Nigeria finished its outing at the Beijing Olympics with one silver and two bronze medals. The men’s soccer team played 0-1 with Argentina at the finals.
Here is a video highlight of the match:
AfricanLoft has some additional coverage of most of the African nations at the Beijing Olympics.
Lopez Lomong story started when he escaped from captivity in Sudan at age six. His story could have been like the unfortunate thousands of the Darfur genocide.
Lopez spent some 10 years in one of the harshest environment imaginable- a Kenyan refugee camp where he made do with a ration of one meal a day.
During the 2000 Olympics, he chose to walk five miles to watch the Michael Johnson run. He got hooked from that day on. His dream was to be an Olympian.
Fate smiled on him and he found new home in Syracuse USA, where a foster parent made a choice to raise him.
When the Beijing Olympics opened several hours ago in China, Lopez, now a professional runner, was nominated as the flag bearer for the American team.
The message is clear.
Watch CNN video footage of Lomong talk about this experience. AfricanLoft has additional coverage:
“Five Chinese telecommunications workers have been kidnapped by unidentified armed men in southern Nigeria”, according to a BBC report. I wonder how this will impact the Sino-Nigeria business and trade arrangements which requires hundreds of Chinese technicians and expatriates. to be domiciled in Nigeria for several years. There is no doubt that the provision of private security for these people and other expats. in the Niger-Delta region has jacked-up the cost of doing business in Nigeria.
The agitations in the Niger-delta, and secessionist miltia in the eastern region, have sucessfully labelled Nigeria in the eyes of world as a time-bomb rigged to explode at any time.
As much as the Nigerian government tries to whitewash the stains of, and “airfreshens” the stench from, the rotting lumbers of our national foundation, it’s just a matter of time before things reach a tipping-point and our national foundation gives way completely. Well, unless the goons in charge realize the importance of carrying the people along.
As events indicate at the moment, the government strategies employed to nip sectarian violence and appease to those aggravated entities have not work. Rather than “staying the course of a doomed voyage”, isn’t it just simple commonsense to halt, take a breather, and reevaluate available options?
Related articles:
Nigeriafirst.org: Nigeria-China relations in Perspective: 1999 – 2006
As the Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing prepares for a mega tour of Africa come January 2007 in continuation of the Sino-Africa trade summit that held in Beijing last November, it is interesting to read a Chinese academic present his view on this trade relationship. The African Executive has a re-print of an article in Beijing Review written by He Wenping, the Director, Division of African Studies of the Institute of West Asian and African Studies Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Excerpts:
“China and Africa have always been equal strategic partners that trust and support each other… China respects African countries’ right to choose the path of development independently… African countries, for their part, support the one-China policy and are opposed to Western countries’ interference in China’s internal affairs in the name of “human rights… Economically, China and Africa are mutually complementary partners that benefit each other.â€
I wonder what the writer means by “equal strategic partners” and “mutually complementary partners”
As I read through the article, the anti-west tone became more apparent just as the ideological rant depicting China as “a great nation helping a poor continent messed up by imperialism” grew stronger. Continue reading…
Business in Africa December 5th editorial is on Africa-China trade relations. The paper states: “The Ministerial Forum of China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) in Beijing presents a unique opportunity for African countries to turn around what has been a relationship of two unequally matched powers…while it is convenient these days for African governments to see China as an alternative source of engagement to that of its traditional development partners, they must not overlook the threats that could result in this partnership being exploitative.”
I had the opportunity to interact with some interesting bloggers during a brain-storming session on Africa-China affairs in New Delhi, India last week. The session held a day before the Global Voices summit, was the precursor to the Hibiscus Project, a multi-faceted blogging-information sharing, advocacy project on China and Africa. The attendees were randomly selected by the organizer, Akwe Amosu a Senior Analyst with a Washington-based advocacy group, and the Global Voices organization.
Updates from AfricanLoft