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Published 29th August 1997

Vol 38 No 17


Nigeria

Fela and his heirs

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures
Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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As millions mourn the passing of the Afrobeat King and his pioneering work, Africa's music industry is stronger than ever

'When I am President', intoned Fela Anikulapo Kuti at the height of his political campaigning, 'all Africa will dance to my music'. His political ambitions were unfulfilled but there is no questioning his musical ascendancy. Fela's death on 2 August was the loss of an African hero who has made the rest of the world take African music seriously. In a continent profoundly sceptical about Nigerian military rulers and petrodollars, Fela was one of the best loved and best known Nigerians. His power grew out of the horn of a saxophone, not the barrel of a gun.


Fighting for top jobs

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Mandela's imminent retirement as ANC leader is the signal for a race for top jobs

Nothing can stop the carefully orchestrated ascendancy of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, first to the African National Congress leadership and then to the South African presidency. The shadow...


Time's up, again

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The peace process still hangs fire and everyone's patience is running out

'We are close to the end of our tether with UNITA', says a senior official with the United Nations Observer Mission to Angola (MONUA). The United Nations Security...


The oil hostage

The oil business is being held hostage, not by foreign sanctions but by the government

Nigeria's oil industry is beginning to seize up. The state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has received no budget allocations for seven months. Except for a small contribution this...


Microsplinters

Two small islands declare independence while demanding recolonisation by France

The Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros has again sprung a surprise on the world, with two of its three islands calling (separately) both for independence and for...



Pointers

NIF targets Mandela

President Nelson Mandela's extraordinary peacemaking bid in Sudan, which appears to have pleased only the National Islamic Front, came without South African Foreign Ministry support, Africa Confidential understands....


Fishy tale

A Malabo court on 18 August sentenced opposition leader Severo Moto Nsa to 101 years in gaol for high treason and plotting to assassinate the head of state....


Free radicals

Opposition politicians seeking an explanation for the continuing grip on power of some of the more authoritarian Francophone leaders may find guidance from the Nu Health Clinic in...