Nigerian leader's pardon of executed Ogoni activists draws criticisms
During an event Thursday to mark the 26th anniversary of Nigeria's return to democracy, Tinubu pardoned the 'Ogoni Nine,' including celebrated writer Ken Saro-Wiwa , and described them as 'national heroes.'
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New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
African Union Wants World to Scrub 450-Year-Old Map
Africa is roughly three times as large as Europe, but you wouldn't know it looking at the world's most popular map, the 16th-century Mercator map. Last week, the African Union, a continental group of 55 countries, endorsed a campaign to have organizations around the world replace the Mercator map with alternatives such as the 2018 Equal Earth projection, which supporters say more accurately reflects the true size of Africa. In the Equal Earth map, Africa, shown in its true proportions, dwarfs Europe. 'It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not,' Selma Malika Haddadi, the deputy chairwoman of the African Union's executive arm, said this week in an interview with Reuters. The Mercator projection fosters a false impression that Africa is 'marginal,' she said. That map, created by a German cartographer, Gerardus Mercator, has been under fire for decades. It was drafted to help European explorers navigate the seas more easily, but ended up warping landmasses as a result. In some versions of the map, Greenland, an island of less than a million square miles and fewer than 57,000 people, appears nearly as large as Africa, which has an area of 11.73 million square miles and a population of 1.5 billion. The inaccuracy was spoofed in a 2001 episode of 'The West Wing' where a nerdy group of cartographers campaigns for the United States to make the change. Now, campaigners with a similar mission hope to have your attention. A Correct the Map campaign, led by civil society organizations like Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, has pushed for the African Union to call for the switch. The African Union is expected to make an official decision to adopt the Equal Earth map in February, when the group's leaders meet in Ethiopia. In a petition circulating online, the campaign also asks the United Nations and the BBC to adopt the Equal Earth map as a way to 'set a new standard and encourage others to follow suit in ensuring Africa is represented accurately as a critical driver of global growth and development.' The African Union is the largest body to sign on to the campaign so far, a move campaigners described as a major milestone. 'It is more than geography, it's really about dignity and pride,' said Fara Ndiaye, co-founder and deputy executive director of Speak Up Africa. 'Maps shape how we see the world, and also how power is perceived. So by correcting the map, we also correct the global narrative about Africa.' In an internal document shared with The New York Times, the African Union said the campaign aligned with its 2025 theme of 'Justice for Africans and people of African descent through reparations,' adding that the campaign challenged false narratives about the continent and helped Africa reclaim its rightful place on the world stage. But as of Monday, several agencies associated with the African Union still had the Mercator map displayed on their websites.
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- Associated Press
Gunmen kill at least 13 people in a mosque shooting in northwestern Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen attacked a mosque in northwestern Nigeria on Tuesday morning, killing at least 13 people during morning prayers, local authorities said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the town of Unguwan Mantau, in the state of Katsina, but such attacks are common in Nigeria's northwestern and north-central regions where local herders and farmers often clash over limited access to land and water. The attacks have killed and injured scores — last month, an attack in north-central Nigeria killed 150 people. The prolonged conflict has become deadlier in recent years, with authorities and analysts warning that more herdsmen are taking up arms. The state's commissioner, Nasir Mu'azu, said the army and police have deployed in the area of Unguwan Mantau to prevent further attacks, adding that gunmen often hide among the crops out in farms during the rainy season to carry out assaults on communities. He added that the mosque attack was likely in retaliation for an action Unguwan Mantau townspeople who over the weekend ambushed and killed several of the gunmen in the area. Dozens of armed groups take also advantage of the limited security presence in Nigeria's mineral-rich regions, carrying out attacks on villages and along major roads. The farmers accuse the herders, mostly of Fulani origin, of grazing their livestock on their farms and destroying their produce. The herders insist that the lands are grazing routes that were first backed by law in 1965, five years after the country gained its independence. Separately from the conflict between farming and herding communities, Nigeria is battling to contain an insurgency against Boko Haram in the northeast, where some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million displaced, according to the United Nations.
Associated Press
5 hours ago
- Associated Press
A former prime minister of Mali is jailed on corruption allegations
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A former prime minister of Mali was imprisoned Tuesday following allegations of corruption that he has denied, his lawyer told The Associated Press. Choguel Maïga, 67, led the civilian wing of the country's military junta until his November 2024 dismissal days after he criticized it for postponing elections. He has continued to publicly criticize it. His lawyer, Cheick Oumar Konaré, said the Supreme Court had notified the former prime minister of the charges filed against him by Mali's prosecutor general and ordered that he be placed in custody. The charges follow a report by the West African nation's auditor general on the management of public funds while Maïga was prime minister. No trial date has been set. Earlier this month, another former prime minister, Moussa Mara, was imprisoned after tweeting his support for jailed critics of the junta, which has ruled since coups in 2020 and the following year. In June, Gen. Assimi Goita was granted an additional five years in power despite the junta's earlier promises of a return to civilian rule by March 2024. The junta dissolved political parties in May.
