With Afrika regaining her independence and breaking chains of colonial domination, it was widely believed that Afrika will rise and shine above clouds of colonial oppression, misery and suffering which had PLAQUED Afrika under the exploitative, ruthless and murderous imperialistic domination which continuously savaged Afrika's land, minerals and turned Afrikans to be savages amongst themselves through some continually being used to torture, betray and assassinate their fellow Afrikans. It's from this background that Afrika regained her independence. At that time Pan Afrikan leaders came up with neocolonialism, that served as a warning to Afrikans of the eminent danger lurking around us as the once while colonizer was not pleased in loosing their colonies from where their economic survival depended on.
Nkrumah being the first Subsaharan leader to lead Ghana to regain independence, was very much aware of underhand manipulations by the colonizers to ensure Afrika still remained subject to the colonial nations through inserting of clauses to the constitution of Ghana to safeguard the interest of the colonizers. It is this clauses which he continually fought against after becoming the president, making the media of the imperialists to be unleashed against him as being a dictator, wanting to rule for life and even assassination plots and coup attempts against his government. All these styles were common across the newly independent states of Afrika.
Nkrumah spoke of neocolonialism as being the last colonial tool but the most brutal and worst of all. In most French colonies, as a condition for regaining independence, treaties were signed to ensure the installation of permanent French military bases and that France could militarily intervene any of its colony if it felt it's interest threatened. It's this treaties that neocolonialism began to take root and become evident in the emerging Afrika. Nkrumah warned that neocolonialism would evolve to different forms eg foreign aid, NGOs, loans, currency, foreign occupation and many others. Afrika now being over 60 years after regaining independence has witnessed the different mutations of neocolonialism.
Across Afrika, military bases of different nations have been installed with some states hosting bases of several nations. Therefore, what is the purpose of foreign military bases in Afrika? Are they here to defend us? And if so, who are we being defended from? And if that, then what was the need of our forefathers to fight for independence if we are unable to defend ourselves? And also did our forefathers die fighting against establishment of colonizers military camps so that we could happily welcome them back? It's painful that even now some Afrikans hold view that this bases are here to defend Afrikans. These bases are constantly used to spy upon Afrika, continual assassination and coup plotting against Afrikan leaders who have resisted to be puppets of the global imperialists, continual exploitation of Afrika's minerals which are then shipped to their nations and even some cases of Afrikans being mistreated in those bases.
Does it mean we Afrikans are incapable of defending our motherland Afrika such that we rely on others to do so? The Chagossians of Diego Garcia have suffered the horror of the USA military base as they were forcefully evacuated without their knowledge for the island to be a base. Does it mean even we Afrikans are helpless in our Afrikan soil, the land of our ancestors? For those who are pro-military bases, does Afrika have any military base outside Afrika? Why is it that we are comfortable with other bases here in Afrika while no other nation is comfortable hosting a base from Afrika? Also, incase the ever anticipated Third World War happens, will this bases not make us proxies to other nations war which is not ours just the same way the First and Second World Wars made us? Afrikans when will we ever learn from history?
Non Governmental Organisations(NGOs) still remain relevant means of continual neocolonization of Afrika. They are also being used as spying agencies of their respective countries, in some cases used to politically sponsor destabilization of different places in Afrika and fund puppet politicians who are loyal to interest of those against progress of Afrika and are ready to batter future of Afrikans just for their own benefit. These organisations are also key in financing campaigns to promote behaviours unacceptable to the Afrikan society. Why should morals of other nations be forced upon us through financed media propaganda if not a way of perpetuating neocolonization. Are Afrikans unable to differentiate a basic human right from erosive behaviours coated as human rights?
Foreign aids are also being used as trojan horses for neocolonization as they have lots of strings attached to them. These aid has been constantly used to finance regimes that are corrupt and have betrayed the aspirations of Afrikans. It is these regimes which are ready to execute the interest of donors that get the majority of aid. For a long time, Afrika has been receiving these aids but nothing tangible has been found because those who give aid end up gaining many times much money they gave out. Aid has constantly been used to deter Afrikan states to behave and accept whatever the donor country says. Is it that Afrika has to depend on aid from others to achieve its objective to Afrikans? Did our forefathers chase the colonizer so that we could become dependent on their help?
Loans are continuously used to economically colonise Afrika. As a condition for getting loans,Afrika is forced to give into consessions whose aim is to weaken Afrika economically. Some of these consessions include; opening up of Afrikan markets to the cheaply produced goods from developed countries leading to complete death of Afrikan industries and unemployment among Afrikans, no government interventions in specific aspects of economy thus leading to exploitation of Afrikans by the global capitalistic system. This loans also have strings tied to them like the companies to execute the projects the loan is intended for, the workers, raw materials to be used and many others. In addition to these constraints these loans are at very high interest rate thus making Afrika to be always indebt to other countries and thus a vestige for the debtor.
Currency is also being used as a neocolonial project. French colonies have been forced to continue using the colonial currency CFA Franc in their operations. This Afrikan states are forced to store 60% of their foreign reserves in France and if they need to use them, they are only allowed to withdraw upto 30% above that they are given as a loan. Here Afrikans have no right over their hard earned wealth!! Also in Afrika only the dollar or euro are viable across Afrikan states since the ordinary currencies of states remain useless outside the borders of the state. This has made it very difficult for Afrikan states to trade with each other instead preferring other nations outside Afrika. It has become impossible for Afrikan kins to visit and trade with each other due to the currency inhibition. Why do we have to use others currency if not that we are being colonised still?
Religion still plays a very crucial instrument of continual neocolonization. Presently we are taught the same Christianity that was used to dominate our forefathers. The continually preached eurosupremacy religion has upto now continued to exalt the European culture with the Saviour, angels and even God being white while degrading the black colour as being associated with the devil. It's still controversial that even those who purport to be 'saved' prefer to have their saviour to be white. When has a different race saved another? It's from religion that the false belief that we blacks should leave everything to the whites as they will save us, has always been promoted. This religion has taught Afrikans to be embarrassed of their culture and traditions and instead glorify the white culture as civilised and holy. Right now some may argue why don't we independent Afrikan states embrace our culture, but they are ignorant of systemic destruction the Christianity brought upon our society such that even now we think of our Afrikan religion as dark and idol worship.
Right now, a new form of neocolonialism is coming up interms of climate change. In as much as we appreciate need for mankind to better the environment for coming generation, we will not turn blind eye on the proposed means of creating this better environment. Carbon tax is advocated to be levied on the carbon emitting nations, this tax shall then be given to Afrikan countries to continue growing trees. Who, a mature, intelligent Afrikan can accept this arrangement? Does this mean that we Afrikans are the ones to bear the responsibility of the greediness of the capitalist world by planting trees? When shall Afrika develop her own industries thus creating employment by investing on the entrepreneurial spirit of Afrikans. Or we shall continue to remain in the colonial vicious cycle where we have to import finished goods from others while we keep on supporting their production through providing cheap raw materials and now absorbing their harmful wastes they release? When shall we learn that we also have interests to be taken care of? When shall we realise also we have youths who need to operate industries also?
Education also remains to be haunted by neocolonialism. In Afrika, education is used to measure what one can memorize but not to apply. This was the situation during colonization and it is the situation now. This education system was designed such that to be a partaker you had to be fully integrated into the colonizers culture with no regard to the Afrikan culture. This was true then and also now. Nomadic Afrikan communities have been left out as the European curriculum is not suited to their nomadic way of life. Also, just as curriculum was earlier designed to keep young ones from knowing their culture, still this applies today as students spend less than four months a year with the society, thus they end up failing to know and respect their culture. Some steps towards solving the education problem are taken, but still the education curriculum still mirrors the colonial one. Why should we have an education system that continually favours uprooting of Afrikans from their culture? Why should we have 'educated' Afrikans who cannot even see the continual exploitation of Afrikan labour, resources and wealth and who lack knowledge of their history and language?
Media has and is still continually used to ensure Afrikans are within the grip of the imperialist. This is achieved through exaltation of European standards, censorship of sources of information by imperialist, production of films and broadcasting. Afrikans are continually demeaned and downgraded through the films where they are portrayed as backward and unable to comprehend simple things hence deemed as sub humans to the whites. Through this films Afrikans are also portrayed as naturally born criminals who must be kept in check for peace to be upheld. In the films, the racist security services of the imperialist eg CIA, FBI are continually exalted as heroes as it's them that deal with the Afrikan threat to the community. Slaughtering and murdering of innocent Afrikans is justified through these white heroes, without remorse shooting, torturing and killing Afrikans. There are radio and television stations that keep on broadcasting interests of the imperialists to ensure only the pro imperialist Afrikan politicians are elected. Any anti imperialist leader who by chance comes to power, these media is unleashed against them so that the popular support is diminished making that state vulnerable to imperialist destabilization and occupation.
Through multinational corporations Afrika again is forced to perpetual slavery as this multinationals have crept in to the institutions of Afrika eg industries, banks, health, mining and prospecting companies, insurance companies. The multinationals obtain concessions that are for the benefit of the mother nation. Through mining, they ensure only the raw material is obtained at low cost from Afrika and shipped to the mother nation where it is processed and the products are then shipped back to Afrika at expensive rates. These happens as the Afrikan states are forced to trade agreements that they have to buy the products since the raw material is from that state. In this relationship Afrikans have no voice in the cost of their raw material and that of the product they buy. How free then is this market economy we are always encouraged to apply? During colonization, the prospecting companies after finding mineral rich areas they hid the information and instead created game parks which were then defended by their laws as a biodiversity conservation so as to store those resources anticipating the recolonization of Afrika. All this institutions are interlinked as most of the board of directors are the global elite class who hold all the shares of the companies. These institutions have Afrikan names and even Afrikan workers but there is nothing Afrikan about them.
Medicine still has traits of neocolonialism as mostly Afrikans by law, the only legal form of treatment is the hospital which gives Afrikans tablets and syrups which some have adverse effects to the consumer. Also in development of vaccines Afrikans are continually used as test objects without their consent and after the best vaccine is obtained the global pharmaceutical companies sell these vaccines to developed world leaving Afrikans again to beg for vaccines. The Afrikans suffering from the effects of the testing are left to suffer to death by themselves and those who go to court have the cases dragged for years since the giant pharmaceutical companies consider themselves above law when it comes to Afrikans. Right now even though we consider Afrikan states as independent, still WHO has complete monopoly of banning any herbal medicine that has been used in Afrika for generations.
The present forms of lifestyle feature still as ways of continual neocolonization. Presently, Afrikans have embraced the European forms of dressing, beauty and even their way of living. Fashion is continually being used to ensure Afrikans are aligned to the European forms of dressing and beauty. It's not lost on me to note the continual downgrading of black colour as it is considered that only the light colours can be beatiful. This exaltation of skin colours is continually hammered into Afrikans through the European media that exalts the light colours to be beautiful. As an effect, Afrikans are embarassed of their colour and resort to bleaching. Afrikans are even developing a European taste of food as now most Afrikans view the European foods as sweet and a show of modernity. This is leading to decline in Afrikan culture as foods played a key role in continuation of Afrikan culture.
Our food production is currently under threat from attacks of the imperialists. Right now slowly laws are being passed to hinder the freedom of Afrikans from their basic right of deciding what to plant. This is through laws like banning sharing of indigenous seed, must need for certificate so as to plant certain crops and many others. How will we be food sufficient if even our own tested seeds are being stopped from used in our farms? How will a small scale farmers be able to produce their own subsistence food if they have to buy seeds for planting? How can Afrikans being told they have to be certified so as to be allowed to grow crops, which generations of Afrikans grew? By whose standards are the farmers to uphold?
Afrikan land still harbours traits of neocolonialism as even upto there are white settlers living on thousands of acres which they inherited from their colonial parents who took it forcefully from our parents. How is it that land which was taken from us without regard of our basic right be defended from us by a certain law or agreement signed by the colonizer? Many Afrikans right now live either in slums or in small squeezed pieces of land yet there is large land mass in Afrika which is under hands of white settlers and their small class of Afrikan progenies. Through creation of game parks by the colonizers, large tracts of habitable land were swallowed leaving Afrikans again more landless. Why are we lied that wild life needs to be protected yet we Afrikans have lived with them for thousands of years? Our forests are continually being fenced and the communities that were hunters and gatherers in those forests forcefully evicted under guise of conservating the forests. Who really are best suited to conserve the forests except only those whom their livelihood is tied to it. Right now under carbon credits, our forests are being sold without our information to the global market of imperialism leaving Afrikans again without right on their land. This really is a great threat to our source of life since our water catchment areas are the forest, what if one time those who buy our forests decide to destroy our catchment areas? This really is an endanger to our existence as Afrikans.
Language also remains a colonial legacy as Afrikans find it difficult to communicate amongst themselves especially those under different colonial masters. Also, Afrika has remained the only nation globally which is divided by the colonizers language: anglophone, luxophone, francophone and saxophone. Even now, the colonizers language is used as the official means of communication in Afrika. Afrikan languages are hence continually colonised and forced to extinction due to lack of speakers and also not being incorporated into the curriculum. It's disappointing that the same way Afrikan languages where considered lowly then, still it applies upto date. The colonisers language is continually used as a gauge for intellect leaving Afrikans who can speaking only their local languages humiliated and considered unintelligent.
Nkrumah warned us that it's only through uniting will Afrika defeat the organised onslaught against it by the imperialists, but all these went unheeded, and he was later overthrowned under backing of the imperialist powers. In the process of pursuing one Afrikan currency, Gaddafi was overthrown and killed. In condemning the unjust financial systems against Afrika, Thomas Sankara was overthrown and assassinated. In demanding an equal share in the wealth of Congo, Patrice Lumumba was assassinated.
Fellow Afrikans, this organised crime against Afrika will continue to get more worser as we keep remaining disunited. Other imperial nations are rising and are ready to subjugate those who are disorganised. We are more privileged to have history as our teacher, an opportunity our forefathers never had.
Afrikans let's unite for the success of ourselves and coming generations or let's keep on basking in disunity and also bask in our unemployment, unprogressiveness, continual exploitation and mortgaging the opportunities of coming generations. Fellow Afrikans the solution is unity.
Afrikan Unity in our lifetime.
