The Chia Report

Ivory Coast fans blame police for deadly stampede

 AP – Men carry out an injured spectator following a stadium stampede at a World Cup qualifying match between …

By BENOIT HILI, Associated Press Writer Benoit Hili, Associated Press Writer – Mon Mar 30, 6:15 pm ET

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – Fans who survived a deadly stadium stampede in the Ivory Coast blamed police Monday for the tragedy, saying security forces provoked the panic by tear gassing people who had nowhere to run.

World soccer body FIFA called for a prompt investigation into the stampede Sunday at Abidjan's Felix Houphouet-Boigny arena that left 19 people dead and injured more than 130. The president of Ivory Coast declared a three-day period of mourning.

Celebrating Cameroon’s 0-1 Loss against Togo

By Innocent Chia
After losing 0-1 against Egypt at the African Championship Cup finals in Ghana last year (February 2008), fanatics and connoisseurs of Cameroon’s football alike joined in asking that Song Bahanack be ejected from the squad. He was invisible in his position as the last defender before the keeper. The back stopper and team captain of the Lions was seen more times playing an offensive role than anyone with soccer acumen would have cared for. It is this indiscipline that has left Song Bahanack wondering from club to club and never settling anywhere for more than two seasons. Yet, he has succeeded in making himself irreplaceable as a teammate and captain of the Indomitable Lions, in a country that has plenty to offer at the local and international level. 

The pope in Africa - Sex and Sensibility

Mar 19th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Doing harm in places where Catholicism should have a bright future

AFRICANS always give a visiting pope a hearty welcome. Thousands of finely dressed Cameroonians danced and sang at the roadside this week as Pope Benedict XVI arrived on an inaugural African tour that will also take in Angola. The Vatican is keen on the continent, home to around 135m Catholics. Pope Benedict delivered a compassionate message, recognising that Africa suffers disproportionately from food shortages, poverty, financial turmoil and a changing climate. Yet for all the mutual appreciation, he got one matter painfully wrong.

The Juice behind the Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cameroon

By Innocent Chia
Cameroonians and all who get to be familiar with Cameroon generally agree that there is no smoke without fire. This is corroborated by another country-specific proverb - rumor begins from the top and goes down (la rumeur commence en haut). So I was talking to this “en haut” or top guy who was giving all this salivating back-of-the-scenes information.

He too was amused by the umbrella-sized-head tie of Cameroon’s first lady, Chantal Biya. But there was more outrage that made me cry with laughter, and then laugh in tears as it all soaked in. Much like Pope John Paul II is said to have been invited in 1985 by Biya to rid the Unity Palace of the ghost of the former President Ahidjo, this visit had one such bizarre twists…

Pope Benedict the XVI Faces His own Sword

By Innocent Chia
The maiden African visit of Pope Benedict XVI is, at best, receiving more mixed feelings than the accolades that his predecessor, the late Pope John Paul II, got during his trips to Cameroon. These feelings have nothing in particular to do with any conflicting pronouncements by the Holy Pontiff, not even his firm stance against the use of condoms which critics fear may send the wrong message to a Continent scorched by HIV/AIDS. It is much ado with the context of this Papal Mission and the perceived beneficiary of it. Much is not lost also with regard to the evident harm and despair that this visit, just like every State visit to Cameroon, is having on the man on the street – fondly abbreviated by some as MOTS. Even as I share my personal thoughts on these grave issues, I hope it makes for more interesting reading if we X-rayed the Pope’s visit based on his message of Reconciliation, Peace and Justice.

Oprah to Domestic Violence Victims: “…he will hit you again.”

Innocent Chia
R’n’B Hollywood celebrities, Rihanna and boyfriend Chris Brown, managed in the worst possible PR blitz to publicize the perennial issue of domestic violence that haunts millions of Americans and many more globally. The TMZ-released battered image of the otherwise scintillating Barbados-born songwriter, singer and performer Rihanna sent shockwaves across airwaves into living rooms throughout the land. With percolating details of the abuse, it has become clear that her boyfriend Chris Brown is responsible for the near-disfigurement because she may have confronted him regarding an affair with another woman (Tina Davis) 20 years older. In the meantime, the surrounding media frenzy has set up the stage for the public lynching of Chris Brown to serve as a warning to every batterer out there that their behavior is no longer tolerated. But what about those marital vows – for better for worse till death do us part?

BLACK HISTORY MONTH – A POST SCRIPT

By Innocent Chia

For close to a century now – 1926 to Present – February has been set aside as a time of commemoration for the many contributions of and by African-Americans in their storied US history. In gaining greater appreciation for this history - replete with turpitude and sacrifice, peril and endurance and pride and achievement – it has become my wonder whether focusing on the past is not blinding many more to the disastrous consequences of seemingly innocent actions committed today. Case in point: the naming of some African-American kids. In this piece, I argue that some African-American names deprive the holder of opportunity, thereby condemning them to the fringes of society.