EP 2 African News Review I Adesoji Speaks Knowledge 🌍

In this episode, Adesoji Iginla and Milton Allimadi discuss various headlines in the Western press and provide an Afrocentric perspective. 
They first analyze UK business secretary Kemi Badenoch's statement that the UK's wealth isn't from white privilege and colonialism. They criticized her for debasing herself and ignoring the historical exploitation and oppression that allowed Britain to industrialize. 
They also discuss the importance of African historians asserting themselves in the narrative. The conversation then shifts to the US withdrawing military personnel from Niger, which is framed as a strategic victory for Russia. 
They highlight the lack of African agency and sovereignty in dealing with security threats and the presence of foreign military bases on the continent. In this conversation, 
Milton Allimadi and Adesoji Iginla discuss various topics including the consequences of the NATO invasion of Libya, the investigation of the British Museum over hidden Ethiopian artifacts, Rio Tinto facing a lawsuit over pollution claims in Madagascar, and Nestle adding sugar to infant milk sold in poorer countries. 
They highlight the need for African countries to have the resources and infrastructure to hold companies accountable for their actions, the importance of preserving African artifacts and returning them to their rightful owners, and the negative impact of Western fast food and processed products on African health.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Overview
07:59 The Implications of US Withdrawal from Niger for African Sovereignty
27:10 The Lack of African Unity and the Challenge of Economic Development.
36:37 The Consequences of the NATO Invasion of Libya.
46:18 Environmental and Health Risks of Mining Operations.
55:46 Addressing the Impact of Sugar in Infant Milk

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:01.998)
Yes, good evening, good evening and welcome again to Africa News Review episode two. Today again, as always, I'm joined by a very special guest, Brother Milton Alimadi, who is a journalist, publisher with Black Star News, author of How the West Demonizes Africa in the Media.

And again, we are going to look at headlines in the Western press and give our take, an Afrocentric take on what has happened to said headlines. And so again, my name is Adesuji Gilla and yeah, welcome, welcome, welcome. And we shall begin. You want to say a few words, Brother Milton?

Milton Allimadi (00:49.326)
I'd rather.

Milton Allimadi (00:54.862)
Oh no, it's all good. We have a lot to discuss ahead of us. A lot of things going on around the world that impact on African communities. So I'm always happy to have this opportunity to ground with you and the brothers and sisters.

Adesoji Iginla (01:07.726)
Fantastic, fantastic. And yes, yeah. In the spirit of Brother Walter Rodney, yes, the groundings yes. Okay, so the first story is that of the UK business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, who says the UK wealth isn't from white privilege and colonialism.

Milton Allimadi (01:17.294)
and dead.

Milton Allimadi (01:29.294)
drawing.

Adesoji Iginla (01:38.03)
And she made this statement at a London conference highlighting the fact that the glorious revolution of 1688 paved the way for economic certainty as opposed to any other narrative there is. Addressing financial services bosses at the City's UK international conference in London, the business secretary said the UK's past exploitation and oppression of other countries and groups of people

could not sufficiently explain the country's economic trajectory. I would add, she said, it worries me when I hear people talk about wealth and success in the UK as being down to colonialism or imperialism or wealth privilege or whatever." End quote. So, I mean, to begin things before I dive a little bit deeper, what is your initial take with regards to

That's assertion.

Milton Allimadi (02:38.574)
Well, I feel sad for her because she's one of many of, you know, people of Africa, whether she sees herself as an African or not, of African ancestry, who are compelled to debase themselves in order to, you know, climb to some level of attainment or achievement.

Adesoji Iginla (03:04.302)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (03:05.742)
So she's in the government, so that presumptuously she's a member of the conservative party. And conservative party, correct? Okay. I mean, I didn't know that, but I know right now the conservatives are in power, so that a person of African ancestry who's a minister would also have to be a member of the conservative party. So, you know, it's very sad that you have to have a certain type of mentality to be a member of the conservative party.

Adesoji Iginla (03:12.078)
is a member of parliament. Yeah, yeah, yes, she is. Correct, correct.

Adesoji Iginla (03:21.198)
Yes, yes, that's the case.

Adesoji Iginla (03:27.534)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (03:35.534)
and then to climb the political hierarchy as well. Because obviously, the victims of British genocide are still paying the price of today in the 21st century, you know, including her very close relatives. You know, she is very African. She can trace close relatives to African regions, African countries, I'm very sure. And...

Adesoji Iginla (03:54.222)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (04:05.614)
Yeah, correct.

Milton Allimadi (04:05.87)
So she's literally mocking their disempowerment, their impoverishment by making that kind of assessment. But obviously she realizes that there's a premium that she commands. Number one, as a person of African ancestry. Number one, number two, as a woman. Because obviously the world has been and still is dominated by.

Europeans all over the world, whether it's a European European, European American Europeans who dominate the world. So there's always in the name of quote unquote diversifying opportunities for people of African ancestry and people and women as well to be promoted. And the sad thing is that in order for them to be promoted, which is something of course, which is an issue of justice and needs to be done.

Adesoji Iginla (04:53.614)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (05:03.982)
They make them really make a pact with the devil, debase themselves. Obviously, she cannot be that ignorant. I'm not willing to believe that she's that ignorant. So she's saying things she does not believe. Britain, of course, was one of the first countries to industrialize, not because it wrote phenomenal papers or passed bills in the parliament, introduced new laws, how to separate the power of the...

of the monarch with parliament and give power and rights to the people and the media establishment. All those were important aspects, but those largely are superseded by primitive accumulation. Primitive accumulation is the reason why Britain was able to industrialize, one of the first countries in the world to industrialize. The steam engine would have been worth nothing.

Adesoji Iginla (05:55.022)
So yeah.

Milton Allimadi (06:03.086)
had resources not been plundered from other parts of the world, whether by outright theft of silver, gold from the Americas, whether through enslavement, exploitation of African labor, African resources, it allowed Britain to industrialize and start mass production in factories. So in fact, Britain directly owes a good part of its...

Adesoji Iginla (06:14.958)
gold yep.

Milton Allimadi (06:32.782)
well to the expectation of Africans, whether the Africans are exported from the African continent or exported in other parts of the world where they had been taken. So that, of course, is nonsense. And she knows it's nonsense. But I understand why she's saying that. She's a member of the conservative party. She's a minister in a conservative government. If I was willing to sell my soul to the devil in order to be promoted in the political hierarchy, I would do exactly the same thing that she's doing. You know, so.

So that would be my response to her. And in fact, I would give her the best evidence. Britain is no longer Great Britain because Britain is no longer an imperial power like it was when it was Great Britain. So in fact, that is the best evidence and the best proof is that Britain is no longer exploiting to the extent that it was exploiting at its imperial glory. And that's when it was really at its might politically and economically. It's no longer there in fact.

to show that because she's implying that there's some sort of unique intelligence that the Europeans or Britain use to get to that level. That is nonsense. The Chinese are not conducting the kind of primitive accumulation that Britain benefited from. And where is Britain today compared to China? Britain is a little banana Republic compared to China. So that also refutes.

Adesoji Iginla (07:43.374)
Yeah, correct.

Adesoji Iginla (07:59.886)
I mean, I...

Milton Allimadi (08:02.126)
her implication that there's some special European intelligence that allow for that. So on both levels, she does not have any strong argument.

Adesoji Iginla (08:11.182)
I mean, I don't think she does. And there's a book out there titled, Silence in the Past, where the book was written by Roger Truillot, the Haitian historian, who said, professional historians must assert themselves and be in the center of the narrative. Otherwise,

Otherwise, what will end up happening is politicians and magnets like Ms. Badenoch here will try to rewrite the narrative. If you notice, just like on your side of the pond, there is this anti -intellectualism. On here, we have a similar typhoon. They call it the woke mob. You know, we're going after the woke mob. How dare you attack?

our sense of self. So the notion that someone is challenging their version of history is repugnant, is intellectually repugnant to them. But you and I know that the story, I mean, you just need to push it back a little bit. It's all a facade. It's all a facade. If she's saying that, that it's not down to colonialism and imperialism.

wonder what she will make of Eric Williams's book, Capitalism and Slavery, where he says in chapter five, British industry and the triangular trade. If I, it says the investment, even the first, the first blob there says, the investment of profits from the triangular trade into banking and industry.

I mean, you begin to ask the question.

Milton Allimadi (10:10.158)
Yeah, and the good thing is he doesn't just say it. You know, he uses their own facts and statistics from the British archives and from the British parliament. Members of the royal family were beneficiaries and they had shares in these companies that were profiting from enslavement. That is one of my favorite books.

Adesoji Iginla (10:18.094)
to correct, correct.

Adesoji Iginla (10:26.03)
Great!

It's exactly, exactly. And also, and also there is another one if she cares to read it. I mean in 1807, the parliament did outlaw slave trade in the British Empire. But for funnily enough, for the next 25 years, more than 700 ,000 people still remain enslaved. Why? Because the, what's it called? The, the, the,

the Brits, the establishment, were awaiting compensation written by Michael Taylor. And it's all documented in here. So you begin to wonder what is the take? Is someone for some reason thinking I need to change the narrative to suit a certain agenda? Because...

Milton Allimadi (11:25.582)
Yeah, it's pushing. It's like pushing a boulder up the mountain.

Adesoji Iginla (11:29.934)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (11:31.246)
And it's a losing proposition because the world is transforming. There's some things that cannot be stopped. Countries like China are emerging. And then after China, at some point, Africa will also emerge. The only thing that's holding back Africa is that not having the cohesiveness that China has right now. Africa right now is comparable to China when they had the feudal monarchs, when China was really very divided.

Adesoji Iginla (11:59.054)
Monarchy, yep.

Milton Allimadi (12:01.2)
with all these princes and emperors and kings ruling different parts of China. But look what China has accomplished just in the last 60 years alone. You know, I remind people all the time.

at the 1960 per capita income of China was $98. This is World Bank stats. And in the same year, the same statistic from the same organization, short for Ghana, Ghana was almost double that of China. It was almost $200 per capita. And look at where China is today. China is their global power. So the world is changing and nothing can stop that. You see, it's only being

It's not being stopped really in Africa. It's being slowed down. It's being slowed down by supporting reactionary rulers in African countries that promote the interests of the West. But even that is changing now. Those are being forced out and the African youth will have their say. And once we have cohesive governments, they have regional governments, eventually leading to a Pan -African government, that is when the continent will really tap into its resources.

resources and build wealth and prosperity. And once that happens, it won't take more than two decades really for Africa to be transformed into a superpower. So, you know, I don't take people like this British minister that seriously. It's just, you know, one of the annoyances she gets, they get major media coverage, but obviously we need to respond to the columning. But remind her and let people know.

Adesoji Iginla (13:23.15)
Of course, of course. Yeah, just a generation. Just a generation. That's all he needs.

Adesoji Iginla (13:38.606)
Of course, of course. I mean major.

Milton Allimadi (13:44.077)
that this is self debasement at its best.

Adesoji Iginla (13:47.502)
And also maybe she needs to speak to her conservative colleague here. Tory MP for slave home deal family said to gain three million from the sale of former plantation. So, you know, I mean, this, if you need, if you need more evidence, if you need evidence as to what the possible...

Milton Allimadi (14:01.71)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (14:14.99)
reason for where you are or where the country is. You need look no further than the history of this MP here. You know, it clearly says the movers angered many Barbadians, especially those who say the Drax family played a pivotal role in the development of slavery -based sugar production and the Barbados slave code in the 17th century.

Milton Allimadi (14:27.822)
Right.

Adesoji Iginla (14:44.206)
This denied Africans basic human rights, including the right to life. So like you said, maybe we've given her too much leeway in terms of thinking. And so in leaving the shores of the United Kingdom and going over to the other side of the pond, the United States is again in the news. This time,

Milton Allimadi (15:09.518)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (15:14.318)
on a geopolitical trajectory, which is essentially, yeah, gone.

Milton Allimadi (15:19.022)
Right. But before we get there, I did want to say something about the Richard Drex situation in Barbados, where you have the descendant of a former owner of a plantation for enslaved Africans being paid several million dollars for the purchase of about 50 acres, which I think is 21 hectares of land that he inherited.

Adesoji Iginla (15:26.734)
Yeah, go ahead.

Adesoji Iginla (15:31.854)
and sleep.

Adesoji Iginla (15:36.206)
Mm -hmm.

Milton Allimadi (15:47.47)
from his enslaving ancestors. And the land, Prime Minister Marklin says they needed to develop housing for the people of Barbados. So they need to purchase from him because obviously they know the consequences of just expropriating land, even land that was stolen from land that used to be plantations and people were enslaved. She knows the consequences of expropriating without compensation. She has seen what happened to Zimbabwe.

Adesoji Iginla (15:56.622)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (16:04.174)
the yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (16:13.23)
of just, yeah, yeah, yeah. So Zimbabwe, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (16:16.59)
Zimbabwe was brought to its knees after they seized the land and returned it to Africans when Robert Mugabe was president. And up to today, Zimbabwe's economy is still reeling and yet to recover from the sanctions that were placed against Zimbabwe. And in fact, at the end of the day, the only reason why the sanctions were relieved because Zimbabwe has agreed to do exactly what Barbados is being made to do.

Adesoji Iginla (16:45.71)
Do okay.

Milton Allimadi (16:45.902)
Zimbabwe has agreed to take out loans of up to three billion dollars to compensate the descendants of the Europeans who seized the land from the descendants of the Africans who were deprived today in the 19th century and to use that money to compensate the descendants of the Europeans. So she does not want to be put in that similar predicament and that is the reason why she's doing that, which of course is appalling.

Adesoji Iginla (17:05.646)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (17:15.598)
But that's what we, the challenges we face so long as we remain divided politically as Pan -African people. So I just wanted to say that quickly, but we can move on.

Adesoji Iginla (17:27.406)
Yeah. I mean, I will even to buttress your point. There are a couple of major cities in the UK and whose very existence till today owes their very success to the transatlantic slave trade. I'll just mention a couple of them. Birmingham, which is, yeah, Birmingham actually is notorious for having supplied all the iron,

Milton Allimadi (17:46.67)
Birmingham included, right, for us.

Adesoji Iginla (17:57.07)
the iron for the ships, the shackles, the muzzles, the chains. That was Birmingham's contribution. Liverpool was the refueling station. Bristol, the very existence of Bristol today was actually built on the back of the Transatlantic, the entire city. And it owes all its benevolence to Eosit's...

is very existence to the benevolence of one slave trader, Edward Colston, whose statue was tossed in the river in June of 2020 during the post -George Floyd demonstration. Yeah, yeah. So again, I mean, then London, we come to London. London is the financial capital not just of the world, but also the insurance capital of the

Milton Allimadi (18:40.366)
during the outpricing.

Adesoji Iginla (18:56.206)
entire transatlantic slave trade by Lords of London. And Lords of London, if you go on their website, it's there, black and blue, our history. We're not proud of it. We're trying to make amends. And yet you have a minister who's trying to rewrite history. And so that is just an aspect of what we need to speak to. And...

Milton Allimadi (19:19.95)
Right, so in addition to the book you suggested, I would also suggest that people read the book that you are very familiar with as well, which of course, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney, which also has a section which breaks down the French and the British companies that also prospered and benefited from the enslavement of Africans.

Adesoji Iginla (19:30.638)
Developed in Africa, Walter Rodney. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (19:43.246)
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you, thank you. Yes, even the favorite hymn of the country, Rule Britannia, the opening line there is, rule Britannia, cause we'll never, never be slaves. So who should be slaves? I mean, it's there. You know, the entire...

Milton Allimadi (20:05.55)
Well, you know, maybe they spoke too soon about never, never being slaves. The world is changing dramatically.

Adesoji Iginla (20:13.806)
So the entire narrative of the country is wrapped in it. Anyway, so we go on to the next story, which is that of the United States withdrawing from Niger. And I will share my screen.

Milton Allimadi (20:33.838)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (20:43.694)
So apparently, this is now the order of the day. US to withdraw from Niger after security pact fails in strategic victory from Russia. There's a deep problem with that headline, but I'll allow you have first dips. The opening line is the US will withdraw more than 1 ,000 military personnel from Niger in a move that will force the Biden administration.

to rethink its counterterrorism strategy and amount to a strategic victory from Russia. The decision comes a month after the West African country ruling military junta revoked a security pact with Washington that allowed American forces on its soil to help fight jihadist terrorism. Over to you.

Milton Allimadi (21:39.982)
Okay, well, there are many elements here that need to be deconstructed that have, which is typical, of course, the narrative is always upside down. So you're talking about Nija. But the critical issues here are who has gained? Is it the United States?

or is it Russia? And in this case, obviously, they're saying it's Russia. Now, can you find a story referring some major occurrence in the United States in an African newspaper where the headline would be who has gained, which African country has gained as a result of this major occurrence in the United States? So African...

Adesoji Iginla (22:12.142)
You okay?

Adesoji Iginla (22:33.006)
I see why you're doing that. I see why you're doing that.

Milton Allimadi (22:34.99)
Absolutely, African agency is non -existent. But in a way, it's good because it makes us confront the realities that face us. And that's how you deal with situations when they're not exposed, they're not that glaring and clear. You never have the opportunity to deal with it. So as far as you count, you are a continent of 1 .3 billion people.

continent that has the abundant supply of the world's natural resources and arable land and water and sunlight and yet you're so helpless that when the one nation which is Niger

decides to exert its sovereignty and ask for the removal of a thousand American troops, why might this be beneficial to Niger? That is not the issue. The story is this is not good for the United States and the United States agenda in terms of fighting quote unquote jihadists and as a result Russia benefits by becoming the new

Adesoji Iginla (23:29.518)
troops.

Milton Allimadi (23:48.718)
we could say 21st century imperial power in Niger instead of the United States. So I say this because I want us as African people to see where we still stand today after so -called 60 years of Uhuru. Yes, Uhuru of course is the Israeli word for independent. Takes me back to the book by the father of Rai Laudinga, it was Jaramogi.

Adesoji Iginla (23:53.902)
Mm -hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (24:06.766)
in the business.

Milton Allimadi (24:18.222)
or Dengar Uginga and the title of the book was brilliantly selected which said not yet Uhuru which describes African countries today in the 21st century. They're not yet Uhuru. You know, first of all, are the jihadists a threat to Niger? And if they are a threat to Niger, why cannot the Niger military deal with that threat?

Adesoji Iginla (24:27.854)
Yeah, to hold.

Adesoji Iginla (24:46.958)
deal with them, correct?

Milton Allimadi (24:48.238)
Why cannot the Nigerian military with its alliances, the regional countries deal with it? Why cannot the African Union collectively deal with it if it's a threat to one member of the African Union country? These are all the issues that come to the fore. So of course, and then of course, the other question is, why has it taken such a long time?

for the United States, which is supposed to have advanced military, advanced weapons, and France was there as well with thousands of soldiers until they were expelled last year. Why have they not succeeded in dealing with this so -called military threat by the jihadists? Is that really possible that the jihadists are militarily capable of withstanding all these powers?

Or are there other issues underlying why there's not any really serious resolve in dealing with the military? And it's not to say that they're not causing military destruction. We've seen people being displaced. We've seen people being killed. But really, have they been confronted militarily with the type of determination needed to really destroy them?

Adesoji Iginla (26:04.526)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (26:14.702)
So all these issues come to the fore because as we know, there has been for a long time an attempt to expand the US Africa Command on the African continent. And of course, no African country had been willing to accommodate the US Africa Command. And that is why it was located in Germany. You see, I remember when Liberia was willing or.

had started some talk with the United States about accommodating and giving the headquarters in Liberia. I think it was Nigeria that said, no, that won't happen. Otherwise you pay the price for it. So if African countries are willing to go to that extent, you can understand that there's been an effort by the United States to really expand Africa on African continent. And of course, not for the benefit.

of Africa is primarily to counter check China. You counter check China, but now more recently because of the way relations have deteriorated, exactly Russia is on the mix. So now it's to counter Russia as well as China's expansion in Africa. So that's how I see it. So obviously when it's a blow like that, it's not a blow in the sense that it will diminish

Adesoji Iginla (27:11.566)
of Africans.

the United States.

Adesoji Iginla (27:21.326)
Russia has got into the mix.

Milton Allimadi (27:40.718)
the fight against the jihadists, right? It's a blow in the sense that it will diminish the US agenda to counter China and Russia in Africa. So we have to learn as African people to read between the lines also. We can't just read headlines, you know, verbatim.

Adesoji Iginla (27:55.246)
Russia. Okay. I would also

lines yes I would no I would also I would also add this there was a there was a piece that was released by Black Alliance for Peace and US out of Africa in I think it was in February that I read that piece at that time it didn't make sense because you know when you read something offhand but there's no there's no door to connect it to.

Then you begin. At that time, the United States had agreed with Ghana, Benin Republic, and Cote d 'Ivoire to have new drone sites in those three countries.

At that time, I didn't get it. It was like, because there were protests in the streets of Ghana against the siting of such a facility. But it all went quiet all of a sudden. But once they put it out in a public domain, they're essentially trying to manufacture consent. And once they see how people push up against it, then...

If the government is comfortable in not, you move forward. If not, you know. So nothing else came of it. So with the removal now of the site in Agadez, otherwise called Area 101 in Niger.

Adesoji Iginla (29:33.102)
It then begins to paint this narrative that a tapestry was being built. Now what happened is the removal of them from there, from Niger, creates a black sport. Now, in that piece written by Black African Alliance for Peace, which if you go on their website, I think it's black.

Alliance for Peace dot com. You can read the piece in there. It's in English and French. And they made it known that the presence of that the base, the drone base in Niger has actually caused deaths, African deaths in the thousands. In not just Niger, but places as far as

Somalia which is on the other side.

So now imagine with the recent military jaunters in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and now Niger, and the siting of drone sites in Ghana, Cote d 'Ivoire, and Benin Republic. Benin Republic just next to Nigeria, Cote d 'Ivoire and Ghana literally underneath Mali and Burkina Faso.

Can you see what kind of danger the very existence in that neighborhood is going to cause to that region?

Milton Allimadi (31:17.134)
Well, to me, the physical sighting, yes, is one aspect of it, but they also have all these carrier ships. They have these massive ships that they don't even need these physical locations in African countries. When they have their ships lined up on both the Indian Ocean side and the Atlantic Ocean side. Obviously, it...

Adesoji Iginla (31:27.758)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (31:45.838)
It just delays things by a few hours sometimes in terms of deployment. It's easier to have the physical because when you have the physical, it means you're also interacting with the host government's military, the host government's government, the government officials. And that is where the danger really comes from. But in terms of presenting a physical danger to Africans, that is always going to be there.

Adesoji Iginla (31:52.046)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (32:04.206)
Hmm, yeah correct.

Milton Allimadi (32:13.678)
whether they're physically located on the soil or not. Look at Somalia right now. In Somalia, they're still having many drone hits, and many times they've been reported that there were so -called mistakes, and civilians have been killed. And these drones are not being launched by American troops deployed on the land in Somalia. These are all coming from carrier ships, aircraft carrier ships.

Adesoji Iginla (32:40.942)
Red Sea.

Milton Allimadi (32:42.574)
which are on the Atlantic Ocean Line. But to me, the biggest story is, once again, this is another example of the failure of African countries to exercise sovereignty and control. And unless you do that basic thing to control, to have sovereignty, you cannot even talk about economic development really in any African country when you don't have sovereignty. Right? How is it that...

we still have in the 21st century about 80 US either bases or garrisons or camps in African countries, you know, in the 21st century. So absolutely. So what does the Huda really mean? You know, you kicked out the British, you are just in the process of finishing kicking out.

Adesoji Iginla (33:28.686)
as a side development.

Milton Allimadi (33:41.358)
you know, the French, and then it turns out that the United States are deployed, you know, all over the continent. You know, how many military bases does the United States or Britain or France have in China? You know?

Adesoji Iginla (33:42.35)
The French.

Americans are very much...

Milton Allimadi (34:02.03)
It's not there. And that's not...

Adesoji Iginla (34:03.406)
They can't even move a boat near them.

Milton Allimadi (34:06.958)
Absolutely. So there's not a coincidence that China does not have any of these imperialist military bases and China is today economic, global, global economic and military and political power. You know, there are correlations between all these issues. You know, controlling sovereignty, you can't control sovereignty when you have imperialist military deployed in your country.

in order to decide how you use your resources, you have to have sovereignty. So it's almost like a cycle or fused objectives, you know, in order to have economic development, you need to have sovereignty over political decisions. In fact, in his book on Black Africa,

and economic development. Check out the job. I'm sure it's a book that you have, the one with the brown cover, said the problem is that we have been trying to put the cart before the horse. You know, that's why all these attempts at regional economic pacts to grow those into a pan -African union, economic union is not going to happen.

Adesoji Iginla (35:09.454)
Check out the video.

Milton Allimadi (35:36.494)
until we have leaders who are willing to cede some power. But everybody wants to be a president. Everybody wants to be a prime minister. So you cannot implement these policies if you don't have the executive power to make those decisions. And you can't have the executive power if like today we have 54 top decision makers. It won't happen.

Yeah, so we are looking at the symptoms of the bigger disease, which is the lack of power, you know, to exercise sovereignty in Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (36:07.246)
I mean...

Adesoji Iginla (36:18.51)
I mean, some would argue that, I mean, I would even argue that there wouldn't have been a need for them setting a drone base in Niger waiting off at the top in 2011 of Muhammad Gaddafi. Most of the problems that you're now ascribing to said place was non -existent. So you create a problem only to then find a solution to it.

Milton Allimadi (36:25.806)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (36:37.262)
Absolutely.

Milton Allimadi (36:48.718)
Right. No, they were not creating a problem. Yeah, you're right. They were actually creating not what they consider a problem, a problem to us, perhaps. But to them, that was actually the solution to how to deal with Colonel Gaddafi. Because these are not unintelligent people. Meaning they assessed that should you invade, these are the possible consequences. They must have been mapped out already.

Adesoji Iginla (36:48.782)
or provide a solution.

Adesoji Iginla (37:04.974)
Get out of here. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (37:18.286)
So to them, the destruction of that type part of the African region and the unleashing of so much violence was one of the acceptable consequences to the NATO invasion of Libya, destroying of the government and dispersing all those weapons that are now all over North and West Africa, even all the way to Central Africa. Those weapons are being used in conflict. Yeah, I agree with you.

Adesoji Iginla (37:19.63)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (37:42.158)
Africa, yeah. Yeah, which is and you know, and it's.

Milton Allimadi (37:46.478)
And of course, Gaddafi presented to them an existential threat in the sense that he was actually trying to implement the vision of African unity. Absolutely, that's what Krumah had envisioned in 1963.

Adesoji Iginla (37:56.75)
United Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (38:04.75)
only for him to pay the ultimate price and you know...

Milton Allimadi (38:07.214)
Of course, as always.

Adesoji Iginla (38:10.574)
Okay, thank you for that. We'll go on to the next story, which is the cultural artifacts. And this will make interesting reading. Give me a second. Let me share this. And it's to do with the fact that the British Museum,

is currently under investigation over Ethiopian artifacts hidden from view for over 150 years. Some will say, well, if you don't know it existed, why are they being investigated? But it follows on with the fact that the information worked out is investigating the British Museum over claims that it has been overtly secretive about some of the sensitive

Milton Allimadi (38:42.126)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (39:08.91)
items in his collection. A group of SACRED

Ethiopian altar tablets that have been hidden from view at this museum for more than 150 years. The artifacts include 11 wood and stone tablets, which the museum acknowledges were looted. At least they're using the right word. Were looted by British soldiers after the Battle of Magdala in 1868 and has never been on public display and are considered to be so sacred that even the institution's own creed

creators and trustees are forbidden from examining them. Now, here is the problem I find with that. Before I hand it over to you, there are two things here really. One is the fact that if you don't know you have the artifacts,

Milton Allimadi (39:57.102)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (40:08.494)
How do you go about, how does one go about claiming what is rightfully theirs? So which is a double -edged sword for the British establishment and also for those who are seeking return of said artifacts. So what do you make of this?

Milton Allimadi (40:30.414)
Well, this is clearly an inside job and it can easily be investigated because first of all, if it was in a buyer, right, a person that just buys antiquities online, who was able to detect?

that no, this thing must have been stolen and then it's being sold online, whether eBay or where have you.

Milton Allimadi (41:09.582)
the people or person, and it can't be a person if they're talking about almost 2 ,000 missing items. One individual cannot be behind this type of mass theft. So it means the people who are selling it, having stolen it, know that they are not catalogued. Right? And who

Adesoji Iginla (41:35.214)
Hmm. Yep, yep, yep.

Milton Allimadi (41:40.206)
There are very few people who know the items that are not catalogued.

So given how proud they are of their institutions, Scotland Yard and what have you, you know, this is a joke if they say that this cannot be easily investigated and the people that are behind it brought to account and all the items recovered, you know.

They can easily recover all these items. They're so unique that you can't hoard it. You can't resell it. People would know. People that buy these things know that this is highly sophisticated.

Adesoji Iginla (42:19.886)
Choo, choo, choo, choo.

Adesoji Iginla (42:26.766)
is going to go into, they're mostly going to go into private collection.

Milton Allimadi (42:30.798)
Absolutely. And many have been recovered in the recent years from private collection. But what to me is most interesting is this, because I've taken a serious interest in these African artifacts that are in museums all over the world, particularly in the United States, in France, and in Britain, and in Germany.

Two years ago.

Adesoji Iginla (43:11.886)
USA.

Milton Allimadi (43:12.43)
I read an item in The Guardian and it was about the British Museum in negotiations with Ethiopia to loan some of the items stolen after the Battle of Magdala where in fact there's a big story going on there. I don't believe for a minute that

Adesoji Iginla (43:20.526)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (43:40.43)
the emperor at the word rose committed suicide and then conveniently they found him dead.

Adesoji Iginla (43:46.734)
Do you care to expand on that for those who might be watching this later?

Milton Allimadi (43:50.19)
I mean, why would an Ethiopian emperor willing to fight against the British Imperial Army suddenly commit suicide and allow his wife and his son to be kidnapped by the Imperial invading army? That does not make sense to me. And one of the things he's known for, Emperor Tewardros, is his bravery. Because at that time,

There were many empires, regional empires, and then always one would emerge as king of kings, right? And this would come after suppressing or subduing the rival emperors. It was very competitive, right? You would fight for a long time, you know, and he emerged as the king of kings, Te Wodros. And now suddenly, you are committing suicide and allowing your wife and son to be kidnapped.

Adesoji Iginla (44:33.39)
the rival, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (44:50.99)
And the wife, obviously, it's too convenient for me. I don't, I've never bought that story. That is a dissertation waiting to be written by an Ethiopian scholar, you know? So number one. And by the way, the wife never made it alive to the coast where they then sailed back to Britain or to India. They brought some of the soldiers from India, British Imperial India. The wife was killed.

Adesoji Iginla (44:52.462)
It's something fishy.

Milton Allimadi (45:20.046)
somehow or conveniently died along the way, you know, probably molested or what have you. The son, Alema Yehu, was seven years old. So he was kidnapped and brought to Britain where he was supposedly, you know, partially raised by Queen Victoria. And the son begged to be sent back to his home. He was never sent.

Adesoji Iginla (45:47.246)
to return.

Milton Allimadi (45:50.478)
back the son died in England I think it was around 18 years old or so in 1879 and they said he is buried in the UK Ethiopians have demanded for years that his remains be returned if they knew where the remains were why would they refuse this request it doesn't make sense to me I think they don't know where this voice remains really are

Adesoji Iginla (46:06.734)
be returned. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (46:18.798)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (46:19.598)
But the most interesting part about the ongoing theft of these items is that it came at a time when Ethiopia was really making strong demands that they be returned. And then Britain had negotiated an agreement where they would loan, check it out, they would loan these stolen items back to Ethiopia, provided Ethiopia.

Adesoji Iginla (46:44.814)
That's a recording word, but I'll allow you to finish the loan bit. There's another loan in the offering.

Milton Allimadi (46:49.518)
signed an agreement to return it after a few years. So there's a lot going on in this whole mess that can be investigated and exposed. And I think very prominent people involved in running this museum will be exposed if in fact it's not suppressed and it's investigated because you know Britain also has a reputation.

If it appears, investigation may go too high up. Suddenly, it's ended and it's suppressed, and that's the end of the story. Yeah, so those are my comments on this matter.

Adesoji Iginla (47:28.366)
Um.

Okay, so speaking to the loaning of cultural artifacts, initially the British Museum also talked about loaning the Bini bronzes to the Nigerian government. But then that was checkmated by the former president, President Buhari, in the sense that he then signed a government...

Edict stating that the British should deal with the Beening Kingdom itself, not the Nigerian state. You know, because that had been the way the British had been able to circumvent the idea of returning the artifacts. It's like, if Nigeria guarantees their return, then we'll give it to you. Bearing in mind, the Nigerian museum itself was only founded in 1956.

Milton Allimadi (48:10.702)
interesting.

Adesoji Iginla (48:31.662)
the expedition happened in 1896. And so what you then have is they've been doing that back and forth, back and forth. But with Buhari now signing, the fact that you deal directly with the Bini Kingdom meant the British had no hiding space. They now had to like, OK, we're going to have to deal with them.

Oh, you have to know we're not building anything. You return the artifacts in their true state. Another country that is sorry.

Milton Allimadi (49:04.91)
I've always supported the position that there should be a Pan -African museum in where the headquarters of the African Union is, which is of course Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. And each African country should subscribe to paying for the maintenance of this world -class museum so that now...

Adesoji Iginla (49:19.438)
Mm -hmm.

Milton Allimadi (49:29.326)
You have these issues of, you know, there's also some argument that some of the countries don't have the economic resources to maintain these artifacts in the kind of preserved conditions and rooms they need to be maintained. So now there's no excuse because you have a world -class African museum and the artifacts, whatever country it was stolen from, they should all be sent to this Pan -African Museum in Addis Ababa.

And the guests who are now going to the Met, going to the London, the British Museum, going to Germany or going to France, now they would be coming to Addis Ababa. And the revenue from the museum visits would be shared amongst these African countries based on their subscription to maintaining.

Adesoji Iginla (50:04.27)
The museums.

Adesoji Iginla (50:28.046)
to the City Museum.

Milton Allimadi (50:28.238)
I think this is a Pan -African idea that needs to be supported.

Adesoji Iginla (50:34.061)
I mean, the Ashanties are also having a loan from the British Museum. And it's been subject of many discussion in so many online forums.

Milton Allimadi (50:49.998)
No, they should take it. They should accept it. I would accept a loan and I'll take it and I'll just never return it. Now, if you stole my wallet and you agree to lend it and you agree to lend it back to me, I'll welcome it. I say, yeah, sure. And that would be the end of it. So yeah, take it.

Adesoji Iginla (50:56.91)
No

Which is what most people...

Adesoji Iginla (51:10.094)
Which is what, I mean, which is the point everybody's actually saying. It's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, just, yeah, that one, that one, that one, that one, and that one. I'll accept it, that one. And then, oh, can we have it back? Have what back? What are you talking about? You know, so, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's, it's, hmm.

Milton Allimadi (51:13.134)
Mm -hmm.

Accept it very quickly.

Milton Allimadi (51:24.59)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (51:28.078)
then when the time to return then you know arrives then you won't be able to find them for some reason. Yeah so you play the same game that they're playing.

Adesoji Iginla (51:36.462)
It's, it's, of course, of course, of course. I mean, if they can't, I mean, it's akin to someone robbing your home and then saying the only reason, the only way I can return your stolen items to you is if you agree to give it back to me. If you, if you have it for a couple of days.

Milton Allimadi (52:00.078)
No, but it says a lot in terms of the level of contempt that they have for African people. You know, it really does. It speaks very loudly.

Adesoji Iginla (52:08.366)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That they can actually do this openly. Openly. Openly.

Milton Allimadi (52:14.862)
Say it openly and say let's write the agreement and sign the agreement. And why not? I mean, you know, we have to be very harsh on our leadership. We've allowed ourselves to be in that weakened condition. To me, any manifestation of the humiliation of Africa is a good reason to motivate our people.

Adesoji Iginla (52:35.15)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (52:43.822)
to rise up against our external as well as domestic oppressors. I don't distinguish the two. The bad corrupt African leader is an extension of the bad European who wants to exploit Africa. They're one and the same. It's a partnership of exploitation.

Adesoji Iginla (53:05.87)
I mean, you remember the video, which probably goes back to the story we did earlier on Niger's, the US drones situation, where Nana Akufo was sitting with Anthony Blinken, and he was talking about, you know, spying on his northern neighbors. I mean, that is shocking. Imagine.

Milton Allimadi (53:33.742)
Yeah, it's only shocking in the sense that it was being said publicly like that, but it's what they do all the time, you know. You know, you saw that video WikiLeaks, WikiLeaks memo that came out showing how General Museveni in Uganda, the military dictator, who many of us knew was a CIA asset anyway.

Adesoji Iginla (53:42.222)
But imagine, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (53:59.47)
was openly selling off Qadhafi while pretending to be Qadhafi's friend. Qadhafi pumped billions of dollars into Uganda's economy during Museveni's reign as well. Idi Amin did not even get as much from Qadhafi as Museveni did. But at the same time, Museveni was providing intelligence about Qadhafi to the United States.

Adesoji Iginla (54:12.654)
the idea.

Oh, okay.

Milton Allimadi (54:29.102)
and even asking for the United States to protect him when he's flying to Europe and then to the United States and crossing Libyan airspace because he's afraid that Gaddafi might one day shoot his plane down. No, it's not WikiLeaks. So anybody can Google WikiLeaks, Museveni asked for U .S. help against Gaddafi. At the time, they were supposed to be friends and they were...

Adesoji Iginla (54:29.518)
Wow.

Milton Allimadi (54:58.638)
hugging whenever, you know, it's on WikiLeaks, WikiLeaks, you know, expose that. You know, that to me is the highest level of betrayal, African traitor. So it happens all the time. It's rarely do we get the evidence emerging, you know, which is of course very sudden.

Adesoji Iginla (54:58.99)
That's deep.

Adesoji Iginla (55:05.902)
Woo.

Adesoji Iginla (55:11.47)
Hahaha!

Adesoji Iginla (55:18.318)
I mean, there's been, what's it called? There's been history of leaders, what's the word? Backstabbing other leaders. But the mere fact that you have it documented as you said, it's shocking. It's shocking. I mean, Hufei Buanyin was material to the assassination of Thomas Ankara.

Milton Allimadi (55:27.854)
Okay.

Documented, right.

Milton Allimadi (55:46.606)
Absolutely.

Adesoji Iginla (55:47.758)
Who else can we say was? Yeah. So man, but that is shocking. That is shocking. That is shocking. That is shocking. So our final story is health related. Oh, there are two of them actually. So let's start with capital, as you normally would say. And it's Rio Tinto.

Milton Allimadi (55:56.462)
Yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (56:17.198)
the Australian mining giant is may face the headline says Rio Tinto's Madagascar's mine may face lawsuit over pollution claims. And the lead is mining company hits with accusation it contaminated waterways with harmful level of uranium and lead. But for me, the standout part is Rio Tinto now is

Milton Allimadi (56:19.278)
Right.

Milton Allimadi (56:30.702)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (56:46.126)
is likely to be sued in an English court on behalf of people living in villages near a mine in Madagascar. Why do you think it is important that it's done in the UK as opposed to Madagascar itself?

Milton Allimadi (57:04.11)
Okay, to me, and I hope to me, it's because of probably the cost of suing against a company like that. A company like that has very deep pockets, deploys the most expensive law firms in the world to defend them. So there are few African law firms that would be able to.

to really absolutely. So I think that is the primary reason. Maybe you have a few law firms in South Africa, you know, maybe if they practice like that type of international law, you could find them in a country like South Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (57:32.622)
handle such a case.

Milton Allimadi (57:50.574)
But very few African countries that would have a huge firms of that level to be able to do the research, commit all the hours to get all those documents. It's free time consuming. Those loss, those loss would take years. You're flying from one part of the world to the other. You're bringing in witnesses from here to there. You're accommodating those witnesses, paying for the expense while they're staying.

Adesoji Iginla (58:03.118)
discoveries. Yep. Yep.

Milton Allimadi (58:18.158)
because the witnesses of course are going to be all over the world, whatever the documents have been flying left and right. So I think that to me is the primary reason. And also perhaps another reason might be because of assets that a company like Rio Tinto would have in the United Kingdom. So that should you prevail,

Adesoji Iginla (58:22.414)
Correct? Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (58:40.366)
In the event of compensation, yep.

Milton Allimadi (58:41.038)
Exactly, if you prevail and playing games you could see some of the assets in the United Kingdom. And so that to me would be another reason why.

Adesoji Iginla (58:53.422)
OK, OK, that makes logical sense. The final one would be for those with a sweet tooth, it's Nessu. But this time, they've gone after your children. Nessu apparently adds sugar to infant milk sold in poorer countries' report finds. The lead is Swiss food giant

CIS food firm Infants Formula and Cereal sold in Global South ignores WHO anti -obesity guidelines for Europe, CIS public line. Their submission is, Nestle, the world's largest consumer goods company, adds sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products sold in many poorer countries, contrary to international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases.

So there's one part that stood out to me. Where is it? Yes. Obesity is increasingly a problem in low and medium income countries. In Africa, the number of overweight children under five has increased by nearly 23 % since 2000. According to the World Health Organization, globally more than 1 billion people are living with obesity.

Milton Allimadi (59:54.926)
not surprising at all.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:21.742)
It's not easy for consumers in any countries to tell whether a country, whether a product contains added sugar and how much is present based on nutritional information printed on the packaging alone. That's even if the said packaging contains any information. So you are going to say.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:42.158)
Thank you very good. In the United States, ironically, they pronounce it Nestle. So I don't know what the true pronunciation is. It's not even an American name. So, you know, I'm sure you may actually have the right. Yeah, it's funny. Here in the U .S., people just call it Nestle. Yeah. But anyway, this company, Nestle, Nestle.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:56.494)
Yeah, it's a Swiss Nassau.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:02.574)
Nestle.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:08.814)
Mm -hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:12.206)
years ago and people can look this up, was a big story for a long time. They were implicated in selling expired baby formula globally to so -called developing countries. So they have a reputation, you know, and this was the major scandal many, many years ago, in fact, decades ago. So as I said, you know,

It's nothing new. Apparently, they do whatever they can get away with. That one, I don't know how that whole issue was resolved, but it was a big international issue, right? So now, apparently, they're being caught again. And why are they doing this? Of course, once you get people dependent on sugar, now they become candidates for KFC, which is also expanding in Africa, Pizza Hut.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:03.662)
Sugar, you're hooked.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:11.438)
McDonald's, Burger King. So you have our young people now forsaking our African restaurants that sell roasted organic chicken, right? Right, they may be a little chewy, right? Ours a little chewy, but very good tasting and much, much healthier. Now they're used to their.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:26.606)
boiled foods.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:40.558)
You know, the fat -fied chicken that is produced is a chick. And then six weeks later, it's already a pumped -up fat chicken being sold as fast food. That has consequences, whatever they're pumping into those products. And then, of course, they add the sweet flavor, and our young people are now addicted to that.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:53.646)
chicken

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:59.31)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:10.286)
So it's part of that whole industry of pushing, you know, fast foods in Africa, in a country where these incidents of obesity were not as high or heart diseases were not as prevalent or diabetes not as prevalent. Some years ago, now very prevalent because they think, oh, I've arrived because now I'm eating McDonald's and other Western fast foods, you know.

It's a pity.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:42.318)
I mean, if we were to look forward, that is going to cause some serious financial and health implications for said countries. Because if they don't have the public health to deal with all these issues,

Milton Allimadi (01:03:53.87)
Of course, without a doubt.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:59.95)
Precisely, and that's the major point. You don't have the public health, and when you have the public health system now, it's no longer subsidized because the World Bank tells your government, remove the subsidy, otherwise we will not release a loan to you. We're in a very tight spot, and everything is connected. The more knowledge we have, the more type of exposés that we have on media shows such as this, your show, the more informed our people can become.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:11.598)
subsidies.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:30.126)
You know, go back to eating the thin -legged, chewy chicken. It's much, much healthier than the fat pumped up. Yes. You know?

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:37.422)
And boil your foods. Boil your foods. Cook from the ground up. Cook from the ground up. Know everything that goes into your pot. My grandmother would say, if you don't know what it is you're eating, how are you sure you're not killing yourself?

Milton Allimadi (01:04:43.63)
Mm -hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:48.558)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:55.63)
Absolutely.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:58.158)
How are you sure? You know, so yeah, cook from the ground up. Most people can't, I mean, cooking is, is you taking care of yourself. That's even the first point.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:58.67)
Your granny knew what it was all about.

Milton Allimadi (01:05:12.974)
Yeah, we need to also get some of the more conscious youth, you know, in their music, in their visual productions, in the videos they produce to highlight the good things that are Africa, you know, be creative, show them why the indigenous organic African food not only is tastier but healthier than a...

Burger King or McDonald's. And the youth are very good in using these digital media. So let's try to start to recruit a couple of conscious youth so they can communicate this knowledge.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:57.774)
Yes, yes. Yes, and with that, we've come to the end of another episode of African News Review. And again, we thank Brother Milton for bringing his insights. And any last words?

Milton Allimadi (01:06:11.118)
Always a pleasure. Always my pleasure.

Milton Allimadi (01:06:18.862)
As the late Samora used to say, Samora Michelle, a luta continua.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:25.71)
Victory <|ko|> <|translate|> <|notimestamps|> Victory has set up. Victory has set up. Thank you very much. And thank you. And yes, from me, Adesuji Ginla, it's good evening and see you next week.

Milton Allimadi (01:06:27.726)
See you next week.

Milton Allimadi (01:06:37.774)
Thank you.