Professor Ali Mani was a bigger than life personality. The campus was yet to fully recover from all the ramifications of his momentous visit and controversial lecture. When, bump, it went. It came so suddenly it left most people struggling for breath.
The deputy Vice Chancellor attempted a violent takeover of the university. This was beyond imagination. It was outrageous. The problem was most people had no idea what had hit them.
This has been a trying year. We must contend not only with the many challenges of the coronavirus pandemic but also the loss of many people who have touched our lives. One of these was Mr. Bill Milligan who left us on June 29, 2021, to join his ancestors in Pagak, the proverbial land of no return. His departure left us with mixed emotions. On the one hand, we are sad that he is no longer with us. On the other hand, we are glad that he is no longer facing life’s difficult challenges which naturally come with advancing age.
After eighteen months of the pandemic’s new normal, I often hear people complain about the restrictions of their freedom and violation of their human rights. Road rage shooting and increased murder rates are common in parts of the USA. Sexual assaults and teenage pregnancies in countries like Uganda are rising astronomically. Such complaints and talks got me thinking about the good old days. Were the old days as good as people say they were? This note and the other articles will address this question.
By Jonathan Power, a weekly columnist on Foreign Affairs
The Soviet Army invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 and withdrew, exhausted and demoralized, 10 years later. In Moscow a joke had long circulated: “Why are we still in Afghanistan?” Answer: “We are still looking for the people who invited us”.
The same is true for the Americans and NATO who are now moving through the exit door. They came to obliterate Al-Qaeda after 9/11, 2001.
By Alem Gebriel, water resources Technical Director
The Ethiopian Dam currently under construction on the Abbay river, otherwise known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), has great benefits for Ethiopia as well as the two downstream countries: Sudan and Egypt. One major benefit is that it mitigates flooding in Sudan. Notwithstanding that, in recent weeks the Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi has been quoted to the effect as saying that the dam will endanger the livelihood of over 20 million Sudanese people.
The dalliance with the Strongman was bound to backfire. Soon Ali Mani found himself on the run. For a while he taught at the University of Illinois. He worked hard. Churned out publications like crazy. Became a popular and a much sought-after speaker on the lecture circuit. Soon he moved on to an Ivy League college as head of the Institute of Globality. Ali Mani had arrived. But now he was on his way back to Africa.
Every four years, the world is treated to a sport’s extravaganza–the summer Olympics. It is replete with scandals, drama, exhilaration, utter failure, disappointment, etc. The organizers, the country and city hosts, the athletes, the trainers, etc., are all in the mix at the Olympics. While the Olympics is marketed as an international sporting activity aimed at cultivating excellence, friendship, and respect, and to contribute to world peace, it is all that and more.
By Ocaya p’Ocure, social media commentator, Uppsala, Sweden
It was on a fine day, July 22, 2011, when a homegrown terrorist named Anders Behring Breivik killed 8 people in a bomb blast in Oslo, Norway. He then dressed as a policeman to access Utoya Island Village where he massacred 69 children and young people because they were members and supporters of The Norwegian Social Democratic Party Youth Union–locally known as–Arbeiderpartiet Ungdomsförbundet–(AUF).
Our last issue was dedicated to change which comes with happiness, uncertainty, and sadness. This issue is dedicated to learning lessons from history. The just concluded Tokyo Olympics was fairly successful despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no massive infection of athletes and no boycotts and no massive doping scandals. Thanks to lesson learned from past experiences. However, it is regrettable that there is still some doping among athletes as well as corruption within the International Olympic Organization (IOC).
It was there in the mating songs of the birds. It was there in the air you breathed. You felt lucky to be alive in the world. It was just the kind of night in which true love whispers. Call me! Just call my name.