COMMENTARY. Finally, the aging G20-member countries have agreed to grant the status of Permanent Member to African Union! In fact, AU will have the same status as the EU. Decision to be announced September 9-10. Interesting times.
By Joseph C. Okechukwu (twitter.com/jcokechukwu), geopolitical commentator, Nigeria
Remember that after the BRICS Summit in South Africa that saw the bloc expand officially from just a bloc of 5 nations to now a bloc of 11 powerful nations, with arguably dozens more countries on the waitlist to join, the Russian, Brazilian and Indian presidents have all been very vocal about the need for G20 to give Africans a permanent status at the “club.”
In fact, talks got to a point that some even suggested observer status to start with. That too didn’t fly with G20. They were adamant because of course, Africans are slaves and mere colonies of most of the countries in G20.
That’s why at the founding of the UN in 1945, only four African countries were present – Egypt which already had its independence in 1922, Ethiopia which was never colonized, Liberia which was also nobody’s colony and South Africa which was under the colonial Apartheid regime.
Interestingly, other than Liberia, a much smaller and weaker country (compared to the rest), the other three African countries that were present at the founding of the UN have now become parts of the BRICS alliance, which bears a huge significance, the topic for another day.
So, as you can see, none of the colonized nations in Africa, which by the way, make up over 90% of the countries on the continent, were present at the 1945 event in San Francisco, because they were not regarded as nations.
So it’s easy to now understand the mindset of these dominant G20 forces: How can a slave sit at the table with his masters for meals or talks? Inconceivable right? But what changed all of a sudden?!
Well, everything! The moment it dawned on the colonial West that Africans now had a potential alternative to their Unipolar hegemonic order of institutional and generational slavery, they reluctantly began to rethink some of their utterly condescending positions and conclusions about Africa/Africans.
If it wasn’t for the aggressive emergence of the multipolar world today, I can tell you for free that even the so-called “observer status” for AU wouldn’t even be discussed.
Why is it that right after BRICS went from just BRICS to BRICS+6 with almost immediate consolidation efforts, G20 suddenly realized it was time to bring their African “slaves” to the table where big boys dined and wined?
The West have lost every shred of respect and dignity they had left on the continent. Africans have seen the nakedness and wretchedness of their hypocrisy – preaching one thing & doing another.
In the past, their shenanigans were easily shrouded in secrecy. Not anymore. They’re throwing caution to the winds left right and centre and the big masquerade is, after all, human.
That’s what desperation can do. That’s the good side of healthy competition – it brings monopoly to its knees and feeds its arrogance to the vultures. That’s why Africans would hear of a coup and rather than shrivel with angst, they explode with joy and celebrate.
Because, as far as they’re concerned, any coup that removes a Western stooge from power in favour of populist, people-centred ideals, is democratic! In fact, such coups are now being hailed as liberation movements across Africa.
What do you expect when you lie to the people that Democracy was the government of the people by the people for the people, but you turn around and strip them of the right to question, repudiate, hire or fire the same government – just because in reality, you colonial West own these fake “African democracies?”
Thank God it’s finally Africa’s time. The long walk to freedom has begun. We are not delusional and won’t expect it to be over in one day. But we are confident that we will get there, sooner than later. With these little victories from the Sahel, the rest of Africa will be free and the heavens won’t fall.
Viva Mother Africa!
By Joseph C. Okechukwu (twitter.com/jcokechukwu), geopolitical commentator, Nigeria