Prince Frank Ukonga Lecture 21: OAU @ 50, Re-inventing Africa and the
Black Race for the challenges of the 21st century; the imperatives of a Black
Super Power. Lecture sent to the Thabo Mbeki Foundation of South Africa ,for
the Dialogue of the New Century; chatting new path for Africans and the entire
Black Race of the world in the 21st century @ 15/3/2013
I acknowledge the Chairman of the OAU, His Excellency President Boni
Yayi of the Republic of Benin, I acknowledge the President of South Africa, His
Excellency President Jacob Zuma, I acknowledge the President of Nigeria His
Excellency President Goodluck Jonathan and all other Presidents and leaders of
the African continent. I acknowledge the President of the United States of
America who is an African America His Excellency President Barack Obama, I
acknowledge the organizers of this great dialogue of the century His Excellency
Thabo Mbeki the former President of South Africa, I greet all the celebrated
intelligentsias gathered today in South Africa from all over the world in one
of the greatest discuss of charting a new path for the Black Race of the 21st
Century, I acknowledge all the great peoples of South Africa and commend their
truculent historical legacies of struggles to crushing the evil cloaks of
Apartheid, I salute all Africans and the entire members of the Black Race and
our fans among other Races above all I
acknowledge the Diplomats, technocrats, gentle Men of the Media and all
protocols observed;
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| Prof.C.Catharine Odora Hoppers,Prof Mahmood Mandani, Prof Peter Lawrence,Dr Ashanti Molefi.. Discussants |
A congratulatory message to the Black Race of the world: I
congratulate the entire African peoples all over the world on this great
occasion of celebration through colloquium dialogue the OAU @ 50 for our
tenacity and collective will to survive all the ebbs and tides of our truculent
history that can be summarized as the peculiar anti bellum phenomenology.. The
story of the African continent and Blacks the world over, is that of struggles
continuously for the past 500 years to liberate the continents and the Black
Race, from bondages and denigrations of
those who foisted on us the tripartite peculiar institutions of slavery,
colonization and imperialism.
Homage to the great achievements
of African Heroes and our brethren in Diaspora: Let us all observe a minute
silence in honor of our heroes and leaders of Africa and the Black Race most of
who paid the supreme price for us to be free as a people and as a continent… We
remember today the great contributions of Steve Biko, we are gathered here
today to celebrate the life of Our Excellency plenipotentiary extra ordinary
the great revolutionary Comrade Patrice Lumumba, to celebrate the lives of
Kwame Nkrumah, Alfred Olympio, to pay our homage to His Excellency Secou Toure ,the
revolutionary pan Africanist, we are here to reminiscent on the great Mau Mau
revolution of Jomo Kenyatta, the insurgence and revolution of Townsend
Ovilature,Che Guvera , Fidel Castro, we are gathered here today to celebrate
the greatness of Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Namdi Azikiwe, Humphrey Boigney,
Moumar Al Kaddafi, Jafar El Nimeri, A. Sadat of Egypt, Laurent Kabila, Augustinho Neto, Sam Nujoma, to acknowledge the greatness of the Algerian
revolutionary Ramdan Albain and Samora Michael of Mozambique, and of course we
are here to appreciate the greatness of our greatest heroes of all times Nelson
Mandela, Oliver Tambo , Chief Gabriel Onaivi Ukonga, Desmond Tutu, Basorun MKO
Abiola, and also to celebrate one of our
greatest living sages, his Excellency Thabo Mbeki for his tremendous
contributions to the development of the African continent at the greatest hour
of need… we appreciate you all…
Celebration of African literature, Music and Negritudism: We are
here to celebrate our greatest pan African scholars and their immense contributions
to human civilization, we are here to eulogies Aime Cesaria the investor of
negritudism, we are here to celebrate his Excellency extraordinary Leopold
Sengor, Prof Wole Shoyinka one of the greatest celebrated and most illustrious
son of the African continent and a tremendous gift from God to the entire
world…we are here to acknowledge.. Camara Laiye,Ngugi Nwationgo, Peter Abraham,
Chinua Achebe, Prof Ola Rotimi, Odia Ofiunum, Prof. Festus Iyayi ,Bruce
Anabrupaya, Uli Beira, Susan Wegner,,..we are also here to celebrate the Africa
Art, Music and film industry that contributed their tremendous quota in the
emancipation and Freedom of Africa…to celebrate Marian Makemba to celebrate the
beautiful Brenda Fasson, to celebrate Ipitombi, to celebrate Bob Marley, to
give respect to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, to remember all the great sons and
daughters of Africa who contributed to the social cultural and economic entropy
to this day…
An Appraisal of Pan Africanism, African Philosophers, activists and
researchers: Most especially we are coming together here today to celebrate
the greatest gifts of the Black Race of all times… to laud Prof. Ali Mazuri….we
are gathered to honor Prof Ade Ajayi the great Historian, Prof Atuke Okhai,
Prof. Leonard Jeffries, Prof. Maleife Ashanti, to honor Dr Chuba Okadigbo… to rejoice
in the birth and lives of Marcus Garvey the leader of UNIA, to celebrate Martin
Luther King Jn , to rejoice on the life
and times of Booker T Washington, Claude
McKay ,Nat Turner, Langston Huge, Malcolm X, Elijah Mohammad, Walker Elvis,
Alex Gomel,Antonio Gransci, Franz Fanon, Cheik Anta Diop, and W.E.B Dubois the
greatest philosopher of the Black Race and the intellectual father of Pan
Africanism, we are here today to pay respect to His Excellency of all times
,President Abraham Lincoln who gave freedom to all Black slaves in America as
the zenith of the abolition of slavery and man’s inhumanity on mankind…he is a
greatest friend of Africa…
An expose on Slavery, colonization and imperialism: whence we are celebrating
today the greatness of our Fathers, Mothers, Sons and Daughters, their courage
to take the bull by its horns despite
the grave consequences of death to fight for the freedom, liberty and nascent
democratic wind albeit gregarious that is now blowing across the African
continent and the Black Race in generality. Whence, we are gathered here today,
to celebrate the greatness of Africa, and her illustrious sons and daughters
and their tremendous contributions to the development of the global village
which was built by the sweet and blood of the African slaves. For 500 years the
Western imperialist removed forcefully more than 500 million Africans from the
soils of Africa to slave in Europe ,America, Virginia, Canada, Mexico and the
Caribbean islands and all of Latin America in one of the most dastardious
inhumanity ever conceived. This was popularly called the Triangular trade
fashioned out by Lord Buccaneer and Sir William Drake in the service to Queen
Elizabeth of the United Kingdom who institutionalized slavery and the
universality of raping and dispossessing the Black Race on a global scale... Basorun MKO Abiola likened this wickedness
to removing all the medical doctors, nurses, technicians , engineers and
professionals from the soils of western civilization… how then could they have
become industrialized and modernized… this was the real core of how the
west underdeveloped Africa. While in the colonization epoch the western
civilization destroyed all formidable African Institutions, traditions,
culture, economy, methods of Agricultures, engineering, education,
entertainment ,political and organizational structures of the African peoples
replacing them with Euro American decadence and monistic cold rigid pattern of
ethics .This was later upgraded by the slave masters to neo imperialism by
ruling Africa through their stooges and surrogates and man Fridays who were hand
picked from among African sons and daughters to rule all aspects of Africa from
the President , to the Ministers, to the state level even in some cases to the
cleaners and this set of peoples became worst than the imperialist in the
damage they inflicted on their fellow Africans, heralding the birth of Black on
Black imperialism.
President Obama and the African
American : focus on the 774 billion dollars rehabilitation package bill of 2012
and the OAU: while Africans in Diaspora lives under bondage in ghettos ,
shanty towns, kept in the most denigrating conditions ever, all the doors of
opportunities are closed, and redundancies, joblessness is his destiny to
eternity, the last to be hired and the first to be fired in all the cities of
New York, Alberta, Philadelphia, Florida, Los Angeles, Chicago, Bones Aries, Bogotá,
Rio D Jenero, London, Brussels etc. Black children are likely to end up in jail
than go to college in these countries. Discriminated against in all aspects of
life, in these countries. Many are haunted and killed by the KKK and other
deadly white racist clubs. We must do something quickly to assist our Black
brethren in Diaspora. But worthy of note is the 774 Billion dollars package by
the President Obama Administration to help the inner city slums, ghettos and
rural decay in the United States of which the Blacks would have been a major
beneficiary but the bill is being blocked by the ever domineering racists who
are continuously planning 24/7 to short change the Black Race on a universal basis.
The OAU was expected to support that great move of President Obama and also ask
for some support given to Africa but because of the indiscretions and lack
luster leadership of the organization it eluded their imagination.
The African stolen legacy: The entire western civilization, glories
and wealth were built by the unpaid slave labour of Africans spanning more than
5 centuries… all the great cities of New York, Chicago, London, Brussels,
Paris,Milan, Amsterdam, Madrid, Bogota, Bones Aries, Reo De Geniero etal were
built from the stolen legacies of the Black Race through the universality of
black slavery, exploitation, denigration and violations of our sons and daughters
on a grandiose scale that embarrassed the gods and the entirety of creation in
the tripartite evils of slavery , colonization and rabid imperialism…which
represents the cold rigid elements of historical and dialectical development as
Africa and the entire Black Race and our
colossal legacies, wealth , being and essence were taken to the knackers and
savored as food for beasts and swine of a raven epoch as one of the greatest oxymoron
in the aspects of Race Relations. We are gathered here today to espouse on these
evils, to appraise our entire history and legacies and to give recommendations
on the current affairs and chart a new path for the future of the African
continent and our brethren in Diaspora.
A clean Bill of Health for OAU@
50: Worthy of note is that the OAU @ 50 has contributed its quota in the
development and liberation of Africa and the Black Race from many peculiar
insults but candidly more would have been desired as its overall contribution
is rather portable.
Origin of the OAU: The OAU
was the consequences of the organic phenomenology brought into being as a gift
from the dynamic activism of the Pan Africanists scholars and activists in Diaspora in
association with those in the continent of Africa and it was established initially
outside of Africa and parceled as a gift to Africa to assist in uniting ,
reinventing and mobilizing Africa toward total liberation and independence.
That was why notable American scholars like Malcolm X, Web Du Bois, and those
of Latin America, namely Franz Fanon, Antonio Gramsci and others were initial
members of the OAU.
The OAU is a jointly owned legacy of the Black Race international and
the African continental Blacks but after its formation and anchor in the
African soil it was soon high jacked by over ambitious leaders of Africa edging
out the necessity and sufficiency partnerships of our brethren in Diasporas and
their immense contributions to the revolutions and struggles that librated
Africa from bondage…Without which it would had been more difficult…
Casablanca Block vs Monrovia
Improvisationists: The initial birth trauma of the OAU which generated
mutual suspicion among the protagonist and members and their various sponsors
who were the imperial powers could not allow the OAU to be established on a sound
foundation for the purpose of genuinely uniting the African continent nor can
it be given maximum interpretation in the universality of uniting all of the
Black Race the world over… this generated ideological concurrence of either
total unification of an Africa without borders among states or that of respecting
the obnoxious status quo of African partitioned physically , economically and
culturally as in languages etal which heralded the Casablanca block pitching its tents against the Monrovia
improvisationists ..but somehow a truce came and the formation of the OAU was
heralded in Emperor Hailey Salasee’s Addis Ababa as the symbol of the heroic
defeat of the colonialist and the vanguard message that heralded the end of
colonization of the African continent albeit a little time yonder.. we are not
here to start throwing mud slings at one another on which side was rectitude in
the philosophical divide between the two major groups and their vexations, but
this inter alias was also the albatross
chaining down the OAU and its resulting portable achievements.
OAU internal Management Democracy
and conflicts: Colonial Legacies snowballing into neo imperialism: This
seed of irreconcilable ideological frontiers still haunt the OAU till today and
may continue to eternity if we do not try to harmonize the conflicts…The
Francophone countries of the OAU have a large voting power in the Union but are
not overly unattached to the leadership of France as the imperial relations of
yore was kept alive tenaciously till today and this is rather pathetic as this
keeps alive the vestige of neo imperialism and divides us from being able to
speak with one voice. This played a deciding role in the last OAU election of
its current Chairman His Excellency Boni Yayi, and the Secretary General of the
OAU in person of Her Excellency Diamilla Zuma. The election generated so many
controversies as in the horse trading that almost snowballed into diplomatic
face off among contenders. We hope this great dialogue would look critically
into this emerging phenomenon as to evolving greater democratic culture in the
management of the OAU.
Foreign intervention in Africa that influence
African Unity and Sovereignty: With the Advent of the Soviet Union , the AK
47 Kalasnikov guns became the symbol of
African libration struggles that made a great difference in stepping out boldly
as a people to recapture our land,
dignity, pride and prejudices’ as well. Africa shall eternally be indebted to
the Soviet Union for standing by Africa at the hour of greatest need but later
they also became interested in a similar relationship of mutual beneficial
friendship with Africa in their involvement in Angola, Congo, Namibia, Uganda,
Sub Saharan Africa and in North Africa addressed to replace the western imperialist
that were edged out and the picture began to appear as driving away one wicked
master to be replaced by another lesser evil. This was the climax of the cold
war between the West and the East were Africa was made the battle ground in the
bulk of the previous 20th century and up to this first quartile of the 21
century may begin to melt out its ice but soon over taken again by a newly
repacked economic and political warfare and competition to grab Africa.
The BRICS VS Western imperialist;
impacts on the OAU: The novae players of the 21st century are China,
Russia, India, and Brazil, trying assiduously to unseat the colonial masters of
France, Britain, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and the United States …currently
China is the largest investor in the African continent with an investment
portfolio of 180 billion dollars, followed by India at 120 billion dollars and
Russia at a close margin. The OAU new secretariat in Addis Ababa was built by
China as a gift to the African union of states and they are positioning in a
strategic partnership to dominate the affairs of Africa in the 21st century in
partnership with other members of the BRICS States. South Africa is a member of
the BRICS which is a wonderful strategic partnership warming up to make a
difference in Africa’s economic and social cultural entropy in this century.
The collapse of western
civilization and its impacts on the OAU: Currently the economic woes of the
western civilization as exacerbated by the recession in Europe , the insolvency
of the PIGS states of Europe and the collapse of western civilization including
the United State has impacted negatively on Africa as they are our traditional
partners and as Dr Salim Ahmed Salim the former secretary General of the OAU
once noted that … “the North and the
South needs each other more than ever, to
guarantee continued healthy North and the survival of the South” and recently the IMF and world Bank has announced that the
entire world should braze up for a fairly prolonged economic recession…
nevertheless this gives the BRICS an edge,
as a union of the leading and richest world powers of today to usurping
the economic and political control of Africa from the West , but we must
prepare for a new economic and political warfare in the soils of Africa when
the Western hemisphere bounce back towards the end of the first quartile of
this century and yonder which may translate into civil and arms conflicts among
rival ethnics, and tribes that would be inflamed by the competing powers for
control and domination of Africa which happened before as in the case of Congo
Zaire of Patrice Lumumba’s revolution which was pro Soviet Union pushing out a
western controlled regime and later a western sponsored counter revolutionary brigade
had to assassinate His Excellency Patrice Lumumba to be replaced by a western
friendly despot Mobutu who raped the diamonds and strategic minerals of that
enclave of Africa to feed the tummies of his western sponsors for upwards of 32
years in one of the most despotic totalitarian regimes ever conceived by
mankind… Whence Africa has to look and plan ahead so that such a scenario is
avoided by nipping it in the bud. This should be a topic of great interest to
the discussants in the dialogue.
Religious strives, plus the Pan
Arabian Influence on Africa and the OAU: Historically the Tran Saharan
slave route were indicted of having removed from the soils of Africa close to
500million Africans to be sold in to slavery in the middle East , Asia, Europe
and Eastern Europe. In his thesis sent to me recently Prof Ali Mazuri on the “Tripartite African Personality” (which perhaps was an adaptation of WEB Du
Bois Double consciousness of the African American Personality applied to the
African situation.- Note: This is not addressed to undermine the genius of
Prof. Ali Mazuri but rather to laud him). Prof. Ali Mazuri posited the
influence of Islam and its culture foisted on African person, the western
Christianity foisted on African person as well as his traditional primordial
loyalties.. This threesome personalities warring in one dark body had become
more problematic when given a maximum interpretation. Besides the aspects of
Libyan expansionism into Sub Saharan and Central Africa was very worrisome to
other stakeholders in the African project. And currently the influence of the
Arab world addressed to control Africa by whatever means possible is still
generating much concern of regional and global basis. The OAU had been a ground
for such diplomatic struggles and wars for the past 50 years and more of a
victim of the concurrence; whence its portable contributions in the affairs of
being able to ward away such incursion due mainly to its portable financial
resources and vulnerability. This should interest discussants on African
dialogue.
Conflict Resolution: The partitioning
of Africa, political conflicts, and civil wars; Focus on African High Command
and its impacts on the OAU: The impacts of the OAU in the aspects of
conflict resolution among the many tribes and countries of Africa is though
commendable for the past 50 years but
more pro active initiatives could have been possible to avert civil wars and
ethnic cleansing in many parts of Africa if the OAU had brazed up to the
occasion by forming an African High Command as well as a conflicts and
Resolution department. This was to manifest in 1990 the era of President
Ibrahim Babangida of Nigeria as Chairman of the OAU ,who indeed had a policy
thrust of upgrading the African Union with a strong defense and peace keeping Initiatives,
but was largely frustrated due to lack of unity and trust from other
stakeholders in the African project but the ECOMOG Peace Keeping Force,
which he created to keep peace in West
Africa and Sub Saharan Africa had tremendous impacts in stabilizing that Region
till today as they are currently in Mali assiduously trying to find solution to
the problems of Mali..this as a sin qua non should be able to remove all doubts
among African leaders of the sincerity of such projects and should translate to
be given maximum interpretations in the 21st century by actualizing the dreams
of an African High Command which will play a great role in ensuring peace,
security and stability of Africa in the
21st century and yonder. It would be imperative for the summit of
African intelligentsias to ruminate on this.
Problems Afflicting Africa’s OAU
and suggested Solutions: Among the various problems afflicting Africa which
endangers it to getting out of the wood includes the followings ;of which a
reinvigorated OAU could make a great difference in solving some of the problems:
Weak African Institutions and its
impact on the OAU: The Tripartite phenomenon of slavery, colonization and
imperialism of the African continent and its subsequent universality of the
peculiar institution had bastardized all African institutions without
exception. From the political, economic, agriculture, to civil service,
engineering, Education, infrastructural development, Judiciary etc and the
albatross was that Africa was quickly shabbily give independence in the Sixties
of the previous century and forcefully assimilated with feet of clay into the
schemes of things of world political economy. No time was given nor did Africa
had to reinvent themselves and going back to the original African superlative
ways was impossible as its feature had been atrophied along the ebbs and tides
of our truculent odysseys in Race Relations with the White Race.. So here is a
Race dispossessed, disinherited, denigrated and grossly violated on a universal
basis without compensation or apology. The backlash of this underdevelopment of
Africa by the colonialists began to rear it head in the weak institutions from
the Banking, to the Stock Exchange, to Agriculture, to Judiciary, Political Institutions
etc of today. In trying to evolve a role model of developing African damaged
institutions became another albatross as one formula to another are being tried
hurriedly to buckle up to meet the international standard practices..The
stakeholders in the African Project has to come to the aid of Africa in
developing these weak institutions for the benefit of themselves and Africans..
This should be a great topic of interest to the discussants..
Military intervention in African
political advancements as an aberration: The second range of instability in
African polit -Economy is the incessant military intervention through coup de
Etat in African development. This endangers the development of political
institutions and many other institutions like the Judiciary, the Legislative,
the Education, youth and women development, infrastructural development , civil
services and all aspect of life of the African people is grossly violated by
this phenomenon. The African Union has to find a way by putting it feet down to
condemn any military intervention in any
country of Africa and this would necessitate the imperatives of an African High
command to serve as a deterrence for over ambitious officers. There is the need
for retraining the Military personnel in new re orientation of subordination to
civilian leadership. A re energized, re focused OAU can prime move this novae
initiatives.
Corruption, fraud, mismanagement
of National resources, looting of Public and private treasuries by African
leaders: Is there any thing the OAU can do to checkmate corruption of
public officers in African countries. Year in ,year out, many African leaders
loot the treasuries of their peoples to end up with huge accounts in Geneva,
New York, London and other financial metropolis of the world being used by
these countries to develop their own economy and depriving Africa of these
resources due to kleptomaniacs , basterdious behavior of some of the African
leaders. And this phenomenon is under developing the African continent
today. This is a great problem and the
OAU has to do something about it. May be go into new alliances with world
financial organizations to help track down all such ill gotten wealth kept in
secret vaults of the advanced world and repatriate these funds back to Africa.
Multinationals and cooperate
greed as the cause of African and world woes: Multinational companies are
another source of nightmares on the face of the Human Race. And this has no
racial connotation. They are of all races and most of them cabals that come
together with the soul purpose of milking the entire world dry. Giant companies
like Nigerian Breweries limited producers of Gulder, Heinekens, Star Lager
beer, and lots of malt drinks are a typical example of multinational company
and the motive of all of them is the same to make money and keep making
billions of Naira and dollars without throwing anything back to those who they
milk dry. NBL is not alone in this, Shell BP, Total, Exxon Mobil, Du Pont,
Globacom, MTN, Airtell, ITT, Procter and Gamble, and research has revealed that
multinational companies control over 8o percent of the entire wealth of the
world and this colossal wealth is being controlled by less than 30 families of
the entire universe. And that is why the world is in recession today.
Terrorism, Kidnapping,
insecurity, civil wars and crimes: The issue of terrorism has crept into
the vocabulary of the African continent which was partially employed in the
days of fighting to liberate Africa but a number of people are taking undue
advantages of this to destabilize many African countries and sub regions in
order to cow many African states to do their bidding. They are also employing
other methods of kidnapping, crimes and even blown out civil wars and ethnic
cleansing in many parts of Africa. This is becoming worrisome and it’s giving
Africa a bad name and scaring away many prospective investors. Aside it is also
claiming lots of lives as in deaths and killing the bulk of the bests manpower
of the African countries… we have to find solutions to this with urgency and
the OAU can make a difference by quick and rapid intervention and calling for
dialogue among warring factions.
Famine, hunger, homelessness and
refugee problems of Africa; Decades
of living dangerously: Famine and droughts have been ravaging many parts of
Africa for centuries and this calls for an argent attention as the environment
is getting more and more unpredictable This is causing hardship on lots of
peoples in the continent as famine causes scarcity of water ,food and essentials
commodities necessary to sustain human and animal lives. You will recall that
Somalia and the bulk of North and central Africa are vulnerable to this
particular problem. This begins to exacerbate refugee movement across Africa. A
reinvented OAU would be able to contribute better assistance and solution to
these problems in the 21st century. This crucial problems would certainly need
the attention of the discussants at the South African Dialogue..
Voluntary and involuntary
Redundancies: Joblessness is a major problem of the contemporary Africa.
More than 70 percent of the Africa strong work force is unemployed and in some
countries the percentage of unemployment is higher. This is a big time bomb
that will snowball into a people’s revolution in many countries of Africa if
something drastic is not done to alleviate the suffering of graduates from
schools who cannot find jobs after spending time and money to train up to
university level. This is a big problem that the discussants should find quick
answers to assist the OAU and the African continent.
Illiteracy and empowerment of
African women and youth as the most vulnerable of the population demography: The
African continent is still bugged down by high level of illiteracy in the face
of declining habitat. The percentage of iliteracy is as high as 60% in many
African countries. This accounts for the big problems of redundancies as much
of the work force are having no training or apprenticeship of whatever kind and
even if there is job for them most cannot fit the post due to lack of
education. The African union has to evolve a new framework to accelerate the
process of educating African through mass literacy campaign.
Prostitution, drugs, and moral
decay: Prostitution is on the rise
in Africa. Currently there are about 400,000 Nigerians girls trapped in the
Mali sex slave camps and all over the world African girls and young males are
deceived into the sex prostitution trade. One of the girls in the Mali sex
prostitution ring confessed that she had sex with at least 30 men on daily
basis and when patronage is high she had sex with up to 50 men per day. All
over Europe, Asia, the United States of America, Italy, Canada, Germany,
Britain, Brussels, Bogota, New York Africans and Black girls are the sex slaves
being sexed to stupor by white men all over the world. The issue of drugs
peddling, trafficking and addiction is also alarming in Africa.
Environmental degradations and
forced Majore: The white Race have destroyed the Ozone layer covering the Earth
surface due to their greed in manufacturing products that are not
environmentally friendly. Consequently the Earth planet is receiving direct
rays from the hot sun that is drying up everything, melting the ice in the Polar
Regions that stabilizes our earth surface, weight and balance. This is the
cause of excessive rainfall, land slide, earthquakes, ocean surges, flooding, erosion and all types of environmental hazard including famine, poor harvest
and what have you. So we need to do more of tree planting, and to collectively
with the OAU appeal to the White Race to stop emitting carbon monoxide into the
atmosphere through their industries.
Healthcare: AIDS, HIV, Malaria, typhoid,
etc: The scourging Aids and HIV pandemic is becoming alarming in proportion
as some African countries have up to 35 percent of their strong work force HIV
positive. This is not a good signal, as this pandemic can wipe out a whole Race
and destroy countries. The OAU has to do something immediately. Malaria,
typhoid and other diseases are killing people faster as well.
Agriculture and industries: We
need to re invent Agriculture in Africa. We need to attract new industries in
to Africa to provide jobs for all.
Infrastructural developments/
infrastructural developmental loans and options of PPP::African need as a
matter of urgency a marshal plan to develop the dilapidating infrastructures of
city Roads, Airports, Stadia’s, schools, Hospitals, etc. The options of the
private sector participation in the development of infrastructures should be
reinvented and marketed as options to all African countries whose receipts from
export earnings are low and cannot afford to finance these infrastructural
developments. Infrastructural developmental loans are suspects and African
Nations are advised to stay away from it as they could end up in another debt
trap of the previous century.
Developmental finance, Debt trap
and insolvency: Most of the problems of African countries are the inability
to access developmental finance without ending up in the debt trap. The issue of
looting and mismanagement of African countries’ treasuries by its leaders also
exacerbated the situation. Whence, a number of African states are looking
inwards to raise developmental finance via internally generated revenue- IGR-
which is largely based on taxes, levies and other forms of raising internal
revenue as developmental finance.
IGR and the Laws of Diminishing
Returns: The Schumpeterian and
Malthusian theories: The current
practice of excessive taxation by some states and governments in Africa, will
soon hit the rock if they do not re empower the people paying this taxes and
open up new avenues of investments, small and medium scale industries and FDI
into their states, the laws of diminishing returns will begin to manifest in
the aspects of IGR which many states particularly in Nigeria who are fast
adopting this method have not realized . By the time they realize it may be too
late. And they would be plunged into another circle of debt burden, abandoned
projects and recession. Excessive taxation is exploitation and oppression of
the peoples which gradually pauperize the people and inadvertently the state. So
taxation must be balanced by throwing back and playing back the money to the peoples not only in infrastructural
development but directly into their business and creating and supporting the
growth of industries directly with a percentage of IGR generated and this will
guarantee the flow for a long time..
21st century possibilities: Having
exhausted the current problems facing the OAU and the African continent it
would be ingenious to cast a view at the future shape of Africa and other
possibilities that could be in the 21 century.
African Economic community: One
single currency zone, Tariffs, harmonize customs, immigration and defense initiatives:
With the current economic growth of the African continent and the vigorous
inter African commerce that will evolve in the 21st century the reason de
entree of a vibrant African economic community will manifest with a common
currency, harmonization of customs , immigrations, trades and tariffs and
perhaps new defense packs among countries leading to borderless concepts will
eventually become a reality.
Union governments and
amalgamation of states and countries: Some African states and countries
will do better if they amalgamate into others to evolve a larger more
prosperous and manageable country. This is likely to happen in the 21st
century.
Possibilities of the United
states, Brazil, Cuba, Peru etc and other Nations of Black population being
given observer status in the OAU: It would be possible and widely
acceptable for countries that have large population of the Black Race as
bonafide citizen to be given observer status membership of the OAU in the 21st
century which will aid rapid social economic and cultural advancement of both
sides. This is a laudable concept. The United States of America, Brazil,
Argentina, Canada, Cuba and Australia are likely countries that could be
considered for such observer status.
African High command: It will
be a great advantage for a truly African High Command Peace keeping Force as
well as a conflict resolution department to be established in Africa by the OAU
to ensure peace, Security and stability of the African continent in this
emerging 21st century.
Tran’s African Highway and Rail network:
There will be a possibility for a comprehensive transportation network of
African super highway to cut across all of African continent as well as Trans
African rail. This can be achieved which will accelerate social economic and
political advancement of the continent in the 21 century and yonder.
African Monetary Fund and
financial metropolis of the world: Africa needs a strong functional
financial hob that will pioneer the African Monetary fund. This is a complex
topic and it will not be proper to give the full details in bits, as the
technicalities involved are usually trivialized by those who have attempted
creating financial hobs in Africa; equating financial hob through over
simplifications of being able to provide the conducive environment for
financial transactions to take place does not translate to being or having a
financial hob. What is at play in financial hob is being able to stand on your
two legs firmly as a financial metropolis and that has nothing to do with
providing the atmosphere to transact on financial products.. This method will
only make such a place speculators, and peddlers of other people’s financial
instruments and products. For more details you have to read some of my books.
Afro centric pedagogy and University:
The imperatives of Afro centric pedagogy and Afro centric University cannot
be undermined as this is the one singular factor that is chaining the African
down to alien extrinsic tools in R and D to developing African values and
institutions which has proved unworkable by the embarrassing results it
produces. Currently the standard of Education and cognition has fallen drastically
in all African countries and the causality is not unconnected with the fact
that Africans cannot excel well being caged in Eurocentric models of
definitions, values, pedagogy and universities. Please note that these are only
summaries of some of the points in my books. If you need the full details you
have to access the books.
African language as Lingua Franca
for Africa: There is the urgent need to develop an African language as a
lingua franca for all of Africans in Africa and the world over. This will
promote trade, industries, create jobs and improve the standards of education
and cognition of the students, and the general African communities and will
energize research and development as well as research and innovations.
Africa becoming a Nuclear and
Atomic superpower: The 21st century may likely witness some African states
becoming nuclear and atomic super powers. This is possible as the need to
generate electricity is becoming crucial necessity; the quest for Nuclear and
Atomic reactors to generate electricity is on the rise.
Emerging African industrial and
economic Tigers to compete in international arena: The emergence of some African countries as big economic powers is
also likely in the 21st century and on the list of those countries that has the
potentials to become African Tigers includes Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria,
Egypt and perhaps Ivory Coast.
There are many more possibilities for the African continent and the
Black Race in the future becoming, but we need to work harder, we need
security, we need stability we need developmental finance and lots more to be
able to grow out of the quagmire the white Race plunged Africa into and here
comes the last options- Reparations-
Reparations demand by Africans:
His Excellency Basorun MKO Abiola the President Elect of the Nigerian
Federation once improvised a greatest simile
of all times saying that: the African
Situation is compared to a man with a big wound on his leg, and asking the man
to begin to run. The man with a big wound in the leg cannot walk talk more of
running. Whence he theorized that you need to open the wound, dress it and
allow it to heal. And what will heal the wound on Africa’s legs is
Reparations demand for the stolen legacies of Africans by the White Race.
Reparations demand for forcefully removing more than 500 million Africans to
slave in the western world building their own civilization with slaved unpaid labor.
This is the cause of African Poverty and the universality of African poverty
and lowliness and I charge all Blacks living in the present generation that the
new task and your new destiny and responsibility is to demand for the Reparations
for all these stolen wealth from Africa. I appeal to the imperialists on a
global basis to assist Africa by paying up the Reparations bills.
And what are the REPARATIONS
bills: we are not asking for a dime from anybody, what we ask for is a Marshal
Plan by the white Race to develop Africa economically, industrially and
otherwise. Relocating numerous manufacturing plants to Africa and helping us up
back to tolerable standards. This will also profit the white Race as well. What
we are asking for is a win -win solution to the debate of Reparations.
Once more I thank His Excellency Thabo Mbeki for the great initiative
and investment into this great Dialogue on Africa’s present and Future becoming
at this juncture of the OAU @ 50 and I am most elated to be given the
opportunity to contribute my humble notes on the greatest conference of Africa
and pan Africanist intelligentsias from all over the universe and I would be
for ever appreciative of the greatest contributions of the erudite sage, His
Excellency Thabo Mbeki to the growth and development of the Black Race on a
universal basis.
Thanks and God bless.
Prince Frank Onaivi Ukonga. Chairman SDMP, and Presidential Hopeful of
the Nigerian Federation 2015 polls.
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