"Like the exhaust of a nineteenth century locomotive, he puffed on his smouldering pipe as he leaned backward in his rock chair. Tending lightly on his curled mustache was effortless, as few notes were mumbled from the 'lids' of his grin shaped face to the soothing opera blasting through the blares of the turntable. On his chin was a cleft which runs adjacent to the girth of his lower jaw. He couldn't have been better without the cat eyed colour of his eyes superimposed on his curled blonde hair. Against the wall was rested a cane which 'fingers' spots on the atlas on which vessels could be docked to bay. The room, dirty and unkempt with maps of seas, isles, archipelagos, islands and continents littering the entire wood works. 'Get me my whip!', he yelled at a cuffed black slave standing behind him. Shadows of agony cast on the radiant face of the latter as the master charged at another unfortunate 'melaninised' being, lying helplessly on the bare floor. The whip whistled sinusoidally in the already smoke thicken air, as the hapless fella wriggled in pain". Nothing more describes the angst of colonialism better in picture, than the one painted by the persona of this fiction.
Seemingly as imperceivable as colonialism is today, pitifully has it transfigured from the ogre of the day to a celebrated bride millions scramble to become infatuated with. After the unforgivable crimes against humanity institutionalised by these 'white pigs' of the West, oppressed 'sovereign' states of the Third World scoop (and sometimes empty) their vast reserves to the mercy of 'bilateral', 'trilateral' and 'multilateral' relations engineered (incognito) through trade, economic, educational and cultural cooperation. Multinational establishments (through investigative analysis of trade deals) speak volume of the ineffable decimations the 'parasites' of the world powers viciously inflict on the vulnerable 'hosts' of developing nations. Indices of national growth for which gradations of different economies of the world are determined are exclusively reserved to the conspiracy chest of this unholy world order. The internationalisation of indigenously indurated financial organisations as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Trade Organisation, UNESCO, Paris Club, Commonwealth and their sister excrescences indelibly substantiate the will of imperialists not to let go of their grip on their former colonies. Of course, the ease of implementation of various imperialistic policies, sanctions and 'revolutions' quantify the extent the West can intrude to impose machinations on failing states. As 'insignificant' as importation might seem to the economy of a nation (a case study of Eurocentric Nigerians), it has proven potent a weapon for 'prunning' economically viable potentials of belligerent arms, which could 'sprout' growth and development. Little wonder the campaign for the support of local content products quadrupled since the onerous and sisyphean survival of various budget scales of the oil producing nations of the world (particularly Nigeria).
Poking a bird eye view into events culminating to the rise and fall of various power negotiators, countries of malignant stance against the capitalist West have been overthrown through systematic feigns of uprisings, neoliberalism and 'freedom of speech'.Recommendations by various financial 'mitochondria' like the IMF and World Bank are (from time to time) doled out to apparently 'struggling' nations by the profiteers of ignoble 'small' states exasperate further, their financial compartment. The smallness can best be accounted for-not on a land mass scale-but on the economic might which even 'spacious' countries as Sudan, India, Pakistan and Nigeria barely wield. Estimations of foreign direct investments by these racketeers in diaspora, can as well adjudge the willingness of these (inopportune) countries to enter into the 'parasitic matrimony' by allowing for financially backed exploiters as Coca Cola, McDonalds, Shell, Nestlé et al purloin their resources (both material and human). One very facet of growing concern is the predisposition of pleb nations and their citizenry to consequential eventualities of destitution, 'congenital' colonialism, penury, health manipulation and unscrupulousness. Recently, Coca Cola thrusted to the glare of the Nigerian public, the avaricious predisposition of their consumers to wanton health and physiological aftermaths. So has the violation of natural water bodies by the Royal Dutch Shell lifted the spell cast (since 1958) on the Nigerian populace from its vindictive exploitation of the creeks, lagoons and crevices domiciled in the Delta part of Nigeria. Again, refreshing our memory of the Halliburton scandal, the Malabu Oil deal and some hundreds of financial misappropriation shenanigans levelled against these business imperialists of Europe, America and even China. The 'serpentine fang' of imperialism hinge hard in the 'succulent skin' of colony nations, and drips venom in the very bloodstream. Different agglomerations of strong economic biceps as G20, G7 (and other innumerable 'Gs') posit not for a better proposition than preying on the threatened species in the 'wild' of 'econometrics'.
Raising this submission above the standards of sentiment, events unfurling recently pit one more against the policies of these apparitional oneirism fostered single handedly by colonial masters. In the face of stiffness suffered these powerful, 'tiny' nations (except for few extensive ones), their 'diminutiveness' terrorises 'elephant' nations, and sometimes ousts leaders of 'republics' and 'sovereign' states. Plethora of heart throbing, pupil widening and ear blowing grammers have been invented to smear resistive leaders of political aspersions. Long term stay of various uncooperative leaders was christened 'sit tightism', intransigent presidents and outspoken ones are dictators and kingdom ruled nations like Morocco, Brunei, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan are 'conservative fundamentalists' that 'repress freedom of speech'. Gaddafi was sacked (for no other reason) than his impregnability to the conscriptions of the West. The tension between Tripoli and world powers heightened at the wake of the Libyan currency rebirth into gold coins, which would bring down heavily the values of Dollar, Pounce Sterling and Euro. Again, Libya was the only country to indiginised its oil and domiciled all profits realised on its soil. Muammar, together with Ras Tafari Mekonen of Ethiopia (Haile Selasse) were stauch advocates of Pan Africanism (a call for the united states of Africa). In Zimbabwe, apart from Mugabe's five consecutive terms in government, and being the oldest president at 94, he's one of my favourites on the list of fearless world leaders I so much respect. What of the outspoken Rodrigo Duterte who took the fight against the drug ravaged state of Philippine to an unprecedented level? His ferociousness against narcotics haunts the ugly portrait of the illegal drug deal struck by the CIA (on behalf of America) with one South American country (I think Peru) to finance a group of rebels, in order that the country's socialist leader be 'dechaired'. This event again reminds me of the unsung American investigative journalist (Garry Webb) in 1994 who exposed some 300000 documents (or thereabout) indicting America of her involvement in drug merchandise.
The dramatic call by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on South Africa to extradite Sudan's president, Omar Al Basheer to face charges of 'violence against humanity', the prosecution of Kenya's president, Uhuru Kenyatta and the ousting of The Gambia's strongman, Yahyah Jammeh through doctored elections, show the bigotry of one-sided West compared with the ilks of Paul Biya of Cameroon, Helen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom who have served donkey years without (even probe) into such governments. The late Fidel Castro of Cuba, Saddam Hussein of Iraq were targets of strike by these gnostic cahoots. I await that jury to investigate the Catholic Church's involvement in one of man's greatest genocide (the Rwanda Genocide) between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes of the country, the Vietnam war, Iraq invasion which was later regretted as the 'greatest mistake of the Bush administration', the kidnap of hundreds of thousands of Arab children of Jewish descent in Yemen, Algeria, Palestine and Syria... No jury has (and definitely will) be constituted to prosecute these horrendous war crimes against the human race. Although, many are getting enlightened as the years fade out through time howbeit slow. But the fact 'Ex tenebris lux' that 'light grades gradually from within the belly of darkness' sings glamorously the mnemonics of hope, and beams hues of freedom against the present horrific background. We (in anticipation of freedom spirited minds) are positive of getting liberated from the 'apple polishing' bondage cuffed us in, by the 'masters' and our own selfish selves.
Adelakun Yusuff is a student of Geology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan and a public affairs commentator.
originally posted on gafar4real.wordpress.com
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