EP 6 The Commonwealth Exploits Historical Narratives I African News Review 🌍

In this episode of African News Review, host Adesoji Iginla and guest Milton Allimadi discussed significant political developments in Africa, focusing on Mozambique's upcoming elections amidst an insurgency, South Africa's shift towards privatisation, and the implications of the UK government's decision regarding the Chagos Islands. 

The conversation highlighted the complexities of democracy, historical context, and the influence of colonial legacies on current affairs.  

Host Adesoji Iginla and Milton Allimadi went on to discuss the enduring impacts of colonialism in Africa, focusing on territorial disputes, the need for unity among African nations, and the importance of strong leadership for economic independence. 

They delved into Algeria's resistance against colonial powers, the situation in Western Sahara, and the role of the African Union in addressing these issues. The discussion also critiques the Commonwealth's historical context, particularly regarding Zimbabwe, and emphasizes the need to deconstruct colonial narratives that persist in modern discourse.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to African News Review
01:08 Mozambique's Upcoming Elections and Insurgency
13:41 South Africa's Shift Towards Privatisation
27:03 UK's Colonial Legacy and the Chagos Islands
32:44 Colonial Legacies and Territorial Disputes
34:06 The Call for African Unity
35:50 Leadership and Economic Independence
37:15 Algeria's Stance Against Colonialism
39:30 Western Sahara: A Struggle for Recognition
42:15 The Role of the African Union
45:56 The Commonwealth and Zimbabwe's Historical Context
57:51 Framing Zimbabwe: Colonial Narratives and Modern Realities

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:01.762)
Yes, good evening and good day wherever you're hearing us from and welcome again to African News Review. I'm your host, Adesuji Iginla and with me as always is our prominent in-house guest in his no further introduction, Brother Milton Alimadi, author of How Manufacturing Hates How Africa

demonized, how Africa is demonized, was demonized in the Western media, which inspired this program. So welcome, Brother Milton.

Milton Allimadi (00:35.528)
Asante. Asante, Ndurgun. Thank you so much.

Adesoji Iginla (00:40.64)
Yes, so today we go to Africa again, has been in the Western press for a whole host of reasons and we shall go through them one story at a time. The first story comes from the East African country, Southern East African country of Mozambique and the story reads and it comes from the New York Times, the Grey Lady as she's called.

Milton Allimadi (00:43.598)
Ahem.

Milton Allimadi (01:08.26)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08.376)
It reads Mozambique 2024, 2024 national election. What to know? Four candidates are vying for the presidency in a country that has faced a year long ISIS backed insurgency. Put a quotation mark on that. The election is also the test of the sway of former independence movements. And the first part of the story reads.

Voters in Mozambique will go to the polls on Wednesday.

which is next Wednesday, to elect a new president who will face the tall task of figuring how to defeat a year-long Islamic State back in St. Jesse that is deepening grave humanitarian and economic problems. Although the insurgents rampaging through the northern province of Cabo Delgado have lost a significant amount of strength since the fighting began in 2017, the security stage situation

remains hostile. Efforts to stem the spread of extremist ideology and attacks have included beheadings and will have implications for the region and beyond. There is little doubt that Daniel Fresco-Chapeau, the candidate for the governing party, Frelimo will prevail over the three other presidential contenders. This will be a seminal shift from Mozambique, a custom nation of 33 million people in southern Africa.

would be the country's first leader to have been born after it gained independence from Portugal in 1975. But an independent candidate who the country's disaffected youths have rallied behind could make things interesting. In addition, the election could test Mozambique's democracy and stability and intensify the walls of Southern Africa's former liberation movement, whose popularity have plummeted in

Adesoji Iginla (03:09.032)
recent years, your initial thoughts about what you've heard so far.

Milton Allimadi (03:14.605)
Okay, so the beauty is that you and I read the way they craft these stories very carefully. So we know what are the essential elements. The most essential element here is the last sentence that you read. And if you read it again, just so our viewers and listeners can.

Adesoji Iginla (03:23.99)
You

Adesoji Iginla (03:31.096)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (03:38.936)
So the last sentence being, but an independent candidate whose the country's disaffected youth have rallied behind could make things interesting. In addition, the election could test Mozambique's democracy and stability and intensify the woes of South Africans' former liberation movements, whose popularity has plummeted in recent years.

Milton Allimadi (04:03.363)
Okay, very good. So for listeners, what they're actually saying is that, well first they already told us who's going to prevail. For Lima, the ruling party that led Mozambique to defeat it. And first I don't like it. They don't, you get a sense of if the Portuguese just one day woke up and said okay.

Adesoji Iginla (04:32.608)
you go independents.

Milton Allimadi (04:32.825)
It was a bloody war of liberation. Devastated Mozambique. Children killed by the Portuguese terrorist colonial army. But Frelimo mobilized rural people. Women were trained in guerrilla warfare. Young men. And they fought not only...

did their victory in Mozambique and then of course in Angola as well and all that.

contributed to the liberation of Portugal itself. You see? But you won't do it so obviously. It's the vision, it's the perspective, it's the passion for a certain type of history that is all brought together when somebody writes a story like this. And all of that, of course, what I just said is missing for this writer.

Adesoji Iginla (05:10.568)
Exactly.

Adesoji Iginla (05:27.65)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (05:34.363)
So for him, it was not heroic. That's in the past already, right? So we know who's going to win. He's already told us, fairly more. But he's implying that if the election were truly reflective of the wishes of the people of Mozambique, and of course, you know, in this respect, I can actually agree with him to some extent.

Adesoji Iginla (05:40.748)
Yes?

Adesoji Iginla (05:58.37)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (06:05.083)
and it was neutrally, independently adjudicated and verified, for a Lemos candidate may not be the winner. Now that's possible. On the other hand, it's also possible that it could be the winner because they have the state resources to distribute during the election, much, so than any one of the challenges. But the key point,

is contained in the very last sentence, the woes, the struggles of the liberation movements that led these countries to their independence. In other words, to cut a long story short, they're saying that if the election could be conducted and monitored and the outcome independently adjudicated,

then it would be similar to what happened in South Africa, where the ANC, which led the country, and that's why they're saying Southern Africa. Of course, they're referring to Zimbabwe as well. They're referring to Angola as well. All these countries that fought wars of national liberation. Now they're experiencing wars, and that...

It's not incorrect. It is true because they've not been able to deliver sufficiently. For a number of reasons, some of it internally, a lot of it external. And of course, he'll only talk about the internal ones, right? So that's what he's setting up so far. And then he's telling us, you know, whoever ends up being president is still going through all these challenges of fighting that insurgency. And I'm glad you said.

Adesoji Iginla (07:33.194)
internal yeah true

Adesoji Iginla (07:39.02)
because.

Milton Allimadi (07:53.807)
put ISIS in quotation because there too many questions than answers. But before I move to that, so the implication is that they would prefer a government that is more, as they like saying, quote unquote market oriented in Mozambique as well. And if Mozambique's party had been led by Europeans as well, that would even be much, much better of course.

Adesoji Iginla (08:22.156)
Facts, facts, South Africa.

Milton Allimadi (08:23.888)
Just like they have today in South Africa, that's what they're saying. But to quickly go back to ISIS comment and then come back to you. I'm glad you said put it in quotations because to me that's too many questions about very convenience always to say is ISIS back, ISIS back. People use that now. And I'm not saying that ISIS does not or may not exist, but that I'm not saying that I'm saying it's too convenient.

Milton Allimadi (08:54.991)
Because if it's always ISIS back, and anybody can say that, it means even legitimate national struggles. You can have authentic uprisings within any country. That has nothing to do with ISIS, right? And I say that because initially in Mozambique, when the recent uprisings began a few years ago, nobody was being beheaded. They were not targeting civilians.

they were targeting only government installations. And it was that region of Mozambique where the major gas, billions of dollars worth of gas has been discovered. So at some point, suddenly, people started being beheaded. And to me, it bore no resemblance in the tactics.

Adesoji Iginla (09:36.054)
Now you're talking.

Milton Allimadi (09:49.403)
of the initial insurgency. So I'm wondering if something might have happened along the way. Was it hijacked? And by which elements? Because then nobody can support any movement that is beheading people, you see? So I need to learn more about that aspect, which I have not. My final observation on the ISIS thing and beheading thing. At one point, all these reports were coming from Syria, right?

We were seeing television images of even people coming from, young people coming from Britain, coming from other countries, even from the US, someone intercepted. And now we are not seeing any of them. So what happened to ISIS in Syria? I mean, there too many questions and very few answers, but that would take an entire show for us to delve into. But I just wanted to raise more questions.

Adesoji Iginla (10:22.712)
images.

Adesoji Iginla (10:26.742)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (10:49.152)
Okay, I'll let me try and provide context for a certain part of the story. When I said in inverted commerce, the area you're referring to is Cabo Delgado. That area is to the north of the country. That's where the one of the largest find of gas, natural gas. Yes, has found that area.

Milton Allimadi (11:02.747)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (11:11.003)
Right, they're saying more than what, $50 billion? That's huge.

Adesoji Iginla (11:18.356)
also happens to be inhabited by Muslims. Now you want them to sell the land to you for peanuts and they're saying no. This has to go through certain processes. The government wants to run roughshod over them and when they're exactly what they're company, yes, yes.

Milton Allimadi (11:39.841)
And side with the total energies is the one that's exploiting those resources.

Adesoji Iginla (11:45.994)
And so when the government could not handle it, in comes our friend from Rwanda to offer his services. Can you see how?

Milton Allimadi (11:56.759)
In other words, for listeners that don't know, Rwanda is providing its military to patrol that region. So I think this is something that could take a whole episode, but I think it's worth doing it, really. There too many questions.

Adesoji Iginla (12:03.389)
region.

Adesoji Iginla (12:07.088)
Exactly. So again, sometimes they will hint at a story, but it's almost like a magician performing a trick. You know, it's there, but here is what you should really focus on. The reason why they're fighting the north, like you said, is sometimes it's a credible movement. But what kind of story can you paint in people's minds with words?

that will mean whatever their agitation is, the moment someone stares at that newspaper and read those words, it becomes insignificant in compared to what they're reading. So here goes back to the popular book by, what's his name? Noam Chomsky, your manufacturer concept. So once you do that, everything else becomes, you know, okay.

And so, any final thoughts?

Milton Allimadi (13:10.383)
no, mean, to me the story is too convenient. You have people now being beheaded, so now you have the rationale to ask for foreign support, military support.

to suppress this insurgency and now that region was declared almost a no-go zone. So Total can pretty much operate in any way it wants over, I forget how much territory it was given to. It's no, there's too much going on there we need to look into and do a whole show on it.

Adesoji Iginla (13:37.485)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (13:41.748)
Yes. So, I mean, we mentioned business, is what is the main brunt of the last story. And I bring you another story, which is bound to crack you up, because you made mention of the name of the country in your previous submission. For that, we go to South Africa, where apparently

Milton Allimadi (14:07.418)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (14:10.048)
We, what's the word? This comes from the Money Paper, the Financial Times. Privatization is not, not a swear word, said South African deputy president. And the lead is, the coalition government is seeking more foreign investments in energy, water, and infrastructure. The African National Congress is no longer, no longer regards privatization as a swear word.

and has accepted that bringing private sector money on board is not selling your soul, says South African deputy president, Paul Machatile. In an interview with the Financial Times at the end of a weeks long Investor Roadshow to Britain and Ireland, Machatile said South Africa's new government in which the ANC is sharing power with market leaning, Democratic Alliance has understood

the need for more private investment in sectors such as energy, water, and infrastructure. The excuse is we don't have money to do it. We need the private sector, said Machatile, considered a potential successor to President Ciro Ramaphosa. The ANC formed the government of national unity known as the GNU after its vote share dropped to 40%, which is the why they are in government with

the Democratic Alliance in May election. The first time the former liberation movement, going back to the liberation movement, has lost the wars of the so-called liberation movement, has lost its absolute majority in 30 years since it was elected at the end of apartheid. Although some members of the historical left-leaning ANC remain suspicious of the DA, considering it

a predominantly white neoliberal and anti-walker party. Machatilis said, the GNU has had a strong sat. If you sit around the table with ministers in the government of national unity, you would not know. my God, this is scary. You would not know who is ANC and who is DA, he said. You want to, you want to make.

Milton Allimadi (16:28.131)
Now that is, you know, I'm glad he's being brutally honest, you know, in telling us that the ANC no longer exists, you know? In his own words, he's saying, if you come and see us, he's going, of course, beyond the physical appearance that, in fact, you Europeans and you some Africans.

Adesoji Iginla (16:32.619)
Okay, go.

Adesoji Iginla (16:37.078)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (16:52.795)
He's saying you would not be able to tell the difference because presumably philosophically as well. And presumably you there would be talking and you would be able to decide that they're all on the same page. That's what he's saying. He's not saying that Europeans now look like Africans and Africans look like Europeans. He's not saying that. So he's saying philosophically we are on the same page. So philosophically, the ANC on the same page with a party

Adesoji Iginla (17:05.24)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (17:15.159)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (17:23.109)
that opposes land reform. That's what he's telling us. A party that opposes special economic programs to redress the historical racism and injustice that has skewed the economy and ownership of means of production. That's what he's telling us proudly in his own words. That's just remarkable. Of course, the issue of privatization.

Adesoji Iginla (17:51.884)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (17:53.263)
the United States, here in the US, example, Amtrak, many people maybe tend to forget, they just buy their tickets and they travel from one part of the country all the way, you you can travel from New York all the way across, of miles, all the way to California, on Amtrak, the train service, right? From New York all the way to the farthest part of Florida, right? All the way to

Adesoji Iginla (18:10.978)
Mm-hmm.

the train.

To the west coast. the south.

Milton Allimadi (18:23.471)
New Mexico, to Texas, you name it, Amtrak, guess what? The majority owner of Amtrak is the United States government, okay? So all these countries that go around the world preaching to us, divest, let private handle everything. It's nonsense, they themselves don't do it. In Britain, how many of the large institutions, the government have a stake in it?

Adesoji Iginla (18:34.07)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (18:43.064)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (18:52.748)
They are. They are largely government-owned. And sometimes when they push it out to the privates, they find out they can't run it and eventually comes back into public ownership.

Milton Allimadi (18:53.593)
There are right?

Milton Allimadi (19:02.647)
Absolutely, yet you are preaching the opposite to people in Africa and now you're using collaborators like this new version of the ANC to say, all is wrong, all is wrong. I know, we are not disputing the fact that a lot of these institutions, because now they are lacking resources, they've not been properly functioning, nobody wants to live in society where you have power.

outages constantly all the time.

But my own question is, to what extent is the, quote unquote, private sector going to have an ownership state? Will the government remain the majority owner so that it can have the final say? As I've just elaborated, that most of, in most of these industrial countries, the government still has the final say. There are some industries here in the United States that China is not allowed to invest in, right?

Adesoji Iginla (20:04.482)
Yep. Yep.

Milton Allimadi (20:06.159)
Private companies, the private companies that China is not allowed to invest in this country. The sectors of the US industry that China cannot participate in. So when they talk about market, market, market, it's nonsense. It's market to the extent that we, government, will allow it to happen. So why is it supposed to be any different in South Africa?

Adesoji Iginla (20:18.129)
Mm-hmm. Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (20:34.925)
If you want it to be market as well, let it be market to the extent that government will allow it to happen. But in South Africa, you're getting this blanket statement that the Democratic Alliance is quote unquote market leaning. You know, that's just a code word.

Adesoji Iginla (20:50.868)
leaning.

Milton Allimadi (20:54.127)
that the Democratic Alliance is a party controlled by Europeans and Africans, know. But they can't say that. They can't say it's European, South African control. They can't say it's controlled by the white thing, because right now, no, no, yeah, absolutely. They want to the lines and make it appear as if they're issue here. You know, it's framing. That's what it's called, right?

Adesoji Iginla (20:59.447)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (21:09.432)
You're trying to blow the lines.

Adesoji Iginla (21:21.263)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Milton Allimadi (21:21.569)
in journalism and communication. It is framing the narrative, the box in which the conversation should be had and considered. So the way they frame it, is pro-market versus left, formerly left leaning, who may be now becoming more sympathetic to the market. know, exactly right. And two other points on that.

Adesoji Iginla (21:43.842)
champagne drinking socialist.

Milton Allimadi (21:52.923)
So left leaning becomes now a slur against a party whose mission was to redress the historical wrongs, or apartheid. And of course the biggest, most glaring one is the fact that 8 % population, which is the European South African population, controls 72 % of the land, which by the way, is where the financing.

for lot of these infrastructure projects should be coming. So the 8 % is holding a substantial part of the national assets hostage, correct? And that is why you are now forced to run to outside quote unquote investors and they come with their conditions. And of course a publication like this one, is this Financial Times?

Adesoji Iginla (22:46.402)
Yeah, this is Van Asher Times, London.

Milton Allimadi (22:47.611)
Of course, they would celebrate that because for them, when the outside world dominates the economies of African countries, just as they used to and still do during colonialism, right? That is the ideal situation for a publication like that.

Adesoji Iginla (23:07.224)
So one final thoughts from you. So in this case now, what would you say the overall interest of Financial Times is in framing this narrative for its audience? I mean, they're not speaking to us, they're speaking to the money man. Yeah,

Milton Allimadi (23:23.821)
No, it's...

Milton Allimadi (23:27.533)
Right, mean it's the audience globally, it's not only South Africa, it's the audience in Britain as well, in the United States. The market is the most efficient regulator and decider of how assets should be deployed, right?

Adesoji Iginla (23:33.389)
Mm-hmm.

Hmm. Yeah, it's okay now to take money there.

Adesoji Iginla (23:43.864)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (23:50.155)
And it's not a bad thing that in Britain, in the United States, in South Africa, a small proportion of the population controls so much wealth. You see? And first of all, I have no respect for the government led by a person in the form of President Cyril Ramaphosa. A billionaire.

in an African country. Just think about that. Not a billionaire in South African rands, billionaire in U.S. dollars. While the majority population, Africans, live in such squalor, live without land, live without decent healthcare, without decent housing, without decent water, without decent education. How can I take you seriously? I just can't, and I hope.

Adesoji Iginla (24:34.017)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (24:37.975)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (24:46.873)
when more people don't take him seriously.

Adesoji Iginla (24:49.27)
Wow that is wild. A Billionaire!

Milton Allimadi (24:53.415)
Billionaire. I encourage people to do the research and look it up. Remember there was that incident a few years ago where it was discovered that he had hidden four million US dollars in the sofa in his farmhouse? You know? A president in an African country having four million US in cash in a sofa? You know?

Adesoji Iginla (25:00.844)
when

Adesoji Iginla (25:05.08)
you

Milton Allimadi (25:18.893)
I doubt even that many of the leaders of the industrialized and developed economies have access to that kind of cash, liquid money. Yeah, so we have so many contradictions. But always, you know, look at the people who are in government, look at, you know, in this case, you don't even have to look very deeply, just listen to what they're saying. As we went through the Financial Times article, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (25:29.399)
My God.

Adesoji Iginla (25:45.836)
Yeah, I mean, it's scary. Exactly, that's it. You're on your own. Effectively, yes, you fought to get us here, but from now on, everyone take care of themselves. Anyway.

Milton Allimadi (25:48.207)
They're saying you're on your own.

Milton Allimadi (26:00.891)
Yep, yep, yep, that's unacceptable. That's unacceptable. Sooner later, we will have another Steve Biko in South Africa. Somebody who really cares for his fellow South Africans, ordinary South Africans, and who is conscious, brilliant, and he will do it. Steve Biko was produced by the suffering of South Africa. So another Steve Biko.

Adesoji Iginla (26:10.338)
That's how it's good.

Milton Allimadi (26:29.231)
will be produced by the sufferers. Even for that matter, Mandela himself was produced by the suffering of South Africa. Subukwe was produced by the suffering of South Africa. Winnie Mandela, the same thing. All of them produced by that historical suffering. And once again, what they're doing today in South Africa, the ANC with its new quote unquote ally.

a new crop of leadership will emerge and take South Africa in the right direction. very confident of that.

Adesoji Iginla (27:03.596)
Hopefully that will be the case. Speaking of taking the country in a new direction, Akira Starmer, who is the recently elected Prime Minister of United Kingdom, is taking Britain in a new direction with regards to foreign territories. And again, we go back to the headline we spoke to last week, the Chaguan Islands. But this time, there's some internal wrangling.

it will make very funny. People are still cloaked in empire. so for the next news, we go to the telegraph that is the British telegraph. Boris Johnson, former prime minister of the United Kingdom says Chaguas Island Chaguas decision is total nonsense. The former PM said Stammer's decision to hand back

Milton Allimadi (27:38.459)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (28:00.226)
to Mauritius is sheer political correctness. a story came written by Amy Gibbons, political correspondent, and Geneve Hall Allen. And it reads, Sir Keir Starmer decided to hand over Chaguan's islands out of sheer political correctness, Boris Johnson had claimed. The former prime minister accused the government of ceding sovereignty

over the archipelago at a strategic wave point in the Indian Ocean to look like the good guys. The island where British-owned from 1814 owned keyword but has been signed away by labor to Mauritius in a deal a claim will safeguard global security by ending a long-standing dispute. Now what is this claim? It is nonsense. It is total nonsense.

Why are we doing this? Share political correctness, desire to look like the good guys, a desire to look as though we are unbounding the lacs relics of our empire. It is nonsense," he said. The UK government announced it was ending 200 years of British rule by handing the Chaguan Islands to Mauritius on Thursday. The news, just three months into Labour's time in office, prompted fears about Keir Sima's approach to talks with Spain.

and Argentina. And this is the reference to the Falkland Islands which the Argentines refer to as Malvinas. Your thoughts?

Milton Allimadi (29:40.889)
Well, first of all, I don't even know how many miles Chagawas Island is from Britain.

Adesoji Iginla (29:46.424)
It's over 5,000 miles to be found.

Milton Allimadi (29:50.011)
So why should this even be an issue, you see? Yeah, obviously this is not British territory. It could never be British territory, you know? It's only British territory by conquest, you know? So now if you're still justifying conquest in the 21st century, you know, in this year, 2024, then obviously your mindset is also a relic, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (29:59.8)
Tis.

Adesoji Iginla (30:13.228)
You froze there for a second.

Mm.

Milton Allimadi (30:17.455)
your mindset is a relic of the past, which is exactly what Boris Johnson is. Boris Johnson is a relic of the imperial era.

Adesoji Iginla (30:27.608)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (30:27.961)
It does not belong with us in the 21st century. What labor is trying to do is to resolve all these contradictions and all these hypocrisies. We cannot have a global apartheid system where some people just by virtue of race are meant to dominate and control other people. That is what Johnson is trying to still justify. Let's go back to the good old days.

Adesoji Iginla (30:48.535)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (30:55.051)
In any case, he's a certified racist by his own past statements. So, you know, he cannot be taken seriously. He's just confirming and reaffirming his racist notions. That's what he's doing. And I think his party has sort of paid the price for not getting together with where society wants to be today.

Adesoji Iginla (30:57.608)
yes.

Adesoji Iginla (31:21.388)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (31:22.555)
and he's not being interviewed by a serious person. Otherwise, he would have to address the issue, wait, didn't that contribute to your party's performance in the most recent election? So those are the only words I can share really. mean, of course, Britain wants to get into the 21st century and we should support that.

Adesoji Iginla (31:36.428)
That would be, that that would be asking. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (31:47.541)
And he negates to mention the fact that the negotiation leading up to the transfer of the island started during the conservative government.

Milton Allimadi (31:57.879)
Interesting. So you're just using it for political capital to try to crawl its way back to the leadership of the party.

Adesoji Iginla (32:00.562)
Exactly. Exactly. And you know, so it's sometimes it just makes interesting read as to when you see them speak. And it's almost like they're bereft of the kind of reality that people live in. And they just, you know, you go on TV, you sit down and someone takes all the statements away from you.

you read it in the newspaper the next day and you're not even disturbed. You know, so yeah. Any final thoughts?

Milton Allimadi (32:37.679)
But I'm just glad that Britain continues to try to come into the 21st century. Relics like that will be bygones eventually and have less and less space to even communicate those nauseous views. Well, somebody should ask now, does Nigeria have any foreign territory next to the coast of Britain?

Adesoji Iginla (32:44.034)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (32:54.008)
So you're against people holding territory.

Adesoji Iginla (33:03.101)
Last time I checked, No, no, no,

Milton Allimadi (33:06.275)
Okay, or the cost of France. So there's the answer right there. There cannot be two laws for people. Uganda so far been paying the price by trying to conquer Congo. It suffered some, absolutely.

Adesoji Iginla (33:12.684)
But Uganda has some territory.

Adesoji Iginla (33:17.176)
Hahaha

Adesoji Iginla (33:23.874)
some devastating losses. I mean, and rightly so. You don't go taking her out. You go, well, the British don't take, they don't steal. They call it nicking. We just nicked it.

Milton Allimadi (33:29.53)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (33:37.403)
Yeah, yeah, think, you know, along that process, you are so, it's sad because they've indoctrinated us to think in those times for such a long time. And that's why we still have those useless borders in Africa. Carmen Cromer won them against it in 1962, 63. Said if we don't unite immediately, it will become much more difficult. people, brilliant people like Nyerere.

Adesoji Iginla (33:46.125)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (33:52.312)
Mmm. Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (34:06.393)
you know, opposed at that time, at least to his credit, Nyerere, many years later, admitted that he was incorrect, that Nkrumah was correct. He says, now that we have our national anthem, our national currency, our flag and all that, it's increasingly become much more difficult to abandon that.

Adesoji Iginla (34:08.088)
Mmm

Had to, yep.

Adesoji Iginla (34:27.256)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (34:27.565)
and go to United States of Africa. At the end of the day, that is going to remain the only solution. If we want to get away from economic dependency, economic exploitation, and our condition of poverty, nobody likes to live in poverty. So our argument should be for the young people who are drowning in the Mediterranean to get to Europe so they can work in their kitchens and bathrooms and sweep the streets, or going through...

Adesoji Iginla (34:41.752)
True,

Adesoji Iginla (34:52.386)
I got

Milton Allimadi (34:53.689)
the forest in South America to make it to the United States. We should tell them, don't risk your life. Get rid of incompetent, useless leaders in Africa and try to promote leaders like the late Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso. If every African country had Thomas Sankara, within 10 years,

Adesoji Iginla (35:10.018)
which would be 37 years.

Milton Allimadi (35:19.491)
most of these countries would be industrialized. 10, 15 years, standard of living would be elevated tremendously. We would have Africans whipping Europeans who are trying to smuggle themselves into Africa. No, honestly, I'm not kidding you, from across the Mediterranean, those ships would be, we can't handle any more of you guys.

Adesoji Iginla (35:22.22)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (35:28.589)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (35:38.007)
Ha ha!

Milton Allimadi (35:50.511)
because the resources are in Africa. But our leaders are playing games, allowing them to come and take the resources, go back there, and then sell it back to us packaged, they call it manufactured. And then we buy it at 10 times the price. So of course, we're going to become more impoverished relative to them. And our people are going to be swimming across the Mediterranean. But if we did the right thing,

Adesoji Iginla (36:04.407)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (36:18.553)
the swimming would be in the opposite direction.

Adesoji Iginla (36:20.12)
Opposite direction. And we should also add the gentleman you mentioned, Thomas Sakura, it will be on Tuesday. Yeah, Tuesday. It will be 37 years since he was assassinated. Yeah, 37 years. And he gave a famous speech July 15, 1987, where he said just what you were saying.

Milton Allimadi (36:38.187)
Yes, thanks for the reminder and the tribute.

Adesoji Iginla (36:50.584)
One, we can't pay the debt. In fact, the debt has been paid. We now need to tell them that we cannot pay it. But if only I did, we will not be here at the next meeting. And as if he foretold on himself, he was not. So kudos. Yes, yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (37:09.061)
Yeah, we need to get serious.

Adesoji Iginla (37:15.7)
So speaking of colonial crimes, we go to Algeria for our next story. Algeria and France have had a go at it. This story comes from Radio France International and it reads, Algeria's table refuses France's visit in snub to former colonial ruler. President Abdel-Majid

Tebun has once more postponed a visit to France and accused its former colonial ruler of genocide in a sign of ever-worsening relationship between Algiers and Paris. Re-elected in September with more than 84 % of the vote, Tebun used his first televised interview with Algerian media to admonish France. I will not go to Canossa, he said when asked

if a long-awaited trip to Paris was on the cards. The German expression to walk to Canossa has come to mean humbling oneself and asking an enemy for forgiveness. Its roots can be found in the 11th century power struggle between the Pope and King Henry IV of Germany. Having been excommunicated by the Pope in 1076, the King was forced to go and beg the Pope for forgiveness in Canossa, Northern Italy.

Accusations of genocide. Just a few months ago, Tebón held largely positive talks with President Macron on the margins of the G7 meeting in Italy. According to Francis L. Sears' palace, the two leaders discussed how to continue implementing the bilateral declaration of oligarchs signed in August 2022, praising progress made by joint commission of historians created to reconcile colonial difficulties.

But relation nosedive in July after Macron sent a letter to King Mohammed VI of Morocco voicing support for the kingdom's autonomy plan in the disputed territory of Western Sahara. I think that lays everything out there bare for you. Go on.

Milton Allimadi (39:30.733)
Absolutely. I stand with Algeria 100 % in this respect, beginning with the issue of the Sahrawi Democratic Republic, aka Western Sahara. Of course, that was a former Spanish colony, and now occupied and annexed by Morocco. Initially, after Spain withdrew ultimately,

Adesoji Iginla (39:34.486)
Hmm. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (39:40.706)
Thank you.

Adesoji Iginla (39:50.018)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (39:59.285)
even Mauritania as well, claimed parts of that area. And they launched a war to occupy. And the Sahrawi fought both Mauritania and fought Morocco as well. And at some point, Mauritania renounced its claims. Morocco did not renounce its claims. In fact, it went further.

and implemented its colonial agenda in what it calls Western Sahara. And even though a United Nations referendum, supervised referendum was supposed to occur, Morocco has stalled that for decades now. And in the meantime, it has introduced a new population by...

Adesoji Iginla (40:30.37)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (40:55.237)
providing financing and housing for people to come from Morocco proper and to settle into, it's not a disputed territory, it doesn't belong to them, so it's not really disputed, it's occupied. So for them to settle in the, so that's where the article is wrong in referring to it as disputed, it's not disputed, to settle in that area. So now the population of course has changed dramatically.

in the process. Many of the people who are indigenous to that region, either elderly or many have died, you see, and many have been displaced, expelled, so that they're now living on the other side of the border in Algeria. So I am happy to say that Algeria has not abandoned them because Algeria

Adesoji Iginla (41:36.279)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (41:52.685)
Of course, as many people know, fought the French with the FNLL and defeated them in a war of national liberation. So I'm glad that they still live to their heritage and legacy and are not willing to abandon the people of this Arabian Democratic Republic.

Adesoji Iginla (42:01.334)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (42:15.521)
And in terms of other claims that Al Jazeera is also making against France, I support that as well. Actually, I would even suggest that there should be an African Union protocol because some of these demands are all similar. And have every member country of the African Union ratify or adopt that protocol. These are demands we should make.

of all the former colonial powers. It adds much more weight to it if it's coming as a collective from the African Union.

Adesoji Iginla (42:46.808)
Thank you watching.

Adesoji Iginla (42:52.076)
I think there was one, there was a stance taken in 1982. And I think it was actually good. It was actually raised by Thomas Sankara and he was seconded by, who was it? There was another leader who seconded and it passed on the floor of the organization of African unity at the time. But obviously, yeah,

Milton Allimadi (43:18.533)
probably Jerry Rawlings maybe, can see only somebody like that was very close to.

Adesoji Iginla (43:21.538)
Thank you very much. That's the name I wanted to remember. That's the name I wanted to remember. Yeah. So was Jerry Rollins. So he was seconded by Jerry Rollins. And because it was a French speaking guy and an English speaking guy, it's got, you know, got the very thing that Morocco did not want. They wanted it to seem as if he had been raised by Rollins and then supported by Sankara.

would have been, the English started something and the French lackeys are following through. But because Ankara was the one who started it and was backed by it, then it means you really don't have a stance. But the pushback was, it's a settled issue. And the United Nations was looking into it. So we're here where we are. with regards to Algeria, Algeria has a long standing grip, like you said, about the

Milton Allimadi (43:57.188)
Interesting.

Adesoji Iginla (44:19.8)
War of Independence. And for people who want to read more, you could read one of the best written versions of that war in Alistair Haun's Algeria War of... You can see, yeah. So it's the Algeria Savage War of Peace, 1954 to 1962. And it chronicles everything, you know. So it's a pretty grimy read. But...

It recounts everything in there. And so the mere fact that someone is standing 10 toes down to say, listen, we would not be rubbish. I think I know what Francis' motivation is for trying to re-engage with Algeria. And Bémi, that's it. That is it. That is it. That is it. And Algeria is literally next door.

Milton Allimadi (45:06.981)
Well, I know that Algeria has a lot of gas as well, natural gas.

Adesoji Iginla (45:18.774)
You know,

Milton Allimadi (45:19.437)
Yep, and now that Niger is giving it a lot of problems, it needs alternative sources of energy for sure.

Adesoji Iginla (45:26.482)
Yes, yes, yes, there you go. So sometimes the story writes itself if you know what to look for. But because it's been written by Radio France International, they're going to frame it using the Francis it's just a tiff between former, you know, former the

Milton Allimadi (45:47.375)
Right. They're making unreasonable demands wanting us to go back for all the alleged crimes of colonialism. That's a bit unrealistic. But no, you need the energy because now you've been ousted from Niger. So.

Adesoji Iginla (45:51.346)
Mm-hmm. Yes, yes.

Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (46:07.175)
And it's a long journey to get to Gabon.

Milton Allimadi (46:10.427)
Right, so one way to understand a lot of the stories written when it involves Europe, former colonial power, and any African country, the first thing that the reader, or if you're listening it on radio, you're watching a television broadcast or a podcast, you need to ask yourself, what is it at stake, resource-wise?

Adesoji Iginla (46:33.058)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (46:40.879)
financially, money, some concrete material benefit. Where is it in that narrative that would benefit the European country? It's always somewhere there. And if you read carefully, it will be mentioned at some point. The New York Times, you brought up that story just a few minutes ago. That very long story.

about Mozambique, democracy, all that. In your time, they don't care about democracy in Mozambique. Why in Mozambique? Of all those African countries, all. The people of Mozambique are the only ones who deserve democracy. No matter how you define it. No. The story begins with the...

Adesoji Iginla (47:10.144)
One more Zambique.

Adesoji Iginla (47:30.136)
You

Milton Allimadi (47:40.527)
diminishing popularity of the national liberation movements. And then the story begins when they mention that figure of $50 billion, the value of the gas. Right, so rather than saying it from the very beginning, you have to piece it together. And I hope our audience are becoming better in piecing it together.

Adesoji Iginla (47:42.552)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (47:50.52)
Mm-hmm.

Follow the money.

Milton Allimadi (48:08.571)
the more they engage in conversation with us on a weekly basis.

Adesoji Iginla (48:12.496)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Speaking of engaging with us, if you like what you hear, please do share, like and subscribe. If this is your first time here, do subscribe and pass the message on. We aim to do this every Sunday at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time. And for those every other part of the world, if you just correlate, just put

is 12 Eastern Standard Time, what it means to your neck of the woods and Google world give you an idea of when we go live. And again, hit the notification bell so that when we do go live, you get informed. Yes, for our final story, we take a walk back in history, but it's history to come back forward. And it comes from Zimbabwe.

And it's from the Times. This is a British newspaper and its headline, For Better or Worse, The Commonwealth and Zimbabwe's Fate Aligned. I laughed through reading this entire piece. And for some reason, it's like this person sat down in a room lit up a cigar.

was sat around leather-bound books on a couch chair and was writing away. And it starts like this. The club of 2.5 billion citizens is at a crossroad. Should it readmit a country that has rigged election and persecuted opponents? That's the Queen. The late Queen, Elizabeth II, recorded her 21st birthday address to the Empire.

in what is now Zimbabwe. Yeah. So you could see.

Adesoji Iginla (50:12.418)
People would refer to this as Victoria Falls, but as an African it should be called by its name, which is the local name is Mwasi in Tunia, the smoke that thunders. Yeah. Named after someone who never, who never visited the place. It was a defining broadcast of the late Queen Elizabeth, 70 year reign that entwined the destinies of our cherished Commonwealth and what is now Zimbabwe.

Milton Allimadi (50:30.447)
guys.

Adesoji Iginla (50:42.144)
Addressing the Empire on our 21st birthday in 1947, Princess Elizabeth promised that her whole life, whether it be long or short, would be devoted to serving the people of the Commonwealth. The solemn pledge was recorded in the garden at the Victoria Fall Hotel in what was then colonial Southern Rhodesia. The scene remained unchanged.

Paintings of imperial figures and battle scenes hang on the panelled walls. Guests in safari garb take tea on the Stanley Terrace, shaded by the same mahogany tree that has dappled the princess's script. You would not tell from the colour of the hotel lawn today that the worst drought in Zimbabwe is pushing millions of Zimbabweans towards starvation. Through the mist rising from rousing falls,

The view from the terrace is the National Park treetop and a distant steel bridge, arching over the Zambezi River, completed in 1905. It was part of the master plan of the British Empire builder, Cecil Rhodes, for a railway linking Cape Town to Zimbabwe. Shall I stop or shall I continue?

Milton Allimadi (52:05.935)
Well, it really would make no difference really because it still be the same propaganda nonsense, you know. I wonder who the audience really is though, you know. And sadly, there some of our own African people who would read this and be duped and not know how to analyze this.

Adesoji Iginla (52:19.5)
You

Milton Allimadi (52:36.443)
this rubbish really that goes on and on and on and being printed in a Eurocentric news media outlet, right? Because first of all, there's no such thing as commonwealth.

Commonwealth is a propaganda framing to maintain, and of course Boris Johnson would really enjoy and love this, the semblance of empire. And in fact, there was no empire at all. They were dominated subjugated people. But there was never an empire, because if there ever was an empire,

then the standard of living of people in those former empires should be comparable to the standard of living of people who are living in metropolitan Britain today. It's nowhere close. So that never happened during direct colonial rule because the whole colonial agenda was exploitation. You see? And now...

Adesoji Iginla (53:48.088)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (53:54.36)
Thank you.

Milton Allimadi (53:56.569)
the post-colonial era of terminology, so calling it the Commonwealth, is to get the people in those formerly exploited and still exploited places to acquiesce, correct, to that, the incorrect history, that there was something beneficial by the actual direct colonial.

And as a result of that, we want to maintain that relationship. And we are willingly part of this commonwealth. So most of these countries got their independence in 1960s. So let's excuse and say, maybe they made some mistakes and never implemented the agenda of uniform universal development and uplift.

Adesoji Iginla (54:53.368)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (54:54.959)
during the era of direct colonial rule. So they've had another 60 years since post-colonialism. So why have these countries not been able to elevate their standard of living in the era of the Commonwealth? So that just proves that the colonial agenda was never to develop and it's been proven again in the post-colonial era.

Adesoji Iginla (55:21.922)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (55:22.873)
that it was never the case and is still never the case, you see.

Milton Allimadi (55:29.581)
Absolutely, think about it. If they really want to build a commonwealth, Britain had the technology to industrialize all those formerly dominated countries. And that technology could have been implemented. But then, Britain would lose its monopoly over access to resources. Because now that

Adesoji Iginla (55:56.705)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (55:59.023)
they're using those resources in factories within the formerly dominated countries. They don't need to send it to you. And then number two, you would also lose the market. So you maintain yourself as the exclusive manufacturer of products. And keep everybody else dependent on buying the manufacturers from you.

Adesoji Iginla (56:04.024)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (56:12.588)
because, yep.

Adesoji Iginla (56:20.024)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (56:27.119)
But now everybody else can manufacture them. You have to compete with them to see who is manufacturing the best products. But of course Britain did not want competition. In fact, Britain went to India and destroyed Indian textiles industry and physically took the speeding mills and other equipment back to Britain and then made it illegal for people to buy

Adesoji Iginla (56:50.988)
Britain.

Milton Allimadi (56:56.591)
textiles from anywhere apart from Britain, right? So you're telling me this is the same country that is going to create a Commonwealth? is complete rubbish.

Adesoji Iginla (57:05.718)
Now, if you follow that line here, you would not tell from the colour of the hotel lawn today that the worst drought in decades is pushing millions of Zimbabwe towards starvation. Can you speak to first the trope there, hungry Africans, and also

Milton Allimadi (57:24.803)
Yeah, of course. look at the glorious old days of doing colonial rule. they were never starving in those days. As if somehow, because now the leadership is African, that itself has invited a drought. I hope readers were able to detect that. As if Europeans were still ruling a country, there would be no drought.

Adesoji Iginla (57:39.308)
Mm-hmm.

You

Adesoji Iginla (57:51.184)
So why Zimbabwe? Why Zimbabwe? Why is it important for people to understand the framing of Zimbabwe in this way?

Milton Allimadi (57:57.595)
Because Zimbabwe is still part of the British jewel, the crown. And it is the land where Africans took the land back from European, I repeat for listeners who may have been asleep, they repossessed the land and gave it to the descendants of the Africans from whom their parents, the land was stolen. Correct?

Adesoji Iginla (58:10.956)
They did what? They did what?

They did what? What did they do?

Milton Allimadi (58:26.915)
So that is why Zimbabwe was punished and kicked out of the uncommon wealth. Right? It's hypocrisy. They talk about election rigging, talk about human rights abuse. Uganda under General Museveni is a hundred times worse in the number of stolen rigged elections, in the number of people who have been killed in Uganda.

Adesoji Iginla (58:37.239)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (58:53.817)
in the number of other Africans who have been killed by Uganda invading Rwanda in 1990, invading Congo multiple times since 1996, invading South Sudan in 2013. Yet, not only is Uganda a member, Uganda hosted the Commonwealth Conference, and the late queen went to Uganda and Tebe and Kampala for the conference.

So stop the nonsense and hypocrisy. That is not why Zimbabwe, it was expelled. The proof that Zimbabwe was not expelled for those reasons of democracy and human rights, the very proof is that Uganda got to host the Commonwealth Conference and that Uganda is still a member today as we speak today on this show. So stop the nonsense and propaganda.

Adesoji Iginla (59:23.714)
Hmm hmm

Adesoji Iginla (59:39.768)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (59:44.916)
Wow. Wow. I mean, if you didn't know that, then you'll be minded to think.

Milton Allimadi (59:52.623)
But that is why we have this show to dispel all the propaganda and to inform our people with facts, in fact. Whether you like our political opinion or not, whether you don't like our orientation when it comes to politics and economics, that's besides the point. We will always produce the facts. And then you make up your decision.

Adesoji Iginla (59:56.677)
Mm. Mm. Mm. Yes. Exactly.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:12.216)
Yes, and history is a purveyor of truth. History tells the thing is, majority of the stuff they write on, there is historical and documented facts that refutes them. But because most people do not either have the access or do not know the existence,

Milton Allimadi (01:00:26.105)
Yes, absolutely.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:32.333)
Right. Or even when they do have the access, they don't know how to analyze and interpret the history. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:38.002)
Mm, mm, mm, mm. Yeah. And for people wanting to know more about Zimbabwe, there was a book published in the 1980s. This is a very old copy. You had to reach out to someone in Zimbabwe to get it. It's titled Struggle for Zimbabwe and by Tony Martin. It was published and look who wrote the foreword.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:54.266)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:01.188)
very interesting. Actually Tony Martin also wrote a very interesting book on idiamine, so I appreciate that. I don't have that book, but I'm going to get that book as well. Thank you for bringing it up.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:06.92)
Yes, yes, he did. Yes. So the struggle for Zimbabwe is, I mean, old news prints. I mean, when I got it, the guy said, if you know what to do to get through, and I did. Whatever you did, as well worth it because I, you know, so yeah. The, the, my final, I mean, let me give you your final, what's your final thoughts on this story, this story in particular? What's your final thoughts?

Milton Allimadi (01:01:23.15)
Excellent.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:37.243)
Well, actually I don't have to be honest, I don't have much more thoughts on it. I mean, I think it's a colossal failure on these countries and it's a level of greed which I personally find mind-boggling, but at the same time not too mind-boggling, that we are supposed to be accepting of historical exploitation and continued exploitation in our contemporary era because we are...

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:45.303)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:06.629)
confused with the platitudes and words they use, know, words such as United Nations, for example, Commonwealth, France, Afrique, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:20.888)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:21.251)
all these platitudes which are actually concealing historical exploitation and suffering and contemporary exploitation and suffering. So that's why I'm always eager when we are having these conversations to continue to deconstruct those words that still keep us in mental dependency. Because before we can start physical liberation, we need to liberate the mind first. As comrade Ngugiwa Tiongo said in his book, Decolonizing the

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:41.826)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:49.44)
This book,

Milton Allimadi (01:02:51.195)
mind. Once we have decolonized Africa's African minds, even the sky is not the limit and I'm very confident that with this new technology platform we can reorientate the thinking of the next the young generations so they can take us to that next level.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:06.537)
Yeah, generation.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:11.362)
Thank you very much. mean, you've said it all really. There is nothing much to add to that because it's the reason for this show. It's the reason you wrote the book, How the West is Demonized in the Media, Manufacturing Hate, because you use the power of words to manufacture hate and so that once you've manufactured consent,

You can get to do anything, anything. And that's it. Capture the mind, you're done. You know, that's the strongest tool in your armor. Anyway, I have to extend my gratitude again for you coming through and gratitude to our listeners for also sitting and sharing this hour or so with us. Again, do come back next week where we hope to bring you more stories in the Western media.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:57.399)
As intended.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:11.482)
And from Brother Milton.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:16.229)
Santa Sanna, a luta continua!

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:18.198)
Victorious Setter and from me, Odigba kono and good night.