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…
Blasphemy laws put Nigeria in the spotlight again — with a musician and a 13-year-old sentenced
Editor’s note: Last week, the United States House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolution condemning global apostasy, heresy and blasphemy laws. The story that follows illustrates how this concern applies to Nigeria, which has a secular government. It is probably…
Boko Haram is still plaguing Nigeria claiming to do God’s work
It’s a circus many are already long familiar with. Most times when the Nigerian Army comes out with a strong statement on Boko Haram, the terrorist group in northern Nigeria, or its leader, Abubakar Shekau, something usually happens to repudiate…
A president’s legacy: Trump in the eyes of Africans
On the eve of the Nov. 3 presidential election, a Nigerian of Yoruba extraction in Houston named Ayodele was asked who he would vote for. “I’m for Biden,” Ayodele replied, but he immediately went on to say, in a tone…
Common missionary and military lives prepared Baptist chaplains for marriage
As a couple, Jim and Jo Kirkendall take the concept of “having things in common” to a whole new level. Both grew up overseas as children of missionaries with the then-Foreign Mission Board. Both became Navy chaplains – and met…
BWA urges Baptists to stand with victims in war-torn regions of Nigeria
The Baptist World Alliance is urging the United Nations to increase its threat level designation for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region. The global Baptist organization cited rampant conflict and dislocation in the region, including “violence, murder and kidnapping” in…