By Sophia
Tesfamariam
I
am always amazed at how much time and energy is spent by those of European
decent discussing “Africa’s development”. Birgit Brock-Utne, an astute European educator of Norwegian
origin, wrote the following in her book about those who insist on
preaching to Africa about development:
“… when
Europeans came to Africa toward the turn of the fifteenth century, they found a
prosperous civilization and enormous wealth. Agriculture and cattle rearing,
iron-work, pottery, fishery, salt-mining, gold refining and ornament making,
weaving, hunting, and long-distance trading were well advanced at a time and
Europe was still relatively backward…From the fifteenth century on, however,
the fate of the two continents reversed….Africa stagnated for over three
centuries as a direct result of slavery and colonial conquests. This part of
global history, for the sake of maintaining a correct historical perspective on
Africa and Europe, must always be kept in mind when looking at the contemporary
African situation…The bulk of the African people fought heroically against the
imposition of slavery and colonialism, though there were some Africans who
collaborated with the white slave-hunters and colonialists as well…”
History
of post-colonial Africa is replete with shameful stories of African
collaborators who worked to undermine the progress and development of their own
peoples. The west’s “divide and rule” tactics resulted in intractable conflicts,
destruction and devastation of Africa, leaving its people at the mercy of the
neo-cons and their political and economic systems that have sustained poverty
through poverty perpetuating programs. The Structural Adjustment Programs of
the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are an example.
So
it comes as no surprise when modern day collaborators such as Mo Ibrahim, the
British Sudanese entrepreneur, undermine Africa and its leadership, for no
other reason than to force African leaders to submit to Western economic and
political ideology. Today, Mo Ibrahim tells us that in 2012 and 2013, there was
no African leader that qualified for the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. MO
Ibrahim, who has made billions of the back, blood and sweat of Africans, joins
the predatory fray, in taking cheap pot shots at Africa’s leadership, in a
transparent ploy to present himself as more caring for Africa and its people
than those who sacrificed their lives and limbs for the liberation of Africa.
Mo
Ibrahim’s contempt for Africans and their leadership is evident in this report
from the BBC[ii], which said:
“…Mr Ibrahim says the good governance prize is
needed because many leaders of sub-Saharan African countries come from poor
backgrounds and are tempted to hang on to power for fear that poverty awaits
them when they leave office…”
Afraid
of being poor…do European and American presidents also share that fear?
Dr
Salim Ahmed Salim, Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim selection committee tried to explain
why no African leaders was chosen for the prize in 2012 and 2013 when African
economies were obviously on the rise and much progress was seen in the
development arena. This is what he had to say:
“…The economy has been
moving forward relentlessly. However, economic progress does not give us a
reason to be a little complacent about participation and the human rights of
people…”
For
example, western agencies have gone to great lengths to tout Ethiopia’s
“economic growth”, but most economists agree that Ethiopia’s economic growth, subsidized
by billions of donor funds, is not sustainable, and most importantly, does not
translate into the betterment in the lives of the Ethiopian people. Yes,
opening up its markets has filled the pockets of the corrupt and lawless
minority regime’s cadres and “investors” (private and state), but has been of
little or no benefit to the majority of the Ethiopian people, who continue to suffer
from disease, hunger and extreme poverty.
The
Mo Ibrahim prize seems to be awarded only to those who tow the western line,
stick to IMF and WB prescriptions for the development of their nations and most
importantly, open up their markets to predatory multi-national corporations and
leadership considered to be amenable to the west-systematic emasculation of
Africa’s leadership.
Speaking
of emasculation…Here is a man, a Moslem man… given the name Mohamed…presumably after
the great Prophet Mohamed, but in trying to fit into his British image…he prefers
to call himself Mo… I am a Christian and in all my years on this earth, I have
never heard anyone referring to Jesus as Jessie or Jess… how does a man who is
uncomfortable in his own skin speak on behalf of Africa and Africans? Go figure!!!
For
today, let us look at how awards, grants and prizes are used to emasculate
Africans…
Africa’s Leadership
It
was in April 2013 that Africaisacountry.com asked “Can African Heads of States
Speak?” It was referring to a photo opportunity at the White House in which
several African leaders were paraded in front of a gawking media, while Barack
Obama sang their praises. According to the article:
“…These days, well-behaved
African heads of state are rewarded by Barack Obama with the chance to meet
with him in groups of four and have their picture taken with him. It’s like
meeting Beyonce, but you get to call it a state visit. That’s what happened on
Friday when Malawi’s Joyce Banda, Senegal’s Macky Sall, Cape Verde’s José
Maria Neves and Sierra Leone’s Ernest Bai Koroma were paraded before the White
House press corps, sitting in star-struck silence as Barack reeled off a kind
of wikipedia-level roll-call of their accomplishments. They beamed like
competition winners. It was all very feudal… You get the sense that they were
given a nice White House tote bag, perhaps a signed copy of Dreams from my
Father, and were then patted on the head and sent off to inconsequential
NGO-led roundtables…”
According
to the East African:
“…The meeting was to reward
them for their support for US interests in Africa…”
Photo
opportunities with the President of the United States and other western leaders,
invitation to G7 and G8 meetings, are just a few examples of the rewards for
servitude.
The
one reward for servitude most employed by the western nations is “invitation to
international forums”, and Meles Zenawi was chosen to serve as the “African
face” on the Blair Commission for Africa and at the UN climate change conference
in Copenhagen, in which he sold out Africa. Here is an excerpt from a 2009
report from IPS[iv] that details Meles Zenawi’s
betrayal of Africa:
“…Twenty-four hours of confusion
stalled talks in the Africa Group following Zenawi’s joint appeal for a climate
deal with French president Sarkozy yesterday. “Ethiopia representing Africa”
had agreed on a maximum two degree temperature rise and called on the parties
to make a $10 billion dollar start-up fund available, raved the French….what
appeared to be an orchestrated move, US president Obama congratulated the
Ethiopians on their “leadership”….But Ethiopia didn’t represent Africa’s
position at all…”
In 2012, Ethiopians are incensed when Meles Zenawi was invited by Barack
Obama to attend the G8 Summit in Camp David.
No
effort was spared to make a “statesman” out of Meles Zenawi, as the darling of
the west and awarding him with various prizes was meant to bolster his
reputation, and elevate his diminutive stature-both physical and mental-amongst
his countrymen and his peers in Africa. Allow me to present a few examples of
awards that have baffled the minds, embarrassed and insulted the intelligence
of the peoples of Africa in general, and the people of Ethiopia in particular.
In
2002, the World Peace Council[v] awarded to Meles Zenawi,
the lawless leaders of the minority regime in Ethiopia, its “top honor prize”.
According to the news report at the time:
“…The council unanimously
endorsed Meles as winner of the 2002 top honor prize for his contributions to
bringing about peace in Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular…The
council is awarding Meles for his efforts in the peaceful resolution of the
Ethio-Eritrea border dispute, for his commendable work in revitalizing the
process of national reconciliation in war-torn Somalia under the auspices of
the Organization of African Unity… “
Meles
Zenawi was awarded a “peace prize” despite the fact that he launched, with the
tacit approval and support of the US Administration, a deadly war of aggression
and occupation against Eritrea in which over 120,000 Ethiopians lost their
lives as they were used as cannon fodder and minesweepers in his military
adventures.
Despite
signing the Algiers Agreements, which were witnessed and guaranteed by the
US-led international community, the African Union, European Union and the
United Nations, Zenawi continued to violate international law, reject the 13
April 2002 final and binding ruling of the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission
(EEBC), and dozens of UN Security Council resolutions on the Eritrea Ethiopia
border issue. To this day, Ethiopia, with the acquiescence of the US-led
international community, refuses to vacate from sovereign Eritrean territories,
including Badme, the casus belli for the Eritrea Ethiopia border conflict.
Meles
Zenawi’s regime, at the behest of the United States, also invaded and occupied
Somalia in 2006 causing the greatest humanitarian disaster in Somalia’s
history. It undermined and orchestrated the dismantling of over 15 Transitional
National Governments (TNG) in Somalia and is primarily responsible for the current
dire situation in Somalia,which is threatening to Balkanize the Horn of Africa
nation. Ethiopia has single handedly disrupted and exacerbated any chance for
national reconciliation in Somalia by harboring, financing and supporting
various factions to fuel the fratricidal conflicts that continue to rage in
Somalia today.
In
2005, in yet another insult to the Ethiopian people, Yara International ASA, a
leading Norwegian supplier of mineral fertilizers[vi], awarded Meles Zenawi with
yet another award. It said the following in its statements about the award:
“…The Yara Foundation Board
recognizes Prime Minister Meles' decisive steps towards increasing food
production and reducing poverty in one of the poorest countries of the
developing world. He has brought about political change in Ethiopia, and placed
the rural poor first in the country's development strategies…In spite of the
fact that about 40% of the population is chronically malnourished, Ethiopia's
food security program aims at enabling 4-5 million chronically food insecure to
attain food security within 3-5 years, a major step towards accomplishing the
Hunger Millennium Development Goal…”
The
facts show that Ethiopia is nowhere near achieving the Millennium Development
Goals on eradicating hunger and may in fact be going backwards-yet its leaders
are given accolades and awards by western agencies.
So
what are the real facts on Ethiopia? Let us take a look at the 2013 World Food
Program Report on Ethiopia. It says:
“…Ethiopia remains one of
the world's poorest countries, ranking 174 out of 187 countries on the 2011
UNDP Human Development Index. Twenty-three million people, 29 percent of the
population, live below the national poverty line. Eighty-three percent of the
population lives in rural areas, mainly the highlands, where 50 percent of the
land is degraded… Population pressure, land degradation, poverty, limited
non-farm income opportunities, market dysfunction, poor maternal and child
care, poor access to social services and HIV remain the main drivers of food
insecurity and child malnutrition…”
The
WFP report also states the following:
“…44 percent of children
under 5 are stunted and 29 percent are underweight, while the prevalence of
wasting is 10 percent. Close to 800,000 people are living with HIV, mainly in
urban areas, and about 1 million children are orphans having lost their parents
due to AIDS. In Ethiopia, under nutrition contributes to 57 percent of deaths
of children under 5. Eight million people living in rural areas are chronically
food-insecure as they cannot meet their food needs even in years with a good
harvest, and several millions are at risk of periodic acute food insecurity …”
Ethiopia
under Meles Zenawi expanded the “villagization” and resettlement programs of
the previous regime, in which villagers are displaced from their homes and
villages to make way for multi-national corporations, in what is being touted
as the largest land grab deals in Africa.
According
to a paper by the Oakland Institute, this policy led to the forcible relocation
of indigenous communities to villages in the Gambella and Benishangul regions,
where they were told they would be taught new techniques to produce food. Their
land leased out by the government to multinationals in Saudi Arabia and India.
The Institute's research showed that more than three million hectares of land
had been leased out to investors.
Simon
Allison, who worked for the Mo Ibrahim Foundation from 2009-2011, writing for
the Daily Maverick, said the following:
“…Ghana’s John Atta Mills
and Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi could well have been contenders, but the prize is
not awarded posthumously…”
What
an insult to the people of Ethiopia…Such actions belie Mo Ibrahim’s high and
mighty pronouncements about Africa and its leadership…and Ibrahim’s latest
forays into Ethiopia and bids for lucrative industries there, says a lot about
his motives and that of his sponsors.
By
the way, Meles Zenawi was not the only African leader rewarded for his
servitude to the West…obviously it took more than this one mercenary leader to
bring Africa to the grim state that it is in today…
Intellectuals and Academics
for Hire
Intellectuals
are not especially well paid and it’s not only monetary compensation that they
seek- what they really crave is recognition and adoration…and nobody knows that
better than western governments who use academic institutions and hired
intellectuals in their domestic and foreign policy formulation and delivery.
They also use African intellectuals to advance their foreign policy, especially
economic policies and agendas for Africa.
Let
us take a look at what George Ayittey, a well known US based African academic, wrote
about African academics and intellectuals in a 1996 article[vii]:
“…The most painful and
treacherous aspect of Africa's collapse was the wilful and active collaboration
by Africa's own intellectuals, many of whom were highly "educated"
with Ph. D.s, and who should have known better. Yet a multitude of them have
prostituted themselves, selling off their principles and integrity to partake
of the plunder, misrule and repression of the African people…So hordes of
politicians, lecturers, professionals, lawyers, and doctors sell themselves off
into prostitution and voluntary bondage to serve the dictates of military
vagabonds with half their intelligence. And time and time again, after being
raped, abused, and defiled, they are tossed out like rubbish --- or worse. Yet
more intellectual prostitutes stampede to take their places…Vile opportunism,
unflappable sycophancy, and trenchant collaboration on the part of Africa's
intellectuals allowed tyranny to become entrenched in Africa. Doe, Mengistu,
Mobutu, and other military dictators legitimized and perpetuated their rule by
buying off and co-opting Africa's academics for a pittance…”
A
deceptive ploy to undermine African intellectuals and prevent them from
standing up for their own nations, or does Ayittey really care about the well
being of Africans?
I
say it is a rotten case of the pot calling the kettle black…allow me to
explain.
You
see, George Ayittey is one of the members of the African Oil Policy Initiative
Group, a Washington, DC lobby group. On January 2, 2002, a symposium was held
to discuss African oil and Ayittey and his group came up with a document
entitled “African Oil: A Priority for US National Security and African
Development”.
Let
us take a look at what the Christian Science Monitor Reported about that
symposium and its recommendations:
"… the IASPS hosted a
symposium in Houston, Texas, which was attended by government and oil industry
representatives. An influential working group called the African Oil Policy
Initiative Group (AOPIG) co-chaired by IASPS researchers Barry Schutz and Paul
Michael Wihbey, which has been largely responsible for driving American
governmental policy concerning west African oil, emerged from the symposium…Today,
the African Oil Policy Initiative Group, a lobby group with members from the
oil industry and various arms of government, will present a white paper in
Washington. The document urges Congress and the Bush administration to
encourage greater extraction of oil across Africa, and to declare the Gulf of
Guinea "an area of vital interest" to the US…"
What
about the politicians, lecturers (like himself), professional, lawyers,
journalists and doctors who are today siding with the west to plunder and
fleece Africa…are they any less sinful, dangerous to Africa’s development and
the welfare of the peoples? Actually, they are not only insidious and ugly;
they are far more detrimental to Africa’s long term recovery and
reconstruction. Ayittey, has made denigrating African leaders his forte-and the
subjects of his books and articles. No
doubt he knows who is buttering his bread….
Using
nationals of targeted states to do their bidding is the latest modus operandi
for neo-colonialists seeking to get a foot hold in the various regions of the
world, and Africa is no exception.
Iraq’s
Ahmed Chalabi is an example of such insidious individuals. Barry Lando, in his 17
December 2011 article, “Ahmed Chalabi:
the Conning of America”, wrote:
“…Ahmed Chalabi, the
brilliant, treacherous, endlessly scheming Iraqi refugee who, from 1991 to
2004, played a singular role in contorting U.S. policy towards Iraq…The
book Arrows of the Night(Doubleday), written by 60 Minutes producer
Richard Bonin… is a chilling chronicle of how this charismatic and totally
amoral Iraqi exile, without any power base among his own people, was, at
various times, able to con everyone from the New York Times, to the CIA,
to the Defense Department, to Dick Cheney -- even Iran's intelligence chiefs --
in his single-minded determination to overthrow Saddam Hussein and take power
himself…It is also an alarming tale of how a feckless American president,
George W. Bush, buffeted by conflicting counsels of feuding advisers, stumbled
into one of the most disastrous military quagmires in America's history…”
From
using Ahmed Chalabi, a hired mercenary to bring down the Saddam Hussein’s, to
the colored revolutions in the Balkans, hired mercenaries of all kinds, have wrecked havoc in the lives
of the Afghan, Iraqi, Syrian, Libyan, Tunisian, Egyptian and Somali people.
In
addition to mercenary individuals and co-opted regional organizations, the west
uses its own national agencies as well as international “NGOs” such as Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, Committee for the Protection of Journalists
(CPJ), the National Endowment for Democracy
(NED), the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and other related organizations,
as well as the UN’s tentacle organizations such as the World Food Organization
(WFO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), various policy crafting
think tanks, foundations etc. to advance foreign policy agendas vis-a-vis Africa,
Asia and the Middle East.
The
last 15 years has exposed Eritrea’s own “Chalabis”, those who work to undermine
the people and government of Eritrea in order to advance their own selfish
political agendas. Two greedy individuals recruited by the US intelligence
community are Bereket Habte Selassie, who according to the archives was recruited
as early as in the 1970s[viii] and Paulos Tesfagiorgis[ix] , who was recruited later, soon
after leaving the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) in the late 80s.
Both are multiple recipients of funds from the National Endowment for Democracy
(NED) and Fund for Peace. In addition to funding for their anti-Eritrea
activities in Africa, Europe and the United States, both have been “awarded”
with UN assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan. For today, let us take a look at
the “awards” and prizes that have been given to Paulos Tesfagiorgis and
individuals that he has recruited on behalf of western agencies.
Paulos
Tesfagiorgis was also awarded the Rafto Prize[x] in 2003. This was after his
recruitment and organization of the Berlin Group, self professed “Academics and
Professionals”[xi] and the production of the
document known as the Berlin Manifesto, in which Tesfagiorgis and Bereket Habte
Sellasie launched the first of many attacks on the President of Eritrea and his
government. All members of the Berlin Group now work with the minority regime
in Ethiopia to recruit and traffic Eritrean youth. According to the Rafto site, Tesfagiorgis was
awarded for:
“…his efforts to improve the
rights and democratic influence of the people of Eritrea…”
The
people of Eritrea who sacrificed life and limb for their own liberation and
independence do not need lessons from such a vile individual. As for democracy,
he may have fooled his handlers, but not the conscious people of Eritrean who
can teach the world a thing or two about real democracy and freedom.
Let
us move on…
Paulo’s
Tesfagiorgis and Dan Connell recruited Eritrean students to serve as the
“Eritrean faces” in the orchestrated defamation and vilification campaigns
against the Eritrean government. The following three are the most prominent
examples and their activities in the various Eritrean Diaspora communities are
a matter of public record. While there are others that have been employed by
these three to advance the anti-Eritrea agenda, for brevity’s sakes, only the three
will be addressed in this sitting.
Daniel
Rezene Mekonnen (now living in Europe) was one of several hundred Eritrean
students sent to South Africa for higher education. Instead of returning to
Eritrea and fulfilling his obligations to the country and people that educated
him, he chose instead to work for Dan Connell and the US establishment for
pittance. He formed the group called Eritrean Movement for Human Rights and
Democracy (EMHDR in South Africa. EMHDR
received grants from the US State Department and the National Endowment for
Democracy (NED), the same group that financed Paulos Tesfagiorgis' treasonous
activities in Eritrea.
EMHDR
was paid to translate Gene Sharp’s manual on civil disobedience into Tigrinya,
one of the Eritrean languages. In addition, EMHDR was also a recipient of funds
from Dan Connell and his NGO, Grassroots International. Connell has been
grooming members of the EMHDR who have formed other groups in the Diaspora with
the hopes of effectuating regime change in Eritrea. More on Dan Connell, his
work during the Eritrean struggle, his tenure in Eritrea and his anti-Eritrea
activities will be reserved for another day…
Simon
Mebrahtu Weldehaimanot, like Daniel Rezene Mekonnen, and several other members
of the EMHDR have been given asylum in the US. Mebrahtu has been active in
disseminating anti-Eritrea reports in academic journals and has participated in
activities organized by Dan Connell and others at University of Arizona and
other academic institutions. He has also worked with Sheila Keetharuth, the
newly appointed UN Rapporteur on Eritrea and participated in forums in Ethiopia
and other African states in which he has presented papers sponsored by her
agency. In 2008, with Sheila Keetharuth at the helm of the IHRDA, with a
generous support from the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), Simon
M. Weldehaimanot developed and filed a self serving case on the right to
free movement, and right of citizens to leave their own country.
Meron
Estifanos, a person of interest, at the center of the criminal human
trafficking ring that is, responsible for the suffering of Eritrean youth in
the Sinai and beyond, is also a member of EMHDR. She is also one of the
Eritrean students sent to South Africa for higher education. Estifanos is also
now a member of the group calling itself EYSC, whose leaders in the US have
been charged with crimes committed against Eritrean Communities in Oakland and
other cities. EYSC members are suspected in the burning of three Eritrean
Community Centers in Sweden and other hate crimes. Today, with Fr. Mussie
Zerai, a Catholic priest hiding behind the walls of the Vatican, Estifanos is
responsible for the deaths of hundreds of migrants who attempted to enter Italy
thru the island of Lampedusa. Eritreans continue to call on the United Nations
and the EU Commission to investigate her activities in the refugee camps of Ethiopia,
Sinai and Libya, from where Eritrean youth are trafficked to Europe and beyond.
It’s
not just Eritrean youth that have been recruited by Dan Connell and Paulos Tesfagiorgis;
there is also a long list of Eritreans posing as “journalists”. Who are they
and what became of them? The Eritrean Diaspora was introduced to these “journalists”,
not through their works, but when the saga of the “independent press’ in
Eritrea came to a head, resulting in the closing of the “independent press”, a
little over a year after their establishment.
Two
“journalists”, Milkeas Mehreteab and Semere Taezaz, came to the United States,
just days after the September 11 attacks. Supposedly, they made their way to
Ethiopia and then to Sudan where they received landing visas for the US. While in Sudan, they contacted Neil Skene, a
journalism professor who was in Eritrea during the Eritrea Ethiopia border
conflict. According to him, he was contracted by the US State Department to
teach journalism in Eritrea.
In
2001, shortly after the arrival of the two journalists to the US, the
anti-Eritrea media campaigns began with Committee for the Protection of
Journalist leading the attack. Frank
Smith, head of CPJ and a colleague of Dan Connell, participated in Eritrean
Public Forums (EPF) held in cities across the US. These forums which featured the
runaway defectors from Eritrea were also attended by Dan Connell, NED representatives
and other US officials. CPJ continues to host such events and is organizing
another anti-Eritrea program to coincide with Sheila Keetharuth’s visit and
presentation at the UN this week.
Every single journalist that deserted Eritrea somehow found their way
to Canada, Europe and the United States. But that is not all. Let us see what has become
of Neil Skene’s “journalism students” who managed to leave Eritrea under
suspicious conditions:
· Milkias Mihreteab was awarded the Percy Qoboza Award from the
U.S.-based National Association of Black Journalists and also Amnesty
International’s 2002 Special Award for Human-Rights Journalism Under Threat. He
was issued a US visa in Sudan and brought to the US just weeks after the
September 11 attacks.
· Khaled Abdu, co-founder
and former editor in chief of Admas, became a recipient of Human Right Watch’s
Hellman/Hammett grant. Now lives in Sweden and is an active member of the group
calling itself the EYSC.
· Aaron Berhane, writer
and editor at Setit, now living in Canada is also a recipient of Human Right
Watch’s Hellman/Hammett grant. After leaving Eritrea illegally, he smuggled his
wife and children and brought them to Canada. Today, he is engaged with Meron
Estifanos, Elsa Chyrum and Dan Connell in the trafficking of Eritrea’s youth.
He is an active member of EYSC and has conducted seminars and workshops with Dan
Connell of Freedom House in Canada and elsewhere. Most notably, he has engaged
in the intimidation, harassment and terrorizing of the hard working Eritrean-Canadian
Community and defiling their reputation through the local media.
· Semere Taezaz Sium, a reporter at Keste Debena was brought to
the US and was awarded Human Right Watch’s Hellman/Hammett grant. Lives in the
Washington, DC area and still engaged in anti-Eritrea activities, including the
intimidation and harassment of the Eritrean Diaspora youth through social
networking sites and cyber forums.
· Biniam Simon was recruited by Reporters Sans Frontiers’
Vincent Laurent and smuggled into France. He now runs Radio Erena, an RSF
sponsored outfit. Meron Estifanos also works for this outfit. Like his partners
in crime, Simon has been engaged in the trafficking of Eritrea’s youth and uses
his radio program to entice and lure gullible young Eritreans into committing
crimes against their own people, and endangering their lives through illegal
migration.
I
have only mentioned the mercenaries from the Horn of Africa that I have
followed since 2001…no doubt there are more out there that need to be exposed.
For the most part, Eritreans know who they are, but some of those born and
raised in the Diaspora do not…it is more so for their benefit that I decided to
pen this piece for today…
So…if
there are no recipients for the Mo Ibrahim Prize this year, it must be a good
sign…it means the people of Africa are becoming more conscious and its leaders
are rejecting western prescriptions for their countries. It means they are
rejecting the emasculation of the continent and its people…it means hired
mercenaries are no longer able to hide behind the cloak of “democracy”, “human
rights”, and “Press freedom” to advance illicit political agendas.
Can’t
respect others, if one has no self respect…
