When the current chair of the African Unity that’s never united even single country, Senegalese President Macky Sall’s blindly and hastily the so-called Africa’s pressure on. how to finish the Russia-Ukraine conflict, I’m sure many analysts sniggered heartily since they’d presage what’d happen, namely just a photo-op. For anybody who’s truly to him/herself on how Africa’s disrespected and ignored internationally, expected nothing consequential or substantial to come out of such a visit. Why didn’t those who advised or pressured the AU to ‘intervene’ failed to accentuate the fact that a mendicant has and will never enthused any king or nabob? Why didn’t they underline the fact that Vladimir Putin, Russian President would not listen to a chair of an insignificant entity such as the AU that’s never achieved anything other than being the club of dictators and feeders to flock and flagrantly overindulge themselves in chest-thumbing for achieving nothing for their people save their own petit safeties and fools’ paradise?
Why the AU, its handlers, and masters failed to reckon with the fact that those forcing it to pointlessly do their dirty laundry have never bothered about our own chronic conflicts in the DRC, Maghreb, Somalia etc.––––they created and fuelled? Aren’t the same that are now acerbically inculcating fear in us arguing that Africa will suffer from food security because of Ukraine conflict while it is sitting on fertile, virgin, and uncontaminated soil? If they truly love and respect Africa, why aren’t they telling it to start producing its own food as it used to do before being colonised? Precolonial Africa’s not only self-supporting but also fed the colonisers who used to export foods from Africa to their motherlands.
For Africa, even a chunk of it, to be fed by small countries like Argentina or Ukraine’s more than a disgrace for whoever whose marbles upstairs are still intact. How come while African countries such as Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Zambia, and Zimbabwe, all except Kenya, Madagascar and Botswana are bigger than Ukraine and grow wheat, yet this tiny country beat them? What’s wrong? Asper Gro Intelligence (16 April, 2015), the World Bank identified 3.84 million hectares of land suitable for wheat production in Sub-Saharan Africa, the vast majority of which’s in East Africa. This is almost equal to the amount of land dedicated to the cultivation of wheat in Argentina, one of the world’s major producers of wheat.
Considering the above findings and situation, who’ll respect us with our uncalled-for protracted food and material dependency. What a shame for Africa to depend on a small country like Ukraine for wheat while it can hugely produce its own? Do we really deservedly have to depend on others to feed us while we’re able to feed ourselves if we embark on reasonable and respectful policies that highlight our equality with other human beings globally? If we can’t feed ourselves, what does our independence mean?
One important question the AU had to ask itself before embarrassing itself was “do those who want us to help them by taking sides respect or use us to settle their scores?” Who’s fooling whom in this obvious chicanery?" Are we blindly and willingly spiralling back to the Cold War that left the world polarised before the perishing of the then USSR? If the AU’s such a dependable and respectable player, why don’t we see either Asia or South America kowtow before Putin if we worth of our salt so as to be taken seriously? Why didn’t the AU refrain itself from this shame? Look at China and India. They refused to be used by any of the conflicants to preserve their integrity and position globally.
To prove how insignificant the AU is viewed, Sall’s words speaks volumes and signify how Africa went to Moscow to degrade itself trying to entice and serve two masters at a time, which is next to never. The jig is up now. Sall’s quoted as saying “a number of countries voted for resolutions at the United Nations. The position of Africa is very heterogeneous but despite heavy pressure, many countries still did not denounce Russia's position.”
To pat him on the shoulders, Putin was quoted as saying "Africa's political role in the international arena, in general, is growing. We believe that Africa as a whole and its individual states, with which we traditionally have very good, without any exaggeration, friendly relations, have great prospects, and on this basis we intend to further develop our relations with Africa as a whole and with its individual states.” What a prefect and headmaster response!
Is there anything meaningful from such an audience with Putin as far as the conflict is concerned? Why doesn’t Africa want to face the reality that it is always a subject of pooh-pooh? If you weigh Africa’s significance globally compared to small countries such as Israel, Palestine and Ukraine, which have proved to cause jitters globally, you’ll underscore the message here.
Why the AU failed to consider and weigh as to who benefits us between the Russia and the West now and historically? I understand that Ukraine’s a part of the defunct USSR. Again, if we consider who’d what it takes then, we can easily weigh among the trio, namely Russia, Ukraine and the West as to whom we need to ally with if needs be. Before the conflict in Ukraine, who’d bother or care about overdependent Africa suffering from dependency syndrome?
In sum, next time, the AU or any African leaders/ruler, should look self in the mirror before adding more ignominy and ire to all Africans needlessly as it recently happened in the case in point. What did the AU achieve? I’d advise: instead of wasting time trying to achieve or ask for what you can’t get, Africa should start thinking about its own food security by filling in the existing gaps that have shamelessly forced it to depend on a small country like Ukraine, which covers only 603, 628 km2 compared to Africa’s 30,370, 000 km2 to feed Africa. Shame on us.
Africa’s goofs and quandaries need profound explanations to understand. It doesn’t convince common sense for the country that’s 1/50 of Africa to feed Africa. The analogous allegory I can give here’s of a baby breastfeeding its mother. But again, Ukraine does feed Africa. Then what’s iniquitous here? What’s the miracle here? Are Africans like elephants? Elephants are huge. They’ve huge body mass and brains. Yet, they’re destroyed by a small human to the verge of extinction. Again, elephants are beasts. They’re not human. Again, who are Africans in such an equation?
I’m currently working on an academic book on how Africa’s self-inflicted harm resulting from land leasing while its people are going to without food not to mention many suffering from food insecurity and malnutrition in some countries such as in the horn of Africa currently.
In sum, I don’t get it for a humongous country like Sudan covering the area of 1, 886,068 km2––––which is currently is listed among African countries leasing their soil to Middle East countries to produce food for their population––––to starve simply because a country like Ukraine that’s less than 1/3 of the same’s at war and thus can’t feed it. Is the problem here natural or nurtured? What are all heads of Sudanese as a replica of Africa doing? Ironically, while Sudan’s starving and weeping for wheat from Ukraine, the same’s the guts to pointlessly lease out its land to Gulf countries to produce food for their citizens while its own people are starving to death! What are the hands and heads of Sudanese doing? Food’s power. S/he who’s able to feed oneself is a free person. Hunger’s slavery. This has become evident to Europe whose power dependency on Russia turned it into a laughingstock when it failed to fully apply sanctions against Russia. Had it dared, its economy and posh life would become the things of the past.
Source: Nkwazi Mhango, African Executive Today.
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