The week in Blogs: Commentary on christianity in Nigeria, the aid industry, democracy in Kenya and referendums in Algeria
Confessions of the mind - ( http://confessionsofnneka.blogspot.com/)
has an interesting piece on Christianity and Africans with particular reference to Nigeria, which criticises the trend of commercialising religion and the growth of churches on the continent and “the hypocrites who come to church to see and be seen”, though I cannot agree with her comment about women “luring catholic priests into committing sin”.
"Then a couple of months later you see they have built a roof to ward off merciless sun, then a year later, they have an actual building, the pastor is looking fatter, the congregation more presentable. But the pastor is still preaching give to the lord for he is good. Next thing the pastor is driving a hummer or Mercedes truck fully Air Conditioned, Suits by Armani, shoes by Prada, monogrammed hanky, house in Lekki and still telling people, who have come with their whole families on a bike to give unto to the lord and still collecting church funds from these people and using himself as an example of how the lord blessed his life because he was “giving to the church”".
African Bullets & Honey - African Bullets & Honey (http://bulletsandhoney.blogspot.com/2005/09/why-western-visions-of-utop…) believes that “fighting the aid industry in its many forms is one of the great moral crusades of our time” and I have to agree with him on this. He draws on an article by William Easterly writing in “Foreign Policy” magazine which discusses the utopianism of “economists, politicians, and rock stars in rich countries have pleaded for debt relief and aid for the world’s poorest countries“.
Congo Watch - Congo Watch (http://congowatch.blogspot.com/) reports on the recently discovered remains believed to be those of Congolese and Rwandan Hutus killed by Rwandan soldiers in 1996.
Kenyan Democracy Project - Kenyan Democracy Project (http://demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com) has a message to the Kenyan “Postponent Proponents” - “Postpone your Duplicity”.
“This essay is going to suggest that the “Tuhairishe Kura ya Maoni” aficionados are nothing more than closeted Yes supporters who have developed running stomachs in the face of the Hapana avalanche that threatens to bury many of the parliamentary turncoats in humiliating defeating in 2007- if not sooner“.
Black Star Journal - (http://popeyeafrica.blogspot.com/2005/09/amnestyisia.html) reports on the recent referendum held in Algeria for a “Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation”.
Allegedly 97% of voters approved the project with a reported 79% turnout... though the opposition and journalists dispute the latter figure ...The opposition called for a boycott of the plan.
The charter is controversial as it absolves the Algerian military from any role in the disappearance of thousands of Algerians during the civil war.
As Nigeria celebrates its 45th year of independence, Black Looks - Black Looks (http://okra soup.typepad.com/black_looks) reports on the recent arrest of the Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha in London for money laundering.
The whole sordid shameful saga has undermined the ongoing call for 50% derivation of oil monies to the Niger Delta states of which Bayelsa is one and the calls of self-determination and autonomy.