By Amos SAFO
Judging from the ongoing political changes in Francophone West Africa, it appears that the second liberation of Africa is unfolding. This time the change is not led by an Anglophone country like Ghana, which spearheaded African independence in 1957, it is uniquely led by former French colonies-Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and lately Senegal. After taking over the leadership of their countries, the leaders of Mali, Colonel Assimi Goïta, Abdourahamane Tchiani of Niger and Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso boldly severed political, cultural and economic relationship with France, their former colonial master.
As if that was not enough, the recent landslide victory of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the young President of Senegal signaled what is unfolding as the new wave of African politics and the unstoppable wave of African resurgence. Faye’s assumption of power is probably the catalyst or the impetus to the desire of the former colonies of France to shake off the shackles of their colonial master.
Immediately after his inauguration, President Faye appointed Ousmane Sonko, a staunch and an unapologetic Pan Africanists as his Prime Minister. Sonko was supposed to be the running mate of Faye, but the power brokers in France were not comfortable with the pairing, so they instigated the arrest and detention of Songo. A few days to the election, public agitations caused ex-president Mackay Sall, a puppet of France to release Songo from jail.
As had been predicted, Bassirou Diomaye Faye won the election and swiftly appointed Songo as Prime Minister. This combination no doubt sent shivers down the spines of French President, Emmanuel Macron, because both Faye and Songo are sworn pan-Africanists with a strong anti-France mentality. Their campaign promise was to break the chains of France over Senegal, as the leaders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso did after assuming power. Many Pan-Africanists are hoping that Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Party will win the presidential elections in South Africa. Malema is campaigning to open the South Africa to all Africans; thus, his victory will enable him to remove the last shackles of Apartheid.
New era
After his inauguration, Captain Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso and Colonel Abdourahamane Tchiani of Niger congratulated their compatriot, Faye. Tchiani of Niger indicated his willingness to cooperate with President Faye to promote regional integration and the development of the Sahel sub- region. On his part Captain Traore described Faye as a symbol of hope and a new era for the people of Senegal and Africa. Traore assured Faye of his willingness and commitment to support Faye to strengthen bilateral relations of their two countries, and to re-organize sub-regional cooperation towards improving the living conditions of their people.
Faye’s victory will possibly end the era of western backed leaders who danced to the tunes of their masters, as their populations lacked the necessities of life. For decades, France cultivated a cadre of African leaders who were loyal to it and promoted the continuous exploitation of their natural resources. Little wonder that Macky Sall, the former president of Senegal fled the country minutes after handing over power. This is a signal that Africa will no longer tolerate puppet leaders who handover the continent’s natural resources to western interests without proper negotiations for the benefit of their populations.
Dewesternisation
Faye is also reported to be planning to drop French as an official language and replace it with Arabic, as part of his plans to decolonize and dewesternise Senegal. I hope this is not true, but if it is true, it would be counterproductive. In my view the policy would result to the proverbial ‘from frying pan to fire.’ It doesn’t make sense freeing yourself from one human rights violator and colonizer and handing yourself to an equally worse human rights violator and coloniser. Historically, Arabs started the invasion and colonization of Africa through the Trans -Arab slave several centuries before the Europeans started the Trans-Atlantic slave. Arabs were the middlemen of the slave trade and made a fortune from selling Africans to Europeans. This was followed by the invasion and occupation of North Africa, and the imposition of Islam on Africans. Therefore, Faye and his government should focus on rediscovering the true identity of Africa by developing an indigenous language.
Road map
It is clear that a roadmap has been laid for the second liberation of Africa from neo-colonialism, imperialism and deswesternisation of the continent. It is worth noting that it will take the last drop of Africans to achieve genuine political and economic freedom. This is because western powers will not sit back and allow Africa to take her destiny into her hands. This is an ideology and a status quo they will fight to maintain. However, the agenda of Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal appears to be an unstoppable trend to liberate the continent from western domination and to promote economic emancipation. In other words, the current generation of Africa is witnessing the long awaited political and economic liberation of the continent.
Faye, like Traore, Tchiani and Goïta have rejected Emmanuel Macron’s offer for an enhanced economic partnership between Senegal and France. He has instead promised to steer Senegal to genuine political and economic independence, to fight poverty and improve economic independence. No doubt, the latest stance of Senegal has shattered the hopes of France to continue dominating her former colonies.
Senegal, like Mali, Burkina Faso and Mali have sent a clear message that they will no longer tolerate foreign exploitation of their natural resources, while their populations continue to wallow in abject poverty. Clearly, the birth of a new era is unfolding in West Africa with Francophone West Africa leading the new wave of change, unlike in the 1950s and 1960s when Anglophone West Africa led by Ghana spurred Africa’s political independence. In his inaugural speech, Faye boldly stated his desire to review all mining contracts that handed Senegal’s mineral resources to foreign companies and shareholders. He vowed to diversify Senegal’s international partnership beyond France. He also promised to empower local investors to have a fair share of the country’s resources, instead of allowing western interests to dominate.
Coup attempts
As stated earlier, France and other western powers will not sit on the fence and watch the leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal demonstrate that African leaders have the vision to promote economic resurgence. So far, Traore has escaped seven coup attempts since 2022 when he came to power. Western powers are working behind the scene by using some unpatriotic Burkinabes to try and disatabilise the country, which has become the torchbearer of modern economic development based on local initiatives.
To the western establishment, the success of Mali, Burkina Faso and Mali will disprove their narration that Africans cannot lead themselves without western influence. Since independence Africa has suffered from the ‘cancer of betrayal.” Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Amical Cabral, Patric Lumumba and Thomas Sankara among others became victims of the cancer of betrayal. For this reason, the new Pan-Africanist leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal must be on top of personal and national security. Some of Africa’s notable betrayers include Emmanuel Kotoka, J.A. Ankrah and A.A. Afrifa of Ghana, Gynasingbe Eyadema of Togo, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, who betrayed and killed, Thomas Sankara, one of Africa’s greatest visionaries.
Compaore was a childhood friend of Sankara, who was fostered by Sankara’s father at a point; yet he allowed neo-colonialists to use him to dethrone and kill his own friend and reversed the economic progress of Burkina Faso. Compaore is currently sheltering under the wings of Alassane Ouattara, the President of Ivory Coast, another puppet of France. Currently, French military are manning checkpoints in Ivory Coast, supposedly to protect French interest in that country.
War drums
The former French Economic Minister, Thiery Breton has revealed in a video that “it is the imbecility of Emmanuel Macron that has opened the eyes of Africans. “One thing is sure, if France loses its colonies our children and grand children will go to Africa to search for livelihoods. Immigration will change direction. Europe needs to unite to fight this African vision. If one of the heads of putschists falls, the others will abandon the vison. Africa does not have a history, so Africa cannot manage the world”, he declared.
I have listened to speeches of some hardened neoliberals insisting that the west will not allow Africa to be transformed economically. In their warped views Europe and the rest of the west will lose their economic power and control over Africa’s resources, if Africa gains economic independence. In a recent video, one neo-liberal is urging Europe to prepare for war against Africa. He predicted a future war in which Europe must emerge triumphant, else Europe will slide into poverty and under development. He declared, “there will be a future war between Europe and Africa.” Are we aware that the west has declared a war on Africa’s population for decades now? This is done through the promotion of contraception and abortions. Of all continents, western leaders are very concerned about Africa’s population growth because of their desire to continue pillaging the natural resources of the continent.
Africa’s response
How will our leaders respond to this open threat of war and instability in Africa being hatched by European interests. In the face of these threats and an unfair world economic order, Europeans continue to take centre stage in AU and ECOWAS meetings. Not only do western powers attend AU and African meetings, but they also provide the agenda for discussion and mostly have their way because our leaders are not thinking outside the box. Our leaders are not thing about the future of the continent, they are only interested in their families. Most of them attend these meetings and sleep during the sessions. Will the EU ever invite African presidents to their high-level meetings, where they plan to continue to put Africa under the debt shackle and to continue to plunder the continent’s resources? How on earth can our leaders invite people who are seeking to destroy the continent to such high-level meetings to discuss the future of our continent.
