08-08-08:
USAfrica to celebrate 50 years of 'THINGS FALL APART' with international tribute to Chinua Achebe at 15th Anniversary of USAfrica in Houston weekend of August 8 n 9, 2008

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On the Prof. Chinua Achebe project, log on to www.Achebebooks.com

Prof. Chinua Achebe says highlife legend"Osadebe was a priest"

Exclusive and Special to USAfrica, USAfricaonline.com, AchebeBooks.com, CLASS magazine and The Black Business Journal

Prof. Chinua Achebe, novelist, poet, essayist and critic the author of the most widely-read book in modern African literature, Things Fall Apart, has described the departed highlife music legend Chief Osita Osadebe as "an artiste who played music with a message and mission." 

Osadebe (in picture, right) lived as one of Africa's longest and durable great talents. He played, sang and released melodious songs since 1956 until 2005.

Osadebe who hailed from Umuekeke in Atani, Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State was born in 1936. His family announced that he passed on Friday May 11, 2007 and burial is set for this week.

Achebe, author of several landmark works told Houston-based USAfrica and CLASSmagazine Publisher Chido Nwangwu in an exclusive interview on Wednesday February 6, 2008 that "Osadebe was a priest who used words and sounds.  He lived like any of the greatest musicians who are prominent in any culture; he lived as  a great musician who used music to reach people in order to improve their lives and make them happy. He had message for people to reflect upon. He had deep message in his music as much as he provided music for celebration and be merry."

USAfrica (characterized by The New York Times as the largest and most influential African-owned, U.S-based multimedia networks) will on August 8 and 9, 2008 celebrate Achebe and 50 Years of his masterpiece THINGS FALL APART'' during the 15th Anniversary of USAfrica's pioneering multimedia leadership of the bi-continental interests of Africans and Americans. see www.USAfricaonline.com/usafrica15.html

His globalist underpinnings and outlook are truly reflective of the true essence of his Igbo world-view, his Igbo upbringing and disposition. Igbos and Jews share (with a few other other cultures) this pan-global disposition to issues of art, life, commerce, juridical pursuits, and quest to be republicanist in terms of the vitality of the individual/self. In Achebe's works, the centrality of Chi (God) attains an additional clarity in the Igbo cosmology... it is a world which prefers a quasi-capitalistic business attitude while taking due cognizance of the usefulness of the whole, the community. I've studied, lived and tried to better understand, essentially, the rigor and towering moral certainties which Achebe have employed in most of his works and his world. I know, among other reasons, because I share the same ancestry with him. Permit me to attempt a brief sentence, with that Achebean simplicty and clarity. Here, folks, what the world has known since 1958: Achebe is good! Eagle on the Iroko, may your Lineage endure! There has never been one like you!
Ugo n'abo, chukwu gozie gi oo!

Chinua Achebe, Africa's most acclaimed and fluent writer of the English Language, our pathfinder, the intellectual godfather of millions of Africans and lovers of the fine art of good writing, was only 28 years when he wrote the classic, Things Fall Apart, in 1958 -- long before I was born. In the year 2005, that magnum opus of a novel by Achebe had been translated into 60 languages, sold almost 16 million copies and loisted among the world's best 100 novels. He has been translated in more languages than any other writer in the developing world.

Reasonably, Achebe's message has been neither dimmed nor dulled by time and clime.

Let's go back 30-something months ago. On February 18, 2002, a distinguished jury of scholars and critics (from 13 countries of African life and literature) selected Achebe as the writer of the Best book, 'Things Fall Apart.' In Achebe's works, the centrality of Chi (God) attains an additional clarity in the Igbo cosmology... it is a world which prefers a quasi-capitalistic business attitude while taking due cognizance of the usefulness of the whole, the community. I've studied, lived and tried to better understand, essentially, the rigor and towering moral certainties which Achebe have employed in most of his works and his world. I know, among other reasons, because I share the same ancestry with him. Permit me to attempt a brief sentence, with that Achebean simplicty and clarity. Here, folks, what the world has known since 1958: Achebe is good!

Let's go to October 15, 2004. I was informed that Prof. Achebe,had taken the extraordinary step of "declining to accept the high honor awarded me in the 2004 Honors List" by Nigeria's president, retired army General Olusegun Obasanjo (born on March 5, 1937).

In Achebe's October 2004 letter to the presidency of Nigeria, the eminent writer and statesman Achebe informed President Obasanjo, that "Nigeria's condition today under your watch is, however, too dangerous for silence. I must register my disappointment and protest...." Achebe pointed to the issues of Nigeria's leaders failing to unite the country's diverse peoples and what he identified as "the silence, if not connivance, of the Presidency" in the destabilization of parts of Nigeria and state governments by political and business renegades.

He wrote Obasanjo "For some time now I have watched events in Nigeria with alarm and dismay. I have watched particularly the chaos in my own state of Anambra where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom. I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the Presidency." Achebe's concerns and principled position were apparently validated only 3 weeks later when a murderous gang burnt down the (s)elected governors' office, legislative headquarters, elections organizing offices and other symbols resembling democratic quests in Anambra, the home of the great, late Owelle, Dr. the Rt. Hon. Nnamdi Azikiwe.....

Let's go back to Achebe the scholar and educator. I agree with Princeton University's professor of philosophy, Kwame Anthony Appiah, who said recently that "In every English and non-English speaking country on the planet, if you ask a student to name just one African novel, it is most likely to be Things Fall Apart by Achebe. It is the beginning of the African canon. it is difficult to think of anything else without it."

I believe and propagate the informed view that Prof. Achebe has been a significant and binding source for an engaging understanding of African pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history and realities.

I believe that the Achebean ease and facility with the English language insight made him a favorite of African-Americans, and other scholars and regular folks in search of a better, realistic understanding of Africa.

In Achebe's works, the centrality of Chi (God) attains an additional clarity in the Igbo cosmology. Similarly, in my letter to my son, Chido Nwangwu II, on his first birthday on February 12, 2002, such core values and messages are embedded and made whole.

www.USAfricaonline.com/chido.chido.html

One of our web sites, USAfricaonline.com (first African-owned, U.S-based professional newspaper to be on the Internet), has published a number of essays about Achebe, and one by him concerning his friend, novelist Prof. Chukwuemeka Ike.

Also, very insightful is the USAfricaonline.com exclusive essay by Prof. Douglas Killam, one of the leading and pioneer publishers of African literature and a friend of the Achebes. I met Prof. Killam during Achebe's 70th birthday event at the Bard College in New York. His piece is titled Since 1958, Achebe's Things Fall Apart set a standard of artistic excellence, and more. Killam's contribution is a very insightful and valuable read for all and any serious student and writer on Achebe's works.

Some of Achebe's other major books are 'No Longer at Ease' (1960), 'Arrow of God' (1964&emdash;rev. 1974), and more recently 'Anthills of the Savannah' (1987).

See list of selected works of Prof. Achebe at www.Achebebooks.com

Also, see commentaries at www.USAfricaonline.com/chidoachebe.html

Literary giant Chinua Achebe returns 'home' from U.S., to love and adulation of community; Achebe turns 70; celebrates with Mandela, Morrison, world's leading arts scholars in New York.

Achebe's October 2004 brief letter to Obasanjo's presidency reminded even the indifferent and the cynical that some of Nigeria's very best cannot be attracted to the seductive allurements of State power and its increasingly sham honorifics. Again, the Eagle on the iroko proved why his message and timing are reflective of the ways of a sage. In rejecting the award from the embattled presidency of Obasanjo, Achebe's symbolic point further drew the line between the toadying apologists of Obasanjo and his critics.

Obasanjo's loud-hailers and hoary apologists attacked Achebe with such hideous ignorance and crass incivility. Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, their lead attack-dog and privileged rascal who masquerades as "presidential adviser/assistant" to retired Gen. Obasanjo, dramatized his bovine ill-mannerisms to the international community. But presidential spokesperson Ms. Remi Oyo showed class by taking a different, mild approach. Achebe's decision to reject the 2004 national honors from Obasanjo is not accidental; it's rooted in his position that a writer ought to see himself/herself as a part of the wider goal of building a better society. For him, there's an organic relationship between writing as education and the building of a better society. Recall that the prolific Achebe wrote in 1975 in his work 'Morning Yet on Creation Day' that "The writer cannot be excused from the task of re-education and regeneration that must be done…"

Achebe has never shied away from speaking his truths to the face of power, especially writing with such lucidity and accessibility that his essays and books have since become equalizers for the scholarly and the average reader. Essentially, there has never been any one like Achebe.

Achebe's poignant letter to Obasanjo and the "powers that be" in today's Nigeria follows in his decades-old commitment to call the leadership to do better for a long-suffering people - especially in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

I recall flying back to the U.S. (from South Africa directly to New York) to attend Prof. Achebe's 70th birthday at the historic Bard College (November 3-4, 2000) and its related conference titled, "Home and Exile: Achebe at 70" - where Achebe made a similar point.

In the midst of his friends and some of the best writers in the world, he mentioned how everyone was speaking so nicely of him in honor of his birthday; then he joked that were he a military dictator may be those two days of November would have been declared national holidays. He burst into laughter.... That's vintage Achebean sarcasm. He has been richly blessed by the iron-clad support and love of his outstanding wife, Prof. Christie Chinwe Achebe.

In 1983, Achebe wrote the often quoted pamphlet, 'The Trouble with Nigeria.' In the latter, he cited the litany of failures of the leaders and pointed the way forward. In rejecting Obasanjo's 2004 award, he's making a statement about the direction and quality of leadership in Nigeria, today. The sage picked the fitting moment to set his revered, valuable company and name apart from a list which does not separate dealers from leaders. With Chinua Achebe, Eagle on the Iroko, you may never mistake his message.

Permit me to attempt a brief sentence, if you may, with that Achebean simplicty and clarity. Here, folks, what the world has known since 1958: Achebe is good!

http:// www.Achebebooks.com/chido.achebebest.html
http://www.Achebebooks.com
http:// www.USAfricaonline.com/chido.achebebest.html

CHOOSING ACHEBE'S NOVEL AS AFRICA'S BOOK OF THE CENTURY

THE scholarly jury of Africa's great minds chose Achebe's Things Fall Apart as the Best Book of the century. They made their selection of Africa's 100 best books at a meeting in Accra, Ghana and their decision was announced at the Golden Tulip Hotel Accra on Tuesday February 18, 2002.

According to the team and statement on the book fair web site, they considered at least "five hundred nominations, from the original one thousand five hundred and twenty-one nominations proposed from many sources all round the world. Prior to the meeting in Accra, members of the Jury had already reduced this list, via electronic discussion, to a more manageable number. An initial meeting to set the guidelines for the process of selection was held in Harare Zimbabwe in August 2001."

The group credits distinguished professor of African history and cultures, Ali Mazrui, with pushing the idea of a list of Africa's 100 best books of the twentieth century during the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in 1998. "His vision was to find a way to  direct the spotlight of the world on the achievements of African writers who  have had their works published in the twentieth century."

The organizers note that "the books considered were in three categories: children's writing, non-fiction/scholarship and  creative writing, which further divides into short stories, novels, poetry  and drama. Books were considered in Afrikaans, Arabic, English, French,  Gikuyu, Portuguese, Sesotho, Shona, Swahili, IsiXhosa, Yoruba and IsiZulu."

In summarizing their effort and goal, the jurors and the book fair state "We believe it is time to celebrate a century of superb achievement in African  creative writing, scholarship and children's literature. We believe that  this list will provoke debate and lead to republication, translations and  curriculum inclusion. We can look forward to the next 100 years of an Africa  brimming with creative energy across the entire continent."    

The top twelve best books selected by the jurors are listed below, with a brief on its content and value by the scholars:  

Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, 1958 
This book has moved from its setting in a small Igbo village into universal  prominence as Africa's most widely read novel. Its portrayal of the impact  of British colonization on the life of a settled African community makes it  a classic on the clash of cultures.    

Meshack Asare, Sosu's Call, 1999  
This book received the 1st UNESCO Prize for Children's Literature in the  Service of Tolerance in 2000. It is a wonderful story about a physically  disabled girl left in village because she is ìgood for nothingî. She however  manages to alert the surrounding villages of coming floods through the  miraculous use of talking drums and this way saves them all. The book is  beautifully illustrated by the author.  

Mariama Ba, Une si longue letter (So Long a Letter), 1979.  
A spellbinding book which paved the way for contemporary women's voices  being heard through francophone literature. The central character in Ba's  novel narrates her life through a letter to her friend, and manages to  succinctly capture the everyday frustrations that many women undergo,  especially after the death of their spouses.  

Mia Couto, Terra Sonambula 1992  
In this novel, Couto has managed to blend, in a very unique way, African  oral tradition and the Portuguese literary language. The way the plot  unfolds (a boy and an old man read together a diary they found on a ravaged  bus) takes the reader to an unexpected end, as the boy himself was part of  the story and, thus, boundaries between reality and fiction become blurred.  More than a novel about the recent civil war in Mozambique, this is a book  in which broken and fragmented identities are exposed.  

Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions, 1988  
An excellent portrayal, exposition and interpretation of an African society  whose younger generation of women struggle with varying degrees of success  and almost fatal failure, to wrest it from the unrelenting complexity of  patriarchal domination and colonialism. Unique in African writing for  portraying anorexia, an eating disorder that affects one of the central  characters.  

Cheik Anta Diop, (The African Origins of Civilization: Myth or Reality)  
An outstanding multi-disciplinary work leading the thesis that the founders  of Pharaonic Egypt and, in particular, the 1st Kingdom, were black Africans.  His is a theory that has stood the test of 50 years of international  scholarship in the area.    

Assia Djebar, La'Amour, La fantasia, 1985  
Djebar is an outstanding contemporary writer from Algeria. She is also a  filmmaker. L'Amour, la fantasia is a literary work of mixed genres,  historical and autobiographical narratives, and interlaced with memories of  youth and childhood. It speaks of the conquest of Algeria and the war of  Independence from a woman's perspective and in such a way as to produce a  real feminist literary masterpiece.  

Naguib Mahfouz, The Cairo Trilogy, 1945  
The Cairo Trilogy is a panoramic three-part work written to explain the  sensitivity and mentality of the people who lived in Cairo from the 1900s to  the 1940s. It gives a rich description of their daily lives while  portraying this as part of a wider historical process. Mahfouz won the  Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990.  

Thomas Mofolo, Chaka, 1925  
This truly continental masterpiece explores the theme of power and its  effect on those who have too much of it. The sweep of Zulu history and the  central figure of that history, Chaka Zulu, is very impressive. In the  hands of Mofolo the Sesotho language reveals its natural poetic beauty.  Published in 1925, this novel from Lesotho has inspired generations of  African writers across the continent. Its abiding quality is it evocative  beauty and its insight into the relationship between character and history.  

Wole Soyinka, Ake: The Years of Childhood, 1981
The evocation of the wonder of a child's discovery of the world and his  place in it is a classic autobiography of childhood. It is a remarkable  insight into the growth of a writer's imagination as well as an enchanting  portrait of natural and human environment of a great writer's beginnings.  

Ngugi wa Thiongo, A Grain of Wheat 1967  
This is one of four novels written in English by Ngugi wa Thiongo which  depict some of the dilemmas that face an emergent nation. In this novel,  Ngugi moves away from the Christian literalism of his first books while  retaining respect for the moral values which religions instill. His rich  characterization, complex narrative and deep humanity weave together to form  one of the most ambitious and fully achieved African novels ñ one which is  widely studied and admired in nAfrica and beyond.  

Leopold Sedar Senghor, Oeuvre Poetique 1961  
Leopold Sedar Senghor, who died only recently at the age of 97, was one of  the founding fathers of modern Africa. His political achievements as the  first President of Senegal should not be allowed to obscure his poetic  genius. Oeuvre Poetique is, without doubt, one of the expressions of African  cultural identity. In poems which have been translated into many languages  and which appear in anthologies throughout the world, Senghor explores the  mythic origins of the African persona. His negritude philosophy influenced  every subsequent African author, especially those of the 1950s and 1960s who  followed in the wake of his first poems in this mode. In French of  magisterial resonance, Senghor revealed the soul of Africa to Africa itself,  to French literature and to the world.  

The scholars offered and listed for for Special Commendation the UNESCO General History of Africa vol. I VIII . This work received a special commendation from the Jury both for the wealth  of new information it marshals as well as the new interpretations it brings  to bear on African History. Published over nearly two decades from 1981 to  2000, it has established itself as an indispensable source on all periods of  African history.  It was not included in the list of Africa's 100 best books only because it  falls outside the Jury's terms of reference in that it is edited, and  includes chapters by Non-Africans. The Jury noted however that the  International Advisory Committee for the UNESCO General History of Africa  was two-thirds African in its composition and that the editors of each of  the volumes were African.  

The chairperson of the Jury is the disnguished Professor NJABULO NDEBELE, a Noma Award winner and Vice Chancellor of  the University of Cape Town. The book fair site notes that "his special interest areas are creative writing, cultural studies, critical  theory, communication skills and expository prose. As an internationally  respected author, he has published numerous, short stories and novels as  well as essays, articles and chapters in books. His books include Death of a  Son, 1996; Sarah, Rings and I, 1993; The Prophetess, 1992; Bonolo and the  Peach Tree, 1991; Rediscovery of the Ordinary, 1991; and 'Fools' and other  Stories, 1983. His book "Fools" and other Stories was the joint winner of  the SANLAM prize for outstanding fiction in 1986."  

The others are: WANGUI wa GORO, DR. ALASTAIR NIVEN, DR. FATOUMATA KEšTA, PROFESSOR FATIMA MENDONÁa, DR. ATO QUAYSON, DR. ZIFIKILE MGUNI-GAMBAHAYA, PROFESSOR ALI MAZRUI (Initiator of the Project), PROFESSOR HELGE RONNING, PROFESSOR BANKOLE OMOTOSO, PROFESSOR ELDRED JONES, MR. BERNARD MAGNIER, DR. ADOTEY BING, DR. NANA WILSON-TAGOE, MR. SAMIR SAAD KHALIL and PROFESSOR ALOIS SIMON MLAMBO (ex-officio member and a trustee of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair).

USAfricaonline.com has published a number of essays on Achebe. Also see the website, Achebebooks.com.

I'm equally privileged to speak with the distinguished Professor Achebe, a number of times a year, for some time now. As I've indicated on a number of platforms and interviews, he's one of my mentors.

I believe and propagate the informed view that Prof. Achebe has been a significant and binding source for an engaging understanding of African pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history and realities. Hence, the fact this latest honor validates his nearly 5 decades of capturing the true essence and dynamism and cosmology of African life via his Igbo nation and realities.

I believe that the Achebean ease and facility with the English language insight made him a favorite of African-Americans, and other scholars and regular folks in search of a better, realistic understanding of Africa.

Also, see my reports/commentaries: Literary giant Chinua Achebe returns "home" from U.S., to love and adulation of community; and Achebe turns 70; celebrates with Mandela, Morrison, world's leading arts scholars in New York

The point is Achebe's cultural contexts are at once globalist and local; hence, his literary contextualizations soar beyond the confines of Umuofia and any Igbo or Nigerian setting of his creative imagination or historical recall. His globalist underpinnings and outlook are truly reflective of the true essence of his Igbo world-view, his Igbo upbringing and disposition. Igbos and Jews share (with a few other other cultures) this pan-global disposition to issues of art, life, commerce, juridical pursuits, and quest to be republicanist in terms of the vitality of the individual/self. In Achebe's works, the centrality of Chi (God) attains an additional clarity in the Igbo cosmology. Even, in my letter to my son, Chido Nwangwu II, who turned One on February 12, 2002, those values and messages are embedded and made whole.

Also, Achebe captures the Igbo world taking due cognizance of the usefulness of the whole, the community. I've studied, lived and tried to better understand, essentially, the rigor and towering moral certainties which Achebe have employed in most of his works and his world. I know, among other reasons, because I share the same ancestry with him. And, reasonably, Achebe's message has been neither dimmed nor dulled by time and clime. He has been translated in more languages than any other writer in the developing world. He's our pathfinder, the intellectual godfather of millions of Africans and lovers of the fine art of good writing.

Any wonder, that our Eagle on the Iroko, Chinua Achebe, effortlessly utilizes his rich, moralistic and dynamic Igbo ancestry, on south eastern Nigeria, to speak to the world.

Permit me to attempt writing a brief sentence, if you may, with that Achebean simplicty and clarity. Here, folks, what the world has known since 1958: Achebe is good!

Eagle on the Iroko, may your Lineage endure!
There has never been one like you!
Ugo n'abo, chukwu gozie gi oo!

CLASS is the social events, heritage excellence and style magazine for Africans in north America, described by The New York Times as the magazine for affluent Africans in America. It is published by professional journalists and leading mulitmedia leaders and pioneers.



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This life and pain of Kgomotso Mahlangu, a five-month-old AIDS patient (left) in a hospital in the Kalafong township near Pretoria, South Africa, on October 26, 1999, brings a certain, frightening reality to the sweeping and devastating destruction of human beings who form the core of any definition of a country's future, its national security, actual and potential economic development and internal markets. 22 million Africans HIV-infected, ill with AIDS while African leaders ignore disaster-in-waiting Wong is wrong on Blacks in Houston city jobs Why is 4-year old Onyedika carrying a placard against killings in Nigeria? How Nigeria's Islamic Sharia crises will affect the U.S. USAfrica INTERVIEW "Why African Catholics are concerned about crises, sex abuse issues in our church" - a frank chat with ICCO's Mike Umeorah Johnnie Cochran will soon learn that defending Abacha's loot is not as simple as his O.J Simpson's case. By Chido Nwangwu The Economics of Elections in Nigeria HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY How far, how deep will Nigeria's human rights commission go? Rtd. Gen. Babangida trip as emissary for Nigeria's Obasanjo to Sudan raises curiosity, questions about what next in power play? COUNTERPOINT 'Why is Bill Maher spreading racist nonsense about HIV/AIDS and Africa on ABC? Hate groups' spin by Lamar Alexander benefits anti-Blacks, anti-Semites, and racists Annan, power and burden of the U.N The Civilianizing of African soldiers into Presidents At 39, Nigerians still face dishonest stereotypes such as Buckley's, and other self-inflicted wounds. JFK Jr.: Death of a Good Son 'Why is Bill Maher spreading racist nonsense about HIV/AIDS and Africa on ABC? National Summit on Africa, Congresswoman Jackson-Lee hold policy forum in Houston '100 Black Men are solutions-oriented' says Thomas Dortch, Jr., Richard Johnson and Nick Clayton II as they share perspectives with USAfrica's founder on the national organization. Community Service Awards bring African-American, American policy and business leaders together with African community at Texas Southern University 110 minutes with Hakeem Olajuwon Cheryl Mills' first class defense of Clinton and her detractors' game  Nigeria, Cry My Beloved Country BULLET Versus BALLOT The bloody stain of military coup, on Friday December 24, 1999, sullied the once unique history of democratic rule in the beautiful and historically democratic, French-speaking west African country of Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) by General Robert Guei (inset). USAfricaonline report and commentary. COMMUNITY INTEREST Why the revisionist forces of racist oppression in South Africa should not be allowed to intimidate Ron and Charlayne Gault. Index of Founder's Notes (1) Index of Founder's Notes (2) Index of other Viewpoints USAfricaonline contributors and columnists on the issues Will the rash of Ethnic Violence disrupt Nigeria's effort at Democracy? USAfrica FORUM IN THE HOUSE OF MANDELA: A SILLY CRY FOR REPARATIONS By Prof. Chimalum Nwankwo Nigerian stabbed to death in his bathroom in Houston. EndGame in Kinshasa: U.S must boot Mobutu for own interest, future of Zaire and Africa PetroGasWorks Shell picks Leslie Mays as VP Global Diversity Why Powell's mission to the Middle East failed. By Jonathan Elendu TRANSITION General Tunde Idiagbon:  A nationalist, an iron-surgeon departs Abiola's sudden death and the ghost of things to come   Gen. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua's prison death, Nigeria and The Ghost of Things to come .....

NEWS: OBASANJO'S FAILED 3RD TERM POWER-PLAY IS GOOD NEWS TO NIGERIANS, ABROAD AND HOME.... USAfricaonline.com and its correspondents in Nigeria and across the major cities of the U.S are reporting an increasing tally of anti-3rd term phone calls and e-mails from our readers. By a margin of almost 7-2, USAfricaonline.com data show that an overwhelming majority of the politically active citizenry are happy that Nigeria's Senate halted retired Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo's stealthy, unpopular, behind-the-scenes-wink and nod power plays to secure an "unrequested" 3rd term as president of Nigeria (a total of 12 consecutive years). Many Nigerians still feel disappointed that a man (Obasanjo) who had gained so much from Nigeria would cling so tightly to power, even against the popular will of the people, moreso with age, energy and fresh ideas for a new era not on his side. Also, USAfricaonline.com review of Nigeria's recent history show that President Obasanjo seems to be moving rapidly into the zone of ill-repute of his former military colleagues who, like him, refused to leave office when it was time to go. Gen. yakubu Gowon in 1975; Gen. Ibrahim Babangida in 1993; Gen. Sani Abacha in1995, 1996, 1997, 1998. More baffling many Nigerians we interviewed recall are the lessons of the excesses of the late Gen. Abach who jailed Obasanjo while the former schemed to remain in power. For the special report by USAfrica multimedia networks' Publisher Chido Nwangwu, click on 3rd term. USAfricaonline.com INSIGHT: How Obasanjo's self-succession charade at his Ota Farm has turned Nigeria to an 'Animal Farm.' By Prof. Mobolaji Aluko Is Obasanjo ordained by God to rule Nigeria? And, other fallacies. By Prof. Sola Adeyeye Obasanjo was not sworn in merely to "mean well" for Nigeria. By Obi Nwakanma Obasanjo's 'prayers' and the Abacha path of staying in power. By Nkem Ekeopara Creative writing, publishing and the future of Nigerian Literature. By Prof. Chukwuemeka Ike APPRECIATION A young father writes his One year old son: "If only my heart had a voice...." Nigeria, a terrible beauty. By Chido Nwangwu Why Nigeria and Africa's leaders are leading us to nowhere. By Professor Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe, contributing editor of USAfricaonline.com, author of the highly-acclaimed African Literature in Defence of History: An Essay on Chinua Achebe and a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics. Seriously, is your web site a Turkey, too? Get Solutions Anambra's rigged 2003 elections: Chris Uba's confession at WIC 2004 in Newark, USA. In a matter-of-fact manner, PDP's chieftain in Anambra Chris Uba stood up and astonished all that were present in Newark when he said, "We, the PDP, did not win the election (of 2003). I have gone to church to confess. The election had no document. I called the result before 12 midnight. I gave INEC the money and asked them to call the result." The revelation caused an uproar as well as some applause in the hall. "The person we took his thing is here," Uba said, pointing at Peter Obi (the APGA candidate) who was sitting among the audience, in the back row. USAfrica The Newspaper voted the "Best Community Newspaper" in the 4th largest city in the U.S., Houston. It is in the Best of Houston special as chosen by the editors and readers of the Houston Press, reflecting their poll and annual rankings. DEMOCRACY WATCH: Obasanjo raped Nigeria's constitution by suspending Plateau Assembly and Governor. Prof. By Prof. Ben Nwabueze, leading constitutional scholar in the Commonwealth for almost 45 years, former Nigerian federal minister and SAN. OIL in NIGERIA: Liquid Gold or Petro-Dollars Curse? Investigating Marc Rich and his deals with Nigeria's Oil Through an elaborate network of carrots and sticks and a willing army of Nigeria's soldiers and some civilians, controversial global dealer and billionaire Marc Rich, literally and practically, made deals and steals; yes, laughed his way to the banks from crude oil contracts, unpaid millions in oil royalties and false declarations of quantities of crude lifted and exported from Nigeria for almost 25 years. Worse, he lifted Nigeria's oil and shipped same to then embargoed apartheid regime in South Africa. Read Chido Nwangwu's NEWS INVESTIGATION REPORT for PetroGasWorks.com MEDIAWATCH Should Africa debates begin and end at The New York Times and The Washington Post? Nelson Mandela, Tribute to the world's political superstar and Lion of Africa   TRIBUTE Nnamdi Azikiwe: Statesman, Intellectual and Titan of African politics CONTINENTAL AGENDA Bush's position on Africa is "ill-advised." The position stated by Republican presidential aspirant and Governor of Texas, George Bush where he said that "Africa will not be an area of priority" in his presidency has been questioned by USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu. He added that Bush's "pre-election position was neither validated by the economic exchanges nor geo-strategic interests of our two continents." These views were stated during an interview CNN's anchor Bernard Shaw and senior analyst Jeff Greenfield had with Mr. Nwangwu on Saturday November 18, 2000 during a special edition of 'Inside Politics 2000.' Nwangwu, adviser to the Mayor of Houston (the 4th largest city in the U.S., and immigrant home to thousands of Africans) argued further that "the issues of the heritage interests of 35 million African-Americans in Africa, the volume and value of oil business between between the U.S and Nigeria and the horrendous AIDS crisis in Africa do not lend any basis for Governor Bush's ill-advised position which removes Africa from fair consideration" were he to be elected president. By Al Johnson ARTS The Life and Irreverent times of Afrobeat superstar, FELA     PANAFRICANIST Tanzania's founding president Julius Nyerere       ELECTIONS Gigolos on the Campaign Trail. By Prof. Walt Brasch Can Africa live a future without war? An Open Letter to Mandela. By Fubara David-West Sex, Women and (Hu)Woman Rights. By Chika Unigwe Abati's Revisionisms and Distortions of history. By Obi Nwakanma, USAfrica The Newspaper contributing editor and award-winning poet Reuben Abati's fallacies on Nigeria's history and secession. By Bayo Arowolaju How Abati, Adelaja and others fuel the campaign of hatred against Ndigbo. By Jonas Okwara "Obasanjo, secession and the secessionists": A response to Reuben Abati's Igbophobia. By Josh Arinze, USAfricaonline.com contributing editor. Abati and other anti-Igbo bigots in Nigeria. By Chuks Iloegbunam, USAfricaonline.com contributing editor and author of Ironsi DEMOCRACY DEBATE CNN International debate on Nigeria's democracy was livecast on February 19, 2002. It involved Nigeria's Information Minister Prof. Jerry Gana, Prof. Salih Booker and USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu. Transcripts are available on the CNN International site. WILL ARINZE BE THE FIRST POPE of RECENT AFRICAN ORIGIN? To our Brother Cardinal Arinze: May your pastoral lineage endure! The Democratic Party stood for nothing in 2002 election cycle. By Jonathan Elendu HEALTHWATCH EVA champions efforts to combat AIDS among Nigerian youth. By Jessica Rubin Pros and cons of the circumcision debate. By Ngozi Ezeji, RN TRIBUTE Prof. Chimere Ikoku: Remembering the legacy of a pan-Africanist, scientist and gentleman. By Prof. Chudi Uwazurike   Can Africa live a future without war? An Open Letter to Mandela. By Fubara David-West, USAfricaonline.com contributing editor COUNTERPOINT Tiger Woods is no Nelson Mandela! By Chido Nwangwu SPORTS: Tiger Woods makes more history with another golf Masters win. He shot 12-under-par 276 and a final round 71 at Georgia's Augusta National Golf Club event and collected $1,008,000, on Sunday April 14, 2002. With it, the world's golf phenom added another green jacket to his array of championships and titles, placing him, in this instance, in the same respected Masters' league as Nicklaus (winner 1965 and 1966) and Nick Faldo (1989 and 1990). The three are the only men to win back-to-back Masters. At 26, Woods has since become the youngest golfer to win his seventh professional major championship. He was joined by his parents and his 22 year-old Swedish model girlfriend, Elin Nordegren. Impeachment process shows Nigerian democracy "is alive... being tested." Nigeria's president retired Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the impeachment process shows that "democracy is alive, is being tested, and being tried.... What they (the legislators) have tried to do in the democratic way, which is not easy, would probably have been done by taking arms or by -- with bullets. So, but with democracy, of course, some people feel that this is the way this should be, and then I have an opportunity to defend myself. There is discussion. There is dialogue. There is a decision. There is fairness." He made these comments when he appeared on Tuesday September 17, 2002 on CNN International to discuss the issues of impeachment facing him, the allegations of corruption, abuse of the constitution and deployment of soldiers ina civilian environment which led to the "massacre of civilians" in Odi (Bayelsa) and Zaki Biam (Benue). On the charges by international human rights organizations and Nigerian media that his government has been involved in actions which have led to the deaths of thousands of Nigerians, the retired General gave a surprising answer. He was asked that "as many as 10,000 people, it's being reported, have been killed in Nigeria (in) communal rivalries, and the number is believed to be increasing. And people are saying that although President Obasanjo has done a lot of good for Nigeria, you're accused of not -- accused of failing to halt that spiraling violence." Obasanjo: Let me say this to you, when you put the question of 10,000 -- 10,000 people dying in Nigeria, of course, for a population of over 120 million people...." But USAfricaonline.com Founder and recipient of the Journalism Excellence award (1997), Chido Nwangwu, who appeared on the same program as as a CNN International analyst (Africa) pointed out that "when (President Obasanjo) answered that in a country of 100 million that 10,000 people are said to have died, as if that was a small number, that in itself reflects a disconnect with the concerns of Nigerians. The second one is that when the risk is civil disagreement, the police are required to intervene in the country. And the deployment of the armed forces of Nigeria requires at least some consultation, however modest, with the parliament." Nwangwu, former member of the editorial board of Nigeria's Daily Times continued that "the third factor that is equally important to underscore is that the armed forces of Nigeria moved in for a punitive action rather than just containing a civil disagreement." He noted in USAfricaonline.com backgrounder "it was revealing and interesting interesting discussing Nigeria's issues with its leader - under the current circumstances of an increasingly out-of-schedule elections and the gathering storm of an impeachment process by a majority of the members of the National Assembly, predominantly by Obasanjo's party members." See rush transcript of the CNN International news program. Obasanjo facing corruption and ineptitude impeachment charges, again since the parliament, a few weeks ago, passed a motion carrying a majority of the members of Obasanjo's party, the PDP. RELIGION AND ETHNIC CONFLICT: Sharia-related killings and carnage in Kaduna reenact deadly prologue to Nigeria-Biafra war of 1967. By Chido Nwangwu It's wrong to stereotype Nigerians as Drug Dealers. By Chido Nwangwu Nigeria as a Nation of Vulcanizers Why Colin Powell brings gravitas, credibility and star power to Bush presidency. PUBLIC POLICY Private initiative, free market forces, and more democratization are keys to prosperity in Africa. The Civilianizing of African soldiers into Presidents Maduekwe, Nwachukwu clash over Obasanjo at World Igbo 2002 convention in Houston. USAfrica Special report DEMOCRACY DEBATE CNN International debate on Nigeria's democracy livecast on February 19, 2002. It involved Nigeria's Information Minister Prof. Jerry Gana, Prof. Salih Booker and USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu. Transcripts are available on the CNN International site. Steve Jobs and Apple represent the future of digital living. By Chido Nwangwu The coup in Cote d'Ivoire and its implications for democracy in Africa. By Chido Nwangwu (Related commentary) Coup in Cote d'Ivoire has been in the waiting. By Tom Kamara