Features
Is Africa at the crossroads?
Almost a fortnight ago, the Presidential Guard took over power in the Sahel country of Niger deposing Muhammad Bazoum. This sparked a wave of anger worldwide, except the masses of that country. Our Africa Union and sub-regional body, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have issued threats of reprisal.
The Western powers have also threatened sanctions if the deposed President was not reinstated. ECOWAS went further to give the military junta one week to restore democratic rule or face military action. Their ultimatum expired last Sunday.
But one question no one seems to ask is how come very recent military coups in the West Africa sub-region are happening in Francophone countries? How many of us have averted our minds to this, and made any attempt to find out why?
Before I delve into that, let me address the ECOWAS posturing first. I am amazed at the people leading this Group. An ECOWAS that for over three decades of its establishment has done very little to take our nations out of poverty, political ineptitude, corruption and integration cannot be taken seriously.
How does a serious group of people even consider to elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who just won a supposedly flawed election and was yet to name his cabinet, Chairman of ECOWAS? Are we bereft of serious thinking? An ECOWAS that turns the other way while despots in their midst flout their constitutions to perpetually remain in power is a threat to West Africa and the African continent.
They only find their voices when soldiers remove one of their colleagues as in the case of Niger. Most importantly, their voices are loud because they each fear it could next be their turn. They only fight to protect their power. What they do not know is that nobody takes ECOWAS seriously anymore. Let them do a count and prove this assertion wrong.
I am not one to advocate for usurpation of the democratic process, though I support military in power anytime. But ECOWAS sending soldiers to Niger is laughable. How do they hope to execute this? If the masses of any country support their leaders, not even the might of the superpowers can defeat a determined people. If ECOWAS want to be foolhardy, let them try it. Whose interest are they seeking in this circumstance, anyway?
Already, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali have served notice that any foreign attack in Niger will be considered an attack on their countries as well. Is ECOWAS pandering to Western interests? Maybe.
Now, I have no sympathy for the French, though I abhor the assault on their embassy building in Niamey. France has always deluded itself into thinking that they could subjugate their former colonies for eternity, plundering their natural resources under the guise of armistice.
No former colonies can trade among themselves without the consent of Paris. Not only that; every former colony is bound by French law to keep their foreign reserves in France’s Central Bank. They borrow from their own reserves and pay the interest to France. Call it French hegemony if you may.
Niger has Gold, Coal, Oil, Iron Ore and Uranium. Indeed, Niger is the fourth world leader in Uranium extraction. Over a third of France’s energy comes from Nigerien Uranium, yet the ordinary Nigerien lives below the poverty line. To protect their economic interest the French have military bases in their former colonies. But for their former colonies, France would be the poorest country in Europe after Portugal.
At a point, every head of state of Francophone Africa was an automatic member of the French Parliament. But our African compatriots cannot be fooled anymore. They are no more the half-educated stooges with no intellectual capacity for discernment. These are intelligent people with solid education and now understand what their colonial Master has done to them.
Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali and, now, Niger have “woken” up. Let no one think these young military officers are mere adventurists seeking attention. They want to take control of their own natural resources for their people.
It is about time these Western powers and those still with a colonial mentally realised that Africa is no more the patch they met in Berlin and used a pencil to carve to themselves. Africa is no one’s backyard. We have been run roughshod over for long and we cannot take it anymore. And this is the message from the Sahel.
There are still Western stooges in power across the continent of Africa. They know themselves and they have been put on notice. We have them who betray their own ECOWAS and the Africa Union. They have been put on notice.
Our people have been enslaved, our resources pillaged, our women raped and killed in the name of colonisation. Even today, Africans suffer racial abuse all over the globe, yet our resources hold attraction to them. Sadly, there are myopic and self-seeking leaders who still pander to the whims of the imperial West. This is Africa’s dilemma.
What interest have America and the West got in the Sahel other than to steal the wealth of the people under the guise of curbing activities of jihadist movements? Let them tell us how the jihadists come about in the first place. There is a suspected deposit of materials used in the production of californium. Californium is a nuclear material that costs $27million a gramme. Imagine how much a kilogramme will cost.
This explains Wagner mercenaries’ interest and Western opprobrium to the coup in Niger because only the United States and Russia produce californium. That is why the US and France did not coerce ECOWAS for military action in Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali because they hold not economic attraction to them.
Who are the West to determine standards of governance for the rest of the world? Even after almost 250 years of independence, the mighty United States of America is in a political turmoil, divided right through the middle on Republican and Democratic lines. These are the people who preach democracy to us who are barely 70 years into nationhood.
An Ewe proverb loosely translates says a bird destined for life never lacks feathers. Left alone, Africa has the capacity to chart a way for economic and political development and progress. No one should stampede us to run their races; we have our own pace.
The so-called advanced countries that cannot protect their cyberspace are the ones setting standards for the rest of the world to live up to. It makes no sense. Haiti is burning in their own hemisphere but they are blind to that country, simply because Haiti does not have resources worth pillaging. Their attention is on Africa just because all natural resources imaginable are on the continent.
No country can claim to love Africa more than Africans themselves. If they so claim, the best they could do is leave Africa to chart its own path. They must respect us for who we are just as they want to be respected for who they are. Who is better equipped to run our lives but ourselves?
But as Africa begins to ask to be left alone, the continent must not let any other foreign elements take their place. That Burkina Faso, Mali and the Central African Republic have opened their doors to the Wagner mercenaries spells doom for those countries. Just like France and its allies, the Wagner Group must also be driven out of the continent. We cannot get one devil out and embrace a more devious one.
Let us do business with America and the West, Russia, China and all other nations, but none should be allowed to plunder our resources.
Back home, it is unnerving that Ghana has allowed a US military base on our soil. It is equally dangerous that the US military has an unfettered access to Terminal One of our Kotoka International Airport, which by all intents and purposes is a security zone. Only God knows what these Yankees do in and out of our space. Would America allow this on their soil?
Personally, I don’t hate America and its people, even if Americans are the most ignorant and ill-informed people per capita worldwide. Anyone who has lived in the US knows this for a fact. It is their Rambo-style foreign policy that is a worldwide irritant.
Let Africa rise up against foreign military bases on the continent immediately. We have the capacity to be at peace with ourselves.
Writer’s email address:
akofa45@yahoo.com
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THE state of feeling rejected, could be a terrifying experience especially for those who have become used to fame. If not properly addressed, it could lead to depression and the consequences, could be disastrous.
When you are on top of your game in whatever profession you find yourself such that you become famous, a lot of people try to associate with you. The phone never ceases to ring and one is tempted to feel loved and very important.
When a disaster strikes and the fame or the money which was the source of the attraction fades away, the circle of friends and fans begin to shrink and the phone will start to stop ringing until the call stops voting completely.
You will be shocked at how people you considered friends, will no longer be calling you or pay casual visits as they used to. You will begin to notice that messages you leave after calling them and not getting a response are not replied to and that is when you begin to know who your true friends are.
One of the most popular movie stars was an actress called Sharon Stone. In an interview with one of the media houses that was published, she spoke about how people who should have come around to encourage her in her moment of depression, shunned her. The calls stopped coming.
This is what the Bible admonishes that the arm of flesh will fail you and therefore we should put our trust in God. It could be a very frightening experience and can easily lead to depression.
Human nature being what it is, people will want to get close if things are okay. Everybody wants to associate themselves with interesting things, famous people, rich people etc for mainly selfish reasons.
We need to develop the habit of putting our trust in God and relying less on human beings. The lesson we have to take along in life is that, no one marries his or her enemy so how come people who took vows that they will love each other become so hostile to each other that they want to go their separate ways in life? Such is the reality of life.
It is therefore prudent for people to recognise that, life is full of uncertainties and so there is the need to prepare your mind for uncertainties so that when they occur, they do not disorganise your mental sanity.
A lot of people have experienced situations where people who they could have sworn will never betray their trust have disappointed them when they were through challenging moments.
If there is one thing famous people should desire, it should be the ability to identify who are true friends are. Countless stories abound regarding incidence of celebrities who have lost their shine and their wives divorcing them soon after.
It is sometimes useful as a famous or rich person to sign a prenuptial agreement before marriage to safeguard or protect yourself from any future unpleasant surprises.
People can be very pretentious these days, it goes both ways. There is this real life story where a man married a divorced wealthy woman and convinced her to sell her house so they could build a new one together, with the excuse that people are gossiping that he is being housed by a woman.
The woman agreed and they put up a new building. After a few years the man asked for a divorce, only for the woman to realise that the land on which the building was situated, was bought in the man’s name.
This can drive a person insane, if you are not mentally tough and this happens to you. When people hear that you are homeless, a lot of your so-called friends will stop calling, so that you do not become a burden on them.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
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‘But, er …. I don’t even know your name’.
‘Paul. Paul Allotey. I’m Sarah, by the way. Paul, why don’t you leave me here, since this is the last important thing I’m doing today’.
‘Okay. Now Sarah. I was just thinking. You will be here at the cafe for about an hour. By then it will be about twelve thirty. Then, you would be thinking of buying yourself some lunch, to eat here or to take home. So if you would please allow me, I will take you to one of the nicest eating places in town, and after you have sorted that one out, then I can drop you home. Just that one errand, then I won’t bother you again’.
‘You are not bothering me at all. You are being very kind to me. And I just realised you are a mind reader too. The last item on my agenda was lunch’.
‘I’m so glad I appeared at your doorstep, just in time’.
‘Okay. Now Paul, since you say the cafe is a comfortable place, let’s go in together, and you can do your work while I get my application done’.
‘Okay, Sarah. Thanks. Let’s go’.
We got back in the car at eleven forty-five.
‘So where are we going, Paul?’
‘To Royalty restaurant. It’s a twenty minute drive away’.
‘So, do you enjoy your job?’
‘Most certainly. I won’t change it, not even to be President. And am I right to say that you are preparing to enter the university?’
‘That’s my plan. I hope it works’.
‘It will, if you are determined, and disciplined. You look very much like a disciplined person’.
‘Thank you very much’.
We arrived at Royalty in twenty-five minutes, ‘You are joining me for lunch, Paul’.
‘Thanks for the honour, Sarah. But the bill is on me’.
‘Aren’t you taking on too much for one day?’
‘I never do anything that is bigger than me, Sarah’.
Over the next hour and a half, we discussed fashion, local and international politics, and sports, as we ate and relaxed. Finally, he drove me to the shop.
‘I will never forget you, Paul’.
‘I’m glad to have been helpful. But if you don’t mind, I’ll say it again, your husband is extremely lucky. You are really beautiful’.
‘Thanks again. But do you mind if I call you sometime in the future?’
‘Certainly not. Let me write it here. I will not ask for your number, for obvious reasons. But I will be looking forward to hearing from you. And hopefully, I will see you next month, when I call to drop your bill’.
‘Okay Paul. See you then’. What a lovely day, I said to myself as I opened the front door. I closed the shop and got home by seven. I went straight to the bedroom, stood in the mirror and took a good look at myself. ‘You are a very beautiful woman, Sarah. Never forget that’. I will not forget that, again.
Over the next several weeks, Martin and I had very little to do with each other. In the morning he ate his breakfast and after a shabby ‘I’m going’, he left. He came home around eight at the earliest, ate his dinner and, already soaked in beer, went off to sleep.
He spent the greater part of the weekends at the club house with his friends, playing tennis and partying. My mind was focused on furthering my education, so I didn’t complain to him, and didn’t bother to inform my parents about what was happening. I had decided that I would only take action if he lifted his hand against me again. I spent my free time reading all manner of interesting stuff on the internet, and chatting with my sister on WhatsApp.
One evening, he came home at about eight, rushed to the bedroom and rushed out. An envelope, obviously containing money, dropped out of his pocket, and I picked it up and followed him. I was going to call him and give it to him, but I noticed that there was a young woman in the car, so I went back in, counted it and put it in a drawer in the hall. He came back after some ten minutes.
‘Excuse me, I dropped an envelope containing money. You must have seen it’.
‘Yes, I saw it. Actually, I followed you, and was about to call you and hand it over to you when I realised that there was a woman in the car, so I came back in. I counted it. One thousand cedis.
‘Well let me have it. I have to be going’.
‘I will let you have it if you will tell me who the woman in the car is, and why you are going to give her that amount of money’.
‘Listen, if you waste my time, I will teach you a lesson you will never forget. Give me the money now!’
‘Here’s what we will do, Martin. I know you will give money to her anyway, so I will give it to you, if you will withdraw the threat you just issued. But I want you to know that I will be taking some steps from tomorrow. Things are getting out of hand’.
‘Okay, I’m sorry I threatened you. Can you please give me the money’. I handed it over to him, and he ran out’.
The following morning, I waited for him to finish having breakfast, and told him I wanted to have a word with him urgently.
‘You better be quick. You know I’m going to work’.
‘Well, I want to inform you that I will inform my parents, and your parents, about the situation in this house. As I said yesterday, things are getting out of hand. You spend most of your time drinking. You get drunk every evening, and through the weekend. And you are also spending your time and money on a prostitute’.
‘How dare you? One more stupid word from you …’
‘Am I lying, Martin? You have just started life, yet you are behaving like a rich, elderly man who has already seen his children through university, and can afford a life of fun. As I said, I’m going to inform our parents. Maybe your parents can straighten you out before it is too late’.
‘Look, we can talk this evening. It’s nothing like what you are saying’. He walked away, shocked.
That evening, I was expecting to have a meaningful discussion with him, but his mother called early in the evening to offer me some ‘advice’. Her son had called to say that certain developments at home were disturbing him so much that they were beginning to affect his work.
And, ‘as a loving mother to her daughter’, she was advising me to submit to my husband, and support him in prayer, and not ‘drive him from home’. Men would always be men, and she was telling me ‘from experience’ that no matter how much time Martin stayed away from home, he would always come home to me.
She had been a young wife before, so she understood the challenges I was facing. So I could be assured that if I followed her advice, all would be well. And, of course, she didn’t allow me to tell my side of the story.
Martin came home very late, and very drunk. And from the next morning, he carried on as before. With some hesitation, I called my dad and told him all that had gone on.
‘Well, my daughter. I’m not going to say “I told you so”. I was only trying to protect you. So here’s what we’ll do. Continue doing the best you can, and try not to give him any excuse to harm you, but if things continue to deteriorate, I will take you back.
A couple of days later, my cousin Dinah arrived in Accra from Brussels, having completed her medical course. With Martin’s agreement, I went to Koforidua and spent a couple of days. I spent most of the time chatting about her experiences in the US, but we also discussed my relationship with Martin, and she endorsed Dad’s decision to take action if Martin’s behaviour did not change after two weeks Elaine informed Mom and Dad. We endorsed Dad’s decision to take action if there was no change in two weeks.
Dinah returned with me to Takoradi. Her plan was to spend a couple of weeks, and return to Accra to be posted. I called Paul Allotey, and asked if he would meet her for lunch and, if possible, show her some interesting spots. Delighted, he suggested that we meet at Royalty the next day.
I told Martin about it, to remove any possibility of future disagreement over ‘going out with men’.
‘It’s fine with me’, he said, ‘if, of all the people who could show your sister round this town, you chose a borla man. Doesn’t that indicate the kind of person you are?’
‘ First of all, Martin’, I’ve spoken to him a few times, and he comes across as a decent guy, so I think it is rather unfortunate that you are writing him off when you don’t know him’.
By Ekow de Heer
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