government

Agriculture is hot right now and the focus is Africa. Countries and companies are setting up shop all over the continent to grow crops.

An elections system is synonymous with the constitution of most countries. The first wave of elections in the African continent was democratic and was done by departing colonial powers; they were free and fair with a large spectrum of representation.

"Where you have injustice, you will have rebellion”(Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former Chairman EFCC, 29th May 2009).

My sympathies go to the relations, families, friends and well wishers of those who have lost their lives in the Niger Delta crisis. These include both the soldiers and the indigenes of the Niger Delta area. I have once lost someone close to this crisis, so it is not a surprise that my heart bleeds as I write this article.

My kid brother who was about to write a Government exams was having a last minute revision; he asked the questions and read the answers aloud..."WHEN WAS THE AFRICAN UNION FORMED AND STATE ITS OBJECTIVES?". He stated the date and outlined about five to six objectives; while he continued, I was pondering over the objectives vis-à-vis the current state of affairs on the African continent.

1- TO ACCELERATE POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC INTERGRATION OF THE CONTINENT.

May 29th 2009 was the so-called Democracy Day for Nigeria. I spent the day not only attending the “State of the Nation Summit” held at the London Metropolitan University, but filming for the pioneering online investigative journalism website Sahara Reporters.

'A despairing Kenyan commentator once explained the malaise of poor leadership on the continent with the quip that Africa was allotted a quota of one great leader per century and, in Mr Nelson Mandela, it had exhausted its share for several generations' writes Murithi Mutiga of Daily Nation.

Africa as a continent is endowed with immense natural and human resources, with great, rich heritage; politically democracy which is presumed to be better than a lot of other forms of government and governance have been in its political setting for long. However, despite this, today Africa is stricken by diseases AIDS and Malaria and our system of governance is deteriorating with corruption taking a centre stage and socio-economic status dwindling.