EP 5 Congo War, Rwanda Sportswashing & Exploitative Tourism...I African News Review 🌍

In this episode of African News Review, host Adesoji Iginla and guests Milton Allimadi and Aya Fubara Eneli Esq. discuss pressing issues affecting Africa and the diaspora.

This conversation further explores various themes related to Africa's representation in the media, geopolitical tensions, the impact of education and brain drain, and the exploitation of tourism in the Caribbean.

The speakers discuss the importance of African leadership and the need for unity among African nations to address systemic issues.

Finally, they emphasise the role of media in shaping public perception and the necessity for Africans to articulate their own narratives.

Takeaways

*The media plays a significant role in shaping perceptions of Africa.
*Geopolitical tensions in the Caribbean reflect broader global dynamics.
*The conflict in the DRC is influenced by external powers and local interests.
*Rwanda's sports sponsorships serve as a tool for image management.
*Education abroad can lead to brain drain if not appropriately managed.
*Tourism in the Caribbean often benefits foreign entities more than local economies.
*African leadership must prioritise the continent's interests over personal gain.
*Unity among African nations is crucial for addressing everyday challenges.
*Investing in local education systems is essential for sustainable development.
*The exploitation of resources continues to harm African nations.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to African News Review
01:31 Current Events and Media Manipulation
04:50 Geopolitical Tensions in the Caribbean
08:21 Congo's Struggles and External Influences
19:04 Rwanda's Image and Sportswashing
23:35 Pan-Africanism and Unity Challenges
30:40 Ghanaian Students in Crisis
35:20 The Brain Drain Dilemma
36:20 Historical Context of Brain Drain
40:56 Reparations and Economic Responsibility
46:52 Caribbean Tourism and Colonial Legacy
54:28 The Impact of Individual Choices
58:53 Decolonising the Mind through Education

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:02.422)
Yeah, welcome to African News Review. This is your regular weekend catch up where we look at Africa as framed in the Western press. With me, as usual, is, beginning with ladies, is Ayafobara Nelly Esquire, host of Rethinking Freedom, or 98.5 FM Killeen, and the author of Amazon's Best Seller.

Kwanzaa, a celebration guide for home and community. Yeah, do get your copy. And welcome, sister. Welcome, welcome.

Aya Fubara Eneli (00:39.412)
Thank you very much for having me. Greetings.

Adesoji Iginla (00:42.102)
Greetings, greetings. And the gentleman needs no introduction. His book, Manufacturing Hate, How Africa Was Demonized in the Western Press, formed the genesis of this program. And so thank you very

Milton Allimadi (00:58.38)
That's something.

Aya Fubara Eneli (00:58.57)
Are you going to hold up your book? Please do. I'm traveling. I don't have mine here. Please do.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01.282)
you

OK, so Africa illuminated revealing the continent's remarkable facts. That's myself, my humble self, the name there. And yeah, hopefully that will be. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (01:19.787)
And obviously, the message here is we encourage more of our people to write, you know, the information that you know. What is the use if you're just keeping it for yourself? It doesn't make sense, right?

Adesoji Iginla (01:26.102)
Yes, yes, Yourself, yeah. Yes, yes, yes. OK. So welcome, everyone. Welcome, everyone. And yes, let's begin. News from where you are at, please. Let's start with the system.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:49.344)
What is happening in my neck of the woods? It's really more of the same, of course. This is nationwide. The quote unquote Epstein files dropped, but didn't really drop because like reams of black pages. And then a picture of Diana Ross, I happen to really love her, love her music. Picture of her with

Adesoji Iginla (01:59.49)
It was heavily redacted.

Milton Allimadi (02:04.171)
you

Aya Fubara Eneli (02:17.223)
Michael Jackson and Bill Clinton with her children. But what they did was they blacked out the faces of the children and put it in the Epstein file so that it looks like somehow they were involved in this. It was a picture taken at the White House at a totally different event with her own children. So the subterfuge and the lies and the redactions and all of that. And in the meantime, they're

Milton Allimadi (02:39.21)
in.

Aya Fubara Eneli (02:47.027)
Throwing all of these other things up in the air to keep us on focused is really interesting. So we're definitely seeing that here in where I live. The other thing is our state had approved for public money to be used as vouchers for students to go to private schools. But there is a particular time when the public, when that money gets released.

Adesoji Iginla (02:52.076)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (03:15.527)
And what some of the schools have done is the deadlines to apply to their schools is before the voucher money. So in other words, the people who are probably going to apply and get in are the ones who already had resources. Then they would get the money when the money is released from the state. But the poor people who stupidly, and I will use that word, stupidly voted for this voucher program thinking that this would be.

a way to step their children up are probably still going to be closed out and for a lot of different reasons, but just a few things happening in our area.

Adesoji Iginla (03:52.318)
Okay, and the good.

Milton Allimadi (03:54.6)
All right, so the good thing with in terms of the Epstein files, and I like that sister open with that, is that there's just too many out there that sooner or later unredacted stuff is going to be sold to some sleazy publication and it will come out, you know. So I'm confident about that. You know, in this country money, it talks a lot, right?

Adesoji Iginla (04:19.53)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (04:23.456)
Yes, yes it does.

Milton Allimadi (04:23.782)
And then to me, locally, what is of great concern is how Trinidad is being used as a beachhead by the United States to undermine and eventually perhaps invade Venezuela. I'm just hoping that because obviously this is Marco Rubio's war. I don't think Trump particularly has a big appetite for it. I think he is much more keen

in getting the Nobel himself next year. And I think he realizes that a Venezuela war, that is something that will not end overnight and would still probably be continuing next year, is probably not good for his year. So his selfishness and ego may at the end, I hope, prevail, but anything is possible when you have a reckless collection of people with so much power. So that is me.

Adesoji Iginla (05:19.753)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (05:20.127)
And for those who are not paying attention, the speech by the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago was quite jarring. So are they basically signaling that they're going to exit CARICOM?

Milton Allimadi (05:27.021)
Yes, that's exactly what I was talking about.

Unbelievable.

Milton Allimadi (05:36.587)
I have not understand it. She was saying, our trade with the United States is more than 40%. With Venezuela, we age like 0.00. Like, this lady is nuts. What's going on? It's as if some right-wing conservative in the United States drafted that speech for her, you know? And the problem is the audience was clapping too, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (05:59.361)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (06:03.266)
OK, while all of that was happening, there was an ambassador who was accredited to the United States from here, Kristen Thompson. He's going to be the UK ambassador to the United States. But the United States also then agreed that an ambassador will be going out to South Africa in the name of Leo Bozel III.

Aya Fubara Eneli (06:05.427)
very easy to do.

Adesoji Iginla (06:33.602)
But those who don't know, Leo Buzza III in the 1980s actually supported apartheid. So you know what's coming. You are sending, exactly. So you're sending an apartheid sympathizer to South Africa while the idea of the so-called white genocide is on. You can basically recipe for disaster.

Milton Allimadi (06:43.873)
Well, that's on the same page with Trump then, I mean.

Adesoji Iginla (07:03.21)
So I mean, we'll continue to watch what his movements will be in his new post. But it does.

Milton Allimadi (07:09.922)
What I like about this current President Trump is that he does not hide exactly who he is, right?

Adesoji Iginla (07:21.782)
Mm. Yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli (07:22.941)
I think he's too deranged to do that. He's too far gone to be subtle about anything.

Milton Allimadi (07:26.909)
Absolutely. know, I mean, you know, I mean, why should it be surprising that he's sending a booster of apartheid as his ambassador, when he's saying you Africans are committing genocide against Europeans, you know, when in fact, the Europeans own 72 % of the land and make 8 % of the population. European unemployment is 8%. African unemployment is 40%.

Adesoji Iginla (07:36.736)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (07:41.762)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (07:53.442)
I mean, it goes without saying that white supremacy will do what white supremacy does. What's his name? Gerard Horne wrote a superb book titled, Confronting White Supremacy, White Supremacy Confronted. And in there, it lays out the case that the United States has, from time, even regardless of the peaceful governments, have

batted for the Europeans with regards to their trappings within the southern African sphere, be it in South Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe, or Namibia, or South Africa, as the case is now, it is always centered about corporate interest. The people do not matter. And speaking of where.

Milton Allimadi (08:43.165)
In the Oxford Union debate speech, Malcolm X said, I prefer the racist apartheid regime that let me know exactly where they stand than the United States that preaches integration but practices segregation and racism. So he said it in 1964, December, that still applies today perfectly.

Aya Fubara Eneli (08:56.436)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (09:03.01)
creation.

Adesoji Iginla (09:11.04)
Wow. Speaking of where the lives of people count for nothing, we go to Congo for our first story. And this story is coming from radio Dutch Vela, the German outlets, which says.

Adesoji Iginla (09:30.146)
The DR Congo US pressure forces M23 to retreat from UVira. The M23 rebel group withdraw from UVira under US pressure could reshape dynamics in East DR Congo. The question is, is Rwanda's influence weakening or this is just a tactical pause? And it goes for the Rwandan backed M23 agreed on

Tuesday to withdraw from the key city of Iberia in the eastern DRC of Congo following a request from the United States. Wow, request. The rebels entered Iberia near the border of Burundi and Rwanda last week, days after the Congolese and Rwandan government signed a peace accord in Washington, DC. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Rwandans' actions violated the U.S.-Brooks deal and vows to take actions to ensure promises made to the president are kept.

Rwandans have repeatedly denied supporting M23 as Blink, Congolese, and the Burundi forces for the renewed fighting. What do we take from what is currently going on now, considering, yes, they did sign a peace deal, or a business deal as it were, not really peaceful deal? So the question would be to sister, would we say this retreats

is in good faith or just simply because the big dogs are now involved in extracting businesses and extracting resources and we're going to be seeing more of this in the coming years to

Aya Fubara Eneli (11:18.579)
Well, I guess my question would be how much of a retreat has it been because the fact that they might leave the main cities the the minerals are actually out in The quote-unquote more rural areas if I'm not mistaken and so I don't know how much of a retreat that really is. I think that

Adesoji Iginla (11:34.039)
Correct.

Aya Fubara Eneli (11:40.734)
to the extent that they see if we just want to extract the minerals from the area, the people of Congo are of no consequence. And if M23 can figure out a way to continue to siphon off what they siphon off without interfering with the United States bigger scheme to siphon off, I think that they will coexist quite frankly, because ultimately,

Adesoji Iginla (11:46.337)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (12:09.203)
They don't, neither, none of these sides want, none of these external forces want stability in that area. None of them want a strong Congo. None of them want to center the people or their needs. It's not about the sovereignty of that nation. So.

Aya Fubara Eneli (12:28.191)
So a number of observations. First of all, Rwandans continued denial even in the face of all of this evidence. And if it's not Rwanda, the government sponsoring M23, how come they have a place on your side, in your country, to launch whatever attacks and excursions into the Congo? And what are you doing about that?

So that would be one of the things that I would say, but what is completely unfortunate as I look at the whole situation is that we continue to rely on outside groups, external forces who do not have the best interest of the people to determine what happens. And I just don't see how this so-called brokered peace

changes the day-to-day lives of the people of Congo. Now, we might say, okay, the slaughtering doesn't continue in that way, and that would be a huge improvement. But just in terms of the long-term effects of constantly extracting, not adding value to the people and to their country, I don't see how that changes even with what's going on right now.

Adesoji Iginla (13:53.568)
Hmm. Comrade, what's your take?

Milton Allimadi (13:56.694)
All right. So, if you, think, if it was not last week's episode, maybe the week before, yeah, pretty much repeat what I said. I said, if Congo is savvy, Congo should use the period in which this so-called deal is in existence to leverage that to build up their own armed forces.

And if I'm in Congo's place, I would do exactly what has so far transpired. You've already sold out. So you may as well take advantage of your selling out, right? So I would say we have a deal with you for the minerals, but look what Kagame is still doing. They're captured this city, they're causing violence. You're generating what? 700,000 new refugees.

could you extract these minerals in light of this humanitarian catastrophe? And then of course, the US would say, you're right. And they would pick up the phone and remind Kagame that, listen, we do have drones, you know. So tell M23 to withdraw. And that's the kind of request that they made. When they said they request, the request was that

If you don't oblige, then of course we will speak with drones. And that's what Rubio was saying when he said, take action. You don't take action with words, right? And they're not going to deploy men or boots on the ground. So then the only other alternative is drones. They won't hit Kagame, but they will hit M23 deployed in Rwanda. And they can always say, this is an occupying army.

Aya Fubara Eneli (15:33.087)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (15:43.881)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (15:49.393)
They have UN authorization. And it was clear when the US ambassador to the UN, not even missing words last week, and people should go and listen to that, said Rwanda is in control of N23. Rwanda has set up other organizations within Eastern Congo that is directly controlled by Rwanda. And we will take action against any spoilers of this agreement.

and the Rwanda ambassador sitting right there could not say a word, how are you going to go toe to toe with the US when you're also dependent on the US? So that is what's transpired now. The obvious question is this, if you can ask them to get out of Uvira and they did, why don't you ask them to get out of the entire country now?

Aya Fubara Eneli (16:37.307)
Exactly. that was, that's my point. Why not out of the entire country? And then here's the other thing. I mean, cause we're talking about a larger system here. Who, where is, if let's say that based on all the information we have, it's Rwanda behind M23. Where are they getting their resources from? Who are they getting arms from? So there are so many entities that are involved with this, that if we're really serious, you could cut it off at the source. Someone is selling these arms to them.

Adesoji Iginla (16:38.476)
Mmm. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (17:06.279)
that allow them to go in and do the things that they're doing in Congo. But we really don't want to resolve the issue.

Milton Allimadi (17:13.071)
No, they don't. You're right. That goes back to what you said earlier, sister. You said they don't want Congo to be strong. And that's precisely why they're not asking them to withdraw completely, because they want to have pressure that they can leverage on Congo as well. Right. So yes, Kagame.

Aya Fubara Eneli (17:29.137)
Yes, there you go. Congo is in that proverbial between a rock and a hard place.

Milton Allimadi (17:37.407)
Absolutely. 100%.

Adesoji Iginla (17:37.794)
Please see it.

Adesoji Iginla (17:41.356)
So one final question on this, and then we'll move on, which is, since we know that Rwanda exercises decisive control over the M23, why is it that the United States is reticent about applying sanctions on Rwanda?

Aya Fubara Eneli (17:49.855)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (17:57.17)
I think we answered that already because they want enough pressure to remain on Congo as well. Otherwise, Congo can say, you know this deal we cut with you? Now we are too strong. We don't need you anymore.

Aya Fubara Eneli (18:08.251)
We don't. Yes, our problem has been eliminated. We don't need you anymore. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (18:10.134)
Whoa.

Milton Allimadi (18:13.229)
Exactly. So they want enough squeeze, but they want Congo to continue breathing enough for them to get the minerals they want.

Adesoji Iginla (18:22.434)
You

Milton Allimadi (18:24.044)
But, I have one other beef with this article. Why are you quoting Jason Sterns, a European, when Congolese can say the exact quote that Stern said? Go to friends of the Congo that have been working for like over 15 years now to highlight these atrocities. You know, you're running to a European American at NYU.

Adesoji Iginla (18:39.894)
Yep.

Mmm.

Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (18:47.047)
Well, I mean, because it helps to buttress the point that or reinforce the idea that stability comes from the from from the West, that Africans are incapable of resolving their own issues, that we lack sub power over our over systems and that violence persists in Africa because they're incapable of peace. We're just those kind of, you know, these unruly children who just can't get along.

Milton Allimadi (18:54.957)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (19:06.774)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (19:10.701)
Right.

Aya Fubara Eneli (19:16.261)
And so there's always going to be a need for the presence of the first world to stabilize our places. Of course, they're looking to stabilize their interests, not actually the people. So yeah, we don't need to hear from any African. They're not even capable of anything. Why would we quote them?

Milton Allimadi (19:34.09)
Yeah. Yeah. And it's up to us to keep demanding. That used to be the case in United States when so-called liberals spoke for African Americans. Used to be the case when European so-called liberals spoke to the anti-apartheid resistance in South Africa. And we as Africans must demand that Africans are the ones that should articulate the issues on the continent.

Adesoji Iginla (19:57.44)
Yes. Yes. And speaking of articulating, Rwanda seems to be articulating it need not to be seen in bad light. So which takes us to our next story, which comes from the Atlantic, and it's about sports washing. And Mr. Kagame seems to like the idea that Rwanda is well, so the article is in the Atlantic, and it's titled

Arsenal, Bayern, PSG and Visit Rwanda sponsorship. We would rather wear anything on our sleeves. But Visit Rwanda is visible on the sleeve of the men's and women's Arsenal football teams as well as advertising boards around the Premier League club main Emirates stadium. It features on the sleeve of PSG's women's side and on the training and warm-up kits of their men's

It also appears on the lattice sleeve during the club walk up this past summer. The government of Port Kagame, Rwanda's presidency, since 2000, has invested heavily via the country's tourism board on commercial deals with Arsenal, PSG, which is Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, and Bayern Munich, and have hosted international sporting events as the UCI Road World Cycling Championship and FIFA's Congress in 2023.

where Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, was re-elected unopposed to serve a second full term. So suppose the question is, why the need for Rwanda to do this with regards to laundering its image?

Milton Allimadi (21:36.264)
Alright.

Adesoji Iginla (21:36.674)
if the image is clean.

Milton Allimadi (21:38.674)
So I would do the exact thing. I would do the same thing if I were in his shoes. He's a clever man. He's very capable and he knows the importance of propaganda. How could this sports loving man be behind any genocidal campaign? How can he be issuing orders to eliminate, exterminate unarmed people when he loves sports so much?

Adesoji Iginla (21:44.992)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (21:45.865)
You

Adesoji Iginla (21:52.512)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (22:06.006)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (22:08.329)
So that makes a lot of sense to me, actually. The only problem he has, of course, is that these images, these rosy images, consistently not matched up on what is being done on the ground, right? And that's the problem he's facing. But in terms of this campaign, I think the article says he pays up to 10 billion pounds, I think. But then we are told that

Adesoji Iginla (22:24.086)
Yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (22:33.506)
10 million a year. yeah, yeah, 10 million a year.

Milton Allimadi (22:37.92)
you know, the revenue from tourism exceeds $600 million. So it's like peanuts for him. It's worth it. It's a very smart propaganda. But I like the fact that the article says that other groups that support these sports teams are also coming up with the counter propaganda now, which is exactly what needs to be done. They're countering it.

Adesoji Iginla (22:43.862)
million.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (22:52.855)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (23:05.442)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (23:06.799)
I think the article says that one group that is opposing this cozy relationship with Arsenal, the respondents to their own campaign, 90 % of them want this contract to end once it expires next year. So that's a very good sign that people are waking up to the fact that these campaigns are just meant to gloss over and really disguise and hide the...

massive human rights violation that the government of Rwanda has been involved in domestically and regionally as well.

Adesoji Iginla (23:43.638)
Yeah. System.

Aya Fubara Eneli (23:45.876)
Well, I think it's a really smart move on his part as you said Comrade Milton because it's worked for the UAE hasn't it? It's worked for Saudi Arabia. It's worked for Dubai. I mean, yeah What what do we call it? I'm trying to remember the legal term laundering it's a great way of laundering money and Making yourself look all together nice and clean and shiny in that way

Milton Allimadi (23:50.15)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (23:55.817)
Exactly!

Adesoji Iginla (23:57.846)
I'm sorry.

Adesoji Iginla (24:07.839)
London,

Milton Allimadi (24:15.12)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (24:15.611)
And perhaps having all of these connections or sponsorships, if you will, also gets to the issue of, Western countries don't come after us because there is goodwill out there towards us, if you will. And so to the extent that these...

these different sports entities or groups have not divorced themselves from the UAE where they get money thrown at them. I actually think it's funny and hypocritical that now they have some moral sense when it comes to Rwanda, but I'm glad that they do, I'll take it. Having said that, I'm gonna come back to the issue of...

Milton Allimadi (24:45.606)
you

Aya Fubara Eneli (25:03.999)
African nations, and we just talked about Trinidad and Tobago, looking at things from just the lens of my little nation and what I'm trying to accomplish and not caring if they accomplish it by harming other African people. And that is an issue when we talk about Pan-Africanism. At what point do we start looking at ourselves as a whole and understanding that we really only win

Milton Allimadi (25:19.489)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (25:20.204)
Have a good one. you.

Aya Fubara Eneli (25:33.437)
when we're unified. And so, yes, please, yes.

Milton Allimadi (25:35.174)
Sister, sister, actually it's not even just winning now. Now it's about our survival, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (25:42.006)
No, Go on.

Aya Fubara Eneli (25:42.13)
Yeah, it is survival. It is definitely about survival. I agree with you. And so these companies that are just capitalists themselves, so whoever gives us money, don't really could. mean, none of this information is new. So now that they're saying, now we're going to review for next year or whatever, you had the same or should have had the same information when you got into bed with them in the first place.

Milton Allimadi (26:04.837)
you

Aya Fubara Eneli (26:09.021)
What's interesting is also when we talk about the lack of education or the lack of information on the continent itself and just with the African diaspora is hearing the Rwandans according to this article anyway, and I can totally see it. So proud to see their country represented and look at us and we are the new rising giant of Africa, if you will.

Milton Allimadi (26:27.845)
you

Adesoji Iginla (26:31.616)
Africa, yeah, yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (26:34.203)
even though they understand that so much of what Rwanda is doing is harmful to Congo and they see the effects of the refugee crisis as well. just not being able to, besides these arbitrary lines that were drawn, these boundaries, you probably have cousins on the other side of this, if you trace far enough, but just not caring. And so again,

Adesoji Iginla (26:45.996)
Correct. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (26:58.309)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (26:59.266)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (27:03.613)
I wish that African leaders would care about us as an entity and not just their personal goals and desires. I wish that African nations, even as we have been carved up, will again look at things from a Pan-African lens than just the individual nation. And for Rwandans to understand that if today your country is doing this to another country of Africans, someone can come and do that to you as well.

And we need to be looking at the broader ethical question about what Rwanda is doing and why they're doing this. And then even if it's just 10 million that he's spending, 10 million is a lot of money. I know that there are good things that they're showing in the Rwandan bigger cities, but by and large in the rural areas of Rwanda, they have still largely underdeveloped. And so could this money not be used to actually uplift the people?

Adesoji Iginla (27:32.492)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (28:01.065)
But we actually do not want to uplift the people. We don't want them educated and informed because an educated and informed people are harder to manipulate and to use.

Milton Allimadi (28:11.596)
All right, so you said something very important here, that they are proud of the, whatever they see as achievement. And that is being conveyed mostly in the digital space on social media and all that, right? They know that it's causing a massive humanitarian disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people displaced.

Aya Fubara Eneli (28:29.232)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (28:39.587)
you have thousands or even tens of thousands of people killed. But so long as your universe or your reality is that digital space, it just shows that paradox and contradiction in a very interesting way. I imagine before this era of digital space, digital universe, there was much more appreciation for that kind of humanitarian disaster because that's what you would be hearing about.

You would feel it, you would see it. It would be discussed on radio, in print, right? And that would be the focus of your mind. But now your mind can actually somehow shove that information to the back recesses of your brain, you see? And that, I just thought about that as you were speaking. That's a remarkable, one of the remarkable impacts of this digital universe that our brains now live in, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (29:13.538)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (29:37.698)
The perfect dystopian novel would be 1984. George Orwell's 1984. mean, Trump reenacted a bit of that dystopian reality this week when he was telling people...

Milton Allimadi (29:41.002)
Absolutely.

Aya Fubara Eneli (29:42.655)
Yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli (29:52.827)
A bit? Just a bit?

Milton Allimadi (29:53.922)
I think, I think brother Desauliers, that was the understatement of the century.

Adesoji Iginla (29:59.951)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (30:00.931)
That's very generous.

Aya Fubara Eneli (30:06.751)
I think so.

Milton Allimadi (30:08.638)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (30:09.026)
So yeah, I mean, what can we say? I mean, like you said, until we bust that bubble of dystopian existence, we'll continue. I mean, these guys will continue to think as long as they pay clubs to run around with their badges on their shirts and everything is okay, as opposed to what the real world is experiencing. Speaking. Yeah, go on.

Milton Allimadi (30:20.735)
Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (30:35.167)
If I may add one more thing, know, just thinking about the Roman Empire, thinking about gladiator sports, and then just looking at how sports is being used worldwide. You know, here in the United States where in spite of what the NFL did, you could not get a significant number of Black people to say, we're not watching this game anymore. I mean, people are still fixated. You divorce.

Milton Allimadi (30:58.687)
Nope.

Adesoji Iginla (30:59.574)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (31:03.446)
your reality.

Aya Fubara Eneli (31:03.803)
reality from, hey, I need my fix. I need my escape. I need this thing that allows me to act like my life isn't really what it is. And so it's happening on a global stage now, right? Yeah. And so.

Adesoji Iginla (31:15.106)
I'm

Milton Allimadi (31:15.115)
Yeah. Yeah.

a global scale. One of the things that South Africa hated the most was being banned from the Olympics, right? Said, give us economic sanction or anything, but please allow us to participate in the Olympics, you know, or the World Cup, you know?

Aya Fubara Eneli (31:25.905)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (31:26.539)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (31:32.704)
Hmm. Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (31:35.73)
And it's really a very effective distraction. You are watching a handful of people run up and down after a ball. I'm reminded of Yikwa Amaz, The Healers at this time, his book, The Healers, where one of the main characters was basically like, what is the sense of all of this in this competition? But it's really to just keep people occupied and competing and fighting against each other, but not working together.

Milton Allimadi (31:39.617)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (31:55.426)
Yeah, what's the point?

Aya Fubara Eneli (32:05.267)
and then look at the amount of time, resources, energy that we throw at being entertained with sports globally and what we could do with those resources to end suffering for humanity, period. Incredible.

Milton Allimadi (32:23.221)
No.

Adesoji Iginla (32:25.794)
Speaking of what we could do with resources, Ghanaian students at UK universities would like some of those resources. And for the next story, we'll go to The Guardian. And it reads, Ghanaian students at UK universities face deportation and funding crisis. Group ask Keis Thama, who is the prime minister of Britain, for help to persuade government, Ghanaian government, to pay backlog.

of student fees and living allowances. Students from Ghana at UK universities, they are in danger of being deported after being stranded by their own government without promised scholarship or tuition fee payments. So the group representing more than 100 doctoral students have petitioned down in streets and KS Tama asking for help to persuade the government to pay the backlog of tuition fees.

and living allowances running into millions of pounds. The president of the group said some have already been deported by the home office after the universities withdraw their registration for non-payment while others have been evicted from the accommodation or forced to borrow money to survive. There's one other part here. So he says the new government, President John Muhammad's new administration was sworn in generally and he found inherited debts to about 110

institutions in the UK worth about 32 million pounds. So I mean we're talking about 32 million pounds. Would that 32 million pounds not be best served to build up Ghanaian universities or I mean we're just talking about Ghana here. I'm sure the same exists for other African countries within the UK educational sector.

all of this money that is being taken out to quote-unquote create the so-called elite class that will then go and use systems that have been debunked in the same sphere again. What are we doing?

Milton Allimadi (34:41.612)
Well, actually, I don't oppose sending students for PhD training. Because now, if you really train them, if you treat them well and they come back, they can really, you have a multiply effect, right? If it's a different thing, it's just an undergrad degree, which I think we need to train domestically. And that's why I agree with you, upgrade our institutions, build more, so we can upgrade them and train.

Adesoji Iginla (34:57.59)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (35:11.251)
our undergrads domestically. When it comes to PhD, you are now creating a specialized set of scholars who can actually now come and reproduce domestically. So there's logic behind that. But if you're not treating them well, and you're not apparently paying for the training that you send them to acquire,

that is a major problem. Because first of all, you don't realize the risk you're taking because there are the private companies that could snatch these individuals to work for them. In fact, they should start leveraging themselves, especially the ones who are at the latter stages of their training, saying, you are my home government, you sent me here for this training, obviously meaning you want me to come back.

Adesoji Iginla (35:40.706)
OK.

Milton Allimadi (36:09.504)
But if you're not paying for it, why should I be beholden to you? So I'm making myself available. Now let them start competing for you. They're taking it for granted that, know, the British are going to be lenient. How are you going to expel PhD students? know, I guess apparently they had not been doing it, but now they're doing it, right? So if I'm one of those PhDs, I would now leverage by going to private.

Adesoji Iginla (36:31.178)
Yeah. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (36:37.557)
depending on what your field is, of course, right? Or specialization. I imagine you can go to a corporation and say, listen, if you're willing to cover the cost, the remaining cost of my training, I'm already 80 % there. I can come and work with your corporation. Boom. If they start getting deals like that, lo and behold, watch and see how the Ghanaian government is going to find a way to pay off these arrears within a matter of months.

Adesoji Iginla (36:56.47)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (37:06.402)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (37:07.827)
Right now, they're taking them for granted that what can these students go anyway? So now they're actually appealing to the British government because sometimes they know also that there are Africans there who don't take the words of other Africans seriously. So now let's go to a European and let the Europeans speak to their leadership in Ghana. And of course, it's embarrassing and it might... Now you're seeing all these statements coming from the Ghanaian government.

it may actually lead to some sort of remedy, even if it's not a complete remedy.

Adesoji Iginla (37:45.346)
sister.

Aya Fubara Eneli (37:47.7)
well, you know, my parents were part of the original wave of the African brain drain. Well, I shouldn't say the original because actually the original would have started with the ma'afaa, the African genocide called the transatlantic slave trade because we know that they took the best and the brightest and the strongest that they could find.

Milton Allimadi (38:02.098)
Right.

Adesoji Iginla (38:03.707)
Transandar's lift, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (38:04.818)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (38:08.839)
Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (38:10.813)
which is, and they were able to transfer all of that knowledge and those skill sets to help build, quote unquote, the West. That would be the first brain drain. But right before independence and following independence, there was another major African brain drain where they identified, I know this personally, because my father graduated top of his class from government college here in Nigeria, was immediately blocked by Shell BP to work.

Milton Allimadi (38:17.074)
Correct.

Aya Fubara Eneli (38:40.297)
for them and they identified him as very bright and promising. And so they asked him to take this particular exam. took it, he excelled and boom, just like that. They're like, okay, we've got a place for you in the UK to study. And he was engaged to my mother at the time and he said, hey, what happens to my wife? They weren't married yet, but that's what he said. just impulsively said, what happens to my wife?

Milton Allimadi (38:41.074)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (39:08.841)
And they said, absolutely. You know, Mrs. Fubara can come along with you. And everything was paid until he got to the UK and couldn't find a place to live because he black. But anyway, because they will call to try and get a place to live. And when they call, the place will be available. When they show up and see this, it's in color. The place wasn't available.

Milton Allimadi (39:23.809)
Yeah, that happened a lot actually, sadly, very sadly.

Adesoji Iginla (39:25.698)
No blacks, no... Yeah, no blacks, no dogs, no Irish.

Aya Fubara Eneli (39:29.149)
Yeah. But having said that, so he was sponsored not necessarily by the country, but by these multinational corporations. And the idea was to train their managers. It wasn't to train people who come back and work as though this is their sovereign nation. So on the one hand, comrade, I hear you about PhD candidates being able to go and get knowledge that they can come.

Adesoji Iginla (39:37.58)
the company.

Aya Fubara Eneli (39:58.996)
come back to our countries and rebuild our countries with. But there's so much indoctrination that happens. And I would be interested to see what percentage actually come back. And when they come back, what ideas do they bring with them besides this ingrained sense of inferiority that we're never as good as these people. Now we see that China did that quite successfully, sending their students abroad to acquire these skill sets. But

I don't know what force they used to, but it was like, hey, you're coming back and building, rebuilding our country. But I think that also, and you know, there's also this sense of pride in who you are as, as quote unquote, a China man at that point. You remember when they used to say you don't have the, you have less of a chance of a China man or something along those lines. I don't know that we in Africa are doing the same kind of job to really instill this sense of responsibility.

Adesoji Iginla (40:46.377)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (40:46.753)
Yep, yep, yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli (40:55.443)
as opposed to this idea of, let me go and make it individually. That's one thing. So I would say, I'm not sure what percentage come back, there are any incentives that are built in, like, hey, you don't come back, then you are required to pay this back. I'm not sure. I don't have those details from this article. Having said that, I do think that, yes, there might be some instances where we need to send people

to other countries to acquire skill sets. But we absolutely also need to be investing in our own universities. And look at who we send our people to. We're still following the same colonial tracks that were laid down from, you know, before we quote unquote had our independence. Haven't said that to send these young people over there and to treat them in this way, where you are struggling to feed, where you're embarrassed, where you can't even.

focus on your studies because you don't pay your bills, you start getting letters, they might not let you re-enroll for classes, you might not be able to get your grades, things of that nature. It does alienate the students and it does make them more inclined to possibly not come back home for what? If I can find a way to get my degree and then stay here. And so all across Europe, all across Canada, United States, on and so forth.

I don't think there's a university you can go to where you're not going to find an African professor or more giving their skill sets to these other nations instead of where we live or where we come from. so, but then the other thing is how are we managing our money? What is going on with Ghana and with their funding structures that they, you know, approved for these young people to travel, know how much it's gonna cost.

Milton Allimadi (42:46.607)
You're right.

Aya Fubara Eneli (42:46.983)
and yet did not set aside the resources to make it happen. But then the other thing is, as we're talking about reparations, shouldn't this be part of the conversation? You guys stole from us and starved us for so long. And where is the Marshall Plan to rebuild Africa? Why isn't, think of how much the UK makes from foreign students.

Milton Allimadi (43:12.143)
Thank

Aya Fubara Eneli (43:12.487)
Dango Tate in Nigeria, the richest man in, I think, in Africa now, just, there was just an interview he did where he was talking about one of the ministers in Nigeria who has paid over $5 million for the education of his children in the US and other countries. And he says he's not making that kind of money from his salary. So where is it coming from?

Adesoji Iginla (43:33.889)
where

Aya Fubara Eneli (43:40.148)
So if we even look at the amount of money from Africa that is flowing into the coffers of these Western universities, and remember, we pay a higher rate than domestic students. That is something that Africans as a whole should be concerned about. But if we're going to send our young people to be trained, we definitely should not send them there to be embarrassed. We should have a system in place.

Adesoji Iginla (43:50.976)
Yeah, students, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (44:05.021)
Okay, so I just want to pick up on a point you made toward the end. In terms of the Marshall Plan, in terms of the reparations, African misrulers are actually undermining our campaigns for that. Because if I'm a European ruler, I would say why should I be giving you any reparations or any Marshall Plan, whether deserved or not, when you have a Paul Diaz?

Adesoji Iginla (44:05.506)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (44:36.146)
in Cameroon, siphoning off billions of dollars. Why should I add to money that he's going to siphon off as well? So that's why I'm always very emphatic. We need to get rid of these misrulers. They're costing us in so many ways, right? First of all, costing us by allowing our weak, vulcanized, multiple states to be taken advantage of because we are weak. We're too many.

Adesoji Iginla (44:53.961)
Mm. Mm.

Milton Allimadi (45:05.896)
If we have one armed forces, one border, one foreign policy, one currency, they wouldn't be able to mess with us like that. One president coming and talking about reparations in Europe, people would listen to it, right? Because we could be able to exert consequences as well. If you don't take our demands seriously, why should we continue selling our resources to you? You see? So all of it is tied in together. At the end of the day,

Adesoji Iginla (45:21.57)
Choo choo choo

Adesoji Iginla (45:25.685)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (45:36.624)
Our best bet really is to keep urging our young people, let's get rid of these useless misrulers. The Musevenis, the Pol Bias, all of them, let them be gone so we can set up this.

Adesoji Iginla (45:48.918)
Polka Gobbins.

Aya Fubara Eneli (45:52.298)
the teeny, teeny boos. I need to be careful. They might not let me back into the country.

Milton Allimadi (45:56.389)
So please hush. We didn't hear that. Yeah, yeah, I think I did. I didn't even find a way to make it.

Adesoji Iginla (45:59.98)
you

Aya Fubara Eneli (46:02.301)
We didn't hear that. It's not already out there.

Adesoji Iginla (46:06.625)
haha

Hahaha!

Adesoji Iginla (46:13.612)
Yes, mean, to be told, have the country, the continent is just littered with excuses for leaders. So yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, yes.

Milton Allimadi (46:21.989)
Absolutely. Look at it. Come on. A powerful country like Nigeria. 244, 250 million people. But the resources it has, unbelievable. We can't allow that. We can't. You know, all of us have a collective stake in the success of Nigeria as well. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (46:32.124)
It's, it's, it's, it's, it's. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I Aikwemai's book, Remembering a Dismembered Continent, talked about this idea of funneling money towards this so-called Western education, wherein we had the moment to reset our education to educate youth to build Africa up. But now what you have is

brain drain, they go out, they bring back the systems where it's so Eurocentric that it's not going to work and it's not worked over time. you know, we still continue to go there to get the same thing. It's like

Aya Fubara Eneli (47:23.367)
Well, it's doing exactly what it was designed to do. Educate the middle managers who will come and ensure that things continue as usual, even though the white man is not there personally. That they've trained their replacement who will continue to think along the same lines. know, Carter G. Woodson talked about this, the miseducation of the Negro, that that's applicable worldwide, unfortunately.

Milton Allimadi (47:26.525)
Right.

Adesoji Iginla (47:26.913)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (47:49.521)
But I'm also willing to speculate that a Torma Sankara might be able to send 100 people for training and 98 % of them would probably come back, you see? Because they would believe in the project that he's carrying out. But I'm sent by TNUBO. What incentive do I have to come back? know, think about

Aya Fubara Eneli (48:02.131)
I agree. I agree.

Adesoji Iginla (48:02.295)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (48:07.166)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (48:07.233)
Mm.

Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (48:12.703)
No incentive, especially if you go on the social media and see his daughter. His daughter is some kind of influencer and showing off money and so on and so forth. So their children are living, I mean, showing themselves on private jet planes and things of that nature. Hey, I want that too. Why am I going back? Yeah. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (48:18.407)
I'm

Milton Allimadi (48:33.155)
No, we gotta stop that.

Adesoji Iginla (48:35.182)
Yes, I mean, it's shocking. It's shocking. It's shocking. Sometimes a beggar's belief. I mean, let's not even go that route. Let's go on to the last and final story for today. I'm reminded of the Comrades' Time, and it's from the Caribbean. And someone asked, why the Caribbean? We're talking about a global Africa here. So it reads.

Rebranded plantations, how empire shaped luxury Caribbean tourism. Research shows that the British colonial wealth extraction system still influence the region's tourist industry. There's a part here that I highlighted. OK, so let's begin from here. It says, on the Quintin plantations in the mid 18th century, 43 % of the enslaved died within three years of their arrival.

life expectancy at birth when an enslaved person on the island was 29 years old. And this was the incalculable human cost of the transatlantic slave economy. On the back of this suffering was built extraordinarily well for British colonial powers. And it goes on, but there is this family here, the Drax family. And I would, let me just say this. The Drax family is

Milton Allimadi (49:45.763)
you

Adesoji Iginla (49:59.842)
that is the direct line from the enslaved. And as at two years ago, we still had a member of parliament of that same name. In fact, there was a book written, titled, let me see if I have my copy here. It's titled Drax Hall. Yeah, and it's based entirely on 17th century's

of that 17th generation of that family and how there is a direct line between what is happening in terms of their capture of the economy within that sphere. And they are still existing today. We still pour into the economy. They still have estates where people go for grouse shooting and to have some pheasants and what have you. But yet,

the luxury economy is on and running. And guess who wants to go on some of those boats? Ourselves. We're the ones who are constantly funneling our money into systems that have been used to perpetuate exploitation and extractive industries. In fact, there's a survey there where shows that

Most of these tourist companies are destroying the environment in innumerable measures and yet we're still lining up to go on those ships. Over to you.

Milton Allimadi (51:38.239)
All right. So you said, why Caribbean in the beginning? Because this is relevant to the continental Africa as well. The same history, the same experience in terms of the colonial history, the infrastructure that was set up, the absentee landlords are still reaping the benefits. In this story, it says 80 % of the profit is repatriated back to Europe.

Adesoji Iginla (51:42.56)
Yeah. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (52:07.228)
does not go to the domestic economy. That's the setup we have right now. We still have absentee landlords in Kenya, right? Think about that. All those lands that the Kenya land and freedom army had fought for, so-called Maumau, you know, the land that they sacrificed their life for, and they never got much of the land back. The land went to the African elite, including Kenyatta family, and the European absentee landlords that are still residing.

Adesoji Iginla (52:14.658)
Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (52:18.559)
you

Adesoji Iginla (52:21.388)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (52:36.933)
in Britain. I like this story. Mainly I like this story is because it's using that legacy of slavery to show how the infrastructure that was set up during the era is still benefiting those that set it up, including the so-called tourism set up, which inherited that legacy and that infrastructure. And at the end of the day, it goes back to what we've been saying all along in today's show.

Adesoji Iginla (52:51.766)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (52:56.865)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (53:07.665)
That is, at the end of the day, it's our fault. Because as the article says, if these governments try to do something about it, the ships would just set anchor in another port, right? And they can only do that when you are not speaking on the same page, when you have different policies. But if you have a policy that says whether you went to Barbados, whether you go to Jamaica, whether you go where,

Adesoji Iginla (53:28.084)
as one voice. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (53:38.215)
These are the rules that you're going to have to adhere by. Unless you have that, then you have no reason to complain to anybody. You will continue to be exploited, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (53:42.96)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (53:53.388)
Sister.

Aya Fubara Eneli (53:54.079)
Which again is why it's so concerning to me that Trinidad and Tobago is so focused on what they need as their own little small island nation and not, hey, we are stronger together and we need to join forces with the entire Caribbean, the entire Caribbean nations to fight, you know, the United States, the bully. And so.

Milton Allimadi (54:03.389)
You're right.

Milton Allimadi (54:13.338)
Correct.

Aya Fubara Eneli (54:23.198)
reading this article rebranded plantations. How do these things happen? So similarly to what Comrade Alamadi said, nothing changed after quote unquote independence in terms of the structures that are in place and what they're designed to do. We just put a different label on it, whether we now call it neocolonialism or whether we call it aid or IMF loans or whatever, but the system is the same.

Adesoji Iginla (54:52.662)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (54:53.088)
I think the reason it continues to work though is again how miseducated we are and how disconnected we are from one another. So when you see those ads for cruises and so on and so forth, and I've been on a cruise with my family, you are not seeing the information about how much waste it produces. And you think, I'm going to Jamaica, I'm going to see my cousins, and I'm actually helping to build the Jamaican

Milton Allimadi (54:58.959)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (55:22.434)
economy.

Aya Fubara Eneli (55:22.822)
economy. That's really what a lot of people think. But you don't understand because we haven't studied it. And of course, they're not going to put that information out that, according to this article, and we know there's other information out there that that botches these points. The countries are actually making very little. Now, what is very clear to me is this, particularly when they have these all inclusive resorts, or where they have members only beaches. I'm like, wait a second.

How did you come to own this? And how is it that the people of that land no longer have access to their own paradise because you've colonized it? So even when you talk about Epstein Island or Tony Robbins, for instance, has an island in Fiji and all of these things, it's like, how does that even happen? And who has been displaced for that to take place? But if we don't have these conversations, if we're not

Adesoji Iginla (55:55.03)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (56:02.125)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (56:12.522)
or Richard Branson.

Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (56:21.536)
Conscious about the decisions we're making it's similar to turning on the TV or buying the tickets to go see a sports team You're just focused on your enjoyment your entertainment and not seeing how the individual decisions we make impact everything else and That we are participating in our own oppression By not thinking through to see and you know Kwanzaa is right around the corner

Milton Allimadi (56:40.089)
to

Aya Fubara Eneli (56:50.878)
when we talk about Kujo Chagalli as self-determination, or when we talk about cooperative economics, how are we ensuring that the resources we have are going to us and to help rebuild us as opposed to continuing to shore up empire? And so I'm glad you brought up this article because actually right now I have a couple of friends who are on cruises. This is a very popular time for people to be on cruises.

Adesoji Iginla (56:53.494)
determination.

Adesoji Iginla (57:09.619)
Mm. Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (57:20.244)
But where are you going? What demands are you making? And yes, again, if the Caribbean nations will come together and say, hey, you can't play us against each other. This is the percentage or this is the fee, whatever port, whatever. then the article goes into how much of these nations, how much of their resources are even going into maintaining these ports. And then think about the energy cost.

Milton Allimadi (57:31.383)
All

Adesoji Iginla (57:40.992)
waste.

Adesoji Iginla (57:45.479)
Yes, yes, yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (57:49.777)
So it's like Nigeria, you go to certain places and those high scale hotels have electricity 24 seven and you don't even have to drive down. You walk down the street five minutes and there are people living in absolute squalor and darkness. And so these are all things that we all should be paying attention to. We can point to what governments can do, but we really need to be paying attention to what we can do as individuals as well.

Adesoji Iginla (58:04.097)
I use Docker.

Milton Allimadi (58:08.03)
Thank

Milton Allimadi (58:18.87)
All right, so this is not directly related to the article, but this is something that happened to a good friend of mine many years ago. She's a teacher in New York, and she had not been back to her homeland, Jamaica, for many years. She grew up here in the United States. So now she's a teacher, she has some resources, she's going back to the homeland for vacation. So from the plane to get to the...

bus that's taking her to the hotel, somebody asked, help her with her luggage. And then halfway before they got to the bus, he stopped, he put the luggage down and he put out his hand for the tip. She tipped him and then a second person then carried the same luggage all the way to the bus. But then when he got there, he put out his hand too. So she tipped him as well. She gets to the hotel. She's on the line to register the hotel.

Aya Fubara Eneli (58:59.242)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (59:16.098)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (59:17.062)
And then it's her turn, and she's face to face with the receptionist now to register. And the receptionist looks to somebody behind her, a European, and say, yes, can I help you? The European, of course, refused to step in front of her. She complains to the manager. So now her vacation's ruined. On her way back,

Adesoji Iginla (59:22.571)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (59:22.698)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (59:31.444)
Looking pasta.

Milton Allimadi (59:44.976)
And you know these, you know, in our tropics, the plane, you come on the tarmac and you, you know, physically climb the stairs to go up. She's approaching the plane and there are the security folks in front of the plane. And she's asked to step aside to the left. And before she got there, she noticed that three or four other people had been asked to step aside to the left as well for extra screening.

Adesoji Iginla (59:50.914)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:13.454)
and all of them were people of African ancestry. Not a single European was asked to step aside. All of them just waved in to stop boarding and climbing the stairs. When it got to her turn, and when they told her that, it was Europeans who were around her who said, no, we're not going to let her do that unless you ask us to step aside as well. Think about that.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:00:17.824)
Adesoji Iginla (01:00:22.124)
Gotten.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:40.656)
She said, Milton, that's the last time I'm ever going to set free Jamaica. So I was reminded all of this.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:45.57)
That's

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:00:47.424)
And what is that about colonized minds?

Milton Allimadi (01:00:51.404)
Absolutely. 100%.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:55.202)
Yes, I managed for us to end on a happy note rather than that somber note. We're going to mark the new year. Sister Aya and I are going to start a new podcast titled Grio and Books. I'm going to post the book list in the community post.

We'll take it from there. So look out for the community posts. Yes. So we're good.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:26.724)
It's about time. It's about time that many books that our people, our own people need to know. So kudos to that.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:34.978)
Yeah, yes, yes. So we're going to be.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:01:37.844)
Yeah, because if we keep talking about education, yes, we need to do something about it.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:42.242)
Yeah. So we're going to be reading one book a month. And so the last Saturday of each month at 3 PM Eastern Standard Time, Sister Aya and another guest or couple of guests will sit and talk about their takes on the book. And then we'll do a walk on our minds.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:43.053)
Yeah, kudos, kudos for that.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:10.114)
To quote the great ancestor, it's time to decolonize the mind. Yes.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:14.991)
Thank you.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:02:17.216)
So our host, Adesuji, is a very humble individual. He gets total credit for this idea, always thinking how to problem solve and putting more work on my table. But listen.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:29.401)
Great.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:02:33.084)
I embrace it wholeheartedly because I truly believe you're either part of the solution or you're part of the problem. And all of us, we are at war, all of us need to be part of the solution. Of course, Comrade Milton, you know that you're going to be spearheading a couple of those books as well. And we can't wait to do Manufacturing Hate as one of the books that we study together. But this is just really the work that we must do at this time and bring more young people along as well.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:38.411)
Very good.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:48.332)
you

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:48.876)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:51.943)
Absolutely.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:58.078)
Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:03:00.98)
Because other people are setting up their think tanks. They are setting up their platforms to indoctrinate and radicalize people We definitely have been infected with this sense of inferiority and self-hatred and we must do our part to try and address all of that So I just so gee, thank you so much for your leadership

Milton Allimadi (01:03:03.414)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:08.319)
Run.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:08.578)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:19.02)
Right, very well put. I endorse that.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:19.498)
Yeah, you're welcome. And to answer a quick question, yes, there will be Q &A whilst we talk about the book. So we're going to be picking up questions as we go along in the course of what's it called? Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:03:36.252)
I'm really excited about the guests that are coming in. So it's new faces, people with, you know, certain expertise and so on and so forth. So hopefully everyone is excited to the first book is Pre-colonial Black Africa. Yeah. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:39.594)
Yes, New faces.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:50.454)
The first book will be Precolonial Black Africa by Chekate Diop. So you will get the entire list in there so that you can buy. We encourage you to buy from Black Office, Black bookshops, because if you cannot do that, then use our link from Amazon. It helps the channel as well. And that said, we've come to the end of this week's episode. We will be

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:04:03.114)
Black owned bookstores, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:19.188)
around next week. whilst you enjoy your Christmas, you can still have us. yes, so comrade, thank you. Final words?

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:04:37.811)
We fight on.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:40.192)
Yes, good night and God bless.