The tragedy of the geopolitical dynamics of African politics is how the West (namely the European Union and the United States) consistently adopt the same template in their quest to destabilize and dislodge any semblance of structure, organization and development in Africa.
And they continue to adopt the same time-tested and proven approach of using an our own ‘organic infrastructure’ — institutions, groups and individuals, to demonize and then ultimately destroy their target. First, it was Kwame Nkrumah, then Patrice Lumumba, Muritala Mohammed, Thomas Sankara, and Muammar Gaddafi.
The latest target of these eternal barnacles — is the indefatigable and indomitable Lion of Africa, Captain Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso.
The usual suspects never retreat in their sanguineous quest for control of Africa’s resources. What makes this even more unfortunate is the debilitating dearth of visionary leadership on the African continent as a whole, save for a few like Traore. In addition to the threat posed by the West, an even greater and more potent threat is the one from within and right next door, from the so-called Middle-East, the Gulf states, to be precise. The Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have indeed been accused of fueling sectarian violence and jihadist movements across Africa, often under the guise of religious or developmental aid, with the acquiescence of their western collaborators, namely France and the United States.
Traore’s rejection of Saudi Arabia’s mosque-building offer, a move widely interpreted as a soft-power push (by the Saudis) to expand Wahhabi influence, demonstrates a keen awareness of the ideological and geopolitical traps that have ensnared other African nations.
Africa is indeed at a crossroads and Ibrahim Traore is merely a precursor to the impending wave of African Nationalism. The spirit of Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba and Kwame Nkrumah lives on, but their successors must learn from history, and NOT repeat it!
The rebirth of Africa, while being rooted in pragmatic revolution, one that arms itself with knowledge, economic independence, and unshakable cultural confidence, must also be spiritual. The latter is an unabashed call for cultural decolonization through pan-African unity and a return to pre-colonial value systems. Only then can Africa truly break the chains — both old and new.
© Boyejo Coker. All Rights Reserved
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