EP 6 Deportations, Dictators and Decisive Bans I African News Review 🌍

In this episode of African News Review, hosts Adesoji Iginla and Milton Allimadi discuss significant African stories covered in the Western press. The conversation begins with a critical analysis of Rwanda's deportation deal with the U.S., drawing parallels with Britain's failed attempts. They explore the implications of such policies on human rights and the historical context of Rwanda's political landscape. 

The discussion then shifts to Uganda's political turmoil, focusing on the actions of President Museveni's son against opposition leader Bobby Wine. Finally, they address the electoral crisis in Ivory Coast, highlighting Tijani Thiam's disqualification from the presidential race and the broader implications for democracy in the region. 

The conversation delves into the political landscape of Ivory Coast, highlighting the ironies and ethnic tensions that shape its governance. It examines the impact of international stakeholders, particularly France, and the role of youth in promoting African unity. 

The dialogue also critiques media bias in global narratives, particularly regarding Ukraine's efforts to gain support in Africa amidst historical ties with Russia. 

The need for food independence in Africa is emphasised, alongside reflections on racism and the importance of African agency and identity in the global context.

Takeaways

*Rwanda's deportation deal reflects a troubling trend in migration policy.
*The historical context of Rwanda's political violence complicates its current actions.
*The financial costs of deportation policies can be exorbitant and ineffective.
*Uganda's political landscape is marked by violence and repression against the opposition.
*Bobby Wine's challenges symbolise the struggle for democracy in Uganda.
*International stakeholders play a crucial role in African electoral processes.
*The lack of empathy in Western media coverage of Africa is evident.
*Rwanda's willingness to accept deportees raises ethical concerns.
*Museveni's regime is characterised by authoritarianism and human rights abuses.
*Tijani Thiam's disqualification highlights the fragility of democracy in Ivory Coast. 
*Political irony is prevalent in Ivory Coast's leadership.
*Ethnic tensions can lead to significant political consequences.
*International stakeholders play a crucial role in African politics.
*Youth engagement is vital for African unity and progress.
*Media bias significantly impacts global perceptions of Africa.
*Ukraine's struggle for support in Africa highlights historical ties with Russia.
*Food independence is essential for African nations.
*Historical legacies influence modern diplomatic relations.
*Racism impacts global solidarity efforts.
*African agency is crucial in shaping its identity and future.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to African News Review
00:59 Rwanda's Deportation Deal and Its Implications
10:10 The Cost and Capacity of Rwanda's Deportation Policy
19:05 Uganda's Political Turmoil and Bobby Wine's Challenge
28:12 Ivory Coast's Electoral Crisis and Tijani Thiam's Ban
36:59 Political Ironies in Ivory Coast
39:14 Ethnic Tensions and Political Consequences
41:04 International Stakeholders and Their Influence
44:44 The Role of Youth in African Unity
46:04 Media Bias and Global Perceptions
50:05 Ukraine's Struggles for African Support
54:00 The Need for Food Independence in Africa
01:01:31 Historical Ties and Modern Diplomacy
01:03:02 Racism and Global Solidarity
01:06:24 Reflections on African Agency and Identity

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:02.036)
Greetings, greetings and welcome to another episode of African News Review. I am your host as usual, Desoji Iginla and with me is a good comrade, comrade Milti Alimadi, editor of Blackstar News and author of How Europe Was Demonized in the Western Media. Welcome comrade.

Milton Allimadi (00:27.888)
Karibu, Karibu. Asa'at al-fana.

Adesoji Iginla (00:29.534)
Yes. Yes. So African News Review, as we all know, is your regular program where we unpack African stories in the Western press and sort of bring clarity to the complex realities shaping the African continent. And without further ado, I will go into our first story, which is from the New York Times. And it reads, Four Lessons for Trump.

I would love to see what your thoughts are on story. So it reads.

Four lessons for Trump from Britain's failed Rwanda deportation deal. And he goes on. The lead says, the United States is set to be in talks with the African country about taking in expel migrants. There may be lessons in London's experience, it says. And he goes on. On Sunday, Rwanda's foreign minister said his country was in early stage talks with the Trump administration about a deal to take in migrants deported from the United States.

That news had a familiar ring in Britain, where the former conservative-led government agreed to a deal in 2022 to permanently deport asylum seekers to Rwanda and then spent two years and hundreds of millions of pounds trying largely fruitlessly to make the plan happen. When Britain's highest court ruled that the process broke human rights law,

The conservative government tried to use new legislation to override the judgment. In the end, the policy proved an almost complete failure, and the new Labour government, which was elected last year, scrapped it, citing its huge expense and unworkability. Your initial thoughts?

Milton Allimadi (02:25.739)
Well, you know, it's very sad to see an African country having to prostitute itself in such a way.

Adesoji Iginla (02:33.77)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (02:35.584)
because, and sadly, in the particular case of Rwanda.

Adesoji Iginla (02:40.551)
Rwanda?

Milton Allimadi (02:42.474)
Rwanda has a history that is characterized by much violence and political upheaval beginning immediately from independence when the monarchy at that time, which had been a Tutsi monarchy, was overthrown by the majority Hutu population. And there was mass killings, occasion that

Revolution and tens of thousands of Tutsi had to flee. They fled to Uganda primarily, they fled to Congo, they fled to Tanzania, and some fled to Kenya as well. So now, and they fled seeking what? Shelter and safety.

Adesoji Iginla (03:26.154)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (03:37.684)
show to.

Milton Allimadi (03:41.854)
from the killings that were ongoing in Rwanda. So to see Rwanda today adopting such a policy where people for whatever reason are seeking sanctuary in other parts of the world, you discussed the case of people that were coming to the United Kingdom. And now,

Adesoji Iginla (03:47.882)
by the time you need it.

Milton Allimadi (04:10.47)
We are discussing the case of people coming to the United States. So now for Rwanda to say that they would be willing to accept these people when these people did not seek to flee to Rwanda, right, they made their own judgment to go to the UK or to go to the US. And then given Rwanda's own particular history, it does not get any more tragic.

and ironic than this. So that's my first observation. And then my second observation is this. This is

Adesoji Iginla (04:44.744)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (04:51.368)
slave trade in reverse.

Milton Allimadi (04:57.552)
Now people are being sold off to an African country. Let's think about that. That's what it is. No matter how you couch it, Rwanda is not taking these individuals for free.

Rwanda is not saying, this is the safest place in the world. Why are you fleeing to the UK? Why are you going to the United States? Come here to Rwanda and we'll take care of you. And you live in peace and harmony. No, this is a commercial deal.

Adesoji Iginla (05:17.908)
humanitarian. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (05:38.311)
So these two ironic observations are what I find most disturbing. Everything else is just details, minor details of minor interest compared to the context that I just provided.

Adesoji Iginla (05:48.17)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (05:54.25)
I mean, you would get the chance to flesh out that context a little bit more in the sense that if we go further down the article, there is a part there that stood out. I mean, breaking in the lessons, if you take them one by one and sort of explain it to our audience, one was the fact that it could be expensive. That's to the United States. The British government spent 715 million pounds.

I repeat, £715 million, about $955 million on the plan, which he claimed would deter illegal migration, as well as another £290 million paid directly to the Rwandan government. Millions more went on preparing deportation flights, readying detention centres and IT systems, and paying for staff and legal costs. In the end, in the end, only four

I repeat, only four migrants ended up being sent to Rwanda and they went voluntarily and were paid £3,000 each to do so. Your thoughts on that aspect? I know probably that would not play well in the US media.

Milton Allimadi (07:13.878)
No, absolutely not. And in fact, but I mean, the UK case was a bit complicated because of the legal challenges, right? In this particular case, it's possible that people would just be loaded on military cargo planes or commercial planes and flown to Kigali by the United States.

Adesoji Iginla (07:29.044)
Correct, correct.

Adesoji Iginla (07:43.678)
because the state is, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (07:43.989)
since the current president, Trump, has shown that he's willing to defy the courts anyway, you see? So that's the difference. Now in terms of the cost, isn't it true that Rwanda was paid about $300 million? All right, so, and four people went, right? That means

Adesoji Iginla (07:52.603)
Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (08:04.574)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (08:10.122)
You

Milton Allimadi (08:12.446)
It was $75 million per person, right? That's what it costs. You see? Right. So, know, all right, this is, you know, here's the interesting thing.

Adesoji Iginla (08:15.657)
Yeah?

Did you put one?

Milton Allimadi (08:28.095)
I think.

the Republicans are going to suffer such a resounding defeat in the midterm elections that a lot of the policies that we are seeing now being implemented, being discussed under President Trump, I think a lot of the is going to be shelved in two years time when they have midterm elections because the midterm

Adesoji Iginla (08:39.722)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (08:43.827)
We'll be reversed.

Milton Allimadi (08:59.892)
elections have generally been a good barometer, a good gauge of what is to come two years later when they have the presidential election.

Adesoji Iginla (09:13.554)
Okay, okay. I will go on and the next one says, Rwanda probably can't take large numbers of deportees, which is the point you were making earlier. The Central African country is only about 10,000 square miles in size, about the same size as Massachusetts.

Milton Allimadi (09:34.954)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (09:40.084)
Trump administration has not disclosed how many people it might want to send to Rwanda, which is already one of the most densely populated nations. During the British Supreme Court hearing in 2023, a lawyer representing the government acknowledged that the number of asylum seekers that Rwanda could take was initially low and cited a need for capacity building in the country.

Now, based on that alone, how is it that you want to then go and pour another sort of mix into an already chaotic situation?

Milton Allimadi (10:23.144)
Well, I personally think that if they go ahead and accept people, well, they will, they're negotiating for it, right? And they're going to be receiving money. They would probably send some of the people to third party countries. And in the case of Rwanda, they would most likely send them to neighboring Uganda, where you also have a very corrupt regime.

Adesoji Iginla (10:29.342)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, correct. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (10:41.556)
Hahaha

Adesoji Iginla (10:47.37)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (10:51.712)
under General Moussafeni. And what might happen is if you offer some of that money to Ugandan officials, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to accept some of these individuals, which of course raises the entire question. What really will happen to these individuals that are going to be deported to Toronto?

Adesoji Iginla (11:00.778)
you

to play the host.

And I think...

Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (11:18.088)
Hmm. Okay. So which leads me to the next point. Under an Israeli deal, migrants sent to Rwanda disappeared. An agreement with Washington should be the latest in a series of migration agreements struck by Rwanda. The African nation already host hundreds of African refugees from Libya who are awaiting resettlement under a deal agreed six years ago

with the United Nations Refugee Agency and the African Union. The British treaty was never fully tested before being scrapped, but a circuitive agreement signed with Israel in 2013 operated for five years before being ruled unlawful by the Israeli Supreme Court. Details of that agreement were discussed during the court's battle in Britain. Under the Israeli deal, Eritrean and Sudanese

asylum seekers who had sought refuge in Israel were deported to Rwanda with explicit undertakings that their claim be considered and will enjoy humanitarian freedoms according to documents provided in evidence during the British court hearings. But the British justice found that Rwanda had not complied with those assurances and that asylum seekers deported by Israel were routinely moved clandestinely.

to Uganda by driving to the border and put either put driven to the border or put on flights, which is what you said earlier.

Milton Allimadi (12:57.213)
Now listen, regardless of what we just read, I think people need to reflect more on this, right? Kagame grew up in Uganda.

Paul Kagame, General Paul Kagame, who is the ruler of Rwanda today, his family fled those massacres that I just mentioned at the time Rwanda became independent. Uganda did not say, okay, these families, we are going to ship them off to a third country. Which country might have returned them back to Rwanda? And what knows what would have happened under those circumstances, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (13:12.874)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (13:30.686)
to Morocco.

Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (13:39.007)
So when it comes to people seeking asylum, we should not be playing games with their lives. This is very serious. And it's very shocking and ironic that you find an African country so desperate for diplomatic accommodation with the United States, desperate for sources of revenue so that the government can function, coming up with these elaborate schemes.

Adesoji Iginla (13:43.05)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (14:08.638)
of trading in human beings, of reverse slavery to raise monies in order to function. It's a very sad state of affairs for an African country, specifically Rwanda, but for Africa in general as well.

Adesoji Iginla (14:27.834)
Mm. Mm.

Can I ask you to comment on the title of this piece in the New York Times? And the reason I say that is what drew my mind to it was, I hope I'm reading it wrong, when it says four, and I'll go back, it says, when it says four lessons,

four lessons from Britain's failed Rwanda's deportation deal. Is this supposed to be a coaching manual?

Milton Allimadi (15:06.668)
Well, you know what and I'm glad you put it that way because You know, it really goes back to reinforce mine My point about reverse slavery reverse slave trade when Africans Commodified or non Europeans are commodified right a lot of the people that are going to be shipped off to

Adesoji Iginla (15:19.018)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (15:28.564)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (15:34.619)
to Rwanda are going to be non-European people, right? So if you want to learn how to be engaged in a slave trade efficiently, then you do need a manual. And I'm glad you caught that. And these are the instructions and guidelines. A manual of how to engage in slavery efficiently based on lessons of the United Kingdom.

Adesoji Iginla (15:35.114)
through Rwanda.

Adesoji Iginla (15:55.354)
Because... Yeah!

Adesoji Iginla (16:03.914)
And it goes back to this thing that we keep putting out there week after week, is the fact that history not only rhymes, it repeats itself.

Milton Allimadi (16:15.77)
all the time, especially if you are not informed of the history that our people have endured. You you fail to see the repetition and you fail to capture the subtlety. But you know, that's the purpose of this platform. And I assure people that the more we interact with you, the much more efficient you're going to become. In reading,

Adesoji Iginla (16:21.065)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (16:28.734)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (16:40.617)
Mm.

Yes.

Milton Allimadi (16:44.791)
what they write because sometimes here's a good thing.

Sometimes the lack of empathy, whether it's racist, paternalistic, or what have you, is so deep-seated that they don't even realize it.

Adesoji Iginla (17:04.17)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (17:05.384)
don't realize it. I'm not saying that exonerates that, right? But the good thing is they don't realize it, so they write in a way that we can actually analyze and read their state of mind, or at least their attitude toward African people. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (17:08.638)
Yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (17:24.444)
Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Because I mean, if you title a headline like that, Four Lessons, you're not saying, how inhumane the idea is that you're farming people out to a third country.

Milton Allimadi (17:37.023)
Of course not. Now, you're saying if you're going to do it, they're showing you the lesson. Right. But because it shows that they don't have anybody on their editorial staff who's willing to and who would not be able to articulate what we are saying right now, you see? And then say, you know what? There's a problem with this headline. And then they would say why?

Adesoji Iginla (17:42.046)
this is how you should do it.

Adesoji Iginla (17:50.366)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (18:05.686)
and then you'll be able to explain to them. It shows you the kind of people that they have staffing and institutional background.

Adesoji Iginla (18:16.67)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (18:18.047)
But it's not specifically just that, so you can't hold them out. It's a very generalized lack of knowledge about Africa, lack of concern about Africa. Even the ones who think that they are progressive and enlightened, to a large measure, they actually are not. You know, because you have to go out of your way to know the true Africa, the true history of Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (18:22.666)
Correct?

Adesoji Iginla (18:40.382)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (18:47.54)
And that would then reorient your perception exactly toward Africa, toward Africa, toward African history, and toward situations that Africans encounter in their daily existence, see.

Adesoji Iginla (18:51.772)
into you thinking yeah

Adesoji Iginla (19:05.353)
Okay. And so thank you for that. We go to our next story from the Financial Times and it reads

Adesoji Iginla (19:20.33)
wait a second.

It's from the great country called Uganda. And it's anger in Uganda after Lida's son claimed he abducted rivals bodyguard. The lead says, crat down on Bobby Wines and his supporters by military chief, seen as undermining stability in East Africa. And it goes on. President Yoweri Museveni's son, who is also Uganda's military chief,

Milton Allimadi (19:28.212)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (19:54.206)
has sparked outrage by claiming responsibility for the detention of opposition leaders Bobby Wine's bodyguard and threatening to castrate him. In a string of posts, the general Moheze, who is often touted in a potential successor to his 80-year-old father, said he was holding Eddie Mutwe, Wine's bodyguard, in his basement.

and he said he would be coming for the opposition leader himself next. He posted a picture of Moise undressed and with his beard shaved off.

Milton Allimadi (20:37.17)
No, no, ahead.

Adesoji Iginla (20:38.886)
Okay, I thought you wanted to say something. And he continues. So.

goes, Mosveni is initially presided over a long period, a long political economic recovery with Uganda becoming a key Western ally, but soon developed into, you know, the usual story. Bobby Wine, a former pop star whose original name is Robert Kusongweni, has been the main challenger in the 2021 elections. He himself has been jailed and beaten on many occasions.

Milton Allimadi (21:03.953)
You're right.

Adesoji Iginla (21:18.536)
So I mean, this is the latest salvo with regards to harassment and what have you. But why is this case very different?

Milton Allimadi (21:29.297)
Alright, well, I guess it's different because this is the chief bodyguard. And so you have this general, I call him the deputy dictator, admitting that I have him, I kidnapped him, and I am...and he also said, yes, she's tortured him.

Adesoji Iginla (21:40.362)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (21:53.801)
Yes, you did.

Milton Allimadi (21:56.406)
and, you know, they say threatened to castrate him. But, know, and people should not make the mistake to read this as erratic behavior by an individual who happens to be the son of the dictator and who is the commander of the Ugandan army.

Adesoji Iginla (22:00.392)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (22:21.219)
These are actions that are either initiated or at least authorized by Museveni himself. And what he's, in my assessment, what he's trying to do is trying to test the waters of how people will react when we come to next year's election, which is scheduled for sometime in January, 2026. So he's testing the waters.

Adesoji Iginla (22:43.274)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (22:47.69)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (22:50.038)
see how supporters of Bobby Wine will react, how the international community will react, and how the population in general would react. These are precisely some of the measures that he is contemplating to execute next year, either in terms of apprehending the key people around Bobby Wine, including his top security guy.

Adesoji Iginla (23:08.97)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (23:19.126)
like this individual, Edi Mutwair, or how would people react if he were to lock Bobby Wine himself up as well. He's testing the ground. And it's very sad because it shows you how selfish this dictator really is. He says, he doesn't care about his son at all. It's all about him all the time. And Ugandans talk about this all the time.

doesn't care about his son, doesn't care about his family. It's all about what it's good for a general of a certain. And why am I saying this?

Adesoji Iginla (23:50.792)
Him. You're worried. Okay?

Milton Allimadi (23:58.281)
Even the sons of Saddam Hussein would never admit that they kidnapped, let alone tortured an individual. Just think about that carefully, right?

Adesoji Iginla (24:13.386)
Choo choo choo.

Milton Allimadi (24:14.378)
Because once this individual, and that's where it's going to end up eventually, once this individual, General Mujozi, ends up before a tribunal or the International Criminal Court.

Adesoji Iginla (24:27.754)
criminal court.

Milton Allimadi (24:30.403)
They don't even need witnesses. They're going to use his own words, right, to convict him. And this is not the first time that he's admitted. He had made many instances. He's admitted. He said this is what he wants to do. He's posted several occasions that he wants to behead Bobby Wine. If it was not for his father, Bobby Wine would be dead by now.

Adesoji Iginla (24:35.594)
Mmm, mmm.

Milton Allimadi (25:00.608)
So he's tweeted those kinds of tweets. But now he's saying, I actually kidnapped somebody and I actually tortured him and he's in my basement. You see, think about that. And yet he remains the commander of the national army of Uganda. And his boss is his father, the commander in chief, General Uedibu Sarvani. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (25:07.828)
somebody, yeah, and touch. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (25:20.746)
the yuga.

Adesoji Iginla (25:29.802)
Okay, so you said there is going to be an election in January of 2026. Yowari Misuveni is in his 80s. Could it be a way of preparing for a dynastic rule handover? Because if the sun is now front and center,

Milton Allimadi (25:53.587)
You can't hand over unless you have a military coup d'etat and he takes power that way. Because the only other ways for him to run and nobody, okay, so his father is already president, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (26:11.69)
Yeah, correct.

Milton Allimadi (26:14.824)
And his father has been rigging elections. But it's different to rig from the incumbency. But for you who never been president, which is his son, to come there and rig, there some people who have benefited from his father's long rule, right? So those people may want him to continue.

Adesoji Iginla (26:19.764)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (26:28.777)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (26:38.258)
as a correct correct that's usually the case yeah

Milton Allimadi (26:45.321)
So their benefits would continue. So those could vote for General Mousavi. So he would get some votes. It would not be a zero, right? Even though Bobby Wine would still defeat him, overwhelmingly, as Bobby Wine did in 2021. And General Mousavi just refused to yield power. So I'm saying all this to suggest that nobody believes that anyone would vote for Mouhazi. Who demonstrated

Adesoji Iginla (26:54.994)
Okay. Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (27:05.213)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (27:12.49)
Mmm. Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (27:15.738)
not only cruelty, but erratic and almost insane behavior, you see? So it's very difficult to see how he can end up being in power in Uganda unless it's through a military coup d'etat. And that itself is a challenge for him because many elements in the military really detest him because they know he only became a general and commander of the army.

Adesoji Iginla (27:22.916)
Mm. Mm. Mm.

Milton Allimadi (27:45.607)
because of his father. One of the many qualified professional soldiers and generals in the army. So I don't even see how he would be able to sustain, even if he executes a coup d'etat and says, oh, I'm the president now, you know, like a palace sort of coup d'etat so he could take care of his father. I don't think that would be sustainable because there's so much opposition in the army. Right. Exactly. Right.

Adesoji Iginla (27:45.706)
because of his daddy.

Adesoji Iginla (28:12.11)
So it doesn't have that kind of clout. Okay. So one final question on the Ugandan position. Do you think the external powers can lean on the father to say enough is enough with regards to his reign? Okay.

Milton Allimadi (28:32.355)
very possible. Very possible. They may not be able to prevent him from running because that's really the only way that we can preempt any possible mass bloodshed following the election. I think the young people have really had enough. If you were to rig another election, I think we would see

Adesoji Iginla (28:41.748)
from running.

Milton Allimadi (29:01.593)
you know, serious upheaval. So that would be the ideal way, that he not even run in the elections. I can't see him running and accepting defeat because that would be another possible way to cool things down. Run and say, okay, I've had a long run.

Adesoji Iginla (29:04.02)
Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (29:12.254)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (29:22.122)
Mm.

So.

I was beaten.

Milton Allimadi (29:29.254)
I've had a long run. It seems that the people have selected somebody else. because the key thing is, the key thing is he wants some assurance that there is no retribution against him and his family personally, right?

Adesoji Iginla (29:36.05)
You think he's humble enough to accept that?

Adesoji Iginla (29:51.284)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (29:52.974)
So what would it take?

for there not to be retribution, you see? And that's the key question. It's very hard to see him, especially when his son continues doing this kind of behavior, which I believe would not happen if it's not authorized by the father himself. So when you're doing these type of atrocities and you still want to say,

Adesoji Iginla (29:59.976)
Mm-hmm

Adesoji Iginla (30:11.85)
The behavior,

Milton Allimadi (30:24.428)
I'm willing to step down from politics and retire in my farm in Uganda and continue living in Uganda, you make it very difficult, you see? You make it very difficult. He's not shown the signs of a man who wants to pave the way for peaceful transition. You would not have these types of behaviors if that was what was going on in his mind, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (30:34.728)
Hmm. Because of the history.

Milton Allimadi (30:54.145)
So is he saying, and then, know, it's interesting, it reminds me of a remark that a US senator actually told me. said, listen, we know, we said that he wants to remain the ruler of Uganda, the president, because he thinks that's the only way he can protect himself, his family, and the ill-gotten wealth. That's what a US senator is saying. Think about it. You know?

Adesoji Iginla (30:54.665)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (31:21.495)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (31:21.994)
well. Well, mean, what else is there to say? That's the usual dictator playbook. It's the... Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (31:32.778)
Right. Unless it's another possible scenario. you know this guy that they sent to pave the way for negotiations between Rwanda and Congo, you know, Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump's daughter. Right.

Adesoji Iginla (31:45.34)
and Congo.

Adesoji Iginla (31:52.306)
Trump's, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (31:56.769)
Unless he says to Trump that listen, because this is a transactional presidency, right? What's in it for us? If he says these deals could actually benefit us a lot, but this guy, because of the potential political instability in Uganda, could cause problems for these deals. So I think we need to screen

Adesoji Iginla (32:06.259)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (32:20.127)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (32:25.226)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (32:26.075)
squeeze this guy out of the picture. So if it comes from that, because it might jeopardize financial benefits to Trump or his administration, if Boulos captures that that way, that is another possibility. You see? Then they might be able to squeeze him sufficiently.

Adesoji Iginla (32:41.417)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (32:50.822)
you know but you know most veni will keep his head down that might be the case

Milton Allimadi (32:57.824)
And that is a problem. And that's the problem. At the end of the day, yeah, of course, he'll never be a Mandela, he'll never be a Krumah, he'll never be a Samora, even a Kaunda, even Mugabe with his overstaying office, he's still way above Museveni in terms of his credentials from the Parisian War.

Adesoji Iginla (33:00.358)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (33:27.934)
the land reform and all that. So he'll never be in that caliber or circles. But at the same time, I'm not sure if he wants to be in the same caliber as General Burhan in Sudan or General Hemeti, the leader of the RSF in Sudan or Syed Bari of Somalia, the country completely ruined.

Adesoji Iginla (33:30.93)
Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (33:46.366)
Is it done?

Adesoji Iginla (33:52.401)
in Somalia.

Milton Allimadi (33:57.371)
because of the aftermath of his overthrow. Does he want to be in those circles and discussed in the same way? I doubt it. So perhaps he may surprise people. Perhaps he may surprise people. Otherwise, of course, he'll end up being discussed in the same circles as Burhan, Hamedi, Syed Mare, and all those who are completely

Adesoji Iginla (34:02.364)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (34:08.489)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (34:13.811)
Wow.

Adesoji Iginla (34:24.938)
Hosni Mubarak.

Milton Allimadi (34:26.822)
ruined and destroyed an African country.

Adesoji Iginla (34:30.772)
Hmm. Okay. Yeah. So, speaking of ruin, someone's political career has been ruined. And for that story, we go, we stay with the financial times and it's

And it reads, ex-Swiss chief Tijani Thiam vows to fight Ivory Coast electoral ban. goes, Ivorian opposition leader and former Credit Suisse chief executive Tijani Thiam has said he would use every legal means to fight a ruling that has barred him from running for president later this year.

a court in Ivory Coast commercial capital of Abidjan. This week, Rue Thiam, who returned to Ivorian politics in 2023 after leaving Credit Suisse following a corporate espionage scandal, should be struck off the electoral roll because he was a French citizen at the time of his registration. Thiam told the Financial Times that the decision was a travesty.

accusing the ruling rally of Hovhoye Buoyidze for democracy and peace, a campaign to orchestrate his removal from the electoral register and sideline him ahead of the October elections. Though the decision cannot be appealed, leaving Tiam with limited options in the court. Now there is a part here, okay yeah. Tiam has also called on Ivory Coast

international stakeholders. To support democracy in his country, the region is on a democratic evolution and not in a very good place, Thiam said. Another electoral crisis is in nobody's interest, regionally or internationally. What do you make of that? First his candidature being dismissed and then the fact that he's now calling out on

Milton Allimadi (36:36.908)
Well...

Adesoji Iginla (36:44.722)
international stakeholders, whoever those are.

Milton Allimadi (36:47.084)
Right. Right. And in the case of Ivory Coast, it makes sense because it's very well linked, hooked up to the Western capitalist system, you see, even much more tightly than most African countries. So that explains the statement about the international stakeholders. Now, in terms of him being ruled ineligible,

Adesoji Iginla (36:59.976)
Yeah, correct.

Adesoji Iginla (37:10.994)
Azure stakeholders.

Adesoji Iginla (37:16.362)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (37:17.012)
It is very ironic, you know, I don't know, you know, that it is uncommon for people in Ivory Coast to either identify or to see themselves as or to actually be French citizens, right? So to use that as the something to disqualify him.

is completely preposterous, you see? And now, this is an individual who's been outside the country for long time, right? But in the past, I think he had also been a part of the government in the past. So, depending on the level of popularity that he has, I think we have not heard the last of this story. I don't think this is the of story.

Adesoji Iginla (37:50.91)
Mmm

Adesoji Iginla (37:55.934)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (38:02.494)
Correct. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (38:10.1)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (38:15.478)
And then of course, it's so ironic that the president, President Qutada, is the one who is implementing something like this. This is the same individual who was initially barred from running for the presidency because he was accused of being a Bukinabe from Bukino Faso. And that actually led

Adesoji Iginla (38:26.634)
What?

Adesoji Iginla (38:37.482)
What I be?

Milton Allimadi (38:45.248)
to beginning of a civil war in the Ivory Coast. So now this same individual who went through that test of fire is now trying to start playing this game again in the Ivory Coast. I mean, is it because he's 83 and some of his faculty is now compromised? I can't understand it.

Adesoji Iginla (38:47.828)
civil war yet.

to unseat Lawrence Bagbo.

Adesoji Iginla (39:01.288)
Yes?

Adesoji Iginla (39:09.866)
Fuck off.

Milton Allimadi (39:14.565)
Why risk something like that when you saw the consequences of what happened? When you initially, when your citizenship was questioned, you see, and you blame Laurent Goubabou for that, you're saying, know, playing the ethnic card, causing instability, leading the country to war, and now you're doing the exact very same thing. And by the way,

Adesoji Iginla (39:21.194)
Correct, correct.

Adesoji Iginla (39:27.486)
Yeah? Yeah?

Adesoji Iginla (39:33.578)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (39:39.626)
Correct?

Milton Allimadi (39:44.914)
There are questions as to whether he should be president right now. see? There's a whole question about whether the last time he ran, was he eligible to run? And now, as a result, he's serving a third term in office, which is one of the main reasons why he also went to war with Babel and the French became involved.

Adesoji Iginla (39:51.178)
Please tell.

Milton Allimadi (40:12.72)
because they were saying that Babel not only was he not recognizing outcome of an election, but he also did not believe in term limits. This is just mind-boggling, to say the least.

Adesoji Iginla (40:25.962)
I was like the story jumped out at me. was everything here that you accused TM of being is projection. So in this case, we can say projection is actually a confession. One, you you, you.

Milton Allimadi (40:40.562)
Yeah, but you're right. When it comes to the international stakeholders, they could make a difference. And the international stakeholders, of course, when they say stakeholders, actually stakeholder. And that, of course, is France, right?

Adesoji Iginla (40:45.642)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (40:49.278)
Yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (40:57.802)
Ha!

Adesoji Iginla (41:02.506)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (41:04.23)
So that of course is France. And if he's acceptable to France, if this challenger is acceptable to France, then we might see, you know, even though they say the court ruling cannot be challenged, that may still not be the last word. You know, it may not be the last word in all of this, you know. And Ivory Coast is so dependent, unlike, and the guy is also saying,

Adesoji Iginla (41:07.998)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (41:14.73)
A change of heart?

Adesoji Iginla (41:20.874)
Yeah.

Correct. Yeah.

And so, again...

Milton Allimadi (41:35.824)
You if you listen carefully to what you've read, he's saying, given what we see happening in this region, we don't want to go there, you see? We don't want to go there. So let's stick to the rules and allow me to run. And if I win, I win. He's saying all of those in a very well-packaged way, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (41:45.392)
Jun, yes? Yes?

Adesoji Iginla (41:56.49)
You

Adesoji Iginla (42:02.282)
you

Milton Allimadi (42:04.722)
you

Adesoji Iginla (42:05.642)
There was also something else that is there that although you have to be conversant with the history of that region to be well aware of it. The path he followed in terms of his financial background, the fact that he's worked for companies outside of Cote d'Ivoire. the same, thank you very much. And the same as C.V. Olympia.

Milton Allimadi (42:26.416)
Yep, it's the same as Katak.

Adesoji Iginla (42:34.698)
So for those who don't know, Sivio Olimpio was the first prime minister of Togo. He was assassinated during a coup led by Yasikbe Iyadema, actually assassinated outside the United States embassy. But I say that to say this.

Milton Allimadi (42:55.469)
No, actually, that was a, I think it's like a misinformation campaign to make the US seem less culpable. It subsequently came out, I'm not sure if it's in Susan Williams' book also, but it's somewhere out there, that it actually made it inside the premises of the movement. Exactly. Right.

Adesoji Iginla (43:04.734)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (43:18.694)
Yeah, he was thrown out. Yeah, he was thrown out. Yeah, he was thrown out. Yeah, that's yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you were right. Hands off. Yeah, correct. Correct. Correct. Correct. Correct. Yeah. So it follows the same path as hopefully he doesn't end up that way anyway. But it follows the same path as severe limpio because severe limpio wanted a break and the man is saying here that there is there's an evolution of democracy.

Milton Allimadi (43:24.407)
Right. So they make it appear as if he failed to access, you know, that's amazing.

Adesoji Iginla (43:48.296)
So he's saying almost that the people yearn for something, don't get in the way of it. Because if you do, you know, it's not going to be palatable for everyone. So again,

Milton Allimadi (44:03.981)
Yeah, ivory corns would end up joining the alliance of Sahel states, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (44:08.584)
Sahel states, yes. And will the French be, so when he was talking about international stakeholders, yes, yes, yes.

Milton Allimadi (44:17.025)
Yeah, he's giving them an alternative, right? I'm your best bet to prevent an Ibrahim Tuareg. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (44:26.772)
from coming in here exactly and upsetting the cart. Yes, I might make some reforms that will cost you a few percentages on your interest rates, on your taxes, but I am not, yes, but I am not as extreme as Ibrahim Drahooré. So let me get, know. So any final thoughts on that?

Milton Allimadi (44:35.638)
guys.

That's precisely what he said.

Milton Allimadi (44:44.969)
Absolutely.

Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (44:53.204)
no, listen, we don't need any of the kind of upheaval, the civil war we saw in the Ivory Coast. I don't want any conflicts in African countries at all. None of us want to see that. Yeah, we want... The only conversation that I want young people to be involved in is how do we erase these borders, How do we erase these borders so we can start realizing our potential?

Adesoji Iginla (45:00.767)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (45:06.172)
Okay. Correct. Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (45:18.602)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (45:22.826)
as Africans, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (45:22.858)
Yes, yes. Because I mean, there is a model that was copied, part of the original plan that Nkrumah had, that was copied by the European Union, and has since been copied by nearly everyone except implemented by Africans themselves. But that's another conversation.

Milton Allimadi (45:34.048)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (45:47.4)
Yeah, for our final, we've come to our final story and we go to your favorite magazine, The Economists.

Milton Allimadi (45:58.697)
It's interesting. I'm glad you said my favorite brand. Can remember last year?

Adesoji Iginla (46:04.458)
Yeah

Milton Allimadi (46:05.77)
Most of my tweets, when in reference to the economists, I was always attacking them for their anti-China bias. Every week almost, or every other week, there's something China on the front, right? China, China, China, China. And you know, I remember one tweet in particular, I said, you know what? With your anti-China bias,

Adesoji Iginla (46:15.7)
Correct?

Adesoji Iginla (46:33.098)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (46:33.918)
Somebody might actually conclude that this is racist. It's always China, this China, this China. And whether China, and what would it be like? How China's advance in certain technology is jeopardizing Western security. Hello. So you're demonizing them for success in a certain field?

Adesoji Iginla (46:50.719)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (46:56.194)
Hmm

Milton Allimadi (47:05.182)
So you want them to fail, then you will not demonize them. Imagine, how can you attach somebody for success? Mind-boggling. But now, if you look at the most recent front cover of the economists, the last three or four.

Adesoji Iginla (47:05.704)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (47:13.395)
I mean, when you read...

Milton Allimadi (47:27.582)
Who are they attacking? It's Donald Trump. So it's so ironic. I think the last cover, the US, you know, the eagle, right? The national bird, right? In bandage and with walking with crutches, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (47:41.224)
Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (47:48.606)
With the crutches, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (47:54.057)
So the irony I find so amazing and always laughable.

Adesoji Iginla (47:54.794)
I

Adesoji Iginla (48:01.002)
But again, if you scratch the surface, it's not really critical. It's almost like we should not be going through what we accused the other side of doing. Which is what, yes, which is what the United States is reeling from now. It's that somebody was saying the other day, the United States now cannot stand on any moral ground. And point

Milton Allimadi (48:11.475)
precisely and that's the point I'm making.

Milton Allimadi (48:19.302)
Exactly.

Adesoji Iginla (48:30.29)
that this is what should be done. Those days are gone.

Milton Allimadi (48:32.241)
Right. And in the past, and in the past, and the only difference is that Trump has revealed a hypocrisy. They could not stand on any moral ground in the past anyway, but they, but they had what they call plausible deniability. But with, with Trump, you don't have plausible deniability. You know, you have no moral grounds to me when you went and you murdered a gender, when you went.

Adesoji Iginla (48:39.332)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (48:42.98)
Anyway, yeah, correct.

soft power. I'm soft power.

Milton Allimadi (49:01.668)
You overthrow Arbenz in Guatemala, a democratically elected leader who's trying to implement land reform. You go to Iran, you get rid of Mossadegh. You go with Belgium to Congo, know, the Mumba is murdered. The neocolonialism fully implemented. You go to Ghana with Pan-Africa and trying to urge the continental United States of Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (49:04.168)
My Benz,

Adesoji Iginla (49:19.796)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (49:23.667)
You come home.

Adesoji Iginla (49:27.976)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (49:30.597)
You have him overthrown. It's just, you know. But Trump is making it explicit by not denying that this is what we do. You see? That's the difference. That's the difference.

Adesoji Iginla (49:34.842)
You come home, you go to Grenada. Mm-hmm. The what we do. Yes, yes. So yeah, coming to this story, which is our final story, it leads why Ukraine is losing the war for African opinion. It cannot match Russia's historical ties, money or propaganda. Last time I checked, Russia doesn't give Africa any money.

Over the past three years, Ukraine has ceaselessly lobbied around the world for support in its fight against Russia. In few places have this effort been less successful than in Africa. The Ukrainian government has established new embassies, dispatched high-level delegations, and donated vast quantities of grains to the continent.

that party alone. Can you speak to that alone?

Milton Allimadi (50:37.064)
Yes, thank you for asking that. It is really disgusting that Ukraine is donating grain to Africa. You know, there's just no excuse and no justification at all. And this, and so when I read reference like that, this is when I'm very harsh and very critical on African

Adesoji Iginla (50:56.148)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (51:05.982)
governments.

Milton Allimadi (51:06.421)
rulers, there should not be any circumstance where Africa should be receiving food from Ukraine. It should be the other way. It should be the other way around. So this level of failure is completely inexcusable. That alone, I think, in any African country is justification to get rid of any African leader. In any African country where

Adesoji Iginla (51:15.21)
food aid from anyone. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (51:36.675)
the leadership is not able to feed the population, that government should not be in place. Pure and simple. That should be number one condition for every citizen of any African country. We can't feed the people. Why should the people? Why? Think about that. To be fed is the number one condition, a prerequisite for existence. Otherwise you don't exist.

Adesoji Iginla (51:57.482)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (52:07.747)
So if the government cannot assure my existence, why should that be the government? You see? To be honest, that to me was the most interesting part of this article, actually. It's something we've talked about numerous times. It's in neocolonialism, the last stage of imperialism. I think it was on page 29. Korma said, independence. We need food independence.

Adesoji Iginla (52:14.036)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (52:18.836)
you

Adesoji Iginla (52:23.548)
Mm. Mm. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (52:38.133)
scale up our agriculture, produce enough food, feed all of our people. If you had done nothing else except feed all of our people, then I would say, okay, you've succeeded, given the history that we've seen over the last 60 years. know? Ukraine. Look at the size of Ukraine. Look at the population of Ukraine.

Adesoji Iginla (52:59.028)
Well, yes, yes.

Milton Allimadi (53:09.664)
Now Ukraine is giving grain to African countries and in return wants favorable political outcome out of that.

Adesoji Iginla (53:22.59)
Yeah, feed them.

Milton Allimadi (53:24.82)
It has come to that.

Adesoji Iginla (53:26.886)
Yeah, feed them.

Milton Allimadi (53:29.492)
No, my brother, this is quite serious. This is very serious, very serious. I hope our people see this as how serious the reading is. know, we can actually change things in Africa, but we have to first change our minds, right? And I hope people are watching what is going on in the alliance of Sahel states. Forget about the leadership.

Adesoji Iginla (53:32.01)
feed the hungry Africans.

Adesoji Iginla (53:37.106)
I mean, it's even in the first paragraph.

Adesoji Iginla (53:47.812)
minds.

Milton Allimadi (54:00.522)
You know, forget about the rulers. The rulers are not the ones who are driving the transformation. It's the people. You see? Because if Trau Wren were to do like a U-turn and become like a neocolonialist puppet, guess what? The people would move him out.

Adesoji Iginla (54:03.89)
is the mind shift. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (54:26.282)
He'll be checked. He'll be checked. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (54:31.283)
The people are now supporting him massively because they see him as the representative of their aspirations. And what are those aspirations? The aspirations is to use our resources to build Africa, right? None of Europeans, none of the French take advantage of that. You see? And to treat

Adesoji Iginla (54:39.868)
and they've well-versed.

Adesoji Iginla (54:49.642)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (54:58.525)
the citizens of an African country as your number one priority, not European interests as your priority, you see? And that's why leaders like him get support. So why am I saying this? I'm saying this because we need more of those types of leaders in each and every African country. And if your current leader does not come close to that, then it's time to work.

Adesoji Iginla (55:07.21)
correct.

Milton Allimadi (55:26.931)
to get rid of those types of leaders, right? And support ones who espouse those aspirations within your own country. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (55:29.812)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (55:41.706)
So I would read one more piece. is and okay. So he says, as Vladimir Zelensky, Ukraine's president arrives in South Africa for his first ever state visit on Africa on April 24th, changing that seemed more important than ever. Donald Trump is keen to improve America's relation with Russia and threatens to withdraw.

military support from Ukraine and is pressing it to accept a peace deal. Mr Zelensky needs all the support he can get. Will he get any? Now that's not the question for me. The question here is, past experience is hardly encouraging. Ukraine's former foreign minister has little to show for his four official tours of the continent since the start of the war.

And then he goes on, when the AU at last sent him an invitation earlier this year, the member states were not comfortable with it, said a former Ethiopian diplomat. The idea was subsequently scrapped. I wonder why. Now, this is one part here that also then jumped out. Why has Ukraine struggled to make diplomatic headway? For one thing, it lags behind Russia.

in terms of funding, leverage and connections on the continent," said Samuel Ramazani, author of Russia in Africa. Lots of African governments, especially those in southern Africa, have historical ties to Russia. The Soviet Union backed African liberation movements fighting against colonial rule. Independent Ukraine subsequently did little to nourish its own relationship to high-level diplomatic engagement.

That significantly affected the attitude of several African leaders to it in the war. There is no record of a foreign minister visiting the continent before 2022, he added. One final part. Another challenge is what Devika Kavol of the Ukrainian Association of South Africa described as the asymmetry of the information war Russia is waging in Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (58:04.35)
The African Initiative, a cruelly linked media outlet, pushes pro-Russian narratives in the Sahel, an unstable part of the continent dominated by military regimes. It invites local journalists on press junkets to Russia-occupied Ukraine. In South Africa, Western diplomats reckon that members of the ruling party, the African National Congress, have been

on Russian payroll.

Milton Allimadi (58:37.918)
I mean, that last reference, it could be true, could not be, could be not true. I mean, that is not very shocking given how ANC, this is not the ANC of Nelson Mandela. So, but that's irrelevant to the story anyway, right? In the sense that, you know, Africans cannot just be led like,

Adesoji Iginla (58:48.852)
has moved.

Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (58:58.323)
Hmm, correct.

Milton Allimadi (59:06.916)
you know, like goats or like sheep, right? Yeah, Africans follow and they know what's happening globally, right?

Adesoji Iginla (59:07.722)
Thank you. That's the, that's the key. That's the keyword. Yeah. That's the key.

Adesoji Iginla (59:17.246)
Correct. They're well aware.

Milton Allimadi (59:19.589)
Correct. And it's true, the article is correct, that Africa has a long history with Russia, particularly when was the Soviet Union. Soviet Union provided arms for the armed struggle, right? Against the white minority rule in Mozambique, in Angola, in what was Rwanda, now Zimbabwe, and South Africa itself.

Adesoji Iginla (59:29.684)
Soviet Union,

Adesoji Iginla (59:36.564)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (59:44.968)
in Zimbabwe.

Adesoji Iginla (59:49.62)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (59:50.124)
and provided training. Many African commanders were trained in the Soviet Union.

Adesoji Iginla (59:59.583)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:00.826)
and provided scholarships, thousands of scholarships through the years to Africans who trained in engineering, trained in medicine, in the Soviet Union. So Ukraine can never compete with that historical legacy. And then of course, the other thing is the, there was some,

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:08.637)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:31.02)
accommodation in the last three years. Africans were willing to listen to what Ukraine had to say. Right? And occasionally take a neutral position. And some even voted right with Ukraine. But that was primary because Biden was president. Right? And Ukraine, supporting Ukraine,

militarily and financially was US national policy under Biden. So of course, that puts a lot of pressure on African countries as well. Do I want to be seen as hostile to Biden slash USA? No. So it made things difficult for them. But now, in fact, this story is a bit dated that the economists are doing now. Now there's even less incentive.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:07.828)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:14.214)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:31.06)
when it's clear, African saw Donald Trump almost punch President Zelensky in the White House. So under those circumstances, why should any, in fact, the consolation that they talked about, I don't know when the invitation was, I don't think it's mentioned.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:38.173)
Jealous kid.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:46.218)
African country.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:55.498)
That was in 2023. It was served in 2023 to speak at the African Union in 2024. It was rescinded.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:58.986)
When was the invitation to the Afghan Union?

Milton Allimadi (01:02:08.95)
2024. Okay, that was when was it canceled?

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:10.46)
Yeah. It was cancelled immediately thereafter. The idea was scrapped once the government heard about it.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:21.564)
Okay. And now there's absolutely no chance, given that the U.S. is now taking the position that you must agree to a peace agreement with Russia and you're not getting the land that Russia has seized. You're not getting it back. And we're not going to support you joining NATO either. So what do you think Africans would do if they're following all that information? Why should they support Ukraine's position at this point?

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:24.862)
That, no. Correct, correct.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:31.817)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:40.083)
Naked out exactly.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:48.093)
Exactly.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:52.156)
You know, you'd have to be absolutely, absolutely. And.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:52.946)
when your major benefactor has decided, yeah.

Mm-mm.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:02.716)
Let's not forget, I don't think Ukraine ever apologized for the anti-black, anti-African racism that African students and African migrants experienced in Ukraine at the beginning of this war. And it shows you how weak many of them are, that they could not make this a national issue.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:12.489)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:16.298)
They experienced yet.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:24.446)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:29.63)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:33.224)
when their citizens are being mistreated like that. And also tells you, know, Western media never made that an issue at all as well. Africans, as far as they were concerned, were just meant and supposed to blindly support Ukraine and ignore and disregard the fact that there was anti-African, anti-black racism being shown.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:42.804)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:02.588)
widely in Ukraine at that time. It's just amazing.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:05.994)
I mean, it's also insulting that you will put down the notion that Africans had, were abreast of the news, down to information, propaganda, and what have you. If you read the Western, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:20.977)
No, that's what I said. When you read that part, I said that's irrelevant to this at all. It just shows you how I don't even know the right word to characterize this reference of the economist.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:26.058)
Mm.

Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:38.078)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:42.556)
So we are told, go jump off the bridge. Okay, I'm ready. Where's the bridge?

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:42.727)
You

Milton Allimadi (01:04:50.286)
Go tie a rope around your neck and hang yourself. Okay. Why did you do it? Why did you do it? Because Russian propaganda told me to do it.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:54.632)
Where's the rope?

I I mean, the mind boggles again. It's one of reasons why we do what we do here on a weekly basis. And, what can I say? Every week, we never fail to be amazed with the level to which the letters that are put before us describes African continent in

words or even in nuances that just are laughable. You know, it's that you have this, we've been trapped in this kind of mind, mind time that we can't think outside of that box. We've been colonized. So everything they say about us is the fact is, I mean, who are you to, you know, question it? Because

If the way you take after the BBC, the economist on a weekly basis, they heeded, then most of these stories, we probably will not get it. But again, going back to the story we ran, the first one, the four lessons that Trump can learn from the UK. It goes back to, this is length behavior and they've decided who is going to check us, you know, who? And

Milton Allimadi (01:06:22.543)
Well, here we go.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:24.506)
Exactly. Which is why we do what we do. You know. Yes. Again, we've come to the end of another episode of African News Review. If you like what you've heard so far, do like, share, subscribe. Share it with people that you know would find value in what it is we do here. And as always, I am most grateful to comrade

Milton Allimadi (01:06:25.999)
We definitely will check them.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:53.512)
Sparing his time. comrade, your last words? Vitria Seta. Yes. And from me, I would continue to, well, here it's Mother's Day in the United States. I would reference Tomo Sankara who said, mothers are the leaders of revolution. So what else can we say?

Milton Allimadi (01:06:58.957)
Luta Continua. Until victory.

Milton Allimadi (01:07:11.247)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:22.628)
and happy Mother's Day out there. And from me, until next week, have a lovely week ahead and God bless.