Africa’s Softer, Gentler Coups d’Etat

President of Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso

There’s a new fashion among African presidents bent on clinging to power: the constitutional coup. Military coups are no longer de rigueur, in part because the African Union has said it won’t recognize governments that come to power by means of such blatant tactics. Instead, African leaders who are unwilling to abide by term limits, or unfavorable election results, prefer to simply change the laws and constitutions that stand in their way. All too often, their legal maneuvering is accompanied by human rights abuses and brutal crackdowns on those who object.

Denis Sassou Nguesso, the nearly 72-year-old president of the Republic of Congo, is the latest to go this route. Sassou Nguesso has been in power for 31 years, with a five-year hiatus after losing multiparty elections in 1992. He returned to power in 1997, backed by Angolan troops, after a brief but bloody civil war.

President Jonathan congratulates Soyinka at 80

The Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday congratulated literary giant and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, as he attains the landmark age of 80 years on Sunday. In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President felicitated with the globally-renowned academic, dramatist, poet and literary icon as he celebrates the attainment of another significant milestone in a long, very fulfilled and achievement-laden life.

The statement read, “As he enters the elite club of the world’s highly revered octogenarians and very special people who have made very significant and indelible contributions to their countries and humanity, the President joins Prof. Soyinka, his family, friends, associates, readers and fans across the world in giving thanks to God Almighty for his glorious life of service to the arts, his nation and mankind at large.

How Osama’s Al-Qaeda group back Boko Haram — France president

After the Paris summit on security situation in West Africa, French President Francois Hollande said Saturday that Nigeria’s Boko Haram had “established links” to  Osama’s Al-Qaeda group and urged countries in the region to devise a common strategy to combat its threat.

Speaking at during the  summit in Paris with Nigeria and neighbouring countries, Hollande said: “Boko Haram has become a major threat for all of west Africa and now for central Africa. Its links to AQMI (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) and other terrorist organisations have been established.”

BOKO HARAM, JON STEWART AND RUSH LIMBAUGH

Jon Stewart managed to find a way to do serious comedy Monday with a segment on the kidnapping of Nigerian girls by Boko Haram, an act which even al Qaeda has condemned. “You know, there’s not a lot of times you’re going to get a Jewish guy to go, ‘I agree with al Qaeda.’ But wow … the group that never saw something full of civilians it didn’t want to blow up is saying ‘Take it down a notch.” 

Stewart introduces us to Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, the “soulless, forest-dwelling lunatic” who nonetheless seems to know about the importance of dental hygiene, and to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, whose name just happens to sound like someone telling him that he’s leading “a corrupt country overrun with nutbag terrorists … Goodluck, Jonathan.”

President Jonathan condemns Boko Haram killing of Yobe students

The Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday condemned the killing of scores of students at a college in Yobe State, describing the incident as callous and senseless.  

 Jonathan said he received the news of the incident with immense sadness and anguish. 

His reaction was contained in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati.

 President extended his condolences on behalf of himself and the Federal Government to the parents and relatives of the murdered students. He promised that his administration would not relent in his anti-terrorism fight.