By Fẹ̀mi Akọ̀mọ̀làfẹ̀ (Global South)
This, (French flag) without a doubt, is the worst SYMBOL of neocolonialism in Africa
On January 29, 2025, barring a last-minute miracle, the three nations of the Sahel Federation – Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso – will formally exit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). For the first time in its history, which began in 1975, ECOWAS will shrink.
This departure marked a substantial tectonic shift for the West African region and the entire continent. It also reflects the staggering failure of the region’s so-called leaders, including Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu. Tinubu’s unexplained and illogical subservience to Western imperialist interests, mainly France’s, has pushed these countries out of a vital African alliance.
Tinubu’s action is an act of betrayal that will haunt West Africa for generations. On this, history will be severe for him. Tinubu’s Yoruba people have this proverb that should have guided him to avoid the stupid foreign policy missteps he has taken (on behalf of France, it seems): Ọba to jẹ taye gun, orukọ ẹ ko ni pa rẹ, eyi o dẹ jẹ, taye o sin mi, orukọ ẹ na ko ni parẹ / The King, under whose rule the town was peaceful will never be forgotten, the one under whose rule the town was destroyed will also not be forgotten.
Although envisioned as a foundation for West African unity, self-reliance, and economic prosperity, the ECOWAS has not lived up to its billing, but it is all we have.
Although many of us have criticized it, what we did not expect or want is to see that under the leadership of people like President Tinubu, the organization will become little more than a shameless puppet dancing to Western tunes.
In my article, “A Public Appeal To President Tinubu,” I warned him against bowing to the dictates of Western powers. I wrote: “It is shocking that African leaders will sit down and allow themselves to be dictated to instead of pursuing Africa’s interests in the global arena.”
Unfortunately, with their neocolonial mentality, Tinubu and his fellow misleaders ignored my plea. Their unquestioning and unexplained loyalty to Western interests, mainly France’s, has caused irreparable damage to the organization set up to promote unity among us in West Africa. For whatever reasons known to Tinubu and co., they have sacrificed the economic and political aspirations of their people at the altar of foreign domination.
No, we should not view the decision of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to leave ECOWAS as not an act of rebellion; it is not. We should regard it as desperate cries for sovereignty, dignity, and liberation from a particularly odious form of colonization that only the French can evolve, one that has enslaved them since the days of French colonialism.
Only a Fool can blame them.
To make clear why we do not throw wild accusations around and to understand why these countries are leaving, let us shed some light on the origins of French colonization in Africa. From Senegal to Chad, from Mali to Niger, French imperialists arrived; they came not as liberators or civilizers as they now try to portray. As colonizers, the French were among the most ruthless conquerors. France’s colonial rule was defined by inhumane exploitation, unbridled violence, and the suppression of every African agency, especially African culture.
When Europe exhausted itself in its insane wars (they call it World Wars) and the “winds of change” to decolonize blew across the world, France found an ingenious way to maintain its stranglehold on its colonies while pretending to grant independence. Through the secretive PACTE COLONIALE, the so-called “independence” France granted its colonies in the 1960s was nothing but a façade. Beneath the surface, France maintained a stranglehold over these nations through political, economic, and military mechanisms.
~ By Fẹ̀mi Akọ̀mọ̀làfẹ̀ is a Farmer, Writer, Published Author, Essayist, Satirist, and Social Commentator.
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