Congratulations: South Sudan

I wrote this last year with the hope to release it on South Sudan's first birthday but even I couldn't imagine things going as bad as they did. A Part 2 of this post will follow but until then, read this and think of how much things have changed. 


I'm half Nigerian. Those of you who know Nigerians, will know that their children's names are often literally translated into sentences which describes the circumstances in which they were born. I will call South Sudan, Abeke. It is Yoruba and translates as "We begged for her to caress her". Africa's newest child was definitely begged for and she is a testament to the African spirit of perseverance.

It is rare that people from the African continent have something to smile and cheer about. Except for the South African World Cup there haven't been many positives penetrating Western media. I can think of a few nice things - Ghana discovered and tapped oil, Nigeria had genuinely free and fair elections, Senegal got a massive statue just for the sake of it! North Africa have managed to depose all but one of their supreme rulers. South Sudan gaining independence after years of conflict and months of preparation trumps them all. It convinces us that even the deepest of conflict such as those we have had to witness in East Africa, can come to a happy ending. It tells us that in the face of drought and famine and whatever else is attacking the Horn of Africa, people can find comfort in a new identity, a sense of being and true equality.

But it isn't all plain sailing for South Sudan. They will struggle immensely. Most African countries can compare themselves - at independence - to other countries and claim that they were in fact more advanced than some of the world's current leading economies. One I always hear is Ghana vs Singapore or South Korea. South Sudan won't have the pleasure of looking back to "the glory days". They lack the infrastructure. For example, South Africa had to lend it's Air Force services for the independence celebrations because South Sudan doesn't have an Air Force, neither do they have roads or well-established schools. They don't have much infrastructure because Khartoum didn't invest in them when the country was whole. So they'll have to build the country from scratch which will be a feat and a half considering they might not get much help from the AU or wider community. The IMF encourage countries to seek private foreign direct investment, but given years of war and destruction, poor life expectancy and low literacy levels South Sudan won't have much to attract multinationals - apart from the fact that the eyes of the world are on them and in support of anyone willing to help the country. A good example of a successful split will be the Koreas and the juxtaposition of South Korea's wealth against North Korea's poverty.

South Sudan's story may not match South Korea's entirely but it has the possibility to be the new shining star on the continent. The world's newest country can boast of three things as it begins it's new life. The first is a children's hospital, which is so necessary right now given the droughts and resulting famine attacking East Africa and particularly its children. The second, is national unity. It will of course be a struggle to condition people to seeing themselves as fully South Sudanese rather than Sudanese but this is an independence that was pushed for from the grassroots and so I expect that encouraging communitarian ideals should not be so hard. The final, asset that the new country can boast is that it is rich in oil. Currently, the oil is under South Sudan but tapped and refined in Sudan and so there will need to be a deal between the two countries concerning who actually gains from the revenue of the oil. I would expect that eventually South Sudan will become a truly thriving independent country through tapping and controlling their own resources and only then will we have something to really celebrate.

A win on both my houses

Sarkodie from Ghana and Wizkid from Nigeria jointly won the Best International Act Africa in the BET Awards.

Congrats to both of them.

BUT. BET needs to fix up. What is this joint award bull that they keep pulling? When the most popular champions of Black Entertainment can't even show African talent the respect that they would show European or American talent, it's a sad day for Africans in the West. Sarkodie is frankly good enough to win the award outrightly, and Wizkid is good enough to win it outrightly too. Both artists are making it big off their own back and making diaspora communities proud of our heritage. What BET did last year and again this year is something I've expected from MTV or any awards show geared at not making other "races" uncomfortable with the idea that we don't need to be placed in a box and limited in our achievement or style.

The joint award in my opinion shows that BET doesn't rate African artists still. So I will tell Sarkodie and Wizkid and the other nominees: when you rearrange your awards cabinet to fit the BET award on, remember to keep your local awards front and centre because they come with a real appreciation of your work; the GMAs, the MAMAs, the Kora Awards and 4syte Awards, they are all worth so much more than a BET award because they will truly reverence you as you deserve. Even MOBO Awards are less condescending.

Ghana's Constitution Review: Presidents to pay tax

So the Constitution Review Committee was established by President Mills in 2010 to look at the strength and weaknesses of the 1992 constitution.

They've decided that Presidents should pay tax and this makes me, and I'm sure many other people, very happy.

I don't actually know how much the President earns but I know that Presidents don't pay for anything at all so maybe they should contribute to the state coffers.

I would also like the Committee to remove the clause that makes certain people immune from prosecution for crimes committed in the 1970s and 1980s.

Obviously it's too late to suggest any more alterations but if you are Ghanaian what else would you like changed?

Time to patent Kente

The US Ambassdor to Ghana has reminded the government to quickly patent Kente cloth to protect against the devaluing of the textile art from piracy. I agree.

I thought about doing it myself a number of years ago after learning that a woman had managed to patent a certain tartan design, but alas my youthful laziness meant I never got round to it.

imagine this in black

My friend came back from Africa with a kente print Africa map on a black shirt once [like the image on the right but in black]. I asked him if he had been to Ghana and if he had liked it. He looked puzzled and didn't understand why on earth I would be asking him about Ghana, since he had been to Africa only once and it certainly wasn't Ghana. Of course I was equally confused as to his reaction to my question since he was the one wearing a kente design on his top. Turns out he had gone to South Africa and bought the t-shirt there. Southern African textiles don't resemble kente in any way but still South Africa can incorporate the kente into their already flourishing tourist industry, at the detriment of Ghana's own efforts.

That is to say, if the kente is one of Ghana's USPs and South Africa trade in it without paying royalties, then what need does a tourist have to go to Ghana to buy a kente inspired piece like the one on the side, if they can make South Africa their one-stop-shop for all things African.

So when ambassadors suggest the swift  patent of kente, I think, why has no one (in government) thought about this before and how long will it take them to do it?

Until then, get your kente inspired goods while they're still cheap.

In Manchester We Face Forward.

My post are always so political so here is some light-hearted arty stuff for you special people!

In Manchester until September there is an exhibition named We Face Forward (from Kwame Nkrumah speech about being non-aligned). It exhibits African art. Really cool. I don't wanna feed you with too much because I don't want to spoil it for ya if you get the chance to be around Manchester. Below are a few photos I took. Enjoy.

I haven't been able to get round to all the venues so I'll add to my collection of photos in July when I return for graduation.