EP 9 Macron to Africa: 'Be Thankful to France!' I African News Review 🌍

In this episode of African News Review, host Adesoji Iginla and journalist Milton Allimadi discuss various pressing issues affecting Africa, including French President Macron's controversial claims regarding troop withdrawals from African nations, the reactions from Senegal and Chad, and the historical context of French military presence in Africa. 

They delve into the implications of recent events in Chad, the criticism directed at African leaders, and the legacy of colonialism and resource exploitation. 

The conversation also touches on the need for African unity, the role of international law, and the DRC's case against Apple regarding conflict minerals. 

The episode concludes with a discussion on the genocide accusations in Sudan and the hypocrisy of international responses, emphasizing the importance of African agency and unity in addressing these challenges.

Takeaways

*Macron's claims about troop withdrawals were met with strong rebuke from Senegal and Chad.
*The historical context of French military presence in Africa is crucial to understanding current events.
*Recent events in Chad highlight the changing dynamics of African nations asserting their sovereignty.
*Criticism of African leaders by Western powers often ignores the complexities of their situations.
*The legacy of colonialism continues to impact Africa's development and resource management.
*African nations must negotiate sustainable partnerships that respect their sovereignty.
*International law is often applied selectively, favoring powerful nations over weaker ones.
*The DRC's case against Apple represents a significant step in addressing exploitation of conflict minerals.
*Genocide accusations in Sudan raise questions about the timing and motivations of international responses.
*Unity among African nations is essential for achieving true sovereignty and power. 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to African News Review
01:09 Macron's Controversial Claims on Troop Withdrawals
03:10 Reactions from Senegal and Chad
06:02 Historical Context of French Military Presence
10:48 The Legacy of Colonialism and Gratitude
16:06 Sovereignty and Sustainable Partnerships
20:02 UK's Negotiations Over Chagos Islands
26:18 International Law and Indigenous Rights
28:26 The Impact of Immigration Policies on Labor Markets
29:18 International Law and Its Selective Application
32:01 Settler Colonialism and Legal Redress
33:08 The Need for a United States of Africa
35:49 Corporate Accountability in Conflict Minerals
37:57 The Role of International Corporations in African Conflicts
40:12 Consumer Responsibility in Ethical Sourcing
44:57 Genocide Accusations in Sudan
47:21 The Hypocrisy of International Responses
52:43 The Call for African Agency and Unity

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:01.323)
Yes, good evening, good evening and greetings. Welcome to African News Review, a weekly conversation in which we take a look at Africa's coverage in the Western press and deconstruct the stories together. I am your host as usual, Adesarji Ginla, and with me, as always, is a journalist and publisher, Black Star News, broadcaster, Black Star News show, every Tuesday, 3 p.m. Eastern.

on wbi.org, 99.5 FM New York radio, is also the author of Manufacturing Hate, which inspired this program. Speak no other than Comrade Milton Alimati. Welcome, sir. Welcome. Welcome.

Milton Allimadi (00:44.461)
Thank you brother. As-sam-tah.

Adesoji Iginla (00:46.397)
Yes, yes, you're most welcome, as always. without further ado, we go into our news stories for the week. Our headline story comes from Radio France International and is becoming a regular feature on here. And I speak of none other than Monsieur Macron.

So the headline reads, Senegal and Chad rebuke Macron over inaccurate French troops withdrawal claims. The Senegalese prime minister and Chadian foreign minister have condemned claims made by Emmanuel Macron regarding negotiations about the withdrawal of French troops from several African countries, dismissing them as inaccurate. And that's the prime minister of Senegal, Ousmane Sonko. Macron said during his discourse that

The announced withdrawal of French military bases have been negotiated between the African countries involved and France. He claimed it was purely out of convenience and politeness that France allowed these African nations to make the announcement first. The remarks were made at the annual conference of ambassadors held this year on 6th and 7th of January in Paris. However, Senegalese Prime Minister Osman Tsongkho criticized Macron's

remarks as completely inaccurate, and while Chadian Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Kula Mala described them as disdainful. The Chad position on that new story was, quoting Mr. Kuma Mala, the government of the Republic of Chad expressed its deep concern over the recent comments by the president of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron.

which revealed a disdainful attitude towards Africa and Africans, Kumalala said. He added, despite 60 years of presence in the country, France's contribution has often been limited to serving their own strategic interests, with little genuine or lasting impact on the development of the Chadian people. Mr. Sanko on the other hand said, no discussion or negotiation about withdrawal had taken place to date.

Adesoji Iginla (03:07.711)
And the decision made by Senegal stems solely from its own will as a free, independent and sovereign country. Your initial thoughts, sir.

Milton Allimadi (03:19.172)
Well, obviously, Macron wants to find a face-saving spin to the whole narrative of being kicked out of Africa, you know, saying, you know, we sat down, we discussed, and we both came to the conclusion that this would be a mutually beneficial move, you know. Remember, it was first Mali that announced the expulsion of French troops.

Adesoji Iginla (03:21.163)
Ha

Adesoji Iginla (03:25.141)
Mm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (03:32.695)
You

Adesoji Iginla (03:39.477)
I'm

Hmm

Milton Allimadi (03:49.018)
and French dominance a few years ago. And of course, Mali and the military there, the military government that had come to power, was frustrated at the lack of progress in the war against the very well armed militant groups that have besieged the country. And of course, you and I know this all.

Adesoji Iginla (03:50.933)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (03:59.733)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (04:15.769)
emanated after the destruction of the Libyan government in 2010, 2011. So Mali made news. If people go back and look at the way it was covered at that time, it was unprecedented. An African country telling France's military, get out. That was huge news. And I advise people, go back and look at the way it was covered at that time.

Adesoji Iginla (04:18.583)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (04:32.375)
You

Adesoji Iginla (04:38.551)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (04:46.405)
both by international media and by local media in African countries as well. It was almost unbelievable. And then you have Burkina Faso doing the same thing. You had Niger doing the whole thing. Because that kind of expulsion is actually a repudiation of what France narrative had been. That even after independence, these countries needed our tutelage. And that is why we remain there.

Adesoji Iginla (05:10.582)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (05:17.07)
Of course, we both know the truth is the opposite. We wanted to remain there so that we could continue colonialism in another form, which is the case. And no European country likes to be seen as being kicked out, particularly by an African country, you see? It doesn't reflect well on the allegations of European superiority, you see? So now,

Adesoji Iginla (05:20.311)
You

Adesoji Iginla (05:25.655)
Sure,

Adesoji Iginla (05:34.743)
You

Adesoji Iginla (05:40.407)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (05:44.363)
Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (05:48.227)
He's saying that this thing was mutually negotiated. And now these countries are saying, wait a minute, there was no negotiation. We said, it's time to go. And the other major point I can make is this. When Chad of all the countries

Adesoji Iginla (05:51.071)
I agree.

Milton Allimadi (06:07.107)
hitherto regarded and identified as a neo-colonial French entity is speaking this kind of language, then you know things have truly changed on the ground. That's what I can say.

Adesoji Iginla (06:12.79)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (06:17.495)
There's a part here that I think should not go uncommented. It's, where is it? It's yes, the lack of gratitude. Macron also criticized the ingratitude of certain leaders on the African continent, suggesting they would not be leading sovereign nations today if the French army had not been deployed there.

to which the retort was, let's observe that France had neither the capacity nor the legitimacy to ensure Africa's security and sovereignty. On the contrary, it's France that have often contributed to destabilizing certain African countries such as Libya, which you alluded to earlier, with disastrous consequences for the stability and security of the Sahel. A staunch critic of French presence in his country before coming to power

Milton Allimadi (06:47.391)
Okay. Go ahead.

Adesoji Iginla (07:17.141)
Sanko reminded the French that if African soldiers, sometimes forcibly conscripted, mistreated and ultimately betrayed, had not been deployed during the Second World War to defend France, the country might still be German today.

Milton Allimadi (07:33.375)
Okay, that one, the last remark. It could be a coincidence, but it could also be because I've been tweeting that. I tweeted that a couple years ago. When it was Sarkozy, I think.

Adesoji Iginla (07:34.965)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (07:42.698)
Ha ha ha!

Adesoji Iginla (07:53.846)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (07:55.756)
Who said part of the problem is that?

Milton Allimadi (08:00.132)
African countries, know, women have too many children. And that is the problem that's holding back economic growth. And in fact, he had responded to an African journalist question, I forget which kind of journalist from. And I tweeted, said, you know, the journalist, I wish he had been quicker on his feet in terms of his response. He should have said, without due respect, Mr. Mr. President.

Adesoji Iginla (08:04.342)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (08:30.775)
Had it not been for African soldiers, you might be speaking to me in German today. That's what I said.

Adesoji Iginla (08:36.335)
Yes, yes, very much so. I mean, there is also the gun.

Milton Allimadi (08:44.449)
What happened this week in Chad just a few days ago? There was an attempted coup d'etat.

Adesoji Iginla (08:49.559)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (08:56.011)
I would not be surprised if it has something to do with the current deterioration in relation between the two countries. When Macron says that, you know, certain leaders will not be ruling sovereign states without our presence, he's certainly not referring to Senegal. In this case, I think he's specifically referring to Chad.

Adesoji Iginla (08:56.247)
to reset.

Adesoji Iginla (09:19.595)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (09:24.407)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (09:27.202)
So that maybe elements of the military who said, okay, this is a good opportunity for us to get rid of the current government and present ourselves as more loyal or beholden to our friends and my crown would endorse us and welcome us, you see.

Adesoji Iginla (09:35.456)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (09:52.887)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (09:53.428)
Or it could have been inspired and instigated by France itself. So I want to wait and see what additional information comes out from this attempted coup d'etat in Chad. And mind you, it doesn't mean that I'm a supporter of the government in Chad that almost suffered a coup d'etat. I the jury is still out. As far as I'm concerned, there have been and are

a neocolonial government led by the son of the former neocolonial president, you know, from one Debbie to the other, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (10:30.231)
It just dabbed.

Adesoji Iginla (10:35.191)
I also wanted to add, when he was talking about the lack of gratitude on the part of the French, on the part of the Africans, he negate to say that during the Vichy government occupation of France, the government of Charles de Gaulle was actually based in Congo-Brasilville. And for exactly

Milton Allimadi (10:59.69)
financed.

by African resources directly, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (11:05.825)
There you go, there you go. So it's almost as if they're baiting us to actually be much more conversant with our own history because, hmm, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (11:16.064)
Which is good fun, which is fine, which is fine. Because now this gives us an opportunity to expose their arrogance, their white supremacist notion toward Africa, and to revisit all these moments in history that our younger generation need to know about anyway. You know, lack of gratitude.

Adesoji Iginla (11:25.1)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (11:35.892)
Mm-hmm

Milton Allimadi (11:40.201)
You've been stealing resources from all these countries.

Adesoji Iginla (11:43.415)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (11:44.84)
you know, prior to colonialism, during colonialism, after colonialism, up to today, right? You hijack their economies by having them hold their reserves in your treasury department, in your central bank. You you planned on uranium from Niger. And that is why you are insisting that they go back to the

Adesoji Iginla (11:53.815)
Hmm. Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (12:00.352)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (12:04.023)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (12:13.727)
government that was overthrown in Niger, because that government would ensure that you continue plundering uranium, because you need it for 75 % of your energy. It's remarkable. It's amazing.

You know, he even cannot be pragmatic. I say, okay, let's look bad in the eyes of the world, so long as we can still have financial arrangements that benefits France. But it's so arrogant and so petty that he can't stand the fact that Africans are saying, we kicked France out.

Adesoji Iginla (12:44.02)
access to.

Adesoji Iginla (12:48.151)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (12:57.97)
He can't live with that. So he's even so reckless and willing to worsen diplomatic relations by going around and saying stuff like that. you know, there's no gratitude. you know, we negotiated these things, know. But it speaks to the mindset.

Adesoji Iginla (13:05.463)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (13:20.759)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (13:21.562)
of even the European who thinks he's not a white supremacist, that there's deep-seated white supremacy within himself that he cannot withhold. That's what it demonstrates to me.

Adesoji Iginla (13:31.127)
I mean, when he again, going back to the issue of gratitude, it reminds me of a quote by Walter Rodney when he said in How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, he said the argument suggests that on one hand there was exploitation and oppression, but on the other hand, colonialism did add some benefit for Africans.

and they helped developed Africa. But it is our contestation that this is completely false. Colonialism had only one hand and it was a one-armed bandit.

Milton Allimadi (14:10.588)
Absolutely, 100%. Because the part that is not, and somebody can actually have a very good book on this. You know, maybe this is actually my potential dissertation. Somebody could show the disruption in Africa's organic development, which I guess is what Rodney's book was doing. And obviously Rodney's book is written in 1972.

Adesoji Iginla (14:27.98)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (14:36.609)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (14:41.082)
So it could continue that thesis dissertation of Rodney and even expand on it and show how had it not been for colonialism, where Africa's economy would be now. Because you can go back and look at the rate of growth, you know, because mind you, many people forget how destructive it was. Not so much the cultural imperialism,

Adesoji Iginla (14:55.766)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (15:10.499)
the racism of colonialism, but the hijacking of Africa's economic pattern so that you have Britain saying Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, you can only trade with me exclusively. You know how destructive that is? You're not searching for the best options for your country because you've been hijacked by Britain. Britain is saying these are the only things you can produce, whether it's tea, whether it's coffee, whether it's

Adesoji Iginla (15:14.463)
The economy.

Adesoji Iginla (15:26.039)
Hmm.

Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (15:32.459)
You're beholden.

Milton Allimadi (15:40.442)
you know, peanuts, we call it groundnuts. These amounts, and this is what I'll pay you for it. I fixed the price. And then these are the manufacturers that you will import from Britain, not options from where you can get the best deal, only from Britain. You see? Think about those kind of economies. And those economies prevailed for six, seven, eight decades, you know, almost a century, right?

Adesoji Iginla (15:41.055)
oil.

Adesoji Iginla (15:57.818)
Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (16:09.163)
Hmm, yep. And in the case of the...

Milton Allimadi (16:10.987)
And before that, as you know, Africans had developed their own trade routes. Nobody was forcing the African states on the East coast of Africa to trade with China, to trade with India. They saw benefit in what they wanted to produce to trade with India, China, and the Far East prior to colonialism. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (16:33.74)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (16:39.586)
they would have kept looking for the better options. You see? And also colonialism prevented African countries from industrializing. Right? Many of the industrialized countries today industrialized at a very late stage, meaning very recently, because the technology was becoming widely available, but European colonial powers would not allow that. Colonies.

Adesoji Iginla (16:42.775)
options.

Adesoji Iginla (16:52.054)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (17:09.683)
industrialized because that would be suicidal. It would be competing with their own manufacturing industries in the mother country. You see? So all of this, if more people knew about it, know, Macron would not dare make an asinine statement like that. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (17:12.407)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (17:32.003)
Mm-hmm. So one final question on that story. How can African nations ensure sustainable partnership while safeguarding their sovereignty? What would you do?

Milton Allimadi (17:42.793)
You can't be a partner with somebody who's exploiting you. You see? You only be a partner, a trading partner, if you decide what you want to sell and you can negotiate the price.

Adesoji Iginla (17:50.391)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (17:57.441)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (17:59.059)
You know, the U.S. negotiates with its trading partners, right? Britain doesn't come and say, this is what you're going to produce. U.S., this is I'm going to buy at what price. And this what you're going to buy from Britain. Or the other way around, U.S. saying, making those statements, doesn't work that way. Same thing with China. Because these are people that have now

Adesoji Iginla (18:06.103)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (18:20.055)
Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (18:28.295)
equal weight to some measure. You know, they have advantages in other, in certain commodities and positions. We have in Africa, what you call potential advantage or latent advantage. We have all the advantages, but we cannot benefit from any of these advantages because we are too weak.

Adesoji Iginla (18:30.934)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (18:54.263)
Because of the

Milton Allimadi (18:56.858)
as these tiny, tiny states, we are too weak. Look at a country like Congo with all its resources. Congo's, population should be enjoying wealth and prosperity, should be much wealthier than people in the United States, people in France, people in Britain. But so long as they come and they say Congo, you are cobalt, you are culture and

Adesoji Iginla (19:04.823)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (19:26.373)
Your uranium, your copper.

Adesoji Iginla (19:27.979)
Yo, 10.

Milton Allimadi (19:31.111)
This is what I'm going to pay you for it.

Adesoji Iginla (19:33.879)
So there is no, there is no.

Milton Allimadi (19:36.261)
you know, and unless we change that.

It will be the same thing. I how can we change it? By really getting rid of these tiny, useless, small states.

Adesoji Iginla (19:51.371)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (19:52.197)
You know, we are actually imposing suffering on our people by holding on to these states that were created by European colonialists anyway.

Adesoji Iginla (19:59.575)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (20:05.431)
specifically for their own interest as well.

Milton Allimadi (20:06.447)
You know? Yeah, but we have serious issues to deal with. If we cannot get our people to even love themselves and work amongst themselves in harmony within our own individual tiny useless states, how are we going to, you know, but in fact, people don't realize it would actually be much easier. So look at Rwanda, for example, where you have this ethnic combustibility.

Adesoji Iginla (20:16.887)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (20:22.455)
Danny.

Milton Allimadi (20:36.42)
between the minority Tutsi who actually control the country and the military right now under Kagame and the majority Hutu who are being imposed by the ethnic minority. If you had a federated East Africa, that would not be the situation. The Tutsi would be one of the many

Adesoji Iginla (20:46.679)
for Tuesday.

Adesoji Iginla (21:00.369)
Mmm. Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (21:04.333)
smaller ethnic communities within that East African Federation. The Hutu would be one of the relatively larger ethnic communities within that broader African Federation. So that animosity, that tension that's led to these recurrent massacres would not exist. You see? So these broad entities would actually make it easier for us to create harmony.

Adesoji Iginla (21:09.003)
with its own agency and...

Adesoji Iginla (21:20.983)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (21:27.648)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (21:34.56)
in Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (21:36.535)
Okay. And yeah, speaking of creating broader issues, the UK has decided to bring forward negotiations with regards to the Chaguan Islands. And for that, we go to the Financial Times. And they say the fear of Trump is the beginning of wisdom.

Milton Allimadi (22:02.072)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (22:04.459)
The UK, the story comes from the Financial Times and the UK has offered to pay front load payments in the Chaguan Island talks. Officials are racing to conclude deals before Donald Trump takes office later this month. I wonder why. The UK government has offered to front load a tranche of payments to Mauritius in order to finalize the draft deal over the sovereignty of the Chagos Island, according to people familiar with the talks.

Britain is offering to pay Mauritius about £90 million a year for the initial 99-year lease of Diego Garcia, a major atoll in the Indian Ocean archipelago, which hosts a strategic, crucial UK and US military base. London has issued a new proposal to pay an initial tranche covering several years' worth of payments as a sweetener

to finalize the store deal before Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. Last month, is the reason why they're bringing this forward, month, Raq Gholam, who happens to be the new prime minister, declared the proposed agreement, which had not been ratified by treaty, would not produce the benefit that the nation would expect and that the negotiation had restarted. People familiar with the talk said,

late last year that the money had been a key sticking point for Port Louis, which is the capital of Mauritius, but also questions about the terms of the lease and the UK's right to review it. So you talked about equal partnership. This is the question being coming up for discussion again here. So what are your initial thoughts?

based on the reason for the deal now taking a new life of its own, especially in light of...

Adesoji Iginla (24:03.956)
the 47th president come into power.

Milton Allimadi (24:06.227)
Well, actually, I support what this article is basically saying. I support the position of the British government. I think they should go ahead and conclude this deal. That's the only one part of it, because you don't know what might happen when...facts.

Adesoji Iginla (24:10.775)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (24:20.182)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (24:24.971)
I think Mauritius should actually be much more interested in concluding this deal. Because I think there's conflict here. the two things, because Trump himself, really, I don't see him as an imperialist. In fact, the democratic administration had been much more imperialist than when Trump was in office. And one could say so blatantly pro-Israel,

Adesoji Iginla (24:39.713)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (24:49.911)
Hmm?

Milton Allimadi (24:54.79)
What? The genocide against the Palestinians happened during whose watch, right? So, you know, this whole thing about Trump, I think it's often blown out of proportion. Libya was destroyed under a democratic administration. You see, sometimes we have to be honest in reviewing these things. Yes, Trump

Adesoji Iginla (25:11.083)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (25:15.423)
Obama.

Milton Allimadi (25:20.751)
is a racist. Yes, Republican politicians tend to be much more racist, blatantly racist. True. But which administrations have been much more destructive toward Africa?

Adesoji Iginla (25:35.575)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (25:36.368)
Think about it, you know, because they don't, you know, burst out with racist comments like the Republicans do. Does that mean we have to say that they are better when the facts show otherwise? That's crazy. That's preposterous, you know? What is happening in the Congo today? Congo is being violated.

Adesoji Iginla (25:43.444)
you

Adesoji Iginla (25:58.603)
Come to think of it...

Milton Allimadi (26:04.954)
by Rwanda, correct? This could be ended. Just a phone call from Washington to Kagame and to Museveni, know, to Kigali and to Kampala. It's happening during a democratic administration. So on the one hand, I'm saying, you know, maybe I'm concerned that the deal which would give some level of sovereignty to

Adesoji Iginla (26:08.052)
Yeah, correct.

Adesoji Iginla (26:20.255)
Enough.

Milton Allimadi (26:35.301)
to the people there in the islands, has the possibility of being disrupted and a Republican. But then on the other hand, maybe not. Since the guy does not seem to be an imperialist, you see, he could have people within his administration that may want to be much more imperialist. But even him, if people went directly to him, he would make the ultimate decision, you see.

Adesoji Iginla (26:46.967)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (26:51.136)
In spite of

Milton Allimadi (27:05.782)
he would not be upstaged by his underlings. But I can see why the UK believes this is one of the best deals it can get and is even willing to pay upfront money in advance. And I don't blame the people, the administration in Mauritius for trying to also milk out more money. But the bigger picture is this. It just shows you how weak we are.

as a people, when we are talking about, okay, how much is a good deal for us to sell our sovereignty? At the end of the day, that's what it boils down to, you see? You know, a future generation, maybe 15, 20 years from now, in Mauritius, young people with new mindsets, say, the era of colonialism is over, and imperialism.

Adesoji Iginla (27:36.449)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (27:45.145)
Ha!

Adesoji Iginla (27:50.265)
Mm, mm, mm.

Milton Allimadi (28:04.905)
You know, we are abrogating all these treaties. We are just taking all the rights into our hands,

Adesoji Iginla (28:05.975)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (28:12.897)
So two questions, two prompt questions. OK, so one is, so how can international law, the use of international law, which is what instigated the British renegotiating with the Mauritians at the 2019 decision by the International Court of Justice that the people be, indigenous people be allowed back onto the land? So my question would be, so how going forward in light of

you said the mindset of the people might change, that we're no longer tolerating imperialism and colonialism. How does international law now taking that into account balance the so-called strategic interest? Because that will still be around with the rights of indigenous people. So that's the first part. The second part would be, yes,

Although the democratic side of the political family within the United States have been much more vitriolic outside the United States in terms of their foreign policy. know, Kennedy with Congo, Jimmy Carter with Angola, was his name? Obama with Libya.

Do you think in light of Trump's recent pronouncements with invading Greenland and Panama, that would not upstate the cut of what you alluded to in terms of, you know.

Milton Allimadi (29:52.83)
Okay, so to start with the second question, think that is, personally, think it is bluster. know? That's just, you know, there are some moments where Trump is being Trump.

Adesoji Iginla (29:58.752)
You

Adesoji Iginla (30:06.124)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (30:06.176)
So for example, deporting undocumented immigrants in this country, that's not going to be possible. It's just physically impossible because number one,

Adesoji Iginla (30:15.136)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (30:22.007)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (30:26.024)
It's going to lead to some incidents of people being killed, you know, as they're trying to be forcibly removed, right? Many incidents like that, and that's going to lead to social protests, a lot of upheaval. If you think the protest after George Floyd was something, then you haven't seen a true protest yet. Number one, number two, what it will...

Adesoji Iginla (30:31.414)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (30:54.484)
due to disrupt the U.S. economy.

Adesoji Iginla (30:58.677)
will be too much for all.

Milton Allimadi (30:59.507)
Leading Republicans would be urging him stop this nonsense because people would not be showing up to work.

Adesoji Iginla (31:08.215)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (31:09.233)
right? And these are the people that uphold the US economy. Who is the one that's doing all those, you know, practically, you know, free labor?

Right cheap labor in every major city for the ones doing it Right the demonized immigrants. These are the ones who are doing it So now they won't show up for work because they're afraid they might be You know arrested on their way to work or from work Right, at work absolutely because they said they would be raiding the know what places as well

Adesoji Iginla (31:36.459)
Deported.

Adesoji Iginla (31:42.068)
or at work.

Adesoji Iginla (31:47.401)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (31:49.235)
So he might do something initially in the beginning to live up to his campaign promises, but it won't last long because economically it's just too disruptive. Even he himself, the guy was not paying his employees at some of his mansions and his golf courses, he was not paying his Mexican immigrant employees, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (32:01.79)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (32:18.728)
So that's why I say this issue of invading Panama or Greenland, I think that's just a blaster. Now on the issue of international law, as you and I know, international law is only applied when the powers that be want it applied.

Adesoji Iginla (32:27.978)
I'm

Adesoji Iginla (32:32.735)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (32:41.116)
if international law was being applied, we would have a Palestinian state already today. Meaning the

Adesoji Iginla (32:43.319)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (32:54.054)
attack on Israel in October that instigated this genocide never would have occurred because there would already be a Palestinian state.

Adesoji Iginla (32:56.054)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (33:04.857)
Why, what motive would they have if they have an Israeli state, a Palestinian state, for people to attack Israel and kill people the way they did in October to instigate this, you see? If international law was being applied. If international law was being applied, then the genocide in Gaza would have been stopped after South Africa filed. It's true.

Adesoji Iginla (33:33.569)
Case in. Yep.

Milton Allimadi (33:35.15)
If international law was being applied, why was Netanyahu arrested when he came here in his last visit to the United States? Although, maybe that's the only country he dares go to right now. You see? Yeah. So international law is applied too selectively. And that's been the problem. So we can't say because

Adesoji Iginla (33:48.599)
Okay.

Yeah, it's not the yeah, of course, of course.

Adesoji Iginla (34:00.119)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (34:04.432)
There's been a ruling, therefore this and that can't be done. It can be done and it has always been done, you see, unfortunately. And that's part of the hypocrisy. They want to invoke the law only when it suits their needs, not when the law is the law, which should be the case. The law should be the law and should apply equally to everyone. And that's how we can start creating

Adesoji Iginla (34:09.078)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (34:25.441)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (34:34.629)
harmony, right, by making it clear that you can be a large country, you can be a small country, but if the system that's set up to adjudicate makes a ruling, then it must be applied. And if we set a pattern like that where it's applied consistently, then we would have to rely, we people would tend to rely more on these kinds of institutions rather than military might. Because we know once

Adesoji Iginla (34:37.345)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (34:48.373)
every, evenly.

Milton Allimadi (35:04.364)
We prevail in making our argument and convince all these other nations to support us and there's a ruling. There's no need for war. But so long as you say, we only respect the rulings if it suits our needs. It's hypocrisy.

Adesoji Iginla (35:25.077)
Let me tap one more question onto the issue of Chaguan's Island. Now, we're looking at a case of settler colonialism being redressed, So could it be a test case in the international court that countries like the Kikuyu in Kenya, the Shonas and Ndebele in Zimbabwe, and

Milton Allimadi (35:34.444)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (35:52.024)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (35:53.799)
the Herero and Nama in Namibia could bring a case like this charging settler colonialism as against the colonial powers. Could you see that happening?

Milton Allimadi (36:10.121)
Yes, I mean, why not? mean, but instead of coming as small entities like that, they should go through their national states, you know. They should go through the state of Kenya. They should go through the state of Namibia, which in fact, they did do against the Germans for the genocide of the Herero and Nama people, you know. So here's the deal. And this might have happened

Adesoji Iginla (36:18.261)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (36:27.777)
video.

Adesoji Iginla (36:32.299)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (36:40.151)
if we had a United States or Africa, you know, if we had formed a United States or Africa in the 1960s, because then they could make a demand on all the former European powers. So you know what, you want to come back in Berlin, let's have the conference at Berlin, where you had the initial conference to dismantle Africa, to disrupt Africa. Let's close the Berlin era.

Adesoji Iginla (36:44.32)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (36:53.899)
powers.

Adesoji Iginla (37:03.659)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (37:09.707)
by having another Berlin conference. And this one would be the conference of compensation.

for the victims of what was initiated at Berlin. So we assess a certain amount for Britain. You we know the countries that you took. We can guesstimate the annual surplus you're extracting, you know, for a five-year period, and then project that for the entire period that you were there. And then we can come up with a certain amount for all of them. And then we can say, okay,

Adesoji Iginla (37:18.41)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (37:42.007)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (37:47.486)
because we tend to be humane by nature, we'll give you a discount.

We'll discount 50%, but pay us this amount. And then the Berlin era will be over. We'll never bring up the issue of colonialism again.

Adesoji Iginla (38:06.743)
Can I be physician and say, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (38:08.702)
We could do that if we were powerful, you see, united, you know, like China, you know, like India. India's much more powerful than us because they have the population and some level of technology now, but we have much more resources and we would supersede India within a very short time. And we can start making these just demands, you see.

Adesoji Iginla (38:15.703)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (38:35.243)
So who will pick up the top?

Milton Allimadi (38:35.476)
And they would have to pay attention because at the end of the day, they want our resources, you see? They would listen.

Adesoji Iginla (38:40.823)
So who will pick up the tab for Portugal?

Milton Allimadi (38:45.17)
Now Portugal will discount by 90%.

Adesoji Iginla (38:47.671)
you

Milton Allimadi (38:52.275)
Portugal has no money. fact, Portugal will say, okay, no, I was about to say, if you agree for us to colonize you, but it would cost us to colonize Portugal. Yeah, but the other ones would pay, they have money.

Adesoji Iginla (39:05.527)
You

Adesoji Iginla (39:11.179)
I'm sorry.

Adesoji Iginla (39:15.287)
Speaking of the other ones, Spain. Apple has been up in the news this week. And for the next story, we go to Radio France International and it's the DRC case against Apple brings new hope in conflict mineral crisis. As the DRC brings an unprecedented case against Apple and the company offers assurances it will no longer use conflict minerals from Central Africa.

Experts are questioning whether real change is on the horizon in illegal mining. So, the story was filed in by Melissa Schenna. The war over the so-called conflict minerals is more than two decades old, but the fight to prevent the exploitation by global tech companies is much newer. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the DRC, various armed groups, including both the Congolese Army and rival armed rebel groups, among them

Milton Allimadi (39:49.746)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (40:13.655)
The occupy mines and trading routes, forcing miners to work for free. Minerals from these mines include tungsten, tin, and tantalum, often referred as the three T's, have been illegally smuggled through Rwanda for several years and eventually exported to tech companies such as Apple, Tesla, and Samsung. Wow. But the DRC filed criminal charges against Apple over the use of conflict minerals, and there is a renewed hope

that this illegal mining could be brought to an end. A criminal complaint was filed early in December against Apple's subsidiaries in France and Belgium, where the Congolese government alleged Apple uses conflict minerals laundered through international supply chains, which the American tech giant denies. How do you see this one panning out?

Milton Allimadi (41:04.93)
I support it wholeheartedly, you know? You know, because, and the good thing is, know, they may ignore our laws within our countries and our weak institutions, but it's harder for them to flood law in the United States or in Europe because they can be subjected to serious sanctions. They can be deprived of participating in the market in Europe.

Adesoji Iginla (41:07.211)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (41:16.118)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (41:26.248)
True.

Adesoji Iginla (41:31.539)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (41:32.868)
So they cannot afford to ignore rulings in the United States, in Europe, and those established industrialized nations. So I hope that the case does go forward. I hope there's a ruling favorable to the Congolese, and you will see its immediate impact on the ground. Because...

Adesoji Iginla (41:39.191)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (41:47.852)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (41:53.655)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (41:56.781)
The sad thing is the war, so-called war we are seeing in Eastern Congo right now. It's not a war between two nations. This is a war of aggression against Congo and the people of Congo by Uganda and by Rwanda as proxies for international corporations who continue to steal Congo's wealth. Uganda,

Adesoji Iginla (42:09.558)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (42:15.606)
render.

Adesoji Iginla (42:22.487)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (42:26.145)
exports hundreds of millions of dollars in gold that Uganda does not even have. You see, it has even built smelters in Uganda for gold that it does not have. There was a story, as you know, a few years ago in the Financial Times, I believe, where a Congolese minister said Rwanda steals up to one billion dollars of Congo's resources per year. So why would Rwanda want

Adesoji Iginla (42:31.287)
You

Adesoji Iginla (42:38.199)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (42:50.167)
Thank you.

Milton Allimadi (42:55.907)
that war to end. Why? Think about it. It's financed and trained a whole army, which is Rwandese, and calls it M23, quote, unquote, rebel. What kind of rebels are dressed in uniform that are comparable to uniform that United States soldiers wears? And equipment, mobile satellite phones, walkie talkies, clean, well-pressed uniforms.

Adesoji Iginla (42:57.815)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (43:27.011)
Vehicles, vehicles that need fuel. How do you fuel them?

you know, when there's no petroleum in the Congo, in that part of the Congo. Absolute nonsense, you know? So this war technically is actually being financed by companies like Apple and the beneficiaries of those resources. So I like this lawsuit in that it's not buying the propaganda, but this is domestic local rebellion that's happening in the Congo. It's finally taking the foreign elements

Adesoji Iginla (43:42.359)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (44:02.337)
that involved in the genocide against Africans in the Congo to task. And that's the only thing they respect when the courts make a ruling in their countries or in Europe. So I'm very much in support of this lawsuit.

Adesoji Iginla (44:09.687)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (44:18.743)
There was a question I wrote down earlier, which you guys do this lawsuits. And yes, it's should consumers bear responsibility for ethical sourcing? I mean, we read on their website or no child slavery was not involved in any of the products that was used to make this.

Should we take that much more seriously? And how does that look if we're to hold them to account? OK, so the question should be, should consumers bear responsibility for the ethical sourcing that we often find on their websites? And if we do, what does that look like?

Milton Allimadi (44:51.945)
No, repeat the question, sorry.

Milton Allimadi (45:09.227)
Okay, well...

Adesoji Iginla (45:12.491)
because you will often hear the likes of Apple, the likes of, I don't go to Tesla's website. So, okay, Microsoft, Microsoft, you go on that, they were against slavery, child slavery and what have you. Now, should we take that?

Milton Allimadi (45:21.512)
No, doesn't have to be this apple. I mean...

Milton Allimadi (45:32.242)
Right. Even though they are in support of slavery. I mean, they wouldn't say that on their website, of course. But there two elements here.

Adesoji Iginla (45:40.757)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (45:42.036)
For certain products, it's easier to enforce because they're limited. Because generally speaking, Africa is exploited because of consumers.

Adesoji Iginla (45:45.888)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (45:51.158)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (45:58.3)
outside Africa. You see? They took a stand and said, we want the ingredients that goes into the manufacturers not to come from the exploitation of Africans. Then this standard of living in African countries would propel almost overnight. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (46:01.024)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (46:26.024)
because then we would have to look at the tea from Kenya.

Adesoji Iginla (46:29.929)
Mm-hmm. I'll... ...go now.

Milton Allimadi (46:31.124)
the cocoa from Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria. You see? We'd have to look at the gold. We'd have to look at the copper, the coltan, the cobalt, right? Even the consumable fruits, like bananas. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (46:50.433)
correct?

Adesoji Iginla (46:59.479)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (46:59.983)
All of these are underpriced, meaning African labor and African resources being exploited, right? So that's the general level. That's on one level. But it's something that is desirable but not practical, you see? But when it comes to other commodities like diamond, which is very rare and you can isolate, of course it's rare because the production and distribution is very controlled as well.

Adesoji Iginla (47:07.999)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (47:11.755)
OK.

Adesoji Iginla (47:16.983)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (47:29.075)
Yep, true.

Milton Allimadi (47:29.981)
But if you make a campaign, a propaganda you promote, you show what Diamond is doing and the cost to the people like what he was doing in Sierra Leone, right? People will respond to that. So you can do it for certain commodities, right?

Adesoji Iginla (47:41.665)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (47:52.467)
for computer products and technology.

Yes, to some extent, but it doesn't bring that kind of value.

Connection that people have to something like diamond that is so beautiful That is supposed to convey so much love but at the same time is actually spilling so much blood In in Africa, so I think promoting that one was much more easier Than saying, you know, you see this self on your holding

Adesoji Iginla (48:17.312)
Mm. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (48:28.24)
Look at the blood is causing in Africa. It still actually has impact. You see? You can do it for cell phone. You can do it for computer. I won't have the same impact as for diamonds. So it depends on the product that you dealing with. So yes, consumers ultimately play the determining role. Because at the end of the day, without these corporations being able to sell to consumers, they are out of business. You see? And that is why.

Adesoji Iginla (48:42.28)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (48:54.775)
Sure.

Milton Allimadi (48:56.049)
they're very conscious of things like consumer boycotts, right? Yeah, I think this one can lend itself to a campaign of consumer boycott because the area of concentration where people are being victimized can be very specific, which in this case is Eastern Congo, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (49:14.187)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (49:18.967)
Okay. Okay. And speaking of exploitation, we go to our final story for the week. And it comes from the New York Times, your favorite paper of choice. So the New York Times files the story Sudanese paramilitary group committed genocide, USA.

A force fighting Sudan's army in a brutal civil war committed massacres, rape and that amounted to genocide, the Secretary of State said, two decades after a finding of genocide in the same region. And the story is filed by Declan Walsh reporting from Nairobi, Kenya. The United States on Tuesday accused the Sudanese paramilitary group and its proxies of committing genocide.

singling them out in a conflict of unchecked brutality, drawing fresh attention to the scale of atrocities being perpetrated in Africa's largest war. Secretary of State Antony J Blinken said the rapid support forces the paramilitary group fighting against Sudan's military had committed acts of genocide, including a fearsome wave of ethnically targeted violence in the western region of Darfur.

The Treasury Department backed the determination of genocide with a raft of sanctions, targeting the RSF leader, General Mohammed Hamdan, as well as seven companies in the United Arab Emirates, the group's main foreign sponsor, that have traded in weapons and gold on his behalf. The RSF and ally militias have systematically murdered men and boys, even infants.

Milton Allimadi (51:03.302)
you

Adesoji Iginla (51:14.855)
on an ethnic basis and deliberately targeted women and girls from setting ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence, Mr. Blinken said in a statement. Those militias have targeted fleeing civilians, murdered innocent people, escaped in conflict and prevented remaining civilians from assessing life-saving supplies.

Adesoji Iginla (51:44.585)
your thoughts.

Milton Allimadi (51:47.854)
Well, mean, blank, frankly, you know, as I said, I'm not a supporter, generally speaking, of martial punishment, capital punishment, but definitely in this case that this guy who leads the RSF, General Hamdan, deserves, you know, the maximum penalty, you know, for what he has allowed as commander-in-chief to unfold.

Adesoji Iginla (52:04.087)
I'm done.

Adesoji Iginla (52:15.351)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (52:16.311)
But at the same time, even the government, the military regime has also committed what should be characterized, you know, if not genocide, massacres, definitely, right? So, yeah, I mean, obviously, the question is why now? Why did you wait for such a long time when now 150,000 estimated people, even more, have been killed in this war?

Adesoji Iginla (52:25.845)
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (52:38.124)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (52:44.503)
You know, so what is the threshold for genocide? You knew they were being targeted, the victims, know, ethnically targeted, depending on what part of the country they come from, depending on how they look like. The country, you know, they were being targeted for genocidal killing. You you're right? So this statement, this position could have been taken a long time ago. So now it turns out

Adesoji Iginla (52:53.441)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (53:02.177)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (53:11.551)
why were you not saying this a long time ago? And one of the reasons that has been discussed is that you were trying to protect Israel because people would point out the double standard and say, if you're calling them out on genocide, why are you not calling out the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people? You see? So that was supposedly one of the things that had been debated.

Adesoji Iginla (53:25.184)
You

Adesoji Iginla (53:33.719)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (53:41.45)
allowing that. So you're telling me that because of what you feel the impact would be on Israel to you, that was much more important than the lives of Africans in Sudan. It is just preposterous. It is disgusting. It's very ugly. It's very racist, white supremacist, but at the same time, you know, it shows you how the world operates, know, the hypocrisy. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (54:08.499)
Mm. Mm. Mm.

Milton Allimadi (54:11.286)
So normally when you declare something like that, it means you're outraged, right? But apparently, you could have been outraged a long time ago.

Adesoji Iginla (54:23.169)
Mm-hmm.

Collies out.

Milton Allimadi (54:26.316)
So it's very cynical. It is welcome, of course, because this guy is a criminal, him and his associates, and they need to be held accountable and they need to pay the consequences. But at the same time, it's very cynical and hypocritical that this is something that could have been done a long time ago and was not done for political reasons, you see.

Adesoji Iginla (54:33.451)
Yeah, man.

Adesoji Iginla (54:50.737)
one of the reasons why actually when I picked up the story the it was

Nothing could have been a metaphor for something that was happening elsewhere. If you take out General Hamdanah's name, take out Sudan's name, take out the RSF's name, and take out where it was happening, and replace it with the Israeli state Benjamin Netanyahu, replace the United Arab Emirates with the United States, replace

Milton Allimadi (55:19.828)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (55:28.247)
the getting of the money from sources with the United States.

Adesoji Iginla (55:38.261)
The only thing missing was you not, like you said, you not acting when you should have, waiting this long. In fact, going as far as saying your, or as, what's it called, the Speaker of the House saying the International Court of Justice and the prosecutor would be sanctioned and what have you.

because when I was reading I was like and the fact that was even the New York Times that published this like where's the irony?

Milton Allimadi (56:18.995)
Yeah, mean, yeah. Yeah, I'm glad you said that. And I want people to think about what you just said. What you said is that you are imposing sanctions on the United Arab Emirates for basically financing General Hamdan when you have been financing Israel to the tune of billions of dollars to continue genocide against the Palestinians. So it's rank hypocrisy.

Adesoji Iginla (56:40.939)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (56:48.581)
But it shows you the power of power and then the weakness of the lack of power, which is where Africa is today. Weak because it lacks power. It's weak because it's not united. United States of Africa would wield power and whatever African leadership says would have much more impact and beneficial

Adesoji Iginla (56:52.759)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (56:56.854)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (57:06.521)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (57:17.448)
consequences than today. It's so ironic that, you know, even before this whole concept has taken a stronger hold on the continent, when it was just starting, these Africans, some of them had more power.

Adesoji Iginla (57:19.169)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (57:34.379)
Mm. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (57:42.642)
back in the day than today. Nkrumah was overthrown when he had gone. He was his way to Vietnam to try to negotiate an end of the war between the United States and Vietnam. Think about that. Who today would call any African leader to come to negotiate anything except learn forgiveness, except more contribution of aid or food, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (57:44.959)
Yeah, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (57:53.793)
to help peace. Yeah?

Adesoji Iginla (58:05.6)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (58:13.628)
We have our work really cut out for us, but it has to begin with uniting Africa so that we can have power and then truly start negotiating.

Adesoji Iginla (58:16.983)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (58:27.095)
You took the question I was going to pose on this part, which was, you already say anyway, that what role can African institutions and leaders play in mediating and resolving the Sudanese civil war?

Milton Allimadi (58:41.5)
I'm glad you did that because that's one of the things that I had made a mental note of as well, that you said that. And the way I had, you know, made the note in my mind is, as we are reading this, where is the African agency in all of this? Where is Africa? Why does it take a statement by United States Secretary of State to have this impact?

Adesoji Iginla (58:49.004)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (59:10.231)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (59:11.184)
You see, and it will have impact because when you start sanctioning these companies, United Arab Emirate, it will have consequences. What they might do is they are going to get some high-pay lobbyist to go to the Trump administration to try to undo these sanctions. You know, that's what they're going to try to do. See, at the same time, we

Adesoji Iginla (59:21.559)
Sure.

Adesoji Iginla (59:33.751)
Yeah.

Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (59:40.878)
as African people need to join with our Sudanese sisters and brothers and also counter lobby and say, you know, black lives matter. So do not undo these measures that the outgoing administration is doing. And of course, it waited until the last week because then it would not have to, you know, endure criticism for a long time.

That was part of the reason to wait for such a long time as well. The people that are criticizing them saying, why do you wait that long? Next week, they'll be gone. And next week, there will be another president sworn in.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:14.487)
Mmm. Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:21.974)
Bye-bye.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:27.039)
Hmm. So no agency. Africa has no agent.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:30.752)
no agency by Africa. Not even saying, you know, a joint statement by the executive chair of the African Commission and the US Secretary of State, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:52.265)
Hmm. And it's sad. It's sad. It's sad.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:55.194)
They don't see no need for that. They're not saying that, after meeting with the South African president, Ramaphosa, the two statesmen came up with this position. South Africa will also impose sanctions. Because obviously, guarantee you, a lot of those businesses do business in South Africa as well.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:10.945)
decided to issue a statement.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:24.905)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (01:01:25.85)
to make it appear as if Africa also has some agency in Africa. Not even that. And the US did not even see the bother of trying to do something like that, even for public relations purposes. Because at the end of the day, you don't matter, Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:36.062)
It's

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:48.247)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:48.352)
unite so that you can start having global impact.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:55.179)
Yes, yes. With that story, we've come to the end of another interesting episode. Hope you found value in it. If this is your first time here, please do like, share and subscribe. Again, subscribe, subscribe. Each one bring one because we're having this conversation about Africa so that when

Milton Allimadi (01:02:16.897)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:23.617)
push comes to shove, you're much more informed as to what the happenings are and giving context to stories you might read in the Western media because let's not kid ourselves, the Western media is there to do the bidding of their paymasters and their paymasters don't look like you and I. So you know how that story is going to be spun. Thank you very much.

but Milton and last words.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:56.459)
I look to continue on. The struggle continues until victory.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:00.255)
as they say, yes, victory as set up. for me, I would say, Odigbar Konor, which means till we meet up next time and you have a glorious week and see you all next week. Good night.