Circumspecte

On April 15, 2014 an estimated 200+ girls at the Chibok Government School in Borno state of Northern Nigeria were abducted by armed militiamen suspected of being members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram. The girls had just returned to school to take their final physics exam following school closures across the region after targeted attacks by Boko Haram. Almost 20 days after the incident, over 200 16- to 18-year old girls are still missing, with about 50 escaping and returning to tell their harrowing tale. Accounts from nearby village inhabitants, who witnessed a mass wedding taking place indicate that the girls may likely have been "married off" to the militiamen, have left parents and relatives at wits end. There are also fears that the girls  may have been trafficked into neighboring Chad and/or Cameroun. Their parents received this information when they ventured into the wilderness with bows and arrows in search of their daughters. Two weeks after their dau...

Hi Folks! It's been a month since my last blog and a lot has certainly happened within the span of those four weeks! Of course, it's gonna be hard to recap everything that went down, so instead I'll zone in on key events in the sphere of African democracy . As you probably know, 2012 is a big year for elections in Africa. There are over 10 presidential elections slated to take place and you can imagine how antsy the whole continent is. Elections are somewhat of a litmus test for democracy and overall advancement in many African countries, and both politicians and citizens tend to be on edge when it's time to head to the polls. So, what's happened so far? Well, we need not look further than the West African region where two neighboring countries - both with presidential elections this year - have embarked on strikingly different paths. Senegal: Le Teranga, Victorious & Proud Remember how Youssou Ndour was running for president? Yeah. Well, the Senegale...

It's day three of the year 2012. Already! First off, I wish each and every one of you a great year ahead. May you have enough of everything you need to achieve your biggest dream and highest potential, and may you never want for the love, support, strength and confidence to get to where you want to be. Second, Youssou Ndour - world renowned Senegalese musician - just announced his candidature for Senegal's presidential election on February 26, 2012! I'll admit, the first person I thought of when I read the news was Wyclef Jean who put in a similar bid for Haiti's presidential seat in 2010. But let's not dwell on that. It's a new year and if the recent past has been any indication, it's that anything is possible. Besides, unlike Jean who didn't even meet the constitutional requirement of having lived in the country for at least five years, Ndour has been very visible on the local scene - mainly through his music - and is also a UN goodwill ambassado...

The very thought of having to adapt to the place one calls home is quite bizarre. But that’s exactly what I’m going through right now. Before heading back to Ghana I was both excited and apprehensive. Excited because I’d get to really spend time with family and friends and catch up after all these years. Apprehensive cos, well, I’d been away so long and I’d changed. I wondered whether I would (re)find my place. More scary was the thought of whether other people changing would end up being a good thing or not. Would my friends still be my friends? Would they like who I am now? Would we have the same interests? Do they have space for me in their “new” lives? Just your typical five-year-old –goes-to-school-for-the-first-time kinda questions. The verdict? So far so good. While I haven’t met up with all my friends just yet, I have reinstated contact with a good number of them, and thank heavens, so far there’ve been no first-time-in-ages awkward moments on the phone. We seemed to slip rig...