REX Wayne Tillerson visited Africa this week;
it was not just a jinxed visit, but also his first
and last as the American Secretary of State.
He had proclaimed: “The purpose of my trip is
to listen to what the priorities of the
countries here on the continent are and see
where there is good alignment.” In reality, he
did most of the talking, and his visit had a
hidden agenda.
Five countries were on his itinerary; Kenya,
Chad, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Djibouti. The first
three, are plagued by terrorist attacks; Kenya
by the Somali al-Shabab group, Nigeria and
Chad by the Boko Haram group. Ethiopia is
the most active military force engaging the al-
Shabab on Somali soil while tiny Djibouti with
its one million populace is host to the largest,
permanent American Base in Africa, the Camp
Lemonnier which houses 4,000 personnel.These may be some of the reasons the five
were chosen of the 55 countries in Africa.
However, Tillerson’s consistent attacks on
China and his continuous warning of African
countries against loans and infrastructural aid
from that country, exposed the fact that the
United States does not want African countries
to be close to the Chinese. It reminds me of
the 1975 warnings by one of Tillerson’s
predecessors, Henry Kissinger that African
countries must not recognise the MPLA
Government in Angola.
Tillerson after initially warning African
countries to stay clear of Chinese aid, said at
the beginning of his tour: “We are not in any
way attempting to keep Chinese investment
dollars out of Africa. They are badly needed.
However, we think it’s important that African
countries carefully consider the terms of
those investments.”






Four days later, after a closed door meeting
with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, he
repeated the same anti-Chinese message
labelling Chinese aid as anti-African designed
to erode the sovereignty of African countries.
Although the visit was supposed to focus on
trade, counter-terrorism, security and
development, America’s obsession was
Chinese- bashing.
Africa has no basis to fight China, a country
which like 53 African countries, was a victim
of vicious Western colonialism. China unlike
Europe and America, never set out to colonise
other countries. Secondly, China, unlike
Europe and America, did not develop by
looting the resources of Africa and turning
Black people into slaves either in the
continent or the continents of Europe, North
and South America and the Caribbean. Thirdly,
it is not out of place for China to have
strategic interests in Africa; it is for African
countries to ensure that the interests of their
peoples are paramount in their dealings with
other peoples, be they American, Chinese or
Caucasian. Fourthly, it is a known fact that
even when Americans give aid, they ensure
that a lot of the money is spent in America by
way of purchasing American equipment and
vehicles, or paying their citizens who are
styled “experts.” Fifthly, it is distasteful for a
visitor to our homestead to warn us not to
entertain another visitor. A sixth point is that
Tillerson’s warnings give the impression that
Africans are children who cannot think for
themselves, and have to be told what to do,
what is in their interest and what company to
keep.

At the beginning of his African tour on
Thursday, March 8, he visited the
headquarters of the African Union, AU, in
Addis Ababa which is a $200 million gift by
the Chinese to the African people. There he
repeated his sing-song against China, Moussa
Faki Mahamat, Chairman of the AU Commission
had responded to the American insult: “I think
Africans are mature enough to engage in
partnerships of their own volition.”


Ethiopia was not responsive to America’s
anti-Chinese tirade. The Chinese had built
neigbourhoods in that country free apart from
their constructing a $475 million modern
railway. Also, Chinese investments in Ethiopia
in recent years, are $3.5 billion more than
those of America.

Tillerson’s next stop was in Djibouti where the
Chinese last August, built its first foreign
military base in the world. Apart from sharing
the soil of Djibouti with the Chinese military,
the Americans are jittery that China had built
the port with an outstanding $1.2 billion loan
repayable by Djibouti. This they fear, may give
the Chinese an advantage. Let me state
clearly, that it is not in Africa’s interest for
any inch of our soil to be given out to foreign
armed forces as base be they American,
Chinese or European.

On Saturday March 10, Tillerson was in Kenya
where the Chinese had completed another
railway at the cost of $3.8 billion. By this
time, he had received a message that his
Principal, President Donald Trump had changed
his mind about not holding talks with North
Korea. On September 30, 2017, Tillerson had
contradicted Trump’s position, by saying,
America was not opposed to dialogue with
North Korea. The next day, Trump twitted: “I
told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of
State, that he is wasting his time trying to
negotiate with Little Rocket Man (President
Kim Jong-un of North Korea). Save your
energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!”
Then suddenly in the midst of his African tour,
Tillerson is told there was going to be
dialogue. He cancelled his programmes in
Kenya that Saturday. His office issued a
statement: “The Secretary is not feeling well
after a long couple days working on major
issues back home such as North Korea and
has cancelled his events for the day.” The
next day, he continued his visit, and on
Monday, March 12, he was in Chad, and then,
Nigeria where he was scheduled for a two-day
visit. But pronto, Tillerson was gone!
Undersecretary of State, Steve Goldstein told
the media: “Due to demands in the
Secretary’s schedule, he is returning to the
US one day early, after concluding official
meetings in Chad and Nigeria.
It is unclear what happened. But what we now
know is that while Tillerson was still trying to
get home, Trump released a twitter message:
“Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will
become our new Secretary of State. He will do
a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for
his service! Gina Haspel will become the new
Director of the CIA, and the first woman so
chosen. Congratulations to all!”
Without warning, Tillerson had lost his
coveted job. He did not even have the
opportunity to report back on his African
tour. To cap it all, Trump told the media, he
had raised the issue of his replacement with
Tillerson to which Goldstein denied:
“(Tillerson) had every intention of staying…
The Secretary did not speak to the President
and is unaware of the “reason” for his sack.
Whatever the case, Bye Bye Tillerson!

Adopted from https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/03/rex-tillerson-came-africa-saw-fired/

lalasticlala , mynd44

When Tillerson met with the body odour, he was fired while still sitting in Aso rock, he shouldn't return here after being contaminate, he is on quarantine now