It
sounds like a bad joke. Morocco has successfully applied to join the ECOWAS,
that is, the Economic Community of West African States! Morocco formally applied
in February 2017 to join the regional body. At the Heads of States Summit held
in Monrovia in June 2017, just four months after, the Authority of Heads of
States announced that it had agreed to consider the application in principle! It
is now in the news that the official admission of Morocco into ECOWAs has been
fixed for 16th December 2017!
Morocco
in Ecowas? Just look at the map. In the ECOWAS Treaty of May 1975 and its
revised version of July 1993, Ecowas "Region" means the geographical zone
known as West Africa as defined by Resolution CM/Res.464 (XXVI) of the OAU Council
of Ministers. Where does Morocco fit into this? Are our leaders trying to
create their own Berlin conference? Look again at the map.
What
is the problem with our leaders? What
kind of absurdity is this? What does
Morocco want in ECOWAS? Is this a case
of one head (Morocco) better than fifteen heads? Why are our leaders
consciously allowing whatever peanuts Morocco is secretly offering some of them
to manipulate their minds as was the case with mirrors, guns, trinkets and
alcoholic drinks during the slavery period? What is their vision of the
regional body if they have any? Have our leaders really thought about the medium
and long-term implication of admitting Morocco into ECOWAS or are they simply
satisfied with their individual short term gains? African history appears to be
going round in circles. The age-old vulnerability of the trusting African is
still the same, only the price with which he sells changes with times.
In
the absence of vision and ideas, our leaders have specialized in development of
long umbilical cords with other cultures at our detriment; see the way they
hold dearly to their colonial legacy; and have indeed transformed it into a status
symbol. It is a mental re-engineering process begun in the 8th
century by Arabs and perfected through the period of slavery into colonialism.
This umbilical connection otherwise known as “historical ties” of the oppressed to his oppressor is a self-abasing
algophilic hedonism that not only
deludes the oppressed into a false sense of common identity with his oppressor,
but also serves as the Grail of discrimination against other Africans of
different mental re-engineering and color of umbilical cords. Thus, African
francophones see themselves as having more in common with the French than with
their African anglophone “brothers”, who also see themselves as kin of English
speaking Western countries with nothing in common with their francophone neighbors.
The lusophones stand world apart too, their brothers being the Portuguese. These
leaders or rulers ignore their umbilical ties to us, the governed and abandon
us to our fate.
The
primordial connection of traditions, culture and color, the common history of
injustice, subjugation and humiliation of West Africans by people from other
cultures appear not to be of importance to our present crop of leaders. They do
not know or have forgotten that Africans have always been victims of incursions
of other cultures in our midst. They are inviting trouble again into our midst.
Now, they want Morocco, a country with which the region does not have any
geographical or cultural or historical link, save the story of the Gnawas
(former slaves).! They want to develop another long umbilical connection that
will bring pains and regret in the future.
And
if their acceptance of Morocco is to get at Nigeria for whatever reasons as is
being bandied in some quarters, then they have really missed it. Morocco can
never geographically be in West Africa, just like their bosses at the other end
of their other umbilical cords can never be here, no matter how much our
leaders dream. Whoever is behind this should wake up. Nigeria is, and will
always part and parcel of West Africa and they have to live with that. They should
ask Morgan Tsvangirai, who at a time thought Britain was the immediate neighbor
of Zimbabwe.
But our
regional leaders should hear this: if the plight and the humiliation of the West
African in the world is not understood because it becomes formless in the smoke
of political discourse between our leaders and foreign leaders; if our leaders
fail to see that our condition rubs off on them and says a lot about them and
their manipulable minds despite red-carpet receptions which they receive in
foreign countries; if they fail to see that
dignity is not bestowed by photo sessions with their foreign
counterparts, but by their recognized collective effort to redeem West African
peoples from the humiliation of their conditions; if they fail to understand
that normal political leaders fight
for the interest of their people and nations, not their personal interests, common
sense dictates that, at least they should understand the enormity of history on
their shoulders and not ruin what was created by more visionary leaders than
them in 1975.
If they
fail to see this, ECOWAS will ultimately disintegrate and history won’t judge
anyone of them kindly.
.
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