The Country of Africa

From today’s headlines:

In Nigeria: Hundreds, Many Children, Killed By Machete-Wielding Attackers

Here is the story’s lead

“NPR's Gwen Thompkins, reporting from Nairobi, Kenya, says "no one can say for sure what prompted the attack. But in January, a Christian strike on a Muslim village killed hundreds of people"

Why is Ms Thompkins reporting this story from Nairobi, Kenya?

I can not help but wonder if airing a story about violence taking place in Nigeria, by a reporter situated in Kenya, contributes to the impression held by many non-Africans that Africa is simply one large, troubled, nation-state?

During my stay in Ghana, I have heard the frustration of colleagues who claim that outside media characterizes Africa as a continent immersed in widespread violence, civil instability, dictatorial rule, "backward" customs, and poverty.

There’s no denying reality. Compared to other continents Africa has the least economic wealth and the highest rate of poverty. It also has suffered from some horrific civil and international wars during recent decades.

However, should poverty or civil upheaval in one location impact the reputation of another, simply because they share the same landmass?

Do drug wars in Mexico change your views about the safety of the streets of Washington DC? Are you worried about the state of democracy in France because Russian media is under constant attack by the Kremlin? Does a military junta in Myanmar (Burma) cause you to doubt the freedom enjoyed by South Koreans?

But when you hear about people being hacked apart by machetes in central Nigeria, does it affect your view of Africa, in general? I think for most non-Africans the answer is “yes.”

Before I arrived in Ghana family members, friends, and colleagues urged me in so many words to “be careful.” Certainly some of them were referring to the risk of various sicknesses, chief among them malaria. Others may have been warning me of Ghana’s high rate of vehicular deaths. But I also know some were referring to a general uneasiness with civil and social stability in Africa. I did not receive the same sendoff in 2006 when departing for Hungary. I know these were well-meaning and heartfelt words, but what impressions about Africa were lurking in the background?

In Ghana, I was headed for a country that has enjoyed civil peace for nearly two decades; a country that many call the “most hospitable in West Africa;” a country that seized its independence from Britain without bloodshed following centuries of horrific maltreatment. Hungary, meanwhile, had gained its independence from the clutches of Soviet control only 15 years prior, was involved in the two deadliest wars of the past century, was a point of deportation for ten’s of thousands of Jews headed for the slaughter, and remains home to ongoing violence with its ethnic neighbors fueled by hyper-nationalism.

So, Ms Thompkins is reporting about a tragic series of events in Nigeria; events that seem to be rooted in a complex local relationship that runs along religious, political, ethnic, and economic fissures. The violence is a direct result of the pressures created by this mix. Is there any sense in connecting this to Kenya? 

You might be surprised to learn that Nairobi is farther from Jos, Nigeria (2,050 miles) than the distance between South Korea and Myanmar (1,900 miles), DC  and Mexico City (1,850 miles), or Paris and Moscow (1,500 miles).  Each of these pairs share a continent, yet we have no difficulty separating the last three sets of locations in our mind.

Can you imagine a reporter describing a drug cartel shootout in Mexico and then ending her field report with “Gwen Thompkins, NPR News, Washington?”

It wouldn’t make sense. And neither does this.