An Interest in African Studies and International Relations

“African Perspectives on Colonialism” is a book written by A. Adu Boahen. This book classifies the African responses to European colonialism in the 19th century. Boahen begins with the status of Africa in the last quarter of the 19th century and follows through the first years of African independence. This book deals with a twenty year time period between 1880 and 1900. Boahen talks about when Africa was seized and occupied by the Imperial Powers of Europe. Eurocentric points of view dominated the study of this era but Boahen gives us the African perspective. There are always two sides of the story and Boehen tells us the side less talked about informing us of what he knows.

The Seven African Powers, referred to the seven Orishas, are a common spiritual force that people petition with overcoming obstacles, spiritual growth and connecting to one’s inner power. The phrase “Seven African Powers” is found in various religions, including, Hoodoo, Santeria, Candomble, and Arara.

In the wake of the industrial revolution, many European countries gained economic power as well and eventually military power. The first to invest in the industrial revolution was Great Britain, making the nation one of the most hegemonic powers since it was able to gain advantage over the other European nation who was involved in the Balance of Power, which was created in 1815, and involved Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, France, and Austria. The Balance of Power was created to help prevent major wars between the nations whereby, every nation stated would have and equitable military based on its size and location however, since Britain industrialized, the nation was able to erode the balance of power and industrialization was able to make size obsolete because of mechanized and advanced weaponry. As a result, Britain was able to surpass the other nations and was able to expand its nation and belief around the. Ultimately, as a result Britain was able to become the most hegemonic nation around the world. One of the locations Britain was able to colonize was Africa by the nineteenth century where it was ultimately able to aid the Africans, by spreading Christianity and helped improve the overall conditions in the conquered area and assimilated the Africans to European cultures, as well as advance the Africans technology.

In the 1800’s Imperialism, an action by a strong nation to take control of another country, became prominent in Europe towards Africa. The driving forces of Imperialism in Africa were competition for land, economics, and the need for power. The “Partition of Africa, 1884-85” map demonstrates the competition related to the colonization of European colonies in Africa. There were a total of 7 European countries that imperialized Africa, but the main countries were France and Britain. The only non-colonized countries were Ethiopia and Liberia; this was because they had an established strong government.

The petroleum trade in chad was supposed to seriously help the poverty rate and benefit the country but it seems it's done just about the opposite. Even though the oil trade brings in money it has negatively affected the local people ESPECIALLY the people around the petroleum extraction itself. For example In the Eastern Logone region that includes the Doba Oil Basin and about 38% of Chad's population was rated 3rd poorest region of chad despite the hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil exported. the other affects on the people are endless and further contamination is always a hazard. There already has been some contamination there have been drainage canals have polluted the surface including the groundwater used by the locals,infertile and contaminated quarries have been returned to farmers without being cleaned or secured,rivers have been sullied by oil spills. These are just some of the environmental impacts the oil trade has on Chad and I think this is a good example that not all companies and corporations can benefit a country even if they bring in money. The oil trade in Chad is a very controversial topic especially in chad there are benefits economically but there are also environmental

When learning about the history of the world, we can not ignore the fact that Africa plays a significant role. Many believe that Africa is the birth place of all races, and although that is true, the history and cultures of Africa and its natives are misunderstood among Americans. People do not take the time to expand their knowledge about Africa, yet they create their own perceptions of the continent based upon the image that America created. America creates this stereotype that Africa is inferior to the other continents by picturing them as savage like individuals who live an insufficient life. To truly understand Africa, you must understand these two important elements: the demographics of Africa and the true history of Africa

By the late 19th and early 20th century, Europe was expanding its borders. In an attempt to grow its economy and culture, Europe’s superpowers began to search for new soil. Africa was an easy target; it wasn’t politically secure and it wasn’t modernized. In addition, it had reliable soil which would enable Europe to produce cash crops. European nations began to pour into Africa, called the Scramble for Africa. Soon, Europe took control of Africa, taking raw materials and destroyed African culture. Imperialism is the one to blame for exploitation of people and materials, the destruction of traditional culture, and unnaturally dividing up the land which causes a bunch of problems down the road. There is no doubt that imperialism

Africana Studies should not be limited to studying the oppression blacks and the struggle they’ve experienced though that is an important component and the only component usually seen by others. Black studies can be about blacks learning the necessary skills to be constructive members of society, such as financing, business, computer studies, labor laws and the judiciary systems. There are all field that can help the programs once students have mastered them. Having students doing financing can help with simple everyday life budgeting and planning ahead. Studying business as part of the program can introduce students to the possibilities of creating their own business which will result in more black owned businesses. Judiciary practices

Oil Drilling has many effects on the environment from the air we breathe to the oceans that inhabit many species. While one of the outcomes of oil drilling is money, it is forgotten that money won’t help repair all of the damage that is done to mother nature. Not only does the outcome of drilling for fossil fuels affect the oceans, rainforest, etc. it also has an effect on local business’ and the health of humans. If people want change, they need to be the

The Chad Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project is one of the largest investments in the private sector in Africa that costs approximately US$3.7 billion. The project is being funded by the World Bank and the International Financial Corporation. The involvement of these two major financial institutions is a demonstration of the rationale that the project will generate revenue that will enable the Chad and Cameroonian governments to invest more in programs that focus on reducing poverty like rural employment, education, and health. The involvement of the International Financial Corporation will be geared towards accomplishing three major roles. These are long-term financing, stabilizing role, and uplifting the quality and standard of mitigation plans and environmental assessments.

Modern African states have several problems ranging from corruption, to armed conflict, to stunted structural development. The effects of colonialism have been offered as a starting point for much of the analysis on African states, but the question of why African states are particularly dysfunctional needs to be examined, given the extent to which they have lagged behind other former European colonies in many aspects. In the first section, I will consider the problems with African states from the level of the state. That is, the nature of the states' inceptions and the underlying flaws may explain some of the issues that have been associated with African states today. Next I examine the development of, or lack of, civil

Most children in the Niger delta have little or no education, due to lack of funds from their parents who have lost their lands and have no jobs because of limited opportunities. The Niger delta government and the oil companies have refused to look into the situation; instead they favor their close relations neglecting the masses. Corruption in the Niger delta has led some youths in taking drastic measure in order to put food on their table. For example, Ikechukwu Efe an indigene of the Niger delta said that some of his friends created their own “oil refinery”, which is made up of crude oil in metal barrels with controlled heat from fire woods. This is a dangerous process in refining crude oil but the degree of poverty in the state left his friends with no choice. If only the government of the Niger delta have created jobs with the wealth of the state Ikechukwu’s friend would not have to put their lives in danger. Until corruption is put to an abrupt the people of the Niger delta will continue to live in poverty.

There are very many environmental problems in the oil and gas-producing areas of Nigeria. However, not all the problems can be attributed to oil and gas operations. The most critical problems that derive primarily from oil and gas operations there, are oil spills, including groundwater pollution, surface water pollution and damage to aquatic and shallow marine life; acid rain and air quality degradation due to gas flaring; and biodiversity loss.

I belong to a proud people called the Ogoni people. The Ogoni people are a minority tribe that’s in the Southeast of Nigeria and they happen to own most of the vast oil reserves in Nigeria. Why does this matter you ask? Well because they’ve been economically exploited, suffered environmental degradation and political marginalization in Nigeria for fighting for the right to self determine their destiny and keep control of their resources. Shell, a oil company that was founded in 1907 when the Dutch company practiced unfriendly environmental practices while drilling oil where people were living. This caused oil spills and polluted the water and land that was used to produce fruits and vegetables. Nigeria also allowed these practices to go on because a lot of Nigeria’s wealth came from oil. The Nigerian government also supported the efforts of Shell to get rid of the Ogoni so that they can continue to take the oil without any consequences. With the help of Shell and the Nigerian government the Ogonis were forced to go out of Nigeria as exiles. My dad came here as a refugee and I was born here. While many see that some parts of the world are doing fairly well and operate in a democracy, I believe that we as a world community should rally behind human rights and address the degradation and devastation that has plagued the Ogoni community and other indigenous

The Niger Delta region, Nigeria 's oil belt has been the site of a generalized ethnic and regional struggle for self-determination since 1998, the location of often-violent confrontations between local ethnic communities and agents of the Nigerian state and oil companies involved in the extraction and exploitation of oil in the area. What began as community agitation has undoubtedly undergone several transformations. The first involved the flowering of civil society, which mobilized a popular civil struggle. The second saw the extension of the agitation from that against multinational oil companies (MNCs) to