An Infectious Bill
In these days of acute suspicion and uncertainty about who may be asymptomatic and who may just be harbouring early stages of COVID-19, sneaking in a Control of Infectious Diseases Bill and attempting to ram it through t…
Climate Debt Long Overdue
Climate Debt, an overdue debt You want to know If and when the Climate Debt will ever be paid When will the debtors agree there is a bill? Could be soon… Could also be later Don’t you see? Can’t you yet perceive…
End of an Illusory Civilisation
The end of an Illusory Civilisation was bound to come. The illusion that the petroleum civilisation will last into the foreseeable future has always been a marker that our vision is rather limited. The civilisatio…
The Irony of Growth
The rage of the Covid-19 pandemic has been as astonishing as any epic disaster can be. What startles some of us more is the unabashed projection that millions of Africans will die, probably as soon as the pandemic…
Welcome to the Age of Paradox
Welcome to the age of paradox Baskets over our mouths Masks on forlorn faces we march incognito Hopes bloom, blossom but long awaited fruits wither In storms and ambush at corners behind rusty barometers and wind vanes S…
The Virus Will Not Change Anything We Won’t Change
A key fact we have to face is that the coronavirus will not change anything we won’t change. The change that will frame the post pandemic era will come from humans, our relationship with each other and with Nature. The p…
Technofixes and the State of Our Biosafety
Technofixes and the State of Our Biosafety. A time like this demands and permits only sober consideration of where we are coming from, where we are and where we are heading to. The world is virtually shut down due to the…
I see the Invisible (Staying Closer Apart)
I see the invisible I see the invisible I hear the inaudible And I feel the intangible I’m everywhere in no time Floating on memories of strained futures Aloft on lofty hopes Sliding on rugged dreams in truncated nights…
Facing Coronavirus
The world is in the grip of a virus that could change many things. Coronavirus, that tiny, invisible organism, has reminded humans that there are things that are simply not under our control. The virus has attacked the r…
Petroleum’s Fatal Seduction
The world has been fatally seduced by petroleum. Multiple oil spills continue unabated in the oilfields of the Niger Delta. While the oil companies claim that they have bettered their sense of responsibility by detecting…
Education and Actionable Knowledge
Let’s look at activism, academia and politics. A conference on the intersection of academics and activism was recently held as part of events marking 40 years of the Right Livelihood Awards. It provided an excellent plat…
Ogoni Clean-Up and the Business of Pollution
Will Ogoni be Cleaned? Recent news making the rounds is that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and their oil company partners, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Total Exploration and Production…
Locust Swarms and other terrors
The desert locust storms hitting East Africa indicate unfolding horrors. They are also a metaphor for other terrors on the continent. Pictures of swarms of locusts, crawling, flying, mating and stripping greenery in the …
AGRA isn’t the Face of Agriculture
The announcement of the nomination of the President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Agnes Kalibata, as the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to the 2021 UN Food Summit is very troubling. …
GMOs, Herbicides – Ambush in the Night
The tide of GMOs and deadly herbicides creeps on unsuspected consumers as they are literally being ambushed in the night. Twenty countries, including Togo and Malawi, have placed a ban on the use of glyphosate containing…
