A SADISTIC political soap opera continues to work loose in West Africa.
Laurent Gbagbo, the losing candidate in Ivory Coast’s presidential election, is persistent with his tragic cliffhanging antics as he refuses to hand over power to the winning candidate Alassane Ouattara.
Gbagbo, who is supposed to be an outgoing president, has but taken his brinkmanship a gear up.
The belligerent politician has now ordered ambassadors from London and Ottawa to catch the earliest flights back home.
Their crime: their home countries have refused to recognise Gbagbo’s claim to government.
Gbagbo is currently under rising pressure to step down following a November 28 presidential run-off the international community says Ouattara won.
But Gbagbo has responded to the pressure by deploying loyal forces to besiege the hotel housing Ouattara’s government in the capital Abidjan.
Vuvuzela believes now is the time for the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to walk its talk.
The powerful regional bloc has said it is prepared to use military force to oust Gbagbo.
Since there is no debate about the legitimate winner of the Ivory Coast election Ecowas should now respond to Ouattara’s call for a non-violent operation by west African special forces to contain Gbagbo and therefore neutralise the looming threat of a civil war.
As things stand a civil war is highly likely in Ivory Coast if Gbagbo clings to a presidency he lost in an election.
Back home Vuvuzela congratulates the authorities at Limkokwing University for finally coming back to their senses. After creating avoidable chaos at the institute by expelling the Students’ Representative Council president last November, Vuvuzela applauds the college’s decision to reinstate the student leader.
After this compromise Vuvuzela anticipates even more gestures of good governance from the same administrators.
Of course there was a lot of pride-swallowing on the part of the university authorities as they had to come to a compromise under duress from riotous students.
But the recall gesture is a sign of mature leadership.
In return the student leaders should be magnanimous as they relish this apparent victory for the students’ union.
Vuvuzela hopes that the authorities at Limkokwing will now work with haste to address the issues that resulted in the disturbances at the campus last year.
To start with, the university needs to urgently address the issue of qualified teachers and research tools.
It will also be helpful for the university authorities to stop treating their students as mere depositories of knowledge but as dynamic participants in the process of learning.
The students have to guard against losing focus or concentrating on peripheral struggles at the expense of their academic interests. Aluta continua!
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