Achebe Colloquium on Africa 2010

The Providence Marriott Downtown
Providence, Rhode Island
December 3 & 4, 2010

Program

2010 Master of Ceremony: Professor Okey Ndibe, Visiting Professor, Department of Africana Studies, Brown University

Friday, December 3

8:20 am

Welcome

President Ruth J. Simmons, Brown University

8:30 am

Opening Remarks

Professor Adebowale Adefuye, Nigerian Ambassador to the US in Washington DC

9:00 am–10:30 am

Rwanda: Could It Happen Again?

  • Josh Ruxin, Humanitarian and Scholar, Kigali Rwanda
  • Aloys Habimana, Africa Deputy Director Human Rights Watch
  • Noel Twagiramungu, Human Rights Activist and scholar, Tufts University
  • Peter Uvin, Academic Dean and The Henry J. Leir Professor of International Humanitarian Studies, Tufts University
  • Vern Neufeld Redekop, Professor of Conflict Studies, Saint Paul’s University, Ottawa, Canada
  • Justine Mbabazi, First Consular, Rwanda Embassy, Washington, DC

Moderator: Dr. Susan Thomson, Hampshire College

10:45 am-12:15 pm

Rwanda: Strengthening Democracy: Challenges Ahead

  • Mahmood Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government, Columbia University
  • Ali Mazrui, Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton
  • Timothy Longman, Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science and Director, African Studies Center, Boston University
  • Dr. J. Paul Martin, Director, Human Rights Studies, Barnard College
  • Dr. Scott Newton, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK
  • Colleen Driscoll, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Quinnipiac University

Moderator: Kenneth Harrow, Distinguished Professor of African Studies, Michigan State University

12:15 pm-1:30 pm

Lunch Break (available to purchase in hotel or surrounding restaurants)

1:30 pm-2:00 pm

Keynote Speaker

Margot Elisabeth Wallström, Former Vice Chairperson of the European Union and the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict

2:00 pm-3:30 pm

Congo: The Economic Stakes Behind Congo “Africa’s World War”

  • Mbaya J. Kankwenda, Executive Director of the Canadian Institute for Development Research and Strategic Studies on Africa
  • Tatiana Carayannis, Deputy Director, Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum, Social Science Research Council
  • Ali Mazrui, Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton
  • Alafuele M. Kalala, Former Democratic Republic of Congo presidential candidate
  • Edouard Bustin, Director, Francophone Africa Research Group (GRAF), College of Arts & Sciences, Boston University

Moderator: Ben Shepherd, London School of Economics, London

3:45 pm-5:15 pm

Congo: Why the Resolution of the Congo Crisis Must Be Regional

  • Dr. Oscar Kashala, Former Democratic Republic of Congo presidential candidate
  • Josè Kagabo, Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, France
  • Ben Kalala, Presidential Candidate, DRC 2011
  • Amii Omara-Otunnu, Associate Professor of History, UNESCO Chair in Comparative Human Rights
  • Joseph Mwantuali, Associate Professor of French, Hamilton College

Moderator: Jason Stearns, Yale University

5:30 pm-7:00 pm

Congo: The Impact of the Congolese Crisis On Its People

  • Ngwarsungu Chiwengo, Department of English, Creighton University
  • Nkashama Pius Ngandu, Professor of French Language and Literature in the French Department of Louisiana State University
  • Marie Louise Mumbu, Renown Author, Congo
  • Micere M. Githae Mugo, Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence, Syracuse University
  • Herbert Weiss, Emeritus Professor, CUNY
  • Lisa Shannon, Human/Women’s Rights Activist, author of “A Thousand Sisters”

Moderator: Emmanuel Dongala, Richard B. Fisher Chair in Natural Sciences at Bard College at Simon’s Rock

Saturday, December 4

8:00 am

Keynote Speaker:

Ambassador Stephen Rapp, US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes

8:30 am–10:00 am

Nigeria: Recovering Looted Funds

  • Nuhu Ribadu, Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
  • Peter Lewis, Director of the African Studies Program, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University
  • John Campbell, Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria
  • Femi Falana, Human Rights Lawyer, Lagos, Nigeria
  • Walter Carrington, Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria
  • Omoyele Sowore, Publisher, Sahara Reports
  • Emmanuel Akomaye, Secretary to the EFCC

Moderator: Darren Kew, Professor, McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, UMass-Boston

10:15 am-11:45 am

Nigeria: Elections and Political Transparency

  • Richard Joseph, John Evans Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University
  • Emeka Izeze, Managing Director of the Guardian Newspapers, Nigeria
  • Attahiru Jega, Former Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano and Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission
  • Nuhu Ribadu, Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
  • Ayo Obe, Human Rights Lawyer, Lagos, Nigeria
  • Darren Kew, Professor, McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, UMass-Boston

Moderator: Roger Middleton, Chatham House, London

11:45 am-1:00 pm

Lunch (available to purchase in hotel or surrounding restaurants)

1:00 pm-2:30 pm

Nigeria: The Niger Delta Crisis: The Political, Economic and Environmental Conundrum

  • His Excellency Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Governor of Rivers State
  • Anyakwee Nsirimovu, Executive Director, The Institute of Human Rights & Humanitarian Law, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  • Dr. Judith Burdin Asuni, Visiting Scholar of African Studies, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University
  • Annkio Briggs, Niger Delta activist
  • John Campbell, Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria
  • Edwin Clark, Former Federal Minister of Information and Ijaw National Leader
  • Isidore Udoh, J.C.L. for the Niger Delta World Congress
  • Adebowale Adefuye, Nigerian Ambassador to the US in Washington DC
  • Peter Lewis, Director of the African Studies Program, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University

Moderator: Mobolaji Aluko, professor of Chemical Engineering at Howard University

2:00 pm-3:00 pm

Open Discussion for Q&A

3:00 pm-3:30 pm

Closing Remarks

Governor Chibuike Rotirni Amaechi, Governor of Rivers State