Iran - Solidarity and Witnessing

Thinking about what's going on in Iran right now is also giving me flashbacks to my fieldwork in Nigeria in the fall of 2007. Flawed elections earlier that year didn't erupt in widespread violence like the same subversion of democracy would in December in Kenya , but the structural violence of disenfranchisement and stolen elections is every bit as violent to the body, spirit and aspirations of a people. Still, acts of physical violence by a government against its own people ends their legitimacy, much more so when they kill children.


While there has been a lot of politicking in the US about what President Obama should or should not say, but he never fails to deliver words that stir the soul and he did on June 20, when he put the ruling regime in Iran on notice that the world is bearing witness.

Freedom is at the heart of good governance.

Shomolu, Lagos - Water supply progress

Just saw this piece of good news reported in The Punch newspaper online on May 4, 2009 about water supply improvements in Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos. The local government chairman reports they have rehabilitated 21 boreholes and procured 21 standby generators to alleviate the plight of residents in the area.

Three communities in Shomolu Local Government were in my study area. They faced some of the worst water supply in my study -- in one community, boreholes were nowhere to be found and there was only one public tap that produced whitish, foul smelling and tasting water. Residents were fed up with past broken promises by government officials to repair the water situation. The real problem is the lack of maintenance. Project get commissioned, but the resources and oversight are not dispatched to ensure they continue to serve communities.

Let's hope this marks the beginning of a new and better era of water provision.