The rise of self-appointed president Michal Djotodia in a rebel victory against sitting President Francois Bozize recalls the nation’s tragic history of coups engineered largely by France, writes journalist Howard French in a published piece. ...

For years, the criminal neglect of various western oil companies has caused massive oil spills that have wreaked environmental havoc in the Niger Delta. Not long ago, Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary had to face the music when a Dutch court ruled that it was responsible for massive pollution. ...

Commentaries and reflections on the contribution of Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe to world literature continue to spark across the Internet from all parts of the world. Achebe, the author of “Things Fall Apart,” among other writings, passed suddenly on March 21. He was 82. ...

Cameroonian poet and writer Enoh Meyomesse has been named an honorary member of the U.S. international freedom-to-write group PEN America, which launched a dynamic interactive timeline to draw attention to his case. ...

People of African heritage in Minnesota experience higher rates of chronic disease, morbidity and mortality compared to nearly every other cultural group in the state, according to fact sheets compiled by the Minnesota Department of Health. Yet, despite these dismal facts, which would discourage some and certainly overwhelm others, there are women champions in our community. ...

Thousands of children in Sierra Leone are paying for their own education or helping their families make ends meet by working as rock-breakers for the country’s construction industry. Labor is nothing new in Sierra Leone, but the brutal job of breaking stones with a hammer for hours on end in the baking heat has raised particular concern. Even for adults the work is extremely tough, and injuries are common. ...

The Roulhac Family Association, Inc., presents “Slave Genealogy of the Roulhac Family: French Masters and the Africans They Enslaved,” April 6 from 12:30-3 p.m. at Wayne County Community College District’s Downtown Campus’s Multi-Purpose Room 235, 1001 W. Fort, Detroit. ...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez died March 5 in the Military Hospital of Caracas after a long battle with cancer in his abdominal region, which was diagnosed in June 2011. ...

A video that went viral of South African police tying a man to the back of a pick-up truck and letting him drag along the ground, shocked nationals in both South Africa and Mozambique where the man, who later died of his injuries, was from. ...

Patrick Gaspard, a campaign operative for President Obama, former union chief with the Service Employees International Union and campaign aide to NYC Mayor David Dinkins, is President Obama’s nominee for ambassador to South Africa. Gaspard, with long Democratic Party credentials, including executive director of the Democratic National Committee, was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haitian parent ...