President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint Mrs Bukola Love Oriola as Member, United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking

Mrs Bukola Love Oriola

Bukola Love Oriola has served as an independent consultant, speaker, and author on human trafficking issues since 2009.  Ms. Oriola founded The Entian Story in 2013, a non-profit organization which advocates for survivors of human trafficking and domestic abuse.

In 2009, Ms. Oriola published her book Imprisoned: The Travails of a Trafficked Victim and began producing Imprisoned Show.  Ms. Oriola has owned and managed Bukola Braiding and Beauty Supply since 2007.

She was a reporter and researcher for Century Media Limited in Lagos, Nigeria from 2003 to 2005.  Ms. Oriola received an A.S. from The Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo.

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"Obamamania" hit Kenya and Ethiopia as the US president made a landmark visit to the two countries in late July.

IT was the first time Obama has visited Kenya, the birthplace of his father, as President of the US and it was also the first time a sitting US president had visited Ethiopia.

It was a brief stint, but momentous nonetheless.

Here are some of the most memorable moments of his visit...

President Barack Obama leaves aboard Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House as he departs for a trip to Ethiopia and Kenya on July 23, 2015 in Washington, DC. Obama arrived in Kenya on the 24th July, where he attended the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi. The trip marks the first time Obama will visit Kenya as President.
(Photo by Pete Marovich, Pool/Getty) Images)

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A wave of excited frenzy swept across Kenya ahead, and during, Obama's visit. Filled potholes, refurbished pavements, new security cameras and newly planted grass were a few of the government intiatives. Local entreprenuers also took advantage, selling US flags, memorabilia and even organising boxing matches, like this one pictured, in honour of Obama’s visit to Kenya.
(Photo: Till Muellenmeister/AFP/Getty Images)

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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Barack Obama gave a joint press conference at the State House in Nairobi on July 25, 2015. Kenya and US signed an agreement aimed at curbing corruption and help seal loopholes in the dwindling war against the vice in the government.
(Photo: Saul Loeb, AFP)

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While in Kenya Obama paid his respects, after laying a wreath, at the memorial park commemorating the 7 August, 1998 bombing of the US embassy, which killed more than 218 Americans and Kenyans, and injured more than 5,000 people.
(Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

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Obama attends the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at the United Nations Compound in Nairobi on July 25, 2015. Obama said today "Africa is on the move", as he praised the spirit of entrepreneurship at the business summit in Kenya.
(Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

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At a State House dinner, Obama showed off some serious dance moves alongside Kenya's president to the sounds of Sauti Sol - a Kenyan afro-pop band. The dance, called the "Lipala", is a traditional step that has been popularised lately by the band which performed at the event.
(Photo: Sauti Sol, Facebook)

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Obama disembarks Air Force One at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on July 26th 2015. He started a 2 day stay in the country and was the first American leader to visit the country. (Photo: Simon Maina, AFP)

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Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome and Obama speak during a meeting at the National Palace in Addis Ababa on July 27, 2015.  (Photo: Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images)

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Obama laughs at the hair nets the members of the press have to wear during a tour of Faffa Food, which produces low-cost high-protein foods, with the help of Feed the Future, in Addis Ababa on July 28, 2015. Feed the Future, Obama’s global hunger and food security initiative, invests in agriculture to spur economic growth and reduce poverty and hunger.
(Photo: Saul Loeb/Getty Images)

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Give us the space, and we will do the rest, continent's dynamic job-creators say.

SAYING Africa was “on the move”, US president Barack Obama at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2015 in Nairobi praised the spirit of entrepreneurship in Africa, as he announced a basket of initiatives to support the effort.

“People are being lifted out of poverty, incomes are up, the middle class is growing and young people like you are harnessing technology to change the way Africa is doing business,” he said in Kenya on Saturday.

Young entrepreneurs are projected to change the continent’s fortunes through new businesses and stimulating economies, as the narrative shifts to trade. Identified as people aged between 18-34, they are seen as Africa’s big hope.

But who are these young African entrepreneurs who are increasingly the rave on the continent? Mail & Guardian Africa looked at some characteristics from the  latest global data on this group:

1: Young people are generally three times more likely than adults to be unemployed, and sub-Saharan Africa currently exhibits the lowest levels of education compared to other regions. But surprisingly, its young people are the most likely to have received some form of business training at school, even if the quality is sometimes inconsistent due to a lack of resources.

2: Youth in sub-Saharan Africa also have the highest levels of perceived entrepreneurial competence, a stark contrast to those in Europe who have the lowest level, despite their higher level of general education. The continent averages a 76% perception that its individuals have the necessary skills.

3: Sub-Saharan Africa’s young people are significantly more, by 1.5 times, to know a start-up entrepreneur than youth in the other four global regions, an important factor for mentoring and networking.

4: Sub-Saharan Africa, together with the Latin American and Caribbean region, has the highest entrepreneurial intention—a plan to start a business within the next three years. In Africa, half of the youth polled in a Global Entrepreneurship Monitor  survey intend to start a business, while less than a fifth of European youth profess the same intention.

5: Sub-Saharan Africa’s young entrepreneurs also have the lowest fear of failure, a major determinant on influencing whether a person starts a business, with only 24.5% of respondents in a 2012  survey of more than 20,000 adults alluding to it as a factor that would put them off.

5: The region however has the highest prevalence of necessity-motivated enterprises, as opposed to being pushed by opportunity, highlighting both the challenge and potential in a continent where economic growth has consistently outpaced global levels, but which has struggled to take everyone up with it.

6: Sub-Saharan Africa also has the highest gap between early-stage entrepreneurs and established businesses, suggesting a focus area for policy makers and mentors, as this means many young businesses do not reach maturity (more than 42 months), and thus don’t create employment.

7: Three in every four people in a survey of seven sub-Saharan Africa believed entrepreneurship was a good career choice, while a high proportion, an average of 80%, of the region also accords high status to those who start businesses. Some 77% also believed there was high media attention to successful entrepreneurs—the highest of all regions—helping reduce the desirability of survivalist-only businesses.

8: The gender gap is however inherent: young African women are doubly disadvantaged—by gender and age, with young men more likely to be motivated by opportunity, more likely to access credit, and more likely to tap the internet to grow. This is fast-changing, as the higher impact of women small business owners is acknowledged, with Obama referring to them as “powerhouse entrepreneurs” and channeling just as much funds to them as to men.

9: African entrepreneurs tend to concentrate mainly in the retail, hotel and restaurant sectors of the economy—more than three in every four tend to start out here, suggesting more potential for the high-growth industries, which depend on technology and knowledge, a growing stronghold in Africa, as alluded to at the GES 2015.

10: Entrepreneurs in Africa are also in the survey widely agreed that there is a lot of scope for increasing access to financing, education and skills training, and helpful government policies that create the space for growth and in research for development. Give us the basic space and tools, and we will do the rest, is the resounding message.

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At the invitation of the Obama administration, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is making an official visit to Washington, D.C. from July 20 to July 24. The visit is an opportunity to reset a bilateral relationship that had chilled under former President Goodluck Jonathan, in part because of the Nigerian security service’s human rights violations in the fight against the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram, and in part because of vocal criticism from the Jonathan administration that the United States was not doing enough to help in the struggle against Boko Haram.

Now, an indication of the importance of the visit to the Obama administration is that President Buhari will be staying at Blair House, the official guest house, even though this is not a state visit, which are usually arranged long in advance and more ceremonial than substantive.

Nigeria matters to the United States. It is by far the largest country in Africa by population, has the continent’s largest economy, and has been an important strategic partner for the United States. However, Nigeria also faces difficult challenges. Its Boko Haram insurgency destabilizes it and its neighbors. Domestic corruption is rampant. In the March elections, Buhari campaigned on a platform of restoring Nigerian security and fighting corruption, but now the Nigerian electorate’s expectations about what he can accomplish in the short term appear unrealistically high.

In the Obama administration, Buhari has special credibility because he was elected president in Nigeria’s freest elections since the 1999 restoration of civilian government. The Obama administration has hailed them as a major step forward for Nigerian and African democracy. Buhari is also the first opposition candidate to be elected president in Nigeria’s history. According to official statements, President Buhari will meet separately with President Obama, Vice President Biden, the secretaries of state, treasury, and commerce, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the deputy secretary of defense, and the U.S. trade representative.

As for Congress, President Buhari will meet with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Congressional Black Caucus. President Buhari will also make formal speeches at the Corporate Council for Africa and at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This is an exceptional turnout for Washington, D.C. in July and with Congress in recess.

In keeping with his emphasis on simplicity, President Buhari’s delegation will be very small. He will be accompanied by five governors, including that of Borno state, which is where Boko Haram has been most active. Buhari has thus far made no cabinet appointments. Accordingly, he is traveling with the permanent secretaries [senior civil servants that run departments in the absence of cabinet ministers] of defense, foreign affairs, industry, and trade and investment.

According to official Nigerian spokesmen, President Buhari’s agenda is to advance bilateral cooperation in combating Boko Haram, to encourage growth in U.S. trade and investment in Nigeria, and to garner support for his signature “war on corruption.”

Mirroring that agenda, the White House press secretary said, “President Obama looks forward to discussing with President Buhari our many shared priorities including U.S.-Nigeria cooperation to advance a holistic, regional approach to combating Boko Haram, as well as Nigeria’s efforts to advance important economic and political reforms that will help unlock its full potential as a regional and global leader.”

The Buhari visit provides the opportunity to advance the bilateral relationship. However, it is unlikely to be the occasion of dramatic announcements or initiatives.

The day after President Buhari departs Washington, President Obama leaves for Ethiopia and Kenya. Obama has been criticized for visiting two countries that, while U.S. allies on security issues, have questionable human rights and elections records. Some African watchers have questioned President Obama’s omission of Nigeria on his trip, especially following the successful March elections. The Buhari visit to Washington may address those concerns.

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Unimpressed by the United States' Supreme Court's favourable decision towards same sex marriage, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe expressed his opinion on the matter, saying that he will ask for President Barack Obama's hand in marriage

During his weekly interview on national radio, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe on Saturday expressed his displeasure at the recent ruling by the United States’ Supreme Court ruling which legalises same sex marriage in the country, according to Newsweek.

The spirited 90 year-old leader, one of the world’s most vocal nemeses of gay rights, seemed to suggest that President Barack Obama is gay by allowing this to happen under his watch.

“I’ve just concluded – since President Obama endorses the same-sex marriage, advocates homosexual people and enjoys an attractive countenance – thus if it becomes necessary, I shall travel to Washington, DC, get down on my knee and ask his hand.”

It’s hard to imagine that Mugabe’s words are isolated on the continent. After all, most of Africa has a pretty hostile attitude towards homosexuality – over 30 states mete out a prison term for homosexuality-related ‘crimes’ and some countries even impose the death penalty. Only South Africa has fully liberal gay rights’ laws and recognises same sex marriage.

Meanwhile, Obama hasn’t responded to Mugabe’s proposal idea. Perhaps we’d be expecting too much if we’d be waiting for one. But it’s safe to say that the Zimbabwean president would sooner marry a man than permit the legalisation of same sex marriage in his country.

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Kiprono got more than he bargained for when a bold 27-year-old beautiful and hardworking single Kenyan lady of Kamba origin, Ann Kioko wrote a long letter as a reply to the Lawyer’s open letter to the American president [where he offered Obama 50 Cows, 70 Sheep, 30 Goats, etc to marry Malia Obama],  in which she wonderfully inscribed her own reasons why she should be considered instead of Malia.

In the letter the Kenyan lass begs the city lawyer to choose her and explains why she thinks she would be the ideal woman for Kaprino. She later on made copies which she disseminated to the local media, probably hoping that the letter will somehow end up in the lawyer’s hands.

Later on, she posted on her Facebook account that she was giving the lawyer 5 days to respond.

Read the contents of the letter below:

“Dear Felix Kiprono,

Chamgei!

I write this letter with a lot of expectations and prayers for a positive response.

It has been long since I visited my Facebook account; I have been up and down with life hassles. I live in a simple house in the outskirts of Nairobi and have to wake up very early to go to work to avoid traffic jam, but I am not always lucky in the evenings.

Of late, I think Kenyans have really grown rich, they have bought so many cars, I am yet tot though.

So today I decided to spare little airtime for bundles and accessed Facebook only to find headline that you have offered all those herds of livestock to Malia.

If I were in Nigeria, I would use ‘Tufyakwa’ or’ Chineke’ (Oh my God), because I am not amused at all.

Since I saw you going to court to urge the Chief Justice to swear in Deputy President, Hon Ruto as president sometimes ago, I got interested in you!

I have always been fascinated in you since then and have followed you on Twitter. I also friended you on Facebook but you have not accepted my friend request yet.

All the same, I took time to go through your pictures, I got smitten by this picture you have some good-looking, seemingly designer lipstick on your lips. I have been looking for that shade to no avail. The more the reason I am very unhappy all that expertise is going to Malia.

I am 27-year-old (turned 27 on 2nd May) beautiful single Kamba lady but have been raised in Nyahururu. I am well educated and cultured, with an almost same complexion as Malia and a beautiful smile.

One of my BFFs is Kalenjin and has taught me how to prepare Mursik and cook brown ugali. I have also interacted with Lawyers in my job, they are very nice people.

In my village in Weru, Nyandarua District, we have a big shamba where all the livestock can be grazed sufficiently. We are located near Lake Ol Poloisat, so they will never lack in water and just a few meters down, there’s a cattle dip. Look, they will be very well taken care of.

Actually we could start some business of exporting milk to other countries; I am very hardworking woman and within no time, will build our own White House.

Kiprono, please recall the offer to President Obama and consider my application, we can explain to him when he comes to Kenya.

With love,
Ann Kioko.”

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A Kenyan lawyer named Kiprono Matagei has made public his special request to US President Barack Obama.

One of Kiprono’s dream is to marry Barack’s first daughter Malia so he has announced that he is ready to pay 50 cows, 70 sheep, and 30 goats as bride price. And he is ready to meet Obama to discuss the matter when Obama visits in July.

Kenya Digest reports that Kiprono said:

“I got interested in her in 2008. As a matter of fact, I haven’t dated anyone since and promise to be faithful to her. I have shared this with my family and they are willing to
help me raise the bride price”

The young lawyer claims his love for Malia is real, not infatuation.

People might say I am after the family’s money but that is not the case. My love is real. I am currently drafting a letter to Obama asking him to please have Malia accompany him for this trip. I hope the embassy will hand the letter to him. I will hand it over to the US Ambassador with whom we have interacted several times.

What is disturbing here is that as at 2008 when Kiprono says he fell in love with Malia, she was just 10 years old.

Kiprono also added that should Obama accept his request, his engagement to the ‘love of his life’ will be a unique one.

“If my request is granted, I will not resort to the cliché of popping champagne. Instead, I will surprise her with mursik , the traditional Kalenjin sour milk, as an indication that she is my queen. I will propose to her on a popular hill in Bureti near my father’s land where leaders and warriors are usually crowned. Ours will be a simple life. I will teach Malia how to milk a cow, cook ugali and prepare mursik like any other Kalenjin woman”

Malia Obama is 16, set to turn 17 on July 4.

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The White House late last month announced that Obama will travel to Nairobi on July 23 to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which will take place in sub-Saharan Africa for the first time.

Initially meant to promote innovation and deepen business ties between the US and Muslim communities worldwide, it last year took place in Morocco.

This will be the first time Obama has attended the summit in a foreign country.

It had been one of the worst-kept secrets that he would look to spot a gap to visit the country where several of his relatives still live.

His father was an economist from western Kenya and, though Obama was never close to him or spent much time in the country, many Kenyans claim him as one of their own.

An annual event backed by the US government, the summit was unveiled by Obama in Cairo on June 2009, in what was his first trip to the continent as president (he’d visited as senator), when he also made a one-day stop over in Ghana.

Obama’s visit will be seen by Nairobi as completing its rehabilitation of Kenyatta back into the international fold, and will make for huge political capital.    

Obama’s book, “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance” first published in 1995 is a story of the events of his  life up until his entry into law school in 1988. He first travelled to Kenya before he went to law school, and faced the bitter truth of his father’s conflicted life.

He can at the minimum expect rock star treatment. And now visiting his father’s homeland as the world’s most powerful man, it will probably not be lost on him how far he has travelled.

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