Not so long ago, just about a hundred or so years ago, walking around bare-chested even for women in interior Africa was considered normal. It would be much frowned upon today. The culture of female genital mutilation was pretty much very okay, even among people who would consider themselves very morally upright if they lived today. Now, such a practice would be considered barbaric, perhaps even among some of the worst evils in a society. In medieval Europe during the dark ages, suspected witches and wizards were hunted down like wild animals and lynched, probably hanged after a show trial if the authorities wanted to make it seem like the rule of law had been observed. Today in Europe, sorcerers are as considered mythical just as mythical as Loch Ness or vampires. Those few cases perhaps illustrate the dynamic nature of culture, and the fact that change is inevitable in the long term no matter how hard it’s resisted, or how right or “true”   the things in question might ha

I recall watching the world cup and later Africa’s Cup of Nation Tournaments some few years ago. I could not help but wonder. Something feels so deeply embedded in me that I actually feel some countries in Africa are not actually authentically African. Reason you ask? Skin color.  Somehow, I could not identify with Algeria as Africa,s representative in the worlds Cup when all other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa got eliminated. I supported them, half heartedly and without as much hype.  I simply had no choice. Sadly, this is not a problem with me alone. As we watched Algeria and Tunisia get beaten in the African equivalent of Worlds Cup by sub Saharan Africa countries with my friends, it was overwhelming joy. Later, comments made by the Tunisian federation echoed the same sentiments I have, rather confirmed. Perhaps it brought to us a feeling of pride for our kind (the darker skinned of Africa) or perhaps its a seed that was sown a long time ago by our fathers and forefat

  Sadly, no country can claim to have ever won the war on terror. Because unfortunately, no one even has an idea on what terrorism is. To most people, Islam is another word for terrorism. needless to say, that is a fallacy in its entirety. only until that notion has been eradicated will our innocent soldiers brainwashed to think they are actually fighting for a just cause, will stop dying in Somalia.  What is this terrorism? Freethinkers like me will tell you that it is a western invented idea designed to oppress one religion. I do not mean to be naive or indifferent to the many crimes people purporting to be staunch Muslims have perpetrated, but in that situation, after a long period of being treated second class, anger finally builds and is manifested in violence, because in no other way can they be listened to. Ask the Palestinians who have been living as refugees in the land of their forefathers, yet even we the common people are so accustomed to western propaganda that every

  The talk of democracy is one issue that burgles my mind most. Apparently some people sat somewhere and decided that somehow decided the perfect world was a world that is run democratically. That therefore, it is okay for the majority to dictate their opinion on the minority and then the majority to again be dictated by the minority they choose to 'represent' them in the positions of power. Of course for anyone who cares to think beyond what the big shots of the world say is r ight, democracy is a sham. It is dictatorship in disguise. Worse still, democracy is taken by the people who are not in the government to mean that when an election is held, they must win, and if they don't, then its rigged. Of course that is to say the least naively fallacious. When we agreed to the constitution and the democracy it represents, then it so goes that we also agreed to have our voices suppressed if we belong to the minority. Qaddafi, arguably one of the wisest Afr

When European colonists landed in Africa, it was all about one thing, grab as much territory as you could and make it yours, by any means necessary. Even before the Berlin Conference, most of African land was already divided among the European and conflicts between them and the natives of the land they had now made theirs were taking shape The violent collisions pitted the well-equipped, well organized and highly disciplined armies of the Europeans with the too often weak armies of people of the African continent. They were no match. More often than not, entire African armies were annihilated wholesomely and their people subdued almost as fast as the battles began. Famous Anglo-French write Hilaire Bellocr even confidently wrote that “Whatever happens, we have the Maxim gun, and they have not” Well, except that the Maxim gun sometimes failed terribly when it faced the unbridled determination, bravery and the sheer spirit of Africans.   Downright unexpected upsets sometimes to