By Olakunle Agboola – Education is the only way Africa can free itself from the oppression of the first world…It is the only way African can rise and fight with their intellect…
Africa has been arguably proofed as the richest continent in the world and so for obvious reasons, the scramble for Africa resources by the West which China has joined the queue. The continent is blessed with infinite beauty and abundance of flora and fauna. Rich in cocoa, coffee, fruits, vegetables and assorted farm produce which can hardly be found in Asia, America and other continents of the world. Africa is home to an incredibly diverse wildlife and vast marine resources.
The land is literally fruitful and productive, covered with breath-taking mountains, rivers that are flowing into oceans in front of amazing beaches, spreading over four different climatic zones. Asides from the obvious treasures of the African soil such as gold and diamonds, Africa has about 20 unique and precious minerals.
It is a paradise, inhabited by the most beautiful souls. Nevertheless, the richness of the continent has not been a blessing for Africa but a plague due to the colonial masters, who keep an eye on Africa resources, all to their advantage.
During the period of colonisation, Africa became impoverished tremendously. Many of the people of the former kingdoms and societies that had functioned perfectly without any form of currency were now forced to adjust to the new colonial systems and therefore were forced to work in degrading jobs for a salary that was, in most cases, barely enough to survive on.
However, despite the constant oppression and educational propaganda Africans had to deal with during the “century” of colonisation, their spirit and pride was never broken. Eventually, the riots in the colonies and the generally agitated population were too much to handle for the colonial administrators, so the colonial powers had to withdraw them. Especially during the 60’s and 70’s a multitude of African countries had “freed” themselves from colonization. But the European empires were smart, so they didn’t leave without keeping control over the entire economy and natural resources of the continent.
France was specifically angry about losing their most profitable source of income for their country, when the people of Guinea decided in 1958 to “free” themselves and get out of the French colonial empire. The French colonial elite in Paris got so furious, that in a historic act of fury the French administration in Guinea destroyed everything in the country which represented what they called the benefits from French colonization, including schools, nurseries, public administration buildings, cars, books, medicines, research institute’s equipment and tractors. Also, horses, cows, and pigs were killed in the farms and food in warehouses was poisoned or burned.
It was obvious that the reason for this immense act of violence and destruction was committed in order to send a warning to the remaining French colonies that if they decide to reject France it will have consequences. But the other French colonised countries weren’t intimidated by that for too long, and so in 1960 the Republic of Togo decided that it was not going to be part of the French empire anymore.
In this case, however, the first president of Togo, Sylvanus Olympio, played it smart. Aware of the violence and destruction his country would have to suffer for wanting to be independent, he agreed that the Togolese Republic would pay an annual debt to France for the so-called benefits Togo got from French colonisation. It was the only way to keep the French from destroying the country before leaving; the only problem was that the amount demanded by France was so huge that the annual repayment of the so called “colonial debt” was close to 40% of the country’s budget in 1961.
As a result, Togo was too economically unstable to survive as an independent country. So, President Olympio decided that they had to get out of the French colonial money, the CFA, in order to save their economy. On 13 January 1963, three days after Togo started printing its own currency, a squad of illiterate soldiers backed by France killed President Olympio, the first elected President of newly independent Africa.
This was the first out of many murders and coups that the French government initiated in order to keep their former colonies destabilised. David Dacko, Thomas Sankara, Maurice Yaméogo and Hubert Maga are just a few of the most notable Presidents who were either killed or thrown into jail as a result of fighting for their country’s independence. As a matter of fact, since 1960, a total of 68 coups have been carried out in 27 countries all over Africa, 17 of those countries are former French colonies.
These numbers make it pretty obvious that France is incredibly desperate to hold on to its former colonies. That’s why France never actually gave their colonies the opportunity to be independent. It is nothing but an illusion that is supposed to make the people feel like they are free and independent and responsible for their own fate, while France still controls almost every significant aspect of their “former” colonies.
In 2008, former French President Jacques Chirac stated: “Without Africa, France will slide down into the rank of a third world country”. Industrial France has nothing to offer, that would explain why it is still one of the richest countries in the world. The only reason the country is still as wealthy as it was 50 years ago is that the neo-colonial system puts about 500 billion US dollars a year from Africa into its treasury. Even today, 14 African countries are still being economically oppressed by France through a colonial pact that forces them to put 85% of their foreign reserves in France’s central bank under the French Minister of Finance control. Togo, Senegal and about 12 other African countries still have to pay colonial debt to France. African leaders who refuse to pay are killed or become victims of coup. Those who obey are supported and rewarded by France with lavish lifestyle while their people have to endure extreme poverty and desperation.
But France is not the only culprit: they are just the most obvious one. Other European countries like Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Portugal use the same or similar strategies to retain control of their “former” colonies.
This is also the reality in Nigeria when Chief MKO Abiola won the presidential election in 1993 but was silently killed by the influence of the colonial masters. He said he would fight for reparation and make Nigeria what it ought to be, when he becomes the president. So sad the dream was proliferated and could not see the light of the day. Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo could also have become Nigeria first president after independence in 1960 but was sidelined knowing his level of education and exposure, which would have definitely been a disadvantage and huge loss to the British government. Nigeria, who could have been the gateway to Africa development is still struggling to ever get it right due to the manipulation of the Northern part of Nigeria, which the colonial masters made to feel they are born leaders and born to rule to Nigeria, knowing fully well that they can easily manipulate the Northerners compared to the South West who are educated, enlightened and well exposed and will be difficult to manipulate. The fast game played on Nigeria is to let them have a sense of leadership control while they the British control the economy and for obvious reasons, Nigeria is yet to wake up from this illusion.
The reality is that no African country is truly free or independent; all of them are still being destabilised and manipulated so that their former European colonisers can still make huge profit. This type of colonisation is called “Neo-Colonialism”.
The strategies of the neo-colonialists to maintain control include, colonial debt, automatic confiscation of national reserves, the right of first refusal on any raw or natural resources, the exclusive right to supply military equipments, train the country’s military officers, the right to pre-deploy troops, intervene militarily in the country to defend its interests, obligation to use colonial money, the obligation to make the colonial language the official language of the country and the language for education and money; and many more.
The West needs Africa and its natural resources desperately since alternative resources are almost non-existent outside of Africa. They need Africa for their mobile phones, airplanes, cars, jewellery, construction technology etc. Africa has by far the biggest gold reserves in the world, so how is it possible that 5000 units of every given African currency are worth less than one unit of any given first world currency? If Africans are the ones who own some of the best diamonds and gold in the world how come they are not claiming their wealth?
The answer is education. Africa is the worst educated continent on the planet. According to UNESCO, only about 50% of all Africans have ever visited a school. About half of all Africans can’t even write or read and most of the Africans who did go to school only learned elementary educational skills. While the rest of the world gets presented an image of Africa that is poor and dying and merely surviving at the mercy of the West, backed up by huge PR-companies (e.g. UNICEF, Red Cross, Life Aid) that continuously run multi-million dollar advertisement campaigns to sustain this image of Africa globally, paid for by millions of innocent people who think they can help with their donations.
Most Africans do not even have the education to understand what is happening in their countries and why they have to live under these degrading conditions. Education is the only way Africa can free itself from the oppression of the first world. If Africans understand their situation and the reason why nothing is changing for the better, they will be able to fight for true independence. They will reason why they have to change their system of education to suit African problems and needs rather than following the British system of education that won’t take them anywhere.
Education is the bedrock of a successful society. It is up to Africa to wake up and fight with education for true freedom and independence. It is possible to kick illiteracy out of Africa but that will be a great work to achieve as done by the likes of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo who introduced free education for all in South west Nigeria while he was in government as the head of the western region.
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