DAWN OF A REVOLUTION (PART 1 OF 3)
We are in this mess. It is no longer a past we read about, it is the present we come to terms with. This piece will discuss the Third Liberation of Africa, and because of the scope of items covered, it is divided into themes. Beginning with a brief on the first and second liberation (to put us in proper context), to the drivers of the third liberation, similarities and differences between the liberation patterns and the characteristics of a state that precipitate these liberation movements. Given the nature of the topic it will truthfully not be possible to include all the material, but it is my hope that the content herein will aid in piecing together that which has not been mentioned.
Some leaders of the first liberation movement.
The First Liberation of Africa
Vibrant music and dance, years of sweat and bitter tears, and blood freely flowing on the rich African soil greeted the independence movements that were to become the first liberation of Africa. The rallying call was one ‘Mayibuye iAfrika’ to mean ‘Bring back Africa’ a call to return the land to the people and restore independence of the African states. Spearheaded by the first crop of African leaders who had become the faces of resistance to colonisation: the likes of Julius Nyerere of the United Republic of Tanzania, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt who also played a part in hastening the independence of Sudan, Milton Obote of Uganda, Sekou Toure of Guinea, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Samora Machel of Mozambique and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Many of these leaders were later ousted from governance through coups as was the case for Nkrumah, Obote, Mugabe and several others across the continent. Others met their death through assassination as was the case with Samora Machel. Though they carried a lot of promise the independence governments faced challenges in meeting the high hopes of the people and because many retained the structures of colonisation it was only a matter of time before people’s discontent rose and their hold on power was thus threatened leading to the second liberation.
The Second Liberation of Africa
Statement by the Law Society of Kenya published in the Finance Paper 16-31 October 1991 edition
Aggrieved by the unfulfilled promises of the independence movements, recalling the struggle that put nations on the path towards freedom, the Second liberation was spearheaded by leaders who felt that the first governments had failed in the fulfilment of their mandate. These included Mobutu Sese Seko who ousted Joseph Kasa-Vubu in DRC, Idi Amin who disposed of Milton Obote in Uganda, Jean-Bedel Bokassa who with the help of the French was able to replace David Dacko in CAR. It also saw successive coups in Nigeria under General Ironsi, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida among others. This second wave did little to change the prevailing culture of theft, corruption and subversion that had begun to take root in the African continent, and just like their predecessors many of these leaders failed and were replaced in what can be termed as the second phase of the second liberation. Entry of younger turks has widely been seen to be counterproductive, given the example of Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who among others have moved on to entrench the practice of clinging to power through overt or indirect means.
What will the drivers of the third liberation be?
What will precipitate the next call for freedom from servitude? In the proceeding statements I will attempt to give sweeping drives that are aligning themselves and show promise as causes of a third liberation:
Propaganda and the rise of ‘fake news’
As a political tool, propaganda and a sabotage campaign is a potent weapon in the hands of politicians and other professionals in the 21st century, perhaps even more dangerous in the information age where the amount of information before us is immense and more often few people investigate the credibility of the information. Everett Dean Martin contrasted education and propaganda stating:
Education aims at independence of judgment. Propaganda offers ready-made opinions for the unthinking herd. Education and propaganda are directly opposed both in aim and method.... The educator tries to tell people HOW to think; the propagandist WHAT to think. The educator strives to develop individual responsibility; the propagandist, mass effects. The educator fails unless he achieves an open mind: the propagandist unless he achieves a closed mind.
Thus, propaganda thrives in an environment of making preconceived conclusions and seeking to assert them as true. Whether the African is safe in an environment where the propagandist is gaining ground is a matter of discussion.
Dependence on external powers for intelligence training and information
Crippled by lack of the intelligence sources the African leaders find the need to align to different world powers to gain the information they need, be it from satellites or manpower technologically. This puts leaders in a position to give up something for the access. The question of what is given up is a matter that can only be speculative without inside information. But what we can see, is the partnerships that nations build with these powers, be it the East or the West, leading to extraction of goods from the continent. It thus becomes only a matter of time before this causes conflict with citizens who bemoan this.
Religion and the question of human dignity
As Blaise Pascal once said in his 17th century Pensees, ‘Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction’. Thus, religion as a drive for revolution can be channelled and used by leaders, as has been the case in Libya and Sudan. And with the sentiments of the President of the USA on terrorism and the subsequent pitting of religion as a forerunner in the discussion, it pits religion as a frontline factor in the struggle. Along with sentiments on human dignity, the human family, sexuality and the different interpretations of race and subsequent ills such as xenophobia that arise forthwith.
Identity and Belonging
Perhaps let me cite two strains of identity that quite often are used during liberation. Either that persons identify with the whole or disassociate completely with the mass. This determines whether the people will be able to unite to rise against, or if they’ll scatter. In explaining corruption in Nigeria Eghosa Osaghae said:
“There was nothing seriously wrong with stealing state funds, especially if they were used to benefit not only the individual but also members of his community. Those who had the opportunity to be in government were expected to use the power and resources at their disposal to advance private and communal interests”
In the backdrop of this therefore, the pre-independence Nigerian had learnt not to identify with the state but rather with one’s own home and the question of fighting for a better Nigeria together still plagues the nation.
The question of identity affects government institutions as well whereby if state machinery conceives its mandate as protecting the elite in power then it becomes a natural enemy of the members of the public who may disagree with the state. The question of identity promises to plague leaders in matters pertaining to alliances and mass movements.
Continued in the next piece