Presidents Thabo Mbeki, Hosni Mubarak and Olusegun Obasanjo have steered clear of the controversy over Nigerian academic Dayo Oluyemi-Kusa’s assertion that South Africa and Egypt were not black enough to represent the continent on the United Nations Security Council. "The president would never get involved in commenting on something like this," said Mbeki’s spokesperson.

This is the time of year when the recurring issues of academic and financial exclusions at higher education institutions surface. This has seen some students given access and others not; and where difficult choices are made between equally pressing priorities. All this has to be done while the playing fields remain uneven.

I suppose we should continue to be afraid – very afraid. The British-American-sponsored version of democracy, that is free and fair elections across Iraq, is being celebrated with jubilation and gusto across the world through CNN, the independent international news network rivalled only by al-Jazeera. The question is, which one of these networks brings more balance to what we are receiving through the testimony of our eyes.