EP 5 Traore, Ecowas at 50 and South African Budget Crisis I African News Review 🌍

In this episode, Adesoji Iginla and Milton Alimadi discuss the challenges faced by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as it marks its 50th anniversary. 

They explore key member states' recent departure and regional integration implications. The conversation shifts to the situation in Burkina Faso, where a military junta has garnered significant public support amid accusations of coup plots. The hosts analyse the role of external powers, particularly the United States, in shaping African politics and the ongoing struggle against neo-colonialism. 

In this conversation, Adesoji Iginla and Milton Allimadi delve into the complex interplay of leadership, historical context, and economic interests in Africa, particularly focusing on the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. 

They discuss the implications of foreign investments in African resources, the historical struggles for leadership and autonomy, and the importance of understanding media narratives. The dialogue emphasises the need for critical media literacy and the role of African leadership in shaping the continent's future.

Takeaways

*ECOWAS is facing significant challenges with member states leaving.
*Political integration is crucial for economic success in Africa.
*The influence of external forces complicates regional unity.
*Burkina Faso's junta has gained popular support amid external pressures.
*Global protests reflect a growing opposition to imperialism in Africa.
*The role of gold in Burkina Faso's economy is pivotal.
*US military influence in Africa raises concerns about sovereignty.
*Historical context is essential for understanding current events.
*Regional organisations have underperformed against expectations.
*The dynamics of power in Africa are shifting towards greater self-determination. 
*The legacy of leadership is crucial in shaping national responsibilities.
*Foreign interests often overshadow the needs of local populations in Africa.
*Congo's mineral wealth is both a blessing and a curse.
*Historical context is essential to understanding current African struggles.
*Effective leadership is rare and vital for national unity.
*Geopolitical dynamics heavily influence resource control in Africa.
*Environmental concerns are often sidelined in corporate interests.
*Political instability in South Africa reflects deeper historical inequities.
*Critical media literacy is necessary to navigate narratives about Africa.
*The future of Africa depends on understanding its past and present challenges.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to ECOWAS and Its Challenges
11:43 Burkina Faso's Junta and Global Support
32:26 US Military Influence and African Sovereignty
34:09 The Legacy of Leadership and Responsibility
35:01 Mining and Economic Interests in the Congo
40:05 Historical Context of Congo's Struggles
42:20 The Role of African Leadership in Change
46:00 Geopolitical Dynamics and Resource Control
51:23 Environmental Concerns and Corporate Responsibility
54:11 Political Turmoil in South Africa
01:00:04 Historical Inequities and Modern Implications
01:05:11 The Importance of Critical Media Literacy

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:02.079)
Yes, greetings, greetings, and welcome to another episode of African News Review. And my name is Adesuji Iginla, and with me as usual is comrade Milton Alimadi. How are you, comrade?

Milton Allimadi (00:15.831)
I'm good. Karibundu. Asante sama.

Adesoji Iginla (00:18.808)
Yes, it's been one long week in Africa and Africa has played in the news, least. I mean, we will get to it. We'll get to it. And so first things first.

Adesoji Iginla (00:36.91)
Can you hear me?

Milton Allimadi (00:38.824)
yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (00:39.67)
OK, so first things first. Echoes is 50. And for that new story, we go to, and you will see how it all plays into everything we're talking about today. We go to Radio France International, who have the story that Echoes, our body, our body and body, turned 50. And the story goes, West African group.

Milton Allimadi (00:45.358)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:09.568)
Ekoas, tons 50, amid struggle to stay united. The lead writes, celebration marking 50 years of the economic community of West African states known as Ekoas began in Ghana this week, but the mood was far from jubilant. The regional, the regional main political and economic bloc fight itself as a crossroad after losing three key players, three key members. And that's the logo, you know, telling you.

It started 1975 to 2025. And it leads. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger all walked away from the group in January, dealing a major blow to an organization already struggling with security threats and economic challenges. You get to take an issue, stab at it.

Milton Allimadi (02:01.037)
Well, I mean...

I think we have to look at what was the goal of the organization anyway, right? The goal was economic and political integration at some stage. So to what extent has that been accomplished? That's the question. And to what extent, I mean, what are the main barriers to realizing economic integration in Africa and political integration? I think...

Adesoji Iginla (02:07.955)
Mm-hmm. Integration. Integration. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (02:27.354)
Mmm. Mmm.

Mm.

Milton Allimadi (02:31.487)
economic integration, the outside forces are much more serious, right? That need to be dealt with. The trading relations between Africa and the countries that are economically much more developed, correct?

Adesoji Iginla (02:37.363)
Mm-hmm. Correct.

Milton Allimadi (02:50.829)
The domestic inside forces are our own politics, you see. As Cheke and the job said in black Africa, right? We have a problem of leaders who don't want to surrender sovereignty.

Adesoji Iginla (02:56.344)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (03:11.694)
Mmm. Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (03:13.229)
So we have presidents of 54, and I hate to put it this way, but they're nothing really in the global system, instead of having one president and maybe 53 prime ministers or regional prime ministers, you see? And that's the challenge. So whether it's ECOWAS, whether it's the East African community,

Adesoji Iginla (03:17.486)
64, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (03:23.778)
you

Adesoji Iginla (03:33.762)
Ministers. Correct.

Milton Allimadi (03:42.944)
whether it's SADC and whether it's the African Union itself, those are going to be the problems. And I agree with what Amdar Job said. If we do not solve the politics first, we will never have the power to address the economics, you see? So that's a broader, the broad answer. And that's nothing new. That's what Ndugu Kwame Nkrumah had argued for, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (04:01.07)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (04:11.534)
Yep. Yep. Yep.

Milton Allimadi (04:14.604)
Let's get the political house in order so that we can address the economics. So, EcoWise is facing the same problem. So, when they say the three members left, they didn't just wake up one day and say, are leaving. There were a set of circumstances that pushed them out. You know, when they had the change of government in these countries, particularly the last one,

Adesoji Iginla (04:26.958)
Mm-hmm.

You

Adesoji Iginla (04:35.95)
which is is silent.

Milton Allimadi (04:42.634)
Not the last one, but when they had in Niger, France wanted to use ECOWAS to reverse that military takeover. And they might have succeeded, but the leaders of Niger were smarter than France thought they were. So they quickly formed an alliance with Burkina Faso and Mali. And they made that statement, an attack on any one of us will be seen.

Adesoji Iginla (05:06.744)
Mali.

Milton Allimadi (05:12.497)
as an attack on all three of us. And that's why they're still there today, you see? So they didn't just leave ECOWAS for no reason. So in fact, I think the article is correct. ECOWAS is under tremendous pressure. If they don't address the concerns that cause these countries to leave, I see further disarray going forward.

Adesoji Iginla (05:14.638)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (05:35.822)
Okay. So in terms of minor victories, it can be said that ECOWAS does have a unity passport, know, document that you could use in all 16 countries. And it's recognized. But when it comes to the economic union, that is where issues come into play.

Milton Allimadi (05:48.496)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (06:06.112)
not least the overbearing presence of the French.

Milton Allimadi (06:11.785)
Absolutely. So that is one good thing that you mentioned and that in fact should be duplicated. That should be applicable to every African country. That should be something that the AU should have implemented by now, you see. And this is not to suggest that ECOWISE has not been useful. In fact, I sincerely believe things would be much worse had there not been an ECOWISE. Things would be much worse had there not been

Adesoji Iginla (06:25.676)
Mm-hmm

Adesoji Iginla (06:37.89)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (06:41.307)
an organization of African unity or an African union. These organizations have all intervened in major conflicts, whether regional in West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, you know. So I'm not saying they've not been useful. I'm just saying they've underperformed given the expectations and the ever more increasing expectations.

Adesoji Iginla (06:43.502)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (07:04.398)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (07:10.438)
So there's going to be more pressure on these organizations to deliver, including the African Union.

Adesoji Iginla (07:15.022)
Correct. Correct. Yeah. I mean, to buttress your point when it comes to regional intervention, when Liberia crashed in 1990, Sierra Leone, So when they crashed in 1990, it became incumbent on

Milton Allimadi (07:31.237)
Liberia, Sierra Leone, you know, all these countries.

Adesoji Iginla (07:43.592)
regional bodies because the United Nations was reticent about sending in anyone into, as they put it then, into the African continent. And so Nigeria stepped in, supported by Ghana, and eventually other countries contributed troops. The same thing also happened in Sierra Leone.

Milton Allimadi (07:51.058)
Absolutely.

Milton Allimadi (08:08.837)
Right, but one might actually argue that we would not have a lot of those problems had there been better economic and political integration. You see? Then you would not have an emergence of a Charles Taylor. You would not have an emergence of the Lourdes organization in Sierra Leone. You would not have the emergence of a Yahya, Gamay, which also almost invited another.

Adesoji Iginla (08:13.528)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (08:19.936)
Yes, yes, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (08:24.876)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (08:32.311)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (08:37.0)
in

Milton Allimadi (08:38.439)
conflict. But when he saw the Nigerian ships, I think he decided to take that plane. A lot of the conflicts we have are result of our failure to really move forward swiftly and decisively on economic and political integration.

Adesoji Iginla (08:41.056)
in Gambia.

Adesoji Iginla (08:48.779)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (08:54.67)
Mm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (09:02.872)
And that's not, course, I'm not criticizing ECOWAS for that. I'm criticizing all of the regional organizations. So it's not confined to ECOWAS.

Adesoji Iginla (09:03.086)
Amen.

No, should. No, so. They should be. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. No. Echoers will be, should be criticized. And the reason I say that is the idea itself was the hallmark of two generals, General Yakubu Goan and Yasikbe Eyadema of Togo. And one of the cardinal rules then was none of

No member will intervene in the political matter of any other member. So when you brought up the issue of France pushing ECOWAS to intervene in the case of Niger, that was completely going against the idea or the tenets of that group. But there was one also point that we should also understand. One of the failings of ECOWAS

And in fact, will put you at the doorstep of Hufuibu Wai'in was the subsequent assassination of Thomas Sankara.

Adesoji Iginla (10:25.402)
And lo and behold, when the guy who carried out the coup, Blaise Campaulay, was then to flee Ugadugu, capital of Burkina Faso, where did he hold up? Cote d'Ivoire. So, wherein some members are hands-off with regards to intervening, others have been a key tool in the neo-colonial efforts of France. Specifically,

specifically Cote d'Ivoire. It was Senegal at one point, it was Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire at one point when Iwade was their president but the moment no, Abdou Diop sorry, Abdou Diop was president of Senegal but the moment he left power their so lucky position fell squarely on Cote d'Ivoire.

And Cote d'Ivoire has continued to play that ploy, which, if I'm willing to take one other take on this before we go into our next story, which this leads perfectly into the next story.

Adesoji Iginla (11:43.286)
You are going to say?

Milton Allimadi (11:44.899)
I mean, what can I add to that? I don't think that's so much like a, of an ECOWAS issue, though. I think that's the problem of African weakness. We are so weak because we are these small countries that, in fact, France can make...

Adesoji Iginla (11:53.166)
Mm.

Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (12:03.97)
and it was much more prevalent in the past, of course, make any one of those countries of the former colonial, its former colonies do anything just by saying, we'll intervene, you'll intervene in your finances, you see? So whether Boigny liked it or not, whether he was just the face, the black face,

Adesoji Iginla (12:08.023)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (12:14.145)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (12:18.926)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (12:31.758)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (12:32.777)
of French imperialism, which of course he actually was, that would happen with or without regional organization. And that's the problem that we face even today.

Adesoji Iginla (12:35.37)
He was? Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (12:43.606)
Hmm. Okay. Okay. I'll take your point. And so that leads us into our next story, which comes from France 24. And it's about, hmm. What can I say? Captain Ibrahim Frawrey. And the story is, like I said, from France 24.

Milton Allimadi (13:07.125)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (13:12.278)
And the story leads, Bokina Janta rallies supporters after claimed coup plot. The story is filed in Abidjan. Several thousand people rallied in support of Bokina Faso's ruling junta Wednesday, day after the military authorities said they had uncovered a plot in inverted commas to overthrow the government. Demonstrators carried

giant posters of Junta's leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, and Burkina Faso, and Russian flags. With placards bearing slogans such as Down with Imperialism and its local lackeys, and full support for Ibrahim, President Ibrahim Traore, and the people of Burkina Faso, they gathered in a central square in the capital, Ugadugu. It was one of the biggest pro-Junta demonstrations since Traore seized power.

In September 2022, coup in the West African country, which had been battling jihadist attacks for a decade and that had killed tens of thousands of people. So on April 21st, junta claimed to have undone a major plot planned by masterminds in neighboring Ivory Coast with the arrest of several top army officials. Traore has regularly accused Cote d'Ivoire of Ivory Coast.

of harboring its opponent's allegation its neighbor rejects. Over to you.

Milton Allimadi (14:45.928)
Alright, so there are many major problems with this story, right?

Adesoji Iginla (14:53.037)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (14:53.982)
Now, first of all, this lamp, you can see this lamp in the headline alone, right?

Adesoji Iginla (14:59.374)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (15:04.414)
limiting it to a Bukina Faso rally, when at that time it became obvious that there were global protests in support.

Adesoji Iginla (15:13.72)
That's correct. There was one in London, in Paris as well. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (15:17.276)
all over the world, right? So to localize it and then to give the impression that this is just engineered by the authorities to rally support for some fictitious coup that they concocted in their minds to galvanize support, you know, that's very lame, right? And

Adesoji Iginla (15:29.176)
Propaganda. Yes, yes, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (15:40.456)
Mm. Yep. Mm-hmm.

Correct.

Milton Allimadi (15:47.461)
When you write an important story like this, you should make sure that you have your best editors and your best propagandists, you see? Because you cannot reveal your bias so blatantly. How can you say he alleges that you're harboring his opponents in the Ivory Coast and you say the Ivory Coast authorities deny it?

Adesoji Iginla (16:03.306)
Yes, yes.

Milton Allimadi (16:16.908)
And then you don't mention anywhere that Campaure happens to be the Ivory Coast. And then Campaure is the same person who actually killed Buquena Faso's Thomas Sankara. And that in fact, people see, many people see Traure as the reincarnation of Sankara. How are you not going to mention that?

Adesoji Iginla (16:21.932)
Be...

Adesoji Iginla (16:31.426)
So got it, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (16:42.157)
You know, even an unschooled person reading an article like this would see the bias, you know? In fact, this article, the quality, I mean, I've seen propaganda, good propaganda. This one is terrible, terrible, lazy, very lazy and very shoddy propaganda. Like I'm shocked at the level of lack of quality, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (16:42.158)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (16:58.709)
Hahaha!

You

Adesoji Iginla (17:06.286)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (17:12.939)
I'm shocked. They've done good propaganda in the past. But this one is shockingly bad. Shockingly bad. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (17:13.87)
You

Adesoji Iginla (17:18.414)
They've let you down. Are you saying?

Adesoji Iginla (17:27.438)
I'll continue. And he goes on, he says, over more than a year, the UNTER has detained several dozen military officers, including former gender mean, chief of staff, Evard Sonder, accusing them of plotting or attempting to destabilize Republican institutions. There is one party that jumps out and yes, he says, and let me say what leads up to it, Prime Minister

Rimtanda Jean Emmanuel Quadrago, who addressed the rally in Ugadugu, also attended by several ministers and MPs and called by the national coordination of civil civilian video, a coalition of pro-unita civil authority groups, civil society groups, then goes on to say, we must stand, that is, Quadrago, we must stand up.

more than ever because when the people stand up the imperialists tremble. The prime minister told the crowd. That's a quote from Thomas Sankara by the way. It's in his book Sankara Speaks. Raleigh, the rallies condemning the hypocrisy of former colonial powers also took place in Burkina Faso's second biggest city, Bobo Dualiso and in Boroma. Now there is a path here.

Adam Akima, one of the organizers, on the national television that the rally was to denounce the remarks attributed to US Africa Command Chief General Michael Langley, accusing Traore of using the country's gold reserves for personal protection at the expense of the well-being of his people.

Milton Allimadi (19:11.065)
Okay, so that's the lead right there. That's the lead of the story. That in fact is what inspired global protest. Why would people in the United States also protest? Because there many people in the US who are actually opposed to US imperialism and militarism on the continent. So if it was only because

Adesoji Iginla (19:15.106)
Yeah.

What's

Adesoji Iginla (19:25.582)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (19:31.724)
Hmm. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (19:37.944)
Traore had said, there was a coup plot. They tried to overthrow me. You think people in the United States would be rallying and protesting too? No. But he was basing it on credible evidence. In fact, who is to say that the statements by Langley in his comments before Congress was not being coordinated with people in Burkina Faso who were meant to overthrow Traore?

and then to be recognized by the United States.

Adesoji Iginla (20:09.74)
Yes, yes, yes. And.

Milton Allimadi (20:11.211)
That's quite possible. I have no evidence to suggest that, but the timing seems a bit too convenient, you see.

Adesoji Iginla (20:20.024)
Correct, correct. And right, and, and...

Milton Allimadi (20:21.344)
And you cannot have your cake and eat it too. So the premise of the article is that the guy is making up all these plots, making up these plots to overthrow him, undermine his government, destabilize. So he's making it up. So if you're saying that's the case, then it means the country must be stable then, if there's no problem. So if the country is stable, then what's the issue? What's the problem then?

Adesoji Iginla (20:29.934)
Mmm

Adesoji Iginla (20:37.452)
Yeah,

Adesoji Iginla (20:43.95)
Hmm. Yep. Yep.

Milton Allimadi (20:49.897)
It means there's no story there, right? You know? But if you're saying the country is not stable, then it would make sense. It's not stable because there people trying to overthrow him. You can't have both stories, you know? So they must select one.

Adesoji Iginla (20:50.442)
Well, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (21:05.9)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (21:12.696)
So well, the protests or demonstration as it were, were rightly hinged on the statement he gave, that is, Jeremiah Colangly in front of the Foreign Affairs Commission on April 4, 2025, where he said, so the question to him that brought forth the statement was,

what is the role China and Russia were playing in West Africa? So in his lead up, he said, and I am paraphrasing now, he said, I don't normally name names, but I'm going to go forward and mention him. Ibrahim Duraoure is one of the leaders who has cornered the wealth of the country and is using it for, you know, to ingratiate members of a regime and stuff like that. So that's what the people heard.

and rightly so because... yeah go on.

Milton Allimadi (22:10.337)
So in Uganda, there were 70 families, runs a country like an ATM machine, correct?

In Rwanda, the same thing with Binkagami and his associates. Correct? In Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, the former president, and his family basically own more than 50 % of the land. If you're looking for individuals in African countries, who use the country's resources?

Adesoji Iginla (22:25.794)
Correct. Correct. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (22:39.726)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (22:47.053)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (22:49.814)
for personal enrichment. There many excellent examples. I just gave him three, you see? So that does not fly. That story does not hold any water. In fact, he's even a worse propagandist than the article that we reading right now. The general is a hopeless propagandist. And he's saying, normally don't name names. Do you think he would name Traore without getting permission from the highest levels?

Adesoji Iginla (23:07.448)
Mm-mm.

Milton Allimadi (23:19.123)
of the military command and the political structure in the United States? Of course not.

Adesoji Iginla (23:27.256)
So you think he was good.

Milton Allimadi (23:27.731)
And that's why we have this kind of platform to break down and deconstruct their nonsensical lies, you see? And any plan that they had, I'm not saying they will not move forward, because these folks that run the United States are very unpredictable. But they will now have second thoughts.

And that is why this article is part of that propaganda, that regime change agenda.

What obstacles now present itself to the regime change agenda? The global protest, massive global protest, including in the United States. So they'll fail to contain it as a local Burkina Faso story. Now it's a global protest. Anybody go on social media, prominent people are coming out. People, some people who may not even know where Burkina Faso is located.

Adesoji Iginla (24:11.362)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (24:31.916)
Was so easy.

Milton Allimadi (24:33.129)
you see, are making comments on social media. So in fact, General Langley did a massive positive contribution to the government of Burkina Faso by rallying global protest, global support for it, number one. But this is not just about Burkina Faso, it's about Africa. And this is a good thing.

Adesoji Iginla (24:39.051)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (25:02.406)
Now you know that Africa has many, many well-wishers all over the world. They're protesting not so much because they know a lot about Burkina Faso. They're protesting because how dare the United States, and particularly Africa, try to impose its imperial agenda on Africa. So Africa, many friends of Africa have now revealed themselves, and this is

Adesoji Iginla (25:08.428)
Yep. Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (25:15.914)
because they've

Adesoji Iginla (25:25.282)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (25:31.932)
an opportunity for African leadership to actually take advantage of it.

Adesoji Iginla (25:38.444)
Yes. So again, you remember we...

Milton Allimadi (25:41.31)
So we condemn him, but we thank him at the same time.

Adesoji Iginla (25:44.91)
You remember, if you can just tie why it's important that we study history in terms of neo-colonialism, the last stage of imperialism. Kwame Nkrumah mentioned the use of capital. Capital is the reason why they want Traori out of the way. Because he's now nationalized their gold, because he specifically mentioned gold.

Milton Allimadi (26:09.018)
Of course.

Milton Allimadi (26:12.743)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (26:14.732)
General Langley mentioned gold. He didn't say just money. He said gold.

Milton Allimadi (26:16.944)
Yep. And gold is a big thing right now, as you know, because of his commander in chief, Langley's commander in chief, the president of United States. He's erratic. The wacko terrorists have upset the global economy, is upsetting the price of various commodities. As a result, gold has been skyrocketing.

Adesoji Iginla (26:22.175)
Exactly!

Adesoji Iginla (26:26.293)
I'm sorry.

Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (26:37.454)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (26:45.743)
So gold is very important in the conversation right now. And that's why he's bringing it in the conversation. But believe me, this is not some general who woke up and who normally reviews what are happening in the areas around where AFRICOM is deployed and saying, you know, no, no, no, today I'm going to go and testify. And I'm going to talk about Trouty. No, it did not start that way.

Adesoji Iginla (26:54.22)
and

Adesoji Iginla (27:04.333)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (27:16.164)
This is coordinated somewhere. And then they come to him and they say, this is what you're supposed to do. You see, obviously it's not surprising. Ever since Bukina Faso, Nijah and Mali took the decision to start cooperating tighter and to expel French influence, which of course also led to the expulsion of the U.S.

Adesoji Iginla (27:24.299)
in

Milton Allimadi (27:46.648)
from the base in Mali. So imperialism has been regrouping and saying we can't just surrender this region. Now they are seeking support from Russia. We can't just do that. So what can we do? And this is part of the manifestation of what they've been discussing. Obviously there's a bit of a problem also in their plans. Coming from his commander in chief once again, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (28:08.014)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (28:17.291)
because he wants good relations with Russia. He wants good relations with Putin. So some of these plans now that are being manifest would be things that were drawn when Biden was still president, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (28:18.253)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (28:32.489)
Hmm, okay, so

Milton Allimadi (28:33.496)
Plus, you know, this guy doesn't really have, he's less, when it comes to Africa, he's not an imperialist at all. He might be a financial and economic imperialist.

but he's no imperialist like the Biden administration was when it comes to militarism and imperialism.

Adesoji Iginla (29:00.918)
I think the point you just made there was... Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (29:02.687)
And that's the irony. That's the irony, actually. I mean, it's very, it's clear that he's going to bring an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, something that the Democrats never would have done.

Adesoji Iginla (29:12.79)
US imperialism.

Adesoji Iginla (29:20.238)
So it's important.

Milton Allimadi (29:21.163)
So that also might upset plans to reverse what the alliance of Sahel states have been trying to do, which plans might have been drawn up when Biden was still in office. So that would be my assessment.

Adesoji Iginla (29:25.518)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (29:33.751)
Okay?

Adesoji Iginla (29:39.246)
OK. Just to add one final note, in the entire session of the Foreign Affairs Committee where the US, it wasn't just the US African command, it was also the European command that sat there, General Langley mentioned three key things that I think might have been lost in the entire, I mean, it's about two hours, 12 minutes. So I'm boring. Yeah, that's why I had to listen to it. So.

In the two-hour-ten minutes, he mentioned certain key things. He said, whereas we were thinking that Kenya was the only non-ally NATO minor ally something, the designation, there are actually four of them in Africa. There is Morocco, there is Tunisia, there is Egypt, and then there is Kenya. And then there are other...

How did he call them? said, happy to work with the US group. He mentions a couple of countries. Again, it's funny to see that on Krumah's book, Neo-Colonialism, where he mentions the fact that our leaders are the major reason why some of these guys get to just run around the African continent unfettered.

was underscored in that statement. And one final point. When you mentioned that Trump was not a globalist, Senator Wicks, who asked the question that led to Traore's name being mentioned, said something very key. He said, with the undoing of USAID, which was our bedrock, our way of entering the African continent,

Milton Allimadi (31:08.064)
Right.

Adesoji Iginla (31:34.21)
How is it that General Langley's work has not been undermined? That is when he started mentioning the fact that Chinana has a base in Djibouti and that they're dredging the canal that goes into the base to be able to take, I mean, it goes into greater detail into why is all of this important? It's important that we have to take our time.

to listen to these committees from time to time, not just when our names get mentioned, because they actually discuss, they were discussing strategic things in an open session. But I believe because of the length of time, they probably thought people will not be that interested. So that's just the point I wanted to

Milton Allimadi (32:15.591)
definitely.

Milton Allimadi (32:26.965)
Right. And thank you for social media. Because of social media, everybody got to know about this general and people are now calling him wicked names all over the world and calling him an Uncle Tom saying they always use, you know, one of our own to do the case, you know. I mean, look, when it was Congo,

Adesoji Iginla (32:31.064)
Yes, yes, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (32:42.093)
You

Adesoji Iginla (32:49.28)
Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (32:56.455)
you know, a brother was a very prominent face, you know, Ralph Bunch, right? And that's always the case. It's not always like that, but like, because it depends on the administration itself. Andy Young, Ambassador Andrew Young was a good friend of Africa because his boss, Jimmy Carter, was serious about, you know, tackling apartheid.

Adesoji Iginla (33:00.492)
Hmm. Yes, Ralph Bunch. But working in town. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (33:17.966)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (33:26.45)
Listen, a European American president who is willing to call Israel an apartheid state, you know that is a man who is a man of principles. So that is why Young engaged against Ian Smith very seriously and said, listen, there's going to be an end of white minority rule in what you are calling Rhodesia, what is in fact Zimbabwe. And we are backing the patriotic front.

Adesoji Iginla (33:38.062)
Yes, yes, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (33:48.584)
role in Rhodesia.

Milton Allimadi (33:57.449)
So it's not always like this. And obviously, what are you going to do? Once you're enjoying the US military and you're an officer, you're a general, what are you going to say? Oh, my ancestor is African, so there's no way I'm going to accept this order. No.

Adesoji Iginla (34:09.198)
You're going to obey your command? No. You're going to obey your...

Milton Allimadi (34:18.185)
Right, you're there. You know, you're there or you're not there. know, listen, let's not, let's, you know, leave, let's leave the general alone. Let's face the fact. We had, no, no, we had an African-American president in the White House when the order to exterminate Muammar Gaddafi was given. So on the scale,

Adesoji Iginla (34:21.095)
Mm-hmm. mean...

Adesoji Iginla (34:29.148)
Hahahaha

Adesoji Iginla (34:39.598)
with that, we are free.

Milton Allimadi (34:46.424)
of responsibilities and actions. Where the front is a person that is of African ancestry, the general belongs very low down the chain.

Adesoji Iginla (34:50.915)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (34:59.854)
Down the footchay. Okay. Speaking of, you mentioned Congo. For our next story, we go with the Money Paper, your favorite newspaper. And this doesn't make happy reading, but reading we shall. And it's that it comes from the Financial Times. And it's that a mining group backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos

Milton Allimadi (35:02.023)
If we have to be honest, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (35:28.916)
expanding to DR Congo. Cobalt bets country will be crucial to US efforts to secure minerals for energy transition. And it starts. A mining startup backup backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos is expanding into Democratic Republic of Congo in a bet that the resource rich nation will be crucial to US efforts to compete with China

for minerals that are needed for energy transition. Cobalt metals, which deploy artificial intelligence to identify untapped mineral deposits, was betting big on DR Congo, said Benjamin Katabuka, its newly appointed director general in the country. The company would recruit staff in the country and plan to apply for licensing to explore for lithium, copper,

and cobalt he said. The push into DR Congo comes as the African nation seeks to secure a mineral deal with the US in talks as part of the President's Donald Trump's ambition to break this dependency on China for metals. What's your initial take? I know what mine was when I read it but

Milton Allimadi (36:47.553)
I mean, when it comes to money, doesn't matter whether you're Democrats or Republicans. In fact, Trump himself used to donate to both political parties, Democrats and Republicans. You know, in fact, at one point he was allegedly a Democrat as well, who was good friends with the Clintons, right?

Adesoji Iginla (36:49.953)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (37:16.162)
Yep, correct.

Milton Allimadi (37:16.285)
friends with May Pacher. So I'm saying all this to suggest that, you know, just because, and in fact, Bloomberg, you know, is a Republican, right? I don't know what, what Gates affiliation is, you know, whether it was Democrat or Republican. But I'm saying that it's not a coincidence that this is happening at a time when Trump has

Adesoji Iginla (37:27.534)
Correct. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (37:35.384)
politically fluid.

Milton Allimadi (37:45.984)
appointed, you know, his daughter's father-in-law, right, as his senior advisor on Africa. In fact, he's not senior advisor on Africa. It's senior advisor on financial potential for gains in Africa. That's what the accurate title should actually be. Right. So, and his focus of

Adesoji Iginla (37:52.878)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (38:09.868)
Nine shot.

Milton Allimadi (38:15.691)
Masoud Boulos has been Congo so far. So it's not by accident that Gates and Bloomberg are now also associated with a company that is involved in Congo.

Adesoji Iginla (38:35.086)
Okay, I'll continue. And it says, Masad Bolos, the gentleman just mentioned, Trump's newly appointed senior advisor for Africa. Last week said he and DR Congo's president Felix Tishikedi has in recent days discussed the development of a U.S. DR Congo mineral pact and have charted a path forward. We're having

similar discussions with other neighboring countries," Boulos added. Our role is to facilitate those private sector investments in the mining sector, including with American government funding," he said. DR Congo is the world's number one supplier of cobalt, a metal used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles, but it's also in the midst of an armed conflict that has disrupted mining in the eastern part of the country where the M23

filled in the blank, has seized large areas of Berkeley-based Cobalt raised $537 million during its last round in January from investors including Gates Breakthrough Energy Ventures, whose backers include Bezos and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The company has raised $1 billion today.

Now.

Okay, so my take was that.

Adesoji Iginla (40:05.196)
And I like to couch my thoughts in history.

when

Adesoji Iginla (40:16.152)
Patrick Lumumba suffered his enormous fate. Nkrumah went to the United Nations and he said, and I quote, that for Congo to be free, needs all foreign entities to live.

And I don't think that call has been heeded.

So the sincerity of Popo is when they come, bearing in mind the longest serving UN peacekeeping force has been in Congo for over 60 years, the longest in the history of the United Nations.

So it begs the question that do the people really matter at all? Because every time you hear anything regarding Congo, you don't hear about the people. It's just money, minerals, and which rebel group is the order of the day. That's the only three things you hear about. Money, metals,

and who else has got a shovel in their hand about to start digging.

Adesoji Iginla (41:38.232)
So the question is, what can Congo do?

Milton Allimadi (41:38.367)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (41:47.005)
Not really Congo per se, it's the failure of African countries, you know. At least Nkrumah tried his best to support Patrice Lumumba. In fact, he paid literally with his life. He was deposed and then he ends up dying of cancer, you know. There many ways of inducing cancer, right? But ultimately he paid a price. He paid a price for supporting Congo.

Adesoji Iginla (41:54.83)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (42:11.54)
Yeah, correct.

Milton Allimadi (42:16.991)
What can Congo do?

Congo alone cannot do anything really, to be honest, because, first of all,

It's been very difficult to produce another Patrice Lumumba in the Congo. You see, somebody who had that commitment, that courage, and that set of skills.

Milton Allimadi (42:48.71)
Auditorial skills, right? Not everybody is gifted like that. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (42:57.102)
That's a fact. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (42:58.878)
he was able to deal with powerful leaders who are bent on separatism within Congo itself and convince a lot of people that no, we need to have

a unified national government, right? To teach people nationalism in a matter of many months. Think about that. That takes some tremendous skill, right?

Adesoji Iginla (43:21.038)
correct.

Adesoji Iginla (43:31.235)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (43:32.946)
There's no Congolese that armor wealth that has that set of skills today to be able to rally and mobilize the Congolese to stand up against aggression coming from Rwanda and Uganda on behalf of corporate interests who prefer to just manufacture these fake wars in Eastern Congo, force people to flee from their homes.

kill people and then while these, you know, that fake media or fake news is actually true. It just happens that the person that uses it frequently, President Trump, is the wrong person to be using that term, you see? But it's true, it does exist. So rather than writing about this war of aggression,

Adesoji Iginla (44:20.75)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, of course.

Milton Allimadi (44:31.368)
from Rwanda and Uganda and the Congolese people paying the price for it on behalf of Western corporations who don't want to pay any revenue proceeds to the Congolese government. And they would rather just bribe the leadership in Uganda and Rwanda a little bit to allow them to use their countries as launching pads for this wars of plunder.

Adesoji Iginla (44:42.286)
It's a

Milton Allimadi (45:00.274)
You see, how do you stop that? You need a person who has the caliber of a Patrice Lumumba, a Nkrumah himself, right? Of a Thomas Sankara, of a Samara Machelle, a Sting Pico, a Mugabe at his best.

Adesoji Iginla (45:00.91)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (45:15.768)
Mica Cabra.

Adesoji Iginla (45:22.946)
My coca-cabra.

Adesoji Iginla (45:28.526)
Epitam... Yeah, epitamomi.

Milton Allimadi (45:30.706)
You see, you see people, you need people with those sort of skills. And Congo, at the moment, least none has stepped forward at this very crucial moment. So what is happening right now is that Rwanda was supporting its puppets who perhaps could have actually

engineered regime change in Congo and installed their own puppets running the show. So what Shekady did was he ran to the United States, ironically the same people who together with Belgium exterminated Patrice Lumumba and he cut a deal with them.

Adesoji Iginla (46:18.798)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (46:25.773)
And part of the deal, and I think this probably, what he wanted to do was give you this, I don't know the details of course, but in his shoes, in his desperate moment, what were his options? It's like, know you want these critical minerals, and everybody knows Congo has the critical minerals. And a lot of these are in Eastern Congo. We can sign a deal.

But obviously we cannot have Rwanda annexing that part of the country.

but we are the legitimate authorities in Congo. And those resources belong in the Congo. So Boulos spoke with them, he listened to them, and he said, okay, this is what we'll do.

And mind you, I don't have any details. I'm just speculating.

Adesoji Iginla (47:22.765)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (47:25.223)
But under the circumstances, it appears to me there would be no other option except for what I'm speculating. We will invest. And obviously, you heard the US talking about investing in Ukraine.

Adesoji Iginla (47:32.865)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (47:42.286)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (47:44.04)
And the president was asked by some journalists if the US invests in Ukraine, but there's still conflict between them and Russia, would that not jeopardize US investments? And he said there would be no conflict if the US invests. All right? And I believe him. He's not going to put money, you know, his associates into that situation.

Adesoji Iginla (48:07.182)
So is with.

Milton Allimadi (48:14.396)
So I think once they agreed that they would invest in Congo, they also assured Shekade that there would be no conflict. And in fact, they've explicitly said that. Bulloosa said Rwanda and M23 must withdraw. And Kagama is not in a position to say we won't withdraw, right? Now, to make it worth his while,

Adesoji Iginla (48:39.328)
OK, so.

Milton Allimadi (48:44.417)
it appears they've agreed that some of the minerals would continue being shipped through Rwanda. And in fact, some of it would be processed, value added processing within Rwanda itself to create jobs in Rwanda. And he also included Uganda in that equation so that Museveni

clearly also has been told that we are coming in, we don't expect to be surprised by any bullets. And Museveni also is not in opposition. In other words, it's an offer neither of them can refuse, right? Museveni and Kagame. But in return, there also, there's going to be financial benefits for them.

Adesoji Iginla (49:22.67)
You

Adesoji Iginla (49:31.981)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (49:41.794)
So if I am in Chiquitita's shoes, if that is the deal, that is a deal that is preferable to being overthrown, you see? So let's say you have three years left on your term, and also this guy has like four years, right? So let's say both of you have, I think Chiquitita has four years left as well. So assuming that Trump,

Adesoji Iginla (50:06.158)
You have four years left.

Milton Allimadi (50:12.088)
completes his term and shekere also completes his term then shekere could use that time to build his own armed force something is not shown the capacity to do yet because this is a second time so what would you do in your first term but assuming he does that then at the end of four years it might not matter whether

whichever US administration comes after Trump, whether they would continue to honor this deal or not. Because by that time, if you have built your own military capacity, you may not want that deal to continue as is anyway. You may not say, well, you know what? Now we actually want to do all the processing within Congo. And now I have a military that can.

Adesoji Iginla (51:01.902)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (51:11.281)
secure my borders with Rwanda and Uganda. So those to me appear to be the options and the possibilities that lie ahead.

Adesoji Iginla (51:23.146)
OK. Let me finish this. I'll finish this piece. There's a piece there I want you to speak to. The Bezos Ed Fund has pledged to protect the Congo Basin, which the UN estimates stores about three years worth of global greenhouse gas emissions from degradation, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. With grants of 110 million US dollars, the Gates Foundation is supporting

agricultural programs in the region. What do you say to that?

Milton Allimadi (51:58.421)
Well, they could be giving the money, but there's definitely something in return as well. And sometimes you need to do public relations because on the one hand, we know that they're going to make serious money with the deal that the article, most of the article was discussing. So there's nothing surprising with that. $110 million is chicken feet.

to Jeff Bezos.

Adesoji Iginla (52:33.58)
Wow. OK. OK. Now, I actually, I was thinking, why would you entrust the chicken coop to the fox? But hey, it's one of those things. Because the Congo Basin is considered the second lung of the Earth after the Amazon Basin. So to consider capitalists as custodians,

of your lung. Okay? All right.

Milton Allimadi (53:06.065)
No, no, I mean, you're still going to need money from somewhere, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (53:10.132)
Yeah, but still, not at the cost of a lung. But hey.

Milton Allimadi (53:14.951)
No, mean, you know, he's not going to be supervising the operations himself. I mean, I'm sure the UN has some set of conditions that, you know, with him, I think it's mostly for public relation. They do that all the time. They do for causes to get the good right-of-media attention with the left hand and the right hand. They're stealing from your pocket with the other hand.

Adesoji Iginla (53:26.144)
okay.

Adesoji Iginla (53:32.204)
OK, so you think you.

Adesoji Iginla (53:37.41)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (53:43.47)
Okay, and for our final story, again, we stay with the Financial Times. And this is something you've already called, but I would love to hear your take on it now that it has happened. And it is titled, South Africa Scraps VAT Increase in Dramatic U-Turn After Coalition Rift. Finance Minister Forced Into Climb Down on Tax

rise after a bitter fight with governing partner. South Africa's finance minister has scrapped a controversial VAT increase in a big concession to the party's main governing partner after a fierce battle threatening to bring down the country's grand coalition. In a late night announcement, the finance minister Enogandu Gwana said the proposal to lift VAT from 15.5 to 16 %

over two years has been dropped after extensive consultations with political parties leaving a 75 billion that is a four billion dollar hole in South Africa's budget over the next three years. The move is the first big climb down after Go DoGwana's Africa's National Congress was forced into coalition government after last year's election having ruled South Africa alone for three decades. The result is a victory for all Africa taxpayers said Helen Zili.

chairman, or chair of the center right, chair of the center right democratic alliance, the coalition's second largest party. Asked by reporters whether Guadalcanal should stay in his job, Zilli said the fiasco should make a minister resign. He has fundamentally undermined the foundations of that coalition and acted contrary to every agreement we have made until now, she said. Your initial take.

Milton Allimadi (55:40.087)
Alright, so I'm disgusted on many levels, right?

Adesoji Iginla (55:44.878)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (55:48.301)
I'm disgusted because what percentage of people, particularly African people, right?

who read an article like this would be able to decipher what is really being said.

Adesoji Iginla (56:07.894)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (56:09.75)
So let me just deal with one quote alone, right?

Milton Allimadi (56:17.034)
The result is a, quote, victory for all South African taxpayers, end quote, said Helen Zille.

of the Center-Right Democratic Alliance, the coalition's second largest party. Alright, so let's break down this sentence, alright?

Milton Allimadi (56:42.568)
L.N. Zil.

It's a European South Africa. All right?

Adesoji Iginla (56:50.254)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (56:51.754)
the beneficiary.

of maybe six, seven generations.

Milton Allimadi (57:01.534)
of European family, right? If you trace our lineage, if he's from the original occupiers from the 17th century, who have accumulated so much tremendous wealth.

Adesoji Iginla (57:05.1)
Yeah, correct. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (57:14.638)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (57:21.692)
relative to Africans, right? And who still hold so much wealth and who enjoy high income levels and high standards of living, right? And she is here saying,

Victory for all South African taxpayers. Just think about that.

Milton Allimadi (57:46.731)
Hmm?

Milton Allimadi (57:50.237)
as if all South African taxpayers have the same level of wealth and income.

Milton Allimadi (57:59.657)
And that tells you the magnitude of the problem that South Africa faces, that white people face in South Africa, and where the ANC finds itself today. So that's what I meant when I said I'm disgusted on several levels. That's number one. Number two.

Just think about it.

Milton Allimadi (58:28.819)
in the 17th century.

the finance minister, Godongwana, right? Let's go back seven generations.

Milton Allimadi (58:44.319)
his father, mother, ancestral, going back six or seven generations.

They were displaced from some land somewhere.

Adesoji Iginla (58:57.986)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (58:59.477)
for the benefit of people that look like Zeal.

Adesoji Iginla (59:03.702)
So,

Milton Allimadi (59:06.931)
And we know for fact that in 1913...

although they made up almost 70 % of the population.

Milton Allimadi (59:17.351)
black people in South Africa were designated to occupy 4.5%.

Milton Allimadi (59:27.389)
of the land.

Milton Allimadi (59:31.247)
while the rest of the Fratella went to people that look like zeal.

Adesoji Iginla (59:31.288)
Barringland.

Milton Allimadi (59:38.185)
And now we come to 2025 and she's saying victory for all South African taxpayers, number one. And then she's being asked whether Godongwana, whose ancestors were kicked off land and impoverished, right, historically, whether he should keep his job or not.

Adesoji Iginla (59:59.414)
Yeah, correct.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:04.275)
You see? And you can only analyze it that way by knowing our history. You see?

So when I read something like that, I urge our people more and more, please read our history. And when I say our history, if you're in Kenya, I'm not saying just read about Kenya, the Kenyan land and freedom army, AKA, British demonized them and my mom. No, South African history as well. And you South Africans, read Kenyan history. Read the history of West Africa, East Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:26.286)
Kenya.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:42.971)
and see how we are all connected. And at the end of the day, we are suffering from the same people who benefited from the suffering of our ancestors. And with knowledge, then we are equipped with the skills to reverse this. Obviously, South Africa needs to raise money to cover their budget.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:55.2)
using the same playbook.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:09.212)
But the people that should be paying the taxes are people who look like zeal.

of people who occupy the same income bracket as a serial ramaphosa as well. Because there's the black South African bourgeoisie as well. Let them pay.

Of course the money can be raised, but they should not include all South African taxpayers. That's nonsense. So that's why that quote is very insulting. She knows what she's saying.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:39.414)
Yes, correct.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:48.086)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you said, if you're not conversant with the history, it's going to fly over your head. So when I was reading it, I was like, wow.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:58.28)
Yeah, because in the South, it's like something very fair. You're saving all South African taxpayers when all the money belongs to one particular ethnic group, pretty much. It's outrageous.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:11.0)
Group.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:16.736)
It's all of us, all of us, all of us. I'll take one final part from it. it's, yeah. Similar as it says, serial ramaphosa parties which portrays itself as progressive is left licking its wounds after putting its weight. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:18.631)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:33.574)
Okay, wait a minute, just pause the second. Pause.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:41.134)
And I want

That's why important for listeners, for viewers, audience, to always read everything carefully. Don't allow them to slip anything past you. So...

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:55.394)
You

Milton Allimadi (01:03:04.461)
in the interest of fairness. Let's go back up a little bit. I think there's one part where they described what, okay, there we go. Read that part.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:14.21)
the business friendly, which the business friendly, which argued that the country needed deep economic reforms, spending cuts rather than.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:23.245)
Okay. So here we are not told that the DA portrays itself as business friendly.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:30.638)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:32.079)
We are told matter of fact, the business friendly DA, blah, blah, blah, blah. Let's go back to the ANC.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:35.622)
business friendly.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:41.177)
Presidencial Number Four, sir. Ati.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:41.39)
President Reuven's serial morphosis party, which portrays its... You notice they didn't even mention the party. They didn't...

Milton Allimadi (01:03:46.679)
Is it progressive?

Is it progressive? No. Which portrays itself as progressive? Yet the DA does not portray itself as business friendly. The Financial Times are telling us as a matter of fact. You see the propaganda?

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:01.87)
He is.

It is.

It is business. It is business. It is. I mean, it's shocking.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:10.68)
It's amazing.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:15.084)
You know? But you know, listeners, you can become better and better at reading through the propaganda so that at some point nothing will skip your attention. And you'll be able to call them out just like that. On their crap.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:30.232)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:36.962)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:37.42)
And once we get all of us at that level.

We don't even have to tell them sometimes that, wait a minute, this is propaganda. We can also pretend that we are not understanding what they're trying to do. Because then when we're negotiating with them, that might actually be to our benefit because we end up knowing more about their mindset than they think we know. Obviously, sometimes it's important to tell them, I know what you're saying. Sometimes you don't have to.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:46.83)
you

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:52.387)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:55.862)
You

True.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:02.861)
Mmm.

Correct. Correct.

Milton Allimadi (01:05:11.224)
So you use it also based on your own judgment, you But you can't use it if you don't know what they're saying. That's the point I'm making.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:15.362)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:19.054)
True, true, true. I mean, it's the problem of Africa in the under the glare of Western journalism. It's often follow the pattern, the old colonial play, which is demonize and dehumanize them so that whatever it is we do thereafter, it's palatable to our general population.

You so you see it on the pages of newspapers. You see it with a general sitting before parliament. You see it even in the business deals. You know, you see it. And like I said, when Congo is mentioned, the issue of you don't even you don't hear about the people. You don't even know who is there. It's a see people don't exist. So.

And it begs the question, why? And that's the constant narrative. It's people who don't...

Milton Allimadi (01:06:22.722)
No, that part I'm not surprised about because I know for a fact that many Europeans don't consider Africans to be people. At least not like that. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:27.117)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:31.53)
OK. OK. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, true. I mean, you would know based on Brother Milton's book, Manufacturing Hate, how Europe was demonized in the media. Yes. I've forgotten that you've written about it. So sorry. So sorry that I should bring it up. Thank you for the reminder. Yes, they don't. They clearly don't. So I mean.

Milton Allimadi (01:06:43.564)
Thank you.

Milton Allimadi (01:06:57.74)
Yeah, but so long as we control the territory and the pride and the fail to make us disappear, like sadly they did to many indigenous populations in the so-called new world, they failed to do that in Africa. We are here to stay. We are really here to stay, whether they like it or not.

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:01.634)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:11.426)
Hmm. Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:21.07)
Speaking of here to stay, African News Review 2 is here to stay. And we hope to continue doing this for as long as we have breath in our bodies. And again, I must thank Comrade for turning in week in, week out with the books, with the references, with the analysis. We owe you a debt of gratitude.

Milton Allimadi (01:07:47.22)
Yes, we will accomplish. We will accomplish. Now I'm sure there already a few people who now read or listen to European media in a different way. Even if it's just one person that we've impacted so far, you know, that is already an achievement, right?

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:47.604)
And yes. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:07.978)
As one person many. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So yeah, any last words?

Milton Allimadi (01:08:19.261)
As I always say, as Brother Samura Machel said, Aluta Continua.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:27.074)
Victoria Setta. And I have to go with the words of Thomas Sankara. know, the population is, Africa's population is filled largely with women, and we must continue to underscore the role of women in our society. And as he said, women are the mothers of a revolution. And yes, we do hold another podcast on this channel.

Milton Allimadi (01:08:28.5)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:57.228)
And we'll be having, but this Tuesday as opposed to Wednesday due to conflicts in our shadow. So this week we'll be looking, this week Tuesday at 7 PM Eastern, we'll be looking at the lives and times of Winnie Mandela on the Women and Resistance podcast. The lives and times of Winnie Mandela. So join us, join sister Aya and I myself on Tuesday.

7pm Eastern for Women and Resistance focusing this time on Winnie Mandela. So you've heard from the comrades and from myself it's good night and see you next week and have a prosperous week ahead. Good night for now.