http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8639874.stm (Article posted below after my rantings)


Black people/Africans or whatever we call ourselves must be retarded or something . We have a history indulgently described as wild, untamed (never mind the streaks of "we were surprised with the civilisation of Timbuktu" bla bla statements)

We continue to show how deeply autistic we are with how we govern our various countries (in Nigeria's case, stealing/destroying our futures and incredibly saving the money in countries that have so harassed and oppressed us and continue to do so with themselves surprised at our naive/stupid/inferior we are- Ibori's case for one is very fresh, never mind the other thousands/millions)

Surely, we all know how we stack up? Everyone's trying to get out! Give birth abroad etc

Is it so difficult to get to the root of our problems? White elephant/meaningless projects are alway rolled out by even younger leaders? Even when there's some, just some sense in some deeds, we are all squealing with "unnatural" joy as we are so not used to anything normal i.e Fashola and Oshodi, rapid bus transit, mega city?? Haven't we been here before?

I see views, perspectives, articles, videos, news, comments everyday and my o my,

By the way, i am in the UK (definitely "coming home" as soon as i complete my stage setting, i have sworn to myself that, doing something about what I feel and for myself, is my RELIGION!!! Now, coming home ASAP isn't necessarily how, but i will follow MY OWN blue print) and i can't help but see our faces on the side of the buses "give to help "Amina" in Ghana etc out of poverty" and ofcourse, a black face staring at me

In the supermarkets, we are on the shelves as "fair trade" items, buy this bottle of water and we'll give 1 litre of water to this black kid/community etc Do you know how these guys really feel about you (us)

PLEASE, IF YOU HAVE ANY INKLING OF WHAT KINDA OF HISTORY, PRESENT AND FUTURE (if nothing is done) WE HAVE FOR OURSELVES COMMENT HERE. DOES IT GET TO YOU? DOES IT GET YOUR BLOOD RUNNING/BOILING? DOES IT MAKE YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?

I know many of us are angry- i discussed with some "Nigerians"(YORUBA, IGBO (a guy there said he was Biafran etc) in London the other day and we were all on thesame page. How did we end up with a situation like this? What do we do? Downside is, many of us are all busy etching out a living shambles- Who will prepare a tomorrow for those kids? Our kids growing up back home?

The guys who have coercive power and the means/ money have no clue and continue to do nothing but indulge in very basic instincts. Unbelievable!

While what i feel or what i intend to do is not be determined by others feeling thesame, I WILL BE INTERESTED TO KNOW OTHERS HERE WHO FEEL SOME "FIRE" IN THEM AND IF IT GOES DOWN TO THE VERY ROOT AND NOT SOME ON THE SURFACE THINKING OR SOLUTION

My view is to go back to the very root- back into history (not just ours but also comparatively). An example here is my thoughts about the composition of so called black Africa at the moment. (hey, do you know even Africa as a name is from the Roman times? Mostly used to describe encounters with the guys in the North Africa of that time? We didn't even choose our name? Europeans/whites did! Even Nigeria was coined by Lord Lugards girlfriend!!!!!!!!!!!!!! na wa o!)

We are a fractured people(s)- we live in suspicion of each other, different languages, cultures etc For example, Nigeria is like throwing together France, Portugal, Spain, England and forcing on them as an official language Russian. Make sense?

I am not immediately screaming partition Nigeria but someone somewhere must look deep and not just Nigeria but the whole black continent. Remember Kenya (kikuyu and others all thrown together)It doesn't have to end in senseless partitioning but pick up from where you were before they (whites/Europeans) came and determine intelligently on direction. Choose your own direction for fucking god sake!!!!!!!!!!

For those interested, let me make you think- what if, we begin thinking about looking back in history (using the recent present too) and carving up the continent into recognisable nations of similar history, language, culture etc? hmmmmmm, with what i've read of Yoruba(the name too is allegedly not home grown but well, Did you know Ka was once used by the whites ofcourse? Yorubas extend as far as Ghana, i will find out but i think there's a Ka people in Ghana?) for instance we could go for present day western Nigeria + Benin + Itshekiri + Nupe + places in Benin Republic,

OK, thats getting complicated, yeah? There's a big picture to look at. We live in a bigger world with all sorts happening. Why do you think the Europeans are serious about the European union (so called)? Global competition(resources, military etc)! First, its the U.S.A- 300 million and very competitive. Now, who won't pay attention to CHINA?

It pays to have as much as it lies within your power, collective policies and markets that enable you compete (forget the AU, seats of autistic black people) In many ways, Ghaddafi knows so much with his United States of Africa idea but again, wrong foundations, philosophy and wrong man!

I am leaving it at this but something strong, decisive must start to happen from somewhere! Former Yugosalvia is an example, some guys have argued about Switzerland or so and many languages etc Plenty to say, but i will say, if we reach a place where we have a (remember 1 "deviant" case country in frica) country without 1 official speaking Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Ikwerre etc, lets talk. C'mon no one knows about Igbo, Yoruba, ? if you know what i mean

The population of the Igbo nations, yoruba nation individually is bigger than Poland, Spain, Portugal etc but evryone in the world knows those countries BUT our own languages are languages of African "tribes" etc

Who's got some pride, dignity and fighting spirit here? Isn't it natural to compete and to want to win or have bragging rights? Why are we so down under there? All we care about his, fighting ourselves cos someone is Christian or muslim? We are so like cows (animals), they came, said your religions were crap and gave you "Jesus Christ" and "Muhammed", we take them and then destroy ours and start pursuing those ones like cows that we are.

Choosing any religion is any individuals right but the way we have complicated our lives even more is astounding!!!! No one's thinking! Jesus this Jesus that, don't even try mention Muhammed,

I hate the Nigerian thing! Name from Lord Lugard's girlfriend, territory carved out on whim of England (ok, Britain, even though the big partner or bully is England while SCOTLAND, NORTHERN IRELAND,WALES, well, are all in there) Language i have spoken from small (School, TV etc) is another fucking peoples language!!!! I can't even speak mine smoothly!!!!!!

Wedding and all is all like we are English/white people!!!!

Where's the bragging right here?? Shame! Listen i alway say these guys should be and are proud of themselves. They walk into your homes, take what is yours back home and even leave some of them here to own your choice lands (Kenya, South Africa etc) Did anyone see the BBC programme on the history of SAFARI? We are so so so CRAP,

Apart of reparing and taking care of ourselves, young guys, start dreaming. For instance, its not out of place to dream how a time will come when all of Europe will speak Yoruba?! That's high there but if you will attempt to think like these guys when they went around the world looting, stealing and having fun, ANYTHING'S POSSIBLE and we are all made to be adventurous!!!

The above is just "open source" thoughts , treat it as you wish

I have left what i will call my "pearls" thoughts with me,



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By Stephen Smith
BBC Focus on Africa Magazine

This year, 50 years on from the independence of most former French colonies in Africa, relations between France and its erstwhile possessions south of the Sahara remain murkier and more confused than ever. Never mind.
In the summer, Paris plans to host a so-called "renovation summit" to revamp Franco-African relations. But many critics, both in France and in Africa, say the gathering will be more a sign of business-as-usual rather than something that will encourage reform.
Paradoxically, protests against Francafrique (the Franco-African shadow state which perpetuated French influence south of the Sahara after 1960) have been far more vocal in the wake of the massive French disengagement from the region after the end of the Cold War than during the three decades - les trente glorieuses - of French neo-colonialism from 1960-1989.

France has been reluctant to play the role of the gendarme of Africa
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of East-West geopolitical rivalry encouraged public debate about France's role in Africa.
Just how many first- and second-generation immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are living in France today remains an open question, as French law prohibits statistics based on racial criteria. However, it is estimated that up to 5% of the country's 65 million inhabitants originate from the region.
Many have acquired French citizenship and form, together with long-standing French nationals from the Antilles, what the national media refers to as "Black France".
But since racially tainted riots erupted in major French cities at the end of 2005, many French people of African descent - perhaps alienated from the powers-that-be in Paris - consciously define themselves as "hyphenated" citizens: Franco-Africans with divided national loyalties.
Renewed, balanced and transparent
On the eve of this year's Bastille Day, the heads of state of former French interests in Africa are due to gather around President Nicolas Sarkozy "to highlight and to bear out the evolution of Franco-African relations which are to remain privileged while being renewed, balanced and transparent".
Using less convoluted language than the official communique, the president explained in December that the purpose was "to turn the page of the debate on [French] colonisation and post-colonisation".
Exhibitions, round-table discussions, publications and academic conferences have been scheduled throughout this year.

2005 saw racially focused riots erupt across much of France
The high point of the festivities is to be the 14 July parade on the Champs Elysees where French and African troops will march in lock-step saluting President Sarkozy and his guests of honour.
The military show is meant to be a reminder of Franco-African fraternity of arms, notably against Nazi occupation in World War II.
The African heads of state will also attend the traditional garden party at the Elysee Palace following the Bastille Day parade. The event's theme is "Diversity - the human reality which links the colonial past to present-day immigrant France," according to the Elysee communique, but this in particular is causing a few ructions.
The person appointed by Mr Sarkozy to run this year's events is Jacques Toubon whose previous political career is quite telling.
Not only is he a die-hard Gaullist - an ideology named after former President Charles de Gaulle who insisted on maintaining as much control as possible over France's African interests - but he is also a former minister of culture and, since 2005, has been at the helm of a new museum dedicated to the history of immigration in France.
The museum occupies a pavilion erected for the Colonial Exhibition in 1931, which marked the acme of French imperialism.
As a result, criticism has been voiced against the mixed messages being sent by the government on the subject.
Renegotiation
On the one hand there seems to be a direct line drawn between la plus grande France - the "Greater France" of colonial times - and immigration.
But, on the other hand, since Mr Sarkozy's election in spring 2007, the French government has intensified efforts to conclude bilateral treaties with states south of the Sahara aiming at a "joint management" of migratory movements.
Yet while small and relatively privileged countries like Gabon have signed such agreements, more important reservoirs of sub-Saharan immigration, namely Mali, have so far refused to "co-police" migration.
Mr Sarkozy's government has been more successful in renegotiating the defence treaties which were signed with all former colonies in 1960 (except for Sekou Toure's Guinea which cut the umbilical cord with Paris in 1958, achieving independence two years earlier than all the other former French colonies).
The revised treaties clarify mutual obligations and, in particular, no longer contain "secret clauses" for French military intervention in case of internal conflict.
Making discretionary use of its right to intervene, France has staged over 40 military operations to save, or sometimes topple, African regimes since 1960, mostly during the Cold War.
But since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and especially after the debacle in Rwanda in 1994, France has been reluctant to play the role of the gendarme of Africa.

FOCUS ON AFRICA

This article was originally published in Focus on Africa magazine . To read more and subscribe, visit their website.
As a result, the number of French military advisers on the continent has been slashed from 925 in 1990 to 264 in 2008; in the same period the budget for military assistance was halved.
There are still about 10,000 French soldiers deployed south of the Sahara, down from 15,000 in 1989. But half of them are serving on temporary missions, often under UN mandates.
Also, in the past 20 years, Paris has closed three out of six permanent bases on the continent.
France's foreign direct investment in Africa has also plummeted since the Berlin Wall crumbled. While the African share stood at just over 30% in 1989, it has been consistently below 5% since the turn of the century.
Furthermore, the bulk of France's overseas capital investment has been shrewdly diversified beyond former colonial boundaries in favour of non-francophone countries such as Nigeria, Angola, Kenya and South Africa.
Shady middlemen
Yet, despite France's disengagement from its former colonies, political mores between Paris and the francophone capitals of the continent remained characterised by back-door arrangements and shady middlemen.

Nicolas Sarkozy had committed to combating disengagement
As a presidential candidate, Mr Sarkozy committed himself to cleaning up les reseau: the informal Franco-African networks. "We must rid Franco-African relations of the networks of a bygone age," he declared in a speech in Benin in 2006.
But since he took office, President Sarkozy has perpetuated France's time-honoured tradition of parallel diplomacy in Africa.
One set of advisers presides in public over the official business with Africa, while high-ranking Elysee staff, in tandem with unofficial middlemen, is in charge of the lucrative and highly personalised politics that Mr Sarkozy denounced during his presidential campaign.
The French media regularly expose the broken promises and the new lease on life given to Francafrique.
The elite collusion of Francafrique has become an anachronism, at odds with the stark realities of shrinking French engagement - both government and private - with its former territories south of the Sahara.
For example, Mauritania's General Mohammed Ould Abdelaziz continued to visit the Elysee Palace after the coup that brought him to power, despite being denounced in capitals across Europe.
Hence, if they care at all, most French belittle the 2010 "renovation summit" as a political gimmick, actually not all that different from the so-called "independence of the flag" granted to the African colonies in 1960.

@tttn726

I hate the Nigerian thing! Name from Lord Lugard's girlfriend, territory carved out on whim of England (ok, Britain, even though the big partner or bully is England while SCOTLAND, NORTHERN IRELAND,WALES, well, are all in there) Language i have spoken from small (School, TV etc) is another bleeping peoples language!!!! I can't even speak mine smoothly!!!!!!

Yours was a long read, but it shows the passion you have about these issues and it was well worth the read. How can we not realize the shame of carrying on a name that was picked, not by our colonizer, his wife or his child, but by his MISTRESS. It means that we are yet to have a true patriot as national leader. That leader when he does come would institute a name changing process as one of his first tasks.

Resolving the language issue also remains a big problem for Nigeria. We ban our languages from official process, but can't come up with a way to ensure everyone can speak & read the chosen official language well - until that happens, a process that well take several years even if we start right this minute, no large scale development is coming to Nigeria.