EP 7 Africa's Past Collides With Its Present I African News Review 🌍

In this episode, Adesoji Iginla and Milton Allimadi discuss the enduring legacy of colonialism in Africa, exploring how historical injustices continue to shape the continent's identity and geopolitical relationships. 

They delve into specific stories, including Benin's citizenship law for descendants of slaves, the dynamics of immigration in Mayotte, and the geopolitical tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia. 

The conversation emphasises the need for a united African approach to address these issues and the importance of recognising the historical context behind current events.

Takeaways

*Benin's new citizenship law is a step towards addressing historical injustices.
*The need for an African Union policy on citizenship and immigration is crucial.
*Colonial narratives often sanitize the history of enslavement and exploitation.
*The media's portrayal of African issues often reflects Eurocentric biases.
*The economic potential of African diasporas can be harnessed for development.
*Geopolitical tensions in Africa are often rooted in colonial legacies.
*The concept of a borderless Africa is essential for economic growth and unity.
*Morocco's actions in Western Sahara reflect neocolonial dynamics.
*The plight of landlocked nations in Africa highlights the need for maritime access.
*Historical grievances must be addressed for true reconciliation in Africa.

Chapters

00:00 Africa's Past Collides with the Present
14:15 Colonial Legacy and Modern Implications
25:12 Racism and Identity in Mayotte
29:04 The Intersection of Race and Global Warming
30:30 Media's Role in Democracy and Public Perception
33:46 The Disconnect Between Media and Working-Class Issues
37:16 The Impact of Trump on Media and Public Discourse
41:26 Neocolonialism and International Relations in Africa
46:39 Geopolitics of Landlocked Nations in Africa

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:01.091)
Yes, welcome, welcome. Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of African News Review. And again, I'm your host, Adesuji Ginla. And to me, with me as usual, we have guests, incredible gentlemen, journalists, publisher, Black Star News on WBAI, author of the book Manufacturing Hate, which I enjoy you to actually buy. And he's none other than

Comrade Milton Alimadi. Welcome again. Welcome. Yes, so this week we have a powerful theme running through all the stories we're about to run. And we've titled it Africa's past collides with the present. The enduring legacy of imperialistic exploitation, both human and material, and how it continues to shape the continent's identity and geopolitical relationships.

Milton Allimadi (00:33.058)
Thank you.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00.197)
And so for the first story, we go to Benet Republic, who has decided, I shall share, it's from the AP and it's titled, Benet Grants Citizenship to Slave Descendants as it faces its own role in the trade. That's a bit problematic, but I would, let's start. So it's.

The story, the piece is filed in from Dakar, Senegal. When Undage Anelka fell, first came to the West African country of Beni. From her home island of Martinique, a French overseas territory in the Caribbean, the 57-year-old travel agent said she had a feeling of deja vu. I quote, a lot of people reminded me of my grandparents, the way they wore their headscarves, their mannerisms and their mentality, she said.

Feeling at home in Bene, Anelka decided to settle there last July an opulent travel agency. She hopes to become a citizenship by taking advantage of a law passed in September that grants citizenship to those who can trace their lineage to the slave trade. The new law, which was initiated by President Paris Thalon, who had been in office since 2016, is part of a broader effort by Bene to reckon

with its own historical role in the slave trade. The law is open to all over 18s who do not already hold other African citizenship and can provide proof that an ancestor was deported via the trace slave trade from anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. Bernays authorities accept DNA tests and authenticated testimonies and family records. Your initial thoughts.

Milton Allimadi (02:57.259)
All right. So, I mean, it's better than not having a policy, right? Or a right to return. But I think what we need to have actually is rather than having individual countries, you know, and then you're going to have 50 plus stories about what policy do they have, there should be an African Union policy.

Adesoji Iginla (03:22.425)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (03:25.29)
And that would just resolve all these issues once and for all. Because obviously preferable would be not to have somebody have to do a DNA test. Obviously every African, whatever they are around the world, came from Africa, right? So they don't need a DNA. I can understand that the logic behind that is that they would be overwhelmed.

Adesoji Iginla (03:25.295)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (03:33.977)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (03:39.929)
Mmm. Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (03:45.455)
Yeah.

Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (03:55.152)
they would not be able to cope if they made it open policy because they don't have the resources, you see? So that I can understand. So that's why I'm saying if it's an African Union policy, every member of the African Union abides by it and every country has a quota, correct? So let's say we have 50 plus countries, right?

Adesoji Iginla (03:55.301)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (03:59.791)
True.

Adesoji Iginla (04:17.519)
Correct, yep.

Milton Allimadi (04:22.171)
and each one of them has a certain number that they're going to automatically admit every year, then that's substantial number of you see? Then the burden would not fall on any one or two or three African countries who are the ones, there are few that have relatively progressive policies in terms of right to return compared to others. But if we make all of them

Adesoji Iginla (04:38.501)
Thank you

Adesoji Iginla (04:45.935)
Policies. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (04:52.232)
sign up to such a policy, then we won't have these issues at all. You would not have to have an African country telling another African whose descendant was taken somewhere forcefully to have to prove that they came from that particular part of Africa at all. All those maps were drawn by the Europeans, you see? So that would be my suggestion in terms of how

Adesoji Iginla (04:56.645)
You

Adesoji Iginla (05:07.087)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (05:12.628)
Mmm, mmm.

Sure. Sure.

Adesoji Iginla (05:20.206)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (05:21.703)
the framing is beginning, you know, you can tell they want to, you know, at end of the day, they want to argue that this enslavement was actually a two-way street. You had the European slavers on the one hand, and you had the African counter-parts on the other hand. Well, that's misleading. If you read how Europe underdeveloped Africa,

Adesoji Iginla (05:24.889)
Hahaha!

Adesoji Iginla (05:36.421)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (05:43.461)
Mm. Mm?

Milton Allimadi (05:51.939)
You know, Rodney explains clearly that there, yes, there were some collaborators, but the majority were people who resisted, people who fought for years, people like Queen Zynga. And many of the leaders on the West coast of Africa actually fought, you know, for years, including in Benin itself, right? It wasn't like there was one king in Benin, in what is now modern Benin.

Adesoji Iginla (05:52.52)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (06:04.439)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (06:13.913)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (06:22.329)
So there were some who fought for many years. There were some who fought, were defeated, and then became collaborators. Then of course there were some that just were collaborators and were even, and the ones that resisted even fought those collaborators. So the story without elaborating, it makes it appear as if it was a willing buyer and willing seller. Pure and simple. No, that's misleading.

Adesoji Iginla (06:30.767)
Mmm.

from day one.

Adesoji Iginla (06:40.356)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (06:50.103)
Okay. So there's this language here which goes, it says, the law is open to all over 18s who do not already hold other African citizenship and can provide proof that an ancestor was deported.

Adesoji Iginla (07:13.029)
What sort of language is that?

Milton Allimadi (07:16.036)
Well, first of all, think about it. after that, the ancestor was deported. You know? I mean, it's amazing. Who are the people who write these things, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (07:19.182)
You

Adesoji Iginla (07:31.045)
Okay, I can provide you names. This was filed in by Mark Baccerio. So by the look of his name, I can tell he's French.

Milton Allimadi (07:37.323)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (07:40.662)
Now, but even forget him this editor, you know Yeah, think about it Yeah, they're working you slowly because the it's a progressive thing it's not done in one article So once you don't critique this one the next one will contain more more more jams, you know And then the third one would have even more contamination Until you're persuaded

Adesoji Iginla (07:44.345)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (07:54.787)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (07:59.297)
becomes the num.

You

Milton Allimadi (08:09.896)
that in fact it was the African leaders, the kings and the chiefs, who were actually promoting and inviting Europeans to come so they could sell fellow Africans to them.

Adesoji Iginla (08:13.989)
Who's that?

Adesoji Iginla (08:20.591)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (08:25.007)
There is a part I want you to hone in on and I did highlight it. Okay, so that's one of the monuments in Alabama, the African town, and made more famous by Zora Neale Hirstin's book, The Barakun, that centered the story of Kosholla. It says, Benet is not the first country to grant citizenship to the descendants of

slaves. It should be enslaved, actually. Earlier this month, Ghana naturalized 524 African Americans after the West African country's president Nana Akufo-Addo invited them to come home in 2019 as part of the 400-year anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in North Africa. Okay, but Bini's citizenship carries added significance, in part because of the role it played in the transatlantic slave trade.

as one of the main ports of departure. European merchants deported an estimated 1.5 million. So when I was reading it, that word just kept jumping up. What do you mean? Go on.

Milton Allimadi (09:34.429)
Yeah. Right.

Obviously they don't want to say kidnap, they don't want to say kidnap and that's why they're saying deported. And when it comes to the European part, you have to sanitize it a little bit. You can't have European and kidnap in the same sentence. You can't have European and terrorism. That's what it was. Enslavement was terrorism on the same sentence. So yeah, it's deportation. Oh, by the way, you are...

Adesoji Iginla (09:42.309)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (09:50.853)
Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (09:57.208)
You

Adesoji Iginla (10:01.593)
the

Milton Allimadi (10:07.068)
Visa has expired. It's time for you to get on the slave ship, you know? Remarkable. Now, I hope our people pick up on these subtleties. These subtleties allow you to surrender your ability to be critical. And as I say, they keep increasing the dose of the poison progressively with each article.

Adesoji Iginla (10:11.173)
Okay.

Mm, mm.

Adesoji Iginla (10:23.351)
your narrative.

Adesoji Iginla (10:31.685)
You

Adesoji Iginla (10:35.813)
Okay, one more question. So what do you think in terms, okay, fine, the idea of the return is welcomed. How do you think this Binis citizenship law addresses historical injustice? I mean, you've talked to some of the limitations, but in the grand scheme of things to Benin Republic itself, how do you think this right to return?

Milton Allimadi (10:43.932)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (11:04.537)
plays into its growth as a country and as a way of restorative justice for the enslaved.

Milton Allimadi (11:11.62)
in potentially in many ways, as you know, our sisters and brothers in what they used to call the so-called new world, reside and work in countries that have relatively much more advanced economies compared to the economies of every African country.

So if this was used in a strategic way, it could actually become a better way of economic development. Rather, it's even much better than borrowing money from the World Bank and the IMF. They give you the money, then they say, you can't do this, you can't do this, you can't do this with the money. And in order to give the money, you have to cut spending on medical care, on hospitals, on healthcare, cut spending on education.

Adesoji Iginla (11:49.285)
Mmm. Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (12:06.511)
cut spending on fuel subsidy, cut spending on food subsidy, then we'll give you the money. And that's how we give the money. You cannot industrialize. You cannot start manufacturing industrial products from factories and take away money that should be going to Western companies that export to your country. But if you have a comprehensive policy like this, you would actually go around the world, come to the United States, for example, and say,

Adesoji Iginla (12:25.253)
Mm-mm.

Milton Allimadi (12:36.196)
the richest, most affluent sisters and brothers of this country, a thousand of you, right? I want 50 of you to come and take citizenship. And these are the special privileges you will get. And then of course, I have another quarter reserved by income bracket to ordinary working people, sisters and brothers in the United States. Take up citizenship too.

Adesoji Iginla (12:43.407)
Mm. Mm. Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (13:05.964)
Now you, with the ones with resources, I want you to invest in the new industrial zone that I'm establishing, right? Give it a Pan-African name that resonates with somebody that's coming back, you see? I think the right to return is a bit too simplistic. Need something that captures our African history and essence.

and you set up those industrial zones and you start manufacturing. Come here and let's build factories. Let's use our resources and start exporting. You have the capital, we don't. We have the resources. We don't expect you to come and give us the same conditions that the World Bank and IMF give us because you will be coming as a citizen actually of my country. We have to think outside the box and we are

Adesoji Iginla (13:34.976)
Mm, mm.

Adesoji Iginla (13:59.397)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (14:03.031)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (14:03.84)
Wondering many opportunities. This is just one example. So imagine if every African country Adopted a policy like the one I just suggested you, right? You would not need any money from the World Bank and I'm

Adesoji Iginla (14:18.725)
And you also be coming with other advantages that, know, say for instance, the United States, no one can interfere with their business activities anywhere in the world. So if they're coming, basically they've brought their own shield with them, legal shield. So it's an advantage and it's also a win-win situation for everyone.

Milton Allimadi (14:42.423)
Absolutely, so win, win, win.

Adesoji Iginla (14:44.997)
Yes, okay. So that said, we pivot to outside the continent to the Indian Ocean and we go to the island. Unfortunately, we have to call it that the French territory of Mayotte and

Milton Allimadi (15:03.453)
It's not French territory, actually. It's French-occupied. Because, you know, we are the ones that are in the business of changing the perception of our people from the colonial mind frame, right? They can say anything they want, but it's up to us to correct them and say the correct things. And that's why we have this show. How can France have any territory in Africa?

Adesoji Iginla (15:14.5)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (15:17.931)
mindset. Yep. Yep.

Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (15:25.697)
Okay. True.

Milton Allimadi (15:33.29)
Think about it. Which Senegalese territory is next to France? An island off of France, imagine. It would be like, the Zimbabwean territory of, know, whatever you call it. Le territory, whatever you call it, right? It's absolute nonsense. And we have to start thinking that way before we even go into the particulars.

Adesoji Iginla (15:34.382)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (15:58.116)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (16:02.35)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (16:02.44)
as African people, we have to reframe everything. And Benin is asking for DNA testing. That's so Eurocentric, right? Because they imbibing Eurocentric literature, Eurocentric ideas, Eurocentric thought processes.

Adesoji Iginla (16:08.977)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (16:19.941)
True, true, true.

Adesoji Iginla (16:25.061)
Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (16:31.357)
We have to be very disruptive, right? And say, why should they have the right to frame the parameters of the conversation, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (16:35.333)
about thinking.

Adesoji Iginla (16:42.469)
Hmm.

Okay, taking that as a cue, we read this and it's new story in the New York Times. It's titled Cyclone on French Archipelago. Exposes resentment over immigrants. Again, another Eurocentric argument. In the ruins, gone. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (17:04.404)
So the headline writer, obviously, cannot even think.

Adesoji Iginla (17:14.213)
How bizarre that-

Milton Allimadi (17:14.548)
Relate relate to anything I just said over the last five minutes, right? To him there's nothing wrong with referring to it as a French

Adesoji Iginla (17:20.623)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (17:26.213)
I pick archipelago.

Milton Allimadi (17:27.571)
territory in Africa. You see? You know, but hopefully one of them will listen to our conversation and say, you know what?

Adesoji Iginla (17:42.063)
They have a point.

Milton Allimadi (17:43.162)
point. Why should it be that way? Just because the French say it, doesn't mean you have to accept it as well. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (17:52.366)
You

Adesoji Iginla (17:56.503)
Okay, I go on. So in the ruins left by Cyclone Chido, people from Mayotte off the eastern coast of Africa are calling to deport the undocumented immigrants who have settled there from the neighboring islands. Proceed further. After a vicious circle, Cyclone this month raised slums housing many undocumented Mike immigrants.

Milton Allimadi (17:56.903)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (18:24.641)
on the French island territory of Mayotte, Safina Salu did not shed a tear. As leader of an advocacy organization representing people from Mayotte, Ms. Sula staunchly supported an operation that French authorities started last year to destroy the slums and deport undocumented immigrants, most of whom came from the neighboring, from nearby Komoro Islands. She hailed the cyclone as a divine washu bullshit.

using the name of the slum clearance operation and added, now the state must react quickly and forbid the reconstruction of these shanty towns. Initial thoughts before I even proceed further.

Milton Allimadi (19:04.944)
Okay, thank you so much for reading that part, right?

Milton Allimadi (19:12.452)
And it shows you how.

Milton Allimadi (19:16.676)
how depraved the logic is and how on the other side, our thinking is also so depraved that not enough of us would be outraged by this type of story, right?

So the guy or the lady, I don't know who wrote it, whether it was a man or woman, wrote this article.

Adesoji Iginla (19:40.485)
Let's go back quickly. It's written by John Elygon and Julia Boudin.

Milton Allimadi (19:47.991)
Okay, so they're Mayotte is off the eastern coast of Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (19:54.009)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Milton Allimadi (19:56.297)
acknowledging that it's in Africa.

but they're not questioning why are they referred to as French, right? And then they're talking about undocumented immigrants.

Adesoji Iginla (20:00.963)
be told.

Adesoji Iginla (20:07.397)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (20:16.592)
So how can Africans be undocumented immigrants in Africa?

Milton Allimadi (20:24.909)
So these are the kind of questions that we need to pose and get our people to start thinking that way. Right?

Adesoji Iginla (20:31.797)
Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. Yep.

Milton Allimadi (20:34.807)
before the French occupation that continues up today, at least in the part that is my your thing.

And I'm sure you can go back.

and trace ancestry.

and you'll find that every family in Mayotte has somebody who comes from Comoros and vice versa. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (20:59.237)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (21:05.323)
So now we are letting that old divide and rule continue to be practiced, right? Just like those border lines that we've discussed all across the mainland of the African continent, dividing families, dividing sisters and brothers, dividing cousins, right? Where you have the same family living on opposite sides.

Adesoji Iginla (21:17.733)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (21:33.31)
So in Uganda at one time, there was a minister in the government, his last name was Awari, Agri Awari. And he had literally a brother, right? Who was at one point a vice president, I believe in Kenya, with a last name Awari as well. You know, literally the same family just separated by that borderline. So if they're Awari,

Adesoji Iginla (21:57.743)
OK.

Milton Allimadi (22:03.123)
of Kenya had come into Uganda without a quote unquote visa, he would have been undocumented in Uganda where his brother is a minister. See how imposterous it is?

Adesoji Iginla (22:10.501)
in legumen and document that you made.

Adesoji Iginla (22:17.349)
I mean I can even go further. The dividing line between Tanzania and I believe Kenya is a river. And there are Maasai on both sides of the river.

Milton Allimadi (22:31.531)
Think about that, Absolutely, the Maasai is the best example. Yeah, thank you.

Adesoji Iginla (22:39.551)
Now, so imagine that. Undocumented.

Milton Allimadi (22:42.396)
It's nonsense because you know, we really really have to go to the borderless africa, it's it's not a concept it now has to be Made a reality You know it is And of course It means we have to resist the narrative because they're spreading this narrative to keep africa divided you see It's a it's a big narrative in

Adesoji Iginla (22:54.883)
Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (23:08.517)
True, Remember, South Africa's.

Milton Allimadi (23:12.571)
South Africa right now, because South Africa could be the engine to grow the entire Southern Africa region and the continent, right?

Adesoji Iginla (23:14.979)
of

Adesoji Iginla (23:23.289)
Yeah, it was also the main subject during the recent elections in Botswana.

Milton Allimadi (23:28.869)
Absolutely. You see? And I'm afraid with the current crop of African leaders we have, many of them don't rise to the occasion. They don't see this. They don't realize the purpose behind these types of stories. Why is the New York Times going all the way to that tiny island? What's the population?

Adesoji Iginla (23:41.252)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (23:45.445)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (23:53.572)
Not more than 400,000.

Milton Allimadi (23:55.58)
Think about that. And you said there were two writers on this article, right? Okay, so let's continue. Let's sample a little more and you'll see there's an agenda behind these. They just didn't see your images of people in now and by your taste, wow, they must be pissed.

Adesoji Iginla (24:02.243)
Yeah, two writers, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (24:07.895)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (24:12.004)
Okay, so.

Adesoji Iginla (24:22.124)
My OTA.

You

Milton Allimadi (24:25.07)
these immigrants, these immigrants. Let's go and do a story about it.

It's not right next door. It's a long way to send two correspondents, right? So you might be thinking like that as well. But go ahead.

Adesoji Iginla (24:30.927)
So it goes on.

Hahaha

Adesoji Iginla (24:40.933)
True, true. And it's a very important story that needs international attention. Many mahoris, as locals are known, have long blamed the immigrants for committing crimes and straining resources. Sounds familiar? Mayotte, where nearly 80 % of the residents live in poverty, is the poorest place in France.

Milton Allimadi (24:46.01)
Absolutely.

Milton Allimadi (24:56.976)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (25:02.94)
Okay, very good. Thank you. So now.

You see where, there are how many paragraphs down before that information is revealed.

Adesoji Iginla (25:13.613)
So that would be, let's count. Okay, so that's the first opening. One, two, three, four. Four, the fourth paragraph in.

Milton Allimadi (25:26.277)
Very good. So now and you know the story could have actually been planted by some clever French public relations person, a publicist. This is possible. So now the lead of the story, we should be on the top that after

Adesoji Iginla (25:33.497)
By the French?

Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (25:49.894)
I don't know how long the colonial agenda in Mayotte has been. Let's say since the Ballin Conference, right? Since 1885. Up to today, 80 % of the population of Mayotte is living in impoverishment. Number one, you don't need any better example of the failure of colonialism, right?

Adesoji Iginla (25:57.718)
60s. Yep, yep, yep, yep.

Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (26:09.239)
live in poverty.

Adesoji Iginla (26:19.94)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (26:20.014)
Number two, you don't need any better example of the failure of the racism behind colonialism.

Adesoji Iginla (26:27.301)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (26:28.441)
Is it really a coincidence that the most impoverished part, quote unquote, of France is inhabited by Africans? You know? So why is that not the story? Why is that not the headline and the substance of the story? Instead, we see this nonsense about undocumented. Really? Unbelievable.

Adesoji Iginla (26:37.614)
Africans.

Adesoji Iginla (26:45.658)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (26:57.337)
Hmm. Hmm. That's...

Milton Allimadi (27:00.398)
It's one of perhaps the most preposterous articles. But it's good to have the ones that are most preposterous because once our audience gets used to analyzing this one, it's easier to critique and analyze the others.

Adesoji Iginla (27:04.869)
Well,

Adesoji Iginla (27:13.615)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (27:18.533)
True, true, true. I would read one other part. Okay. The people of Mayotte and Comoros shared a common ancestry. However, in a decisive referendum in 1974, Mayotte was the only part of the Comoros archipelago that voted to remain part of France. In recent years, people on Mayotte have attacked the homes of immigrants and stood in front of hospitals.

an immigration office to block immigrants from entering. Mahorians have voted in large numbers for far-right nationalist politicians who have lobbied for tougher immigration laws specific to Mayotte. Among their demands is ending birthright citizenship for children born to non-French parents on the islands. That sounds like mainstream

Milton Allimadi (28:12.278)
No, no, no, really, it's very sick and saddening that an editor, what new, publication is this?

Adesoji Iginla (28:16.42)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (28:20.601)
This is the New York Times.

Milton Allimadi (28:21.687)
Alright, so it's so sad that an editor or editor sitting there and would see nothing wrong with this article because they presume we're just, you a bunch of fools as African people. So you are sitting here telling us that this is the most impoverished part of quote unquote friends, right? Inhabited by Africans, right? And because

Adesoji Iginla (28:42.945)
of France.

Milton Allimadi (28:51.83)
Other Africans are coming from other parts that are even much more impoverished. You're implying by getting quotes from people and they'll say it of course that colonialism was actually better and you folks in Comoros made a mistake to vote to end that relationship. You are in fact endorsing the French colonialism and racism

Adesoji Iginla (29:03.461)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (29:21.61)
and impoverishment of both.

Adesoji Iginla (29:22.437)
Mmm. Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (29:27.094)
Mayotte and the people of Komodo who are now coming to Mayotte at the same time. A mind-boggling, very condescending, and I might suggest actually racist article. Racist because they don't even see the aspects that we are critiquing now and analyzing.

Adesoji Iginla (29:57.177)
they probably gave themselves a pat on the back that they filed a story.

Milton Allimadi (29:58.973)
Exactly. Absolutely. You know, the worst type, this is even worse than when people use the n-word openly. Because that one you don't have to critique, it's not hidden, you see. But this one where nobody sees the implications, the way we are breaking it down. They start saying, look at these bad people of Komodo. You had an opportunity to vote yes to colonialism.

Adesoji Iginla (30:08.388)
Mmm

Adesoji Iginla (30:24.185)
bring in their poverty.

Milton Allimadi (30:28.553)
You voted no and now you're coming out to our hospitals.

Adesoji Iginla (30:33.349)
you

Milton Allimadi (30:34.483)
man, it doesn't get much sicker than that.

Adesoji Iginla (30:40.229)
I

There was a question I wrote down.

Milton Allimadi (30:42.815)
Sometimes people are too clever for their own good,

Adesoji Iginla (30:50.073)
There was a question I actually wrote here, which regards, I mean, the story is so racist that we forgot that this is the aftermath of a natural disaster. And the reason I actually honed in on it was because it reminded me of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It exposes the underbelly of what problem that society has.

Milton Allimadi (31:08.702)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (31:12.532)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (31:15.969)
And in this case, okay, in the last one, you got Kanye West.

Milton Allimadi (31:18.323)
Yeah, thank you for that comparison. I appreciate that. That's very apt, very appropriate. Absolutely. As you call from Katrina, there was the element of class, element of race, who are the ones who are getting assistance immediately, who are the ones who are being rescued. There many reports that African people, AKA African Americans, were being ignored, even though they were being seen and needed rescue. So yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (31:22.863)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (31:28.505)
Mm.

Yep.

Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (31:43.161)
Nod, yep.

Milton Allimadi (31:46.939)
I agree, there's that analogy.

Adesoji Iginla (31:47.171)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (31:51.939)
So the question I asked in regards to that would be,

You have global warming being an issue. have series of, you have series of meeting be exactly. So yes, series of meeting.

Milton Allimadi (31:59.6)
Yes, of course. That could have been even the headline of the article right there. You know, the consequences and the price that Africans pay, even though they are not contributing literally anything to global warming, but they're bearing the brunt, the cost of the pollution being emitted by the industrialized countries.

Adesoji Iginla (32:17.924)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (32:27.999)
So that could have been another angle in fact.

Adesoji Iginla (32:33.241)
they've opted for the usual racist tropes and what have you, which is convenient, shall we say.

Milton Allimadi (32:46.687)
But you know what, at the same time...

Adesoji Iginla (32:48.933)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (32:50.14)
And this is obviously a discussion for another episode. I think what the election in the US has shown is that the so-called legacy media, you know,

Adesoji Iginla (33:01.914)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (33:10.759)
They keep talking about, how Trump was a threat to democracy, right? And of course, the question is, who is democracy, right? Are you referring to, right? Exactly. But at the same time, they're not able to.

Adesoji Iginla (33:20.261)
True. What sort of democracy?

Milton Allimadi (33:30.095)
self-critique. What does it say about us? Right? You know, for example, back in the day when the New York Times would endorse a candidate that was considered like, you know, ground shifting, right? Spicemic, right? Apparently that is no longer the case, right? And then you have

Adesoji Iginla (33:49.413)
Yep,

Milton Allimadi (33:59.545)
And it was actually sad to see the discussion of the election night on MSNBC, on CNN, outlets like that, when it dawned on the anchors that Trump was going to win. They could not even hide their facial expression. You see, it was difficult for them.

to continue the evening. One can go back and look at their coverage on election night when it first started. Look at their features and then compare and then freeze it and then compare later on when the numbers started indicating. Right. Right. And you know why am I saying all this? Because

Adesoji Iginla (34:32.137)
the facade.

Adesoji Iginla (34:38.392)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (34:49.199)
Did it? Did it? don't.

Milton Allimadi (34:58.01)
They actually, of course, rightly so, did not want Trump to win. And a decent person would not want Trump to win either. Obviously, I did not want Trump to win. But at the same time, they're not able to see that they are also part of the problem.

Adesoji Iginla (35:05.294)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (35:10.309)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (35:20.1)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (35:20.826)
the legacy corporate media, you see? They are part of the elite. Anchors paid millions of dollars, you know?

producers, millions of dollars. So they're not in touch with what is going on in the ground. So many of the Trump supporters were probably not shocked that he won, because they knew what was going on in the ground, but not their lead media, because their lead media do not cover them from their perspective. So you're telling me that when their lead media went to my your tip.

They were not able to find anybody with a different perspective. They were not able in that whole island to find somebody who was saying, a minute, this is the poor fighting the while the elite are just watching. This is not the question you should be asking. The question you should be asking is why is 80 % of the population impoverished? And it's the most important part of the so-called great France.

Adesoji Iginla (36:25.89)
Is this the case?

Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (36:33.484)
Why? Let the French officials answer that. Macron is here. Let him answer that. Right?

Adesoji Iginla (36:40.687)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (36:42.766)
telling you. But at the same time, that's why a lot of people are not shifting to independently produced media, including productions such as the one we are having our discussion on right now. People are looking for the missing pieces and they're realizing the legacy media with all their resources, they're not delivering it. And that is why now you have MSNBC telling many of their elite

Adesoji Iginla (36:57.987)
Yep, yep, yep, that's the case.

Milton Allimadi (37:13.465)
anchors to take a pay cut as much as a 50 % pay cut.

Adesoji Iginla (37:19.213)
because they know the numbers don't lie.

Milton Allimadi (37:20.813)
Absolutely. And it will continue like that. It's not a question of the anchor. It's not a question. It's a question of are you really covering the stories on the ground?

How many times have you seen them covering stories of impoverished working people who need three incomes just to survive? That's not a sexy enough story.

Adesoji Iginla (37:36.462)
instead of just

Adesoji Iginla (37:47.173)
Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (37:48.665)
If you go back and you analyze the content.

Trump did this. Trump did that. Trump did this. Trump did that. And yes, he was doing a lot of these egregious things. But are you telling me that is the only thing worth covering on a daily basis? In fact, by doing it at infinitum like that, it was actually emboldening and inspiring his base. You know?

Adesoji Iginla (38:12.069)
You're playing into his.

Adesoji Iginla (38:21.111)
that that they take to the

Milton Allimadi (38:26.657)
Somebody struggling over three jobs, right? To survive.

may be outraged that a racist like Trump could get elected president. But he's probably not as outraged. If you rank things that are very, in terms of what are the most important things to that person, to that multimillion dollar paid anchor, maybe the most important thing is to prevent Trump from winning. Right? So that's in their mind.

Adesoji Iginla (39:03.897)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (39:04.587)
But to the person juggling three jobs, much more important is how to survive. Where is the next check going to come from? You see?

Adesoji Iginla (39:16.901)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (39:21.205)
And you can only hear this kind of critique, my brother, coming from people like us who are actually part of the working class. No, no, it's true. We are not paid millions of dollars and we are not cut off from what working people are thinking about.

Adesoji Iginla (39:21.848)
I saw something.

Adesoji Iginla (39:30.341)
You

Hmm. True?

Adesoji Iginla (39:42.56)
Mm. I mean...

Milton Allimadi (39:43.145)
was Trump the number one thing in my mind? Probably not.

Should he never ever come back as president of the United States again? Of course, I would prefer that. But is that the only thing?

to be covering on a daily basis? The answer is no. Not to people that are juggling just to survive, you know? And if they don't get it, which I think they won't get it, you'll see that type of media declining, which is unfortunate because they will surrender their territory to a media other than like Fox News.

Adesoji Iginla (40:11.055)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (40:28.559)
Hmm, and then it's done.

Milton Allimadi (40:30.59)
They don't

the working people, the working people, including the European working class.

Milton Allimadi (40:42.388)
They've been hijacked, not because Republicans are the party of the working class. They've been hijacked by Fox News. But Fox News allows them to express their rage and anger at Blacks and Latinos as immigrants, you know, get that anger out. So they come to Fox News, so it becomes their family. Even though

Adesoji Iginla (40:59.342)
filtered.

Milton Allimadi (41:11.494)
Rupert Mooda, the owner of Fox Muse, is the most anti-working people person in the world. Anti-union, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (41:15.726)
Is it miss?

Adesoji Iginla (41:22.981)
anti-immigrant and he is an immigrant.

Milton Allimadi (41:23.678)
Anti-immigrant, anti-everything, anti-immigrant except when it's him. He's Australian.

Milton Allimadi (41:31.218)
He's anti-immigrant, second state, he's Australian, but, you know, he's free to come and go in Britain, free to come and go in the United States, you see.

Adesoji Iginla (41:42.213)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (41:42.329)
We are the ones being manipulated. And for anybody who have spoken about this many times on this show, if you have not seen it yet, go back and listen to the lecture, Race and Class in Guyanese Politics by Walter Rodney. And you see how he analyzed that and why that analysis is so powerful, which he made in 1978, I believe, when he gave a lecture at Columbia University.

how the ruling elite manipulate Indian Guyanese and African Guyanese. It kept them fighting. Right? Now we have the ruling elite, same MO.

Adesoji Iginla (42:24.197)
in the United States.

Milton Allimadi (42:24.833)
the United States in my your day fighting against commodores fellow Africans all impoverished I'm a bit well off than you you right you know you have ten dollars well I have 15 unbelievable

Adesoji Iginla (42:45.017)
Yes, let's go to the next story. mean, you'll see a following trend as well in the next story. So we go to Bokina Faso. I'll come back onto the mainland and it reads, Bokina Faso releases four French nationals after Morocco intervenes. Four French nationals were released after a year in detention in Bokina Faso on Thursday. Relationships, relations between France and Bokina Faso.

deteriorated considerably after Ibrahim Traore came to power through a coup d'etat in 2022. Paris thanked Morocco for its mediation in the case. Four French nationals held in Burkina Faso for over a year on espionage accusations have been released. France Foreign Intelligence Service said Thursday with France thanking Morocco for its mediation in the case. The Director General for the External Security DG

SE told AFP that the four had been freed confirming reports in the media. It gives no further details. On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Morocco's King Mohammed the fifth to thank him warmly for the successful mediation that made possible the release of four of our compatriots, the LEC said. The four men were arrested in Burkina Faso, capital of Ugadougou.

on December 1, 2023 and presented by the authorities as DGSE agents. A French diplomatic source had indicated there were four civilian servants, holders of diplomatic passports and visa, but rejected the accusation that these technicians were sent to Burkina Faso for reasons other than their maintenance work. One final part. The mediation by King Moroko

comes at a time when Paris and Rabat are warming relations that have been cooled in the past, held by Macron's state visit at end of October. Macron notably delighted his Moroccan host by renewing French support for Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is de facto controlled for the most part by Morocco. Your thoughts.

Milton Allimadi (45:06.22)
Alright.

Adesoji Iginla (45:06.819)
As you can see another neocolonial.

Milton Allimadi (45:10.092)
Absolutely. Yeah, this one is pure propaganda. And they revealed it, there's one part where they re-describe the, this Ahawari as separatists, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (45:14.649)
is.

Adesoji Iginla (45:23.781)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (45:30.924)
So this clearly was a press release that was then edited into a news article, but they forgot to correct one part that reference to the Sahrawi separatists. How can you be separatists in your own country?

Adesoji Iginla (45:38.725)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (45:42.49)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (45:48.729)
country.

Milton Allimadi (45:50.546)
It's like referring to the ANC when they were fighting apartheid as separatists. Or the Frelimo in Mozambique as separatists. Or the MPLA in Angola as separatists. Or the Patriotic Front in Zimbabwe as separatists. So that sentence to me just exposed

Adesoji Iginla (46:06.149)
Mm-hmm.

separatist movement. Yeah?

Adesoji Iginla (46:14.787)
Yeah, is that a BF? Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (46:19.434)
the entire article, you as being a press release. Sorry?

Adesoji Iginla (46:22.693)
Okay, how about the issue of the spies? Oh sorry, the civil servants.

Milton Allimadi (46:29.214)
The civil servants, absolutely. course, spies are civil servants. They're in the civil service category. CIA, civil service. FBI, civil service. So the French, yeah, absolutely. MI6, MI5, civil service. You notice there's nothing saying, there's not even a court saying that's outrageous. These are not spies.

Adesoji Iginla (46:38.149)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (46:42.049)
MI6?

Adesoji Iginla (46:49.445)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (46:58.119)
It said something like, they were not doing anything other than the computer maintenance work. Right? That could be true, and the computer could be for spying.

Adesoji Iginla (47:05.509)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (47:09.157)
No, for me, the part that jumped out to me there was the fact that you first of all said they're not spies. So why is it the Director General of that agency is talking?

Milton Allimadi (47:21.979)
Absolutely.

Adesoji Iginla (47:25.015)
Why is it refuting the fact that they're spies?

Milton Allimadi (47:28.137)
And you know, no country that I know of has ever come out officially to say yes, they captured a few of our spies and we're working very hard to get them back. know? They said something like, I think they said something like they were on diplomatic passports. Would you expect a spy not to be on a diplomatic passport?

Adesoji Iginla (47:30.595)
You know.

Adesoji Iginla (47:34.533)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (47:51.075)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (47:58.11)
People know that in every embassy, all the diplomats have diplomatic passport, and everybody knows that in every embassy, there's a percentage of spies. Other countries just have a higher percentage than other countries, and depending on which country it is that you're based. So the Russian diplomatic staff in the United States

Adesoji Iginla (47:58.149)
No.

Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (48:09.945)
Of course.

Adesoji Iginla (48:15.555)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (48:18.927)
Pretty straightforward.

Adesoji Iginla (48:26.979)
It's a safe bet.

Milton Allimadi (48:27.793)
We know a good number of them, suppose, and vice versa. The US diplomats in Russia, same thing, same thing with China, right? And a higher proportion, it will probably not be as high depending on the country that you are looking at a diplomatic relationship with, right?

Adesoji Iginla (48:33.603)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (48:57.329)
So in Burkina Faso, since Burkina Faso has this contentious relationship right now with France, it is part of the alliance of the Sahel, it would be malpractice in France if the French did not have spies in Burkina Faso, right? And vice versa. I expect that Burkina Faso, even with limited resources, should have some spies in France as well.

Adesoji Iginla (49:08.837)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (49:20.537)
Get in my tent.

Adesoji Iginla (49:28.207)
That will be the case. I mean...

Milton Allimadi (49:28.809)
Otherwise that would be that would be a malpractice as well.

Adesoji Iginla (49:34.335)
That would be sleeping on the job. So how do you factor in the fact that Morocco got this civil servants in inverted commas free? Because

Milton Allimadi (49:35.945)
Thank

Milton Allimadi (49:46.697)
Of course, Morocco wants to deepen its relationship with France and aggravate Algeria, which supports the Sahrawis' independence. So that's Brownie Point for Morocco. It's a good diplomatic strategy for Morocco.

Adesoji Iginla (49:58.883)
Mm. Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (50:04.855)
Okay, okay.

Adesoji Iginla (50:09.253)
So now I'm speaking to the Moroccan stance which against to claiming the Western Sahara.

Are they not also then playing the role of a colonialist in post-colonial Africa? Because, yeah, Morocco, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (50:35.716)
Morocco? Yeah, but clearly they are. They are occupiers illegally of the Sahawari. And I commend Algeria for being steadfast because of course Algeria comes from the tradition of FNL. They remember they fought a war of liberation against France and they're not about to abandon the people of the Sahawari.

Adesoji Iginla (50:41.861)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (50:54.489)
the fronts.

Adesoji Iginla (51:03.133)
Mm-hmm. And talk about brotherhood. Yeah, speaking

Milton Allimadi (51:07.848)
Yeah, and you know, in fact, somebody had asked me the impact of Trump's election on Africa. And my own position was that on many parts of Africa, he cannot really make things worse than how things were under the Democrats, right? When we look at Congo, when we look at Cameroon, when we look at Sudan, when we look at South Sudan, we look at all these regions.

Adesoji Iginla (51:23.631)
the idea.

Milton Allimadi (51:37.416)
You know, I don't think Trump can make it any worse, but with respect to the Sahrawi, he might actually be able to accomplish that because of, you know, having a tight relationship with Morocco. If that happens, then Morocco would take advantage of that, you know, to further reinforce its positions in the Sahrawi Republic.

Adesoji Iginla (51:37.491)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (51:53.786)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (52:01.743)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (52:06.019)
Hmm, so it's one to keep an eye on.

Yeah, but considering the fact that he's known to be a nativist and really doesn't want to meddle.

Milton Allimadi (52:18.693)
Yeah, but he likes money too, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (52:22.361)
You

Milton Allimadi (52:22.439)
And Morocco, you know, he likes money. That's why he likes the Saudis. You remember he said, oh, they bought all these Boeing jets, you know. And I think his son-in-law has a lot of business dealings, you know, in Saudi, in the Gulf States, in Israel, in Israel and through Israel, you know, I can see the connection to Morocco. So I can see

Adesoji Iginla (52:38.306)
Mm-hmm.

And he's also holding also.

Milton Allimadi (52:52.197)
Monopolis scoring some points there, but.

You know, yes, for years in office, you see? A lot of people were mourning as if this was the end of the world, that Trump was elected. In fact, that might, should be a wake up for people that have not been organizing, that you have to get your act together. You know, organize your own best protector, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (53:00.611)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (53:17.391)
Yeah. And time to organize is actually now, is now, not for years. So speaking of organizing, it seems that Ethiopia is finally organizing its affairs with Somalia, with the help of the Turks. And we go to our final story of the day, which is Ethiopia and comes from

Your favorite magazine, The Economist.

Milton Allimadi (53:48.58)
.

Adesoji Iginla (53:51.353)
So it reads, Ethiopia and Somalia claims to have settled a dangerous feud. There are reasons to

Milton Allimadi (53:55.426)
Which I love, I love their light.

Adesoji Iginla (53:58.917)
claim to have. Yeah. So not that they have.

Milton Allimadi (53:59.716)
claim to have settled. Because normally when people have a meeting like that, things are signed and you say, settled, right? But there are many holes, many untied loose ends. So I don't blame them for that headline. The headline is actually correct.

Adesoji Iginla (54:13.636)
Many holes.

Adesoji Iginla (54:18.169)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (54:22.469)
Because this is an ongoing, it's been an ongoing issue from post-independence. Go on.

Milton Allimadi (54:27.768)
Yeah, and here's the problem. Yeah, but go ahead. know, so we, the listeners, can know the substance first, and then I'll take it back. Go ahead.

Adesoji Iginla (54:35.873)
Okay. So Ethiopia and Somalia claim to have settled a dangerous feud, but are reasons to be skeptical. And it goes in. For months, a spurt between Somalia and Ethiopia has been creeping towards a crisis. In June, Somalia threatened to expel all Ethiopian troops from its territory, where they have long spearheaded the regional fight against Al-Shabaab, a jihadist group.

By October, Somalia had formed a military alliance with Egypt and Eritrea, Ethiopia's bitterest foes, as Ethiopia's army chief mused openly about arming groups hostile to the Somalian government. Many feared the tensions could set off proxy wars and draw in other powers in the vicinity or create a security vacuum in Somalia that al-Shabaab might exploit. So you want to come in here first?

Milton Allimadi (55:32.947)
Yeah, I mean it's sad. I beg your read other more.

Adesoji Iginla (55:36.983)
Okay. So perhaps they need not have worried. In a surprise announcement on December 11th, Ethiopia and Somalia appear to have made up. After negotiation in Ankara, brokered by Turkey, a joint declaration was signed by Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia's Prime Minister, and Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, Somalia's president, agreeing to leave behind differences and contentious issues. Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey's prime president called it a historical reconciliation, but there are reasons to be skeptical. At the heart of the crisis is a memoranda of understanding signed on January 1st between Ethiopia and Somaliland, a self-governing statelet in Northern Somalia. Under that agreement, Ethiopia had offered to become the first country to recognize the breakaway republic and return for a long list of strip off its coastline. This enraged Somalia, which

considered Somaliland a renegade province and thus regarded the memoranda of understanding as a violation of his territory.

Milton Allimadi (56:47.036)
Okay, very good. So at the end of the day, guess, FUPA actually does deserve an outlet to the sea, you see? And that brings us back to pretty much the first story where I said they need to revisit this borderless Africa concept. It's becoming much more pressing, much more desirable, you know, as a

Adesoji Iginla (56:50.382)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (56:57.209)
When you see

Milton Allimadi (57:14.58)
Many of all these countries face economic, you know, Population is growing. Economy is not growing at the rate to keep up with the population, which means they are what they call negative growth, Retrogression. So obviously they want another to see so that they can increase their import, export, trade, and whatever else you can do with the seed. You can even lease it out.

Adesoji Iginla (57:19.205)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (57:26.053)
different.

Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (57:42.964)
lots of it if you own it, right? And then of course, historically, they had actually had an outlet to the sea.

Adesoji Iginla (57:45.632)
Mm, true.

Adesoji Iginla (57:54.309)
true energy.

Milton Allimadi (57:55.218)
Absolutely. Nehrucia is an independent country since 1991.

and that outlet is no longer available, you see? And that is why it had gone to Somaliland and made this agreement. And Somalia, I say, that's literally like an invasion of our country.

Adesoji Iginla (58:20.165)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (58:20.832)
because we consider them a breakaway part of our country. It's a province. And as you know, yes, it had been a part of the independence when the three, know, Somalia had been literally cut up like a cake, like the rest of the continent. But particularly, one people that have, you know, like a common culture, language, you know, religion.

history really had been split by the French, by the English, and by the Italians. But after independence, they all came back, they came together and they formed, you know, Somalia. So now because of the civil war that's been raging since Siad Barre was overthrown.

Adesoji Iginla (58:57.861)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (59:12.563)
which was also in the early 90s, eventually one part self declared that they are now Somaliland Republic and have not been recognized by anybody. And Ethiopia was making it tempting by saying, you give us outlet to the sea, we will be the first to recognize it. And of course, Somalia is alarmed.

Adesoji Iginla (59:29.413)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (59:41.05)
because that could set, you know, once it sets a precedent, then there could be a second country recognizing Somalia. Then eventually the possibility of reconciliation would be impossible. And we would not be having this conversation if the entire continent was fast tracking toward a borderless Africa, right? Because then there would be

Adesoji Iginla (59:50.625)
Wooden... wooden somalia.

Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (59:58.759)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:08.069)
Choo choo choo.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:09.763)
no dispute between Somaliland, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, right? And so on and so forth.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:22.081)
Now, in bringing up this quest, I pose the question to myself, and I'll pose it to you. What does Ethiopia's quest for maritime access say about the geopolitics of landlocked nations in Africa? There are 16 of them at the moment.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:43.051)
No, it's frustrating. Think about it. mean, look at Uganda. Uganda, you know, where I hail from, landlocked. know, Rwanda, landlocked. Burundi, landlocked. So all of these depend on a passageway through Kenya to the port of Mombasa for essentially for all the trade. Because most trade come, you know, still come through shipping containers, right, through the sea.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:10.817)
To see. Yep.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:14.379)
And you know, remember when Uganda under Amin, who was very bellicose, many times I threatened to invade Kenya in order to have access to the coast, you see.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:24.417)
In vid.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:33.112)
Yeah, so it's a problem. It's a problem that would be eliminated if we have a United States or Africa, which would eliminate many, many other problems that the African continent suffers from.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:42.437)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:46.019)
Hmm. Hmm.

Yes, yes, we could go on. But again, we've come to the end of another interesting episode. But we have something in the pipeline for you going into next year. We're thinking, I mean, you could drop it in the comment section. We're thinking of doing a book once every month.

And it will be the end of the month. it will be the last episode of each month. would showcase a book or give you the heads up about what book it is so that you can also contribute in the chat. So it's a way of sort of engaging, giving context to some of these new stories that we're reading about. That way you understand that there is a rhyme and reason to some of this quote unquote

neocolonial writings that we experience on a week by week basis. So the first book would be The Groundings with My Brothers. So we'll be doing that until end of January. So the last Sunday of January, we'll be looking at The Groundings with My Brothers. It's, Comrade Milton said, it's a reasonably short book, and we should be able to cover

the nitty gritty of said book and tie it to what we've been doing in the course. And it's by Walter Rodney. Yeah. The book is Grounded with My Brothers and by Walter Rodney. and yes, that is us going into the new year. Hopefully you've enjoyed yourself this year with regards to what we do here. And we thank you for your support. We've been able to get to

Milton Allimadi (01:03:20.247)
and it's by Walter Run.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:45.669)
1000. Now the look is to get ourselves to the next 1000 and the next 1000. So each one bring one. And more importantly, if this is your first time of coming here, do like share and subscribe to the channel. You can also download the audio version on your favorite podcast platforms. first thing Monday morning. So you can listen to it while you go to work.

or you do your morning chores. And yes, Brother Milton.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:20.359)
Asante ni sana. Happy New Year. Productive, prosperous New Year for all our audience. And I wish all of you good health. Kwaherini.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:33.673)
And from me, I would say, e kudede wo ii, as we will say in Yoruba, which means good tidings of this time, and hopefully have a happy new and prosperous new year. And we'll see you in the new year. And once again, it's a good night and God bless.