About that Nigerian terrorist: context, context

There has been violence and skirmishes in Nigeria, but most of these have been battles for resources and not on ideological religious differences thus radicalized Muslims as a security threat to Nigeria and the West is a non sequitur. (I would appreciate if Nigerians reading this would chip in.)

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Re-membering Kenya: how effective witness recollections?

I was reading over the holidays and fell upon this. It is part of some research I am doing on how much we can rely on the testimony of older people, especially now in Kenya as there is a rush to have them put down on paper, and film their recounting of the events of the pre and post independence years before they die.

I am also thinking of this along the lines of how far back ought we to go with efforts to bring justice and closure to the victims of past rights violations.

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Reframing the Nigerian Terrorist Debate

In the last few days alone, more than forty people have died of terror attacks, many of them Muslim and of course, non western. However, there has been little outcry, instead we'd rather spend hours talking about one foiled attack. Where are all the intelligence agencies cooperating with Pakistan on who the terrorist blood suckers within their borders are? Where is the tightening of scrutiny of extremists flighting from the west to congregate in Yemen and Somalia? None, Somali lives aren't worth the effort at prevention. Only American lives are good enough.

[Read more on why the global war on terror has to be reframed ...]

Arsenal 3 Aston Villa 0

This was the best performance from Arsene Wenger's young team this term. This was an Arsenal that demands respect, and in time, given the youth of the squad, its confirmed potential and Wenger's pledge to keep them together, this may soon be an Arsenal that demands veneration. [Read more...  ]

Mobile Zanzibar

Documentary on mobile technology in Zanzibar.

Oil price: where next?

Since February, the oil price has made a strong recovery to around $80, retracing about half of the losses of last winter. All of this activity can be explained by inelastic demand interacting with inelastic supply, albeit that OPEC spare capacity may be switched on and off at the will of OPEC countries, mainly Saudi Arabia.

So how can this help predict what the future might hold?

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What the Mau Crisis Says About Kenyans

The tragedy of this country, that which I believe we must first contend before any meanignful reform, is that we only pay lip service to our laws, and to human rights. Only when it is convenient do we pipe up in defence of the weak and lowly, which is why the human rights industry has found more important work to do at this minute than defend the Mau peasants.

That said, I was encouraged to see some articles in the Sunday papers that made clear that respecting the human rights of the squatters and settlers, does not mean tolerating continued destruction of the forest.

More from Stephen Wainaina.

Africa's Media Explosion

African immigrant entrepreneurs are increasingly taking advantage of low cost of starting online media to launch Web sites facilitating discussions between the Diaspora and the continent. Although the Internet has been a bridge between other immigrants and their home countries, connecting African immigrants to the continent has been slow because of underdeveloped infrastructure.

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Why Curbing Corruption is our Collective Responsibilty

The example of our country's collective fail abound. Our willingness to compromise especially on the issue on corruption is legendary. Our people--yes people-- are corrupt because I refuse to make a distinction between those whose set up the table with corruption and those who dine on it.


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Cremation: A Sensible Option

Minda Magero makes an economic case for cremation for Kenyans in the Diaspora. What are the cultural consequences of a decision like this?

Mau is a matter of national security, Mr. Hajji

The Mau fund-raiser brought together orphans of what is generally seen as Kenya's conservative political wing. From Melbourne to London, Ontario to D.C and everywhere else, conservatives are folks who are supposed to score high on national security and put the fear of God in seemingly spineless moderates and leftists. What Prime Minister Raila Odinga, traditionally viewed as center-left, appears to have cast himself as the precise opposite on this subject upsets the apple cart for those with a keen eye for policy-based politics.

Jesse Masai has words for Yusuf Hajji.