Mugabe - Implications Of His Speech At the 26th AU Summit At Addis Ababa: Monologue And Musings Of A True African Leader By Okoro Benedict C

'While Africans revered the skies, the white man built the aeroplane to take charge of the skies. And we taught our children to beg aeroplane to throw down money. When we were trapped in reverence of the seas the white man built submarines and demystified what we had succumbed to out of inferiority. While we revered thunder and lightning as gods, the white man tamed it and drew electricity from it. Conquer the ignorance in you and ascend to that realm where real men engage in telepathy'.

The argument here is that despite having walked away from official slavery, Africa is technically undergoing another recolonization through more complex procedures with our consent. What we think are achievements merely expose the conscription we live in, our narrowed perception and infectious ignorance. Africa's path to self redemption lies with her honest investment in research and education. If development is by Europe standard, if will take Africa about a million years, to have perfect grasp and interpretation of what the West has dubbed development.

There seem to be an impenetrable darkness hovering over the continent of Africa. This impenetrable darkness is what men like Mugabe, not minding his human limitations have toiled to unravel. On January 17, 1961 Patrice Lumumba was overthrown and killed in a way that embarrassed the continent and proved that we don't really matter in global politics. Ludo De Witte, a Belgian writer worried about the fate of the continent where most clandestine intelligence operation have been experimented on, the most daunting being the death of Patrice Lumumba captioned his book, 'The Most Important Assassination of 20th Century'. Witte took time to assemble a piece that explain how the death of Patrice meant the dearth of hope and projection of the continent. On the 15th October, 1987, 

Thomas Sankara, a man described as the moving spirit and reincarnation of Che Guevara in Africa was murdered in cold blood at the expense of Africa's development, leaving Ouagadougou in the hands of toddlers. How much has changed since then? In the way and manner we are treated? Do we really matter in global affairs? When shall the people who played identifiable roles in the death of Sankara and Lumumba be tried? Africa is still perceived as the farmland and its habitants as servants. But, because history is one thing the black man keeps in abeyance, we have only succeeded in handing over ignorance from one generation to the next. 

It is this pretense and self deceit that all is well with us, because we think we can speak English, use Facebook, Twitter, internet and discuss about matches played in Europe between Chelsea and God knows which team is what Mugabe addressed at Ethiopia. He reminded us that a man whose ancestors were slaves can't claim to be free born. Of course, he made the speech on the soil of the only country in Africa that were never colonized.

But, how come these radical Africa's promising leaders were killed, but Mandela was spared? And they raised him like the 'son of man' as our hero, stamped him and handed over to us. Why? I have a quarrels with some people when our brother Mandela died, I have been vindicated by Mugabe's daring speech. Mugabe's speech at the 26th AU Summit should make every right thinking African to settle down for some serious thought. Mugabe spoke in the language that great leaders speak to pass on the eternal message without caring whose ox is gored. 

Ensconced is his eclectic guts Mugabe threw the hall comprising of 54 African leaders into confusion by querying what is Obama. His question was quite timely! At least at a time we delude ourselves as black people that we have arrived with a coloured man in White House. In an era that most black people feels that Uhuru is here. To them, we have arrived, our brother is now the President of America. 

Far from that, Mugabe in his quintessential erudition and celestial confidence told African leader that Obama is only a voice. Obama is a Western megaphone! He told the gathering that Obama is an errand boy to some white bosses. Who must be ordered to take homosexualism to his people and he jet's into the aircraft. 

The implication of his speech is that the black man is still at the base of the ladder. To reconstruct Africa we must begin with teaching our kids to make sure his/her teacher doesn't teach him nonsense. Maybe, this may be the last time Mugabe will speak to us, but this speech is quite peculiar in a time that ignorance is a cap. How much is our budget for education? What is our roadmap on education? What is happening to the project that final year students have been writing before they are awarded degree? Isn't

it a shame that mosquito (as tiny as it is) has conquered Africa. The whites aren't our problem, our problem is that we are cheap!

Okoro Benedict. C

Intelligence & Security Studies

United Kingdom