China's mediation in South Sudan driven by International Obligations- Foreign Minister.

On January 11, when answering journalists’ questions on whether China’s mediation on Sudan-related issues is aimed at oil interests, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China’s mediation on the Sudanese issue is driven by responsibilities and obligations which China, as a responsible major country, should undertake rather than seek self-interest.

Wang Yi said, in recent years, China has played a positive role in solving disputes related to the Sudanese issue at the request of Sudan and in accordance with consensus reached by the international community, including relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. We have specially appointed Ambassador Zhong Jianhua as the Special Representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs. He has shuttled back and forth between China and Sudan in recent years, and sometimes shuttled constantly between all parties, so as to actively advance reconciliation between South Sudan and Sudan and resolve the conflict in South Sudan.

Wang Yi said, the cooperation in oil between China and both Sudan and South Sudan is quite sound, which is beneficial to both sides. But if war and chaos affect the oil industry, it is the peoples in Sudan and South Sudan who are the first to be affected, which China surely doesn’t want to see. China’s mediation on the South Sudanese issue is entirely driven by responsibilities and obligations which China, as a responsible major country, should undertake rather than seek self-interest. “As a good friend of Sudan and South Sudan, we will continue to make our due efforts towards this goal.”Mr. Wang said.

Tackling Ebola: 12 months on.

One year after the first Ebola cases started to surface in Guinea, WHO is publishing a series of 14 papers that take an in-depth look at West Africa’s first epidemic of Ebola virus disease.

The papers explore reasons why the disease evaded detection for several months and the factors, many specific to West Africa, that fuelled its subsequent spread.

The most extensive papers trace events in each of the three most severely affected countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. These countries shared many common challenges, shaped by geography, culture, and poverty, but each also faced, addressed and sometimes solved some unique problems.

Key events are set out chronologically, starting with the child who is believed to be the index case of this

Illegal Migration from Horn of Africa to Arab countries increases.

Reduced conflict in Somalia and an improving economy in Ethiopia are not deterring irregular migration from the Horn of Africa into the Arabian Peninsula, according to the Nairobi-based Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS).

The RMMS, a think tank hosted by the Danish Refugee Council, that includes IOM and UNHCR on its Steering Committee, tracks so-called “mixed” migration from the Horn of Africa across the Gulf of Aden.

Mixed migration is defined as irregular migration that includes mixed flows of migrants – economic as well as asylum-seeking – as well as a “mix” of nationalities or ethnic groups – sharing the same migrant route.

In 2014, the RMMS reports that 91,592 migrants from the Horn of Africa crossed the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden arriving in Yemen – a 40 per cent increase from the 65,319 arrivals in 2013. But it notes that this

Africa Cup of Nations: FAO and CAF kick off “African Football against Hunger”

A footballer dressed in white garb dribbles a ball across an abandoned underground construction site, laser focused, dust stirring up around him as he angles for the winning kick — he takes it and scores. The scene: part of a video ad by FAO that will be shown throughout the upcoming African Cup of Nations; the winning kick: a metaphor for overcoming hunger in Africa by 2025.

The initiative is part of “African Football Against Hunger”, a collaboration between FAO and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to highlight the breakthrough commitment by African leaders to end hunger in the next decade.

The campaign leverages the global popularity of “footie” to spread a message of solidarity: African nations can defeat hunger in our lifetime, but they need collective action and popular support to reach their goal.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde to Visit Rwanda and Senegal

Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will visit Rwanda from January 26-29, 2014, and Senegal from January 29-31, 2014, to meet with policymakers and other representatives of society in each country.

As Managing Director, Ms. Lagarde has previously visited Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mali, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, and South Africa in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“My visit will provide an opportunity to strengthen the IMF partnership with Rwanda and Senegal, two countries that have seen success in building strong, stable, and inclusive economies in the world’s second

Libya could turn into a Somalia- British envoy

Adapted from Thomas Reuters Foundation.
 London — If U.N. attempts to get peace talks going between rival Libyan factions fail, there is a risk of full-scale civil war which would pose a serious threat to Libya's neighbours and to Europe, the British special envoy for Libya said.

The U.N.-sponsored talks, which began in Geneva on Wednesday, aim to reach agreement to form a unity government. But they have begun without one important faction - the self-declared government which took over the capital Tripoli last year, forcing the elected government and parliament to relocate.

Bernadino Leon, the U.N. envoy leading the talks, still hopes to bring the Tripoli government into the negotiations. "Will he succeed? I don't know," Jonathan Powell, Britain's envoy for Libya and a seasoned mediator, said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Wednesday.

"I sincerely hope he does, because the alternative of Libya turning into a Somalia by the Mediterranean would be completely disastrous," he said. Libya would become a threat to southern Europe, and to Egypt and Tunisia. "Tunisia of course is one country everyone will want to protect as the success story of the Arab Spring," Powell said.

Libya is at a stage where it could go into a full-scale civil war, or start coming out of the conflict. "It's not clear yet which of those is going to happen," he said. Governments are unlikely to intervene by sending in troops, in the way that Iranian forces are on the ground in Syria, he said.

"But that won't stop people supporting their side in such a conflict, with weapons, advice, money, indeed egging them on. I hope that won't happen but that is the danger," he said.

$8.5 Billion needed to end malaria in Africa.

By Yojana Sharma

SciDev.net

Thirty four nations have officially adopted the target of eliminating malaria within 15 years. Now a paper has estimated that this could require around US$8.5 billion in sustained financing to 2030.

"This costing is very conservative and assumes current levels [of elimination] would be maintained and that we would not have to change [disease control] methods," Anthony Kiszewski, an epidemiologist at Bentley University, United States, tells SciDev.Net. He is an author of a paper that costs malaria elimination in the 34 countries published last month (31 December) in PLOS One.

"Things could go wrong. They are already going wrong in Africa with drug and insecticide resistance. The target is constantly changing, so we may have to re-cost malaria elimination in a few years' time," Kiszewski warns.

But without sustained efforts, even past gains could be reversed and malaria could resurge in areas of near-elimination. "Nature is adaptive," says Kiszewski. "It is a race against time to achieve elimination."

Under one, less-likely, scenario in the paper - involving greater use of long-lasting insecticidal bed nets - US$11.2 billion would be needed up to 2030 to get rid of the disease in the 34 countries with national goals

Nigerian elections: How the country could emerge stronger.

Africa and the world is waiting with bated breadth. Nigeria will hold its elections in the next few weeks. This election pits the north and the south, and could redefine the future of the country. If the elections are peaceful, then the country could emerge as one of the strong democracies in Africa, and a beacon of hope for the continent. The election pits a southerner, President Goodluck Jonathan, and one time military ruler, Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner. For a long time, Nigeria has had a sort of a gentleman's agreement in which power is rotated between the north and the south, but this time, there is no clear favorite, and the vote will be too close to call.

Some of the key issues in the election will be how President Goodluck Jonathan has handled the Boko Haram insurgency. To many observers, President Jonathan has failed in this, although the President insists that sabotage from some leaders within the government has ensured that the sectarian group continues to

Boko Haram: Nigeria flourishes inspite of it.

Northern Nigeria is under deadly attack. The Boko Haram insurgents are making the place nearly ungovernable. How then can the Nigerian authorities clamp down on this secterian group. It is clear that we understand that Boko Haram has overshadowed nearly all the positive news in Nigeria. Nigeria is among the fastest growing economies in the world. It is home to the largest market in Africa- at over 170 million people. This makes it a testing ground for those who want to set shop in Africa.

The Nollywood industry produces the largest number of films per year, and the telecommunications industry is booming. Recently, Nigeria overtook South Africa as Africa's largest economy, after it rebased its

Why the Chinese are facing a backlash in Africa.

There is a popular book that goes by the name 'China's second continent'. The book documents the growing number of Chinese in Africa. The trade between China and Africa has increased so much that China is now Africa's largest trading partner. Everywhere you go in an African country, China is signing up deals with African countries, mostly on raw materials to feed the growing Chinese need for energy to fuel the growing economy. And yet, China offers so many lessons for Africa. By growing double digits for the past thirty years, China has managed to lift more than 300 million people out of poverty. This is a great inspiration for Africa.

However, aside from inspiration, these days, the relationship is turning soar. There are now many more Chinese than African countries can accomodate. In 2012, hawkers in the Kenyan capital Nairobi went on

It is time to make the African Media Count.

In the current world, perception is the new reality. It is for no other reason that Hollywood exists. Therefore, the battle for the hearts and minds of the world occurs in our living rooms, through the TV sets, and in our bedrooms. There is no doubt that in the international media, Africa is known as a place of war, disease, and poverty. Its a stereotype that Africa has tried to break from to no avail. How then can the media in Africa remedy this situation. How can African media ensure that there are as much positive stories as there are negative stories from Africa? It would be important to note that there is no one 'African View' to begin with. There is no single broadcaster that projects the voice of Africa to the rest of the world. The African media is disjointed, and this presents serious challenges to the oneness of Africa.

What's more, when an African wants to get news about another African country, they will most likely get it from CNN, BBC, France 24, or any of the international media stations. A Nigerian for example, could only hear of negative stories about Uganda from the international media, and this further reinforces her view that there is nothing good that is happening in Africa. The international media has not always been free, fair, and objective in its pursuit of what to report from Africa.

Many media houses are now making a handsome profit, and it behoves the media organizations in Africa to at least send reporters to the concerned African countries. This way, African media will at least be able to take charge of the whole flow of news and information from Africa.
It is true that Africa is a place of such contrasting narratives. There is the Africa that is growing, and is home to six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world. This is an Africa in which the number of middle class

Minerals Should not be a Curse for Africa.

The story is all too familiar. A country is poor but stable. It then hits it big and discovers minerals. The oil or diamond dollars begin rolling in. The country then becomes rich, but conversely, conflicts and chaos ensues. This sounds like a familiar tale of many African countries. Its a story that has often repeated itself times without number. In Nigeria, the Niger delta region has experienced a lot of instability, as the local people accuse shell oil company of polluting the waters nearby and hindering any form of economic activity. The locals cannot do any farming or fishing, and this has led to widespread poverty in the region. Recently, Royal Dutch Shell agreed to compensate the local Ogoni people tens of millions of dollars, but this is even not enough for the locals considering that they cannot carry out any other economic activity.

Still, there is the so called paradox of plenty, in which minerals rather than being a source of wealth and blessing, actually lead to more widespread poverty. In 2013, the Africa Progress Panel, a think tank which advocates for Africa's development, released a report noting that Africans were not benefiting from the vast

Elections must not lead to violence in Africa.

It is true that democracy does not encompass elections only, but peaceful and transparent elections is one of the hallmarks of a great democracy. Its election time in Zambia. Literally, in the next four days, Zambians will be heading to the election booths. Nigeria's election is not too far off, and the heated debate between Goodluck Jonathan supporters and Buhari supporters is bound to escalate. Why is it that election times are usually a period of tension in Africa. Unless a candidate wins by a landslide, say over a million votes, tension and chaos usually follows. 
I have lived through an election violence and its not a very nice experience. Everyone begins looking at you through the ethnic angle, and even in shops and supermarkets, you only go to shops where you will feel safe. How can we make elections in Africa peaceful, and encourage the spirit of being able to concede defeat-

The Downhill of Education in Nigeria

The future of any country can be predicted by the number and quality of educated elites among its population.  That is why the size of a country cannot guarantee its economic prowess. Nigeria being the largest state in Africa has continued to suffer setbacks in economic development because it has failed to address its key issues. The former minister of education Obiangeli Ezekwesili says report revealed that 56milion Nigerians are illiterate. 

The quality of education in Nigeria has attained the status of question mark. According to the above statistics anyone would have expected the number of literate individuals to compensate for the strain that may be caused in economic growth and development. However, reverse is the case in the Nigerian chronicle.  The report of the Labour Market Observatory Project presented to the President states that ‘many graduates are perceived to lack the skills needed by employers of labour and the training offered by the universities were not in tune with the needs of the society’. The question becomes what is the rationality of the training offered by Nigerian universities when it is in truth, not in tune with the needs of the society?

Few graduates who are able to make their marks contributing meaningfully to economic development are those who have trailed the solitary path of self discovery and diverted from the traditional and obsolete learning procedures of our institutions.

A recent National Youth Service Corps Member who was posted to serve in a local community secondary school in Oyo state observed that more than ninety percent of the students in the school cannot construct or speak simple correct English. The school lacked qualified teachers and basic infrastructures. He was moved with passion to organize a meeting with the community elders on how he could set up a library for the local school. The school principal and elders obliged by providing a space within the school for the library while he solicits for educational materials at the state library. All efforts however proved futile when informed that since past four years of present administration, the state library had not been catered for by the state government. There was no allocation of resources or supply of books to the state library for four good years. The shelves of the state library itself were starved and scanty.

It is unclear whether the government does not set its priorities right or perhaps, these are planned efforts to sabotage and enslave the future of younger generations. If we clamour for change, then we must indeed take necessary steps for change to take place.  In the words of nelson Mandela, “education is the most powerful weapon that can change anything”. When we build the people, the people build the state. It is time for our governments to disengage itself from expensive projects but of worthless value to the lives and future of the citizens. Education is the true liberation and conservation of human race and as such demands utmost priority. We hope that our government will take into account the significance of education to the future of our country and make every necessary effort to rescue us from intellectual and societal poverty.

Its true;Africa needs both growth and stability.

Which one is better? Economic growth or stability? In Africa, we are in a dilemma.We have leaders that are growing their economies, but then then they are repressing opposition voices. Rwanda and Ethiopia come to mind. There are also those leaders who are not growing their economies much, but their countries are more stable. Tanzania comes to mind. Then there are few exceptions like Botswana and Mauritius which have managed to combine both economic growth and stability.Which do you think is a better model, economic growth or stability?

Africa in 2015: Expect a lot of Growth.

Africa is not a country. Therefore, it would not be advisable to make sweeping generalisations as regards the whole continent. However, there are broad areas where Africa could excel in, and emerge even stronger this year. According to the World Bank and several respectable publications, Africa will grow at much faster rates, and will be the continent to watch in the coming decades. So, how then can the continent grow much faster, realise greater economic gains, and ensure that it lifts its people out of poverty.

As a first step, we have to ensure that we educate African youngsters with the right education. The quality of education from kindergarten all the way to the universities will have to be improved. By having a higher quality of education, we would be ensuring that we keep the continent on a positive growth trajectory. Educated and skilled young Africans could be the panacea to many of the continent's woes. A skilled and educated workforce could enable more young Africans get clean, decent, and rewarding jobs, and besides, these young Africans could be empowered to start their own businesses, and in the process, creating more

Success through the African eyes!

SUCCESS: This singular word happens to be what every individual on planet earth is pursuing however different everyone’s path or method is in achieving it. Ultimately, everyone’s desire is to achieve the word “success”.

However popular the word might be, the true meaning has eluded mankind for centuries, its search as old as mankind.

The word success means different things to different people and it is viewed through different lenses. A lot of books have also tried to shed more light to the meaning of this much coveted word though with little “success”.

A lot of people believes that the word “success’ is relative but how can such an important word exist in relative terms?

I have tried to research the meaning of success using the best search engine the 21^st century technology has provided. I was only able to gather that success means attainment of fame, wealth and power or something that turns out well or achievement of intention.

For ages, man has viewed success under the light of the above but does success represent the above definition?

Africans have been the worst casualty in the search of the true meaning of success. The meaning of success

Why food is the new gold in Africa.

In the near future, food will be the new gold. The price of food is going up everyday, exposing the already vulnerable African states. What's worrying is that even though Africa has large tracts of arable land, the continent still grapples with food shortages year in year out. Famine in the horn of Africa and the Sahel region of Africa is no longer news. Zimbabwe used to be the bread basket of Africa in terms of food, but you all know what happened to the lands. Foreign companies are gobbling up African land in the so called land grabs, further pushing small holder farmers into poverty. 

African small farmers cannot borrow against their capital. Middlemen are rife, waiting for farmers to grow their produce, and only come around when the produce is ready, and since the farmers are desperate, they sell their produce at a throw away price. Land title deeds are a thorny issue, and according to respected property rights economist Hernando De Soto, property rights such as land are not respected in the

African Entrepreneurs: Starting small and growing big.

Opinion Courtesy Lily Ngarabz.
Yali Network Member.
Being an entrepreneur requires commitment and sacrifice in order to achieve success. Although starting a business may not be easy at first for all starters, once you start running it, there's a chance that it may be sustainable. On the other hand, many of us, young African entrepreneurs whose dreams are to be successful entrepreneurs, when it comes to starting a business, all we think about is capital. However we fail to consider other factors such as; testing our business ideas whether they are feasible, attractive and needed in the market place. Building a network of different people, some who can be your potential customers, financial institutions ( microfinance) and even friends. What about some of our physical assets? Have we thought about making good use of what we already have? I guess not. Many of us don't consider such kind of things thinking that there are irrelevant not knowing that they can help us be successful entrepreneurs. 

In addition to this, we should also consider improving our skills, no matter how much we already know, we should always try by all means to gain more and more knowledge each and everyday. Life is all about learning. Attend a conference, go online and learn something, all this will contribute to your success.

The Future of Africa lies in Great Higher Education.

While the World Bank and the multilateral institutions had insisted that what Africa needed most was basic education, it is now emerging that a great higher education, rather than basic education, can lead to tremendous economic achievements for a country. Are we educating African youngsters with the right higher education. That which will help them become future entrepreneurs in their own right, and become job creators, rather than job seekers.  Our universities must then become change agents, and ensure that the education they give African youngsters is top notch and innovative. Imagine if we had just twenty universities that could draw students from all over Africa and the rest of the world. The talk about joblessness would not even be there. According to the kauffman foundation, the value of companies created or co-created by the

The Dilemma of African opposition Parties.

As Africa and the rest of the world shifts focus to the Nigerian elections due next month, focus will turn to African opposition parties. Can they get into power through a free and fair election? While its hard to unseat a sitting government anywhere in the world, it is even harder in Africa. Former DR Congo strongman, Mobutu Sese Seko, in a reaction to an election loss by Zambia's founding President Kenneth Kaunda, remarked that "How could someone lose an election that they had organised". To Mobutu, there is no way an opposition party could emerge victorious in an election that was organised by the State. African opposition party chiefs such as Kizza Besigye of Uganda, Raila Odinga of Kenya, and Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe are just some of the opposition leaders that have found it next to impossible to unseat a sitting government. Can Opposition parties in Africa rebrand and ensure that they can capture power, or are they fighting a losing battle?

Elections are organised by the State, and in Africa, there is no much distinction between the state and the ruling party. They are one and the same thing. The electoral referees are picked by the state, and the opposition figures do not trust these referees. Even in times of election disputes, it has been more prudent to

Africa in 2015: Why we should be optimistic

Imagine if Africa could grow at great rates? It could lift millions of people out of poverty, just as China did in the last thirty years. Is it the time to be optimistic about Africa in 2015 and beyond? Don't believe what the naysayers are projecting. Despite the few instabilities here and there, the continent is on a positive growth trajectory. Yes, there was the all too recent coup in Burkina Faso. The instabilities in South Sudan as well Mali and the Central African Republic are still fresh in our minds. However, here's the point. The fact is that there are more countries experiencing booming growth, and we shouldn't ever forget this.

For instance, six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa. Pessimists may argue that such growth is coming from a low base, but the fact is that this growth is lifting a small but significant number

Battle for Africa's Greatest Nation.

In April 2014, Nigeria rebased its economy. This had a profound effect on the African continent. With a GDP of half a trillion dollars, Nigeria now eclipsed South Africa as Africa's largest economy. However, in terms of projecting its image to the rest of Africa, Nigeria still has a long way to go. For one, South Africa has a much more advanced economy, and Nigeria cannot even hope to match South Africa on this front anytime soon. For instance, nearly all the top universities in Africa are in South Africa. This is true of other infrastructure such as healthcare and roads. How then can Nigeria project its image to the rest of Africa, and ensure that it becomes Africa's greatest nation?

One thing that Nigeria has going for it is the Nollywood sector. Nollywood churns out more movies in a single year than any other place in the world. As a result, Nigeria has projected its soft image to the rest of the continent, and in due time, it should begin exporting its culture to the rest of the world. However, there remains great challenges for Nigeria even as it seeks to project its image to the rest of the African continent.

Making African Tech Incubation Hubs Count.

We’ve been told times without number, that Africa is on the verge of a technological revolution. That is, if we get certain things right, then the technology sector, or more precisely the technology scene in Africa, will be booming. One of the things that has caught the attention of African policy makers are incubation hubs. Incubation hubs make it easier for people to gather together, share ideas, and hopefully raise enough capital to start their businesses. Some of the most famous incubation hubs include Ihub in Nairobi, Kenya, and hypercube in Harare, Zimbabwe. But can incubation hubs really lead to a tech boom, and ensure that more start-ups are created, and eventually lead to more jobs being created.

Incubation hubs are important in that they could stand in the place of angel investors and venture capital. Too often, many African entrepreneurs have complained that it’s next to impossible to raise capital, and therefore, their ventures usually face an early extinction even before they have started. For sure, there are some venture

Africa brain brain: Tackling the scourge.

According to Lily Ngarabz; brain drain affects Africa in so many ways where you find that the costs of recruiting foreign nationals (expatriates) is very expensive thus affecting it economically. However, we are in the era of globalization, and the world is becoming a small village, different expats are coming to Africa for various activities which contributes to the well being of the Africans in general. In Rwanda, there are people of different nationalities who are contributing to the economy of Rwanda through, education, entrepreneurship, gender empowerment and much more and this is happening to many African countries as well. E.g. Peace corps volunteers, etc."Let us not be dismayed that African intellectuals are not interested in coming back to work in Africa, after all they are also making a difference there which we should be proud of because this applies to some continents as well." "Let's focus and learn from the few we already have and hopefully our generation will be more oriented and future change makers of Africa and the world at large.

Still, according to Kenstev Ebube, the African leaders places little or no value to the sharp brains and talents that God bestowed on her people. African leaders prefer to work with the least of a foreigner than the best of theirs. Even then, Mathewos March opines that the solution is in the hands of the African governments in

Africa’s brain drain: How Africa can benefit from its best brains abroad.

Talent is the new capital in the present world. Ideas, rather than physical goods, are what will mark countries apart. According to the late great management guru Peter Drucker, we are now in the age of the knowledge economy. For Africa to advance then, it has to be able to make sure that it benefits from its best brains who are at home and abroad. Every year, Africa loses its best brains to the rest of the world, who mostly go on to pursue lucrative careers in Western countries. According to the World Bank, there are currently over 30,000 African PhD holders that work outside Africa. How then can the continent combat brain drain, and even benefit from it?

The first step is to realize that we cannot completely prevent these bright professionals from leaving Africa. How then can we remedy the situation and ensure that Africa gets to benefit from these brilliant minds abroad? It would first be important to understand how the wave of brain drain from Africa occurs.

The first wave of brain drain occurs just after high school or university, when brilliant minds in African high

Our Youths, The Mediterranean Sea and The Cemetery.

2014 has probably ended as a happy year for someone but to many others it was a year of sadness, a year of death, a year the human family refused to do something about the deaths of our young people.

On Nov 25, 2014, Pope Francis while addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg made a very passionate appeal saying “We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a vast cemetery”.

Indeed the Mediterranean has become a burial place for the young people of Africa, the bright and young minds of the African Continent whose only crime was being born in a Continent where her leaders cared less.

According to International Organization for Migration (IOM), about 3,072 people have perished so far trying to migrate to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea in 2014 alone. (www.iom.int).

A large number of these deaths were  young people of Africa. International Organization for Migration also stated that "1 in 8 international migrants is a young migrant" (Twitter@IOM_news October 7th, 2014).

It is simply bad leadership that causes massive emigration of young people to western countries and many using the irregular channels which has resulted in so many deaths at sea while crossing over in search of “greener pastures”.

As the number of migrants increases so does the number of deaths.Sadly, to many African leaders and governments it is just one of those numbers international Organizations release to tarnish the image of the continent. To African leaders and governments…it is just another data!!

What we refuse to realize or intentionally ignore is the fact that among the dead could be that future President, that future entrepreneur, that future scientist, that future educationist who probably might have saved Africa from its leadership challenges in the future.

See the cycle: Bad leadership--Creates economic hardship--Economic hardship--Increases poverty--Poverty forces people to seek alternative means of survival--the search triggers the survival instinct--the survival instinct encourages Migration--Migration under such survival instinct guarantees Irregular Migration; this is Migration by any available means...this leads to deaths of millions of our Youths while crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Here is a solution: Youth Involvement in Governance----Demands Government accountability ---Encourages participatory democracy---Increases involvement in policy formulation ---Creates participatory leadership and good governance---Improves leadership--- Reduces the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few---Create jobs---Empowers the youth---Reduces Irregular Migration--Prevents the deaths of millions of our Youth.

It is upto us to either see the number of deaths as another data or stand up and demand good leadership from our governments.

Anthony IKE Otikpa, Executive Director, Foundation for Youths in the Diaspora (FYID) writes from Lagos, Nigeria