USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Mountain of Fire And Miracles Ministries presents NIGERIA AT 51 National and Family Prayers

              The Mountain of Fire And Miracles Ministries Presents

                                         NIGERIA AT 51

                      National and Family Prayers

        -------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

NIGERIA NATIONAL ANTHEM

Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria's call obey

To serve our fatherland

With love and strength and faith

The labour of our heroes past

Shall never be in vain

To serve with heart and might

One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity.

 

PRAYERS FOR NIGERIA

 

1. Thanksgiving

2. Prayers for forgiveness

3. Arresting the Power of Darkness

4. Let the Prince of Peace Reign

5. Arresting Occultic Powers

6. Foundation Deliverance

7. Sacking Occultic Leaders

8. Sacking Occultic Priests

9. Breaking Yoke of Wastage

10. Hunger For Righteousness

11. Setting Evil Altars Ablaze

12. Disgracing Occultic Politicians

13. Disgracing Corrupt Politicians

14. Binding The Rat

15. Paralysing Eaters of Flesh and Drinkers of Blood

16. Silencing Religious War

17. Silencing Intertribal War

18. Prayers For Peaceful Elections

19. Wickedness Must Die

20. For Christ Must Reign in Nigeria

21. Redemption of our Land

22. Healing of our Land

23. Binding The National Strongman

24. Breaking National Curses

25. Dealing with Idols, Sacrifices, Rituals, Shrines and Evil Thrones

26. Breaking Evil Covenants

27. Rededicating Our Cities to God

28. Binding Borrowing Powers

29. There Must Be Revival in Nigeria

30. Dealing With Cults and Secrets Societies

31. Dealing With Criminality and Lawlessness

32. Crushing Unprofitable Cultures

33. Changing Our Family History

34. Breaking Evil Family Pattern

35. Protection of Families

36. Recovery of Family

37. Recovery of Youths From Destruction

38. Paralysing The Star Hijackers

39. Binding The Spirit of International Embarrassment and Disgrace

40. Pulling Down The Stronghold of Instability

41. National Glory Restoration

42. Binding The Spirit of Polygamy and Sexual Perversion

43. Raising A New Altar To The Lord

44. Binding The Spirit of Kadesh Barnea

45. Possessing of Our Possessions

46. Breaking The Yoke of Violence

47. Killing Witchcraft Bird

48. Power Against National Disasters

49. Godly Wisdom for Leaders

50. Prayers for The Incumbent President

 

PRAYERS FOR THE NATION

Scriptures

Psalm 122:6-7: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.

1 Tim. 2:1-2 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of  thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceful  life in all godliness and honesty.

Jeremiah 1:10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

Exodus 18:21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:

Ezekiel 11:11-13 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel: And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you. And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! Wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

 

1. Father, in the name of Jesus, we confess all the sins and iniquities of the land, of our ancestors, of our leaders, and of the people. E.g., violence, rejection of God, corruption, idolatry, robbery, suspicion, injustice, bitterness, bloody-riots, pogroms, rebellion, conspiracy, shedding of innocent blood, tribal

conflicts, child-kidnapping and murder, occultism, mismanagement, negligence, etc.

2. We plead for mercy and forgiveness, in the name of Jesus.

3. O Lord, remember our land and redeem it.

4. We throw down abominable and polluted altar of witchcraft ruling over this nation, in the name of Jesus.

5. Every congregation of darkness, gathered to disgrace Nigeria, be exposed and disgraced, in the name of Jesus.

6. Let all forces of darkness, hindering the move of God in this nation, be rendered impotent, in the name  of Jesus.

7. We close every satanic gate in every city of this country, in Jesus' name.

8. We bind, every blood-drinking demon in this country, in Jesus' name.

9. Let the Prince of Peace, reign in every department of this nation, in the name of Jesus.

10. O Lord, give us leaders who will see their roles as a calling, instead of an opportunity to amass wealth.

11. Let the power of salvation come upon Nigeria, in the name of Jesus.

12. Let this nation experience the awesome presence of God, in the name of Jesus.

13. Let every agent of the devil in Nigeria be disgraced, in the name of Jesus.

14. O God, bless Nigeria mightily, in the name of Jesus.

15. Prince of Peace, reign in Nigeria, in the name of Jesus.

16. Peace, unity and stability, come upon us, in the name of Jesus.

17. We bind the spirit of economic sabotage, in the name of Jesus.

18. All wasters of Nigerian resources, be scattered, in the name of Jesus.

19. We dismantle, the stronghold of poverty in this nation, in the name of Jesus.

20. O Lord, install Your agenda for this nation.

21. Oh armour of God, arise and break every yoke of marine powers over Nigeria, in the name of Jesus.

22. Every power supervising assassinations and political corruption in Nigeria, your time is up, die, in the name of Jesus.

23. Every plot to inject instability into Nigeria's polity, be exposed and be disgraced, in the name of Jesus.

24. Every plan to keep Nigerians and Nigeria in perpetual slavery, scatter unto desolation, in the name of Jesus.

25. Let their habitations or house of the enemies of Nigeria become desolate and let none dwell in their tents, in the name of Jesus. (Psalm 69:25)

 

 

PRAYERS FOR FAMILY

 

1. Every ancestral vulture, assigned to feed on the destiny of my family, be scattered, in the name of Jesus.

2. Oh heavens, change the story of my family to glory, in the name of Jesus.

3. Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries of my family, in the name of Jesus. (Psalm 71:13)

4. Thou power that troubled the Egyptians, trouble the enemies of my family, in the name of Jesus.

5. Oh gates of brass and bars of iron working against my family, be broken, in the name of Jesus.

6. Let the days of the enemies of my family be cut off, and let another take his office, in the name of

Jesus.

 

PERSONAL INTERCESSION

Confession: Psalm 91

7. Every dream criminal, release my breakthroughs, in the name of Jesus.

8. O Lord, convert my fears into ashes, in the name of Jesus.

9. I will not destroy the pages of my life, in the name of Jesus.

10. Every evil power house and evil power consultants, be destroyed, in the name of Jesus.

11. I bind all evil spirits in me or attacking me, in the name of Jesus.

12. O Lord, cause my whole heart to be at rest trusting in You, in the name of Jesus.

13. O Lord, keep me from leaning and relying on my own understanding and intelligence, in the name of Jesus.

14. O Lord, deliver me from what seems right to me and deliver me to what is right to You, in the name of Jesus.

15. O Lord, pull down imaginations and every high thing in my life that are not of God, in Jesus' name.

16. O Lord, purify my lips with Your holy fire, in the name of Jesus.

17. O God arise and uproot anything You did not plant inside the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries.

18. Let the fire of revival fall upon Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, in the name of Jesus.

19. Let the power of peace and progress overshadow this nation, in the name of Jesus.

20. O God, arise and give us God-fearing leaders, in the name of Jesus.

 

                                                         END

 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ti Oluwa Ni Ile

http://saharareporters.com/column/ti-oluwa-ni-ile-pius-adesanmi

Ti Oluwa Ni Ile

By Pius Adesanmi

 

(Lecture delivered at the annual public lecture series of Afenifere Renewal Group USA Chapter, Detroit, Michigan. September 24, 2011)

 

Part One

Protocols:

I'd like to thank Mr. Taiwo Oladotun Ogunleye, Coordinator of Afenifere Renewal Group-USA, for accepting the punitive assignment of finding and inviting me to this event on behalf of your organization. It was a punitive assignment because even my most generous friends would readily concede that Harry Houdini, that legendary American escape artist and magician, was my elder brother from another mother. Hence, I plead guilty to being as difficult to reach or pin down as my American sibling. I must also congratulate the executive board and, indeed, all members of Afenifere Renewal Group-USA, for convening this public lecture series. I am honoured that I have been asked to deliver this "inaugural lecture" of sorts since this is your maiden event.

Any doubts I might have entertained about being able to honour your invitation because of scheduling conflicts – I am in the middle of intensive book promotion activities - were quickly brushed aside when I saw the names of the three other invited speakers: Yinka Odumakin, Dipo Famakinwa, and Omoyele Sowore. These men are national leaders whose praxes and social vision make my own modest intellectual investment in Nigerian public discourse worthwhile.

Every waking day is a struggle not to give up on Nigeria. Every waking day is a struggle not to let Nigeria destroy your sanity. And when you approach the sort of psychic ennui induced by worrying endlessly about the senseless rape of our own dear native land by the world's most irresponsible political elite, you think of the inspirational struggles of the Odumakins, the Sowores, and the Famakinwas of this world; you think of the force of their conviction; you think of their determination to deny the traducers of our collective hopes and aspirations the final word in the unfinished argument that is Nigeria; you think of all this and you know that you dare not give up. I thank these men for their service, leadership, and inspiration.

The personal examples of these three men bring me to my topic. Those of you who are sufficiently familiar with my public writings and lectures should know that I am D. O. Fagunwa's Itanforiti, the storyteller. Thus, when Mr. Taiwo Ogunleye gave me a topic, "The Decline of Omoluabi Ethos in Yoruba Land", with the caveat that I was free to play around with it, he must have suspected that he was tempting Mr. Itanforiti to fly here all the way from Canada and regale you with stories.

Stories of things not remembered and the road no longer taken in Yoruba land. Stories of how bastardized and countercultural versions of omoluabi ethos have swept aside the real deal in Yoruba land, giving a satirist like me a bumper harvest of material such as the stuff I served you in "Bode, Tibi Nko?", "Dimeji, Wahala Wa O", "Dimeji's Yams", "The Lonely Charlatans", "You Be Tief, I No Be Be Tief" and many other satirical sketches that are still travelling virally online. The more I thought about how realities in Yoruba land have supplied the thematic core of my omoluabi satires for Sahara Reporters and Nigerian Village Square, the more I realized that the decline of omoluabi ethos is in part a consequence of our inability to probe and listen to our own stories. I thought of the aptness of one biblical declaration.

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof". This beautiful line from the psalmist of the Christian imagination enters the Yoruba Bible literally as "ti Oluwa ni ile ati ekun re". As is the case in most instances of culture contact, the universe of meaning contained in that Christian message is at variance with the Yoruba imagination. A worldview that responds to Christianity's surrender of the way, the truth, and the life to the singular subjecthood of Jesus Christ with a democracy of choices and options summed up in the proverb "ona kan o w'oja" (multiple roads lead to the market) cannot be expected to surrender ownership of the earth and the fullness thereof to a single deity.

Thus, the Christian "ti Oluwa ni ile ati ekun re" (the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof) is often replaced in Yoruba popular culture with a version that responds more effectively to the pluralistic impulses of its cultural context: "ti Oluwa ni ile ati awon ti o mo itan re" (the earth belongs to the Lord and to those who know its story). This is where we get to the call and response part of this lecture. Ladies and gentlemen, from this point till the end of my speech, you will please oblige me with the refrain, "ati awon ti o mo itan re", whenever I say "ti Oluwa ni ile". I am sure you all remember your Fela of "when I say panpala you go say bo lo o ya"?

Ti Oluwa ni ile… I can't hear your response, let's try again: Ti Oluwa ni ile… ati awon ti o mo itan re! Of all the possibilities in this world, why would the Yoruba accord co-ownership of the earth and the fullness thereof to those who know the itan (the story); to those who remember; to those who do not forget? Why are the owners and rememberers of the story so crucial to the nature of things? Beyond my obvious writerly bias for stories, the answer, I guess, lies in the fact history avails us of no example of a culture or civilization that has ever risen above its own narratives. The loss of omoluabi ethos in Yoruba land is therefore also the loss of the narratives that enabled that vital aspect of being Yoruba. Ti Oluwa ni ile…

Ati awon ti mo itan re. I remember. My earliest encounters with the story entitled Obafemi Awolowo. No, it wasn't via the first television station in Africa; no, it wasn't in the classrooms of free education; no, it wasn't on the pages of his prodigious intellectual publications. My earliest memories of Chief Obafemi Awolowo are locked up in the drama of years of a pre-adolescent struggle against sleep. In the cornucopia of elderly voices that come together to raise a child in the typical village setting came the urban legend of Obafemi Awolowo's chariot racing across the face of the moon in the dead of night. I am sure you are all familiar with that story. Somehow, only the elders in the village were ever fortunate enough to catch the fascinating sight of Awo riding his chariot on the moon. As kids, we were hungry for that sight. And we would keep vigil with the elders during tales by moonlight. Ti Oluwa ni ile…

Ati awon ti omo itan re! No matter how hard we tried to keep awake, Awo always managed to appear after we had fallen asleep. The elders made sure of that. In the morning,  when each elder made the obligatory "k'aro, o jire" passage by our house on his or her way to the farm, they would chat with my parents – always making sure that we , the children sweeping the compound, were within earshot – about Awo's chariot across the moon the previous night. Every elder had a detail to add, a variation on the theme of Awo's quasi-celestiality, such that so much jara, so much curry, and so much tomapep was added to the story. The exaggerations would make us take a painful measure of what we missed and determine to stay awake next time to try our luck. That good luck never came. Ti Oluwa ni ile…

Ati awon ti o mo itan re! Now, years later, I look back on that Awo narrative and try to remap the thought processes of the elders who deployed it as a key component of the pedagogical tools with which they raised us in our formative years. By constructing an imaginary that situates a Yoruba national hero on the moon, the elders' goal was to sensitize us to the fact that our possibilities in life were limitless if we made ourselves amenable to the principles of omoluabi and its corollary – "bibi ire". What propelled Awo to the moon – what our elders and parents wanted us to imitate – was the profundity of the personal example that his life represented. And that personal example had at its core the constitutive elements of omoluabi. Ti Oluwa ni ile…

Ati awon ti o mo itan re! The connection between Awo's moon myth and omoluabi is not tenuous when you consider the core elements of omoluabi. In his brilliant paper, "Human Personality and the Yoruba Worldview", Ademola Kazeem Fayemi, a philosopher at the Lagos State University, citing authorities as divergent as Wande Abimbola and Sophie Oluwole, identifies the following characteristics of omoluabi: oro siso (spoken word), iteriba (respect), inu rere (being of pure thought toward others), otito (truth, sincerity), akinkanju (bravery), ise (hard work), and opolo pipe (intelligence). Ti Oluwa ni ile…

Ati awon ti o mo itan re! Obviously, any Yoruba can expand this list of omoluabi ingredients but most people would agree that the father of them all is iwapele or iwa rere (good or gentle character) and that is why Professor Ademola Fayemi suggests that iwapele "is ultimately the basis of moral conduct in Yoruba culture and a core defining attribute of omoluwabi". So important is iwapele that Yoruba Christians have lifted it from the territory of omoluabi and grafted it onto the persona of Jesus Christ. Let's see how many of you can sing this Yoruba Christian praise song along with me:

Mo fe dabi Jesu

Ninu iwapele o

Ko s'eni to gboro ibinu

Lenu re lekan ri o

 

(I want to be like Jesus

Good and gentle in nature and character

No one ever heard him speak in anger

Not even once)

 

The Yoruba Christians who composed this popular chorus obviously forgot that Jesus spoke in anger at least once and even used his whip for good measure on the moneychangers who defiled his Father's house in Jerusalem but that is a story for another day. Suffice it to say that Yoruba Christians recognize the importance of iwapele and that is why they render it indissociable from the nature of Jesus Christ. Bearing that in mind, what do you think Suberu Oni, the famous juju maestro of the 1960s and 1970s, is doing in this song that I am going to ask you to sing along with me?

Eni ba ri Awolowo ko ma ki ku iroju

Eni ba ri Awolowo ko ma ki ku iroju

Ile ejo ni Baba wa ni igbati Segun ku

Sibe sibe Baba o bara je

Eniyan bi Jesu  l'Obafemi o Awolowo

 

(If you see Awolowo, commiserate with him

If you see Awolowo, commiserate with him

Baba was in the middle of a court case when Segun died

Yet Baba never lost his composure

Obafemi Awolowo is indeed like unto Jesus)

 

So, Jesus is iwapele according to Yoruba Christians.  And Obafemi Awolowo is like unto Jesus according to Suberu Oni. Translation: iwapele, the father of all the attributes of omoluabi, is the site where Jesus and Awolowo converge, at least in the Yoruba imaginary. This explains why Awolowo's already daunting achievements in the spheres of politics, economics, and social welfare in Yoruba land and in Nigeria pale in comparison to the suasive power of his life as the example that parents across Yoruba land transformed into a pedagogy of omoluabi to raise their children. "If you want to reach the moon like Awolowo", they would say, "you have to do this, this, and that." Ti Oluwa ni ile…

(To be continued next week)

 

 

---

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Mr. Fox: Author-Helen Olajumoke Oyeyemi

http://www.cafeafricana.com

http://www.indigokafe.com

Cafeafricana and Indigokafe proudly present:

Mr. Fox

Author: Helen Olajumoke Oyeyemi

  

Synopsis:

From a prizewinning young writer, a brilliant and inventive story of love, lies, and inspiration.

Fairy-tale romances end with a wedding, and the fairy tales don't get complicated. In this book, the celebrated writer Mr. Fox can't stop himself from killing off the heroines of his novels, and neither can his wife, Daphne. It's not until Mary, his muse, comes to life and transforms him from author into subject that his story begins to unfold differently.

Mary challenges Mr. Fox to join her in stories of their own devising; and in different times and places, the two of them seek each other, find each other, thwart each other, and try to stay together, even when the roles they inhabit seem to forbid it. Their adventures twist the fairy tale into nine variations, exploding and teasing conventions of genre and romance, and each iteration explores the fears that come with accepting a lifelong bond. Meanwhile, Daphne becomes convinced that her husband is having an affair, and finds her way into Mary and Mr. Fox's game. And so Mr. Fox is offered a choice: Will it be a life with the girl of his dreams, or a life with an all-too-real woman who delights him more than he cares to admit?

The extraordinarily gifted Helen Oyeyemi has written a love story like no other. Mr. Fox is a magical book, endlessly inventive, as witty and charming as it is profound in its truths about how we learn to be with one another.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ali Smith, Booker Prize–nominated, bestselling author of There But For The, and The Accidental, interviews Helen Oyeyemi about Mr. Fox

Smith: What's in a name? Why is Mr. Fox called Mr. Fox?

Oyeyemi: Mr. Fox is called Mr. Fox because I think of him as both wild and urbane; also he's a namesake of the English Bluebeard and an even older mythological lady killer, Reynardine (from the French for fox, Reynard). This book is full of foxes and foxgloves and fox trotting and all things fox. As to why the book itself is called Mr. Fox, that's partly because calling it Mary Foxe seemed like bad luck for Mary--books and films that have a woman's name as their title seem to end up with the woman dead or insane or bereft in some way, and I like Mary too much for that. But also one of my favorite writers, Barbara Comyns, wrote a book about a wily man called Mr. Fox in 1987, and even though I didn't know about it or read it until I'd finished writing about my own Mr. Fox, I can't help but think that's got something to do with this business somehow.

Smith: Where does this story come from and did it go where you thought it would go? What was the process of writing this one like?

Oyeyemi: This story comes from having read Rebecca, which made me want to have a go at writing a Bluebeard story. Then I started reading (and re-reading) Bluebeard variants, from Jane Eyre to Alice Hoffmann's Blue Diary to the Joseph Jacobs fairy tale "Mr. Fox," which features a kind of linguistic battle between Mr. F. and the heroine, Lady Mary, who witnesses a murder he commits and has the guts to tell him all about himself to his face. So then I had two characters, and I was off.

Smith: What does it mean to lose the plot? Is story different from plot? If so, how, and do they need each other? And why or why not?

Oyeyemi: I reckon losing the plot means finding the story. The plot gets you from A to B and home again, but the story is the surrounding wilderness that you wander into, and then the bears come, and it's impossible to tell which ones would like to invite you to a picnic and which ones would like to make a picnic of you, because they look exactly the same until you're right up close. So I think you do need plot if you'd rather not risk approaching a story's bears, either as a reader or a writer--it depends on what sort of story it is. Some stories don't have very interesting bears. (Maybe you don't agree? Maybe you think all bears of this kind are interesting, or at least, more interesting than the plot path?)

Smith: If you, like me, think that books produce books, which books are germinal to this one? And if you don't think that, then where do books come from?

Oyeyemi: Yes, books beget books; I'd say they're the leading cause of today's plague of books, and may we never be cured. Rebecca caused this one, and Marina Warner's From the Beast to the Blonde, Anne Sexton's Transformations, Angela Carter's The Magic Toyshop, Gombrowicz's Bacacay, Daniil Kharms's Incidences, Susanna Moore's In the Cut, and Barbara Comyns's The Vet's Daughter, too.

Smith: What was in your pockets when you began this book, and what's in them now that you've finished it? i.e., what's next?

Oyeyemi: When I started writing Mr. Fox, it was summer, and I was interested in cupcakes and foxes and Mills and Boon books written in the 1930s. Now I'm interested in fudge and wolves and self-appointed executioners.

Thank you for asking me these questions; they're a delight.

Review

"A sly, tender, and elegant novel, graced with a magical charm that makes its wisdom about love and loss all the more captivating to read. Mr. Fox is a novel for those who love stories and who believe in their singular power to alter and heal our fragile souls."
-Dinaw Mengestu, author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears and How to Read the Air

"A wonderfully original novel, full of images and turns of phrase so arresting, so vivid and inventive, its pages almost glow with them. Helen Oyeyemi has given us a work of playful charm and serious narrative pleasure."
-Sarah Waters

About the Author

Helen Oyeyemi is the author of The Icarus Girl ; The Opposite House, which was a nominee for the 2008 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award; and White Is for Witching, which won a 2010 Somerset Maugham Award.

http://www.cafeafricana.com

http://www.indigokafe.com

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Fox-Helen-Oyeyemi/dp/159448807X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317428161&sr=1-1  

USA Africa Dialogue Series - Pambazuka News 550: Wangari Maathai: The tree that became a forest

PAMBAZUKA NEWS 550: WANGARI MAATHAI: THE TREE THAT BECAME A FOREST

The authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social
justice in Africa

Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839

CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Announcements, 3. Comment & analysis, 4.
Advocacy & campaigns, 5. Books & arts, 6. Letters & Opinions, 7.
Highlights French edition, 8. Cartoons

/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
1 Features

WANGARI MAATHAI: RECLAIMING THE EARTH
Horace Campbell
'The best tribute we can pay to this great woman of Africa is to
continue to organise so that we can gain higher levels of spiritual
awareness and build the shared values for peace and social justice
across the planet,' writes Horace Campbell.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76724
******

THE TREES WILL CLAP FOR HER
Wangari Muta Maathai, 1940-2011
Nnimmo Bassey
Nigerian environmental activist Nnimmo Bassey remembers the life of
Wangari Maathai, the internationally recognised founder of the Green
Belt Movement, who died on 25 September.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76698
******

COMMITTED TO JUSTICE FOR PEOPLE AND PLANET
Wangari Muta Maathai, 1940-2011
Margaretta wa Gacheru
Wangari Maathai 'achieved more in one short lifetime than most people
can even contemplate,' writes Margaretta wa Gacheru, founding 'one of
the most important environmental movements in the world' and
highlighting 'the capacity of African rural women to problem-solve for
the planet'.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76700
******

DETERRED BY NOTHING, DISCOURAGED BY NOTHING
Wangari Muta Maathai, 1940-2011
Cyril Ritchie
Cyril Ritchie pays tribute to Wangari Maathai, her 'contagious
enthusiasm' and 'calming stoicism', after 36 years of friendship with
'an outstanding woman'.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76701
******

A 'GREAT TREE IN HER LIFETIME'
Wangari Muta Maathai, 1940-2011
Shailja Patel
Wangari Maathai's legacies 'are not just for future generations of
Kenyans – her influence was global. We have lost her far too early,'
writes Shailja Patel.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76737
******

'AFRICA HAS LOST A GREAT DAUGHTER'
Wangari Muta Maathai, 1940-2011
Thandika Mkandawire
Wangari Maathai was 'an amazing person', writes Thandika Mkandawire,
relating a story about how Maathai defied the Kenyan government's
attempt to prevent her from attending a 'subversive conference' in
Uganda.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76696
******

'WOMEN FOR WHOM NATIONS WILL BE NAMED AND RE-NAMED'
Sokari Ekine
Over the past month, Kenya lost 'two of its most formidable freedom
fighters and justice seekers' – feminist and political activist Wambui
Otieno and environmental activist Wangari Maathai. Sokari Ekine looks
at reactions to the passing away of these women across the continent,
and to the execution of Troy Davis by the US State of Georgia a week
ago.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76726
******

CELEBRATING PROFESSOR WANGARI MUTA MAATHAI
1940-2011
Odhiambo Orlale
'As we battle climate change, let us remember this remarkable woman
who saw in the environmental disasters that engulf us an opportunity
for the empowerment of women and the chance to promote peace in the
world. We celebrate Maathai for advocating a better Africa and a
better world,' writes Odhiambo Orlale.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76735
******

MOTHER NATURE MOURNS YOUR LOSS
Tribute to Prof. Wangari Maathai
David Njihia Mwakodi
In the night of death
Our nightingale took her last breath
Hope saw a star shinning
Listening love heard the rustle of a wing
A golden heart stopped beating
And hardworking hands went to rest...
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76728
******

REMEMBERING WANGARI
Bayo Akomolafe
'Just before the stars sing, just before the childish wave wanes/You
will plant another seed in the distance, another tree, another
universe gained.' Bayo Akomolafe remembers Wangari Maathai.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76675
******

THE BEST DOCTOR FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Wangari Muta Maathai, 1940-2011
Philo Ikonya
Kenya human rights activist and author Philo Ikonya shares an
interview ( http://bit.ly/rb4Fws ) she gave to TV2Africa following the
death of Wangari Muta Maathai in Nairobi after a long struggle with
cancer.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76738
******

WANGARI MAATHAI: UNBOWED AND UNBEATEN TILL THE END
My tribute to a feisty and courageous woman
Rasna Warah
Professor Maathai was a celebrated environmentalist, but what was
equally remarkable about her was 'her open defiance of outdated, male
chauvinistic, neo-colonial and repressive attitudes and traditions'
that hindered not just women, but Kenya as a whole, writes Rasna
Warah.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76729
******

GAY KENYA PAYS TRIBUTE TO PROF. WANGARI MAATHAI
Gay Kenya
Wangari Maathai was 'very passionate about Human Rights' as well as
the environment, and was extremely supportive of Gay Kenya in its
early days, the organisation recalls.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76750
******

WANGARI MUTA MATHAAI: SHARE YOUR CONDOLENCES
http://wangari.greenbeltmovement.org/
If you would like to write a tribute or read and share tributes to
Wangari Maathai, this site ( http://wangari.greenbeltmovement.org )
was setup by the Greenbelt Movement in her honour.
******

CARTELS CHAINING THE GLOBAL FOOD AGENDA
'BOP'ping the hungry
Carol Thompson
With their eyes firmly on the money making potential of the bottom of
the pyramid (BOP) global food market, profit-seeking corporates punt
food security through the enhancement of the global food value chain.
But, writes Carol Thompson, this avoids distinguishing who is 'valued'
and who is 'chained'.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76694
******

HURRY UP BEFORE THE SUN SETS…
Imrann Moosa
Monday, 12 September marked 34 years since the assassination of South
African black consciousness leader Steve Biko. Imrann Moosa remembers
his legacy.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76695
******

THE AU, THE OAU AND THE UNESCO-OBIANG PRIZE
Tutu Alicante
Under pressure from campaigners, UNESCO last year rightly shelved a
prize for research in the life sciences funded by Equatorial Guinea's
president of 32 years, the despotic Teodoro Obiang. Given Obiang's
poor human rights record, why are African governments suddenly so
eager to resuscitate the award, asks Tutu Alicante.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76727
******

ZIMBABWE: A TALE OF TWO CHINAS
Khadija Sharife
Khadija Sharife takes a closer look at the involvement of key players
in Zanu PF's Mugabe faction in a diamond-mining venture between the
Zimbabwean government and Chinese company, Anhui Foreign Economic
Construction Co. Ltd.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76739
******

THE TIES THAT BIND: CHINA, ANGOLA AND ZIMBABWE
Khadija Sharife
Khadija Sharife takes a look at the links between Hong-Kong-based
private entity China International Fund, Angola's state oil company
Sonangol and Zimbabwe's diamond fields.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76740
******

CAN GHANA AFFORD TO PAY THE SAME PRICE AS PAKISTAN?
Cameron Duodu
'Mention South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and those with good
memories can attest to the lesson of history, which is that if you
want to remain friendly with the USA, keep its military at arm's
length.' So why would Ghana risk souring its relationship with the US,
as Pakistan has already done, by allowing it to use Ghanaian territory
for military purposes, asks Cameron Duodu.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76748
******

THE NEW SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA
Conn Hallinan
Hallinan traces current US foreign policy in Africa, including
military intervention, to a proposal made eight years ago by a
conservative think tank. Africa's vast natural and mineral resources
make the continent strategically important to the West.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76730
******

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL WHO STOOD UP FOR THE UN
John Y. Jones
The fears that former UN secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld expressed
50 years ago about the negative impact that the OECD's Development
Assistance Committee would have on the UN and the African continent
have turned out to be prescient, writes John Y. Jones.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/76704
******

/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
2 Announcements

DEAR MANDELA – THE STRUGGLE FOR DIGNITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR SOUTH
AFRICA'S SHACK DWELLERS
Please join Amnesty International and War on Want to hear about the
remarkable work of Abahlali baseMjondolo ('people of the shacks'), a
movement campaigning for the rights of many thousands of South
Africans living without access to adequate housing and at risk of
forced evictions.

The evening includes a a screening of the 20 minute short version of
the film, Dear Mandela, the story of the emergence of Abahlali, its
courageous response to the numerous challenges it has faced and its
campaign against forced evictions, which led to the constitutional
court victory in 2009.

VENUE: Human Rights Action Centre, 17 - 25 New Inn Yard, EC2A 3EA
DATE AND TIME: Friday 7 October 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
CONTACT: Caroline Elliot, War on Want CElliot[at]waronwant.org -
CElliot@waronwant.org
Attn Africa Programme, Amnesty International, amnestyis[at]amnesty.org
- amnestyis@amnesty.org
PRICE: FREE
BOOKING: book your space here ( http://bit.ly/mUtG4A ) .
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/76673
******

FAHAMU CALL FOR RESEARCH PROPOSALS
Comparative African perspectives on China and other emerging powers in Africa
China's deepening engagement with Africa is receiving increased
attention from the global media, the public and private sectors and
academic research. This should not however overshadow the activities
of other emerging powers in Africa, including India, Brazil and the
Gulf states. This call therefore seeks to develop African perspectives
in the discourse surrounding the engagement between Africa and these
emerging powers. Deadline for receiving applications: 12 October 2011.

For further details please download information here (
http://www.fahamu.org/Fahamucallforresearchproposals2011-final.pdf ) .
******

/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
3 Comment & analysis

MAKING THE CASE FOR DIGITAL ACTIVISM
Jessica Ann Mitchell
Although Troy Davis was killed despite massive protests online,
digital activism raised public awareness of racism and oppression in
the US state of Georgia, writes Jessica Ann Mitchell. This case and
others show that indeed digital activism works.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/76731
******

/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
4 Advocacy & campaigns

SPECIAL DECLARATION OF THE ALBA-TCP FOREIGN MINISTERS ON THE SITUATION
OF LIBYA AND SYRIA
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America
The Foreign Ministers of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of
Our America has issued a statement condemning 'the NATO intervention
in Libya and its illegal military aggression, carried out under the
cover of a UN Security Council resolution, opportunistically
exploiting the situation of the internal political conflict in that
country.'
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/76749
******

OXFAM WARNS OF LAND GRAB DANGERS
Celsias
Oxfam today launched a major new report, Land and Power (
http://oxf.am/4bB ) , to highlight the growing pace of large-scale
land deals abroad, often brokered at the expense of poor communities
that lose homes and livelihoods - sometimes violently - with no prior
consultation, compensation or means of appeal.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/76733
******

BY CONDEMNING PEOPLE WHO OCCUPY LAND, CITY OF CAPE TOWN CONDEMNS THE POOR
Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
Following the City of Cape Town's demolition of over 100 structures at
Kraalfontein that had been erected by backyarders on an unused piece
of land, the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign has issued a
statement calling on the City to support rather than condemn the poor.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/76674
******

/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
5 Books & arts

BRAZIL'S COTTON PROJECT: ALTERNATIVES DO SUCCEED
Review of 'Cotton, Computers and Citizenship'
David Sogge
'For students and practitioners of hands-on development efforts, this
handsomely designed and clearly written book merits attention as an
illustration of what is possible, indeed what may be better done,
outside the foreign aid system and its exhausted orthodoxies,' writes
David Sogge.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/76703
******

WE GOT RID OF THE DICTATOR, NOT DICTATORSHIP
Review of 'Defeating dictators: Fighting Tyranny in Africa and Around the World'
Peter Wuteh Vakunta
Peter Wuteh Vakunta seems convinced that George B. N. Ayittey has
written 'a blueprint for oppositional militancy, a veritable modus
operandi for undoing dictators in the contemporary world'. He thinks
it is a must read for every student of African politics.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/76732
******

/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
6 Letters & Opinions

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TRIBUTES TO MAMA
Elizabeth SW Otieno
Warm greetings to you and all at Pambazuka. Thank you for your
tributes to Mama ( http://www.pambazuka.org/en/issue/549 ) [Wambui
Otieno]. Her life and times is in our memories as a true daughter of
Kenya. She lived life large, resourcefully and courageously.
******

/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
7 African Writers' Corner
DEKHA, WAMBUI, WANGARI
(inspired by Wambui Mwangi)
Shailja Patel
the greedy old men
vampires
live forever

the women who restore
rebuild replant
remake
die in their fullness...
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/76751
******

/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\7
Highlights French edition

PAMBAZUKA NEWS 206: AFRICA IN THE FACE OF WESTERN DOMINATION
An appeal to the European and North American intelligentsia against
the attack on the African peoples
Prince Kum'a Ndumbe III

Since the invasion of Iraq, the West has given us daily proof that it
is neither interested in the common destiny of humanity nor in
dialogue between peoples. Its only concern is absolute global
dominance – military, financial, cultural and intellectual. Prince
Kum'a Ndumbe 111 thinks, the NATO imposed war against Libya is just
one more episode in the scramble for Africa.
http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/76630

******

The funding of research and alleged scientific dialogue
Prince Kum'a Ndumbe III

It is time for Africa to rearm itself in the face of the various
attacks being unleashed against it by Western military powers. A key
area is sovereignty over the use of its natural resources and wealth.
The struggle, argues Prince Kum'a Ndumbe III, begins with the
restoration and reaffirmation of our collective memories.
http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/76629

******

For the creation of a Palestinian state
Hugo Chavez

Though he was absent at the UN General Assembly during which Mahmood
Abbas made his historic call for the recognition of the Palestinian
state, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez extended strong support for the
initiative. In a letter to the UN Secretary General, he described it
as "an act of historic justice towards a people who carry with them,
from time immemorial, all the pain and suffering in the world.
http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/76628

******

Egypt – Time for the peoples revolution to open the Rafah Crossing!
Haidar Eid

Israel has not only colonised the territories, writes Haidar Eid, but
it has also taken control of the "Palestinian narrative and history"
and confiscated international law. The Rafah crossing, like the birth
of the Palestinian state, is testimony to the injustices that continue
to be inflicted on the people.
http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/76632

******

A salutary democratic revolution in the Arab world or the first major
social crisis of globalisation?
Patrice Allard

Whether they are called the Arab Spring or 'salutary revolutions', the
uprisings that have shaken the Arab world and ousted some dictatorial
regimes appear to herald the dawn of a new day. But fundamental
questions remain behind what the West describes as the opening of a
new chapter.
http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/76635

******
******

/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
8 Cartoons

MAMA WANGARI MAATHAI
1940-2011
Gado
Wangari Maathai remembered.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/76672
******

GIVING AFRICAN STRONG MEN A BAD NAME!
Gado
Zambia's Banda lets the side down...
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/76670
******

CLINGING ON TO POWER, AFRICAN STYLE
Gado
Looking for a role model? Take your pick.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/76671
******

/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

Fahamu - Networks For Social Justice
http://www.fahamu.org

Pambazuka News is published by Fahamu Ltd.

© Unless otherwise indicated, all materials published are licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works
3.0 Unported License. For further details see:
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/about.php

Pambazuka news can be viewed online: English language edition (
http://www.pambazuka.org/en )
Edição em língua Portuguesa ( http://www.pambazuka.org/pt )
Edition française ( http://www.pambazuka.org/fr )
RSS Feeds available at http://www.pambazuka.org/en/newsfeed.php

Pambazuka News is published with the support of a number of funders,
details of which can be obtained here (
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/about.php ) .

To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE go to:
http://pambazuka.gn.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pambazuka-news
or send a message to editor@pambazuka.org with the word SUBSCRIBE or
UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line as appropriate.

The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not
necessarily represent those of Pambazuka News or Fahamu.

With around 2,600 contributors and an estimated 600,000 readers,
Pambazuka News is the authoritative pan-African electronic weekly
newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa providing cutting
edge commentary and in-depth analysis on politics and current affairs,
development, human rights, refugees, gender issues and culture in
Africa.

Order Samir Amin's 'Ending the Crisis of Capitalism or Ending
Capitalism?' from Pambazuka Press (
http://fahamubooks.org/book/?GCOI=90638100866770&utm_source=PZ_newsletter_footer_amin_crisis&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=amin_crisis
) .

* Pambazuka News is on Twitter. By following 'pambazukanews' on
Twitter you can receive headlines from our 'Features' and 'Comment &
Analysis' sections as they are published, and can even receive our
headlines via SMS. Visit our Twitter page for more information:
//twitter.com/pambazukanews ( http://twitter.com/pambazukanews ) .

* Pambazuka News has a Del.icio.us ( http://Del.icio.us/ ) page, where
you can view the various websites that we visit to keep our fingers on
the pulse of Africa! Visit http://delicious.com/pambazuka_news.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com