‘HOW FREE IS NIGERIA?’

Many call Nigeria the ‘Giant of Africa’ because it has the continent’s largest population at 232 million and Africa’s fourth-largest economy, coming in at $253 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund.

As the largest oil producer in Africa, Nigeria wields significant influence in global energy markets. Although Nigeria has participated in peacekeeping missions and diplomatic initiatives through organisations like the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, its poverty rate hovers around 40 per cent, leading people to question just how free the Giant of Africa is.

Continued….. Speaking during a constitutional conference held at an unknown time, the late Dr Matthias Offoboche (1936-2015), former deputy governor of Nigeria’s Cross River state, addressed this question by quoting a book written by Shehu Shagari (1925-2018), who served as Nigerian president (1979-83), following a military coup. Shagari wrote in the book about an encounter with a Greek professor in Geneva who said the West saw Nigeria as a threat to Western European interests on the continent. He referenced the Biafra War as an example, saying that the West backed the rebels. That is not technically true. Britain backed the Nigerian government as it committed war crimes in the Biafra region, while France allegedly backed rebels.

But Offoboche’s point about Western states not wanting Nigeria to develop is certainly valid. Especially when you look at the very real obstacles Western corporations have placed in front of Aliko Dangote’s oil refinery in Nigeria. Dangote Refinery is the biggest one of its kind in West Africa and could help Nigeria, the largest oil producer in Africa, rely less on external players to refine its oil.

Do you agree with the professor’s perspective? Let us know in the comments.

FRANCE APPOINTS WINE THIEF AS NIGERIA AMBASSADOR

France’s appointment of Marc Fonbaustier as ambassador to Nigeria may indicate a strategic plan by France to exert influence in West Africa, particularly in light of recent setbacks in the Sahel region. Fonbaustier’s controversial past, including smearing a journalist in Benin who was jailed for his reporting and the theft of expensive wines in Hong Kong, also raises concerns about whether he is even fit for the role at all.

France has faced significant challenges in the Sahel, with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger expelling French military forces and closing diplomatic missions. These actions have hurt French interests, including the loss of access to valuable resources like uranium. Statements from high-ranking French officials indicate that France is not willing to relinquish its influence in the region and may be planning to destabilise it further.

Continued….. Nigeria, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, may be acting as a proxy for France in the region - a suspicion fuelled by his response to the Niger coup in 2023, when regional bloc ECOWAS (headed by him) threatened an invasion.

So is Fonbaustier’s appointment part of a broader strategy by France to regain control and protect its interests in West Africa, using Nigeria as a key player in this effort? Your thoughts in the comments are appreciated.

DID SENEGAL’S ANTI-FRANCE LEADERS DO A U-TURN?

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, was sworn into office on 2 April as Senegal’s newest and youngest president. His rise to power followed several years of protest against French imperialism and former President Macky Sall’s attempts to consolidate power for his party.

Ousmane Sonko was originally the beloved candidate of Senegal’s youth and working-class majority. He built an election campaign centred on delinking Senegal from its former coloniser by rejecting the French-controlled CFA franc currency. Over time, the focus of the 50-year-old’s campaign gradually seemed to shift from anti-imperialism to pro-electoral and constitutional democracy geared at getting Sall out.

Continued……When authorities barred him from contesting in the elections, Sonko encouraged his supporters to vote for his protegé, Diomaye Faye, who catapulted to popularity.

But did Sonko and Diomaye Faye abandon their anti-imperialist line?

As Senegal’s newest president, Diomaye Faye’s first international visits were to meet with pro-Western leaders, such as Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria, and Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana. His first visit outside of Africa was to France, where he met President Emmanuel Macron. He eventually went to the anti-imperialist bloc, where he met President Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso to ask him to consider re-joining the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Let us know what you think in the comments.

CANDOMBLÉ: KEEPING YORUBA ALIVE IN BRAZIL

Linguistic and other forms of cultural genocide are an all too familiar theme for African-descendants in the West. Speaking a European language is often perceived as a civilising feature. In Brazil, however, Africans have maintained the knowledge, both verbal and written, of their Yoruba language through the practice of Candomblé. Unhappy with the dictates of colonial rule, which went as far as prohibiting the expression of African religious worldviews, the enslaved substituted the names of their Orixás (Yoruba deities) for those of Catholic Saints. The fusion of religious practices allowed Africans to disguise their true veneration. While the religion underwent some changes to ensure its survival, its core message and manifestation never altered.

Continued….. This is the origin of Candomblé, a spiritual-religious practice giving reverence to, and communicating between, life and death, earth and cosmos, and the supreme universal power. Priestesses, priests and followers speak Yoruba during religious ceremonies. Similarities between Candomblé and local religious beliefs facilitated a cohesive co-existence between Africans and Indigenous peoples in Brazil.

Continued….. Egypt threw its weight behind Somalia, warning against the deal.

Ethiopia also has tense relations with Egypt. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been a point of friction. Built on the Nile, it is set to be Africa’s biggest hydropower dam, but Cairo says its construction will diminish the water available downstream. Egypt is overwhelmingly reliant on the river for its needs. To date, despite multiple rounds of negotiations, an agreement is still beyond reach.

SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOL KIDS BELT OUT 'NOT LIKE US' VIRAL CLIP

It’s been claimed Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ was a cultural moment. GQ magazine called it the ‘song of the summer’ and others said it would be played in schools and events for months to come. No lies. Here’s a video highlighting the affinity between Africans on the continent and Africans in the diaspora as Parktown Boys’ High School, in Johannesburg, South Africa, belts out a rendition.

It was Lamar’s latest ‘diss track’ targeting Canadian rapper Drake in a heavyweight hip-hop feud that’s simmered for years. Given the popularity of this tune, seems like Lamar landed the knock-out blow?

PS. We know a lot of people point out the lyrics are not appropriate for school kids, but as HotNewsHipHop said, ‘you can’t do much to slow down what’s viral.’

In what’s considered one of the worst t*rrorist attacks in Burkina Faso’s history, unknown militants k*lled at least 100 civilians, according to local reports, and as many as 500 civilians, according to foreign news agencies. The death toll included men, women, children and the elderly in the village of Barsalogho. 

The new government that ousted a Western-aligned leader in 2022 and has since liberated territories from armed militants has promised a firm response.

Barsalogho is located in the Central-North Region of the country, roughly 145 kilometres north of the capital, Ouagadougou. While Burkina Faso’s military has secured the western side of the country from t*rrorist attacks and improved security along the Mali-Burkina Faso border, the threat of t*rrorist violence continues to riddle the northeast.

Continued……In recent years, Sahelian countries have accused international powers, such as France and Ukraine, of providing support to t*rrorist organisations. In 2022, Burkina Faso’s neighbour, Mali, addressed a letter to the United Nations Security Council, stating it had proof that France had provided arms and intelligence to t*rrorist organisations that the European country claimed to be fighting against. 

More recently, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger sent a joint letter to the UNSC, accusing Ukraine of supporting t*rrorism in the Sahel. Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traoré has referred to the war against t*rrorist paramilitary organisations as a war of ‘decolonisation.’

MARLEY’S GRANDCHILD ON EMANCIPATION

Here’s a message from Bob Marley’s granddaughter, Donisha, reminding us of the importance of ‘emancipation from mental slavery’.

It’s a line made famous by her grandfather but was authored by pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey, while in Canada, in 1937.

Donisha says we still need to free our minds and ‘remember who you were, before they told you who to be.’

She posted this clip on Instagram ahead of Canada’s Emancipation Day on August 1st, which commemorates the date the British Empire abolished slavery in 1834.

video credits @iamdonisha

On 27th August, 2024, Burkina Faso nationalised two gold mines, Boungou and Wahgnion. This follows a legal battle between London-listed Endeavour Mining and the African-based company, Lilium Mining. The former had initially attempted to sell the mines to the latter for $300 million. However, Lilium failed to pay the full sum - falling some $100 million short. The two companies then reached a settlement with Ouagadougou, which paid for $80 million.

In 2022, upon President Ibrahim Traoré’s coming to power, Burkina Faso nationalised the Perkoa gold mine from the Canadian Trevali Mining Corporation after eight Burkinabé miners died while trapped underground. That year, the government also withdrew mining licences for Guiro, Yéou and Kalsaka mines, liquidating Trevali’s subsidiary Nantou Mining company.

Continued……The West African country has been making major moves towards greater sovereignty over its natural resources, as well as working to develop basic industry to refine resources in the country. In November 2023, construction began of a gold refinery which, it’s hoped, will begin producing gold bars as early as October 2024. The project aims to create 100 direct jobs and 5,000 more indirectly. Malian company, Marena Gold is assisting Burkina in this development.

Ouagadougou has also made moves in recent years to nationalise its sugar sector as well as The Commercial Bank of Burkina Faso (BCB). Similar moves towards greater control over resources and key sectors of the economy can be seen across the Alliances of Sahel States (AES), of which Burkina Faso is a part. AES member Niger recently revoked French mining company Orano’s licence to operate in the country. This came after Niger nationalised its water sector from French company Veolia.

What do you think of this latest nationalisation in Burkina Faso?

KENYA’S TROOPS IN HAITI YET TO BE PAID

While many Haitians and Kenyans are against what’s viewed as another foreign military intervention in Haiti bankrolled by the United States, reports have surfaced that two months after their deployment, Kenyan police have yet to receive their full salary. The last thing Haiti needs is more meddling by outside actors (especially at Washington’s behest) but this rocky start to their mission to ‘restore order’ adds to the notion that the deployment is a poisoned chalice.

With the US having pledged as much as $300 million to the controversial Kenyan-led UN mission, Citizen TV Kenya’s Yvonne Okwara (@okwarayvonne on IG and @yvonneokwara on X) of ‘The Explainer’ asked US ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman about the lack of payment. Her response? Whitman was just as unaware as the public, promising that, based on her correspondence with Washington, the hundreds of deployed officers would receive their salaries by the end of the week.

Continued….. Earlier in the interview, Okwara asked why the US had not sent its own troops. Whitman, former president and CEO of e-commerce giant eBay, said the US does not always deploy forces. ‘It was really the international community that asked Kenya to do this and, as I said, the international community was very grateful. We have provided financial support, not only of the equipment but $100 million.’

However, the Kenyan masses don’t seem to accept that the US isn’t the mastermind behind the Kenyan police deployment. Rather, Kenyans see this operation as an extension of the United States’ neo-colonial relations with the Global South. Kenya’s High Court ruled the deployment unconstitutional but around 400 Kenyan police are in the Caribbean country, shamefully lending a ‘Black face’ to what is really a Western intervention.

Video credit: @citizentvkenya (YouTube)

ONE YEAR SINCE ALI ‘MAKE SOME NOISE’ BONGO DEPOSED

It’s been a year since Gabon’s former President, Ali Bongo, was deposed in a popular coup. On 30th August, 2023, he was overthrown after a group of Gabonese soldiers staged a coup and annulled the results of the country’s disputed presidential election, in which he’d been declared the winner - with 64.27% of the vote.

Ali Bongo was set to govern the Central African nation for a third term before the coup, which ended a 55-year-long family rule, having succeeded his father, Omar Bongo, who had been in power from 1967 to 2009 (when he died).

During his house arrest in the capital, Libreville, Ali Bongo pleaded with friends around the world to “make some noise” in protest over his removal. But the video plea backfired - becoming instead this clip here: a mocking Internet meme that went viral across Africa and the world.

Continued….. In October 2023, Gabon’s new leadership also imprisoned the deposed First Lady, Sylvia Bongo, and her eldest son, Noureddin Bongo, on corruption and embezzlement charges. On 14th May 2024, the family’s lawyer claimed in a statement cited by AFP that both had been subjected to physical assault while in custody.

Not long after, Ali Bongo reportedly went on a hunger strike, in protest over his and his family’s alleged torture. According to the family’s lawyer, two of his youngest sons, Jalil and Bilal, decided to join him on the hunger strike. According to the family lawyer, the Bongo family are still under house arrest with no contact allowed with the outside world. The government dismisses these claims.

The oil-rich Central African nation is part of OPEC and was colonised by France until 1960, when it became independent. It is currently under the leadership of Brice Oligui Nguema, a military officer who is serving as interim-president.

Video credit: Mr Ndze @reflexsoundz