EP 2 GERD, Biko, Deportation and Feeding Africa's Future I African News Review 🌍

In this episode of African News Review, Adesoji Iginla is joined by guests Milton Allimadi and Aya Fubara Eneli Esq., who discuss various pressing issues affecting Africa and the diaspora, including the implications of Donald Trump's leadership style, the recent UK march against Islamization, 

Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam, the reopening of the Steve Biko inquest, Ghana's acceptance of deportees from the US, and the importance of food security in Africa. 

The conversation emphasises the need for African agency, the impact of colonial legacies, and the ongoing struggle for justice and reconciliation.

Takeaways

*Donald Trump's behaviour reveals his true character.

*Empathy is often dismissed as a form of wokeness.

*The UK faces complex national identity issues.

*Ethiopia's dam project highlights both achievement and human cost.

*Domestic funding for projects can empower African nations.

*Colonial treaties continue to affect water rights in Africa.

*Reopening Biko's inquest raises questions about justice.

*Reconciliation efforts in South Africa are still inadequate.

*Ghana's acceptance of deportees reflects broader immigration issues.

*Food security remains a critical challenge for Africa.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introductions

00:57 Trump's Narcissism and Lack of Empathy

03:59 The Unite the Kingdom March and Its Ironies

08:07 The Great Ethiopia Renaissance Dam: Achievements and Controversies

19:52 Reopening the Inquest into Steve Biko's Death

24:39 Justice vs. Reconciliation in South Africa

30:00 Ghana's Role in U.S. Deportations

40:19 Africa's Food Security and School Meals

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:01.554)
Yes, greetings, greetings, and welcome to another episode of African News Review. I'm your host, Adesuji Ginla, and with me, as usual, are two brilliant minds. I will start with the lady. She needs no further introduction, but I introduce our woo. She is Ayafobere Neli Esquire, host, Rethinking Freedom, and co-host of Women and Resistance. How are you, sister?

Aya Fubara Eneli (00:28.084)
doing wonderful. Thank you for having me today. How are you?

Adesoji Iginla (00:31.186)
I'm fine. Thank you. I'm fine. I'm fine. Looking forward to, you know, doing this again. the comrade. What else is there to be said? Journalist, broadcaster, Black Star News, auto manufacturing hate. The man is everywhere and, you know, speaking to everyone, regardless of, you know, just trying to educate everyone out there with regards to where their head should be.

Milton Allimadi (00:39.821)
Yes,

Milton Allimadi (01:01.015)
Thank you, sir.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01.048)
And you're welcome, you're welcome. So as is custom now, I'll begin with you, comrade. News, where you at? What's the news story where you at?

Milton Allimadi (01:15.754)
Are you trying to meet?

Adesoji Iginla (01:16.922)
Yes, please.

Milton Allimadi (01:18.445)
Well, I'd like,

You know what I like about this president, you know, Donald Trump, is he keeps revealing himself, you know, by his own words and his own behavior. So people don't even need to debate what type of person this is, you know? You know, because anybody, when you're debating, sometimes when somebody does not want to give and take, those are impossible debates. So the solution is to listen to what he says.

Adesoji Iginla (01:37.04)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:45.98)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:49.734)
Mm. Mm. Mm.

Milton Allimadi (01:51.742)
and how he conducts himself. So there were two very revealing moments this past week.

actually 304 but let me focus on two and regarding the same topic so no no wait that you'll use because you're gonna realize yeah you saw that too so when he was interviewed on Fox he went into the studio regarding the killing of Charlie Kirk

Adesoji Iginla (02:02.62)
You

Aya Fubara Eneli (02:04.67)
He said two or four, three or four.

Milton Allimadi (02:26.727)
And he was asked how he felt or, know.

He said, I don't even remember what he said because he pivoted very quickly to this beautiful ballroom that we're building at the White House. They've been trying to do this for decades. Nobody has succeeded. And we're building this beautiful, it's almost done. When the Chinese visitors, the president comes, they have to put him in an outside tent. You know, it's going to be fabulous. yeah, then by the way, Charlie blah, blah. my God.

Adesoji Iginla (02:34.448)
what his takeaway was.

Adesoji Iginla (02:45.076)
yeah that was...

Milton Allimadi (03:02.951)
Then he was asked as he was leaving, I think the White House lawn, going to to board the helicopter. And he was asked, you know, how is he dealing with this, you know, devastating killing? And he said, you know, you I'm handling it. then, by the way, we're about to finish building beautiful, ballroom. You see?

So if anybody had any doubt that this is a narcissist to the max with no compassion, even for alleged friends, because you cannot be a narcissist of that extreme level and actually have any friends. Because to have friends, obviously, you know, it takes a lot. You have to invest, you know, emotional interest before somebody can really become a friend. So for you,

Adesoji Iginla (03:47.783)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (04:01.211)
to just dismiss a question about how you're dealing with this situation and consistently, not just one time, at least three or four instances, jump back to that beautiful ballroom that you're constructing. Need I say any more? So to know the man, just listen to him. Let him reveal himself in his own words. So there's no need for debate. So that to me is what I wanted to focus on. Over to you, sister.

Adesoji Iginla (04:18.416)
Mmm

Adesoji Iginla (04:30.298)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (04:32.734)
Well, let me mark the day and time because this will probably never happen again. I think that Donald Trump did the correct thing though. His response was absolutely what it should have been because Charlie Kirk said he doesn't believe in the word empathy. He said he doesn't believe in empathy. It's wokeness. It's something that people are manufacturing now. And so the fact that

Milton Allimadi (04:46.491)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (05:01.556)
the president, Felon in Chief of the United States of America, who by the way, Charlie Kirk had been calling for the Epstein files to be released and they happened to vote on that in the house, mayor hours, mayor hours after he was killed, know, murdered live. So it's not like they weren't aware of it, but business must go on.

Milton Allimadi (05:14.022)
Don't get us in trouble. Don't get us in trouble.

Adesoji Iginla (05:29.042)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (05:29.172)
They didn't stop and have a moment or a day of silence and let's do this vote some other day, because it's kind of crass to vote on this right after our beloved Prince, whatever has passed away. But anyway, I tell all of that to say that the fact that he showed no empathy, I think was in line with the wishes of Charlie Kirk, who showed no empathy for George Floyd. And...

Adesoji Iginla (05:52.082)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (05:55.56)
said he doesn't believe in the word. So he probably handled it the way that Charlie Kirk would want it handled. So bravo to the felon in chief.

Adesoji Iginla (06:06.724)
Okay. So for Londoners, it was Unite the Kingdom March that happened yesterday. It pulled in a hundred and ten thousand. Well, like we would say, when you're when the question is posed, I want to defend my country. The question you ask them is which one, because there are four in one.

Aya Fubara Eneli (06:14.847)
Cool.

Aya Fubara Eneli (06:20.894)
Which kingdom, the colonial kingdom or which, I'm sorry, go ahead.

Adesoji Iginla (06:36.498)
So you have to determine which one you're talking about. So there were 110 people according to guest teammates, 110,000 guest teammates.

Milton Allimadi (06:44.867)
110 or 110,000.

Adesoji Iginla (06:48.306)
110,000, yeah. There were ironies that bled into the match that just sort of shows you how the baselessness of whatever it is they want to achieve. So the major goal is to stop the so-called Islamization of the United Kingdom.

Aya Fubara Eneli (06:48.448)
110,000.

Adesoji Iginla (07:15.986)
Sister even saw some of what I'm about to say now where you had the same people that wanted Islamization to stop, around to have their queries from Pakistanis and Bengalis. That's one. two, the...

Milton Allimadi (07:33.089)
They don't mind that.

Milton Allimadi (07:37.215)
I mind that. mean, people here go to basketball games, they cheer black players, and then they want to go out and reach them immediately.

Adesoji Iginla (07:46.546)
Mm-hmm. So the more insidious aspect of it was a South African resident in the United States that called in via video link to say they should go and dissolve parliament and take their country back was

Milton Allimadi (07:48.131)
Go ahead.

Adesoji Iginla (08:15.706)
the icing on the whole cake. To anybody here, it's a question of what do you understand about the said country you're talking about? But it shows how white supremacy bleeds across borders. But yet, people want to be nativist. They're, I'm this, I'm that, I'm the United, I'm an American, I'm a Brit.

But here is global capital, just following capital around, regardless of borders. So I just wanted to highlight that very fact. And so speaking of flows, urban flows, where our first story comes from radio. Our first story comes from radio.develop. And it's titled.

Adesoji Iginla (09:09.692)
debts, dollars, and disputes. And it's talking about the recently commissioned

Great Ethiopia Renaissance Dome, the mega dam. And the story is filed in by privilege Masaviri. And she says, did 15,000 people die during GED's construction? D'Ocevela unpacked some key facts about the Ethiopia mega dam, including why Addis Ababa does not recognize the 1959 Nile water treaty between Egypt.

and Sudan. And there is a picture of the dam. And I just want to take your eyes to this part. I'm not, you know, we did hear 15,000 were claimed to have met their demise on the project. Former GERD Chief Project Manager, Sinegwe Bekele, stood out as one of the prominent figures who died under unclear circumstances.

With speculation that he might have been assassinated in connection with the dam's construction in July 2018, he was found with a bullet wound in his car in central Addis Ababa. The dam commissioning in September 9 is expected to draw dignitaries, it's happened anywhere, from across the continent with invitations, extended to Nile Basin countries and others, but Egypt and Sudan's attendance is uncertain.

the mega hydrodome is expected to double Ethiopia's electricity output. So the question is, what is your take with regards to this particular headline or your general take on the article itself vis-a-vis reporting what would ordinarily be a scientific achievement when it comes to infrastructure in Africa?

Adesoji Iginla (11:15.248)
Sista, you wanna go first?

Aya Fubara Eneli (11:17.254)
Nope, I'm going to defer to to our comrade here today.

Adesoji Iginla (11:19.25)
You

Milton Allimadi (11:21.568)
Okay. All right. So I have maybe two or three points on this. First of all, it's a major construction achievement, right? Because I think it's going to generate power worth like 5,000 plus megawatts, which, and right now one of the biggest ones we have on the continent is Aswan Dam in Egypt itself, which generates 2,100 megawatts. So this one is more than double that of

Adesoji Iginla (11:30.672)
Hmm. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (11:43.77)
in Egypt yeah yeah yeah

Aya Fubara Eneli (11:44.115)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (11:52.264)
And if you look at the one in Ghana, I think that one is 1000 megawatts and that is a huge, you know, project in West Africa. So this one is five times gone. So it's a major achievement. Obviously it's a story that you cannot ignore because obviously it becomes a lead if it's true that 15,000 people died in the construction. this, because this harkens back to the

Adesoji Iginla (11:56.998)
As a combo. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (12:05.05)
Yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (12:17.936)
in the course of, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (12:21.65)
era of colonial type constructions. When they build that railway, for example, from the coast to Brazzaville, when the French built it without conscripted labor, more than 14,000 people died. 14,000 Africans died building that. So if this is true, and it seems to be true, because if you look at the minister's answer, the minister of energy and water, says,

Adesoji Iginla (12:25.617)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (12:34.566)
label. Yep, yep, yep.

Mm.

Milton Allimadi (12:49.435)
on the point about the numbers that are being quoted, the question is wrong and the answer also wrong. For information on this, you have to go to relevant institutions. A whole minister who brief includes the project is saying, go to the institution. So he's saying nobody is allowed to talk about this except maybe the prime minister. But much more importantly, he's not saying ridiculous.

15,000 people died, that's nonsense, outrage. And we can disprove that. He did not say that. So that to me confirms that whether it's 15,000 or not, thousands of people must have died in the construction of this project. And we're in the 21st century. Do we still really need to sacrifice so many human lives in building a major project like this, which of course is laudable and welcome? It's going to provide energy to build the economy.

Adesoji Iginla (13:33.458)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (13:44.092)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (13:46.546)
But so something needs to be followed up on that particular story. What, how did they die? there no, you know, safety measures at all? You know, were there no safety measures? Sure, that the water was not being held back and people were just drowned. How did they die? That's a question that's not addressed in the article either. And also then finally, I want to say there's one other thing I'd like about, not so much the story, but what was accomplished by theopians.

Adesoji Iginla (13:51.868)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (13:55.292)
Safety measures.

Milton Allimadi (14:16.881)
they raised all the money domestically. You see? So Africans can mobilize when they believe in something. People were donating, people were buying bonds. $5 billion, that's unheard of. Ordinarily, that would be a lead in itself. Africans raised $5 billion domestically to build major debt. So my suggestion would have been to have done it as two separate stories. The tragedy part,

Adesoji Iginla (14:21.457)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (14:45.405)
That should be a standalone story. The fact that Africans get mobilized, five billion down, because now the World Bank and IMF are going to become worried. They refuse to provide the money, and it turned out to have been a blessing for Ethiopia.

Adesoji Iginla (14:59.364)
in desire.

Aya Fubara Eneli (15:03.648)
I absolutely agree with you and you raised most of the points that I was going to point to. What I was most excited about that article is the fact that we did it ourselves. And so that becomes a blueprint. Well, not even a blueprint because we've had this blueprint before, but it becomes a reminder of what we are capable of doing when we decide to do it. So whenever I hear all these African leaders talking about, know, we just on women and resistance did a whole program on

Milton Allimadi (15:19.334)
Drone.

Aya Fubara Eneli (15:34.056)
Ellen Sirleaf Johnson. you know, her whole focus was on how to go get aid from her friends in the IMF and the World Bank and so on and so forth. so I really appreciated the fact that the Ethiopians, yes, maybe it took longer, who knows, but.

Adesoji Iginla (15:34.386)
Salif. Salif.

Aya Fubara Eneli (15:54.864)
We own this and we have that pride and if we did it one time we can do it again and maybe do it better. Having said that, I agree with you that I was going back to research, okay, who exactly wrote this story and what were they trying to accomplish? Because when you throw out 15,000 people died but you give us no clue as to how you came up with that number.

Adesoji Iginla (16:00.146)
Again,

Milton Allimadi (16:16.643)
Right.

Aya Fubara Eneli (16:19.1)
or how they died, was there one major explosion where, you know, something took out so many people are wet? Yes, that was problematic. was like, maybe they're scared of telling the truth. I don't know. But obviously the response from the minister was a little suspect. The other thing though that really stood out for me in this article is understanding why it came to this.

Adesoji Iginla (16:36.614)
Minister.

Aya Fubara Eneli (16:48.018)
and understanding why Sudan and Egypt will possibly not show up for this grant opening that many other countries up north, upstream are going to be celebrating as a feat for the area. And it comes back again to the hand of colonialism and neocolonialism in the affairs of Africa.

Milton Allimadi (16:51.713)
Right. Right, right, right.

Aya Fubara Eneli (17:14.14)
So they reference really quickly the 1959 Nile Water Treaty. And of course, at that treaty, you have a conversation about water that impacts so many different countries. But you end up having the conversation, the only people invited to the table are Egypt and Sudan. And this was under

Adesoji Iginla (17:14.834)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (17:19.506)
Treaty.

Milton Allimadi (17:33.655)
Right.

Aya Fubara Eneli (17:36.828)
Nasser in Sudan's Prime Minister Ibrahim Aboud and then the treaty because Egypt had the backing of some colonial masters the treaty gives says hey altogether there's 74 billion cubic meters We're gonna be a fifty five point five billion cubic meters to Egypt we're gonna give eighteen point five to Sudan and the rest of you kick rocks and They're supposed to just say yeah, that's fine

Adesoji Iginla (17:46.598)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (17:57.061)
Egypt.

Aya Fubara Eneli (18:06.408)
and we'll just live with it. So despite Ethiopia contributing about 85 % of the Nile waters via the Blue Nile, they were closed out of that treaty. And this is the way that the colonizers keep us at each other's throats. And we allow them.

Adesoji Iginla (18:18.812)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (18:26.748)
Yeah

Milton Allimadi (18:27.266)
Yep, yep, yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli (18:30.376)
Because it's like you're having a quarrel with your brother or sister and you go bring someone in who you know does not have the best interest of either one of you to mediate or to to be the one who draws up the terms and all they do is create long-term animity between us and so obviously and also That treaty gave egypt veto power

Adesoji Iginla (18:42.834)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (18:50.209)
No, that's a big point. I agree.

Aya Fubara Eneli (18:57.19)
over any upstream projects. It's ridiculous. So I'm happy for Ethiopia and I'm happy for the example that they're setting. And I hope that Africans see this as a pan-Africanist accomplishment and that we come out and we celebrate this big time.

Adesoji Iginla (18:59.174)
projects. Yeah. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (19:01.239)
Crazy.

Adesoji Iginla (19:14.68)
Mm-hmm. You wanted to...

Milton Allimadi (19:15.062)
Okay, very good. I'm glad you mentioned that very critical point. In fact, you read the part about the apparent assassination of the chief of the entire project, Mr. Bekele. I would not be surprised if the people who eliminated him were from outside Ethiopia. Since I have no proof or evidence, me leave it like that.

Adesoji Iginla (19:27.768)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (19:28.03)
Yes. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (19:37.456)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (19:37.812)
Exactly. Exactly.

Adesoji Iginla (19:42.546)
You

Aya Fubara Eneli (19:44.39)
Exactly, because when they started this project, Egypt was understandably extremely upset and said they would do whatever they could to sabotage it. Exactly. So even when you say 15,000 people died, help me understand, was it because of negligence on the part of Ethiopia or was it because there were actually some kind of saboteur work that was going on that created, you know,

Milton Allimadi (19:51.791)
Egypt wanted to go to war. Yep. Yep. They wanted to go to war.

Adesoji Iginla (19:55.163)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (20:08.522)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (20:10.098)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (20:12.544)
issues for the workers, but give us more information.

Milton Allimadi (20:15.446)
Right.

Adesoji Iginla (20:16.636)
Hmm. I mean, I'll just say, I mean, on that story, I will just say, you're right when you said Egypt took exception to the idea of Ethiopia constructing the dam. One was part of the negotiation was you are going to allow a certain amount of water in line with that treaty, which if that were to happen, Ethiopia would effectively not be able to build a dam.

because you need X amount of volume of water to generate the electricity you need. So it was like, no, we're going to have to go ahead. And when they mentioned the fact that nobody outside of Ethiopia invested in it, World Bank and the IMF were backing Egypt. That's why they didn't provide the funds. So again, the new colonial hand of

Aya Fubara Eneli (21:07.838)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (21:15.854)
external influence over the affairs of Africa. You continue to see it on a day. And kudos to Ethiopia for saying no and have to their credit achieved something worthwhile. And it's a monument of what can happen when Africans decide.

Aya Fubara Eneli (21:31.445)
And I believe they're gonna be providing electricity to some of the countries upstream from them as well. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (21:36.42)
Yeah, nearby, yeah. Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (21:38.281)
Definitely.

Aya Fubara Eneli (21:40.692)
Yeah, this is a great thing.

Adesoji Iginla (21:42.322)
Yes, yes, yes. And so that said, another story cropped up in Guardian this week and it's for one of our worthy comrades who has long left us, but for some he is still very much around. And the story reads from the Guardian that South Africa is to reopen Steve Biko's inquest 48 years after death.

Aya Fubara Eneli (21:59.648)
Thank you.

Adesoji Iginla (22:11.122)
in death custody. Death of anti-apartheid activist in 1977 after police beat him into a coma sparked outrage across the world. And South Africa's prosecutors will reopen the inquest into the death of prominent anti-apartheid activist Biko nearly 50 years after he died in police custody. Biko, the founder of South Africa's Black Consciousness Movement, died in a police cell in 1977, just age 30.

after being beaten into a coma by the police who had arrested him nearly a month earlier. The main goal of reopening the inquest is to lay before the court evidence that will enable the court to make a finding as to whether the debt was brought about by any act or omission, which prima facie involves amounts to an offense on the part of any person, the national prosecuting authorities said on Wednesday. So,

Ladies and gentlemen, what's your take on this?

Aya Fubara Eneli (23:13.76)
You should leave that article back on there because I was getting confused No, No, put please put it back up. I Don't know who wrote this. They should they should go back to comrade Milton alamatic's class because on the one hand yeah, right where you are on the one hand they said Beco the founder of South Africa's black consciousness movement

Adesoji Iginla (23:19.63)
OK, let me share that. OK.

Adesoji Iginla (23:34.994)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (23:42.976)
died in a prison cell in 1977, ages 30, after being beaten into a coma.

Aya Fubara Eneli (23:51.845)
So it seems like they've already...

come to a conclusion that he was beaten into a coma, right? And it says by police. So what are we investigating again? Because if you keep going down, then it talks about, I mean, unless we're investigating the corruption of the National Prosecuting Authority.

Adesoji Iginla (24:18.448)
second step.

Milton Allimadi (24:21.841)
Mm-mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (24:21.864)
Unless we're going to talk about how ineffective the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was.

Milton Allimadi (24:27.353)
Right, No, no, she's right. I'm not going to take that.

Adesoji Iginla (24:27.634)
Aya Fubara Eneli (24:30.752)
In your article, you've already stated, concluded that he was beaten into a coma. So later when you now say he hit his head and that no one was prosecuted for the death. And of course, just on a very basic level as an attorney myself, I'm just like, is anybody alive who did this?

Adesoji Iginla (24:54.044)
There would have to be for them to, yeah. Yeah. Yes.

Milton Allimadi (24:54.061)
I think they say two of them, said they I think they said two. Yeah, two of them.

Aya Fubara Eneli (24:58.078)
What, two of them are still alive? Okay. Well, cause I would go, good. I'm glad you caught that because I'm like, okay, who again are we prosecuting? So anyway, just looking at this, I'm glad, listen, anytime that we attempt to write the record of the injustices that have been done against us, I absolutely welcome that.

Adesoji Iginla (25:16.786)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (25:23.744)
And so to the extent that this will bring forth anything that without a shadow of a doubt provides the evidence of what we already know to be true, that a 30 year old man in good health just suddenly beat himself up and then fall into a coma. I welcome that, but at the same time, I think that it's unfortunate that our people have to continue to fight.

Milton Allimadi (25:23.875)
Right.

Milton Allimadi (25:34.916)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (25:34.917)
Yeah, of course.

Adesoji Iginla (25:38.896)
I'm self-taught.

Aya Fubara Eneli (25:51.786)
for any modicum of justice. And there's no justice because he's not coming back, but just in terms of even getting to the truth. therein lies some of the concerns that I did have with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, both here in South Africa and then the one they did in Liberia as well. I feel like it's more of a way to just sweep things under the rug and say, we're starting over as opposed to really

Adesoji Iginla (25:56.188)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (26:02.894)
Mm. Reconciliation.

Adesoji Iginla (26:12.028)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (26:19.88)
correct wrongs and when you don't correct the wrongs they come back to the country just like the fact that America never effectively dealt with its confederates they've never stopped fighting a civil war which is why we are where we are today you got to address these things up front

Adesoji Iginla (26:23.538)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (26:35.078)
Mmm. Mmm.

Yep, yep, yep. And.

Milton Allimadi (26:43.211)
Yeah, so the whole question had always been justice versus reconciliation, right? And that's why we're still talking about it today. So the key questions in this story, you're right, first of all, it's, but you know, primarily the editors are responsible for stuff like this. The editor should have said exactly what you said, you see?

You know, it means, you know, you don't have good editors if they allow a story to run like that, or they want it to run like that, you see? And so it's most likely they want it to run like that. And there are a couple of questions. Why are they visiting this issue 29 years later after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission? 48 years, 49 years after Biko was killed, was murdered.

Adesoji Iginla (27:39.064)
He's passing. Yeah. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (27:40.394)
You know, so obviously it's for political reasons. This is something because the people who killed them were not granted amnesty. Part of the whole thing with the truth and reconciliation was if you testify, you tell the truth, no matter how barbaric the crime was, you would be given amnesty. But these folks are apparently lying, you know, and that's why they did not get amnesty. So

Aya Fubara Eneli (27:51.495)
No, they're not.

Milton Allimadi (28:07.978)
They never got an amnesty. So why are you looking into it today, 29 years later? Might it be because, you know, last year, last year, you, ANC did very poorly in the election and the white party did very well. And now you're worried about the next election and now you're throwing some bones, you know, to the masses when in fact you should be addressing the issue of economic disparity. You should be addressing the issue of the fact that the 8 % Europeans.

Adesoji Iginla (28:13.532)
now instead of at the time.

Milton Allimadi (28:37.739)
still control 72 % of the land. So it seems to me that this is like throwing some crumbs to the masses. Of course, it's a very emotional thing. So if they're going to, even if the guys are in their 80s now, if they get convicted, I'm sure people will still celebrate because their crime was just so brutal, right? But, you know, this to me sounds like pacifying. You know, you're not addressing the serious issues. You said, you know, the sister said,

Adesoji Iginla (28:56.186)
I agree just, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (29:06.25)
we're still having the same conversation in the United States because the issue of the Confederacy was never properly resolved. South Africa, exact same thing. You know, it was, they didn't even touch it, right? And people blame Mandela and all that. I'm not in that group. I think the guy did what he could do. The guy served 27 years. You need to have the young bones push that, you know, that fight. I don't blame him for taking a deal.

and coming out and living for a few years outside behind bars and even being president for one term and then stepping down. The alternative was that he was going to definitely die behind bars. I would have probably done the same thing. I think they need to continue the fight for the land and for economic justice as well because the European population still control 90 % of the economy as well. In cahoots with people like Ramaphosa, the president,

Adesoji Iginla (29:41.458)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (29:45.82)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (30:05.085)
Who is a billionaire in US dollars, not South African ram? So it seems to me that this is very obvious. Is that throwing some crumbs to the masses, you know?

Aya Fubara Eneli (30:06.58)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (30:16.315)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (30:16.756)
Well, since they're throwing crumbs, if any of the descendants of Steve Biko happen to hear this, once they are done with whatever investigation they're doing, now sue the men and their estate and their descendants in full court and at least get some financial resources for the loss of Steve Biko. Yeah, that's what I would say.

Milton Allimadi (30:33.681)
Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.

I that. I love that. I love that.

Adesoji Iginla (30:43.506)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (30:43.814)
I love that because that could actually open a pattern. There are many, many more there who deserve to be sued also. So that actually is an indirect way to tackle some of the reparations in South Africa. I love that idea a lot.

Aya Fubara Eneli (31:03.444)
Man, shoot, I'll move to South Africa and get admitted to the bar to fight that battle.

Adesoji Iginla (31:03.506)
You

Milton Allimadi (31:03.527)
And now secure. For sure. For sure.

Milton Allimadi (31:09.987)
No, really, why should they be benefiting from the assets that were derived from blood? At least if they were politically savvy, right? They should have said, okay, apartheid, we did wrong. We apologize. We're going to give you a timeline.

Adesoji Iginla (31:10.546)
Mmm, mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (31:16.958)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (31:18.118)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (31:31.619)
if within 10 years, you don't even have to do it overnight, within 10 years, the land would have been redistributed to reflect the population of the country. Boom, you have reconciliation right there on the spot. Africans are very patient people. They are, because otherwise, can you imagine a minority African population going to England, taking over the land, committing genocide?

Aya Fubara Eneli (31:52.916)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (31:58.085)
And then years later, they end African apartheid in England. The Africans would still control 72 % of the land. 30 years later, you're out of your mind. It would never happen. Only Africans can tolerate that type of inequity. Sometimes we are too close to our humanity, but there's a limit.

Adesoji Iginla (32:22.51)
Mm. Mm. Wow. Speaking of limits, what's the limit that Ghana is willing to tolerate as it plays host to deportees from the United States? For that story, we go to Reuters, and it reads.

Ghana agrees to accept West African deported from the US, President said. Ghana has agreed to accept West African nationals deported from the United States. And 14 have already arrived in the country, President John Dramani Mahama told reporters late Wednesday. United States, Donald Trump has taken a hardline approach towards immigration aiming to

deport millions of immigrants who are in the US illegally and seeking to wrap up removals to third countries. So it goes on a group of countries, including Nigerians, a group of deportees, including Nigerians, and one Gambia have already arrived in Ghana and the government facilitated their return to the world, facilitate their return to their home countries, Muhammad had said at a press conference.

So what's your take on this? mean, I know what I, when I initially saw the story, I know what my take was, but I'm hoping to hear what yours is. I will start with Sesta.

Adesoji Iginla (34:01.692)
Can you hear me?

Aya Fubara Eneli (34:02.27)
You paused. Who were you starting with?

Adesoji Iginla (34:04.848)
I'm starting with you. Because you're...

Milton Allimadi (34:07.883)
He wants the legal brains here.

Aya Fubara Eneli (34:11.648)
What?

Adesoji Iginla (34:13.33)
You

Aya Fubara Eneli (34:17.02)
Aya Fubara Eneli (34:20.65)
First and foremost, this is what the third or fourth story we've done on these African countries accepting deportees from the United States of America. So clearly there is a really strong effort to put pressure on these African nations.

Adesoji Iginla (34:29.404)
Hmm, from the United States.

Aya Fubara Eneli (34:42.814)
to become dumping grounds for the United States of America. Now we already take their waste, we already, know, in terms of garbage, we already take their discarded pharmaceuticals, they already dump their food that they can't sell. And now to appease his base and to appear to be doing what

the white nationalists, I guess, the fascists want, he's looking for all kinds of measures to get as many people out of the country as possible, as many black and brown people out of the country as possible. And because there are quite a few people who were part of Project 2025 and who are now in senior administration in his administration, who...

Adesoji Iginla (35:11.6)
He promised them.

Adesoji Iginla (35:34.426)
and the government.

Aya Fubara Eneli (35:37.308)
studied Africans, who studied how we resist, who, I mean, this is what they did their dissertation topics on. I think these people have really tried to figure out what the pain points are and how to manipulate us the most. So when you look at what's happening with this Ghanaian president, first of all, didn't he just get elected?

Adesoji Iginla (35:54.226)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (36:00.89)
Yeah, he did. He's in his second year now. I think second year.

Milton Allimadi (36:01.127)
Yeah, a months ago.

Aya Fubara Eneli (36:03.104)
are elected this year. It's like with everything that's going on in your country, like what are you getting from this? Because again, the parliament was not part of this decision. These are unilateral decisions that these heads of state are making, but that encumber the entire countries. But what's really unique about this particular one is you have

Milton Allimadi (36:22.463)
That's a very important point.

Aya Fubara Eneli (36:28.852)
you have ECOWAS, right? And with ECOWAS, what they've agreed on is that these West African states, that their citizens can move back and forth to each of those countries and spend 90 days in whatever country without a visa, right? And then, you know, go back to their country. So...

Adesoji Iginla (36:42.834)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (36:52.422)
If you have countries like Nigeria who are refusing to take any deportees, but you can get Ghana or any of the other countries in the ECOWAS to accept them, then now that whole ECOWAS deal comes into play because once they are in Ghana or in any other West African country, then the question is, are the Ghanaians going to like house them and imprison them for life?

Adesoji Iginla (37:03.088)
around Nigeria, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (37:14.595)
effectively in Nigeria.

Adesoji Iginla (37:20.113)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (37:20.132)
Or are they going to release them? And once they're released, they're going to be able to go back to their country. So is it a way to get around the sovereignty of countries that are saying, no, you don't just get to deport people and force us to take them. But I'll be interested to hear your take on it, comrade Milton.

Milton Allimadi (37:38.974)
No, is. You've touched on all the critical topics. So Ghana says that they have in fact returned them to their countries. I'm thinking, okay, so if I am Nigerian or from West Africa, I would probably prefer to be deported to West Africa and not to Vietnam or Cambodia or...

somewhere else, But at the same time, the whole issue of some people have legitimate fears of

persecution, torture, even killing. So how do you address that issue? You're to retire me to Nigeria if I have a legitimate basis for why I was seeking political asylum? That's very problematic. So now Ghana becomes involved in bypassing that very serious concern. And unless Ghana is saying, okay, we'll investigate

Aya Fubara Eneli (38:22.431)
Yes.

Yes. Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (38:43.039)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (38:49.72)
If these are legitimate, we will also grant political asylum. So you're opening up a can of worms and we don't know which direction this is really going to take. And then as I was reading another article actually, remember when the five African presidents were invited in the White House? And then some people were saying, okay, we know the guy wants Africa's resources. that the only thing that he's inviting them therefore to?

Adesoji Iginla (38:55.982)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (39:11.48)
Yeah, yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (39:11.657)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (39:20.422)
give them this high-ground treatment and that. But also it turns out that he was also pressuring each and every one of them to accept deportees as well. That was not part, that never came out in the reporting at that time. But that has subsequently come out as well.

Adesoji Iginla (39:41.19)
Yeah, but there was a story before then of Nigeria refusing to take any deportees based on the international agreed ways of treating deportees and to which United States, well, then changed their visa rules with regards to Nigeria, reduced the length of the visa from five years to two, then to six months.

Aya Fubara Eneli (39:45.79)
Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (40:06.974)
Cheers.

Aya Fubara Eneli (40:11.038)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (40:11.314)
and no student visas, all of that nonsense just because you refuse to take deportees. Maybe that's what Ghana is cannot afford to do. So that's why I'm just looking out for Ghana here.

Milton Allimadi (40:11.58)
Thank

Aya Fubara Eneli (40:31.146)
So here's the thing again when we talk about our African countries, which really should just be one country. Ghana may not be able to afford to do it. Swatini itself may not be able to afford to do it. But if we will come together, then we have this strong block that is so much harder to break.

Adesoji Iginla (40:35.314)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (40:58.162)
So the fact that we will not, you know, we keep traveling again, like I said, and bringing outsiders into our business and negotiating with people who have a proven track record that they do not care about your wellbeing. And yet we will not talk to our neighbors. So this Ghanaian president, when he chose to do this, did he have a meeting with the other ECOWAS leaders and they all sign off on this? No, he did it unilaterally.

Adesoji Iginla (41:12.838)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (41:23.736)
I doubt it.

Adesoji Iginla (41:26.962)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (41:27.257)
Absolutely.

Aya Fubara Eneli (41:28.424)
So I don't know when our leaders are gonna learn, but I'm hoping sooner rather than later.

Milton Allimadi (41:32.344)
No, will. They will. think, you know, young people are becoming much, much more intolerable. They can't tolerate this anymore. And I encourage them, wherever you can make the changes, make the changes, because you're absolutely right. First of all, if we had a United States or Africa, the United States would not be deporting any African, because we have all the resources that the world needs, all the critical minerals. We'll just put them on a blacklist.

will say you'll never get any more cobalt. You'll never get any more coltan. And the businesses, those CEOs of the tech companies who were being dined in the White House last week, all of them would collectively come together and get rid of this president. There would never be any president elected in the United States that would treat Africa that way again, if we were United States or Africa. Nobody, not China, not Europe.

Adesoji Iginla (42:06.066)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (42:16.447)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (42:31.442)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (42:31.84)
But you see how even small South Korea showed their muscle with this incident that happened in Georgia where a Karen who's running for office decided to call ICE on the Hyundai plants that they were building. And South Korea is like, we're sending in a plane, we're gonna take our own people. And...

Adesoji Iginla (42:42.104)
Georgia.

Milton Allimadi (42:51.726)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (42:56.594)
Good luck with that. And I think they are considering cutting their losses and not coming back at least to those red states to continue work.

Adesoji Iginla (43:10.096)
And that's a.

Aya Fubara Eneli (43:10.208)
So they're talking about a possible loss of 8,900 jobs as a result of that one move.

Adesoji Iginla (43:20.304)
Racism is expensive.

Aya Fubara Eneli (43:23.194)
They're gonna F around and find out.

Adesoji Iginla (43:27.964)
Talking about the continent now looking out for its own citizens, we go for our final story from Reuters. And it reads Africa, there's something about the story, but I'll let you go first before I say my thoughts. Africa feeding 20 million more children with school meals, World Food Program says. And.

It says government in sub-Saharan Africa has provided school meals to roughly 20 million extra children over the past two years. The World Food Programme said on Wednesday, showing a move away from dependence on foreign aid and a strong commitment to education. The region saw the biggest rise in school feeding of any region by nearly a third to 87 million in 2024. Ethiopia, Rwanda and even severely impoverished.

Madagascar and Chad all managed to feed six times as many over the period. Government investment in school meals signals a significant shift from reliance on foreign aid to organizing school meals as a strategic public investment in children's education and health, the report said.

Over to you, sister. As a mother,

Aya Fubara Eneli (44:51.616)
No, no, we're going to come read Yeah, come read Milton is going first in this one if you don't mind sir

Adesoji Iginla (44:55.132)
You

Milton Allimadi (44:59.187)
sure, no problem. No, no, absolutely, I don't. It's a big issue for me because, you know, as we know, Carmen Cromer warned about this, know, that if we are not food independent, we're going to surrender our political independence. And in his book, Neo-Colonialism, The Last Stage of Imperialism. And this is exactly where we are today. So in spite of this story,

Adesoji Iginla (45:02.226)
You

Adesoji Iginla (45:06.098)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (45:09.841)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (45:26.802)
The fact of the matter is Africa imports 35 billion to 40 billion dollars worth of food every year. Just think about that. Money that could be going to schools, to hospitals, to clinics.

It's just mind-boggling. So this story is of minor interest to me in terms of what needs to be really done to resolve the situation. The story still is, while it says, so some countries are doing better, 20 million extra children were fed in the last two years, it still tells at the same time that

Adesoji Iginla (45:48.785)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (46:12.762)
By 2030, 60 % of the world's hungry people will be in Africa. We're talking 307 million people. So in other words, the story itself is saying this 20 million being able to feed 20 million extra children two years is insignificant compared to the real problem that exists on the continent. It sets with the story, but it's just reworked it. You know, this could have been the lead itself.

Adesoji Iginla (46:19.011)
in Africa.

Milton Allimadi (46:42.671)
It could have been the headline, you know. In four years, 60 % of the world's hungry will be in Africa. That, in fact, is the story right there, you see? So obviously, there are a number of things. And it ties in with the whole dependency model. And it celebrates dependency because it says, quote, poor countries face falling aid from their rich counterparts. First of all,

Adesoji Iginla (46:46.023)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (47:11.588)
There are no such things as poor countries. These are exploited countries. How can the countries that have more resources than the rich countries be referred to as quote unquote poor countries? That's nonsense. But it reinforces that unconscious propaganda narrative. but for the lack of generosity from the US, from the West, these countries would also be like us. Of course not. They are kept unlike you.

Adesoji Iginla (47:17.242)
impoverished countries.

Adesoji Iginla (47:40.166)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (47:40.824)
in the West by the mere fact that it's their resources that allow you to build your wealth. So your whole model is tied on keeping these countries dependent, keeping them hungry, and keeping them non-industrialized so they can import your manufacturers, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (47:49.5)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (48:02.3)
Mm, mm, mm.

Milton Allimadi (48:02.8)
So that's my take on this.

Aya Fubara Eneli (48:08.896)
Thank you brother for that.

Milton Allimadi (48:09.368)
One point actually, let me just add one point, just to condemn the Africans. So while they have food shortages, people are hungry, people are starving, they're getting food aid sometimes from outside. They're always like celebrating their record production of coffee, tea, cotton, cocoa, flowers, things that people cannot eat. That is the other contradiction that we need to end by all means necessary in Africa.

Aya Fubara Eneli (48:40.402)
So I'm so glad that you brought it up because it dovetails with the point I was going to make is that From the research I've done 60 % of all arable land in the world is in is in is on the continent of Africa We also know that we also know that we have the youngest population So we have youth that can work. We have youth who are looking for work, right? So for us to have the land

Milton Allimadi (48:56.078)
Think about that.

Aya Fubara Eneli (49:10.226)
and to have the labor and not produce food for our own consumption is insanity. And let me tell you that there went, hmm.

Milton Allimadi (49:20.396)
Totally.

Aya Fubara Eneli (49:25.458)
See, it's gonna be hard for many of us who are listening, watching this to really feel this at a gut level because perhaps you've never really experienced extreme hunger. Like at least here in the United States, you know you can go to school and get food. Now I have worked with young people who like over the summer in the summer programs that we ran, I would have extra food on Fridays so that they could take the food home.

know, crackers and peanut butter and jelly and all of that so that they could eat over the weekend as well. But many of us have not experienced the kind of hunger that we're talking about when we say a person is malnourished. So there is a school that I'm involved with in the land of my ancestors in Opobo in Nigeria. And that school has about 200 kids.

Adesoji Iginla (49:59.346)
Mm. Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (50:22.228)
And when I was looking at the schedule for the school, I said, why do you guys get out so early in the day? And they explained to me, the school can't afford to feed the kids. Quite a few of the kids can't, you know, don't have the resources to like pack a lunch and bring to school. So they let the kids out early compared to many other countries.

Adesoji Iginla (50:37.958)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (50:38.315)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (50:51.188)
so that they can go back to their families and figure out if they're breathing air or drinking water, actually going to eat any food. And I would love nothing more than to be able to provide one meal a day for those kids. But right now, there are just a few of us who are lending hands to this project. And first, we needed to secure the roof where there's rain coming in and then get resources, you know.

Milton Allimadi (50:51.447)
or

Milton Allimadi (50:59.415)
That's great.

Milton Allimadi (51:16.639)
Right, right, right, right.

Aya Fubara Eneli (51:19.564)
and things so we're gradually building up we just replace the the ceilings there but I would love to be able to what we want to do is actually fence in some of the land that the school has start a gardening project but also be able to feed these kids once a day and eventually from that garden you know be able to feed them from there or sell or whatever so bottom line is

Milton Allimadi (51:42.381)
South January.

Aya Fubara Eneli (51:47.922)
These are not just articles that we read and then we move on. These are like real lives and it's going to take us to be part of the solution in whatever little ways that we can, but each person joining hands with another will make a difference.

Adesoji Iginla (51:53.97)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (51:59.747)
Mm, mm, yes.

Milton Allimadi (52:08.083)
Right, no, we can do it because first of all, I think the latest figure I saw that the funds that Africans remit to the continent is between 90 to $100 billion now. This is, know, people that's sending, you know, funds back. So obviously we can rally over issues of education, issues of feeding. These are things that we need to do increasingly ourselves, you know. I think we are underutilizing.

Adesoji Iginla (52:08.284)
Correct, correct.

Adesoji Iginla (52:22.779)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (52:36.23)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (52:37.297)
our potential and our powers.

Adesoji Iginla (52:41.902)
I I'm gonna borrow your book in the last story we ran where you said you have to indict the Africans. I'm going to indict the Kenyan president, William Ruto, Zambian president, Manon Agwa, the Zambian one, his name fills me now, and the Malawi president who went to Putin about two years ago asking him to allow

Aya Fubara Eneli (53:07.284)
So go and beg for grain, yeah?

Adesoji Iginla (53:10.796)
Ukraine to be able to export grains to Africa. The sister said earlier that Africa with some of the most arable land and you added the fact that you're producing coffee, cocoa and flowers, fresh flowers that you cannot eat in order to buy what you need to eat. It's a crazy model.

Milton Allimadi (53:37.35)
It's inexcusable. It's inexcusable. You can't excuse that.

Adesoji Iginla (53:39.856)
Hahaha

You know, I mean, it's like the sister said, these articles that we do every week is to bring us the conscious mind to kind of think that sometimes the stories you see when you search Google, when you watch news, there's a story behind those headlines. And half of the time, those, even the so-called stories that are before you,

don't fully represent what it is the entire thing is about, whether it be the dam, the deportees, Steven Biko, and now talking about feeding kids. There is a story, there is a reason why Africans are unable to really actualize their own destiny, because the so-called colonial model is still there.

a bit kind of invisible, but it's still there. But that said, we'll continue to do this. I must thank my guests, Comrade Milton Almadi, Sister Ayafuberia and Elie Esquire for joining me for this conversation. And hopefully for more conversations. I thank you, the viewers and listeners in the course of the week, because you can download this on

where you download your audio podcast. You can get it on any platform. And yes, until next time, I am Adesuji Ginla and sister. Any final thoughts?

Aya Fubara Eneli (55:27.132)
We are all we have. We should not be spectators. Everybody is capable of doing something to fight towards our liberation. Find your thing and commit to it.

Adesoji Iginla (55:40.37)
And brother.

Milton Allimadi (55:40.486)
Absolutely.

Milton Allimadi (55:44.176)
Aluta Continua, support this program. Subscribe, donate, just, know, build up this Brothers platform. See you next week.

Aya Fubara Eneli (55:57.332)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (55:57.84)
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. And from me, you will be hearing from me the course of the week and myself and Sister Aya will be looking at the lives and times of Misere Gute Mugo. And yeah, that will be on Women and Resistance, 7 p.m. Eastern. Join us Wednesday, this Wednesday. And so, yeah, stay conscious, stay committed and stay connected.

Until next time, it's good night.