Table of Contents
Editorial: Nigeria on the Edge
by Dr. Gloria T. Emeagwali
chief editor of AfricaUpdate
"Soldier go, soldier come. . ." is one of the
well-known Nigerian sayings which comes to mind at the present time.
As General Abacha strikes out against journalists, students politicians,
and all forms of protest, it seems a replay of the antics of the Babangida
regime. Amongst some of the activists imprisoned by the general are
Baba Omojola, Ayo Opadokun, and Beko Ransome-Kuti, members of the pro-democracy
movement, and NADECO, an alliance of politicians, retired senior military
officers, and other concerned citizens.
Meanwhile, Moshood Abiola, a detained politician who won
last year's presidential election, is seriously ill and is still being
held by the Abacha regime.
The present political crisis in Nigeria is worrying and
indeed dangerous, and we hope that Nigerians, in conjunction with the
international community, will work out speedy and effective ways to
resolve the conflict.
A suggestion that the presidency should rotate between
North and South is promising for resolving the crisis. Should this principle
be adhered to, the distribution of power would be more conducive to
peaceful coexistence, political stability, and successful transition
to democratic governance.
The success of the South African elections of April, 1994
- discussed in the Summer, 1994, issue of this newsletter - has provoked
some additional reflections on the 1993 elections in Nigeria.
In this issue of AfricaUpdate we feature the work of four
Nigerian scholars, including the political poetry of the 1993/4 Fulbright
Scholar in African Studies at CCSU, Professor Ambrose Monye. The transition
to democracy in Nigeria is the focus of Nurudeen Abubakar of Ahmadu
Bello University. As one of Nigeria's pioneers in oral history, Professor
E. J. Alagoa of the University of Port Harcourt reflects on an African
philosophy of history in the oral tradition. Phil Okeke of St. Mary's
University, Halifax, reflects on aspects of the emerging African feminist
scholarship. The African Studies Program of C.C.S.U. has had the pleasure
of hosting three of these scholars. We thank them for the opportunity
to include excerpts of their work in this issue.
Return to table of contents
The Stalled Transition in Nigeria
by Nurudeen Abubakar, CNCS
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
The concept of "transition" derives from the
various attempts, by the different military regimes, to engineer the
processes of returning Nigeria to civil, if not democratic form of governance.
Thus, of the 33 years since independence in 1960, the military have
been in power for 23 years. In all the instances they have employed
the force of arms, which they monopolize, to shove aside civilian governments.
In essence, the concept of transition signifies the rejection by the
generality of Nigerians, of the military seizure of power and the struggle
to institute a democratic form of government.
Nigeria has thus far experienced three transitions under
the military. The first, which was to have led to a return to civil
rule in 1976, was jettisoned by its author, the then Head of State,
General Yakubu Gowen. The second was successfully undertaken by General
Olusegun Obasanjo, and it led to what in common parlance is called the
2nd Republic in 1979. The third, the subject of our discussion, was
under the Military President, General Ibrahim Badanasi Babangida.
The transition programme of Babangida has been adjudged
the longest, most expensive and deceitful in Nigeria. It took off with
the establishment of the Political Bureau, charged with the responsibility
of designing a political system for Nigeria; the Constituent Assembly
and Constitution Drafting Committee; MAMSER (Mass Movement For Social
And Economic Recovery) to mobilize the people; NEC (National Electoral
Commission) to conduct the Elections; and CDS (Centre For Democratic
Studies) to train the personnel, etc.
For eight years of the most brazen effrontery, Babangida
tottered on in the face of consistent opposition from both individuals
and organizations that cut through the spectrum of Nigeria, geographically
and culturally. Notable features of the political scene include the
charade of political party formation. None of the thirteen that applied
was registered. The government created two political parties, the NRC
(National Republican Convention) and the SDP (Social Democratic Party).
Under the auspices of these parties of "equal founders and joiners,"
elections to Local Government and States were postponed from 1989 to
1990, and to 1991.
The wresting of the elections from the military junta
was occasioned by the forces of opposition. The contradictions emanating
from SAP (Structural Adjustment Program) in general and the particular
shade given to it by the government of Babangida generated major discontent.
The forces ranged against the Military junta were many and varied, in
itself a reflection of the diversity and the competing and often conflicting
interests. The really amazing thing was how they were able, despite
their many differences, to jettison the government of Babangida.
With the conclusion of the gubernatorial elections and
the assumption of the governors to office, the Nation thought it could
heave a sigh of relief. This was not to be. The Babangida government
with the active collaboration of some of the institutions which he had
set up turned the political scene into a theatre of absurd experiments
with the ultimate objective of sabotaging the process. Active collaboration
was amply provided by the National Electoral Commission and the Centre
for Democratic Studies. The experimentation went from the open ballet
system, to the open-secret and finally the option A4.
The final lap of this tortuous Transition was the Presidential
Election. In terms of the political economy of Nigeria, the control
of the Federal Government is more important than all else. The processes
of electing the presidential candidates was characterized by so much
acrimony that the Government found it convenient to cancel the exercise
(October 1992).
By this time, opposition to the Babangida Government had
coalesced into the call for a sovereign national conference being championed
by the Campaign for Democracy, an umbrella organization embracing about
forty different groups. There are others, professional, cultural and
political, outside the CD. It was the pressure by these groups that
led to the inauguration of the National Assembly. This was followed
with the establishment of the Transitional Council, charged primarily
with the conclusion of the transition and the revival of the economy.
The National Assembly was a ruse. Shackled with Decree 53, it could
only legislate on aviation, national honours and antiquities and monuments.
Even these needed the approval of the National Defence and Security
Council, the real locus of power.
Against all odds the parties successfully produced presidential
candidates. The choice of a candidate was cumbersome. After jettisoning
the open ballot system and its successor, the open-secret ballot, option
A4 was recommended as the method to be employed in producing the candidates.
It involved the election at every ward of a candidate, who then competed
to produce the local government candidate. It should be noted that we
have 589 local government councils. At that level we therefore had 1,178
potential candidates. They in turn produced the state candidate. It
was the State's Candidates that produced the candidate of the party.
The elections finally took place on the 12th of June,
1993, under the watchful eyes of the world. It was judged peaceful,
free and fair. The election was promptly cancelled by the military dictator.
To appreciate the mass and spontaneous indignation and
reaction by the citizenry, we need to remember that the government created
the parties, built their offices, funded their activities, wrote their
constitution and wrote the manifestoes. The government conducted both
the registration of party members and the election of their officers.
The National Electoral Commission, a wholly government organ, screened
the candidates. The Centre for Democratic Studies trained over 400,000
electoral officers. The government deployed all the security apparatus
at its disposal to conduct the election. International observers were
invited by the government to supplement the efforts of the national
election monitoring group. Most important of all the elections held
and all the interested institutions gave it a very high mark. The government
had also set up an electoral tribunal to adjudicate in case of dispute
(the Association for Better Nigeria, which complained, had been declared
an illegal organization by a competent court).
The citizenry could therefore not escape the conclusion
that the attendant political crisis was from the onset systematically
planned, officially orchestrated and absolutely self-contrived and self-inflicted.
The wanton cancellation of the election was the most brazen demonstration
of power without responsibility. If any doubting Thomases needed any
other proof of the hidden agenda, the cancellation proved it.
The attendant struggle was to force Babangida (not the
Armed Forces) out of government.
Numerous individuals and organizations across the length
and breadth of Nigeria sprang up. These organizations ranged across
religious, ethnic, cultural, professional and socio-political groups.
The nature, character and tendencies of these groups and their activities
is worthy of independent commentary. It was a definite reflection of
the dynamism of Nigerian society.
It can be asserted without any fear of contradiction that
the majority of Nigerians hoped that the election and the anticipated
government would provide a conducive civil atmosphere from the ravages
of a military junta, which by its own admission, was incompetent. The
bane of military interference in government is that it develops no culture,
does not respect process or procedure, nor does it respect even its
own laws.
Finally the struggle, though aborted, would not have attained
the success it recorded were it not for the understanding and support
of the international community. The role of the international media
can not be overemphasized, and so too the diplomatic support.
Return to table of contents
Salute South Africa
by Dr. Ambrose Adikamkwu Monye
Fulbright Scholar- in- Residence, 1993/4
Salute! Salute Mandela
Salute to struggle in South Africa
Salute! one voice
Salute! courage
Salute! painful patience
Salute virtue's victory over vice
Tell it loud!
Spiritedly sing
Apartheid's nunc dimittis
It's dethronement,
But justice's enthronement.
Then, tell Brother Nigeria
to rouse from stupor,
For South Africa triumphantly marches
stalwart and vigorous
Like fresh palmwine
Frothing particles of renewed energy
Like the young eagle-
has risen to fall no more
Tell Nigeria, like South Africa,
To disclose his ailment
For he now totters and trails
where he should lead.
Tell Nigeria that, like South Africa,
Only TRUTH can heal him.
Return to table of contents
From Global Sisterhood to the Assertion
of Difference:
The Emerging African Feminist Scholarship
Dr. Phil Okeke
International Education Centre
St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
The current wave of scholarship on African women by indigenous
female scholars not only signals a clear departure from the mainstream,
but also raises pertinent questions about feminist thought in general.
This is certainly a welcome, if not an inevitable, development. But
the arena for the unfolding discourse is still quite small, covering
mainly studies from the late 1980s. Most of the literature before this
period is often dismissed on the grounds that they do not "engage
feminist questions." Previous studies may not have grappled with
feminist concepts, principles, and theories, especially as "certified"
by the mainstream, but they pointed to the analytical themes and directions
that were important to African women as the social, political and economic
climate changed from one era to another. This paper therefore looks
at these historical shifts as a basis for assessing the emerging scholarship.
The literature on African women before the 1970s was well
contained within the functionalist paradigm. With only a few indigenous
contributors, Western mainstream anthropological depictions of African
women as "beasts of burden" prevailed in the outside world.
Subsequently, the second wave of the women's movement in the West, spilling
into development literature, helped to stimulate the study of African
women as a distinct social category. The study of African women flourished
through the early 1970s with many indigenous female scholars joining
ranks with Western female scholars. But the field was undoubtedly dominated
by the latter.
As some African female scholars such as Ifi Amadiume would
contend, the emphasis of these early writings on the deplorable conditions
of African women's lives perpetuated the beast of burden image. Most
scholars on either side would agree, however, that this scholarship
made little provision for African women's issues and concerns as articulated
by indigenous female scholars. Moreover, within this framework, global
sisterhood conveniently swept aside issues of imperialism and racial
domination.
The split within African feminist scholarship became obvious
at the onset of the UN decade, creating an impasse for the rest of the
1970s. Thus, the late 1970s saw the flowering and institutionalization
of indigenous feminist scholarship. The emergence of organizations,
such as the Association of African Women for Research and Development
(AARWORD) founded in 1977, reflected the firm resolve to do "women's
research from an African perspective."
The early 1980s saw a resurgence of collaboration between
African and Western feminist scholars. Although the alliance was on
slightly renegotiated terms, the political economy of the production
of knowledge clearly favoured white feminists. The emerging socialist-feminist
discourse on social construction of women's productive and reproductive
roles significantly the themes discussed in many of the collections
produced. The latter featured women more as actors rather than victims,
with particular emphasis on women's economic importance in the family
and the challenges posed by the dismal economic climate.
For feminist historians and sociologists studying African
women, the autonomy thesis provided a common rallying point. As Simi
Afonja noted, "The celebrated autonomous African woman was attractive
to women in other parts of the world because of the amount of control
she appeared to exercise in both the domestic and public domains."
But as the conditions of African women's existence worsened through
the 1980s and into the 1990s, the emphasis shifted towards a rethinking
of the impact of traditional patterns of social stratification on contemporary
relations of gender. This shift also followed the general trend of increasing
skepticism about "Marxist" and "socialist solutions"
from the West.
As feminist scholarship increasingly took on a post-modern
slant from the late 1980s, the points of departure of "alternative
discourses" from the mainstream sharpened. The focus of more recent
writings on the role of culture and ideology as they define the dynamics
of women's oppression, have placed on the agenda issues of difference
and representation. In essence, the political economy of feminist scholarship
has been called to question. Not only is the reality of different feminisms
inevitable, but who gives expression to them, and their recognition
within the mainstream, have become controversial. It may therefore be
argued that the "new" scholarship on African women is largely
a continuation of the struggle for "one's own space" begun
in the 1970s. In this case, the growing number of indigenous voices
have found expression mostly in discourses outside the mainstream.
The shifts, especially the impasse in the 1970s, indicate
a rejection of global sisterhood on Western terms. White women's privileged
position limits the basis for sisterhood and underscores the reality
that African women's emancipation cannot be divorced from the struggle
against Western domination. In addition to my own work, more recent
contributions by indigenous scholars such as Ifi Amadiume, Tiyambe Zeleza
and Christine Qunta have continued along the same theme that African
women should define their own social location from which other contributors
to the scholarship should align their analyses.
The "new scholarship" has provided a forum where
African women themselves can begin to critically explore the dynamics
of their oppression. Increasingly, indigenous female scholars across
the continent are boldly questioning both the traditions that oppress
women and the negative impact of colonial representation and imperialism.
Studies from West Africa, including my research on Nigerian women, not
only recognize women's crucial roles as breadwinners and community managers,
but also the construction of these roles in a maelstrom social order.
Similarly, Sondra Hale, Ayesha Imam, along with other female Muslim
scholars, are expanding the discourse of identity politics and women's
subjugation. Their writings reveal the various forms in which the Islamic
state define and redefine Muslim women's identity and rights to legitimize
religious fundamentalism. Equally, feminist scholars in Southern Africa,
emerging from liberation struggles, are posing critical questions regarding
the assumed gains women have made in their newly independent states.
Despite their diversity, these writings discuss issues of gender, race,
class and identity, in the context of social movements within and outside
national borders.
This trend, promising as it is, faces enormous challenges.
For one thing, the political economy of feminist scholarship is still
skewed in favour of white feminist scholars. Therefore, questions of
access to the production of knowledge and the recognition of particular
forms of knowledge must be confronted. For another, tools of analysis
that are grounded in the lived experiences of African women need to
be developed. But given the present momentum and with more indigenous
voices entering the arena, we may be only a short distance away from
major debates on "African feminisms."
Note: Dr. Phil Okeke is Nigerian and holds a doctorate
in Women's Studies from Dalhousie University. She is currently attached
to the International Education Centre, St. Mary's University, Halifax,
Canada.
Return to table of contents
An African Philosophy of History in
the Oral Tradition
by E. J. Alagoa
University of Port Harcourt
Introduction
A few decades ago, African historians were required to
answer questions concerning the viability of their enterprise. Was there
a history to tell? Was it possible to construct a credible history out
of the oral tradition? By now these questions should lie behind us.
Through the work of Vansina and his students from the University of
Wisconsin, among others, we know that the oral tradition is a viable
source and a history in its own right; and we recognize the custodians
of the traditions as both informants and historians. In this discussion
we raise an additional question: Is there a philosophy of history in
the African oral tradition?
To begin with, what do African philosophers say about
an African philosophy? Mudimbe believes there is an "implicit philosophy"
in what he terms, "the primordial African discourse in its variety
and multiplicity," that is, the oral tradition. Anthony Appiah
concedes that a "folk philosophy" exists in Africa, although
he believes that oral tradition is not hospitable to philosophy.
We note that Tempels formulated a Bantu philosophy, from
the "implicit," "folk," philosophy of the oral tradition
of the Bantu. Similarly, Alexis Kagame formulated a philosophy of being
from the Bantu languages of Rwanda. On the other hand, we note the case
of the Dogon sage, Ogotemeli, as an instance of an 'explicit" philosophy
in the oral tradition. These examples provide encouragement for an inquiry
into the possibilities of an African philosophy of history in the oral
tradition. We conduct our search principally among the communities of
the Niger Delta in Nigeria. There is evidence of ideas about history
in institutions for the veneration of ancestors and in art. Such ideas
are, admittedly, only "implicit," to be interpreted with difficulty
before their historiographical meaning can be made "explicit."
On the other hand, the proverb text approximates to an "explicit"
commentary on the history represented by the African oral tradition.
The proverb text, however, is not without problems, since
it is best understood in specified contexts and its meaning is not always
unambiguous. The proverb text may, therefore, be characterised as a
contested text. In our view of philosophy as the raising of questions
and ideas for consideration, the problems associated with the use of
the proverb do not make the texts invalid, since they stimulate thought,
comments, and arguments on the oral tradition. Therefore, proverbs as
contested texts make them appropriate material for the discussion of
an African philosophy of history.
At this point, we present for discussion, the commentaries
of proverb texts, raising issues in four areas:
- Questions on the nature of history, through the question,
who is qualified to tell the oral tradition?
- Discussion of truth, and how we may determine it in
the oral tradition.
- Statements on the nature of time: present, past, future,
and eternity.
- Ideas on the value of history.
The nature of history
On the question, Who is qualified to inform on the past,
Niger Delta proverbs point to age as the most important criterion. We
cite two Nembe and three Ikwerre proverbs.
- i. More days / More wisdom (Nembe)
- ii. What an old man sees seated / A youth does
not see standing (Ikwerre)
- iii. If a child lifts up his father / The wrapper
will cover his eyes (Ikwerre)
- iv. A god whose chief priest is a child / Can easily
get out of hand (Ikwerre)
- v. However big the male lizard is / The wall-gecko
drinks the wine as the senior (Ikwerre)
The first text explicitly equates wisdom with age. The
outcome is to equate history with experience, and therefore, to assign
knowledge of it to those persons who had the greatest opportunity to
acquire experience.
We note that age provides opportunity, and not complete
assurance of wisdom or knowledge. One proverb text from the Itsekiri
clarifies this:
- vi. The spirits do not kill an old man for not
knowing the history of his time.
Thus, some elders had not profited from the opportunities
of age to acquire wisdom or knowledge. Yet text (iii.) warns youth against
challenging even ignorant elders.
Truth
African communities place great store by the reliability
of their accounts of the past and the present. The small Birom community
of the Plateau region of Central Nigeria stated this explicitly in five
proverbs:
- vii. Truth never finishes.
- viii. Truth never rots.
- ix. Truth never rusts.
- x. Truth is worth more than money.
- xi. Lies have their end - But truth lives forever.
African communities were also all too aware of the existence
of error and of deliberate falsehood. The Kuteb of Central Nigeria warned
against error, even in the best qualified authorities, in the following
proverb:
- xii. Even a four-legged horse stumbles and falls.
Other proverb texts caution against judgements based on
appearance. The Ikwerre of the Niger Delta did so in two proverbs:
- xiii. The keen ear / Is not as big as an umbrella.
- xiv. A large eye / Does not mean keen vision.
How then do we recognise truth? First, direct eye-witness
testimony is to be preferred to others:
- xv. He who sees does not err (Kikuyu).
- xvi. If an apopokiri (fish)from the bottom
of the river says that the crocodile is sick / It will not be doubted
(Ashanti).
Second, an eye-witness account corroborated by a second
witness is to be preferred to an account given by a single witness:
- xvii. I have seen the one who stole the hen / I
don't tell because I am alone (Sena).
- xviii. An animal does not fall / Without a second
shot (Nembe).
Third, the test of probability based on "the nature
of things," that is, on common sense and reason:
- xix. The oldest son does not know his father /
Yet the youngest one claims to have carried seven bags for him (Ikwerre).
- xx. "I have killed an elephant," could
be true / "I have carried it to the road" must be false
(Ikwerre).
Time
The oral tradition recognised the passage of time through
its visible results and impact on things, the documents of historians:
- xxi. The year a basket is made / Is not the year
it wears out(Ikwerre).
The oral tradition also understood that accounts did not
spring out of nothing, but were recalled through their relevance to
present circumstances; approximating to the view that "all history
is contemporary history:"
- xxii. A storyteller / Does not tell of a different
season / tide (Nembe).
Is the past then created out of the present? Or does it
have a grounding of its own? One text says the past came before the
present, as the ground before the trees:
- xxiii. The earth came into being / Before the trees
(Nembe).
The future is defined as a time to be planned for in expectation:
- xxiv. A man who wants a ram slaughtered at his
graveside / Should keep a ewe to produce the ram while he is alive
(Ikwerre).
Indeed, the future remains unknown and beyond knowledge:
- xxv. Even a bird with a long neck cannot see the
future (Kanuri).
One text refers to eternity as even more inscrutable than
the future:
- xxvi. God will outlive eternity (Nupe).
Why history?
First, what are the consequences of ignorance or neglect
of history?
- xxvii. A stranger in town / Walks over hallowed
graves (Nembe).
- xxviii. One ignorant of his origin / Is nondo (nonhuman)
(Nembe).
- xxix. The fly who has no adviser / Will follow
the corpse into the grave (Ikwerre).
The cost of ignorance then, is high, from improper behaviour,
to loss of humanity, to death. What, then are the benefits of knowledge?
- xxx. The son of the soil / Has the python's keen
eyes (Ikwerre).
The historian, the man grounded in knowledge of community
history is characterised as "the son of the soil." The Ikwerre
term, diali, means son of Ali, the Earth, venerated as a dominant
goddess. Such a person belongs, is an insider in every sense. As a consequence,
he or she sees clearly as the African python is though to see. In effect,
he or she operates efficiently in society with a secure identity. In
contrast, the person without knowledge of community traditions is a
"stranger in town," without proper identity and open to being
treated as being less than human.
Conclusion
This brief discourse should establish the possibility
of an African philosophy of history in the oral tradition. Fuller enquiry
would require interrogation of community historians as well as the contributions
of modern African philosophers who can obtain answers from questioning
other sources in the "primordial African discourse in its variety
and multiplicity."
Note: This is the text of the lecture delivered by
Dr. Alagora at CCSU earlier this year. Dr. Alagoa is one of Nigeria's
pioneer scholars of oral historiography and historical writing.
Return to table of contents
AFRICAN STUDIES NOTEBOOK
A Student View of a Lecture by Prof. Ben Magubane, September
27, 1994
by Les Bassett, C.C.S.U.
On Thursday, September 27, Professor Ben Magubane of the
University of Connecticut gave an interesting presentation on South
Africa to students and faculty of CCSU. Dr. Magubane, a native of South
Africa, gave both a chronological history of South Africa and a discussion
of some of his personal experiences in racially divided South Africa.
Magubane's history of South Africa began in 1652 when
the Dutch began colonizing South Africa. In 1806 imperial control of
South Africa was shifted to Great Britain. By 1820 the British took
a more serious attitude towards colonizing the region. Five thousand
families were brought to South Africa to settle ther permanently. In
the year 1840 another wave of white immigrants arrived.
Dr. Magubane explained two types of colonies. The first
type was the exploitative colony which existed in Ghana and Nigeria.
The second was the settlement colony. This is the type of colony that
was established in the United States, Canada and South Africa. Unfortunately,
settlement colonies have been generally characterized by the elimination
of the native peoples.
British interest in South Africa intensified in 1867 when
diamonds were found by a farmer's child. The Kimberly Mines were opened
and the diamond rush began. A small percentage of the population controlled
a large majority of the land. The Black population was forbidden from
all but the poorest 13% of the land. Whites wanted a "white man's
country," and they got it.
In 1954 strict laws were passed to prevent anyone from
encouraging Blacks to challenge segregation. Mr. Magubane told a powerful
story about the state of emergency. He said that a former classmate
of his was called into military service to enforce segregation. Someone
who had been a fellow student now became his supervisor. In 1956 most
of the ANC leadership was arrested for treason.
African resistance increased in 1986. Something had to
give. Prime Minister Botha had 2 options: either install a permanent
state of siege or have a degenerate collapse. Botha instituted a siege
but promised to incorporate the ANC into the government. In 1987 and
1988 the resistance grew even stronger. Things did not improve until
Nelson Mandela was released on February 12, 1990.
Dr. Magubane had some optimism about the future of South
Africa. He said that due to mineral resources and a well-trained work
force South Africa is one of the most developed third world countries.
The Blacks in South Africa are poor not because of lack of good resources
or lack of skills they have been deliberately impoverished. Magubane
hoped that South Africa would become an economic engine to drive the
prosperity of all of southern Africa with improved race relations and
fair play by financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.
Return to table of contents
CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
TOWARDS CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN THE HORN OF AFRICA
Main Theme: Reconstruction of Somaliland
Central Connecticut State University, DeLoreto Hall 001
New Britain, CT
19 November, 1994
Registration begins at 8:30. The Conference opens at 9:00
with opening remarks by Dr. Tim Rickard, Director, International Affairs
Center, C.C.S.U. Then Dr. Karen Beyard, Vice-President oif Academic
Affairs, C.C.S.U. will give a welcoming message, and she is followed
by an introduction of the keynote speaker by Dr. Gloria T. Emeagwali,
Coordinator of African Studies, C.C.S.U.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: US Foreign Policy towards States
in the Horn of Africa
by Ambassador David Shinn, Bureau of African Affairs,
United States Department of State, Washington D.C.
First panel is chaired by Dr. Haines Brown, History Department.
C.C.S.U., introduced by Mr. Mohhamoud Dualeh
- General historical background of the Somali-speaking
peoples, presented by Professor Amina Adan, History Department, Central
Orange College, California, and Mr. Isak Jama Warsame, formerly an
instructor in Mogadishu
- NGO's, UNISOM, and Somaliland, presented by Mr. Abdirahim
Abbey, Former Under-Secretary to the United Nations
- United States foreign policy in the Horn of Africa:
Some reflections, presented by Dr. Walton Brown, Political Science
Department, C.C.S.U.
- African-Americans and the Somali crisis, presented
by Dr. Stacey Close, Eastern Connecticut State University
The second panel is chaired by Dr. Felton Best, Director
of African American Studies, C.C.S.U., introduced by Mr. Mohamoud Dualeh.
- The IMF, the World Bank, and the Somali crisis, presented
by Dr. Julius Ihonvbere, University of Texas, Austin
- Can the unity of the Somali-speaking peoples be sustained?
Presented by Mr. Osman S. Ali, Editor of Horn of Africa
- The Legacy of Siad Barre, presented by Dr. Hussein
Adam, Political Science Department, Holy Cross College, MA
- Logistical needs of Somaliland, presented by Mr. Y.
Abulrahman, Department of Health, Massachusetts
- Women and the Somali Crisis, presented by Dr. Adeline
Apena, History Department, Russell Sage College, New York
A summary of the panel discussion is offered by Mr. Mohamoud
Dualeh Ahmed, Somaliland Community in Connecticut, and closing remarks
by Dr. Gloria Emeagwali, Coordinator of African Studies.
For information contact Dr. Gloria Emeagwali, 203 832-2815
or Mohamoud Dualeh Ahmed, 203 246-4945.
Return to table of contents
Send any comments to Gloria Emeagwalin emeagwali@ccsua.ctstateu.edu
