Three Nigerian students who once were kidnapped or had a family member killed by Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria have graduated from American universities this spring. Joy Bishara and Lydia Pogu recently earned degrees from Southeastern University in Florida, while…
In Africa, some religious leaders pay a heavy price for their faith
The look on his face at the hospital bed where he was undergoing treatment showed a man who was recovering, happy and grateful to God to be alive. It was the opposite situation on Sunday, April 25, when an encounter…
With Idriss Déby gone, can Chad military win the war against terrorists and earn the trust of the people?
In the past couple of weeks since the passing of Chadian leader Idriss Déby, the country has become a subject of local and international discourse unlike anything people remember of the West African nation in recent decades. The discussions center…
Climate change is heating up the terrorist conflict in Africa’s Sahel region
In Africa’s Sahel region — the current hotbed of terrorist violence — climate change has become a leading cause of worsening conditions. Although Nigeria is not new to security challenges, some commentators in the country recently have linked the worrying…
U.S. agency calls for more religious freedom in Nigeria
Less than three months after being designated a Country of Particular Concern by the U.S. State Department over its religious record, Nigeria has again became the focus of another U.S. agency — the Commission on International Religious Freedom. A virtual…
Three years later, Leah Sharibu is still held captive, reportedly for refusing to renounce her faith
In the last three years since a group of Boko Haram terrorists stormed and kidnapped 109 students from Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, in northeast Nigeria, much has changed except one thing: Only one of…
How the Ebola experience helped the African continent’s fight against COVID-19
How is it that Nigeria, a country of about 200 million people, has experienced only 1,449 deaths from COVID-19, while the United States, a country of 331 million, has experienced 400,000 deaths? Ask some Nigerians and, because the country is…
Trump’s parting gift echos his immigration policies toward Africa
Africans look with dismay on the parting gift U.S. President Donald Trump has given them: On the last day of 2020, Trump extended the U.S. government’s ban on green cards and work visas, which his administration imposed in April last…
In Nigeria, the politics of religion and the search for peace are never-ending
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has in recent weeks attracted global attention for a series of mind-boggling, alarming crimes: At least 76 farmers were beheaded by the terrorist group Boko Haram in a farm in Zabarmari, Borno State, in late…