http://www.s20079.cp.hostnet.nl/?p=1233

Read this.

Explains everything I have been saying.

West African proper has always about Gold!!!

PhysicsMHD:
The image filename says that this is an image of a Bagandan war canoe. I don't think it's from Songhai. Could you provide the source of this image?

lol, that's a totally different place in Africa. It's not a drawing of Benin. I've seen the image before but I can't remember the exact place it's from right now.

I got the pictures from this link: http://www.enotes.com/topic/African_military_systems_to_1800

*******The empires of Mali and Songhay for example used canoes to move troops, horses and material quickly to many parts of the realm, as well as for trade and general transport. In Songhay, a chief of the waters oversaw all civil matters related to water transport, and a chief of canoes supervised naval operations. Big war canoes in this region drew a clear distinction between rowers, (usually 18 to 20) and marine troops (some 70-80 warriors). The boats were equipped with all the necessary provisions and supplies for their mission.*******

Hey girls I know the region VERY well!!!


Barbarian West Africa!!! Every proper West African state evolved around GOLD!

SmoothCrim: http://www.s20079.cp.hostnet.nl/?p=1233

Read this.

Explains everything I have been saying.

West African proper has always about Gold!!!

We know that that gold was traded for salt and other things that were rare in certain parts of Africa, but it doesn't change the fact that gold is not the "essence" of all African cultures, as I already explained earlier.

PhysicsMHD:

We know that that gold was traded for salt and other things that were rare in certain parts of Africa, but it doesn't change the fact that gold is not the "essence" of all African cultures, as I already explained earlier.

Not all but, those who had it looked down on those who did not. It was THE resource to have.

shymmex:

I got the pictures from this link: http://www.enotes.com/topic/African_military_systems_to_1800

*******The empires of Mali and Songhay for example used canoes to move troops, horses and material quickly to many parts of the realm, as well as for trade and general transport. In Songhay, a chief of the waters oversaw all civil matters related to water transport, and a chief of canoes supervised naval operations. Big war canoes in this region drew a clear distinction between rowers, (usually 18 to 20) and marine troops (some 70-80 warriors). The boats were equipped with all the necessary provisions and supplies for their mission.*******

Thanks. But I really would like references and sources for both the images and the statements. I don't want a situation where someone else's well-intentioned modern summary actually ends up downplaying a certain area that a culture excelled in when you compare their summary with the actual first hand descriptions.

SmoothCrim:
Not all but, those who had it looked down on those who did not. It was THE resource to have.

Okay. I'm not going to drag this out any more.

By the way, is this you bro?

PhysicsMHD:

Okay. I'm not going to drag this out any more.

By the way, is this you bro?

GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Okay I am done trolling on this gold issue... !! Most of it was serious though!!!

I believe to understand West Africa as it was you have to understand what Gold meant to its people historically. When you do that then you can understand the people on the periphery of West Africa!!!!.

onila:

I hrd they discriminate the english speaking cameroonians in cameroon
I dont blame them
southern cameroonians english accent is kinda funny and their men are really short and dont have that french accent and swag that francophone cameroonians have

we do not discriminate them everything is bilingual ..so anglophone are well represented....but we got more swagg ...lol

CAMEROONPRIDE: we do not discriminate them everything is bilingual ..so anglophone are well represented....but we got more swagg ...lol

uhm you do. everyone knows
that bilingual thingy you guys say is just 2 make them feel good and accepted

cameroon is a french speaking country

i went 2 a cameroonian group i was simply banned for speaking english
thats show that cameroon is obsessed with french like the rest of french puppets

@PhysicsQED
@Shymex
@Onila
@SmoothCrim

Thanks guys for this informative post. I enjoyed reading every bit of it.

However, I am worried when sometimes we use the word colonial masters [/b]in our description of the europeans that invaded Africa. I think that this is an aberration. Looking through history books of various western cultures, i noticed that they tend to term ppl/nations that went against them derrogatirlly, while extolling the virtues of those that were more closely aligned to their course.

For example, while Martin luther King is extolled for the peacefull way he went about his struggles, Malcolm X is dimminished for his recourse to forceful change. WHereas, in that same USA, the violent rebellion of their fathers against their British overlords is extolled, while the British impositions were derided in the same vein.

I would sugesst that instead of us using the phrase 'colonial masters' which from my little understanding of psychology continues to entrap us, we use phrases like: [b]colonialists, colonial invaders, economic invaders, colonial looters, empire expansionists etc. I hope this soon permeates into our literatures, especially those that our kids would be reading in the future.

As I am not so strong on culture literature like guys such as physicsQED are, and might therefore not be able to argue rigorously on the topic, I am therefore hoping that one of you open a new thread on this naming misnomer . And maybe request that the moderator makes it front page so that it enlightens other Africans and emancipates us from at least some of our mental slavery. Thanks

onila:

uhm you do. everyone knows
that bilingual thingy you guys say is just 2 make them feel good and accepted

cameroon is a french speaking country

i went 2 a cameroonian group i was simply banned for speaking english
thats show that cameroon is obsessed with french like the rest of french puppets

Onila there's absolutely NONE obsession for French in Cameroon, I just came from there few days ago and I can tell u we're closer to China than France, and Cameroonpride is right, even France hate us for our distance. I told you that don't confused the fact we talk French and their influence in Cameroon which is more and more reduce. You english people have always this view about Francophone countries without picking more information country one by one because we do NOT have the same relation with France. Again Senegal and Cameroon are completely different in terms of France relations...try to search and analyse more, things are not always BLACK or WHITE.

Nayah:
Onila there's absolutely NONE obsession for French in Cameroon, I just came from there few days ago and I can tell u we're closer to China than France, and Cameroonpride is right, even France hate us for our distance. I told you that don't confused the fact we talk French and their influence in Cameroon which is more and more reduce. You english people have always this view about Francophone countries without picking more information country one by one because we do NOT have the same relation with France. Again Senegal and Cameroon are completely different in terms of France relations...try to search and analyse more, things are not always BLACK or WHITE.

china is invading all countries in Africa
there's a difference btw speaking a language and being `obsessed with it

that was a major and active Cameroonian group
I was banned by the admins and was hated by the cameroonian members for speaking english that says a lot

if cameroon was a bilingual country as you guys claim why was I banned and hated by the members for speaking english

Cameroon is not only country colonized by the germanz. Namibia is also a german colony yet today is dominated by the english. the only sign of anything german in Namibia is the buildings just like cameroon
maybe you guys don't worship the french like senegal or ivory coast but yr still a french puppet

During the bakassi issue wasn't France the major player that bribed all the Nigerian government officials and that i-diot obasanjo
french really needs oil in their colonies because france is lacking in that area
you think france just helped you guys without ulterior motives
why not china etc

pls french puppet

the only french puppet that has fought against the french is rwanda

^^^^^Onila, please let's stop derailing the thread - the thread is about Songhai Empire.

Nayah:
Onila there's absolutely NONE obsession for French in Cameroon, I just came from there few days ago and I can tell u we're closer to China than France, and Cameroonpride is right, even France hate us for our distance. I told you that don't confused the fact we talk French and their influence in Cameroon which is more and more reduce. You english people have always this view about Francophone countries without picking more information country one by one because we do NOT have the same relation with France. Again Senegal and Cameroon are completely different in terms of France relations...try to search and analyse more, things are not always BLACK or WHITE.

During the bakassi issue wasn't France the major player that bribed all the Nigerian government officials and that i-diot obasanjo
french really needs oil in their colonies because france is lacking in that area
you think france just helped you guys without ulterior motives
why not china etc

pls french puppet

the only french puppet that has fought against the french is rwanda

shymmex: ^^^^^Onila, please let's stop derailing the thread - the thread is about Songhai Empire.

you see the thread has been dead since yesterday
you should thank me for bumping it up

onila:

china is invading all countries in Africa
there's a difference btw speaking a language and being `obsessed with it

that was a major and active Cameroonian group
I was banned by the admins and was hated by the cameroonian members for speaking english that says a lot

if cameroon was a bilingual country as you guys claim why was I banned and hated by the members for speaking english

Cameroon is not only country colonized by the germanz. Namibia is also a german colony yet today is dominated by the english. the only sign of anything german in Namibia is the buildings just like
maybe you guys don't worship the french like senegal or ivory coast but yr still a french puppet

During the bakassi issue wasn't France the major player that bribed all the Nigerian government officials and that i-diot obasanjo
french really needs oil in their colonies because france is lacking in that area
you think france just helped you guys without ulterior motives
why not china etc

pls french puppet

the only french puppet that has fought against the french is rwanda

Please search again, Cameroon, Namibia and Togo were former German colonies...you're confused sister, being protectorate and colony there is different. ie Morocco and Algeria you'll get everything. As for puppets as I told you don't think English African countries are free otherwise Ivory Coast, Lybia and Mali wouldn't be completely destroyed, and you're personal experience can't resume a general statement as you're making now. Togo and France are very close compared to Cameroon and when I talk about China I'm talking about their part of the market which is now bigger than those for France, this situation wouldn't happen to countries like Ivory Coast or Senegal which used to be the Eyes of France in Africa! Felix Houphouet Boigny, Senghor or Compaoré ARE different link with France compared to Biya, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you.

Nigeria, Ghana and all English African countries are the same puppets except the fact that this is a different language, fact. Sorry poster I won't derail your thread again.

Onila and Nayah

All the countries in Africa are still under the indirect rule of their colonial masters and America.

You guys need to stop arguing about who's the bigger slave - a slave is a slave..

PS: The only country in Africa that was able to get France off its back is ALGERIA.

shymmex: Onila and Nayah

All the countries in Africa are still under the indirect rule of their colonial masters and America.

You guys need to stop arguing about who's the bigger slave - a slave is a slave..

PS: The only country in Africa that was able to get France off its back is ALGERIA.

That's exactly what I"ve said! Onila just wanted to proove something unrelevant since Africa is still not free

Nayah:
That's exactly what I"ve said! Onila just wanted to proove something unrelevant since Africa is still not free

I agree.

I understand what Onila is saying, though. The indirect rule by the colonial masters isn't as obvious in other African countries as it's in Francophone Africa. You guys have your economies tied to France - and France also has military bases in your countries to keep you guys in check.

shymmex:

I agree.

I understand what Onila is saying, though. The indirect rule by the colonial masters isn't as obvious in other African countries as it's in Francophone Africa. You guys have your economies tied to France - and France also has military bases in your countries to keep you guys in check.

I do agree too, but I emphasize on the fact that there are difference, Cameroon and Senegal does not have the same relation with France! totally different, Cameroon can allow to leave French market for another whereas when Ivory Coast has try to do it, everyone knows what happened, it's all about History just try try to take a look to this then you'll get what I want to say

Nayah:
I do agree too, but I emphasize on the fact that there are difference, Cameroon and Senegal does not have the same relation with France! totally different, Cameroon can allow to leave French market for another whereas when Ivory Coast has try to do it, everyone knows what happened, it's all about History just try try to take a look to this then you'll get what I want to say

I know Senegal has been able to transform their country under Abdoulaye Wade's rule, but the same can't be said about Cameroon. Paul Biya is dictator, and you guys need to get rid of him.

And why do guys have the French gendarmes in your country?

shymmex:

I know Senegal has been able to transform their country under Abdoulaye Wade's rule, but the same can't be said about Cameroon. Paul Biya is dictator, and you guys need to get rid of him.

And why do guys have the French gendarmes in your country?

Cameroonian does not have French base in terms of military supply, the Army is trained by Israelian. What I want to make you understand is the same thing as Onila explained. Influence! the degree of influence is TOTALLY different in Cameroon because of our History and behaviour compared to some West African countries which used to be the eyes on France is your region. Take a look of Burkina Faso for example or Ivory Coast which are the perfect example of French influence and alienation. Sarkosy has NEVER PUT HIS FEET in Cameroon, and you know why? because Biya and France does not like each other..especially since the last 20 years when Cameroon has started diversified its partnerships(I know what I'm saying this is a family source from someone who's working on the governement) whereas he was regularly to Gabon, and Ouattara went about 15 times in a year in France. Some things are obvious

Nayah:
Cameroonian does not have French base in terms of military supply, the Army is trained by Israelian. What I want to make you understand is the same thing as Onila explained. Influence! the degree of influence is TOTALLY different in Cameroon because of our History and behaviour compared to some West African countries which used to be the eyes on France is your region. Take a look of Burkina Faso for example or Ivory Coast which are the perfect example of French influence and alienation. Sarkosy has NEVER PUT HIS FEET in Cameroon, and you know why? because Biya and France does not like each other..especially since the last 20 years when Cameroon has started diversified its partnerships(I know what I'm saying this is a family source from someone who's working on the governement) whereas he was regularly to Gabon, and Ouattara went about 15 times in a year in France. Some things are obvious

Sarkozy also never visited Republic du Benin and Guinea, but that doesn't diminish French's influence in those countries - they're still part of the French CFA West African bloc. Cameroon/Paul Biya is a French puppet - hence why Nigeria was threatened by France during the Bakassi fiasco.

If you say Cameroon isn't under France economically, why do you guys use CFA then?

Sarkozy wasn't all over Cameroon because you guys are under both French and British indirect rule - don't forget you're also part of the commonwealth.

Nigeria is the biggest puppet in Africa anyway. - we're just big for nothing..

America and the UK control all our policies.

shymmex:

Sarkozy also never visited Republic du Benin and Guinea, but that doesn't diminish French's influence in those countries - they're still part of the French CFA West African bloc. Cameroon/Paul Biya is a French puppet - hence why Nigeria was threatened by France during the Bakassi fiasco.

If you say Cameroon isn't under France economically, why do you guys use CFA then?

Sarkozy wasn't all over Cameroon because you guys are under both French and British indirect rule - don't forget you're also part of the commonwealth.

French West African countries I repeat have strong relations with France and their counterpart in Central Africa region is: Gabon!

Now, I don't want to come back to the Bakassi dispute because it's closed cased, is a Cameroonian part but France has nothing to do with it otherwise it would been returned to Cameroon earlier!

ahahahah i missed a lot

I can't believe that a very interesting topic was derailed by a gold-humping lover and irrelevant discussions about inter-racial marriages.

Anyone who thinks that Gold had any meaningful significance in the African setting beyond being a commodity needs to have his/her head checked.

It didn't make Ghana more prosperous than it's neighbours and it certainly stop Ghana from being colonized.

CAMEROONPRIDE: ahahahah i missed a lot

Oh yes brother!

shymmex: Nigeria is the biggest puppet in Africa anyway. - we're just big for nothing..

America and the UK control all our policies.

Your policies are controlled by your thieving political class.

Nigeria is a puppet to corruption and greed.

Nayah:
French West African countries I repeat have strong relations with France and their counterpart in Central Africa region is: Gabon!

Now, I don't want to come back to the Bakassi dispute because it's closed cased, is a Cameroonian part but France has nothing to do with it otherwise it would been returned to Cameroon earlier!

Why do you use CFA as your currency? Your economy is tied to France..