Western Powers have never changed. The same reasons which triggered the slave trade and colonialism are the same amended formats they are using in reaping other nations. If you visit a few former slave outposts like the Elmina Castle in Ghana, Goree Islands in Senegal, Bunce Island Sierra Leone and Kent Village in the Freetown Peninsular where Africans were transhipped to the Diaspora, you will get a first hand feel of the most shameful act that ever tool place in human history (i.e. slavery). Looking at the narrow cells in which Africans were packaged in wooden boats and taken to the plantations fields in Europe and the Americas, a crime against humanity is what clearly comes to mind. At least this was how I felt when the octogenarian curator of the Goree Islands in Senegal gave us a run down about one of the preserved edifices at Goree Islands tagged “La Maison des Esclaves”, meaning “The Slave House” or better translated the “House of Slaves”. It all occurred some years back during a visit to Goree Islands when I was a student at Cheikh Anta University of Dakar/Senegal.
After this sad chapter ended, the methodology changed and Africa found herself in the centre-piece of a big scramble for territory by the same Western Powers spreading tailored human rights and democracy campaigns. Prior to this, in 1888 during the Berlin Conference, Africa was officially partitioned among Western European Powers, namely Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, etc. In the process, communities, tribes, cultures and families were divided. Why would they need our territories? Why this expansionism? Was it a demonstration of love or greed? The responses were summarised in Chinua Achebe’s famous quote in his sensational novel, “Things Fall Apart” as thus: “The Whiteman is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won over our brothers and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we are falling apart”.
Divide and rule it is always called. Despite fifty states forming the United States of America and the United Kingdom comprising of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Channel Islands and The Isle of man, Africa remains heavily divided along tribal/ethnical, regional and in certain cases, religious lines. This best explains why the impotent African Union did nothing to stop the genocide in Rwanda where about two million souls were massacred. In the most recent of times, South Africa was present in the United Nations Security Council when resolution 1973 that eventually legitimised the NATO aerial bombardments that eventually culminated in the death of Colonel Mouammar Al-Qaddafi of Libya.
In my brief study of Political Science, I was taught that the only legitimate means of getting political power is through the ballot box. Being mindful of the excesses of the Qaddafi regime like most other governments, I was stupefied when the National Transition Council (NTC) an armed group was endorsed as the legitimate authority of the Libyan People by the Western Powers. Even France came out in the open to drop tanks and assorted arms in contravention of Resolution 1973 whilst the British as usual in their covert operations had Special Forces fighting alongside the NTC rebels now western baptised democrats. Similarly, the former American President, George Walker Bush Snr. whom through adulterated intelligence data lured the then African-American Secretary of State, Collin Powell to lie to the world at the United Nations General Assembly in a bogus and falsified power point presentation as he makes a case for war in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction which have never be found to date; Saddam Hussein together with his sons Uday and Qusay were eventually assassinated.
During the days of the Cold War which resulted in the integration the Soviet Union, our global police, America et al, directed the better part of their energies to fighting against the spread of communism and socialism as it undermines their sphere of influence and potential to accumulate wealth and put the world under their control. Again, propaganda wars (overt and covert), assassinations and all illegitimate tactics were used. Africa became a war theatre, the Soviet Union and her Eastern European allies were supporting pro-socialist liberation movements in Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
In other parts of the world, we saw the Americans openly supporting the Contra rebels in Nicaragua during the Sandinista regime of Daniel Ortega in the eighties. Grenada was also invaded and the pro-communist government overthrown. When the Mujahideen/Taliban were fighting against the Russian forces and the forces of Babra Kamal in Afghanistan, they were openly supported by the American Government, but after the bombings of the twin towers of New York, the US redirected its instruments of death against their former allies and embarked on a fierce bombing spree in support of the Northern Alliance to get Mullah Oumar and the Taliban out of power with the eventual consequential death of the Al Qaeda Chief, Osama Bin laden the first man whose grave was dug out in the belly of the sea.
May be its about time we start thinking of some utterances made by some early post independence leaders like Kwame Osagyefo Nkrumah of Ghana, Ahmed Bembella of Algeria, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Amilcar Cabral of Guinea Bissua and Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guniea-Conakry. In the historic meeting of the French Community, a francophone replica of the Commonwealth of 1958, in which French colonies were given the option of chosing between independence and being cut off from French political, economic and military support or staying with La Francophonie and getting the support of France in the aforementioned spheres. The former President of Guinea singular stood up and said in a speech: “Nous préférons la liberté dans la pauvreté que l’opulence dans l’esclavage » when translated, means (We prefer to be poor and free, than to be rich and in slavery).
This is what we need; leaders who can stand-up to say no to falsehood and evil and is prepared to face any consequences. Not those who will sit in the Security Council of the UN to endorse a binding resolution and later stupidly say they misunderstood the context or try to give it an interpretation that suits their convenience.
By Ishmail Conteh
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