Fierce debate in Nigeria about whether a national congress on its future should be convened shows that the country has a problem with political dialogue, according to Nnadozie Onyekuru, 23, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Maiduguri. “So many of the great human dramas of our time are being played out on the Nigerian stage. For example, …

"I say to myself that Nigeria’s golden age is just a dialogue away" Read More »

Young Nigerians need to start making their minds up about the kind of leaders they will be when they eventually have access to power, writes Emmanuel Ojeifo, 26, from Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state in western Nigeria. Just imagine this scenario. Some elderly men in a car have just had a terrible accident because not one …

“Accidental tourists – the people who have ruled Nigeria” Read More »

Young Nigerians need to start making their minds up about the kind of leaders they will be when they eventually have access to power, writes Emmanuel Ojeifo, 26, from Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state in western Nigeria. Just imagine this scenario. Some elderly men in a car have just had a terrible accident because not one …

“Accidental tourists – the people who have ruled Nigeria" Read More »

A series of gaffes and questionable policy moves have left US President Barack Obama with a mountain to climb to win re-election in November, argues Ryan Bachoo, 22, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Trinidad & Tobago. At the turn of the year, I remember saying that the US presidential election is Barack Obama’s to lose. Well, …

“Will Barack Obama be back in 2013? Don’t count on it” Read More »

A series of gaffes and questionable policy moves have left US President Barack Obama with a mountain to climb to win re-election in November, argues Ryan Bachoo, 22, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Trinidad & Tobago. At the turn of the year, I remember saying that the US presidential election is Barack Obama’s to lose. Well, …

"Will Barack Obama be back in 2013? Don't count on it" Read More »

The New Year is traditionally a time for resolutions and change. But Ryan Bachoo, 23, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Trinidad & Tobago, says while the pledge to watch less MTV might succeed, years of observing politics leave him with little expectation for change on the world stage. I’ve long stop expecting grand changes in the …

“In politics, change is not always inevitable” Read More »

Politics is an inescapable fact of society, writes Bernard Lim, 19, of Singapore, but when government provides education and freedom of speech, active citizens contribute constructively to the national debate. Politics has been vilified for its ability to evoke imagery of sex scandals (cue Malaysian politician Chua Soi Lek and American politician Anthony Wiener’s sex-texts), …

“Active Citizenry is a third line of defense” Read More »

As Malaysia readies for a general election, Bernard Lim, 19, of Singapore, looks at the political and economic events that led to a ‘tsunami’ of support for the opposition in the 2008 vote. In Malaysia’s 2008 General Elections, Barisan Nasional was thrashed by the main opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance). It lost five state …

“Malaysian ‘tsunami’ created electoral debacle” Read More »