“This black Africa, I declared it to be “badly off to a good start”, as early as 1962; some have reproached me for it… “Black Africa got off to a bad start” was therefore banned throughout French-speaking Africa. Its author, declared persona non grata by political leaders. However that Julius Nyerere and Kenneth Kaunda called me, as soon as they read the English translation, “False start in Africa”. In January 1982, Léopold Sédar Senghor recognizes in the Sun, the great newspaper of Dakar, twenty years later, that he was wrong not to listen to me then…” René Dumont in 1986 in “For Africa, I accused”
René Dumont is the agricultural engineer and sociologist of French nationality (born in 1906 and died in 2001) who noticed very early on, before anyone else, and this, just following African independence, that the black continent was got off to a bad start, and that at this pace, black Africa would experience many problems in the future on several levels. Blinded by the euphoria of independence, many African leaders of the time might not accept such a severe verdict. Among the most virulent opponents of René Dumont’s thesis in 1962 were the students of the FEANF (Federation of Black African Students in France). Many of these young Africans who returned to their countries of origin in Africa following their studies, and who did not accept to collaborate with the regimes of dictatorship, often military, which prevailed almost everywhere on the continent, were obliged to set out once more to live in exile. The less fortunate died as political prisoners. Today, 61 years following the daring report at the time of the late French agricultural engineer, where is our continent? The leaders of our various countries since independence until today, had they succeeded in making René Dumont lie?
We, as Africans, all agree that our continent has remained, all these decades, a shadow of itself on almost all levels. And it is quite normal and above all human that we try to explore the ways and means that would enable us to solve the problems with which our dear Africa is confronted. And to solve a problem, a difficulty, we look for the reasons or the causes which might be the basis of the impasse. Today, with the proliferation of social networks, everyone seems to have become an expert in analyzing Africa’s problems, their origins and in finding solutions. Yes the search for solutions! It is the place where the comments of the famous experts of Africa go in all directions. For some it is the West and especially France that are solely responsible for the setbacks of our continent. Others will go even further to claim that Westerners would be jealous of a possible development of Africa. Admittedly, France has played a predatory role and continues to do so in many countries, former French colonies; and this was possible, also because of the authoritarian African leaders, not to say dictators, who sought and still seek to stay in power forever, and who for this reason are ready to leave their country in the hands of the devil. But from a general point of view, global geopolitics is made up of competition between states, and on this ground there can be no pity. Let’s not forget: States have no friends, they only have interests. And it is up to the political leaders of each country, whether African or not, to be patriotic enough to defend the interests of their peoples. What can other peoples, other leaders do for us, if we have politicians, unworthy of their title, ready to sell off the wealth of the country for their own interests?
If we continue to practice the policy of the ostrich by refusing to see our own failures and by constantly accusing others of being responsible for our underdevelopment, our poverty, we would be, without knowing it, letting go of the prey for the shade; in other words, the predatory regime that we are fighting in Togo, for example, might believe itself spared, because in any case, the others would now be the target of many Africans, therefore of Togolese. And as the fashion today is for “pan-Africanism”, this state of affairs might result in Faure Gnassingbé also calling himself a pan-Africanist to win the hearts of naive Togolese so that they leave him alone. Our famous struggle for liberation in Togo will then have come to an end.
When we listen to commentators on a certain television channel in Togo, for example, who, instead of making objective analyzes with intelligent proposals, indulge in insults from certain European leaders for the benefit of Russia, we are only doing shake our heads and ask ourselves if it is the role of a journalist or an intellectual to adopt the points of view hastily of the man in the African street. Isn’t the duty of the journalist or the intellectual to put himself above the fray while keeping a cool head in order to carry out his analyses? When nationals of poor countries weakened by dictatorships and who seek to free themselves, as is the case with many Africans today, and especially Togolese, begin to support the aggression of a dictator, only master on board in Russia, once morest a small country like Ukraine, are we not entitled to ask ourselves if the African really knows what he wants? What is even sadder is that many Africans believe that sending France home and welcoming Russia with open arms is enough to say that we are pan-Africanists. Mali and Burkina are two countries which are leading their revolution and which do not have this problem of a dictator in power for half a century that it would be necessary to fight to free. Togo has another problem whose outcome, uncertain, might lead to anything. So we cannot compare these two countries, which have chosen their path, with Togo, a country deeply mired in a terrible dictatorship, and confuse pan-Africanism. We can only speak of Pan-Africanism in rediscovered freedom. All countries, or at least many countries in Africa must first be able to speak with one voice on the political level, before thinking of meeting to talk regarding union or pan-Africanism.
To sum up, our continent Africa is today at a crossroads, and at the same time struggling to free itself from the clutches of the internal predators that are its leaders, most of whom have become executioners for their peoples. Bad governance made up of corruption, massive embezzlement of public funds, nepotism, clientelism, permanent rigging of elections, massive violations of human rights; these are the real causes of the backwardness of most African countries. Accusing only, as some do, the West or France, which certainly are not necessarily innocent, does it not risk making us lose sight of our real problems, and making us go around in circles for a century? Again?
Samari Tchadjobo
Germany
