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Nigeria's top banker wins international recognition
BBC -- Nigeria is frequently cited as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, but its central banker has won two international banking awards. Mallam Lamido Aminu Sanusi has been named as the Central Bank Governor of 2010 for both the African continent and the entire world, by the prestigious Banker Magazine. The editor of the magazine, Brian Caplen, says that few candidate names generate an overall consensus on judging panels, and yet, when it came to finding the best global central bank governor of the year, Mr Sanusi was chosen unanimously. The 49-year-old was appointed head of the Bank of Nigeria in June 2009. He has been praised for salvaging a crumbling Nigerian financial sector, including implementing reforms that have put Africa's most promising market back on the map for global investors...

South African university receives international award
SA Good News -- The University of the Free State in South Africa has been honoured with the award for Best Practice in Higher Education in 2010 for its fresh approach in promoting racial harmony and academic excellence. The award, presented by the World Universities Forum, is based on a strict set of criteria, including innovative curriculums; quality of research projects; and student services. The forum said the award recognised a number of positive reforms at the university over the last year following a culture of "racial division, student failure and academic stagnation". Campus-wide student integration, reinvigorating academic culture and nurturing the most promising young students through the vice-chancellor's prestige programme are among the innovations made, according to university spokesperson Lacea Loader...

Southerners in North Sudan fear future after break
Washington Post -- The young mother of three bids her neighbors farewell as they pack up and leave the Khartoum slum where they have lived for years to return to their homeland in south Sudan, jubilant at the imminent realization of their dream of independence. But Ajak Majak is not joining the celebrations - she's staying. The 27-year-old Majak says she can't leave the north for the time being. Her kids are in school and she has a decent job. In the meantime, she's deeply afraid of attacks by northern Sudanese angry over the south's imminent secession. She has locked herself in the safety of her home for the week of voting in the independence referendum that began Sunday in the south and among southern Sudanese in the north...

New law to protect Congo indigenous people
IRIN -- The Republic of Congo is set to become the first country in Africa to provide specific legal protection for its indigenous peoples. Members of the Baaka, a minority indigenous tribe in the Republic of Congo"We are looking forward to the adoption of this law because we know it will change many things, especially with regard to our emancipation," Jean Ganga, chairman of the Association for the Protection and Promotion of Indigenous Peoples. Almost seven years in gestation, the government-backed bill was passed by both the senate and national assembly in late December and will take effect once signed into law by the president. Indigenous people, some of whom are known as Pygmies, make up about 10 percent of Congo's population and live in almost all regions of the country...