I found it both somewhat futile and thought-provoking when yesterday Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo gave a speech in New York City addressing representatives of the African Diaspora and warned the Diaspora about another “Scramble for Africa”. Obasanjo was basically saying that unlike the scramble we already know of (colonies and slaves), this time the world’s great powers will come after Africa’s energy resources especially those found in the Gulf of Guinea. He said that the scramble is “being led by China from the East and the US from the West”. Three things intrigued me about this:
1. How much can Africa really protect herself from the scramble? Do we have the capacity, considering that a lot of our self-protective capacities are in the West’s hands? We are not in a position to put the West, or even the East in sanctions because their trade feeds us, among many other reasons.
2. Obasanjo asked the African Diaspora to join Africa in its efforts to protect its resources. This is where my cynicism about Pan-Africanism shows up. Really, African-Americans see themselves as first American and secondly of the African Diaspora, if at all they acknowledge the latter. So, you can figure whose interests they will have at heart. Use the same reasoning for other groups in the African Diaspora and you’ll see this might not have been as grand a move towards progress as Obasanjo may believe.
3. I ask myself if the scramble ever stopped after the slavery and colonization. And if Obasanjo is right that something really huge and explicitly nasty is coming, whose help do we seek?
5 comments:
I agree that the scramble for Africa has never ended. Instead it has peaked and receded. What makes the scramble for Africa not always obvious is that it is disguised in various forms. Slavery, colonization are some obvious tangeable examples. Another example is the scramble to assert particular ideologies, communism versus democracy. I view the scramble for Africa in whatever form,as coming at a price. Even when it seems that certain ventures are wholey beneficial to African countries.
As for Obasanjo he needs to go back to the drawing board. Start in Nigeria. As the most populous country in Africa, what positive example is being set for other African countries. Why reach out to the African diaspora when you can try and reach out to your own citizens. What makes him doubt the ability of his citizens. What does the diaspora posses that the citizens lack. Obasanjo commits a fundamental flaw by not first "fixing his own house first" before he seeks outside help. I question wonder what weight his words carry when people in his own country have to resort to siphoning fuel. Fuel that is obviously keeping the scramble for Africa alive. I understand the neccesity of the exporting of oil but Obasanjo appears to be contradicting himself. He too has signed the Chinese concessions for better cooperation and more trade agreements. It appears that the scramble for Africa is necessary
but it has to be controlled by us Africans to minimise and if possible to avoid exploitation. The scramble for Africa atleast has to empower the masses and not just cement the power of the ruling classes. We should seek our own help first.
oh i so agree...Obasanjo has robbed Nigeria blind himself!
At the risk of just echoing everything that has been said so far, I agree completely! It's ironic that Nigeria's prez should be the one to talk. Frankly, I don't think we stand a chance against the new scramble! If we couldn't do anything about exploitation which was as blatant as the slave trade and colonization, we certainly can't do anything about neo-colonialism,which is more dangerous because it is so insidious. You have to recognize a problem in order to solve it, and this is one problem that is being very craftily disguised...
i don't know why we can't see the disguise! is it because of the carrot-and-stick-nature of their "generosity"...? Eish
Neo-Colinialism! It's been there since the first African state was granted their indipendence! I certainly believe there is nothing we can do about it now! I mean Africa's best experts in anything that has to do with Technology have moved to seek greener pustures in in the west!
We are left behind with no one to innovate exploitation of our resources! Then we get to depend on them for the necessary Technology to do so.
I think Obasanjo is smart enough to know that without the interference of the west in the marketing and processing of the oil in his country would dent his country's economy, who knows, maybe he just don't want to be watched.
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