Today’s episode is HERE. The Africa Review in Five highlights African current affairs from a Christian perspective. Listen and subscribe through Youtube, Apple podcasts, or Spotify.

TRANSCRIPT

Today is Tuesday, May 30, A.D. 2023. This is The African Review in Five, written by Paul Schlehlein and presented by Yamikani Katunga

Cholera Rising

South Africa has experienced an outbreak recently of cholera, with a reported 23 deaths so far in Hammenskraal, a northern city in Gauteng, the nation’s most wealthy province. Hundreds more have been hospitalized.

Cholera is an infectious and sometimes fatal bacterial disease of the small intestine, typically contracted from infected water supplies and causing dehydration and severe vomiting and diarrhoea.

Cholera is rare in most countries in the world, with less than 1,000 cases in the US per year. Over a hundred years ago cholera was a serious problem around the world. But due to modern medicine and science, it no longer presents an issue in most places worldwide and is relatively easy to treat.

Many African countries, however, are susceptible to cholera because of poverty and poor access to pure drinking water, though organizations like the World Health Organization will be quick to blame climate change for triggering the rise in cholera cases. In fact, WHO predicts that cholera-related deaths could surpass the death rate in 2021, the worst year for cholera in Africa in nearly a decade.

Some people in South Africa see this as just one more mark of the collapse of the country, especially in light of how poorly the ANC (which is the country’s leading political party) has handled the rampant Eskom power cuts. They view the nation’s policies of racial affirmative action, BEE, and employment equity as largely responsible for this latest tragedy in Hammenskraal.

Scripture urges rulers to put the most morally and intellectually capable people in positions of leadership, regardless of race or family background. Solomon wrote in Prov. 22:29, “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.”

Nigerian Inauguration

On Monday, 29 May, Nigerian officials swore into office Bola Tinubu as the new president of the country. Several items made this inauguration unusual. First, Tinubu is 71 years old, by far the oldest president to assume office besides the previous president in 2015, Muhammadu Buhari, who was 72 years old.

Second, Tinubu received only 37% of the vote. Since only about a quarter of eligible voters in the country cast ballots, he received just 9% of the countries eligible votes.

Third, Tinubu, a Muslim, chose as his running mate a fellow Muslim. According to Persecution.org, this is contrary to a long-standing tradition where the presidential candidate would choose a running mate from a different faith, such as a Christian. This has drawn harsh criticism and concern from Christians in a country where there is already widespread persecution of the church..

Pray for Nigeria. Psalm 16:12 says, “It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.

Boko Haram

With the installation of the new Nigerian president, some are calling for him to give amnesty to Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, who is under the death penalty for blaspheming the prophet Mohammed. Ironically, Sharif-Aminu is not a Christian, he’s a Muslim. But in an argument in a Whatsapp group, he apparently insulted the prophet in a song. He was sentenced to death by hanging. He even admitted to this, but called it a mistake. But the death penalty for a Muslim in Nigeria is an anomaly. Christians are almost always the target.

Open Doors and its Top Ten Most Persecuted Country rankings for 2023 includes five African nations, more than any other continent. Those countries include Somalia, Eritrea, Libya, Nigeria and Sudan.

Open Door describes the persecution of these ten nations as “extreme”. For example, according to their website, more Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than the rest of the world combined. This usually happens in the north of the country, where violent Islamic militants attack Christians with the goal of stamping out Christianity completely.

One of the chief culprits is Boko Haram, a Hausa term meaning “Westernization is sacrilege” or “Western education is forbidden”. Boko Haram will often kidnap Christian girls, push them into forced marriages, and demand they renounce their faith.

A 2022 report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law said that during a 15-month period  from January 2021 to March 2022, over 6,000 Christians in Nigeria were hacked to death.

All of this persecution is despite the southern half of the country containing nearly 100 million Christians, almost half of the nation’s 200+ million population.

Scripture says: “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.”

End

And that’s The Africa Review in Five on this Friday, May 30 in the year of our Lord 2023. Subscribe by iTunes, email or to Missionary Minds. I’m Yamikani Katunga. Be not weary in well doing.