AADD: Africa Attention Deficit
Disorder. A U.S. disorder that hurts Africa.
By David Sarasohn
Special to USAfricaonline.com,
USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston
CLASS
magazine, The
Black Business Journal
and
IgboEvents
Today's pictures are from Niger, but they could
be from lots of places in Africa, and from lots of times during
recent decades. These children with the matchstick legs, and the eyes
bigger 
than
their fists, could have been from Biafra, a runaway province of
Nigeria, in the 1970s, or from Ethiopia in the 1980s, or the Congo in
the 1990s. Th
e
hideous massacre stories, this time from Darfur, could be from
Liberia, or Sierra Leone, or -- most bloodily -- Rwanda. The AIDS
stories come steadily from the same places.
Nobody thinks that the United States, or the West, or the entire planet outside Africa could fix all these problems. But somehow, they always come as a surprise, in a place that we've forgotten about since the last time. The problem is that Americans have AADD: Africa Attention Deficit Disorder. Every so often, we see the eruption of something so cataclysmic that it forces its way onto our radar screens. In between those times -- especially since the Cold War ended and we were reassured that Africans might die but wouldn't go communist -- we generally forget the continent exists. "We have a short attention span," says Randy Martin, Washington, D.C.-based director of global emergency services for Portland, Ore.-based Mercy Corps. "If a situation is not going to be resolved overnight, we lose interest."
By that standard, we lose interest in anything African. Right now, network and cable news camera crews are all over Niger, this being the point when the food situation is the worst but the footage situation is the best. (Still, U.S. media are more likely to mention Niger for its connection with Valerie Plame and Iraq than as a place where 2.9 million people are close to starvation.) Last Wednesday, the United Nations issued a plea for $75 million for Niger. But Niger, after a season of drought and locusts, saw this coming for six months and couldn't get anybody interested. There's no footage in a famine forecast. Which, says Martin, who's on an emergency task force of international charitable groups, is a bad way to deal with these things. "If you start when you see the famine coming, people might still have their seed," he says. "If you wait, people eat their seeds, they sell their tools, they sell their livestock. If you take action when people still have resources, the chances of recovery are much better." Of course, to do that you have to pay attention. On Niger, that's included a range of private groups -- CARE, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services -- but until now, not much of a government or public interest. "There's an extent to which people just don't know Africa very well," says Ann-Louise Colgan, director of policy analysis for the D.C. advocacy group Africa Action. To Colgan, that means Americans not only don't see the continent's issues very clearly, but they also think that more is being done than actually is.
On the issue of Darfur in western Sudan, site
of what Colgan calls "the first genocide of the new millennium," she
notes we're at "the one-year anniversary of the administration saying
it was genocide. The statement was used as a substitute for action."
On Darfur and debt forgiveness, Colgan says, an increasing number of
Americans are getting interested. But for situations so distant and
so complex, even with some advances it's hard to sustain activism.
"When victory is not everything they hoped it would be," she says,
"how do you sustain their interest?" Without waiting for the
interest-stirring pile of bodies. Martin points to the southern end
of Sudan -- where the Bush administration became deeply involved,
appointed a high-level special ambassador and was crucial to a
now-shaky negotiated settlement -- as a sign of what the United
States can do when it does get involved. And when it doesn't give in
to its Africa Attention Deficit Disorder. Until then, we wait on the
new famine or genocide, and each time say, "Never again." And then
our attention wanders, until the next time. And in Africa, there
always is a next time. The real problem with our AADD is that the
people who have it aren't the ones who suffer from it.
Sarasohn is an analyst/columnist for the U.S.-based Newhouse News
Service (August 10, 2005)
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Summary: Africa's most acclaimed and fluent writer of the
English Language, the most translated writer of Black heritage in the
world, broadcaster extraordinaire, social conscience of millions,
cultural custodian and elevator, chronicler and essayist, goodwill
ambassador and man of progressive rock-ribbed principles, the
Eagle
on the Iroko, Ugo n'abo Professor Chinua Achebe,
has recently been selected by a distinguished jury of scholars and
critics (from 13 countries of African life and literature) as the
writer of the Best book (Things Fall Apart, 1958) written in the
twentieth century regarding Africa. Reasonably, Achebe's message has
been neither dimmed nor dulled by time and clime. He's our
pathfinder, the intellectual godfather of millions of Africans and
lovers of the fine
art of good writing. Achebe's cultural contexts are, at once,
pan-African, 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... 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!
APPRECIATION
USAfricaFORUM: Africa,
Blair and United Kingdom's commendable push for
development assistance. By Dr. Chinua Akukwe
"This is our moment to stand up for what's right,'' U2
lead singer Bono told the audience in London. ``We can't fix
every problem, but those we can, we must,'' he said,
mentioning malaria, AIDS and deaths caused by dirty water.
U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, host of the G-8 summit, is
making African poverty reduction a focus of the meeting.
Performers at "Live 8'' -- including Paul McCartney, Cold
Play, Madonna and REM -- want to raise popular awareness of
the continent's economic deprivation. The concerts will reach a potential global audience of
5.5 billion people through television, Internet and other
media, organizer Bob Geldof said. They occur 20 years after
the Live Aid concerts that Geldof also arranged to combat
African poverty. Africa is the only continent to have become
poorer in the last 25 years, according to the United
Nations. More than 300 million Africans live on less than $1
a day, and less than half of children on the continent
complete primary school. In the last 50 years, there have
been 186
coups and 26 wars in Africa, with more than 7 million
people killed, the UN says.
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.'
A young
father writes his One
year old son:
"If only my heart had a voice...."
INSIGHT:
Why America should halt the
genocide in the Sudan. By Chido Nwangwu,
Founder and Publisher of USAfricaonline.com. Certain facts
and the continuing, bigoted impudence of Islamic Sudan offer
clarity to why the U.S should aggressively halt the genocide
and gory events in Africa's largest country. The Sudan has
almost 918,000 square miles in size and a war-weary
population of 30million. Even as I call for a red line to be
drawn against the rag-tag army of Arab-taliban-fascists in
Africa and the assorted troops of religio-criminal rapists
who have since four decades set upon the southern Christian,
indigenous African Sudanese, I agree with Gen. Powell that
"America will be a friend to all Africans who seek peace;
but we cannot make peace among Africans." He is right.
Africans must respect and love each other. Continued
here....
POLICY INSIGHT: Africa,
Blair and United Kingdom's commendable push for
development assistance. By
Chinua Akukwe, contributing editor of
USAfricaonline.com
Nelson
Mandela, Tribute to the
world's political superstar and Lion of
Africa
Why Bush should focus on dangers
facing Nigeria's return
to democracy
and Obasanjo's slipperyslide
TRIBUTE
A KING FOR
ALL TIMES:
Why Martin Luther King's
legacy
and vision are relevant into 21st century.
DIPLOMACY
Walter
Carrington:
African-American diplomat who put principles above self for
Nigeria 
(USAfrica's
founder Chido Nwangwu with Ambassador Carrington at the U.S.
embassy, Nigeria)
DEMOCRACY'S
WARRIOR
Out of
Africa.
…The
cock that crows in the morning belongs to one household but
his voice is the property of the neighborhood. -- Chinua
Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah. An editor carries on
his crusade against public corruption and press
censorship
in his native Nigeria and other African countries. By
John Suval.
ARINZE: Will he be
the FIRST
BLACK AFRICAN
POPE?
Osama
bin-Laden's goons threaten Nigeria and Africa's
stability
What
has Africa
to do with September 11 terror? By Chido
Nwangwu
Africans
reported
dead
in terrorist
attack at
WTC
September
11
terror and
the ghost of things to
come....
Will
religious conflicts be the time-bomb
for Nigeria's latest transition to civilian rule?
INTERVIEW:
'Nigeria needs a democratic system guided by the
truth....' Senator
Francis J. Ellah, the Eze Nwadei Ogbuehi of
Ogba in Rivers state of Nigeria. He is a highly regarded
elder statesman with outstanding political credentials and a
former Second Republic Senator and a delegate to Nigeria's
ongoing national political reforms conference in
Abuja.
Bola
Ige's murder another danger signal for
Nigeria's nascent democracy.
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?
110 minutes
with Hakeem Olajuwon
Nigerian
stabbed
to death
in his bathroom in Houston.
Cheryl
Mills' first class defense of Clinton and her detractors'
game
It's wrong
to stereotype Nigerians as Drug
Dealers
Private initiative,
free
market forces, and more
democratization
are Keys to prosperity in Africa
Steve Jobs extends
digital
magic
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's
burden
mounts with murder charges, trials
Since 1958, Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" set a standard
of artistic excellence,
and more. By Douglas Killam
Lifestyle
Sex,
Women and (Hu)Woman
Rights. By Chika Unigwe
Johnnie Cochran
will soon learn that defending Abacha's
loot is not as simple as his O.J Simpson's
case.
By Chido
Nwangwu
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 2001 special as chosen by the editors
and readers of the Houston
Press,
reflecting their poll and annual rankings.
'Live
8' global concerts put focus on Africa,
poverty.... Singers from
U2's Bono to billionaire Bill Gates called for the leaders
of the world's wealthiest nations to relieve African poverty
at ``Live 8'' concerts in London and nine other cities.
About 200,000 people jammed into London's Hyde Park on July
2 at the start of a week of music and demonstrations to
pressure heads of G-8 nations meeting July 6-8 in
Gleneagles, Scotland, to increase aid and debt relief to
Africa and also rewrite trade rules.
WEB
SITES SOLUTIONS, PHOTO IMAGING....
TECHNOLOGY: "Apple's
Switch to Intel: The Ultimate Power Move? Steve
Jobs' decision to build Macs with Intel chips may finally
give the company a shot at challenging
Microsoft's Windows." By David Kirkpatrick
June
16 and South Africa's treble historic events.
By Nkem Ekeopara
"Our
ordeal with KLM"
"They bumped me and my daughter from a
confirmed flight; then flies out with 5 pieces of our
luggage...." TONY
IGWE in exclusive interview tells
USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu of 5 hours of
anguish and disappointments at the George Bush International
Airport in Houston, on Friday March 26, 2004
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.
Should Africa debates begin
and end at
The
New York Times and
The
Washington Post?
No
NEWS
INSIGHT
CNN, Obasanjo and Nigeria's struggles with
democracy.
Why Obasanjo's government should respect
CNN
and Freedom of the press
in Nigeria.
Jonas Savimbi, UNITA are
"terrorists"
in Africans' eyes
despite Washington's "freedom fighter" toga for him. By
SHANA WILLS
Africa
suffers the scourge of the virus.
This life and pain of Kgomotso Mahlangu, a
five-month-old AIDS patient (above) 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
In a special report a few hours after the
history-making nomination, USAfricaonline.com
Founder and Publisher Chido Nwangwu places Powell within the
trajectory of history and into his unfolding clout and
relevance in an essay titled 'Why Colin
Powell
brings gravitas, credibility and star power to Bush
presidency.'
AFRICA
AND THE U.S. ELECTIONS
Beyond U.S.
electoral shenanigans, rewards and dynamics of a democratic
republic hold
lessons
for
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."
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
2006
CALENDAR, FRIDAY
May 5, AND SATURDAY MAY 6,
2006:
CLASS magazine,
USAfrica and USAfricaonline.com (characterized by The New
York Times as the largest and most influential
African-owned, U.S-based multimedia networks), will hold the
USAfrica 14th internationally-acclaimed 2006 BEST OF AFRICA
awards dinner in honor of African professionals and our
annual Mothers' Day Honors on FRIDAY MAY 5 and on SATURDAY
MAY 6, 2006. Nominate some African professionals and
community builders. E-mail: