EP 1 When Did Africa Stop "Loving" France I African News Review 🌍

In this conversation, Adesoji Iginla and Milton Allimadi discuss various news stories related to Africa. They deconstruct the coverage of Mauritania, highlighting the Western media's focus on economic interests and the lack of African perspectives. They also analyze Germany's proposal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, questioning the ethics and safety of such a plan. 
The conversation then shifted to France's relationship with Africa, noting the history of exploitation and recent anti-French sentiment in several African countries. At which point, Milton Allimadi and Adesoji Iginla expressed the African perspective on international relations and the need for decolonization. 
They critique the idea of African countries joining European-controlled organizations like the Commonwealth and highlight the importance of independent leadership. 
They also touched the situation in Haiti and the potential for a UN peacekeeping operation, emphasizing the need for African Union leadership. 
Lastly, they analyzed China's relationship with Africa and call for a focus on industrialization and technology transfer. They stress the importance of conscious African leaders and the need to challenge negative narratives about Africa.

00:00 Introduction and Overview
01:00 Deconstructing the Western Media's Coverage of Mauritania
07:33 Ethical Concerns and Safety of Sending Asylum Seekers to Rwanda
25:14 France's Exploitative Relationship with Africa
32:30 Anti-French Sentiment in African Countries
33:18 The African Perspective on International Relations
36:25 Decolonizing the Mind and Challenging Eurocentric Narratives
45:28 The Need for African Union Leadership in Interventions
54:37 Industrialization and Technology Transfer in China-Africa Relations
59:08 Promoting Conscious African Leaders and Challenging Negative Narratives

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:02.67)
Good day, good day, good day. Welcome to African News Review, a weekly conversation in which we take a look at the coverage of Africa in the Western press and deconstruct the stories for not just yourself, for ourselves as well to get a better understanding how we're portrayed in the media. I am your host, Adesoji Iginla, and with me as usual is a journalist, publisher of Black Star News, a broadcaster, WBAI.

New York radio. He teaches African history at John Jay College and holds a degree in journalism, economics, and from Columbia and Syracuse University respectively. He's currently seeking his PhD at Howard University. His book, Manufacturing in Hate, how the Western media is inspired this African news review. I speak no other than of my comrade Milton Allimadi

and welcome to African News Review.

Milton Allimadi (01:02.045)
Asante sana, comrade. Thank you.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05.964)
Yes. without further ado, we go into the story of Mauritania. Mauritania is fast becoming the darling of the West again. And I wonder why. it be, having discovered something, I should share. And I'm looking to, me a second. Here we go.

Milton Allimadi (01:26.769)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (01:38.572)
Yes. And the first story comes from the Times, the UK Times, which says, President Ghazani ends decades of turbulence. Mauritania has found natural gas and he is exacting his price, the lead says. The story goes in, the pool of the deserts remains strong in Mauritania, large and mostly empty Islamic Republic between the Atlantic and Sahara.

Milton Allimadi (01:59.228)
you

.

Adesoji Iginla (02:07.694)
After independence in 1960, its first council of ministers took place under a tent. Wow. The racism there. A few days ago, its eminent writer mused that his country's elite dreams of sands and palm trees, not Paris or London. God. But the man at the top sings these differently, President Mohammed Oud Ghazwami.

Milton Allimadi (02:14.685)
Hahaha.

Adesoji Iginla (02:33.934)
former army chief who imposed calm after decades of turbulence has found the world needs Mauritania and is exacting his price. And I go for that. That's the man in question. And that is the landscape of Mauritania with an iron ore freight train going as usual to the coast. We wonder what they're taking. Mauritania recently discovered gas resources which will come on stream next year tripling the national

Milton Allimadi (02:58.011)
Hahaha.

Adesoji Iginla (03:03.758)
annual growth of an economy that is smaller than that of Mauritius, from 4 % to 14 % according to the IMF. What's your initial take,

Milton Allimadi (03:15.645)
Well, they're talking what? Money, right? Money and resources. The continuation of the scramble for Africa. But obviously they can't describe it as the scramble for Africa. But you just have to listen to what is being written, what is being said in the article. And if you are looking at it from an African perspective, which is of course the most important, if an American

Adesoji Iginla (03:18.252)
Yes. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (03:25.624)
Mm -hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (03:41.763)
Mm

Milton Allimadi (03:46.339)
is reading an article describing anything about the United States, they're not going to look at it from an Egyptian perspective or a South African perspective or a Nigerian perspective. Correct? If a Briton is reading something describing Britain, they're not going to look at it from a Haitian perspective or a South Sudanese perspective or a Rwanda perspective. You see? And that's the problem with us.

Adesoji Iginla (03:54.69)
You

Adesoji Iginla (04:00.174)
Correct? Yeah, true.

Adesoji Iginla (04:08.248)
facts.

No,

Milton Allimadi (04:15.739)
You know, we read things from a European perspective written by Europeans. And then we are shocked when there's so much confusion and a lack of understanding. So the first basic thing that every African must do is to read things written by outsiders about Africa from an African perspective. So the first thing you pay attention to, what are they saying in the beginning? The beginning is the most important part of these.

Adesoji Iginla (04:21.344)
about us.

Milton Allimadi (04:44.967)
corporate articles based on the formula they use of the inverted pyramid, correct, in journalism, that the most crucial critical information is leading. And that's why they call it the lead. It comes earlier and as it goes down, the information diminishes in importance. And so far we have heard nothing about resources. A small country

Adesoji Iginla (04:51.724)
Yeah, correct,

Adesoji Iginla (05:05.858)
Potential.

Milton Allimadi (05:12.061)
with plenty of resources, small in population, it's very large actually. So the population is about five million. But look how large the country, the country is 398 ,000 square miles. By comparison, Uganda is about 94 ,000 square miles with a population of almost 50 million. So you see, it has all this land, it has all this wealth. So they're setting it up. Now the question,

Adesoji Iginla (05:15.212)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (05:24.801)
mouse yeah

Milton Allimadi (05:41.991)
that should come to your mind as you are reading an article like this before you even go any further, you should start asking yourself who is going to be the beneficiary of this wealth.

Adesoji Iginla (05:52.302)
Surely it has to be the Mauritanians.

Milton Allimadi (05:54.389)
we would hope so, correct? Actually, let me rephrase it. Who would be the primary beneficiary of this wealth? Because obviously, Mauritania, as the holder of the resources, as in any African, every other African country, will benefit to some extent. But the key question we need to ask ourselves, who will be the primary beneficiaries?

Adesoji Iginla (05:56.532)
You

Milton Allimadi (06:24.433)
And that's always been the problem with African resources for each and every African country. Who are the people who have been the beneficiaries? We can go back to enslavement. Who benefited from that primarily? Taking African labor to work for free in the so -called new world. And nothing has changed in that arrangement up to date.

Adesoji Iginla (06:42.477)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (06:50.378)
Now, so if we go further down the story, it says countries and bodies have signed deals with or would Mauritania, including France, the European Union, NATO, China, Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Turkey.

A headline in the American magazine Foreign Policy last year read, why everyone is caught in Mauritania. Now, I suppose the question then would be, as you can see, is clearly a scramble.

What would be the fallout of the not so perfect situation here?

Milton Allimadi (07:41.117)
Meaning?

Adesoji Iginla (07:42.858)
Meaning, if one does not get their way, could you see someone starting to cause trouble? Or, yeah. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (07:52.177)
Mischief, yeah, they'll call it mischief. They probably want to do it the old imperial way, where they just went to straight, direct, outright war, right? But they might support local entities to do the dirty work for them. So here's the question. You just read the list of not only countries, but entities as well, such as you and NATO.

Adesoji Iginla (07:56.653)
Mm -hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (08:00.14)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Delicious. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (08:15.384)
country entities,

you

Milton Allimadi (08:21.403)
signing deals. What was missing in that list? And I hope listeners who are paying close attention notice that. You mentioned all these countries and none of them represented an African country. Not a single African country or entity was mentioned in that list. So that proves my point. How can the primary beneficiaries

Adesoji Iginla (08:43.501)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (08:50.447)
of an African council of resources be from outside the continent? Why is South Africa not on the table? Why is Nigeria not on the table? Why is Ghana not on the table? You see? Because so long as our resources are benefiting the outside world, it serves two purposes. The outside world, they develop wealth and prosperity.

Adesoji Iginla (09:03.276)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (09:19.383)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (09:19.901)
by creating new technology, by creating jobs for the citizens, right? And for us, we've retrogressed. We go backward because what you're getting relative to your resources. You know, it's like me coming to your house, right? And I'm saying, I know you love books, right? The value of your books, you know, a quick look at the one you have just in the living room alone.

Adesoji Iginla (09:23.873)
adding value to.

Adesoji Iginla (09:37.902)
Mm

Milton Allimadi (09:50.065)
Maybe it's a thousand pounds. I know you need money, Adesuji. So I'm going to give you a hundred pounds. And I'm going to take these books with me and do whatever I want with the books, right? And you're so desperate, you can't turn down a hundred pounds and you're going to take it. That's what happening to all the resources that we have in African countries. So can we really say Adesuji benefited?

Adesoji Iginla (09:54.574)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (10:04.674)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (10:09.282)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (10:19.197)
Even though he needed the £100, terribly, and now he has it in his wallet, is he really a beneficiary? That's the same way we need to look at the abundant natural gas resources that has now been discovered in Mauritania. And that is the way we need to look at all the resources that each and every African country has.

Adesoji Iginla (10:21.422)
Hmm, true.

Adesoji Iginla (10:26.148)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (10:42.606)
So one final question on this story. Mauritania sits in the so -called coup belt. But funny enough, Mauritania hasn't suffered any incursion from the Islamists, as they would say. And the reason I say that is there is a very, I don't even know how to put it. The best way is to read it. OK.

Milton Allimadi (10:57.873)
Right, right.

Adesoji Iginla (11:08.302)
So it says, where is it? Where is it? Yes, here. The US, France, and the UN all failed to subdue, so they're talking about the insurgents now. All failed to subdue them and largely withdrew from the region known as the Sahel. But Mauritania, which has an army of only a few thousands, including 300 camel cavalrymen, sent Imams.

Milton Allimadi (11:36.561)
All right, so before you finish that, I mean, I can't stand it anymore. This racist, you know, and racism, they keep revisiting, you know, meeting in the tent, wanting the sand and the desert, the camel thing, you know, you know, this this sickness that many European writers and editors still suffer from, you know, we need to keep calling them out on it. We don't like hearing it. If you like hearing it, you know,

Adesoji Iginla (11:38.505)
Hahaha

Adesoji Iginla (11:56.974)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (12:05.767)
Talk about it in your privacy. You don't have to assault us by forcing us to read your racist imaginations about Africa and African people. So I just wanted to interject that, but please, Carmen, go ahead and finish.

Adesoji Iginla (12:08.098)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (12:18.441)
Okay. So, it says, but Mauritania, which has an army of only a few thousands, including 300 camel cavalrymen, sent Imams into the desert to hold theological debates with the militants on questions as such as whether the Quran sanctions the kidnapping of Western tourists, which has become regular.

The conclusion was that it did not and the militants subsided.

Milton Allimadi (12:51.813)
Okay, so that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but to be honest, that should actually be the lead of this article because obviously they want to just promote a purely military solution. Correct? That is what they did in Libya. Look at where Libya is today. Correct? So now this article is telling us that Mauritania has adopted a different approach.

Adesoji Iginla (13:02.584)
You

Adesoji Iginla (13:08.75)
Choo choo choo choo choo.

Adesoji Iginla (13:14.722)
Hmm. Yes, yes.

Milton Allimadi (13:21.989)
and it seems to yield positive results for the country so far. So in fact, they're confirming that you need to have a multifaceted approach to resolving these conflicts. There might be some legitimate issues that the people that are fighting can bring to the table, correct? After all, even the United States at the end of the day, after spending

Adesoji Iginla (13:32.888)
talk.

Adesoji Iginla (13:40.589)
Mm

Adesoji Iginla (13:44.822)
yeah yeah

Milton Allimadi (13:51.249)
hundreds of billions of dollars ended up negotiating with the Taliban, correct? So why is it that these African countries are not being encouraged to explore multifaceted approaches to resolving these conflicts? And we're being told by a European corporate media that the United States and France have failed in their approach.

Adesoji Iginla (13:57.154)
Correct, correct. That's a fact of history.

Milton Allimadi (14:21.349)
So in fact, I think we discussed this in the last episode. There was an article by the New York Times talking about the US being kicked out of these countries. And I said, well, you are acknowledging that they failed. So should that not be the focus of the story, the lead? That they are failed, therefore they're being kicked out. You see? You need to.

Adesoji Iginla (14:34.412)
Yeah, and Niger, Niger, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (14:40.602)
You

Yes? Yes?

Milton Allimadi (14:50.843)
read these separate publications together and piece the information together and come up with the, you we have to learn how to connect the dots. So the New York Times told us what happened. These US troops are being kicked out, they're being forced to close their bases and so on and so forth. But they didn't say they failed, the US and France failed. So you have to come to another.

Adesoji Iginla (14:58.69)
the food.

Adesoji Iginla (15:12.376)
Mm

Milton Allimadi (15:19.481)
European media who are telling you in no uncertain terms that they failed. So take the information from here and connect it with the New York Times article. You know, don't read these as disparate, separate article. Read them and then combine the information together and you'll be a much wiser consumer of Western media.

Adesoji Iginla (15:29.96)
Mmm. Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (15:42.274)
And the final question, what do you say to the whitewashing of the image of the leader, who in fact was part of the coups that had...

Milton Allimadi (15:49.693)
Absolutely. In fact, he was a military ruler in the past, but now he's no longer part of the coup belt. And you can't accuse them of lying. So you have to learn how to read every sentence. So there is a reference to the others in the coup belt I'm referred to now, recently formed military junta. So that now takes Mohammed Ghazni.

Adesoji Iginla (16:00.408)
True.

Adesoji Iginla (16:13.57)
You

Milton Allimadi (16:19.623)
takes him away and that legitimizes him. So he's not a part of the coup because this coup was a long time ago.

Adesoji Iginla (16:21.1)
Yeah. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (16:27.016)
you

Milton Allimadi (16:30.17)
These people are too clever for their own good, man.

Adesoji Iginla (16:32.974)
Well, you know, it's the reason why we're here. So if you value what you do, do like, share, subscribe, and bring everybody else to default so that they can understand what we're looking at here. so we... Go on.

Milton Allimadi (16:50.747)
At the end of the day, each and every African reader of the European corporate Western media, just give yourself one test and challenge yourself and make a statement, say, I will not let them slide one by me. know? So you're going to develop a knack of being, building a resistance, right? Immunity from being deceived.

Adesoji Iginla (16:57.547)
media.

Adesoji Iginla (17:09.143)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (17:18.862)
Choo choo choo choo. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (17:20.817)
by these guys and you'll become better at it. In fact, articles that you read sometime in the past, go back and read them again. Now with a very critical eye and you'll start cutting stuff that they slipped by you in the past. So if you keep doing that exercise, you'll become immune to being duped by these folks.

Adesoji Iginla (17:24.61)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (17:32.138)
You

Adesoji Iginla (17:39.373)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (17:47.008)
Yes, yes. And we live and learn with the Western media, as they say. We live and learn. so from Mauritania, we go to Rwanda has been in the news, but this time coming from Germany. And the Germans want to take over from where the British stopped. And so they're thinking of revisiting the asylum situation, the asylum hostile.

Again, this news comes from the Times, which was the previous paper that gave us that story on Mauritania. So the title, the headline reads, Let's Send Asylum Seekers to Rwanda, says Germany Migration Chiefs. After Solingen's knife killings, Berlin looks to Kagali, hostile that is ready and waiting after Labour government ditches 700 million Tory plan, the Tory being the Conservatives in the UK.

So Germany's Migration Commissioner has proposed sending migrants to Rwanda where facilities prepared for Britain's now -scrub deportation deal are sitting empty. Joachim Stamp, a free Democrat party member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz governing coalition, said the scheme would target refugees crossing the European Union eastern border. That is the key sentence there.

Germany is adopting a tougher line on migration following the recent knife attack in the city of Solingen in which three people were killed and eight others were injured by a Syrian asylum seeker who had been due to be deported. Your initial take.

Milton Allimadi (19:10.481)
Right.

Milton Allimadi (19:26.441)
All right, so a couple of questions were not elaborated, you So they're saying the asana msikas are primarily coming through which borders?

Adesoji Iginla (19:36.606)
so the eastern side of Germany. we're talking Poland, Poland, Poland would be on the east, Poland, Ukraine, Belarusia. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (19:43.751)
Huh? That's right.

Okay, so I have a question which was not elaborated. Who are these asylum seekers? You see? Are they Africans who are coming through these countries? Or are these Eastern Europeans who are coming to Germany?

Adesoji Iginla (20:04.61)
They're not. They're Asians, largely Asians, Arabs, Middle East. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (20:09.669)
Okay, okay, understood. Okay, very good. So my initial, okay, so this is actually my thoughts. And you know, we have to, and we have a right to think bigger, not limit our context to these articles, which are very narrow, because beyond the article, we have a lot more knowledge, right? We know that Germany is a country that went through serious turmoil.

Adesoji Iginla (20:31.55)
Mm -hmm. Yeah,

Adesoji Iginla (20:38.369)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (20:38.787)
in the 1930s and 1940s. We know that Germany caused a lot of turmoil to many countries in the 1930s and the 1940s. And the ramification is still being played out even today in our time. So Germany is not a stranger to pain and suffering of civilian populations, right? So we always need to remind them of that in conversations such as this, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (20:42.744)
Fuck.

Adesoji Iginla (20:48.11)
Choo? Choo?

Adesoji Iginla (20:55.438)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (21:02.904)
Facts.

Adesoji Iginla (21:07.554)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (21:08.647)
pretend like you are holier than thou. Correct? So it's even offensive for you to take this position. let's just take these asylum seekers and throw them to Rwanda. Number one. Number two, you're admitting that Rwanda is not a safe place. Correct? Because you are saying this, this threat that we will send you to Rwanda.

Adesoji Iginla (21:11.036)
Down, Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (21:22.689)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (21:29.196)
Yep, correct, yep.

Milton Allimadi (21:37.745)
will deter migration to your country, which is the same dilemma that the British, of course, face, which was exposed when they went to the website of the government itself or the ruling party. You see? So how can you have that contradiction? We are sending you to a place that we know is not safe, yet you claim that you abide by the rule of law.

Adesoji Iginla (21:38.083)
Mm

Adesoji Iginla (21:44.718)
Exactly before...

Adesoji Iginla (21:51.297)
You - yeah?

Adesoji Iginla (22:00.344)
that we don't consider safe. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (22:06.2)
Mm -hmm.

Milton Allimadi (22:06.203)
And the rule of law requires humane treatment for every human being. So how can you willingly, knowingly send people to a third party that you know is not a safe environment? So that's my reaction to this, initially, of what we've heard so far.

Adesoji Iginla (22:24.672)
I would even add the story of Germany. Germany, again, 1930s, but prior to 1930s, Germany actually fostered a genocide, Holocaust, massacre, call it what you may, on the people of Herero and Nama. So they know what it is to impose

Milton Allimadi (22:47.526)
Absolutely.

Adesoji Iginla (22:52.578)
people on another set of people. And so you know what Rwanda is about. You know Rwanda itself is one of the most tightly populated countries in the world. And yet you want to bring the issue of asylum

Milton Allimadi (22:54.941)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (23:04.816)
Right.

Milton Allimadi (23:09.371)
Right. They have no manners, essentially, and we have to remind them that. You have to make the conversation difficult for them. They have no manners. They are not behaving like humane human beings to other human beings.

Adesoji Iginla (23:16.108)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (23:23.694)
Because I was, I mean, I was when I was preparing for this, I came across this book, the Kaiser's Holocaust. And I'll just read the blob at the back, which says, on May 12, 1883, the German flag was raised on the coast of southwest Africa, modern Namibia.

Milton Allimadi (23:37.211)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (23:49.932)
When the indigenous people, the Herero and the Namas resisted, Germany launched a war of extermination. It ended with the construction of concentration camps in which prisoners were systematically walked and starved to death. Years later, the soldiers and bureaucrats who had administered the camps and the racial theories that inspired them will play a crucial role in the formation of Nazism.

Milton Allimadi (24:19.728)
Absolutely.

Adesoji Iginla (24:20.094)
So again, history is not silent. It is there. You only have to recall it to see the, like you said earlier, connect the dots.

Milton Allimadi (24:31.631)
Yup, connect the dots and then we can ask them questions that make them cringe and think twice before they completely lose their manners and start talking to other human beings in such a condescending and offensive way.

Adesoji Iginla (24:36.867)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (24:48.839)
Okay, that said, now is the question of our next story is one of love or someone who has fallen out of love. And for that we go to a British publication, The Spectator. And the title of the story is How Africa Fell Out of Love with France. And it says,

On Wednesday last week, a new Gabon military junta re -installed itself. This is from late last year. Having ousted President Ali Bongo, whose family had ruled the country since 1967, just two days earlier, the French president Emmanuel Macron gave a speech to his ambassadors in which he spoke of an epidemic of poachers.

in which was formerly France's greatest fair of political colonial influence. There has been six schools in Francophone, Sub -Saharan Africa in three years, Mali, Chad, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, and now small but weighty nation of Gabon. France holds policy is on the skids and there will be trepidation in other palaces, residential palaces, such as those of 90 -year -old Paul Bia in Cameroon and

Milton Allimadi (25:50.045)
you

Adesoji Iginla (26:10.446)
79 year old Dennis Sasso Inguesso in Congo. Your initial thoughts.

Milton Allimadi (26:16.622)
Alright, so first of all, I go back to the headline. My question would be since when was Africa in love with France? First of all, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (26:26.661)
You're such a party pooper.

Milton Allimadi (26:29.681)
how Africa fell out of love with France. You see how deceptive this is? So even though the article itself may now appear critical that the French approach now has its major problems, correct? It makes it appear as if this is something new. And it tries to exonerate all the previous crimes in this lopsided relationship.

Adesoji Iginla (26:37.634)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (26:45.453)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (26:59.417)
as if it was fine, this relationship was beneficial to both parties until very recently as a consequence of the recent fallout, Africa now does not love France. So you see, so I go back to compatriots who are watching, listening to us. Don't let them slip anything past you. Read every sentence very carefully.

Adesoji Iginla (27:05.187)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (27:27.321)
Africa has been exploited by the French since the historical engagement between France and Africa. Africa continues to be exploited. If you accept the notion that Africa was in love at one point with France, it means you accept the notion that Africans love being exploited. And that is just wrong. So don't accept that. OK, so now we get the reference to the coups. Chad is included.

But we are not elaborated and told that that was actually a French coup d 'etat. Because the current president, know, Hamad, his father had been killed. Idris Dabhi had been murdered or assassinated or what have you. They drew up this elaborate propaganda that he was killed on the front lines fighting jihadists, you know, since when as a president.

Adesoji Iginla (28:03.338)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (28:11.768)
Mm

Milton Allimadi (28:26.705)
going himself on the front line for what purpose to fight in Dihades. So that story, in fact, why he was assassinated, we still don't know all the full details. But then his son succeeded him and Macron hit himself, Emmanuel Macron, the French president was there for his sweating in. So that was obviously a French coup d 'etat. Gabon, as we now know, that was also a French coup d 'etat. And in each case,

Adesoji Iginla (28:28.215)
Exactly.

Adesoji Iginla (28:44.14)
inauguration. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (28:56.401)
They're trying to preempt an authentic uprising, an authentic revolution, if you will. That's what they're trying to. They're trying to make sure that since the current regime is now not sustainable, before the new order comes on board, let's step in. So we get rid of the current regime.

Adesoji Iginla (29:08.526)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (29:23.348)
You

Milton Allimadi (29:25.863)
but we impose somebody new, but somebody whom we can still handle. Somebody who may be, even to the people, a little more acceptable than the person that we are helping to get rid of. So that's the formula that they're applying in Gabon and in Chad. And the article correctly raises the fear that there could be change in Cameroon.

Adesoji Iginla (29:29.144)
It's pie level. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (29:42.19)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (29:54.941)
where the senile 92 year old ruler, ruler in quotation of course, who lives in a Swiss hotel is possibly going to face a similar outcome, a similar demise in Cameroon and that is Paul Beer of course. And they also mentioned Susun Wesso of Congo, formerly known as Congo Brazzaville.

Adesoji Iginla (29:59.96)
for beer.

Adesoji Iginla (30:11.608)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (30:21.71)
Congo Brazzaville, Kinshasa.

Milton Allimadi (30:22.799)
across from Congo, what was known as Congo Kinshasa, now Democratic Republic of Congo. So yeah, that's the setup that the article so far has introduced in the story.

Adesoji Iginla (30:33.974)
Okay, and I continue. What Macron did not say was that a common feature of most of this overthrow was an anti -French sentiment, nor did anyone expect him to acknowledge what he stated widely. That is the end of Frank Afrique and with the long delayed end of France's imperial adventure. Largely corrupt regimes saw their leaders, family and descendants maintained in power by benevolent French

Milton Allimadi (30:58.525)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (31:02.658)
diplomatic, financial, and military agreements. African leaders could siphon off wealth to French banks and property investments, access high -level Parisian medical facilities, and remain confident of their invulnerability because of the presence of French troops garrisons. In exchange, France kept alive the remnants of past imperial glory, la mission de civilisation, civilizing mission.

maintaining at his back and call a sizable UN lobby of African states and the use of African bases as force projection for its military. French companies enjoy a privileged access to raw materials and regional economies. European states, including the EU collectively and the West in general, were happy to go along with this settlement while the benefits accrued. Among them, the stable regime that kept lead

on immigration to Europe. But this is the last part. Needless to say, such a neocolonial state of affairs was not a good look, which is why all French presidents since Francois Mitterrand pretend to want to cut the Franco -African Oblique Accord, including Macron himself, since he came to power in 2017. But the benefits were all too bountiful, not least for corrupt local leaders such as Bongo and his clan.

There's a last, there's a part here which, yeah. When we're talking about Gabon, you know, being overthrown, the Francophone Togo and Gabon provoked apolxy in Paris last year when they thumped their noses at the French international organization of La Francophonie and joined the British Commonwealth. Could that have been the reason why he was overthrown?

Milton Allimadi (32:36.655)
you

Milton Allimadi (32:58.083)
definitely. Absolutely. That is a reason. That is a possible, very plausible, correct. But our main concern to viewers, listeners should be, and that's a big giveaway actually, what you just referred to.

Adesoji Iginla (33:03.48)
Mm. Mm.

Milton Allimadi (33:18.095)
So, and we should look at it from an African perspective, correct? So they're writing from a European perspective, look at the problems that France is now facing. And now you have these two countries which were formerly part of a post -French colonial organization now joining the Commonwealth.

Adesoji Iginla (33:23.182)
Choo choo choo.

Adesoji Iginla (33:34.913)
of the French

arrangement.

Milton Allimadi (33:44.337)
to ask the question should be, why are you suggesting that that is somehow something good? That two African countries are running to another European controlled, initiated organization. I can tell you that it was, and this is something you can even surmise. You don't have to have the evidence in front of you. You see? I can tell you that,

Adesoji Iginla (33:50.926)
True,

Adesoji Iginla (34:00.941)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (34:13.757)
After Ghana became independent in 1957, the first of the British empire, the colonies in Africa to decolonize.

Adesoji Iginla (34:24.163)
Mm

Milton Allimadi (34:25.839)
I can't imagine then Krumah was sitting there the first day of independence in his office. He's reflecting and he said, you know what? What are some of the first things I should do? Create the British Commonwealth. No. This is something that a British foreign secretary or prime minister sitting together saying, okay. So.

Adesoji Iginla (34:42.636)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (34:54.171)
How can we still retain influence and control over these soon to be independent former colonies?

Adesoji Iginla (34:59.628)
Then it's gone. Yes.

Milton Allimadi (35:02.801)
British Commonwealth. Wow. Why? So that is as much a colonial, neocolonial entity as the French one that you are just deriding right now. And yet you are saying it should be okay that two former French African colonies are running to the Commonwealth. That's supposed to be something good. And if any reader somehow missed that, then you still need to do more homework.

Adesoji Iginla (35:14.754)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (35:32.189)
in terms of how to prevent these people from slipping things past you. Sometimes they talk about things, boom, boom, boom, and then they slip something and continue boom, boom, boom. But that one sentence is possibly much more important than 10 previous sentences, you see? know, sister and brother, don't worry. you're not there yet, eventually you will get there. And they won't slip stuff like this past you.

Adesoji Iginla (35:38.028)
I'll see you here.

Adesoji Iginla (35:49.4)
to them.

Adesoji Iginla (35:57.51)
Mm -hmm.

Milton Allimadi (36:01.819)
then

Adesoji Iginla (36:02.446)
So you're saying France should really be worried that Togo and Gabon now has crossed over and should try as much as possible to prevent others doing such a thing. Because I mean, that would mean less French influence and more British influence. But from an African point of view, where does that put us?

Milton Allimadi (36:14.833)
Hahaha

Milton Allimadi (36:20.849)
Right.

Milton Allimadi (36:25.479)
from an African point of view, if their choice is not to be an independent country like Burkina Faso under Thomas Sankara, then we need to continue working to have leaders such as Thomas Sankara. We don't need a leader who wants to celebrate that, I'm trading French neo -colonialism for British neo -colonialism.

Adesoji Iginla (36:28.59)
It means we

Adesoji Iginla (36:37.482)
Mm. Mm -hmm.

Milton Allimadi (36:55.333)
And that's supposed to be good and acceptable. Not at all. And then the article also has this, you know, Eurocentric, nonsensical notions about the civilizing agenda of the French. What civilization did the French bring? Civilization, you can't civilize by committing massacres against

Adesoji Iginla (36:58.015)
Mm, mm.

Adesoji Iginla (37:13.526)
of the frontier.

Milton Allimadi (37:24.077)
any other human beings. So if you accept that for Europeans to kill Africans, to take their land, their country, their resources, destroy their religion, spirituality, destroy their language, and that is post -civilizing, if you accept that, then obviously it means that we have an illness in our minds. And of course that illness is colonized minds.

Adesoji Iginla (37:25.57)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (37:33.068)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (37:36.429)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (37:40.909)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (37:47.042)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (37:53.277)
So we need to keep working to decolonize our minds as our good brother, senior writer Ngugiwa Tiongo reminds us in his book, Decolonizing the

Adesoji Iginla (38:03.394)
on Google, you are seeing, yeah.

Man's in the mind. And speaking of decolonizing the minds, we go to the first independent black country on earth, the country of Haiti. And Haiti is back in the news. People might be wondering why we're talking about Haiti. Haiti is an African country at large. So.

This news comes from the Associated Press and the lead reads, the US is considering the creation of a UN peacekeeping operation for Haiti to fight gangs. That's the usual retort. And the lead goes, the US is mauling a UN peacekeeping operation in Haiti as one way to secure funding and staffing for Kenya's led

mission deployed to quell gang violence in the Caribbean country, a top US diplomat said Wednesday. Brian A. Nichols, US Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, spoke hours after the Miami Herald reported that the administration of US President Joe Biden is considering the possibility of a traditional UN peacekeeping operation given the limited funding and equipment available to the current mission.

The UN Security Council will ultimately have to vote on a peacekeeping mission, while experts have said it is unlikely it will support one. Note, many Haitians will likely balk at it, given the introduction of cholera and sexual abuse cases that occurred when UN troops were last in Haiti. What do you think?

Milton Allimadi (39:40.551)
you

Milton Allimadi (39:51.005)
Okay, obviously first of all, I want to you know make it clear that My own position is a bit different for many, you know progressives who oppose any Intervention at all in Haiti But I think that is Very risky because I think it is easier for people who are outside the country

Adesoji Iginla (40:10.349)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (40:20.359)
who are not being impacted by the turmoil to take that position. think it's a bit too intellectual, you know, that position. Now, but having said that, it doesn't mean I support an intervention that is led or coordinated by the United States. Of course, I oppose that. So I don't know why there's not a much more serious conversation in having the African Union lead

Adesoji Iginla (40:49.153)
and

Milton Allimadi (40:50.161)
the intervention and then for the operation to still be funded through the United Nations. If other countries are willing to support an intervention under the auspices of the United Nations because they don't want to be seen as contributing to something that many people regard as a U .S. intervention, which is the current arrangement.

even though the physical soldiers are Kenyans. You know, obviously, that's the reason why Secretary of State, you know, Blinken was visiting the other day. And Kenya's president, William Ruto, has not visited yet, or even Kenya's foreign minister, correct? So if you need any evidence that this is primarily a U .S. operation which has been outsourced to Kenya, that was the evidence.

Adesoji Iginla (41:22.551)
Mm

Adesoji Iginla (41:30.414)
can't.

Adesoji Iginla (41:37.739)
No, dude, it's not.

Adesoji Iginla (41:42.391)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (41:47.096)
So again.

Milton Allimadi (41:48.509)
and the US Secretary of State actually visited and met with the Kenyan commanders and so on, when Kenya's old president himself has not yet done that. So obviously, 80s under crisis, the president was assassinated in 2021. Then you had a prime minister who did not have any legitimacy. Eventually, he was eased out.

Adesoji Iginla (41:55.744)
Visit.

Adesoji Iginla (42:04.32)
Mm

Adesoji Iginla (42:11.246)
Juvena Mois.

Milton Allimadi (42:18.235)
when these militias on the streets took control of the airport and all that. And the capital is dysfunctional. So people are actually suffering materially. There is a humanitarian crisis, Food, water, health care, security of life and property is not there. And many countries have been through those phases.

Adesoji Iginla (42:24.172)
Yeah, put it. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (42:46.913)
and it has taken sometimes help from outside. Europe itself recovered because of intervention by the United States. All of Europe collapsed, and all of Europe would remain in collapse had it not been the US Marshall Plan. So that in itself should give you enough historical context that Haiti deserves.

Adesoji Iginla (42:58.101)
Marshall Plan?

Milton Allimadi (43:15.973)
assistance from outside. The assistant has to be well articulated. The purpose has to be clear. And I think if it's done in that way,

it could be much more successful than the arrangement we have right now, which is Kenya lending its armed forces and security forces on behalf of the United States. I personally would be much more hopeful if this was an African Union led mission. The African Union would have a special summit.

of its foreign ministers and hash out a plan and take countries that can provide the police force or the armed force. and I don't know if they would be willing, but countries like maybe Sierra Leone, no, sorry, I Senegal, countries like Senegal, countries like Ghana, countries like South Africa, countries like Botswana.

countries that have a relatively good image in terms of governance, right? Well, Nigeria has many challenges right now. Nigeria, of course, is an African power, you see? But it has political issues right now. It has protests and all that. Otherwise, the first country should be Nigeria. It should be Nigeria and South Africa, the leading two African powers, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (44:34.828)
Not Nigeria.

Adesoji Iginla (44:39.094)
Yeah, true.

Adesoji Iginla (44:58.52)
true.

Milton Allimadi (44:59.515)
So if you can get African countries to commit, and part of it should be training a new Haitian police and armed force, whether it's going to be a small one but efficient and very well armed. I'm not hearing any of that right now in any of the conversations about the ongoing intervention. That's important because then it gives the Haitians the confidence that this is not a permanent occupation.

Adesoji Iginla (45:27.502)
Yeah

Milton Allimadi (45:28.209)
with no exit date, which would bring back the memories, the very negative memories of the UN intervention, where they suffered, they suffered sexual abuse and have not been compensated up to there for that abuse. So why would they want to revisit another UN intervention? Any intervention should not have the word United Nations in the same sentence.

Adesoji Iginla (45:38.318)
Mm

So that's the museum.

Adesoji Iginla (45:57.624)
you

Milton Allimadi (45:58.363)
Yeah, that's why I'm really suggesting that it should be African Union. It should be well resourced. then the other thing that the reason why I don't support this kind of intervention. When President Ruto was in the White House, and now I'm paraphrasing because I don't remember the exact words, but he suggested that the Kenyans would be willing to go after these gangs, right?

Adesoji Iginla (46:27.426)
Gangs, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (46:28.827)
That is a wrong approach. You can call them whatever you want to call them, but they have a presence in Haiti, in the capital and outside the capital, and they are armed.

Adesoji Iginla (46:38.104)
hate you.

Milton Allimadi (46:44.187)
Why would you want to declare that I'm coming there to fight you? That's not very wise. You should say Haiti right now is under crisis. And the crisis, be frank, primarily, is not the so -called guns. The so -called guns appeared as a result of the crisis, which was the breakdown of law and order.

Adesoji Iginla (47:09.386)
of the crisis itself.

Milton Allimadi (47:14.097)
by the political class itself, the bourgeois, petty bourgeois political class, the elite, contesting for power. And then you have one of them getting killed under very questionable circumstances. And there's a void. Why would you be surprised that quote unquote, guns under these conditions would emerge? So it would be much wiser to say Haiti is under crisis.

Adesoji Iginla (47:27.276)
This here comes next.

Milton Allimadi (47:42.737)
We want everybody to be a part of the solution. So you being referred to like gangs, we want to talk with you. What do you really want? What is your position? see? Fill them out. And if you can co -opt some of them, so be it. Right? But to say I'm there to, you know, to destroy, you know, as if that is the only problem.

to ignore the corruption that the government itself was involved in, reports of drug dealing by members of government. And now we learn that three members of the nine member transitional commission, which is governing the country, they've now been accused of corruption. You see? So why should we focus all the criticism against the so -called

Adesoji Iginla (48:30.259)
as well.

Milton Allimadi (48:40.335)
a street gang. That's not fair and it's not even wise. See? So if I were the commander in chief of this operation, this is the approach I would take. You know, you, what's his name? Barbecue, blah, blah, blah, all of that. Let's meet. Your security is guaranteed in this meeting. All the media will be there, communists will be there, so nobody's going to dupe you and arrest you.

Adesoji Iginla (48:43.231)
Mm. Mm.

Milton Allimadi (49:08.347)
meet in a neutral place, even in the, they have a national stadium, an outdoor meeting where everything can be seen. You see? Engage them. You see? And see where this goes. It has much more chance. We just read an article a few minutes ago about the Mauritania president taking a different approach to engaging the people who are fighting him. They're not fighting him anymore, we are told. So why cannot

Adesoji Iginla (49:14.379)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (49:17.731)
Mm -hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (49:34.274)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (49:38.331)
the intervention force in Haiti explore that option. If it doesn't work at some point, you see it's not going anywhere, then you can adopt a different approach. But declaring from the beginning that I'm coming for you, I don't think that's smart at all. should be walked back, should be revised, approach.

Adesoji Iginla (49:49.527)
but at least you've tried.

you are you're you're you're a target exactly.

Adesoji Iginla (49:59.69)
The final story comes from the Africa China Summit. And it comes from your favorite organization, The Economist. China's relationship with the headline reads China's relationship with Africa is growing murkier. The lead a decline in capital flows does not necessarily suggest signal does not necessarily signal disengagement.

Milton Allimadi (50:10.748)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (50:27.598)
So you have the picture there, Xi Jinping at the back. And the story goes, it's been the highlight of most African leaders diplomatic calendar for nearly a quarter of a century, ever since the inaugural forum on China Africa cooperation. For Foucault in Beijing in 2000, the tri -annual shindig has been held as a barometer by which analysts seeking clues about the evolving state of affairs.

Milton Allimadi (50:30.503)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (50:57.162)
relations between Africa and its biggest trading partner. Chinese media are awash with coverage of an event that allows President Xi Jinping to pose as the undisputed leader of the global South. First dig, almost every leader, African leader is expected to attend. Yeah, calling you a basic.

Yet the response in many African countries have been muted. One reason is the perception that China has become less interested in Africa and at the previous Foucault held virtually between Beijing and Senegal, China made a new financial pledge, adding up to 40 billion, a third less than it had promised in 2015 and 2018. And then it goes into the reason why the reduction happened, which is a slump in infrastructure borrowing in several African countries.

Notably, Ethiopia, which is building the dam, Zambia roads, Kenya and its railways and stuff. Government struggled to pay off their debts. They accrued while building big ticket infrastructure over the preceding decade. And this is the last part. The relationship is less frenzied than in the 2000s and 2010s when China state -backed funneled billions into African roads, railways and ports as part of what is known

Milton Allimadi (51:51.74)
you

Milton Allimadi (52:15.164)
you

Adesoji Iginla (52:18.572)
as the Belt and Road Initiative BR, Mr. Xi's signature foreign policy endeavour. So what do think this newspaper is trying to gain at?

Milton Allimadi (52:31.653)
Okay, so as I said all along and I say this for everything we read and discuss, look at things from an African perspective. Number one.

Adesoji Iginla (52:36.865)
Mm

Milton Allimadi (52:44.561)
What is the tone of this article? The tone of this article is that, aha, something is going bad. You see? Something is going bad. Why are they always celebrating something going bad? So that is my mindset as I read these things. I condition my mind like that. If you're always looking for something wrong and highlighting it.

Adesoji Iginla (52:50.294)
We told you. Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (53:05.89)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Milton Allimadi (53:14.415)
It means there could actually be something good, or it could be that things may not be that bad. And then my question is, what is your motive? How can I see somebody walking down the street? And they trip and they fall.

Adesoji Iginla (53:21.741)
But, yep.

Adesoji Iginla (53:25.603)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (53:32.696)
bruised their knee.

Milton Allimadi (53:34.171)
and that's supposed to be good. I'm chuckling. The guy who was walking so confidently last week, maybe a lady, well -dressed, walking confidently. She would not even say hi to me. now she fell. She tripped and fell. Am I supposed to laugh at that or go and give her a hand and say, are you OK? Really?

Adesoji Iginla (53:42.146)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (53:55.747)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (54:00.699)
Are you okay? Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (54:02.991)
So why are we not saying, okay, Africa needs resources?

So now, instead of 60, China is committing 40 billion. So how can I find a way to help Africa with the additional 20 billion that they presumably still need? But no, no, no, the most important thing to me from a European perspective is, China is giving 20 billion less. Yay.

Adesoji Iginla (54:19.917)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (54:37.772)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (54:38.429)
become the focus of my story, you see? So we have to start thinking in those terms to develop the correct attitude of dealing with the people that produce this kind of media and journalism. 40 billion is still 40 billion more than zero billion, correct? 40 billion from China is still 40 billion more.

Adesoji Iginla (54:58.57)
I don't

Milton Allimadi (55:07.633)
than what is not coming from Europe or the West.

Adesoji Iginla (55:10.776)
True. I could also be that their needs are less.

Milton Allimadi (55:15.453)
The are less. The leads are possibly not less, but here's my biggest beef. My biggest beef is that we would not need the 40 billion if the billions that have already been deployed had been deployed correctly. And this is where I have issue with China. Very serious issue with China. And for listeners, viewers, you can go to YouTube.

Adesoji Iginla (55:32.225)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (55:45.165)
and listen to the two, the two, one, let me recommend one in particular, Africa's Industrialization Challenges. That's the name by Samira Min. And he said something which is profound, which the leaders of many African countries will not adhere to. But we as citizens can must push them to adhere to.

Adesoji Iginla (55:57.346)
Samira Mee.

Adesoji Iginla (56:02.186)
my God. my God.

Adesoji Iginla (56:13.378)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (56:14.075)
And he said China will give you whatever amount of money you want. So long as you give them access to the resources. But what you need to do is demand not only money, but demand the technology, the transfer of technology. And that's how you develop. Correct? So now we are still talking about the railways, to talk about the roads.

Adesoji Iginla (56:18.764)
you want. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (56:35.896)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (56:43.591)
bridges, ports, that's fine. Why are we not talking about factories to process our raw materials? I know some of that is being done in Zambia right now. Not enough, but there's now a major production plant to produce manufacturers based on Zambia's copper. That needs to be a lot more than is applied to every African country.

Adesoji Iginla (56:50.701)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (57:11.547)
So every African country or leader who goes to the summits and come back, the only one who I say has succeeded is one that can come back when he lands to the airport, says, I have a commitment for the production of these five factories. That's going to turn our cocoa into chocolate well packaged that we're going to export.

Adesoji Iginla (57:36.45)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (57:39.963)
the United States and the EU because we know they have a very sweet tooth. I have a factory commitment that our diamond is going to be cut in our country, it's going to be polished, made into those beautiful rings and then exported as rings. Not as these huge chunks of diamond, valuable, very, very valuable, but you only get pennies out of that.

Adesoji Iginla (57:40.11)
to do.

They love truth.

Adesoji Iginla (57:54.883)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (58:08.94)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (58:09.595)
This is what these summits should be turned into. I'm tired of hearing that. I have a commitment of building this impressive road, this impressive bridge, this impressive railroad. Because you know why? Those are things that you can afford to build yourself once you start manufacturing using your raw materials. You will not need China.

Adesoji Iginla (58:23.809)
Railway.

Adesoji Iginla (58:29.196)
yourself,

Adesoji Iginla (58:35.842)
Material.

Milton Allimadi (58:39.015)
come and build these railways, these roads, in which case sometimes they bring a lot of their own technicians and laborers anyway. See? So put that relationship to the test. Yes, China, you can become the global leader of the global south, but you've reached a certain level of economic development and prosperity.

Adesoji Iginla (58:44.386)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (58:49.411)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (59:06.838)
in this. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (59:08.849)
Why should we remain the global south? Why can we not be elevated to the status which you have arrived at? And that can only be done if you help us to industrialize.

Adesoji Iginla (59:12.79)
That's it.

Adesoji Iginla (59:23.416)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (59:24.507)
I don't hear a word about that in the article. China committed to, by this time, five years, African countries are going to be at this percentage of industrialization. By this time, that's the only useful thing that should come out of these summits. But to do that, we need conscious African leaders. And that is what we should demand for.

Adesoji Iginla (59:26.988)
At all, at all.

Adesoji Iginla (59:35.691)
Nope.

Adesoji Iginla (59:46.392)
Speaking of conscious African -

Speaking of conscious African leaders, actually in 1974, a book to the very concept you're preaching was written titled Black Africa, The Economic and Cultural Basis for a Federated State, 1974. Yes. Check out the deal.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:06.077)
Think about that. And what is he talking about? Industrialization. Check Anta Jo. You see? And he mapped out a scheme. So you put this book next to Nkrumah's neocolonialism, read them together, you have the business model.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:20.544)
nucleus and last stage of imperialism.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:26.838)
I mean, just indulge me, I'll read the blob. In this book, the late Cheikh Atadeop presents a dynamic and convincing argument for the creation of a unified black African state. Diop explains why attempts at economic development and cooperation cannot succeed apart from the political unification of black Africa and why the freedom of South Africans blacks can be achieved only with the support of all African states. He shows facts.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:54.351)
And it turned out to be right, in the case of South Africa. That is what materialized.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:58.004)
Yes, yes, he showed how the national and tribal groupings share a common cultural heritage, how linguistic unification is possible, and how the preservation and development of Africa's natural resources could transform the lives of its people.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:20.029)
Well, truth is truth. And he's writing from an African perspective because he loved African people.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:28.814)
1974

Milton Allimadi (01:01:30.577)
Think about that.

You know? And Kuba's book was 1965. So we've always known what needs to be done. Let's insist if any African leader is not pursuing that approach, they should not be in office. That should be our simple demand. We're entitled to live the life absent impoverishment. So once we know our value and what we deserve,

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:33.902)
1974

1965? mean, exactly!

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:57.037)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:02.255)
Any leader who is not, we can see is not going to deliver that. Out, out, out.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:08.734)
Exactly. And finally, he says, the ultimate aim of unity is the restoration of the historical consciousness of Black and African peoples and the complete recovery of political sovereignty in a post -colonial world.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:25.138)
Here go.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:26.574)
1974 I had again. And then we have leaders just gallivanting all the way, know, holding giant. I mean, come on.

Come on.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:41.979)
Our young people have confidence in the young people. just read those two books, but also keep developing your skills of analyzing what they write about us. And then we can be hopeful to transform our countries. Don't believe this notion that Africa

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:58.808)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (01:03:09.991)
will always be Africa and won't change.

can only be convinced of that if you don't have a knowledge or a history. We developed the highest levels of civilization. You don't even have to go to ancient Egypt, Kemet. You don't even have to go that far to rub it in or to brag. There's no need for that. You can go to even Ghana, Mali, Songhai, right? Before European countries existed.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:18.53)
Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:41.314)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:46.115)
empires, developed by Africans, civilization. So obviously we can do it again. We can do it again. We just need to decolonize the mind, get away that infection that Africans are inferior to anybody, tolerate this paternalistic attitude toward us.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:47.362)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:54.061)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:08.727)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:08.871)
and then the rest we can do.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:12.396)
Yes, thank you. Thank you, comrade. Again, we've come to the end of another special episode. As usual, you can listen to the audio version of this podcast on all major platforms thereafter. yeah, like, share, subscribe, and, you know, take the word to everybody that needs to hear it because it's important.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:16.765)
Shady.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:40.43)
that we have a proper framing of Africa's consciousness. And because without that, I think the African proverb is the tale used to be told of the hunt. And that tale always glorifies the hunter, but now the lions are telling their own tales, and we should. So Brother Milton, any final thoughts?

Milton Allimadi (01:05:03.057)
Although to continue on as always.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:05.324)
Yeah, victory is set and until next week, it's a good bye for now.