Patrick Tataw Obenson, alias Ako-Aya, the rabid critic, social crusader and witty journalist, all rolled up in one, was indeed a popular and widely admired pioneer in daring journalism and social commentary in Cameroon. Little wonder that when he died, he left behind countless painful hearts and many questions on the lips of his admirers. As a man of the people, the fallen hero of Cameroon's Fleet Street shared his experiences, be they good or bad, with his readers. He was a virile critic even of the sordid things in which he himself secretly indulged. Obenson's mind was open, and through his popular newspaper column - Ako-Aya - he exposed society and social action in all their dimensions. He had an axe to grind with all perpetrators of social vices, especially those of them that infringed on the rights of the common man. He gave them a good fight, using his newspaper as his only weapon - a weapon which could not be neutralized even by the most affluent nor the most coercive leadership. And he did so with nerve and valour and venom. Only Tataw Obenson could spit out really scathing pieces of satire, aimed directly at the highest governing authorities of his society. Only Obenson could make allusions even to his own apparently ugly self. Only he could be liberal and honest enough to confess how he boarded a taxi and later bolted without paying the driver. Only Obenson was able to foresee his imminent demise from the face of the earth and literarily wrote his own epitaphÖ

Patrick Tataw Obenson, alias Ako-Aya, the rabid critic, social crusader and witty journalist, all rolled up in one, was indeed a popular and widely admired pioneer in daring journalism and social commentary in Cameroon. Little wonder that when he died, he left behind countless painful hearts and many questions on the lips of his admirers. As a man of the people, the fallen hero of Cameroon's Fleet Street shared his experiences, be they good or bad, with his readers. He was a virile critic even of the sordid things in which he himself secretly indulged. Obenson's mind was open, and through his popular newspaper column - Ako-Aya - he exposed society and social action in all their dimensions. He had an axe to grind with all perpetrators of social vices, especially those of them that infringed on the rights of the common man. He gave them a good fight, using his newspaper as his only weapon - a weapon which could not be neutralized even by the most affluent nor the most coercive leadership. And he did so with nerve and valour and venom. Only Tataw Obenson could spit out really scathing pieces of satire, aimed directly at the highest governing authorities of his society. Only Obenson could make allusions even to his own apparently ugly self. Only he could be liberal and honest enough to confess how he boarded a taxi and later bolted without paying the driver. Only Obenson was able to foresee his imminent demise from the face of the earth and literarily wrote his own epitaph

A Nation at Risk: A Personal Narrative of the Cameroonian Crisis should be construed as a requiem for what used to be known as the Republic of Cameroon. The overriding objective of this book is to shine the searchlight on the dysfunctional government of Cameroon under President Paul Biya, a minuscule man and matching mind, endowed with a gargantuan ego. Those who wish to comprehend the apocalypse toward which the Cameroonian nation has been propelled by the rogue government of Mr. Biya would do well to study the minds of the men at the helm. Mr. Biya and his henchmen enjoy playing at and for power. The politics of power is for them an act of intellectual masturbation. Even the diabolism inherent in the phenomenon of power is something they relish. In Nation at Risk, Peter Wuteh Vakunta, a prolific writer in his own right, has successfully pieced together a compelling narrative of the many facets of the crisis that has plagued Cameroon during the more than three-decade presidency of Mr. Paul Biya. Lucid and captivating, this landmark volume provides a seminal contribution to readers appreciation of the social, political, economic and cultural events that have shaped Cameroons history from the time of independence from colonial masters to date. Vakuntas penetrating analysis of the lackluster governmental modus operandi of President Biya is a must read for all Cameroonians and friends of Cameroon who feel deeply about the future of this often forgotten African nation. Dr. Peter Ngwafu Ajongwa, Associate Professor

Stranger in His Homeland completes the long-awaited trilogy of Linus Asong's fictitious village of Nkokonoko Small Monje, separately treated in The Crown of Thorns and its sequel A Legend of the Dead. However, it leads us back not to events after A Legend of the Dead, but to the crisis that created the passionately exciting The Crown of Thorns. Honest, enthusiastic, arrogant and self-righteous, Antony Nkoaleck, the first graduate of his tribe means well. But his society, entrenched in corruption, sees things differently and therefore judges him according to its own norms. Just one or two errors on Antony's part are enough to cost him his job with the government, the coveted throne of Nkokonoko Small Monje, and finally his life. It is a sad story, strongly reminiscent of Myshkin's fate in Dostoevysky's novel The Idiot, a story in which the Russian novelist vividly shows the inability of any man to bear the burden of moral perfection in an imperfect world.

When Jane Katjavivi becomes involved in London in support of change in Southern Africa, she meets and marries a Namibian activist in exile. Moving with him to Namibia at the time of Independence in 1990, she faces a new life in a starkly beautiful country. She starts to publish Namibian writing and opens a bookshop. In Windhoek she develops friendships with a group of strong, independent women, who have also come from other countries, and are engaged in different ways to overcome the divisions of the past. Over coffee, drinks and food, they support each other through times of happiness and sadness, through juggling careers and family, and through illness and death. When her husband is made Ambassador to the Benelux countries and the European Union, and later Berlin, Jane has to build a new identity as the wife of an ambassador, and come to terms with her own ill-health without her friends around her to support her. Set against the backdrop of the historical, political and social development of newly independent Namibia, Undisciplined Heart tells the story of Janeís love for her family, friends and her adopted country, in a gentle and honest way that reflects the joys and tragedies of life

This is a vivid, thought-provoking and fascinating text on some contentious issues in contemporary medical ethics. The book acknowledges the contribution of African tradition and Western scholarship to the development of medical ethics as a university discipline. It questions the lack of consensus around such biomedical issues as euthanasia and traditional medicine. In many countries, the failure has resulted in public outcries. Its thrust centres on the nexus of practice and theory, and the importance of pragmatism and critical questioning in dealing with different cases on and around biomedicine. Its virtue is its significant shift from the traditional positions on selected biomedical issues to a more rigorous, pragmatic and critical questioning and understanding of the reasoning and positions of all involved and/or affected parties.

Hopolang was sexually abused by a neighbor and for 19 years she didn't divulge her experience because she feared that she would be blamed. In the first edition of Joy Comes in the Morning she shared her battle to regain her self-confidence and self-esteem by running into the arms of the One who can heal--God. Through poems, she expresses emotions, such as confusion, pain, fear, betrayal, guilt, regret, approval, self-pity, mistrust and forgiveness that she had to work through. In this revised edition of Joy Comes in the Morning, Hopolang recounts how she overcame, not only the trauma of being sexually abused but also other challenges, such as working through relationships and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro--something that she never imagined she could accomplish. As she narrates her experiences, her hope is that the lessons she learned will motivate and inspire her readers. No matter how difficult the circumstances are that we encounter in our lives, we can triumph, and joy always comes in the morning. As she walked the paths of recovery from sexual abuse, Hopolang Phororo longed to read stories she could relate to, of those who had suffered abuse and overcame it. Because such stories were not available, she decided to share her story, to reach out and inspire other women with the message that there is hope. Her passion to see young women realize their fullest potential has led her to set up the Daughters of Destiny (DoD) Ministry (mentoring young women), in countries where she has lived.

This is a story of Nigeria, told from the inside. After a successful career in the private sector, Nasir El-Rufai rose to the top ranks of Nigeria's political hierarchy, serving first as the privatization czar at the Bureau for Public Enterprises and then as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja under former President Olesegun Obasanjo. In this tell-all memoir, El-Rufai reflects on a life in public service to Nigeria, the enormous challenges faced by the country, and what can be done while calling on a new generation of leaders to take the country back from the brink of destruction. The shocking revelations disclosed by El-Rufai about the formation of the current leadership and the actions of prominent statesmen make this memoir required reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of power politics in Africa's most populous nation.

In many European countries the extreme right have refined their electoral programmes under the rubric of nationalist-populist slogans and have adopted subtle forms of racism. The move away from overt neo-fascist discourse has, allowed these parties to expand their electoral support as populist nationalist parties. Paradoxically, this has led to an increase in racist and anti-Semitic discourse. In this on-site analysis, Michal Krzyzanowski and Ruth Wodak describe a confluence of racism and xenophobia, and show how that union creates a new kind of racism. The "new" racism differs from the older kinds in that it is usually not expressed in overtly racial terms. Instead, the justifications that are typically employed concern protecting jobs, eliminating abuse of welfare benefits, or cultural incompatibilities. The new racism exploits xenophobia rooted in ethnocentrism, male chauvinism, and ordinary prejudices that are often unconscious or routinized. For these reasons, the new racism can be defined as "syncretic," a mixture of many, sometimes contradictory, racist and xenophobic beliefs and stereotypes. Racism as ideology and practice is alive and well. This important book aims to provide understanding of the many socio-political and historical processes involved in such expressions of institutional and individual racism--processes which are not necessarily evident from more overt or traditional expressions of racism. This is an innovative look at the political study of language as well as new instances of race, ethnicity, and class in present-day Europe.

This is the story of Lukemba Gelindo. He was adopted by a former football player, August Hellemans also called Gustaf of the national Belgian team The Red Devils. Gelindo and his brother were adopted after they were abandoned in a nursery home where they had been mistreated. He grew up in a Flemish village where people had never seen a black person. In general, Flemings are still surprised when they hear blacks speaking their language fluently. This can lead to perplexing and frustrating encounters with ignorance and arrogance, such as during a job interview where Gelindo had to justify himself over and over again as to where he learned to speak the Flemish language. This is also the story of the differences in mentality between the Flemings and Walloons viewed from a black perspective through the eyes of someone who is intimately familiar with both cultures. Gelindos parents were Flemings but he always went to French speaking schools. It is as well, a story about racism, especially racism that stems from Flemings which is quite implacable, to say the least. Evidence of this statement is not far-fetched; black people are completely absent in the Flemish media, except perhaps as footballers or musicians, meant to entertain but not to claim rights, entitlements or any serious measure of social visibility. More personally, this story is about Gelindos experience undergoing psychiatric treatment and also about the sexual tensions between his mother and him. Among other things, it is also Gelindos aim to speak out against the manner in which young black children get objectified by the rich and famous as the latest must have things, designer accessories up for adoption and adaptation. Like in the rest of the world, this trend is also seen in Flemish magazines in which parents pose in photos with their little black trophy children. The account is direct, honest, uncompromising, laced with cynicism, and in many ways therapeutic.