A growing field of policy analysis now focuses on reducing armed violence. Remarkable consensus has emerged at high policy levels around the basic elements of an approach to reduce violence.
Muhammadu Buhari has finally put in place a cabinet that can get on with the job of running the country.
EPA/Deji Yake
President Buhari’s cabinet selection brings hope. The major challenge now is to deliver on his promise to fight corruption, restructure Nigeria’s economy and reduce poverty.
Nigeria’s newly appointed government ministers attend their swearing-in ceremony in Abuja.
Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde
No-one imagined that it would take Muhammadu Buhari more than 100 days to form a cabinet. But, then again, Nigeria is no ordinary country and it has its own inherent logic.
Students want change. Universities want autonomy. Is there a middle ground?
Ashraf Hendricks/The Daily Vox
Many universities in East and West Africa lost their autonomy during the 1980s and 1990s and became handmaidens of the state. What insights can their experiences offer for South Africa?
Africa’s future academics must be found, developed, nurtured and retained.
Shutterstock
The health system Muhammadu Buhari inherited in Nigeria is not performing at an optimal level. It has poor governance at the primary health care level and weak collaboration and co-ordination.
A billboard campaigning against crude oil theft. Nigeria is under pressure from falling oil prices and China’s economic slowdown.
Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye
President Buhari of Nigeria has finally named his cabinet. He was either slow, or he was very choosy, or he couldn’t find enough honest people. Certainly his 55th national anniversary speech was full of…
Malawian President Peter Mutharika has promised to fight the corruption that has seen donors withdraw their support for his impoverished nation.
Reuters/Eldson Chagara
Malawi appears to have learnt nothing from the biggest state corruption scandal that rocked the country two years ago, leading to donors withdrawing their support. The same conditions still remain.
A cameraman films a scene for the Nollywood movie October 1, a police thriller directed by Kunle Afolayan, at a rural location in Ilaramokin village, southwest Nigeria.
Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye
Apart from numerous worldwide threats including from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, the US is taking more notice of Africa due to the expansion of extremist organisations on the continent.
King Mswati III, centre, with his regiments at Ludzidzini royal palace during the annual Reed Dance in August. Swaziland ranks among the worst in Africa for its level of democracy.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
Satisfaction with democracy varies widely in Africa. Across 28 countries, only 46% of citizens say they are “very satisfied” or “fairly satisfied” with the way democracy works in their countries.
Chigozie Obioma, whose book The Fishermen has been nominated for the 2015 Man Booker Prize.
Supplied
Framing younger writers’ work within the footsteps of giants is always fraught with risk; the risk of shadowing the merits and faults of the former in an attempt to assess the legacy of the latter.
Then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discusses collaboration between the US and Senegal. International partnerships, particularly between universities, can yield great rewards.
EPA
If memorandums of understanding with international institutions are properly developed and put into action, they can contribute a great deal to African universities’ push for internationalisation.
A chaotic traffic jam chokes the Nigerian coastal capital Lagos.
Reuters/George Esiri
The fact that businesses cannot accurately calculate the cost of doing business in Nigeria because of corruption makes them jittery.But it doesn’t mean Nigeria is more corrupt than any other country.
A health worker vaccinates children with drops of polio vaccine in a classroom in Lagos, Nigeria.
Reuters/George Esiri
Nigeria’s strategy to eliminate polio was so effective that it was duplicated to deal with ebola. So why did the country take so long to get off the list of polio-endemic countries?
Victoria Island waterfront in Lagos. President Buhari needs to emulate China and South Korea by urgently investing in science and technology to take Nigeria’s economy to the next level.
Reuters/Joe Penney
History tells us that while elements of competition and inclusion strengthen multiparty systems, too much of either can be fatal to the process of democratisation.
Nigeria’s plans for a new modern city need to be boosted so that they deliver a metropolis like the Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi.
Shutterstock
Rather than just becoming a financial venture, the Eko Atlantic experiment can be carried further at no extra cost to become the hub to transform good governance in Nigeria and West Africa.