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and Learn About the World
The vitriolic utterances of elements exploiting the common hate in the country came to a head on January 8, 2011 when a gunman killed several in an assassination attempt on Arizona Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords.
The elements consequently recognized they’re outside the main stream.
The elements consequently recognized they’re outside the main stream.
Western Allies Pound Africa
My people have a saying which essentially translates to “It is the bastard child that points out his father’s compound using his left hand.” Obama, wittingly or unwittingly used his proverbial left hand in relating to his father’s continent on Saturday, March 19, as he and the United States of America joined their European/Western allies in dealing with Ghaddafi’s administration of ill-repute in North Africa’s Libya.
Curiosity has been expressed at how increasingly “Bush-ey” President Barack Obama is morphing with the resurgence of the old American arrogance as illustrated by U.S. Navy Capt. Alec Fraser (rtd.) speaking over the weekend on CNN to the potential killing of Ghaddafi in the bombings, "If he happens to be someplace that they're striking, that's his problem."
Obama’s hands are understandably tied. It is tough to expect outsiders to treat your property any better than you treat it. You can’t express disdain at a stranger using your front lawn as toilet when they see you doing the same thing. If Libyan and other leaderships of the continent treated their wards humanely, whatever excuses foreigners found to interfere would have to be filtered through the reception of the people of the nations. Africa has through most of recorded history been saddled with inept, unlearned leaderships that have made the continent vulnerable to perpetual disrespect from foreigners.
It is worth noting that the civilian brutalization similar to Libya’s is going on in Bahrain and Yemen. The African continent is simply easier to pick on.
The saddening aspect is that the various pathetic leaderships that the nations of the continent ended up with do not owe to lack of better materials. Some argue it was in the interest of the West to enable the installation of mediocrity over merit in that part of the world for selfish reasons. This has, for example, played out in Nigeria as a nation that potentially could champion the cause of the continent but continues to suffer in the choke-hold of the selfish dregs of this generation of elders; a generation that in other patriotic settings would normally see the nation to glory. It was in the growing up days of this generation (late 1950s to .
Obama’s hands are understandably tied. It is tough to expect outsiders to treat your property any better than you treat it. You can’t express disdain at a stranger using your front lawn as toilet when they see you doing the same thing. If Libyan and other leaderships of the continent treated their wards humanely, whatever excuses foreigners found to interfere would have to be filtered through the reception of the people of the nations. Africa has through most of recorded history been saddled with inept, unlearned leaderships that have made the continent vulnerable to perpetual disrespect from foreigners.
It is worth noting that the civilian brutalization similar to Libya’s is going on in Bahrain and Yemen. The African continent is simply easier to pick on.
The saddening aspect is that the various pathetic leaderships that the nations of the continent ended up with do not owe to lack of better materials. Some argue it was in the interest of the West to enable the installation of mediocrity over merit in that part of the world for selfish reasons. This has, for example, played out in Nigeria as a nation that potentially could champion the cause of the continent but continues to suffer in the choke-hold of the selfish dregs of this generation of elders; a generation that in other patriotic settings would normally see the nation to glory. It was in the growing up days of this generation (late 1950s to early 1960s) that the Western Region, one of three regions of the country at the time, offered free education and free healthcare region-wide. That same region built infrastructure including major roads and communication agencies such as wired radio service (Rediffusion), and first-ever television service in black Africa (Western Nigerian Television – WNTV) to foster commerce and education.
Efforts to extrapolate such manifesto to national level were squashed in the short-sighted indulgent selfishness that sent the nation into the spiral of regression, competitively worse looting of the nation’s coffers by every subsequent administration, and disregard for the rule of law from the very top to the common man. The nation that should be championing the cause of the African continent is pre-occupied today with simpler issues that should by now be on auto-pilot had greed among the military leadership and their business cohorts 30 years ago given way to pre-eminent national interests.
And, consequently, what do we have today? The western allies are consulting with the League of Arab Nations on Libya issues with no word of any strong coordinated posture from the African Union – colonial days all over again.
Bolaji Sojobi (California)
March 2011