That's all for today from the BBC Africa Live page. Listen to the Africa Today podcast and keep up-to-date with developments across the continent on the BBC News website.

Today's African proverb was: 

Click here to send us your proverbs.

And we leave you with a photo of a worker cleaning paint from a statue of former South African white-minority ruler Jan Smuts, which was vandalised by students at the University of Cape Town:  

Image source, EPA

Will Ross
BBC News

Image source, Global teachers prize

Given the scale of the global jihadist crisis many thousands of Ayub Mohamuds are needed.  Governments are focusing most of their resources on military might as they try to crush militant Islamists.  

But Mr Mohamud, a Kenyan teacher who has been nominated for a $1m (£690,000) global prize, is in another battle - helping ensure the youth are not tempted to swallow the jihadist ideology and turn to violence.

I have met people who were locked up with young men accused of carrying out the 2010 Kampala bombings and with those responsible for de-radicalising Boko Haram recruits in Nigeria. 

They all highlighted education as the key because these men were unable to reason logically and so did not have the skills to counter jihadist ideology.

That is why Mr Mohamud’s work is so important.

See our 15:53 post for more details

Read: Using football to tackle Boko Haram

A safety officer at a mine in South Africa where three workers have been trapped underground since 5 February has taken his life, police say, the Johannesburg-based News24 site reports. 

"I can confirm the incident, but at this stage there is no more information available. We will keep you updated as the investigation progresses. We also don’t know what the motive is,” police spokesman Mzwandile Nyambi is quoted as saying, external.   

George Mpanga, known by his stage name George the Poet, is a British artist of Ugandan descent.

He has recently turned his sharp verse to the upcoming elections in Uganda.

He told BBC Africa’s Patience Atuhaire in the capital, Kampala, why he decided to write about the political life in his parents’ country:

Will Ross
BBC News

The appearance of more than 90 lawyers in a Nigerian court was a somewhat over the top show of support for a colleague accused of committing serious crimes. 

Nigeria's anti corruption agency says Rickey Tarfa hid two suspects in his car for more than five hours so they could evade arrest. 

The prominent lawyer faces a second count of attempting to pervert the course of justice by telephoning a judge.  

The judge Aishat Opesanwo was not impressed when a 90-strong legal team pitched up in court in the main city, Lagos, to defend him.  

"There is no need for such magnitude of support," she told the packed court before describing the stunt as an act of harassment and intimidation.    

Image source, EFCC

The case is due to continue next month when the judge will be hoping that here are far fewer wigs in the room.  

It is extremely rare for so many legal minds to be hired for one case. 

But then being his colleagues it seems highly unlikely that Mr Tarfa will have to pay what would be an eye watering legal bill from all 90 lawyers.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Diffa, Niger

Trade between Nigeria and neighbouring Niger has been crippled because of the insurgency waged by militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

Traders in Niger's Diffa region told me that they can no longer cross into Nigeria's north-eastern Borno state because of attacks in border towns. 

The insurgency has led commercial activities falling by nearly 80% in the last few years, said the secretary of the Diffa Market Traders Association Alhaji Alsori. 

Some traders who manage to travel between the two countries have to follow a different route through Kano, thus increasing the distance by nearly 1000km (600 miles).

Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people in southern Niger prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency in the region. The country is also part of a regional coalition fighting the insurgents.   

For almost 30 years, Gregoire Ahongbonon, a former mechanic from Benin, has helped thousands of West Africans affected by mental illnesses, caring for them through a charity he runs. 

He says he is determined to stop the practice of keeping mentally ill people in chains.   

"Mental patients here [in Benin] are seen as possessed by the devil or victims of witchcraft," Mr Ahongbonon says.

"That's the case in Africa in general, but in Benin it's even worse, because Benin is the home of voodoo, so it's even stronger here," he adds. 

Read the full BBC story here 

In football, Everton's new signing, Senegalese international Oumar Niasse, says he's looking forward to playing alongside the club's leading striker Romelu Lukaku.

The English side paid $18m (£12m) for Niasse's move from Lokomotiv Moscow last month.

Niasse told BBC World Service Sport that his partnership with Lukaku would be a "good combination":

Rana Jawad
BBC North Africa correspondent, Tunis

The alliance in charge of western Libya and the capital, Tripoli - and their militia backers - are divided over the UN-backed deal to unite the country.

But Western diplomats and some politicians say several brigades are ready to support a new unity government, when it materialises.  

Prime minister of the Tripoli administration, Khalifa al-Ghuweil, an opponent of the deal in its current form, told me reports of divisions were false.

Image source, Getty Images

All sides in Libya have faced criticism for paying militias – it is felt they hold the politicians to ransom for payment. Last month Mr Ghuweil was alleged to have promised to double militia salaries. He denied this too but added:  

Image source, Getty Images

Five years on from the uprising, Libya is also facing a financial crisis: Oil production has nearly ground to a halt, and its banks are strapped for cash. Mr Ghuweil acknowledged the difficulties and says his government has been “limiting spending”:  

An estimated 400,000 Libyans are internally displaced.

Image source, AFP

About 73,000 civilians have fled the Marra mountains in Sudan's Darfur region since conflict between government and rebel forces escalated in mid-January, the UN has said in a statement. 

The Marra mountains, which rise to more than 3,000 metres (nearly 10,000 feet) and are one of Darfur's most fertile areas, are controlled by rebels of Abdulwahid Nur's faction of the Sudan Liberation Army, AFP news agency reports.

Government forces and militias allied with them have been waging an offensive against rebels in the area for the last four weeks, it adds. 

Many of those fleeing have taken refuge at a base in Sortoni town, run by peacekeepers from the UN and African Union, the UN added. 

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museni is seeking to extend his 30-year rule in elections tomorrow.

Seven candidates are challenging him. His two main rivals are his former physician, Kizza Besigye, and former Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi.

Voters have been speaking to the BBC's Tulanana Bohela ahead of the hotly-contested elections:

Image source, Varkey Foundation

A Kenyan teacher who was been short-listed for a $1m (£690,000) teaching prize says he is excited about his nomination.  

Ayub Mohamud told the BBC's Abdinoor Aden that his work was not confined to the classroom but also involved challenging extremism among youth who were out of school.

He said he had also helped changed the mindset of students by urging them to be job-creators rather than job-seekers. 

The winner of the prize, set up by the UK-based Varkey Foundation, will be announced next month. 

See our 12:55 post for more details

Nigeria's Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka says some of the country's politicians had supported militant Islamist group Boko Haram before it started its violent campaign in 2009.

They supported them because they were ready to sacrifice anything to defend their power but the group later turned against them, he said in an interview with the UK's Channel 4 News.

Mr Soyinka also spoke about the row at Oxford University over a controversial statue of 19th Century British imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

You can watch the interview here, external. 

Ghanaian student Mabel Suglo runs Eco Shoes, a forward-thinking social enterprise which turns old tyres and scraps of Africa fabric into stylish footwear and accessories.

The company, based in Kumasi, employs both able-bodied and disabled artisans to make its shoes and bags.

Ms Siglo and two friends were inspired to start the business to challenge local perceptions of disabled people as burdens to society.

Women of Africa is a BBC season recognising inspiring women across the continent. The second series, Africa's New Businesswomen, introduces eight female entrepreneurs who are finding success in their country - and beyond.

Image source, AFP

Niger needs about 3.2 million vaccination doses to prevent a possible meningitis epidemic, the UN has said, AFP news agency reports. 

Some 75 meningitis cases, including one death, have been reported since January in four of the country's eight regions, including the capital, Niamey, the UN is quoted as saying.

Ugandan police have deployed 5, 500 extra personnel ahead of tomorrow's tightly contested elections. 

Special constables will also be placed at each polling station for crowd control in the capital, Kampala.

The BBC's Tulanana Bohela captures some police officers taking their positions:

Some of you have been reacting to our story of more than 90 Nigerian lawyers representing a colleague, Rickey Tarfa, in court after he was charged with obstructing justice - a charge he denies:

A Somali Muslim cleric says he finds it hard to believe that Islamic school teacher Abdullahi Abdisalam Borleh was behind the explosion which caused a hole in the fuselage of a plane in the country on 2 February, the Associated Press news agency reports. 

Mr Borleh was "chatty", and sometimes walked with a cane because he had a problem with his leg, said Sheikh Mohamed Abdullahi, an imam who knew the suspected bomber in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, AP reports. 

"He travelled to Mogadishu [Somalia's capital] to obtain a passport to go to either Turkey or India for medical reasons,'' the cleric told AP. 

"He was probably travelling overseas to straighten his leg." 

Image source, AP

See our 09:01 post for more details

Image source, Global Teacher Prize

A Kenyan teacher has reached the top 10 finalists for a global teaching prize. 

Ayub Mohamud, who teaches business at a high school in Eastleigh, a suburb of the capital, Nairobi, is competing to become the world's most exceptional teachers.

Organisers say Mr Mohamud, external, who is passionate about innovation, design and creativity, tries to equip students with the skills to become successful social entrepreneurs.

He is active in attempting to combat extremism and prevent radicalisation on both local and national levels, they added.

Mr Mohamud is selected alongside teachers from the US, UK, Australia, India and Finland.  

The winner will receive a prize of a $1m (£690,000) at an awards ceremony in March.

Will Ross
BBC News

Image source, AFP

The UN children's agency, Unicef, says nearly one million people are suffering from severe hunger due to a devastating drought in East and southern Africa. 

Two years of drought and the strongest El Nino weather pattern for 50 years has left children in the region severely short of food and water, it adds.   

The situation is aggravated by rising food prices forcing families to skip meals and sell their belongings, Unicef says.  

The crisis is worst in Ethiopia where it estimates that the number of people in need of food assistance is expected to increase from 10 to 18 million by the end of the year.  

It has also appealed for funds to tackle the problem in Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Somalia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

Read: Devastating drought