Africa: From Neo-colonialism to True Independence
According to a research carried out by the
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), an estimated 50 billion
dollars leave Africa illicitly every year mostly to Western countries while at
least one trillion dollars have left Africa secretly over the last 50 years.
About 75% of resources that leave the continent’s shores in secrecy are
traceable to corporate tax avoidance in the form of trade mispricing by
multinational corporations, many with headquarters in G7 countries; debt burden
or colonial tax imposed on many former colonies; and criminal networks engaged
in drugs and human trafficking, animal poaching, and plundering of natural
resources, wood, oil, minerals, the flora and even the fauna. Only 5% of the
illicit financial flows are traceable to official corruption such as payment of
bribes and kickbacks by foreign corporations to government officials so that
African countries can relinquish control of their natural resources and
resource extraction operations.
These funds could otherwise have been used for
investments in power supplies, schools, hospitals, housing, sanitation,
transportation, safe roads and other much needed public services.
One of Africa’s foremost liberation heroes and
anti-colonial leader Patrice Lumumba (1925-1961) assassinated in a coup d’état
in 1961, in his speech at the All-African Conference in Leopoldville in August,
1960 said:
The colonialists care nothing for Africa for
her own sake. They are attracted by African riches and their actions are guided
by the desire to preserve their interests in Africa against the wishes of the
African people. For the colonialists, all means are good if they help them to
possess these riches.
Ironically and unfortunately, African
governments who are supposed to support the liberation and development of
Africa instead all too often merely replicate many of the toxic dynamics that
caused much harm to those who grew up in colonial Africa and this has to stop.
Let us have the courage to face the facts and
call things by their true names. Africa has the resources necessary to provide wealth, growth, employment and
better lives for all Africans. Yet, Africans are suffering appalling hardship and are dying of hunger
and disease as a result of the greed, lack of political judgement and the
inhumanity of their leaders. It is high time African governments realise that
they have a duty to ease that suffering as quickly and effectively as possible.
The Need for Credible,
Independent and Effective Organisations
On the basis of our field experience working
with most vulnerable children and populations across Africa; on-the-ground
perspective of corrupt, oppressive, socially controlling and silencing systems;
and our collaboration with grassroots organisations in the development sector,
it is obvious that the answers to the most pressing problems in Africa come
from the people most affected – Africans, and that the solutions to these
problems are political and not charity.
What Africa needs more than ever before are
credible, independent and effective organisations that will boldly challenge
and break down structures and systems of injustice that stage coups when
meaningful change is afoot, finance violence and wars for profit, use
humanitarian aid to support despotic regimes, perpetrate genocide, topple
governments, orchestrate the election of docile and subservient presidents and
enforce colonial currency and colonial taxes on former colonies.
It will take the collective and integrated efforts of efficient, credible and solid organisations to denounce and combat deeply ingrained systemic injustices that allow foreign powers, with the wilful participation of passive and complacent governments, to steal African heritage items and works of art, plunder natural resources, mastermind and sponsor rebel groups, send foreign mercenaries to create a climate of fear and terror, displace populations and destabilise African countries. And yet all these injustices go unpunished.
These deep-rooted social and political issues will
not be resolved by a single action or 'one size fits all' approach but, rather,
by the individual and collective efforts of many aspiring for the same goal.
We are at a crucial turning point in our
history, as a people and as a continent, where we should be making critical
choices and taking prompt and decisive actions that will have a direct impact
on the lives of millions of children on the African continent and none of us
can afford to sit on the sidelines any longer.
Now, more than ever, there is a clear and
urgent need for credible, independent and effective organisations to make full
use of their influence and do their utmost to speak out forcefully and clearly
about the obligation of political leaders to ensure that the people of Africa
have a chance to chart their own course, to reach their own destiny, to rule
themselves and to build better lives for themselves and their children without
foreign interference or predatory elements disguised as development aid.
The Need for Audacious
Policies
Thomas Sankara (1949-1987), a revolutionary
hero and visionary leader assassinated in a coup d'état in 1987, in his quest
to see the liberation and development of Africa, left us with these words:
Our revolution is not a public-speaking
tournament. Our revolution is not a battle of fine phrases. Our revolution is
not simply for spouting slogans that are no more than signals used by
manipulators trying to use them as catchwords, as codewords, as a foil for
their own display. Our revolution is, and should continue to be, the collective
effort of revolutionaries to transform reality, to improve the concrete
situation of the masses of our country.
Although Thomas Sankara was President of
Burkina Faso for only 4 years (1983–1987), he launched one of the most
ambitious programmes for social and economic change ever attempted on the
African continent in the areas of literacy, public health, gender equality,
women empowerment, infrastructure, economic self-reliance, food security,
environmental conservation, climate change, fight against corruption and debt
relief, all without foreign aid or external assistance.
Thomas Sankara was a selfless and incorruptible
transformational leader with a high sense of integrity who not only had the
ability to articulate a clear vision and translate it into policies to change the
lives of the Burkinabe people for the better but also had the aptitude to
anticipate and lead on major development issues likely to impact future
generations.
Indeed, the African continent would be a mighty
one if political leaders, who use subterfuge to control the masses and get rich
on the misery of the people they claim to serve, were driven by patriotism and
public-spiritedness and if government policies were truly in the public
interest.
Across Africa, there is an extremely urgent
need for audacious policies to solve critical problems of grinding poverty,
hunger, disease, illiteracy, air and water pollution, squalid surroundings,
high infant mortality and low life expectancy.
There have been some observations that
grassroots organisations have not stepped up to the plate in the past. A lot of
charitable organisations pride themselves on their neutrality, and they explicitly
stay out of politics. Trying to resolve existing problems without addressing
the root causes of these problems is counterproductive. We cannot continue to
accept fundamental injustices while trying to mitigate the consequences of the
injustices. We can and must do better because as grassroots organisations, we
have the opportunity as well as the obligation to pressure governments to bring
about needed change. We must send a strong message out in favour of reform and
accountability. And this accountability must start with governments so that our
fine words about the values of independence, democracy and self-determination
are translated into concrete action and tangible results for the children and
people of Africa.
Our overarching goal at House of Mercy
Children’s Home, Lagos, Nigeria (HOM) is to be a force for positive change. We
will continue to challenge perceptions and existing practices and advocate
for the establishment of audacious
policies for child protection, food production, access to clean water,
education, sanitation and basic health care so that the next generation and the
generations that follow will live in an Africa that is far better than the one
we live in today.
Call to Action
This
call is a nonviolent response to poverty and injustice. To overcome the
challenges we face, we must all play our part.
1. Spread the Word
Our article Africa:
From Neo-colonialism to True Independence is available in English and French at the following addresses: https://africa-wake-up.blogspot.fr and http://afrique-reveille-toi.blogspot.fr
We encourage you to share this article with family,
friends and colleagues by email or on social media.
2. Join in the Struggle for Social Change
Together, irrespective of tribe, ethnicity,
religion, regional differences or political affiliation, let us raise our voices and call on African
governments to develop clear roadmaps and policy agendas to address the pressing
problems facing our nations.
Let your voice be heard until legislators,
members of parliament, federal, state and local government officials and other
policy makers pay attention and devise and implement policies designed to solve
critical problems of poverty, malnutrition, child hunger, children living and
working on the streets, child abuse and neglect, child labour, disease,
illiteracy, air and water pollution, high infant mortality and low life
expectancy.
We believe that together in unity our voices
will be heard and our advocacy efforts will translate into tangible realities like
access to primary health care, basic education, safe drinking water, adequate
nutrition and a better life for children and families in every nation in Africa.
3. Solidarity with Our
Fellow Compatriots
Social change requires not only political measures and
political decisions but
also a wholesale change in the way we think and the way we act.
In the face of the extreme poverty and misery
which so many of our compatriots are exposed to, we must all show solidarity
and help those in dire need.
4. Be an Agent of Social Change
Finally, we must keep discussing, not just with ourselves, but
with our communities, participating in national and local debates, to express
our views and to promote values of integrity, tolerance, love for one's neighbour, respect
for the sanctity of human life, civic responsibility and patriotism.
May it be said, in our lifetime, that a new
generation of Africans with a different mindset stepped forward who changed the course of history
and erased the shame of slavery, colonialism, apartheid, poverty, hunger and disease!
And may we embrace the future with the confidence
of a people who know that in spite of all the great tragedies that have marked African
history, the best of Africa is yet to come.
Bunmi Awoyinfa
House of Mercy Children’s Home, Lagos, Nigeria
(HOM) is an organisation dedicated to advocating for audacious
policies that promote the well-being of children and foster accelerated and
sustainable development. During the last 11 years, HOM has been actively
involved in providing humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable children
and families in crisis in parts of Africa
experiencing violent conflict, civil unrest and other challenges, notably in
the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ebola affected
nations (Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea), Central African Republic and in the
Northeast region of Nigeria. We operate all our charitable activities from our main office in Lagos, Nigeria. We do not have branch offices in
any other country in Africa. Please beware of fictitious branch offices as well as fake agents
and ambassadors!
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