Speaking at the French-African Summit in Cannes yesterday, Ghana's president, John Kufuor, urged the world's media to paint a less gloomy picture of Africa, but Peter Bassey in Calabar, Nigeria does not necessarily agree.

It seems to me that Africans love to wallow in some form of self-delusion. We love to be told that we are doing well, even when such evidence is utterly non-existent. African leaders, much used to hearing praise-singers hail them for no clear accomplishment, now wish to extend their sphere of self-delusion to include the foreign press.

Well, that just won't do. The media today does not thrive on news like the laying of a school's foundation in Timbuktu. It rather thrives either on shocking or bad news, or else on some great accomplishment of the human spirit.

The BBC has just ended its India Rising Week. India's progress was not conjured up by the BBC. It's praises were earned. Where, I ask, have we earned anything similar when you consider Darfur, toxic waste in Ivory Coast, martial law in Guinea, eternal darkness from electric power in my corner of the world - and dare I even add, the rising crime index in our show-piece rainbow nation of South Africa? Please, BBC, just get on with your job and let those who love undeserved praise, keep wishing for what they will never get from intelligent people.

Thursday 15th February

Cheney Amunde in Abuja, Nigeria, wants to talk about image.

Did I hear that there is a conference underway in Abuja to rebrand Africa?

This is quite absurd! What brand was Africa before that it now needs rebranding?

The truth is, the powerful western media's greatest pastime is portraying Africa in the worse light imaginable. This is so much so that we in Africa have come to believe that nothing positive comes from our continent.

Let the creators of this problem, the western media, begin to see Africa in a new light. Then there will be no need for conferences to rebrand a brand that isn't there in the first place.

Monday 12th February

Gheng' Enock in Eldoret, Kenya is concerned about the state of the continent.

What has become of Africa? The continent is breathless and flattened by wars, chaos and poverty, with politicians embroiled in greed and corruption.

Our leaders seem to believe that they alone have the right to make choices for their citizens - but these choices have created failure and violence.

I loathe such politicians for making Africa a laughing stock. How are we going to get rid of this politics of arrogance?

It's up to us, the common citizens, to act before it's too late. We should join hands and get rid of people like Lansana Conte & Sudan's Omar Bashir.

We need to choose leaders who understand and believe that a country's needs are greater then their personal ambitions. Otherwise Africa will still be poor in thousands of years to come.