African News Review
For long the story of the hunt has glorified the hunters, now the lions have decided to reframe the narrative. Africa talks back.
With African News Review, you can expect engaging discussions and thought-provoking insights into
๐ The Scramble for Africa :Unraveling the European Colonial Divide
๐ African Leaders Who shaped History : Stories of Courage and Vision
๐ Pan Africanism : ideologies and Impact on Unity and Identity
๐ Decolonisation and the Birth of African Nations
๐ The Cold War in Africa: Proxy Battles and their Aftermath
๐ Contemporary Africa : Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities.
๐ Books on Africa and African on the continent and the Diaspora.
Come with me and Letโs begin
African News Review
EP 2 African News Review I Adesoji Speaks Knowledge ๐
In this conversation, Adesoji Iginla and Milton Allimadi discuss the coverage of Africa in Western media and analyze various news stories. They highlight the biased and limited coverage of Africa in corporate media, focusing on the US presidential election and the protests in Kenya.
They also discuss the challenges African countries face, such as debt, lack of industrialization, and reliance on imports.
The conversation touched on the importance of African intellectualism and the need for Africans to believe in their own capabilities. They also mentioned the exclusion of Zimbabwe from a US African command conference.
In this episode, Adesoji Iginla and Milton Allimadi discussed various news articles and analyzed the underlying themes and biases. They critiqued the poor journalism in a Voice of America article about Zimbabwe's absence from a security conference, pointing out the selective reporting and lack of context.
They also discussed an article about coalition politics in South Africa, highlighting the racism and biased framing in the coverage.
Lastly, they examine an article about Mauritania's stability and the omission of the NATO intervention in Libya that contributed to regional instability.
00:00 Introduction and Overview
04:16 The Bias in Western Media Coverage of Africa
23:39 Towards Self-Sufficiency: Industrialisation in Africa
31:10 Zimbabwe's Exclusion from the US African Command Conference
39:33 Biased Reporting and Poor Journalism
40:42 Manufactured and Forced Stories
44:14 Western Media's Shoddy Analysis
50:59 The Role of Western Intervention in Africa
57:42 Land Redistribution and Corruption
01:05:17 Questioning the Narrative
01:09:38 Coup in Africa Equals Bad Thing?
01:11:47 The Importance of Historical Context
Adesoji Iginla (00:01.45)
Yes, good day again, wherever you're getting this from. And if you're listening after, today is the 5th of July, well, in the UK, in the United Kingdom, and the fourth for the rest of the world who has to play catch -up, as usual to the mother of all the imperialists.
Milton Allimadi (00:13.518)
Number UK maybe.
Milton Allimadi (00:25.582)
Yes, indeed.
Adesoji Iginla (00:28.042)
Again, welcome to African News Review, a weekly conversation in which I look at the coverage of Africa in Western media and deconstruct the story for our audience. My name is Adesoji Iginla and with me, as always, is a journalist, a publisher of Black Star News, broadcaster WBAI, that's New York Radio 4U. He teaches African history at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
He holds degrees in journalism and economics from Columbia University and Syracuse University respectively. His book, Manufacturing Hate, How Africa was Demonized in the Western Media is what inspired this podcast. And he's also an explorer in his free time. I don't know where he gets the free time from, but he's been able to discover some remarkable landmarks in Europe.
where I'm currently resided, particularly London's Main River, which he has rightly named the River Gulu. He's none other than Comrade Milton Allimadi Comrade, welcome.
Milton Allimadi (01:33.997)
Yes.
Milton Allimadi (01:38.925)
Asante Ndugu
Adesoji Iginla (01:41.418)
Yes, before we delve into the stories, what has been the standout features in terms of news coverage for you in the week?
Milton Allimadi (01:53.772)
down.
I mean, you mean imperialist news or corporate media? Me. Hello. All right, thank you.
Adesoji Iginla (01:56.746)
You
Adesoji Iginla (02:02.954)
I mean, is there any difference?
You
Milton Allimadi (02:09.227)
No, but you know, it's sad because...
Milton Allimadi (02:14.86)
It's an issue we should be very concerned with, you see? But then I tell people sometimes, so obviously, you know, Donald Trump has a very good chance of being reelected president of the United States. Unless there's a compelling intervention and a candidate can, a new candidate can emerge.
Adesoji Iginla (02:30.506)
Yep.
Milton Allimadi (02:44.78)
to run an effective campaign against him. Sometimes some people are talking out. Then maybe the vice president, Kamala Harris, will replace President Biden as the candidate. So that's been, then there are also conversations about some other governors who could step in the picture, including Governor Newsom, California.
Adesoji Iginla (02:57.93)
Okay
Milton Allimadi (03:15.947)
But so when you say the news, the corporate news, of course, because they're the ones that have the bandwidth to disseminate their propaganda widely, not only within the United States, but globally. So now for the last, you know, look, I traveled to Grenada last weekend, right?
I came back.
Milton Allimadi (03:52.106)
I came back on Tuesday. So when I left, they're talking about, will Biden step down in favor of another candidate to run against Trump?
I came back the same conversation.
So, if you tune on the usual suspects like CNN, that is a topic for the whole day. You go to MSNBC, that is a topic for the whole day. You know? They do a great disservice to the vast majority of people in this country who want to know about issuesโ
Adesoji Iginla (04:17.706)
Mm -hmm.
Milton Allimadi (04:43.402)
of impoverishment, right? Issues about your education. So many other things that concern human beings. But the way
corporate media structured. A thinks if they're not discussing,
Is Biden going to drop out of the race? Then, if network A is not talking about it, network B will be talking about it. And people will tune in to B. If B is not talking about it, then C will be talking about it. So now they've conditioned, they've really dumbed down the audience with this type of delivery.
Adesoji Iginla (05:25.674)
So he's.
Adesoji Iginla (05:35.978)
Mm.
Milton Allimadi (05:36.393)
And then because they have a such a, that incestuous type mechanism, we must do this because the other network will be doing it if we don't. So it's not so much about how do we deliver quality, impactful, useful information to the listening audience. You see, it's about how do we
Adesoji Iginla (05:45.514)
is
Adesoji Iginla (06:00.01)
Mm -hmm.
Milton Allimadi (06:04.457)
prevent our
Adesoji Iginla (06:08.01)
competitors.
Milton Allimadi (06:09.705)
competitors from gaining an advantage over us, or how do we not trip ourselves up and allow them to gain? Can you imagine? Is that how really information should be delivered? Let's think about it. And that is the problem. So I think, I'm glad you actually asked that question, because now it allows us to
for people to understand why they cover certain issues the way they do and why they don't cover it. So, for example, somebody asked me, wait, well, I'm here in the U .S. and I'm watching, you know, the network news or even cable, right? Why don't they ever cover Africa?
Adesoji Iginla (06:58.474)
Mm -hmm.
Milton Allimadi (07:06.791)
an African president was visiting. I didn't see it even mentioned in the news. Right?
Because why would channel A want to focus on the visit of an African president to the US when channel B won't touch it, channel C won't touch it, you know?
therein lies the problem. I mean, if they...
wanted a model that is not only looking at the bottom line, right, as the only issue, and say that all of us collectively should decide that 15 minutes out of every hour broadcast.
Adesoji Iginla (07:45.93)
Yeah, corporate news.
Milton Allimadi (07:58.406)
We're going to subsidize it. It's going to be commercial free. Maybe it's worth knowing what's happening in South Africa. Correct? And when we look at South Africa, let's not just look at, wait, now we have a government involving Europeans and Africans. No. Deal with the issue, the crisis there. Right? And I'm not just saying for Africa. You can look at what's happening in the Caribbean right now.
Adesoji Iginla (08:09.194)
true.
Milton Allimadi (08:27.717)
with a hurricane Beryl right? That to me would be much wiser. But if you say profit is the only consideration,
Adesoji Iginla (08:31.914)
for it.
Milton Allimadi (08:40.933)
You know, that's where our media becomes a source of mass disinformation or misinformation, and it contributes to the collapse of some of these Western societies.
Adesoji Iginla (08:56.042)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, thank you for the, I mean, in the UK now, there is, the general election has just concluded and the results are coming out. We should, by midday tomorrow, we should know whether we have a new government or the previous government has been returned to power, which is highly unlikely anyway. But I mean, that said.
news being what the news is. Our primary focus here is the coverage of the African continent in the Western media press. But before we go through that, I suppose we should give tribute to an African elder who passed last year. June 30 would mark the one year of the passing of Misere Githai Mugoh.
And for those who are not familiar with who she is, I would allow her speak for herself. Let's go.
Adesoji Iginla (13:28.202)
Yes, and God rest hassle. Comrade, any words?
Milton Allimadi (13:35.488)
Yes. I mean there's not anything I can actually add to what she said. It echoes and it rings and it stands alone, but it shows you the beauty and power of words, right, of a liberated mind. As she said, unapologetically, a liberated African mind. And we wish we had more
Adesoji Iginla (13:52.298)
Hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (14:01.898)
Mmm.
Milton Allimadi (14:06.432)
you know, Africans with minds like that, Africans that are educated, that realize that African intellectualism
you know, should be second to none and, you know, produce other Africans of that intellectual and mental caliber. Because I think 90 % of the problem that we face is our inability to convince enough of us that we can do it, you know?
we can do it and if we all believe we can do it then we would do it, you see? But part of the legacy of imperialism which has been most enduring is the intellectual and mental concentration of Africans. The internalization of inferiorization, you see? That's a big problem. But listening to a person like this,
She deserves it. She's telling you she can do anything. And listening to her, you can actually believe that she could do anything. You see? She's a Pan -African. She's anti -imperialist. She's an African.
Adesoji Iginla (15:15.562)
You
Adesoji Iginla (15:20.618)
Of course, yeah. She's got it. Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (15:31.169)
which is an African depository and repository of knowledge.
Milton Allimadi (15:41.12)
swimmer in the stream of life. Yeah. She's, that's what she called really a beautiful mind, you see? And it's sad that, you know, she joined the ancestors but obviously her body of work remains. And as she said, she enjoyed teaching and I hope people will continue to learn from the body of work that she leaves behind. Obviously she's a
Adesoji Iginla (15:43.498)
stream of life. Yes. Yes.
Milton Allimadi (16:09.695)
intellectual and artistic colleague and comrade of her fellow Kenyan Ngugiwateongo, whose contribution to literature and critical analysis of Pan -Africanism has also been profound, just like
Adesoji Iginla (16:17.285)
Yeah, you can do what you want.
Adesoji Iginla (16:39.786)
misery. Yeah. Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (16:39.87)
his sister's contribution as well. So may she, as you said, may she rest in peace with the ancestors.
Adesoji Iginla (16:46.154)
Yes, and speaking of our body of work, you could get her book Writing and Speaking from the Heart of My Mind by Misere Gitaemogo. She also contributed to us writing the history of the Maomao, the story of the Kenyan and land and freedom army. So again, just like Brother Milton said, she and Ungugiwa Fiongo were, you know, pivotal to
helping get Gadadar together. And yes, may she find peace with the ancestors. Speaking of Kenya, we go to our first story of the day. In fact, we'll continue with stories. We go to Kenya and we hear.
that a new breed of protest has left, and this story comes from The Economist, a new breed of protest has left Kenya's president tottering. President Kenya has capitulated to people power and cancelled hated tax increases. Please hold that line. So in the lead it says though Kenya's equilibrium is occasionally punctured by bouts of political unrest,
The country is generally seen as fairly stable, prosperous and liberal. That again, that line too is problematic and I will tell you why later. Such cozy assumptions however were rudely jolted by tax riots which reached a deadly peak on June 25th. Overwhelming the police in Nairobi, the capital, protesters broke into parliament, set fire to a section of it, pinched the maze and forced terrified MPs to flee.
security offices responded with fire killing at least 23 people. And it goes further, even more startling than the widespread nature of the protest where the attacks on the offices of the Kenya's MPs and local government officials seen as aligned with Mr. Ruto's attack policies rarely has hatred for the political class felt so acute. The most pertinent rupture with the past however is the nature of the process itself.
Adesoji Iginla (19:05.354)
which had a whiff of revolution, Holder thought. The protests were the first in Kenya with more than a class tinge than an ethnic one. Ostensibly, little less, they had distanced themselves from all politicians. Confronted with the new threat, Mr. Ruto, normally a deft strategist, had repeatedly blundered, underestimating the scale and nature of the opposition reigned against him.
and miscalculating his response. The president's first misjudgment arose from the belief that alienating Kenya's small middle class will carry few tangible consequences. Alienating 17 % of the workers in formal work may seem a little price to pay for winning the support of Kenya's vastly bigger huddled masses. So I'll quickly go back to the top here and listen to how they describe it that
Kenya's vastly big huddled masses. So what do they refer to here when they say, the country is seen as fairly stable, prosperous, and liberal? For whom?
Milton Allimadi (20:15.354)
Exactly, for the elite, for the ruling class. But I'm glad that they actually mentioned the word class. And the economist, you know, the economist, it's becoming, so that was realistic, you know, and obviously that is what's going on in Kenya. You see the class cleavages, you see, because often when you discuss Kenya, you're discussing the aftermath of elections.
Adesoji Iginla (20:17.482)
You
Adesoji Iginla (20:22.634)
Okay.
Milton Allimadi (20:45.626)
And then you start talking about, did a Kikuyu candidate win or a non -Kikuyu? And then there's the dispute after the election. Did Udinga, who is seen as the Lua candidate, was the rob of victory? Right? So those are the issues that typically you read about when you deal with Kenya. So now why this particular
Adesoji Iginla (21:02.474)
Mm. Agree. Correct?
Milton Allimadi (21:13.466)
issue is different. It's because, first of all, it means that past social struggle or uprisings, they also may have had class elements, but because of the narrative that everything has to be so -called tribal or ethnic, that's the only type of coverage we typically we get. On this occasion, they could not fall
backed on that default, you see? Because you could not say, this is being led by Lua. This is being led by Kikuyu. This is being led by Kalingen or what have you. No. They mobilized the young people on social media and they said, these are the issues. We can barely survive. And if this tax goes through,
than we're done for, particularly when some of the taxes are on essentials. In urban areas, you can't, a big city like Nairobi, you can't just go back into your backyard and plant vegetables or tomatoes, right? You have to purchase food in stores or supermarkets. So any taxation that elevates the price,
Adesoji Iginla (22:15.37)
Correct.
Adesoji Iginla (22:19.402)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (22:29.098)
Correct.
Milton Allimadi (22:40.696)
It's very difficult to dodge. How do you avoid that? Right? So now when you have increases of up to 17 % on staples such as bread, you know, obviously people can see that if that goes through, I will not be able to survive. I'll go hungry and eventually hunger will take its toll. So even if the risk is worth coming out to resist, I'm going to get harmed by hunger anyway.
Adesoji Iginla (23:03.434)
Yep. Yep.
Adesoji Iginla (23:11.338)
That must have...
Milton Allimadi (23:11.385)
If I'm going to be harmed by security forces, if I have a chance of blocking this, let me join this mobilization. And that is why it can be seen as the class component. You have the very wealthy elite who happen to be the members of parliament, who are the ones that enact these laws, and they send it to the president, who is also, of course, part of the ruling elite, to sign.
and it becomes the law of the land. And on the other side, you have the working class, you have the low -income communities, you have the youth who can also be seen as part of the working class, of course, right? They're not part of the ownership class. So that is why this particular social uprising in Kenya had
Adesoji Iginla (23:55.658)
Yeah, correct. Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (24:09.686)
many different components that we can talk about compared to previous ones. Although the economist would not break it down the way that we are going to be breaking and analyzing it. But at the end of the day, one other important point that is actually consistent to all these African countries, it's not so much about Ruto, correct? Because they do need, they need the money. They need the money to pay their teachers.
Adesoji Iginla (24:29.898)
Correct.
Milton Allimadi (24:35.734)
They need the money as supposedly part of the money they wanted to subsidize their farmers. As you know, the United States spends almost $30 billion every year just subsidizing farmers in this country who would have been out of business a long time ago. Right? They talk about let the market forces work. It's all nonsense because if the market forces are supposed to work, then Africa would produce the food, sell it to the United States and import
Adesoji Iginla (24:52.554)
Choo choo choo choo.
Milton Allimadi (25:05.109)
the manufacturer, but the U .S. does not want that. The U .S. produces manufacturers, sells it to Africa and the rest of the world, and subsidizes it to pharma, instead of using that money to import food from Africa. So that's $30 billion taken away from African pharma's table. And on the other hand, as you and I know, under the World Trade Organization rules, African governments are not allowed to subsidize their pharma. So this is something that they were doing, which is interesting, which is actually needed.
Adesoji Iginla (25:29.898)
Of course not. Of course not.
Milton Allimadi (25:35.445)
But as I said previously, African governments are not in a position to tax the powerful. First of all, the elite don't want to tax themselves, right? They're not going to enact tax increases against their own assets and salaries, right? They cannot tax the multinationals. They could. They could, but they won't dare do that.
Adesoji Iginla (25:59.594)
Definitely not.
Milton Allimadi (26:03.124)
So they go to whom they perceive as the weakest element in this equation, which is the Kenyan people, the masters.
Adesoji Iginla (26:03.274)
Be good.
To be the, because yeah. The masses.
Adesoji Iginla (26:15.818)
Hmm. So, one other question in that light.
Following the fact that he has withdrawn the finance bill, when I say he, William Ruto, the president, would it be realistic to think this is the end of it, or are we just seeing the first salvo being fired across the bowels?
Milton Allimadi (26:41.491)
It's possible that it could be the end of it in this particular form, but he still has to find revenue some ways. He might be bailed out for some short time by the IMF and World Bank. You know, he was invited to the White House after all. So, you know, I know Biden is really busy right now, but somebody senior in the U .S. administration would pick up the phone if he dialed and he made it clear.
Adesoji Iginla (26:45.61)
Okay.
Adesoji Iginla (27:10.154)
You
Milton Allimadi (27:11.506)
that resources are needed very quickly. The United States, I don't see them not supporting a significant injection of money from the World Bank and the IMF. That, of course, comes, you know, is another Pandora's box, because Kenya's debt is more than $55 billion U .S. dollars, okay? But the debt is...
Adesoji Iginla (27:22.346)
Okay.
Adesoji Iginla (27:36.298)
Mm.
Milton Allimadi (27:40.786)
almost equivalent to three quarters of the country's GDP. And that actually is one of the issues also that the students, the young people who are coming out are crying out against. So in addition to infusion of money from the IMF World Bank for quick short time, of course you need IMF that you would get that quicker. In addition to that, obviously,
he would ask for debt relief. I don't know the prospects of getting that quickly. That is something that, you know, the West are usually very reluctant. And even in recent years, China has also become relatively reluctant to doing that as well, which of course, you ask yourself, why are these countries constantly in debt? And the answer is because
Adesoji Iginla (28:30.25)
but
Milton Allimadi (28:37.169)
they produce not to satisfy the demands of their domestic economy. They produce to serve the outside world. They produce cocoa to satisfy the sweet tooth of Europeans and Americans. You know, you can't eat cocoa. You produce tea. You're not going to be eating tea. You produce tobacco. You can't eat tobacco. But you're so locked in that
Adesoji Iginla (28:47.754)
first.
Milton Allimadi (29:06.16)
global system that you, it's like an addict, you can't just drop off the drugs tomorrow, right? Because that's become a very critical source of revenue for you to run your government. So how do you, how do you wean yourself off? Well, that's something we have not been doing in African countries. You can only wean yourself off if, on the other hand,
Adesoji Iginla (29:31.913)
That's right.
Milton Allimadi (29:35.856)
you are finding other sources of revenue, right? And you don't need so much the foreign exchange to import because now you're also producing the products that you are currently importing from the outside world. Let me give you another example, which just illustrated to me how upside down in some cases the brain function is for the ruling elite. So there's a...
Adesoji Iginla (29:39.178)
true, true.
Milton Allimadi (30:05.712)
story in the Ugandan Daily Monitor, which is the private newspaper in Uganda, showing the minister, I forget her portfolio, I think it has something to do with energy as well. So she's in Mombasa welcoming a huge tanker ship that is bringing fuel, petroleum to take to Uganda, petrol rather. And when it docked,
Adesoji Iginla (30:09.066)
Okay.
Adesoji Iginla (30:18.25)
Okay.
Milton Allimadi (30:36.688)
They fired cannon in celebration, right? And she's waving the Ugandan flag. So why was she justifying that celebration? She say, now we're importing oil, but for the first time, we are voiding Kenyan middlemen, even though it's coming from a Kenyan port, Mombasa, which now means the fuel is going to be a lot cheaper.
for the citizens of Uganda. And that's why she's waving the flag. This whole ministry is celebrating. So I tweeted to her and I said...
Wait, by importing oil, do you not realize that the indebtedness of the ordinary people in Uganda is going to elevate and go up? You're increasing our debt burden. Instead of crying for these people, you are saying somehow this is something to celebrate, you know? This is, and I said this is the folly, really, of the clueless elite.
Adesoji Iginla (31:24.906)
Correct.
Adesoji Iginla (31:36.238)
Okay.
Milton Allimadi (31:43.79)
that runs on with these countries. And I think it dawned on her brain for the first time that perhaps I should not be celebrating imports of fuel to an African country. Just mind -boggling. It just shows you the cognitive dissonance that disconnects between the people on the ground and the ruling elite.
Adesoji Iginla (31:54.346)
Hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (32:02.41)
dissonance yeah
Adesoji Iginla (32:09.578)
I mean, if anything for Mr. Ruto, his country now has a non -NATO ally status. So he might get some, anytime there's a spending bill, he might get some money thrown his way. So.
Milton Allimadi (32:25.997)
Europeans don't throw money for free.
Adesoji Iginla (32:29.29)
You
Milton Allimadi (32:30.86)
And one of the demands already that the young people are protesting is that he's mortgaged the country to the West and to the World Bank. I don't think this is a time faced with this formidable type of protest that he's going to be publicizing his any efforts. If he has, it's going to be done at night and quietly. Any efforts.
Adesoji Iginla (32:35.722)
Mm -hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (32:42.218)
Hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (32:57.258)
Yeah, but then you
Milton Allimadi (32:58.38)
to ask these countries to bail him out. So he's between a rock and a hard place, as they say. But in reality, as I said in the beginning, it's not brutal. You could put any other president, any other president, it could be Odenga, if he had been declared as the winner of the election and he's the president. It could be any other major Kenyan politician. Structurally, our economies are the same.
Adesoji Iginla (33:11.978)
Hmm.
Milton Allimadi (33:27.693)
If we want to start developing a better understanding on the crisis, let's resist the temptation to particularize it as individual issues or even particularize it to particular countries. You should ask yourself, why do all these African countries have similar problems? It cannot be that all the leaders are similarly incompetent. You see?
Adesoji Iginla (33:37.93)
economic
Adesoji Iginla (33:54.122)
You
Milton Allimadi (33:56.204)
They just can't be that consistent, right? You know, think about it. You know, randomly, does all of them happen to be uniformly incompetent? Or do they face uniform set of factors that result in the type of crisis? And to benefit and educate our viewers, answer is yes. They face uniform types of challenges.
Adesoji Iginla (34:15.466)
Hmm.
Milton Allimadi (34:25.324)
They are not allowed to industrialize. They're not allowed to produce the smartphones that almost every African now has. They're not allowed to produce those computers. They're not allowed to produce those automobiles that you see in the streets of Africa. The jet planes that African airlines have, they just don't produce. They're only permitted to produce so -called raw materials, including the ones I mentioned earlier.
Adesoji Iginla (34:25.738)
Hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (34:52.042)
materials.
Milton Allimadi (34:55.212)
and then minerals, copper, cobalt, coal town, manganese, uranium, you need it, you name it. They're not allowed to use those mineral resources to put it through factories and produce products. They sell it, these huge ships just take it raw to Europe, to the United States, and increasingly, of course, to China and other Asian countries.
So at the end of the day, they need to borrow money to buy manufacturers, including even medicine, right? Because they are not put, they didn't even put enough energy into saying we have all these plants that many of these corporations, the ones even that produce pharmaceuticals, they get the components, the raw material, the ingredients, the plants from African countries. So should we not be leading the world?
Adesoji Iginla (35:47.754)
Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (35:53.931)
in those type of production, even that we don't have. Instead, we still import medicine from outside. So we're in a serious crisis, really. And it's not a root to crisis or a dinga crisis. But what happens is, faced with the type of crisis, to what extent do the individual African rulers resort to brutality to crush
opposition to crush the demands. And that is how you can start to differentiate each of the African leaders. You had a Mollimo Julius Nyerere in Tanzania, you know, this intellectual poet, statement, who a teacher who understood society and faced the similar challenges. He was not going to go and become a crazy tyrant like the one we have in Uganda. At one point,
Adesoji Iginla (36:52.842)
Opposition.
Milton Allimadi (36:52.905)
he realized that he had pushed as far as he could. He stepped down from power. As a result, Tanzania has had some peaceful transitions of governments now. And then, of course, you have Ruto. And Ruto has had many of his own issues in the past. But as the Kenyan economy has become more evolved and sophisticated, you were in the White House the other day. So it's very difficult.
Adesoji Iginla (37:05.034)
facts.
Milton Allimadi (37:21.929)
to see Ruto issuing an order and saying, even if it takes killing 100 or 200 Kenyans, I wanted to suppress this uprising. Nobody's going to threaten my presidency. Museven in Uganda can still do that. And he might, but not Ruto, because the Kenyan economy is sophisticated and is a very critical component of the Western system. You have all those multinationals in Nairobi.
Adesoji Iginla (37:35.082)
Mmm.
Adesoji Iginla (37:47.082)
system.
Milton Allimadi (37:51.335)
If there's a choice between stability and Ruto, Ruto is going to be out the door. The same thing in South Africa. South Africa, the economy is so integrated into global system, right? If it's a choice between, and in South Africa, they don't pretend. What are you talking about, you know, the 80 % African population only have 4 % of the land, they don't have jobs. What? That is not our priority.
Adesoji Iginla (37:57.61)
Hehehe
and
Milton Allimadi (38:20.166)
Our priority is to have the resources in South Africa. Even if it takes a partnership between somebody who hid $4 million in his sofa and a European who is still singing, power to apartheid, that's what we'll do. You see?
Adesoji Iginla (38:22.73)
We should come to that.
You
Adesoji Iginla (38:36.586)
What?
Adesoji Iginla (38:45.354)
Speaking of power, the last two weeks I've seen military chiefs meet up in Botswana, Gaborini. And what's funny was that one of the African members was left out and the others seem to be perplexed as to why. I will share. And it's a case of
the African command. So we get this story from the Voice of America. It says, Zimbabwe's sideline as US African command conference kicks off in Gaborone. You see everybody with the, you know, looking all prim and proper. So the lead goes.
Milton Allimadi (39:32.613)
Yes. You know how traditionally, I don't know about your village, but in my village, I remember when I used to go visit my late granddad, maternal granddad. The guy loved me, man. So he would say, Milton, pick, this is when I was like maybe what, like seven or eight years old, pick the biggest chicken, right?
Adesoji Iginla (39:38.666)
Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (40:01.765)
that you want us to have cooked for you today. So the first time I was perplexed, so I pointed at it, right? I said, okay, very good. And then, you know, one of the other kids there came with a bowl of grains and started feeding the chicken. It didn't make sense to me. They fed the chicken, the chicken came, I assume the chicken was happy, ate, and then they took him to their back and it was history.
Adesoji Iginla (40:02.09)
Mm -hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (40:10.25)
Okay.
Milton Allimadi (40:31.173)
I was consuming the chicken later on. So this thing reminds me of that. You know, that being fed, you know, look at that. Look at the picture that being fed.
Adesoji Iginla (40:31.402)
you
Adesoji Iginla (40:36.042)
Okay.
Hahaha!
Okay.
Milton Allimadi (40:43.685)
before they take them behind the house.
Adesoji Iginla (40:47.37)
Okay, so the lead goes, the list goes, Gaburon defense chiefs drawn from 32 African nations, excluding Zimbabwe, are attending a two -day U .S. African command conference in Gaburon, Botswana, focusing on the security situation on the continent. Okay, hold that thought, security situation on the continent.
Milton Allimadi (40:52.77)
Hehehehe.
Adesoji Iginla (41:16.554)
A senior US official attending the conference says, Botswana included Zimbabwe in the list of participants, but Washington objected. Now hold that thought as well. Now bearing in mind, we're talking about the African continent. You reject Zimbabwe's attendance. We take instructions from our civilian leadership because some of the policies in Zimbabwe, the Security Council said they will not be invited to the conference, a spokesman said. But
That is not to say we cannot learn lessons from Zimbabwe. I want to push back on the statement that we are isolating Zimbabwe. That's not the intent. The intent is that we come in when we are asked. If any African partner wants support or wants us to help in a certain region, that is what we help with. Now, the reason as to why Zimbabwe has not been invited could possibly be this. Zimbabwe President Emesin Mananagwa
in a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin earlier this month said his country was being isolated by the US. He said America are aiding neighbors, Malawi and Zambia with security and military support. And where is it? US imposed targeted sanctions on Mananagua and its inner circles over alleged corruption, human rights violation and election rigging. The Southern African nation has strong relations with Russia, backdating to US.
the country's 1960 liberation war. Its support for Russia and invasion of Ukraine has, however, hangered the West. Meanwhile, officially opening the conference, Botswana President Mogusweti Masisi expressed concern over Africa's spate of military coups. He said undemocratic removal of leadership presents a challenge for the country's security chief. It is imperative that we come together as one quesโ
to achieve Africa's noble vision of silencing the guns by 2030 and ensuring peace and stability across the continent," he said. Your thoughts, sir.
Milton Allimadi (43:24.416)
All right, first of all, the story is an example of very poor journalism on the part of Voice of America. You know, the journalism is very weak, the quality, you know, it's not in depth. So the story is almost like a manufactured and forced story. You know, I mean, there are some things I can say about it, but essentially it's a non -story story because
Adesoji Iginla (43:33.546)
Cool.
Adesoji Iginla (43:41.738)
Hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (43:46.794)
You
Adesoji Iginla (43:52.554)
Okay.
Milton Allimadi (43:53.694)
the analysis is very shoddy. So while some of the things said could be true, they're very insignificant, right? Because first of all, why are you picking this story and focusing on Zimbabwe if you're telling us that only 32 countries were represented?
Adesoji Iginla (44:00.458)
Yep.
Milton Allimadi (44:20.765)
You know, just think about that. Only 32 are presented, which means 22.
Adesoji Iginla (44:29.602)
with nowhere to be found.
Milton Allimadi (44:30.269)
others were not there as well. So why is Zimbabwe supposed to be so conspicuous? So on that element alone, the editing is very weak. The editor should have said to this journalist that this is weak journalism. And it could be that, you know, possible that the U .S. wanted to send a little message to President Nangangwa of Zimbabwe.
and sent a press release that triggered this story. Zimbabwe not to attend, you know, a U .S. security conference, Africa security conference. It might have been generated like that. It was generated somehow. But a good journalist and the journalist editor would have said, wait a minute, there are too many missing elements here. You know, obviously they're not going to invite
the president of Burkina Faso to this conference, right? So would that not be the lead, actually? They're not going to fight the president of Niger, right? Of Mali, right? Of Guinea. So there are bigger stories there. Why are all these leaders not coming to this conference? And then the things you said about that could be worthy of interest and sustain a whole article.
Adesoji Iginla (45:31.53)
True, true.
Adesoji Iginla (45:39.658)
Niche.
Yeah? Or Guinea?
Milton Allimadi (45:58.234)
So once you point out what I just mentioned, you see how insignificant the way this article is written. On the other hand, it could be that there's a lot in this article that the journalist knows or does not know, and the editor knows or does not know as well. Because obviously, if you are supposedly
Adesoji Iginla (46:02.538)
It falls apart.
Milton Allimadi (46:27.13)
punishing Nangangwa for having a close relationship with Russia. That's just utter nonsense. South Africa, South Africa invited Putin for the BRICS conference. He just could not come because they did not want to take the risk of theโthe ICC had already issued an indictment. So South Africa, under law, would have been obligated to arrest him. So heโ
Adesoji Iginla (46:35.53)
You
Adesoji Iginla (46:49.226)
if you do what.
Milton Allimadi (46:56.73)
attended via video hookup. So who has a closer working relationship with Russia? Is it Zimbabwe? Or is it a major country like South Africa? So once again, the story fails on its own premises. However, there's one premise that is possible. And that premise could be that the ascending signal
to the ANC government in South Africa. Stay away from the land issue. Otherwise, we will treat you the way we treat Nangangwa and Zimbabwe. Europeans have never forgiven Zimbabwe for taking the land from the European descendants of their European ancestors who stole the land from African ancestors after killing.
Adesoji Iginla (47:39.178)
up with.
Milton Allimadi (47:56.022)
Africans. They never forgive for that. So now, Zimbabwe, in fact, has reversed, not really reversed, but Zimbabwe, a few years ago, took out a loan, or at least committed to take a loan of $3 billion or more to buy this land back, to pay the Europeans rather, from who the land was taken, to pay them compensation. So, the land issue
Adesoji Iginla (48:14.314)
compensator.
Adesoji Iginla (48:20.426)
All right.
for stooling land.
Milton Allimadi (48:26.166)
in Zimbabwe itself is not as pressing as it was. And in fact, most of these actions have already been lifted. You see, where is the land issue potentially pressing and not yet been dealt with? And the answer is South Africa. And it will become even much more critical now that we have an alliance of the ANC and the white -led party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance. So,
If I read the way I'm reading this story, it's not actually for Zimbabwe at all. It is a warning to the ANC leadership in South Africa.
Adesoji Iginla (49:06.794)
OK. Can I also add, I see the hands of neocolonialism here. Because if we're talking about the African continent and, quote unquote, security concerns, Botswana, where the conference was held, is deep in the belly of the continent. We're talking South -South.
Milton Allimadi (49:10.102)
Yes.
Adesoji Iginla (49:34.634)
and is one of the few, one of only maybe three countries that have not had military coups. Why are they particularly
Milton Allimadi (49:43.636)
And even beyond that, they actually have a functioning economy, you know.
Adesoji Iginla (49:47.562)
Yes, yes. And so obviously because of the homogeneous population as well. I mean, it's one, yeah, largely homogeneous. So they've got a diamond is one of the major exports of Botswana.
Milton Allimadi (50:08.916)
Yeah, I think they've used their resources much more beautifully.
Adesoji Iginla (50:11.402)
The research says, yeah, yeah, exactly. So the question I was asked, which I was thinking when I saw the story was,
If indeed there is a problem with security and quote -unquote terrorism and rebel action and what have you, how did this problem start in the first place? Most of them are machinations of people who want access to resources on the continent, which goes back to the book that was published in 1965.
Kwame Nkrumah's neocolonialism and the last stage of imperialism, where he says there was a part I saw there earlier. And I'll just quickly read that part. And he said, during 1962 to 1963, a number of international conferences to this end were held in several places, such as Nicosia in Cyprus, San Jose in Costa Rica, and Lagos in Nigeria.
Particular participants included the CIA, the United Information Agency, the Pentagon, the international development agencies, the Peace Corps and others. Programs were drawn up to talk about problems in Africa. As my people would say, why are they so concerned with... bereavement for more than the aggrieved? Why? I don't get it.
Milton Allimadi (51:48.816)
No, I mean, we of course you get it. You know they're not concerned.
Adesoji Iginla (51:51.946)
You
Milton Allimadi (51:54.224)
You know, you get it 100%. They're not concerned. This is not the purpose of that conference. It's not to explore how to make any African country more secure. Why would they want to do that? A secure Africa would be able to use its resources to build up the economies of African countries. The U .S. is a corporation. There's no company
Adesoji Iginla (52:08.33)
Hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (52:21.994)
Hmm.
Milton Allimadi (52:23.248)
that I know of in the world that is going to go to subsidize another company. And they see Africa as a collection of small companies, you see? That's a pride them with the input to go into their big factory. And the big factory is the United States. African countries are like suppliers, you see? So for example, if you have Ford company here in the United States, you have suppliers.
Adesoji Iginla (52:38.602)
Mm -hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (52:46.218)
Mm.
Milton Allimadi (52:50.991)
They send you the components that go into the fan, that goes into the wheel, that goes into the rim, that goes into the engine. And then you assemble all of this in the Ford plant, right? So the best way to see the United States is this big corporation and Africa as suppliers of all these parts that a company like Ford would need. So now you're going to go.
to the countries of all these suppliers and say, wait, I don't like it that you guys, you have conflicts here. I'm going to help you end the conflict so you could become strong. Somebody would have to be dreaming to believe any of this. They go to destabilize, they go to destabilize, but they cannot say, we are coming to destabilize Africa.
Adesoji Iginla (53:22.282)
which is.
Adesoji Iginla (53:32.234)
Mm -hmm
Adesoji Iginla (53:40.714)
Ha ha!
Adesoji Iginla (53:46.442)
You
Milton Allimadi (53:47.343)
Look at what's going on in the entire Sahel region today. When did that start? It started when NATO went and destroyed the government of Muammar Gaddafi and all the arsenal of weapons he had just became. I remember I saw a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal. The article itself was short, but it had an aerial photograph of weapons.
Adesoji Iginla (53:51.146)
Yep, yep, yep.
Adesoji Iginla (53:58.154)
Libya.
Milton Allimadi (54:16.685)
brand new arsenal. This is after Gaddafi had already been killed. So this weapon was stored in the desert where you don't even need to fence it off, but it's there in like huge containers and it goes on and on and on and on. So they took an aerial photograph. These are the weapons that have been unleashed on the African people by NATO destroying.
the Gaddafi government. It's like whipping up a hornet's nest. And now they talk about a U .S.-Africa security? Come on, man.
Adesoji Iginla (54:51.53)
Next, yep, yep.
Adesoji Iginla (54:57.706)
You
Milton Allimadi (54:59.948)
In fact, Zimbabwe should be proud that they were not invited.
Adesoji Iginla (55:05.281)
I mean, like you said, at the beginning of reading that article, they will not be part of the chickens that have been fat enough for the taking to the.
Milton Allimadi (55:13.1)
Absolutely.
Adesoji Iginla (55:17.738)
So speaking of chickens, apparently, well, you did say that op -ed was shot across the bowels for South Africa. For our next story, we go to South Africa, who have been having issues with their coalition governments. And the story comes from the Financial Times of London. So.
The headline reads, the rough road ahead for coalition politics in South Africa. Power sharing agreement is a minor miracle, but divisions are deep. I've highlighted some parts. And first, he goes in the lead. He says, no one should underestimate the mini miracle that has just occurred in South Africa. The African National Congress, a liberation party that has ruled on Chile for 30 years are humbled.
was humbled in a free and fair elections last month. He accepted the results, ensured a potential lurch into radical populism, and set about forming a government of national unity in which its main partner will be the market -oriented Democratic Alliance. The prospect of a centrist government bolstered by DA's proven administrative skills has energized investors. The Rand and the stock market have rallied since the prospect of a coalition government became real.
Investors who have not looked at South Africa seriously for 15 years are re -evaluating its prospects. Cyril Ramaphosa, the centrist president, probably seen working with the DA as a chance to neutralize the more radical wing of the ANC and curb members who see politics as a means of enrichment. Hold that thought. It will not be so easy to get the ANC
and the DEA to work together, giving their deep ideological divisions with the DEA Kena on free enterprise and the ANC on state intervention. The DEA could lose its political identity by working with the ANC, which has nearly doubled the number of MPs. If the DEA finds itself in a subvent role, skeptics argue it could find itself either powerless to effect real change
Adesoji Iginla (57:36.618)
or scapegoated for everything that has gone wrong. Beyond the immediate battery in lies a more fundamental questions of whether the DA can run ministries as it wishes or will have to bow to ASC dictates. It has already withdrawn its objection to a minimum wage and black empowerment legislation that it regards as prone to corruption and inefficiency. The ASC ties with unions that often blocks attempts to reform
sectors such as education. Why would you want to reform education? That's another thought. That is the sheer difficulty of conjuring the rapid growth necessary to tackle the profound economic and social divisions that make South Africa the most unequal society in the world. If the 30 years of state intervention has been unable to adequately address the legacy of apartheid, a system that derelulatory engineered a black underclass, it is far from clear
that a few market reforms will do the trick either. What are your thoughts, sir?
Milton Allimadi (58:41.96)
All right. So since we've discussed South Africa previously, I'll probably just touch on a few points and I'll show you, I'll just basically expose the racism that is deep -seated in this article. So, you know, to the people that write this, they already see a betrayal by this white -led party, the Democratic Alliance.
Adesoji Iginla (58:44.778)
Yeah.
Adesoji Iginla (58:49.77)
Mm -hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (58:55.466)
Hmm. Okay?
Milton Allimadi (59:12.197)
by them dropping their objection to minimum wage. Just think about that. And black economic empowerment. Policies that they have in the European countries that publish this publication. Policies that we have here in the United States. But somehow it's not good for Africans in South Africa.
You know, that just reveals the deep -seatedโit's just pure racism, you know? But they're so deep -seated, they don't even see it that way. OK? And this constant referring to the DA as market -oriented, as if the ANC is not, as if the ANC has bureaucrats there sitting down and setting price policies in a socialist system.
Adesoji Iginla (59:46.09)
Mmm.
Adesoji Iginla (01:00:07.922)
You
Milton Allimadi (01:00:08.068)
Who is more capitalist than Syrian Ramaphosa? How did he end up with $4 million in his sofa that was found that he had stitched in his sofa? But by constantly referring to the DA as market oriented, they don't have to address the fact that the DA is actually saying no land reform. And then you talk about corruption. What can be more corrupt?
than 7 .2 % of the population saying we're entitled to 72 % of the land, which is what the European saw today in South Africa. Is there anything more corrupt than that? But that somehow is not seen as corruption by this media outlet. There's so many things, but since we pointed to most of them in the previous commentary, this to me is the most important. And look.
Adesoji Iginla (01:00:49.226)
facts.
Milton Allimadi (01:01:06.69)
They got the ministry that they actually were salivating over. The leader of the DA, Steenhuysen, he got the Ministry of Agriculture. He is the Minister of Agriculture, which is going to be in charge of the land and is going to maintain the status quo, which is structural apartheid. They got what they wanted.
Adesoji Iginla (01:01:22.25)
that will control the control land. Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (01:01:35.906)
And this is what the global corporate media is celebrating. And it's very dangerous. It tells you their true attitude toward Africans generally and Black South Africans. They're saying, not entitled to minimum wage, not entitled to economic
black economic empowerment that is meant to redress the structural employment racism. Over centuries, since South Africa was occupied, and over decades since apartheid became official policy, you're not entitled to land. That is why we're not talking about it. They didn't mention land. None of them have mentioned land since their elections.
Adesoji Iginla (01:02:32.234)
at all.
Milton Allimadi (01:02:33.313)
whether it's the Economist, whether it's the Financial Times, whether it's the New York Times, whether it's the BBC. It is very chilling. So if you didn't know how Europeans, because this media addresses the issues that are critical to Europeans, if you didn't know the attitude toward Africans, I suggest you read all these articles published before and after the election and see how many of them
Adesoji Iginla (01:02:38.366)
Showtime's The Guardian.
Adesoji Iginla (01:02:45.514)
South Africa is set up.
Milton Allimadi (01:03:03.808)
are referring to the land inequity in South Africa. Because if you speak about it, then you have to propose what are the possible ways that this crisis is going to be addressed. So that's why I've been saying consistently that I don't think this alliance, this so -called government of national unity has a long shelf life.
Adesoji Iginla (01:03:07.914)
Be sure.
Milton Allimadi (01:03:33.728)
put off this conversation over the land issue perpetually. You saw what happened in Zimbabwe, right? In Zimbabwe, after the Lancaster agreement was signed, leading to the election that ended apartheid in what was then Rhodesia, the British government had committed to provide money to buy the land from the descendants of the Europeans that stole it. And the United States government agreed to match the money.
And then later a subsequent administration came into power in Britain and reneged on that. And the US said, if the British are not going to be providing money, there's nothing for us to match. You see? And that provoked the forceful seizure of the land in Zimbabwe. How are you going to deal with it in a different way in South Africa? If the party
that you are in partnership with, opposes land redistribution. And now they control the agriculture portfolio. There are stormy days ahead in South Africa. Stormy days ahead.
Adesoji Iginla (01:04:48.362)
which is why what we do here is very important, because we deconstruct stories that would normally just become a staple to the audience in the West, and give them a peek behind the curtains as to what the mindset is, which regards to the depiction. Usually, it used to be... Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (01:05:11.264)
Yes. No, I'm glad you said that. It's very important because if you don't know what they think about you, how are you going to deal with changing your condition? Because a lot of the choices, decisions you make are still dependent on powerful parts of the world that determine a lot of the actions in African countries. You see?
Adesoji Iginla (01:05:19.114)
Mm.
Milton Allimadi (01:05:40.958)
We are still all beholden to the financial institutions. We don't have our independent institutions that can compete with the World Bank for resources or the major private Western banks. We just don't. So that's why I say you're better off focusing your research and study into looking into the system. The system...
Adesoji Iginla (01:06:22.57)
Yeah. And also, you know.
Milton Allimadi (01:06:23.769)
Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, look at the systems, not so much individuals, but obviously, we have some Africans who are just so brutal to fellow Africans. And those obviously, we have to put our energy into trying to remove those as well. You know, we can't have one person running a country for 38 years like we have in Uganda. We can't have a country run by one person like Cameroon for 42 years.
Adesoji Iginla (01:06:35.658)
Mmm.
Adesoji Iginla (01:06:42.186)
Choo choo.
Adesoji Iginla (01:06:48.074)
You
Milton Allimadi (01:06:53.496)
We can't have a country run for almost 40 years as well, like Equatorial Guinea. Come on now. We can't. We are letting down our people. And that's why it's not surprising that now you see that war raging in Cameroon. A lot of it is rooted on this Paul Beier guy who's just been there forever. And now you have people within the same country.
Adesoji Iginla (01:06:58.506)
Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (01:07:21.59)
killing sisters and brothers and duplicate this within several other African countries. We can't have that. So while we are critical of Western imperialism and the instruments they use, which is the corporate media, we must also be honest and critical of our own misrulers who abuse our people. I actually, in the beginning,
Adesoji Iginla (01:07:31.082)
You will get this.
Milton Allimadi (01:07:51.063)
when sister Mugur, who was doing the ancestors, said one thing I wanted to touch on as well. He said she's a human rights activist.
That's where he said.
That's very sad because she's not talking about human rights out of such some theoretical context. She's talking of the experience and brutality that she suffered directly at the hands of the authorities in her own Kenya, a birth country, you see? So now we are taking away so much good critical energy and intellect that we should be using
Adesoji Iginla (01:08:21.386)
Over.
Adesoji Iginla (01:08:36.874)
Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (01:08:38.422)
to solve some of our other issues and challenges. Now we have to divert that into combating these agents of imperialism who are the fellow Africans. Yeah, so I forgot to mention that, but I wanted to mention that.
Adesoji Iginla (01:08:52.298)
Hmm.
Yes, and also the fact that she spent over four decades in exile. Yeah, she died in exile. So it's... Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (01:09:01.269)
Think about that.
this massive talent who should be, you know, back home.
Adesoji Iginla (01:09:09.418)
Yeah. And for those of our viewers viewing this, if you find value, please like, share and subscribe. And we need more numbers to, you know, take this into the ether so that we can get more people, you know, aware of what is, sits behind those headlines. So anytime you pick up your Financial Times, your New York Times or any other Western media, be it on cable, radio.
You're forced to question. I mean, we're not talking conspiracy theory here. History backs up what we're talking about. So unfortunately, those histories are also largely written by the Western press. The book I showed earlier, Neocolonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism, was taken off the shelf by Heinemann Press when they refused to publish it.
that Kwame Nkrumah had to get it published by Pan -African press. So it goes to show that, and this book, 60 odd years later, is still one of the most valued exposรฉ on how the African imperialist set up works on the African continent. I still enjoy people to get it. And yeah, so we'll go to our final story, which is Mauritania.
Milton Allimadi (01:10:22.547)
Yes.
Milton Allimadi (01:10:26.771)
Yes.
Adesoji Iginla (01:10:36.874)
a beacon of, and it goes back to what you were talking about with regards to the Sahel. So this takes us back to the tip of Africa. And you would, let's see, it goes again, it comes from the economist. I wonder why they're featuring too much today. Mauritania is a beacon of stability in the coup -prone Sahel, but disorder is knocking at its door. Now, it says, Mohammed Oud
Ganzuani, seen an unlikely stalwart of stability, president of Mauritania since 2019, the former general has participated in no less than two of the six coups that has shook the country in the first five decades after his independence from France in 1960. In the first push, he helped boot out Muhajir al -Sid Ahmed, Tire, who had ruthlessly repressed people for two decades.
After him, himself, seized power in a coup. In the second, he helped topple the country's first democratically elected president and replaced him with his old friend, Mohammed Ud Abdul Aziz, who then went on to win two terms as president. Yet, as defense minister, then president, he's played an influential role in ousting al -Qaeda in the Maghreb, an Algeria -based jihadist group that launched a series of deadly attacks in Mauritania
between 2005 and 2011. Hold that thought here. A combination of community outreach mediation with Islamist and military modernization has uprooted extremism. Mauritania has been free of terrorism for over 13 years due to his winning second term in the presidential, scheduled for June 29, which the UN reckons will be free and fair. Okay, so now we trust the UN. Though Mauritania has left coups and behind,
Milton Allimadi (01:12:30.799)
you
Adesoji Iginla (01:12:33.962)
Okay, there is a part here, yeah. Which again, like you said, sometimes we have to listen to what is not being said. Which has booted out Western troops and UN peacekeeper, brought in Russian mercenaries instead, has fueled the violence. Mauritania and Chad has been forced to disband the GLG5 Sahel, a five country anti -terrorist after military regimes in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali withdrawal. Over to you, sir.
Milton Allimadi (01:12:41.487)
bright.
Milton Allimadi (01:13:03.103)
Well, I mean, I'm sure listeners now become adept at detecting these things. And regardless of what the story is about, they see that it's repeating something that was in an earlier article.
Adesoji Iginla (01:13:07.082)
You
Milton Allimadi (01:13:21.614)
Who's in Africa equals bad thing, right? We quoted the president of Botswana saying that, right?
Adesoji Iginla (01:13:28.682)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Milton Allimadi (01:13:35.117)
in the conference in Botswana.
Adesoji Iginla (01:13:38.058)
Yep.
Milton Allimadi (01:13:40.11)
by the way, a conference of generals, right? In Botswana.
Adesoji Iginla (01:13:44.266)
Correct.
Milton Allimadi (01:13:47.436)
And now, in this article dealing with a different country, we're hearing the same thing again. Coup in Africa equals bad thing, although it does not continue and say unless it's a coup that we like and that we played a role in. Like the one in Chad, right? Like the one in Gabon.
Adesoji Iginla (01:13:54.506)
You
Adesoji Iginla (01:13:59.69)
Mm -hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (01:14:05.162)
Hey
Adesoji Iginla (01:14:13.258)
mhm in gap correct
Milton Allimadi (01:14:17.772)
Right? So those are not mentioned. Not even mentioned. No mention of Gabon. No mention of Chad. And both had coups. And both supported by the West. Right? The level of disingenuous. So what they're not saying anything that is not true. It is what they leave out. Is really what kills you. And they talked about this insurgency.
Adesoji Iginla (01:14:21.962)
Mm.
Milton Allimadi (01:14:46.955)
that's really torn up the region, particularly since 2010 and 2011. Now, is this not the height of irresponsibility to go to an origin year and not explain what had happened at 2010 and 2011? The level of dishonesty is mind -boggling. It's chilling.
Adesoji Iginla (01:14:54.058)
Hmm.
Adesoji Iginla (01:15:07.41)
I'm sorry.
You
Milton Allimadi (01:15:15.306)
to those of us who are in the know.
Adesoji Iginla (01:15:17.802)
Hmm because
Milton Allimadi (01:15:19.626)
But to people who read casually, you know, everything they said is true. It did start in 2010. I remember the reports, the news reports of all these killings escalated out of 2010. Ask yourself, what happened 2010, 2011? We discussed that earlier. That's when they went, NATO killed Qadhafi and unleashed all those weapons. So it didn't start because those insurgents started it. It started because they killed Qadhafi.
Adesoji Iginla (01:15:24.97)
Yeah.
Milton Allimadi (01:15:49.418)
The weapons became available. Then those insurgents started it. You see?
Adesoji Iginla (01:15:55.882)
Hmm.
Milton Allimadi (01:15:56.969)
But when you pick the narrative to start from where you want, when you can go to South Africa and history begins after the May 29, 2024 election, and not the arrival in the 17th century from people who stole your land, then you can tell any story, of course. If I can pick, I can pick and choose where I begin the narrative. I'm in command.
Adesoji Iginla (01:16:05.066)
in 1994.
Hahaha!
Adesoji Iginla (01:16:15.306)
Exactly? Of course!
Adesoji Iginla (01:16:25.258)
Of course.
Milton Allimadi (01:16:25.384)
So we must not surrender where the narrative starts. It's very critical what was happening at that time, particularly when they want to press a particular narrative. Look at their start date. You see, that's one lesson that I suggest every listener retain. Look at the start date. Go back. And be sure the insurgents.
Adesoji Iginla (01:16:31.978)
Mmm.
Adesoji Iginla (01:16:52.586)
Yep.
Milton Allimadi (01:16:55.88)
2010, 2011. That's when NATO, nobody is now referring to that decisive, destructive NATO war, which changed dramatically the history of that entire North Africa, Sahel, and West Africa, and Central Africa region in a very destructive way. But no, because then they would have to take blame for it. Libya is on fire today.
Adesoji Iginla (01:16:55.882)
you will find you will find that you will find the answer
Milton Allimadi (01:17:26.439)
Libya is like a failed state today. But they blame it all on the factions that are fighting in Libya without telling us before NATO dropped a single bomb on Libya and then dropped the bombs for like nine, 10 months in a row.
Libya compared to every other African country was economic paradise.
Adesoji Iginla (01:17:52.042)
Yep. And I also like to, you know, the bit where they said that there is the Al -Qaeda base, military base in Algeria that is a figment of somebody's very colorful imagination. The only base at in the southern tip of Algeria happens to be the one that has been there since 1976.
and it hosts the Sahrawi, Western Sahrawi refugees who were expelled from Western Sahara by Morocco and Mauritania by claiming Western Sahara. And Western Sahara now remains disputed. There could have been an election in 1992, but they were being, what's it called? Morocco was playing hard fast.
Milton Allimadi (01:18:49.508)
It's not even disputed, it's occupied, it's occupied, legally, right.
Adesoji Iginla (01:18:52.938)
Occupied, sorry, sorry. I'm using them, you see, I've been reading too much Western prep. So yes, it's occupied.
Milton Allimadi (01:18:58.052)
Yep. Yep, yep.
And Morocco is of course backed by the French, you know?
Adesoji Iginla (01:19:05.834)
Yes, yes, yes. So they've occupied Western Sahara since 1976, December 25th, 1976, in fact. So it goes without saying that if you do not go back in time to see what has transpired before, you're inclined to run away with the narrative thinking the people are just, you know, headless, mindless, thoughtless people that need to be shepherd. No.
There is a reason why we have issues like this on the ground. And from time to time, when you have headlines like this, Morocco is a beacon of stability in the coup prone Sahel. You have to ask the question, what made it coup prone, which is what Comrade Alimade has just explained to us. And yes, again, I thank the good comrade coming through.
Next week we shall return to our regular schedule time, which is 7 to 8 Eastern on Wednesday. And owing to issues, we had to shift it over to today, but next week. But again, thank you all for coming through. And again, if you find value, do like, share, and subscribe to the channel. And hit the notification bell so that you
Milton Allimadi (01:20:12.962)
Yes.
Adesoji Iginla (01:20:33.61)
get notified that we're having similar type conversations. And Brother Milton, over to you. Any last words?
Milton Allimadi (01:20:43.65)
to continue.
Adesoji Iginla (01:20:47.726)
Victory has set up. And from me, myself, I would say Odig Bakono, which is until next time. And good night, everyone.
Milton Allimadi (01:21:00.098)
Thank you.