Continued - SANKARA ON IMPERIALISM

Forty years later, the revolutionary spirit of this day is alive and well across the Sahel, where recent coups in Mali and Burkina Faso have brought about the expulsion of French forces, embassies and media - demands that emanated from the streets and were carried out by leaders Assimi Goïta and Ibrahim Traoré. And Niger too now looks poised for a radical change of direction after a military seizure of power.

That leaves the question of why coups are even still necessary. Well, as Captain Sankara puts it in this clip - imperialism is a bad student; it never learns and keeps trying to repeat the same old mistakes! Now we must expel that student for good!

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TRAORE'S HERO'S WELCOME

Some people wonder if recent coups in West Africa are popular. Well, in the case of Burkina Faso, the answer seems to be yes.

This footage shows how Captain Ibrahim Traore was cheered on the streets of Ouagadougou when he grabbed power last year. And it’s followed by images of similar scenes when he returned from the recent Russia-Africa summit. A quick look at his words and actions will help you understand this popularity.

In Saint Petersburg he questioned how Africa remains the poorest continent despite its resources.
He’s called for its unification and for Africans to fight poverty and imperialism. Traore has broken neocolonial ties with France and championed a federation with Mali and Guinea. He’s also standing firm with Niger’s army, following last week’s coup and warned against an ECOWAS intervention.

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Continued - TRAORE'S HERO'S WELCOME


These actions are resonating with Burkinabes, who draw comparisons with their first president and pan-Africanist Thomas Sankara. What’s more, Traore promises to improve security in a region where an insurgency has displaced nearly two million people.

Putting it simply, he’s giving his population hope. Forty per cent live below the poverty line and feel he’s the man to restore the country's dignity and empower the masses.

How much he can will become clear over the coming months and years. Although in terms of economic outlook, the World Bank predicts growth of five per cent by 2025. Perhaps this helps explain the jubilant scenes on show.

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NEPOTISM! SOMALIA'S
SLOWEST ATHLETE

It’s a video that’s gone viral.
An out-of-shape Somali athlete clocking the slowest-ever time for the 100m in an international competition.

Nasra Ali Abukar slumped over the line in 21.81 seconds during the World University Games in China.
But there’s little sympathy for the 20-year-old, amid claims of rampant nepotism.
It appears she’s the niece of the vice-president of the Somali Athletics Federation and was selected ahead of another runner who’d trained for five years.

The scandal’s been described as a national embarrassment by the country’s sports minister who’s promised an investigation.

Anyway, if you’ve got a spare twenty seconds, have a watch. Although be warned, she goes out of shot after the first five.

Maybe we’re being too harsh?

Give us your comments.

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TRAORÉ ON PAN-AFRICAN FEDERATION

The armies of Burkina Faso and Mali are as good as one - that’s according to Burkinabe president Ibrahim Traoré, who’s been sharing more details on Ouagadougou and Bamako‘s Pan-African federation. He also revealed that economic ties were being strengthened and that the federation was open to newcomers, with Guinea already moving closer. While regional body ECOWAS has balked at the idea of such a union, Traoré here points out that it’s what young people all over the region are calling for. Earlier this year, crowds walked 860 km on foot between Bamako and Ouagadougou to express their support for the Burkina-Mali federation. Traoré also makes clear that it’s only by uniting that the struggle against outside domination can be overcome. Let us know down below if you’d be up for your country joining!

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Following the widely-supported military overthrow of the French-aligned president of Niger, the West has cut 'aid' to the country to retaliate and arm-twist the new leadership into reinstating the deposed head of state. Shameful as the tactic is, using aid to control and manipulate African leaders is not a new concept but one that the West has used for decades. Pan-Africanist and revolutionary figurehead Thomas Sankara, who on this day 40 years ago became Burkina Faso's president, had warned fellow African leaders to be wary of the West's carrot-and-stick method of using aid and debt to keep the continent in the shackles of neo-colonialism.

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Continued - Sankara urged African leaders to unite against the World Bank and the IMF - and warned that if it was just his country, Burkina Faso, taking on these Western institutions, then he would not be alive for long. Sadly, as he predicted, Sankara was assassinated less than three months after he delivered this iconic speech on the 15th of October 1987.

The recent events in Niger show that the late Sankara's message is still as relevant as it was three decades ago.

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SANKARA LIVES ON

For many Burkinabe, August 4th represents the true Independence Day for the West African Nation. On this date, in 1983, Thomas Sankara came to power, kick-starting a people’s revolution few thought possible. African Stream talked to residents of Ouagadougou to hear their thoughts on his greatest achievements.

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Forty years ago this week, military captain and Pan-Africanist Thomas Sankara seized power in Upper Volta.

He was only in charge four years before being assassinated, but his achievements were immense.
The region was re-named Burkina Faso and a popular revolution unfolded.

Sankara fought for the liberation of workers, rural farmers, women, children and the elderly. His policies acknowledged the intrinsic dignity and humanity of African people.

And he nationalised the country’s mineral wealth. Sankara showed how previously impoverished, exploited countries could transform the lives of their citizens.

However, in 1987, he was killed in a coup d’etat lead by former colleague Blaise Compaoré.
Corruption helped keep Compaoré in power for the next 27 years and Sankara’s good work was reversed
Burkina was set back decades.
To help you understand what happened, we’ve done a simple graphic.

The shocking differences between the two leaders cannot be overstated.

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South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has given notice: the era of giving our raw materials away for cheap is coming to an end! Speaking at the recent Russia-Africa Summit, he said Africa would now seek to ensure that the lion’s share of the wealth created by turning our raw materials into high-value products stays on the continent.

Africa is home to vast amounts of gold, chromium, titanium, platinum, cobalt, zinc, copper, oil and natural gas. Of the hundreds of billions of dollars of wealth generated by these resources, Africa currently gets a tiny percentage - most of it ends up in the pockets of rich Western conglomerates. It is time for Africa to flip this exploitative model to its advantage.

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In the wake of sanctions and manoeuvres by the West against Niger's military government, Niamey has banned broadcasts of RFI and France 24, media outlets funded by the French government. It’s the third time that the two media outlets have been banned in the region in less than two years - they were taken off air in Burkina Faso and Mali for providing a platform to terrorist groups and fomenting dissent against the two governments that replaced pro-France regimes. In their reporting of the latest events in Niger, the two outlets have focused on the condemnation of the new government by Western governments and regional bodies such as ECOWAS, ignoring the voices of the thousands of people who have thronged the streets to give their stamp of approval to the new leaders.

The new government has also revoked five longstanding military deals with former colonial power France.

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Continued - In the wake of sanctions and manoeuvres by the West against Niger's military government

The deals, which date back to the 1970s, were inked with previous governments to enhance security. But they have failed to curtail a growing Islamist insurgency in the country, one of the factors which triggered the recent military takeover.

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BLINKEN BACKS ECOWAS WAR-MONGERING

Gushing praise from the US for ECOWAS. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says Washington supports the West African alliance’s “strong leadership” on Niger. True to war-monger form, he said America backed the recent statements made by ECOWAS - which, let’s recall, included threats to intervene militarily in the African nation.

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Continued - BLINKEN BACKS ECOWAS WAR-MONGERING

The new leadership in Niamey, meanwhile, shows no signs of being cowed - neither by ECOWAS sabre-rattling, nor by US pressure. Thousands of citizens have been taking to the street to show their support for the country’s new direction, away from ex-coloniser France and its ongoing exploitation of the country in terms of resources and military bases. The US, as well as Italy and the EU, also have troops stationed in the country - a fact decried by locals.

Should ECOWAS carry out its threat of war, Niger has already received staunch support from fellow anti-imperialist governments in Burkina Faso and Mali - who have declared that any attack on Niamey will be regarded as an attack on them.

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'AFRICA IS NOT POOR'

What have Africa, Philippines, Mexico and Brazil got in common?
They are rich! Only the people are poor.

That famous line was used by American political scientist Michael Parenti while describing Africa’s exploitation over the last 400 years.
And his speech on Third World poverty resonates today.

Niger’s latest coup has again spotlighted exploitative relationships with France. Paris gets rich extracting resources from the West African state whose people get little in return.

It’s gone on for centuries and is the source of conflict. Parenti could have delivered this speech this week, never mind decades ago.

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SENEGAL TROOPS TO ENTER NIGER?

Senegal says its troops would back an ECOWAS military intervention in Niger. The bloc threatened to use force to restore ‘constitutional normality’ after soldiers took charge in Niamey.

Speaking at a press conference in Dakar, Senegal’s foreign minister claimed the power grab was ‘one coup too many.’

Last Sunday, Ecowas warned Niger’s elected president Mohamed Bazoum must be returned to office within seven days or face possible military intervention.

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