Wole Soyinka at Howard University: In Praise of Rwanda’s Kagame and in Defiance of Gambia’s Jammeh, Or Tearing a New one for African Leaders

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Abdoulaye Wade, Boko Haram, Congo, Gambia, Howard University, Laurent Gbagbo, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, Wole Soyinka, Yahya jammeh

At Howard University last evening (only my second time there for an event), Wole Soyinka ostensibly spoke on the theme of ‘Rwanda: Paradigm for a Continent.’  The scene was set by a call and response between the Howard administrator presiding over the event and the predominantly student audience, something that was a far cry from the staid environment at events at the New England liberal arts school I attended.

The Nigerian Wole Soyinka, one of the continent’s undisputed intellectual giants gave an extremely hard hitting talk, which was as much about Gambia being a blight on Africa’s image than Rwanda being its savior.  Keep reading for Soyinka’s thoughts and why his handling of a Q&A made me lose all respect for him, after a pretty good set of prepared remarks.

Mali (and the Sahel): Not in DC? Summer Doldrums Inspired Observations

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African governance, Al-Qaeda in Africa, Andrew Lebovich, Dogon country, Hezbollah in Africa, IBK Mali, John Paden, Laurent Gbagbo, Mali, Mali elections, Peace Corps, Washingtonians to Maine

Despite having lived in a neighboring country for two years, I never got to Mali.  It was however quite popular with the Peace Corps volunteer travel circuit.  I recall the picturesque Dogon country being a particular allure.  Moving to the Sahel in 2008, it was very much a ‘backward’ region that garnered little attention in the US, Francophone/Anglophone divisions aside.

Today that has all changed.  Everyone and their mother had an opinion on the French intervention in Mali.  However, the elections that have restored Mali’s former ‘model democracy’ have come and gone, with scant attention from Washington.  Granted, there are many summer vacations to Maine and Massachusetts to be had, but to my knowledge, there were hardly any events on the elections.  The Zimbabwe elections, taking place the same week, got limited attention, but there was at least one major conference on them.  Conversely, the Kenyan elections in March received considerable attention in DC.

The lesson I take away from this is that if you are a dictator and want to avoid/lessen the wrath of the Western nations promoting a democracy and governance agenda, schedule your elections in July or August (are you listening Laurent Gbagbo?).

On a related matter, are there any significant Sahel experts in the DMV?  John Paden of George Mason comes to mind, but he is quite elderly and by some frames of analysis, northern Nigeria would not be counted as Sahelian (speaking of which there is quite a plethora of Nigerian experts in DC, with most focused on Abuja, the Niger Delta, and Lagos).  Terrorism and conflict has drawn a lot of folks to the Sahel, something that has been particularly visible to me as my return to the US coincided with a drastic deterioration in the region’s security situation.

While I am all for people being abreast of current events, one doesn’t particularly build up a strong reservoir of expertise if they just change directions with the wind (for the sake of controversy, Andrew Lebovich comes to mind here.  I’ll give a shout out to Alex Thurston for consistency).  Furthermore, many of these folks operate on a not very nuanced narrative set by outlets like The Atlantic and Foreign Policy.  I see few experts focusing on Hezbollah activities in coastal west Africa (or even the CAR) or studying Liberia for its Al-Qaeda connections.

Not in DC: Reconciliation & Reconstruction for the Ivory Coast

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African elections, Alassane Ouattara, Council on Foreign Relations, International Crisis Group, Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo

Gbagbo shortly after his arrest.

I had promised a post on the absence of the Ivory Coast from the African policy discourse in Washington DC over the weekend.  Fortunately, the snowquester  has allowed me to focus on this.  I returned to the US following two years in Francophone Africa days before the 2010 1^st round election in the Ivory Coast and moved to DC about a month after the contested 2^nd round election, where the Constitutional Court controversially threw out votes for the challenger, Alassane Ouattara, allowing the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, to claim victory.

However, most of the world lined up behind Ouattara; Angola (and to a lesser extent South Africa) being the most notable exception.  A few months later, Gbagbo was forcibly removed from power, largely due to French assistance.

It is parallels to this crisis in events of the past weeks that have drawn me back to the precarious situation in the Ivory Coast.