Around 50 members of Britain’s Conservative party have been in Rwanda for the past few weeks - and no, it seems they weren’t there to pick up tips about how to win elections with 93% of the vote.
This is the fourth year running that Tory MPs, activists and party members have flown to Rwanda to take part in something that has had “a profound effect on the Conservative Party,” according to this year’s organiser, Stephen Crabb MP.

It appears Nigeria is entering what would could be called a period of insolvencies. That may surprise you, coming so soon after all the talk of multi-billion dollar budgets and junkets “to cheer up the boys” for the now-ended football World Cup in South Africa.

Many Nigerians cannot understand this new vocabulary of insolvency because they still swear by the gospel, preached in the 1970s by the then military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, that Nigeria’s problem was not money but how to spend it.
The first government entity to be hit by this financial crisis was the national petroleum corporation, which manages the country’s 2 million barrels a day crude oil production.

Air Nigeria, one of Africa’s leading airlines has further expanded its regional African services with the inauguration of a new office in Congo-Brazzaville on Monday 9 August 2010.

The ceremony that took place at Restaurant Saveur was attended by a host of dignitaries and partners of Air Nigeria.
Inaugurating the new office, the Deputy President of Air Nigeria, Godwin Izeh Unyamou, said the investment falls in line with the airlines’ network expansion strategy to further extend its services, thus strengthening Air Nigeria’s presence in the continent in general and the West and Central African region in particular.

63 years after independence, India from all indications is heading for the top, among the world’s greatest economies. Presently the 4th largest economy in the world, India is expected to move to the third position by 2014.
Indians in Cameroon celebrated the 63rd independence anniversary of their country in Douala on 15 August during which the Honorary Consul of India to Cameroon outlined his country’s achievements.

The United Nations Human Rights Officer, Robert Kotchani has said that the United Nations is not a super-power to be able to prevent dangerous situations from escalating into violence. The peace keeping mission of the United Nations, he averred, is to persuade opposing parties to settle their differences at the conference table rather than on the battle field, and help restore peace when conflict occurs.

He was speaking during a one-day workshop organised by the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa, in Yaounde, 9 July 2010. In his paper, titled Human Rights and Elections, Robert Kotchani succinctly brought out the relationship between human rights and elections. He quoted from various Articles of United Nations Universal Declarations of Human Rights and from African Charter on Human and People’s Rights to buttress his point.

He argued that human rights and elections are related because they both have something in common with a democratic system. He said democracy implies respect for human rights and the putting in place of a good democratic process presupposes the existence of free, fair and transparent elections.

Accordingly, the United Nations Regional Representative of the Centre for Human Rights Maarat Kohonen Sheriff in her opening statement highlighted the Centre’s strategic thematic priority areas for the 2010-2011 bienniums. She said that the centre is resolute in its drive to promote and protect human rights and genuine democracy in the Central African sub-region. They hope to achieve this through reinforcing capacities of national human rights organisations, electoral commissions and other stakeholders. She said the seminar is a follow-up to the one that took place in Mount Febe from 6 to 8 July 2010.

Meanwhile, the Vice President of Elections Cameroon, Barrister Ebanga Ewodo talked on the role of ELECAM in the protection and promotion human rights in the electoral process in Cameroon.
A participant from the Justice and Peace Commission of the Cameroon Episcopal Conference, expressed total satisfaction from the level of discussions and exchanges. He however, cautioned that what Cameroonians need today on the eve of the 2011 presidential elections is not talking forums were resolutions taken are often locked up in tight cupboards. The United Nations, he appealed, should help Cameroon by monitoring the entire electoral process. He recalled how the United Nations had monitored, at government request, elections in Nicaragua and Haiti in 1990, Angola in 1992, Cambodia in 1993, El Salvador, South Africa and Mozambique in 1994.

The United Nations’ action in these places, he averred, had involved all aspects of the electoral process including voter registration, poll organisation, voting, ballot counting and announcement of results.

A suspect has been apprehended by the forces of law and order over the muder of Dr. Ymke Warren a British expatriate and gorilla expert whom until her death, was working with the US Wildlife Conservation Society in Limbe.

The suspect whose names Eden got as Etienne Ngwa, supposedly from the North West Region is in his mid 30’s.

The arrest and detention of Etienne Ngwa waters down allegations that the assassin was a hired international killer.

There has been a series of controversies over the assassination of Ymke Warren, a British gorilla expert in her residence in Limbe by a yet to be identified person.

The events leading to her death was first of all pointing to her colleagues in the Wildlife Conservation Society in Limbe where she is based.

Her house maid is reported to have told investigating police officers in Limbe that the assassin had said he was assassinating her because of threats to him.

Generally, a ban by world football governing body FIFA on Nigeria would mean that the country will not have any international football contacts with any of the other 207 member-nation for the period of its suspension. 

Below are details of what the real implications of such isolation would be for Nigerian football should they come under FIFA hammer by Monday evening: 

1) None of Nigeria’s teams or clubs will feature in international tournaments for the time the ban is in effect. These will be tournaments organised by FIFA, CAF and even the sub-regional WAFU of which Nigeria’s Amos Adamu is president.

An impressive crowd of about 1,500 people in Santa has received thrilling messages on the actions they need to take to address climate change from a Yaounde University theatre troupe touring councils in Cameroon with support from the British High Commission.

At the performance, which is part of the campaign dubbed the Cameroon Climate Change Roadshow, the Corporate Services manager of the British High Commission, Su Sheppard, told the people of Santa, traditional rulers and civil administrators of the North West, that Britain will continue to push for substantial support to developing countries to enable them cope with the consequences of climate change.

During his speech at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, Werner Hoyer, Minister of State from the German Federal Foreign Office thanked the UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer for the “footprint” he has left during his four years in office. “We have to look beyond our borders,” Hoyer said, noting that environmental politics today is about foreign policy and international security. This year’s conference, entitled “The Heat is On – Climate Change and the Media”, is taking place from June 21-23 in Bonn. Hoyer said that the Environment Ministers Meeting at the Petersberg in Bonn at the beginning of May lead to concrete measures in several countries. He stated that “a stabile climate is essential for the economy.” The Minister of State also called to journalists to report more about the risks and opportunities associated with climate change and said that in this regard independent media sources are essential. For this purpose, he said, intensive training for journalists will become more and more important – like that which is offered by DW-AKADEMIE to Deutsche Welle partners in many countries.  “Cancun has the potential to complete what was started in Copenhagen,” said Yvo de Boer in his keynote about the upcoming Climate Conference in Mexico. To the media, he said “please keep fighting”.