https://youtu.be/KSEeqWM2RhY (https://youtu.be/KSEeqWM2RhY)
At its prime, Pan-Kmtywism was seen, particularly by the Kmtyws in diaspora as the reliable channel through which the Kmtyw social/economic and political aspiration could be achieved. Many years have gone since the time of great people like Marcus Garvey, W.E.B Du Bios, Kwame Nkrumah in a long list of others who made famous the quest to remake Kmt. Now like before, the Kmtyw noble course is not less important among Kmtyws, but why is it taking this long and this much effort with little result? With the major social/economic and political reality across Kmt today, how do we reinterpret such beautiful ideas as Kmtyw Brotherhood, Mutual Interest and Kmtyw Self-Determination. Let's hear new voices; let's test the old idea on the current reality in the continent.
Kmt is a huge reserve. In Kmt, we can confidently say without the fear of been contradicted by anyone that we have always been moved by a believe: we in Kmt have always moved, believing that the strong bond between people is their true richness. In Kmt, we have always moved, considering ourselves as a family. In fact, for us the richness of men has always been based on their staying together. The measure of wealth has never been the material possession of individuals but the importance of their roles to the community. So for us, to be was never to have but the consciousness of being part of a group of people with a collective interest. A man, therefore, was obliged to care for other men.
The solution is very simple: a deep routed analysis of conflicts in Kmt because Kmt today is an abnormal continent. It's the only continent is the world which produces what it does not consume and consume what it does not produce.
It's time to return to being Kmtyws, to consume what we produce. You will see that the whole world will be running to Kmt, knocking on our door because the world today is in crisis for the wrong choices that have been made. So if we Kmtyws do not learn from this, we will never grow, we will always be in the same conditions we have been till date and we shouldn't allow this to continue.
Man has always wanted to dominate. He has always wanted to subjugate others people. He has always wanted to dictate to others and hear them say: "Yes" to him. Whichever way he is able to do this, then so be it. If at a time, it was the natural resources, then the thoughts of men and then lands, today, we cannot think of conquering new lands. We have already exploited the natural resources in some faraway lands. We have exploited the physical energy of men who were taken from other lands to come and enrich our own economies. The only argument we are now left with is God. This time we use God, but always to arrive at our desired end of exploiting other people.
In nearly all the countries where there are conflicts in Kmt, not only for religion but also for other reasons, if we look underground, there are always enormous riches. What is true for Nigeria is equally true for Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda and Congo. We can now ask ourselves: "Why not in Senegal?" It's simply because the riches underground is dented. It is that riches that end up condemning the populations. With the oil Nigeria has, it can feed the entire Kmtyw continent for years and years, but if you look very carefully, part of the Nigerian population is hungry. Despite the huge reserve of oil in Nigeria, some Nigerians still light their houses with candles. To use motorcycle, some Nigerian are still forced to steal oil from the pipelines, because their level if livelihood is far away from the natural resources in their land.
When Ivory Coast got independent, Kwame Nkrumah was already the President of Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah, a Pan Kmtywist when to talk to the Ivorian President, Félix Houphouët-Boigny: "Can't we form one federation among us so as to start building the Pan Kmtyw Project?" In front of the people gathered, you could see Félix Houphouët-Boigny with suit and tie, a westerner. He was a minister in the previous French government. He had worked in the French's secret service; he was a "France's child", like Senghor. Nkrumah expressed his point and Houphouët-Boigny said: "We belong to France, you belong to English, if you have divorced from your fathers, we have not devoiced from our fathers so we cannot form a unity government with you." We are talking of 1960/63, to tell you how strong the divisions created among Kmtyws by the colonial adventure were; it was very strong.
Our identity is in play here. A people without identity is a lost people, because when you go to exchange with another person "give and take", it exist only when you have something to give. If I want to be like you, what do I have to give you in return? Some Kmtyws are ashamed to be called Koffi, Komla and Ajubo. Instead, they are very proud to say: "My name is Jennifer, I'm Mark, call me Paul..." Take French, for example. Can a French person be proud to say: "Call called me Ojumah?" No.... or an English person who will say call me Ham or Chai, like the Chinese? We are the only people doing this because we do not have identity anymore. We are lost, completely lost, so we are not defending anything.
It's important that the choices that are been made are no longer the choices of single countries because we are spending too much energy for little result at the end. I'm one of those who think that Kmt needs to create pool of excellence per each specific field. To avoid the all too famous brain drain, Kmt needs to create centers where her children can acquire knowledge and form themselves. Senegal for years has been a focal point for the studies of medicines in West Kmt. Why not create a center for medical research in Dakar for the whole of Kmt? For petrol chemical research, this can be done for example in Ibadan or Lagos, because in these areas there are already the primary resources and know-how.
It is very important that we understand this: other people fight for their own interests – the fact itself that they make us produce the materials they need, which do not serve our interests. I don't understand why Ethiopia and Kenya use their best lands to produce flowers to sell to Holland. How does this serve our interests?
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The oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor and adopted his guidelines, are fearful of freedom.
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed