African press review 12 September 2014

There are fears of a new Boko Haram attack in northern Nigeria. Ebola fears spread in Nigeria, while kenya keeps its travel ban.  A South African Jewish paper compares Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Hitler.

In Nigeria the Tribune reports that Boko Haram fighters have surrounded Maiduguri and are preparing a takeover, a regional group claimed on Thursday, calling for military reinforcements. The alert by the Borno Elders’ Forum, comprising retired senior civilian and military officials, came after the United States warned of an attack on the city.

But according to The Tribune the Defence Headquarters on Thursday condemned foreign media over the reporting of events in the north-east, saying the report is clearly intended to cause panic in the city and the nation.

Vanguard examines measures being taken in Lagos State to prevent the spread of the ebola virus, after Governor Babatunde Fashola said he was keen on delaying the reopening of schools scheduled on 22 September to complete a risk evaluation study.

Punch reports that the authorities at Obafemi Awolowo University at Ile Ife in Osun State sent students jubilating on Thursday when they barred students from Liberia and other west African countries from returning to the institution for now. Fear had gripped the university after the death of a suspected ebola victim on campus. The female student was a secondary contact of the Nigerian medic who died of ebola in Port Harcourt after treating the Liberian man believed to have brought ebola to Nigeria.

Punch says tests carried out on the blood sample of a female student of the university turned out to be negative. According to the paper, new research by Britain’s University of Oxford has revealed that 2.1 million Nigerians are at risk of contracting the ebola virus. Punch reports that authorites at Obafemi Awolowo University have bought infrared thermometers to measure the temperatures of students and staff as another measure to make the OAU Ebola-free.

In Kenya Standard Digital says Nairobi has no plans to lift the ban on the entry of nationals from those west African countries worst hit by ebola, as requested by African Union (AU) leaders. The paper reports that on Thursday Director of Medical Services Nicholas Muraguri reiterated that the ban would stay in place until the Health Ministry is convinced there is no risk of transmission of the deadly disease to Kenyans.

An emergency meeting of the AU's executive council on Tuesday to address the ebola crisis ruled that the ban on cross-border movement of people among member states should be lifted, despite the disease raging in west Africa. The meeting was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Kenyan officials participated.

The Daily Nation publishes a new study showing that a majority of Kenyans believe that the country is generally heading in the wrong direction.

The survey, conducted by Ipsos Kenya for the Nation Media Group, shows that 58 per cent of Kenyans found things bad compared to 29 per cent who thought otherwise. The poll revealed that 76 per cent of supporters of the opposition Cord coalition see the country heading in the wrong direction while 41 per cent from the ruling Jubilee supported the same sentiment. Those who said things were not going well cited the high cost of living, a deteriorating economy, lack of employment and poor leadership as some of the things driving the country in the wrong direction.

In South Africa the Mail and Guardian highlights an article in the South African Jewish Report which compares Nobel laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu to Hitler. According to the Johannesburg-based newspaper the op-ed piece in the South African Jewish Report refers to Tutu as “the latest self-appointed midget of history” who would “kill Jews before protecting Christians”. Pro-Israel Likud SA chairperson Leon Reich accuses the religious leader of “preying” on Israel, together with Hamas, adding that the two are working towards the destruction of the Jewish state.

And the Sowetan comments about a South African man sentenced to life imprisonment for decapitating a prostitute. According to the paper the accused, who is a minor from Durban, detailed in a statement read in court by his lawyer how he plotted for more than a year to get the head he needed to pay a traditional healer who promised to cure him of a sexually transmitted disease. Prosecutor Kuveshni Pillay told the Durban court that the woman’s headless body had a total of 195 stab wounds. Three of the boy’s coaccused are due to appear in court today over their role in the woman’s gruesome murder.