanted. In an ideal world, there wouldn't be any need for abortions.
In an ideal world butterflies would skip the caterpillar phase, and tadpoles would remain cute, and not transform into frogs. But this isn't an ideal world, is it?
On last week's Crossing Continents, Rosie Goldsmith goes to Ghana to hear harrowing stories of women who've had back street abortions. The first girl she talks to is Gloria, bright and articulate. There is no reason in the world why someone like that should have a back street abortion. I don't think anyone in this world "believes" in abortion. It's just that some of these stories make the mind boggle. Please listen.
In an ideal world, sexually active couple who don't want children will use contraception. The pill, condoms, IUDs, diaphragms, would all be used. In an ideal world, every pregnancy would be wanted. In an ideal world, there wouldn't be any need for abortions.
In an ideal world butterflies would skip the caterpillar phase, and tadpoles would remain cute, and not transform into frogs. But this isn't an ideal world, is it?
On last week's Crossing Continents, Rosie Goldsmith goes to Ghana to hear harrowing stories of women who've had back street abortions. The first girl she talks to is Gloria, bright and articulate. There is no reason in the world why someone like that should have a back street abortion. I don't think anyone in this world "believes" in abortion. It's just that some of these stories make the mind boggle. Please listen.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Thank you, Oprah?
No doubt you guys have heard of Oprah Winfrey's "philanthropy" - her building and supervision of a £20m school in Cape Town. I'm not quite sure what to make of this news. I should be happy that someone is investing in education on the African continent, which has the lowest literacy rates in the world. But it's also a shame that whenever someone makes what seems like a generous gesture, one has to search for the pinches of salt that inevitably come with it.
I'm very keen on African Americans rediscovering Africa. It is, after all, the only place on the planet where they won't be minorities. A place they can call their own. Home. A country like Nigeria should be the Mecca, the Medina, and the Jerusalem for people who want to dig into their past. If you look at where most of the slaves originated, they came from the western and central coast of Africa - from Senegal down to Angola. A small number were taken from south-east coast of the continent, where modern day Mozambique is.
African Americans who want to bond with the land of their ancestors should go to these areas. But they all seem to gravitate towards South Africa, hence Oprah starting a school just outside Joburg. I seem to remember that Will Smith was house-hunting in South Africa, not too long ago. When Dave Chappelle had his troubles, he ran away to South Africa. Even those leftist militant rappers, Dead Prez, who one might have thought more egalitarian, went to SA first.
What is this obsession with SA, which they have very few ties to? There are two reasons. The civil rights movement in the US has parallels with the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. People of African origin were fighting for fair treatment in both places, one was as a minority population, and the other as a majority population. This kinship is understandable, the blood, sweat, and tears of wrestling for freedom is enough to bind these two peoples together. I hope this is where it ends, and it isn't a case of brotherhood in being victms. A "both our lives are crap" mentality.
The second reason is more grating than the first. These people choose SA because it is convenient. This a country that visitors describe as Europe in Africa, another continent, developed country. African Americans who choose South Africa can eat their cake and have it too. They can do they whole "back to the Motherland" thing, but still live in New York city and Hamptons luxury. They don't have to deal with the reality of Africa as it is today - full of war, poverty, starvation, disease, flood, desertification, deforestation, corruption. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse live in Africa, they just visit the other places.
Why would African Americans want to experience all this in foreign climes when they can just go to any number of their neighbourhoods. Many of you will remember a scene in Farenheit 9/11, where Michael Moore goes to his hometown of Flint in Michigan and speaks to some young people. One of them says something along the lines of, "many of these places (in Iraq) look like our neighbourhoods, and there isn't even a war here." SA gives its African American visitors a tolerable sense of what Africa is like.
South Africa has one of the highest levels of literacy in Africa, it isn't the country most desperately in need of Oprah's charity. This year, the South African government spent £6bn on education, and spends a higher percentage of its GDP on education than China and India. £20m for just one school is admirable, but seems to be excessive. It appears even more excessive when one consider's that such a budget would educate huge swathes of the continent. I agree that the price is probably a weak argument, but it still sits uncomfortably with me.
I'm very keen on African Americans rediscovering Africa. It is, after all, the only place on the planet where they won't be minorities. A place they can call their own. Home. A country like Nigeria should be the Mecca, the Medina, and the Jerusalem for people who want to dig into their past. If you look at where most of the slaves originated, they came from the western and central coast of Africa - from Senegal down to Angola. A small number were taken from south-east coast of the continent, where modern day Mozambique is.
African Americans who want to bond with the land of their ancestors should go to these areas. But they all seem to gravitate towards South Africa, hence Oprah starting a school just outside Joburg. I seem to remember that Will Smith was house-hunting in South Africa, not too long ago. When Dave Chappelle had his troubles, he ran away to South Africa. Even those leftist militant rappers, Dead Prez, who one might have thought more egalitarian, went to SA first.
What is this obsession with SA, which they have very few ties to? There are two reasons. The civil rights movement in the US has parallels with the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. People of African origin were fighting for fair treatment in both places, one was as a minority population, and the other as a majority population. This kinship is understandable, the blood, sweat, and tears of wrestling for freedom is enough to bind these two peoples together. I hope this is where it ends, and it isn't a case of brotherhood in being victms. A "both our lives are crap" mentality.
The second reason is more grating than the first. These people choose SA because it is convenient. This a country that visitors describe as Europe in Africa, another continent, developed country. African Americans who choose South Africa can eat their cake and have it too. They can do they whole "back to the Motherland" thing, but still live in New York city and Hamptons luxury. They don't have to deal with the reality of Africa as it is today - full of war, poverty, starvation, disease, flood, desertification, deforestation, corruption. The Horsemen of the Apocalypse live in Africa, they just visit the other places.
Why would African Americans want to experience all this in foreign climes when they can just go to any number of their neighbourhoods. Many of you will remember a scene in Farenheit 9/11, where Michael Moore goes to his hometown of Flint in Michigan and speaks to some young people. One of them says something along the lines of, "many of these places (in Iraq) look like our neighbourhoods, and there isn't even a war here." SA gives its African American visitors a tolerable sense of what Africa is like.
South Africa has one of the highest levels of literacy in Africa, it isn't the country most desperately in need of Oprah's charity. This year, the South African government spent £6bn on education, and spends a higher percentage of its GDP on education than China and India. £20m for just one school is admirable, but seems to be excessive. It appears even more excessive when one consider's that such a budget would educate huge swathes of the continent. I agree that the price is probably a weak argument, but it still sits uncomfortably with me.
After all is said and done, Oprah is helping her Africa, but her methods and motives stick in the throat.
Interview with Gavin Esler on Newsnight:
Interview with Gavin Esler on Newsnight:
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Africa: Open For Business
In the continued spirit of the season of good cheer, I've put up the documentary, Africa: Open for Business. It was voted fourth most popular documentary on BBC World this year. The stories come from three countries, Ruff 'n' Tumble in Nigeria, HFC Bank in Ghana, 1000 Cups Coffee in Uganda. They're hopeful and inspiring, and point to the entrepreneurial spirit which could wake Africa fom its slumber.
Bloody Google Video won't host the video because of copyright infringement. I'm performing a public service here, who the hell watches BBC World? I'll see what I can do.
Here goes... The revolution will be televised!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Bloody Google Video won't host the video because of copyright infringement. I'm performing a public service here, who the hell watches BBC World? I'll see what I can do.
Here goes... The revolution will be televised!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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