In my interactions with the youth, I have discovered that we are in a very serious situation in this country. The average Nigerian youth is not independent, but their mind is focused on conformity and adherence to the rules. If the youthful minds of our country are busy doing what they have been told, then who will challenge the status quo?

In September, there were high hopes in some parts of Swaziland’s civil society and democratic movement that a dialogue with the county’s absolute monarch King Mswati III was on the table. Not least because of pressure from the Commonwealth, the USA and the EU. Three months later no such meeting has taken place and that hope seems all but shattered.

Self-described Africa scholar Gerald Caplan’s recent praise of Canada’s relations with Uganda is superficial and misleading. He ignores Canada’s support for imperialism in East Africa that goes back to the days of the slave trade.

There is renewed agitation in Nigeria to actualize the break-away republic of Biafra. While this demand is unrealistic in many ways, it points to an urgent need to address the unresolved question of Nigeria’s nationhood once and for all.

It is a matter of international solidarity to side with the oppressed, advocating their rights and thereby also promoting fundamental human rights universally. Namibia itself benefitted from such solidarity in its struggle for freedom. So how come the country is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court?