EP 12 Francophone@65 and more... I African News Review 🌍

In this episode, Adesoji Iginla, alongside Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. discuss various pressing issues affecting democracy, particularly in the context of gerrymandering in the U.S., the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the ongoing influence of colonialism in Francophone Africa. 

They examine the economic exploitation of African resources by Western powers, the environmental consequences of colonial practices, and the necessity for unity among Africans and the diaspora to combat these injustices. 

The conversation emphasises the importance of historical context in understanding current events and calls for action to address these systemic issues.

Takeaways
*Gerrymandering undermines democracy and fair representation.
*The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina highlights systemic inequalities.
*Francophone Africa's independence is often superficial and influenced by former colonial powers.
*Economic exploitation continues to plague African nations, with resources extracted for foreign benefit.
*Environmental degradation is a significant consequence of colonial practices in Africa.
*Western powers maintain control over African nations through economic and political means.
*Unity among Africans and the diaspora is crucial for collective progress.
*Historical context is essential for understanding current injustices.
*The impact of colonialism is still felt in modern governance and societal structures.
*Activism and awareness are necessary to combat ongoing exploitation and injustice.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Overview of Current Events
04:29 Voting Rights and Gerrymandering in Texas
09:19 Reflections on 65 Years of Francophone Independence
14:37 The Illusion of Independence in Africa
20:42 The Economic Control of African Nations
26:12 The Legacy of Colonialism and Its Impact
31:43 The Importance of Unity Among Africans and the Diaspora
33:59 The Evolution of Names and Identity
35:36 Ownership and Exploitation of Resources
37:13 The Role of International Diplomacy
39:18 Environmental Impact and Local Communities
46:28 The Illusion of Independence
47:36 Colonial Legacy and Modern Exploitation
56:32 The Fight for Justice and Representation

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:01.727)
Yes, greetings, greetings and welcome to another episode of African News Review. I am your host as usual, Adeesuji Igilla. And with me is two brilliant minds, one you cannot see on the screen at the moment, who will shortly be joining us. But first things first, it's Aya Fubera-Enele Esquire, attorney, host, rethinking freedom, co-host, women and resistance. Welcome sister.

Aya Fubara Eneli (00:31.618)
Thank you so much, my brother. How are you doing today?

Adesoji Iginla (00:35.247)
not bad, not bad, not bad. yes. It's been one long week in terms of news all over the world. Let's begin. What's the news from where you at?

Aya Fubara Eneli (00:49.762)
Well, we continue with the assaults on so-called democracy and voting rights. So the racially gerrymandered redistricting bill in Texas, which now, well, let me finish the first sentence, has passed the Senate and it has been signed into law by the governor, Greg Abbott.

Adesoji Iginla (01:15.691)
So you.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:15.914)
Now, yes, understand this redistricting bill is Trump calls Abbott and says, give me five more Republican seats, they know that if people are allowed to really vote freely in this country, that the Republicans are probably going to go down in a bloodbath. And so they're trying to shore up his presidency and shore up their control of power.

and the governor immediately calls a special legislative session. They have 88, I believe, Republicans compared to, I think, 62, if I'm doing my math right, Democrats. And so they can really pass any bill without the support of the Democrats. However, they need quorum in order to conduct any business.

So the Democrats left town to deny them that quorum. But unfortunately, many of them came back and within 48 hours of them coming back, that bill was...

Adesoji Iginla (02:21.002)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (02:31.522)
passed because there was quorum. Of course, when they came back, they all had to sign, except for one very brave representative who didn't. They had to sign to agree to have an escort, a police escort. Yes, as elected officials, I guess to ensure that they couldn't leave the state anymore and deny quorum.

And the one who refused to accept that agreement, yes, those are conditions, ended up spending two nights in the Capitol because they would not let her go. So this is America, the bastion of democracy who preaches to everybody else how they should run their countries. So in redesigning these districts, racially gerrymandering them,

Adesoji Iginla (03:04.267)
conditions.

Aya Fubara Eneli (03:28.002)
The districts that are predominantly white and Republican, for the most part, 88 % of them are like kept intact, but districts impacting black and brown people, black people in particular. So Jasmine Crockett, who many of us know because she's been a thorn in Trump's side, they basically carved her house, her neighborhood out of the district where she used to represent.

Adesoji Iginla (03:46.951)
side.

Aya Fubara Eneli (03:57.312)
and put her in the same district as another Democrat. So I guess forcing them, I guess, to primary themselves, unless she's now going to sell her house to move into another district. It's really crazy. But all of these things are apparently legal because Chief Justice Roberts, under his regime, if I will call it that, has gutted the civil rights, the Voting Rights Act.

Adesoji Iginla (04:04.106)
to

Adesoji Iginla (04:23.265)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (04:26.958)
I'm allowing for what they call political gerrymandering, although they say racial gerrymandering is not allowed, but then, you know, these are semantics. This is semantics.

So it's in the, we're filing lawsuits. I'm part of a group called the Fair Maps Redistricting Group here in Texas. We also filed the lawsuits when they first racially gerrymandered the area that I live in from five years ago, well, in 2021. So that's still ongoing. And it's just really interesting how...

Adesoji Iginla (05:01.835)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (05:07.562)
under this regime and I guess you would say this is a return to regular politics for America is there really no laws we make the laws up as we go and of course this past week was also the 20th anniversary for the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on the people of New Orleans and the Gulf area.

And I had an opportunity to interview a young lady who is now a resident of Central Texas, but whose family lived in New Orleans. She lived in New Orleans and it was just harrowing to hear her recollect what happened. And she talked about having suppressed those memories so much that after the interview, she actually had a break, a little bit of a breakdown.

Adesoji Iginla (05:55.091)
Hmm

Aya Fubara Eneli (05:55.66)
just with the memories flooding about what they experienced. And what we really did was go into the specifics of why that hurricane was able to devastate the area in the way it did, all the failings of the politicians and of the oil companies and other capitalists who had destroyed the natural barrier. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (06:22.995)
wetlands.

Aya Fubara Eneli (06:25.262)
And then of course the aftermath of the hurricane, the orders to shoot on site, shoot to kill, and how many of the areas in New Orleans that were predominantly, if not completely black owned, and there were black residents there, have completely been gentrified.

Adesoji Iginla (06:31.691)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (06:48.308)
and renamed. So white folk walking around with their dogs and have renamed those areas and black people have not been able to come back into those areas in that way. And then just get scattered throughout the United States, but Houston absorbed quite a significant number and then just the trauma that followed from that event. So a lot going on in the US, of course, the ICE raids and the occupations.

Adesoji Iginla (06:57.377)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (07:17.45)
of different cities. I guess the next city that Trump has promised to target is Chicago. Yeah, no crime where white people are. Just use the military complex to suppress black people, which we shall see as we discuss some of these stories that you have pulled out for us talking about Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (07:23.147)
Yeah, go. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (07:37.579)
Where is it?

Yeah, I mean, quick one before we move on. just noticed that Trump does have a form about asking governors to do certain things. Remember when he lost the last election? He asked for 11,780 votes from Georgia. Now he's asking for five seats from Texas. So

Aya Fubara Eneli (08:00.34)
and it's only going to spread. So there are other Republican governors who are also looking. I mean, they had already gained, I think, three seats from North Carolina. And remember that right now in Congress, the Republicans just have a three vote, I believe, majority. And so without some of the gerrymandering, racial gerrymandering that has already been done, they wouldn't have the votes that they have right now. then the

Adesoji Iginla (08:16.895)
Jody, yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (08:27.278)
Ultimately, you have to ask yourself, what is the goal? And if we go back to project 2025, I believe the goal is to take this country and black people and women in particular back to, yes, definitely prior to 1965 for sure. Question is, how are we and are we willing to fight back?

Adesoji Iginla (08:39.349)
to the 1850s.

Aya Fubara Eneli (08:52.97)
Or have we bought into this rugged individualism that will allow us to be picked off one by one and slaughtered?

Adesoji Iginla (09:00.897)
well, yes. That said, that's the impact of internal colonialism that we're looking at. yes, so yeah, to the home of global colonialism, we go to the African continent. And on our first news today, coming from the German publication, Deutsche Welle, we find

Adesoji Iginla (09:31.329)
Francophone countries are celebrating 65 years of independence from France. The headline reads, How far has Francophone African nations come since 1960? 65 years ago, 14 African countries gained independence from France. How much influence does the former colonial power still wield today is the question. I'll read a bit.

from the story, especially parts that France alone granted self-determination to 14 colonies. French president Emmanuel Macron's relationship with the former colonies can be considered frail. So far, the Francophone African countries come in 65 years? I suppose that's the question. What would you say?

Aya Fubara Eneli (10:29.89)
know if you are just determined to try to keep me in a state of rage every week, but I appreciate your commitment to highlighting these stories that obviously are being printed, talked about in many rooms that many of us are not in. So if you pull that story back up again, if you don't mind the highlighted areas that you have.

Adesoji Iginla (10:52.801)
OK, now bear me a second. Let me share again. Here we go. Share. And it says.

Adesoji Iginla (11:05.163)
So can you see it?

Aya Fubara Eneli (11:07.518)
I can see it. So first of all, who's asking this question? How far has Francophone Africa come in 65 years? Who's asking the question and to what aim? What is their ultimate goal?

Adesoji Iginla (11:08.81)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (11:17.675)
So this is.

So this is the German publication trying to establish a way of, what's the word, self-inflection. Like you said, who acts?

Aya Fubara Eneli (11:32.75)
Reflection of who? The Europe that undeveloped Africa or reflection of the Africans? Like...

Adesoji Iginla (11:40.639)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (11:42.74)
So let me say this to us as black people, as people of African descent. And of course, I know that anytime you're pointing a finger, they're at least three pointing back at you. So this is always also a call for my personal self-reflection, because what we do as individuals matters in terms of what the group ends up doing right. So this area that you highlighted that says,

Adesoji Iginla (11:52.927)
Back at you. Yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli (12:09.806)
France alone granted self-determination to 14 colonies. You see the irony in that statement. If I have the power to unilaterally grant you self-determination, how self-determined are you to begin with? I...

Adesoji Iginla (12:20.854)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (12:31.665)
Mm. Are you? Yeah. True, true, true.

Aya Fubara Eneli (12:36.564)
magnanimously granted it to you. You didn't fight for it in the way that they've acknowledged anyway. You didn't seize power. You didn't structurally change anything. I sat down and I said, you know what, it's like with my kids. You know what, I'm going to grant you that bedroom in my house. Whenever I get good and ready, like now that my children are going off to college and all of that.

Adesoji Iginla (12:56.321)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (13:04.639)
do whatever I want. As a matter of fact, even while they lived in my home, they had to abide by my rules because I was the autonomous one. I granted them whatever privileges they had. So first and foremost, for us to be talking about independence in the same and then the next sentence is someone else granted me the self-determination. How?

Adesoji Iginla (13:06.177)
I'm not.

Aya Fubara Eneli (13:34.004)
Self-determined am I? How independent am I? Let's just start there. And then for me, it was also interesting as they're talking about the poverty rates in these francophone countries, which the fact that they're even still called francophone countries, okay? That's still the lingua franca for these countries. And yeah, let's scroll back up where they're talking about this. Yes, the Human Development Index.

Adesoji Iginla (13:51.361)
the anker folie.

Adesoji Iginla (13:58.431)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (14:02.674)
the it's the button.

Aya Fubara Eneli (14:03.658)
Yeah. So what's interesting to me is who developed this Human Development Index and when was it developed? Because did we look at how the peoples of these areas lived prior to colonialism? Did we have a conversation about what colonialism did to suppress their autonomy?

Adesoji Iginla (14:11.635)
again.

Adesoji Iginla (14:29.601)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (14:30.062)
and their development. And then after you have set up all this infrastructure, now you want to come and determine their level of poverty and completely.

Adesoji Iginla (14:42.827)
disregard your impact.

Aya Fubara Eneli (14:44.032)
Yes, the rule that you yes Yes, so there's so much that I can say about this and since alamadi isn't here yet Let me let me jump in really quickly on this. So first of all is Poverty in francophone africa, of course is not simply about income or lack of income

Adesoji Iginla (14:55.425)
Good.

Aya Fubara Eneli (15:04.376)
but it's a multi-dimensional condition, right? That includes deficits in health, education, and living standards. And that systematic measurement only began in the late 20th century. How did we live before? Were we feeding ourselves? Were we doing okay before you guys came and interrupted us? We're not gonna have that conversation at all, And then let's look at the ongoing influence. No, let me rephrase. The ongoing control.

of these nations by France. So currency control, the CFA franc, which is pegged to the euro and guaranteed by France, restricts any kind of monetary sovereignty. If you don't have economic sovereignty, how can you have any other kind of sovereignty? Which brings me back to the

Adesoji Iginla (15:41.333)
Yeah, the CIFAR. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (15:47.475)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (15:57.195)
question.

Aya Fubara Eneli (16:01.194)
Article that you had last year lesser last week about black Empowerment black economic empowerment. Can we afford it basically like yeah, you guys never want us to be economically empowered When I say you guys I'm talking about the West. Let's talk about the economic dominance that they put in very What's the word very passive terminology

Adesoji Iginla (16:18.716)
the West.

Aya Fubara Eneli (16:28.55)
French firms control key sectors today such as fuel, telecommunications, and supermarkets. Okay, let's just think about that for a second. You are an independent nation. Some other group somewhere can determine if you instantaneously have a fuel shortage. You have a fuel shortage, it affects every sector of your country, right? Some other group

Adesoji Iginla (16:33.108)
of the economy.

Aya Fubara Eneli (16:58.402)
can determine your telecommunications, which means they're also spying on you. Let's just be clear about that, okay? But you've given away your telecommunications, or let me say they took it away, right? And then your supermarket. So this is how people are buying and trading and feeding and so on and so forth. So again, independence after 65 years, what independence are we talking about here?

Adesoji Iginla (17:05.043)
Correct?

Adesoji Iginla (17:28.169)
Well, I mean, one has to understand that the lens through which they're seeing stuff is to show an element of magnanimity, that the idea was, you have to forget, we need not forget the reason they came in for colonialism. They came in to colonize, quote unquote, the savages, was to help civilize them. So they have to then tell...

Aya Fubara Eneli (17:56.046)
The white man's burden. Yes, yes, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (17:59.111)
Exactly. So did I have to then give you an idea of how far you've come from when we met you? So the sixth...

Aya Fubara Eneli (18:06.112)
Yeah, but they're not doing that because you did not give us any information on how we lived prior to when you showed up. Were our waters polluted? Were we unable to feed ourselves? Did we not have rights of passage that allowed people to be educated?

Adesoji Iginla (18:18.719)
Well, technically.

Adesoji Iginla (18:23.295)
But technically you didn't come, you didn't come into world's memory until we came in contact exactly. There you go. There you go. There you go. There you go. There you go.

Aya Fubara Eneli (18:29.216)
and development, we went until we were discovered. Okay, I'm so sorry, we had to first be discovered. Yes. Then of course we can talk about how France shields allied regimes internationally, muting criticism of authoritarianism, authoritarian governments. So whether we talk about Bia in Cameroon or all of the aging heads of state that they...

Adesoji Iginla (18:42.966)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (18:56.256)
Heads of States?

Aya Fubara Eneli (18:58.466)
How have they maintained power? You all have literally had your troops there repressing other voices and people who are trying to rise up and create a different environment for the country.

because the puppets that you have in place are allowing you to do whatever it is you want to do in these countries. So talking about poverty and French influence are not contradictory. They are intertwined and France and the rest of Europe has helped to control and maintain that dependency and ensure that the people are impoverished because it's so much easier to control people when they are fighting for survival.

Adesoji Iginla (19:20.479)
Hmm

Aya Fubara Eneli (19:43.488)
survival, right? Now the other thing that they didn't talk about because hey, we're just gonna gloss over this stuff They underplay the scale of extraction Niger supplied up to a third of France's uranium imports Ask me at what rates they were compensated for that. Ask me about the the environmental devastation of the areas where they do these extraction

Adesoji Iginla (19:44.979)
Yes?

Adesoji Iginla (20:00.138)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (20:11.374)
without the same conditions that they have in the West, so to speak, and no safeguards, and the fact that the people in those regions are dealing with environmental issues and yet have nothing to show for it. Those goods are extracted, sent somewhere else, the money doesn't come back to them. Let's talk about Cote d'Ivoire. Produces 40 % of global cocoa.

Adesoji Iginla (20:16.493)
save gods. Yeah, save gods.

Adesoji Iginla (20:22.559)
Have no recourse.

Aya Fubara Eneli (20:40.878)
yet the farmers and poverty wages. I just had a piece of chocolate yesterday. Mali and Burkino Faso are major gold exporters, but it's all under foreign ex corporate control. The Democratic Republic of Congo's mineral exports grew from 13.3 billion in 2017 to 28.5 billion in 2022. And where

Adesoji Iginla (20:43.329)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (21:04.514)
did that money go to? And this is with them just exporting raw materials, right? So they're not really getting the value of what they're exporting to begin with. So when you look at what they say we owe versus why they continue to maintain a presence and control in our area, if we're so poor, why you all bother with us? Someone's gotta be making some kind of money for you to still stay there.

Adesoji Iginla (21:11.861)
Correct. Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (21:25.537)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (21:32.462)
So there's so many ways that we can look at this, but the bottom line is, France, how far have we come? Not very far at all. I would say we are not independent. Of course, if we go to Walter Rodney on underdevelopment, we know that the poverty that they're reporting in Africa,

is manmade, it is not natural, but it's engineered through colonial expectation and new colonial arrangements that yes, do include African elites. And so underdevelopment in this case is as a result of the domination of these African nations, it's not just a natural phenomenon, which they try to blame it on, the people are having too many babies and climate change and...

of like hiding their hand and their role in all of this. So yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (22:25.587)
You

So, Brother Milton did text in to say, well, the story is essentially pure propaganda. would be farcical if the French had written it. So the Germans must not forget that the idea for colonialism started in Berlin, the infamous Berlin Conference. So they have to give themselves cover.

Aya Fubara Eneli (22:35.704)
Absolutely.

Aya Fubara Eneli (22:54.37)
conference. Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (22:57.385)
And so he says, it is pure propaganda to make it appear as, say, French colonialism. It's not the disaster it was. especially, he says, especially in the last paragraph, where it highlights the fact that, we've been there. We've given them whatever it is to help them on their way to it. And one must not forget that the kind of colonialism that the French practice, I mean,

They all practice some form of debasement of the people they dealt with. But the form that the French practice was one that removed all your humanity. So when you asked the question earlier, but what was it that people used to do prior to them getting there? The French would say, in order for you to be seen as civilized, you need to speak French with a certain accent. You need to eat.

not with your hands, but with the finest cutlery, need someone will come into your home to expect to expect what the setup of your house is. If it's in tune with quote unquote the metropolis way of living enough for you to then score as becoming what was then known as a voyer, which means you've evolved. You've evolved into a civilized species. So

Aya Fubara Eneli (24:15.074)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (24:22.281)
You know, you look at that, the mindset alone. Was it not Ongugi Watengu who said we need to decolonize the mind? If the mind is not decolonized, the so-called independence, bearing in mind it's almost like driving with a handbrake on, and that's what we've been doing for 65 years. I mean, it begs belief that anyone in their right mind would think Kulianism did

Amy Finn for Africa.

Aya Fubara Eneli (24:54.506)
well, but that is a propaganda being put out, not just that colonialism was great for us. are plenty of articles now that slavery was beneficial to the enslaved. Yes. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (25:04.502)
god, yes, at least you you learn some skills is the retort.

Aya Fubara Eneli (25:11.534)
And here's the tragedy about it, because on Women and Resistance this Wednesday, we're going to be talking about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Of course, that indoctrination, that propaganda works, because the formerly enslaved African Americans who returned to Liberia

Adesoji Iginla (25:19.947)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (25:32.098)
had that mindset and imposed that on the indigenous Africans. So tune in on Wednesday for us to get more into that. The sense of we are better off and we are civilized and we're better than you because we were enslaved and have been civilized now and we have, we wear waistcoats and tailcoats and top hats and all of that. And we are superior to you savage Africans, you heathens.

Adesoji Iginla (25:40.766)
Yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli (26:03.153)
So the propaganda worked in the past, the propaganda continues to work today, which is why they work so hard to continue to promulgate it.

Adesoji Iginla (26:03.243)
me.

Adesoji Iginla (26:11.265)
Correct, correct. mean, when the notion of self-governance or what is known as independence was granted to these 14 countries, they had to sign what was then known as the pact of continued colonialism. The only one country that balked at that idea then was Guinea. Guinea voted no to the pact and Guinea suffered immense destruction of its infrastructure. This is infrastructure

that they paid for.

Aya Fubara Eneli (26:43.522)
Well, we saw that in the Congo as well. When they were leaving, what did they do? They destroyed everything that the people's money had already paid for. Yes. We're going to cripple you.

Adesoji Iginla (26:45.855)
Yes. They destroy everything.

Yes. so you and for exactly and for those countries that had on their hand ideas of on the cutting that pact of colonial continued colonialism, the leaders were gotten rid of. So the old men that you were talking that you were talking that you were leading to earlier were those that acquiesce to the idea that yes, we're still worthy. We're talking about Leopold Senghor, the late

Felix Ufi Buayin, who else? Paul Beer is of that school of mindset. The new guys that are coming in now, the likes of Fayet, De Moer Fayet in Senegal, Brahim Traore, Tijani in Niger, Massimi Goethe, are the new guys who are saying enough of all this nonsense. Enough.

Aya Fubara Eneli (27:26.446)
called VN.

Aya Fubara Eneli (27:44.684)
And hopefully they either don't get killed or corrupted in the process.

Adesoji Iginla (27:49.217)
We live in hope. We live in hope. Before we proceed, for those who want to read more on France's impact on its colonies in Africa, you could read Africa's last colonial currency, the CFA zone. This is a very, how can I say, a very painful read because you would see how leaders who had brilliant ideas of how to rescue their people were gotten rid of.

And it reminds me of one particular story in here, which is the story of a

Seva, Seva Olympia, the first prime minister of Togo, who decided he was not going to sign Togo up to the CFA. A coup was planned, it was planned against him executed. And then he ran into the United States Embassy for Refuge. The United States kicked him out and he was literally on a live in front of the United States Embassy. I mean, you see.

Aya Fubara Eneli (28:52.718)
No humans involved.

Adesoji Iginla (28:54.441)
No humans involved, no humans involved. So yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (28:56.938)
exterminate all the brutes.

Adesoji Iginla (28:59.723)
that's… I mean, Ibeka believes that stories like this continue to make the rounds, but again… yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (29:08.8)
What's interesting though is although we are waking up and I'm very glad about that, but these stories are not taught in our schools across Africa. This information is largely shrouded. We get the propaganda from the colonizers. And so it is difficult to fight back against what you don't know or what you're not paying attention to, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (29:15.542)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (29:20.661)
Hmm. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (29:34.625)
And then they give a few amongst us scholarships. We're grateful to them. So you cannot question them. You have institutions like the United States Information Service, the Goethe Institute, which is the French version, British Council, which is the British version. What's the French one? It's got one very exotic.

Aya Fubara Eneli (29:58.253)
Thank

Adesoji Iginla (30:03.763)
it calls something. I mean, you look at the moves that all these bodies make in Africa, you begin to understand that they know you have a very young population, one that is desensitized to the information that should arm them. And so the moment they can make a headway into them, these guys will get into quote unquote leadership positions and the scam continues. So

Aya Fubara Eneli (30:32.654)
The scam continues as you're talking, this is not per se in any of the articles, but what this reminds me of is we did have a cadre of African students and Caribbean students who in the 40s, 50s, 60s met up.

Adesoji Iginla (30:51.457)
Peace.

Aya Fubara Eneli (30:54.304)
in these bastions of colonization, whether it's the UK or in France or whatever, and United States, and through their interaction with one another and with the Black people in those communities. So let me talk specifically about Black Americans, African Americans. If you look at it, Namdi Ezekiwo, if you look at Kwame Nkrumah.

Adesoji Iginla (30:59.585)
the United States.

Aya Fubara Eneli (31:18.486)
they got a certain sensibility, especially during the civil rights movement, right? So you see how the independence movements in Africa coincide with the civil rights movement here in the United States. And I think, I'm certain about this.

Adesoji Iginla (31:23.26)
Yep, yep.

Adesoji Iginla (31:30.753)
the civil rights United States, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (31:41.258)
That worked.

Aya Fubara Eneli (31:41.538)
that the reason you are now seeing all of these diasporic wars on social media between Africans from the continent and Africans in wherever the host countries are, so whether it's the US or the UK or whatever, but particularly here in the United States of America, it's just really proliferating, is because it is important to keep us divided.

Adesoji Iginla (31:48.95)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (32:08.534)
Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (32:09.346)
Because if we come together and understand that our fight is won, just like apartheid was largely challenged and overthrown, yes, by the Black South Africans, but also Black Americans and other African people across the diaspora who put pressure on their own government. So if you can keep us thinking we are enemies with one another.

Adesoji Iginla (32:23.457)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (32:26.945)
to. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (32:33.141)
different or different.

Aya Fubara Eneli (32:35.202)
then you also stop this transfer of knowledge, these connections that will allow us to unify globally to overthrow our common enemy. Because now you see these African, you know, we had that first crop of Africans who had a sense of Pan-Africanism when they returned to Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (32:57.109)
Mm. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (32:59.0)
But you're not seeing that as much. Although I'm grateful that, you know, Tini Bou went and met with De Silva in Brazil and there's some other conversations, but we, this idea of dividing and conquering us, of not allowing us to see how we are interconnected. So in these Francophone countries, again, you see how it is easier for them to trade with France than it is to trade with one another.

Adesoji Iginla (33:06.902)
That's it.

Adesoji Iginla (33:27.553)
with next door neighbor next door

Aya Fubara Eneli (33:29.11)
with your neighbor because it was set up and designed and is being maintained that way. And yet if you have the conversation, you realize, wait a second, they're pulling the same game on you that they pulled on us and we could actually combine resources. So we need to be very, very sensitive to how we're being divided.

Adesoji Iginla (33:53.649)
It's actually very, very important that you mention that. There was a book that was released in 2021 titled White Malice by Susan Williams. It points specifically to the plot to do that. The recent movie that was out as well, a soundtrack to a coup d'etat, also showed you the plays there.

Aya Fubara Eneli (34:03.33)
Yes. Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (34:20.117)
The new book that is going to be released the second week of September by Howard French, The Second Emancipation, is a perfect window into understanding the nonsensity behind all these diaspora wars, that you guys are just basically banging your heads, or they're banging your heads against each other to their benefit. To their benefit. And so, yeah.

So again, that book is Howard French's book, Second Emancipation is Coming Out, and that shows the interactions between African-Americans and Africans. The fact that W.B. Du Bois, one of the most foremost writers, is buried in Ghana, and his wife, he's buried in, are both buried in Ghana, speaks volumes. Speak volumes, I'm currently reading,

African Revolution by John Harry Clark. And he talked about all of this common. I mean, the

Aya Fubara Eneli (35:21.134)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (35:24.76)
towards an African world revolution. Yes, yes, yes. And back then African-Americans didn't just travel to, and I'm not throwing any aspersions, but it seems to me like I'm meeting a lot more people who are just like, I just wanna travel and check the box and have these cultural experiences. But it was about understanding what we want and working together, whether you look at Maya Angelou or John Henry Clark or.

Adesoji Iginla (35:26.919)
Yeah, you know.

Aya Fubara Eneli (35:51.446)
you know, even Nina Simone, there's so many, right? And now it's more like it's just a cultural experience and okay, maybe I my money goes further here and not really thinking towards liberation. Let me say this because you know, I'm gonna say what's on my mind most of the time. I was just watching a video by an African lady who was talking about, she's like in 2025.

Adesoji Iginla (35:53.611)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (36:04.885)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (36:09.951)
Ha ha ha.

Aya Fubara Eneli (36:19.352)
Can we normalize not giving ourselves our colonizers names anymore? And so when you kept saying Howard French, I'm like, that man is brilliant. I so appreciate his work. And then there's also this part of me that's like, even our names bear, even our names bear the journey that we've been on, that we continue to live. And so, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (36:24.266)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (36:33.867)
Come on,

Do something, do something.

Mm-mm-mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (36:46.264)
I'm not telling him to change his name. He doesn't have to, but I'm just saying, hey, at least moving forward, we, can we,

Adesoji Iginla (36:52.117)
Drop the French.

Aya Fubara Eneli (36:53.806)
Can we find names that are more suited to who we actually are and not who they've tried to design us to be? But I may have touched a nerve with a lot of people. My parents went through that evolution. There were seven children altogether. The first three, including me, were given English names first. And then we had middle names that were African names, right? And they said I wouldn't answer to my

Adesoji Iginla (37:00.192)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (37:15.745)
Cool. Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (37:24.0)
English name even as a child. They would call that name and it was like nobody's home. And then when they would call my middle name, which is my African name. So now the name you guys know me as IIE is actually on my birth certificate, my middle name. But after that, my parents changed where for the next two children,

they had first an African name and then their middle name was a European name. And then by the time they got to the last two children, they just gave up the, they just scrapped the European names altogether. They were like, so I can see that evolution. And so yeah, none of my kids have any European names.

Adesoji Iginla (37:53.825)
to script it.

Adesoji Iginla (38:00.117)
You should, yeah.

I mean, it's an understanding. mean, we'll get there like the good doctor would say, know, each will get there and we deal with each other at that position. So it's understanding. It's understanding. yeah, I mean, let's go to the next story. I'm mindful of the time.

Aya Fubara Eneli (38:17.57)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (38:29.504)
I know.

Adesoji Iginla (38:31.005)
So the next story comes from The Guardian. And again, it's this idea of ownership. And it reads, Pierre asked English diplomats to help Ghana mine in which he held shares. Exclusive, Richard Dennett, who claims assistance in the UK national interest may have broken lobbying rules.

that's Lord General Darnett. used to be the head of the army in the British Armed Forces. A member of the House of Lord had asked British diplomat to help a Ghanaian gold mining venture in which he held shares, claiming it was in the UK national interest. The Guardian can disclose. The revelation will add to concern about apparent breaches of parliamentary lobbying rules by Richard Darnett. He had already done one before.

And because he's not being checked, the guy continues to run amok. DiPia is already under scrutiny over his lobbying to several companies leading to cases of investigations in the Lord's standard body. Lord Darnett, an unpaid senior advisor to Blue International, sought help from a high commissioner in Ghana in January 2024 on behalf of the company's Ghanaian subsidiary, Future.

global resources. So what do you say to people who come back and say, well, African-wise, not African- are using their resources to better the lot of their people?

Aya Fubara Eneli (40:13.038)
Okay, so the first question, well, not the first, but one of the questions I had when I read this article was, who did Danit upset? Because don't act like what he's doing is the exception and not the rule. For crying out loud, like seriously.

Adesoji Iginla (40:13.78)
You

Adesoji Iginla (40:29.345)
Mmm

Okay, I can give you a bit of background into what Dana did. Okay, so...

Aya Fubara Eneli (40:36.556)
Yeah, he upset somebody and now they're coming for him because he's not doing anything that other people are not doing. He's just being exposed for it.

Adesoji Iginla (40:43.859)
OK, so there is a direct action group here called Palestine Action. That group has been proscribed because that group went into Royal Air Force Base and pour blood, red paint, supposed to depict blood on the tail fin of these aircrafts, a couple of them anyway. Essentially, it's criminal damage if they're going to be sued.

But the Home Office went beyond action, got the body proscribed as a terrorist organization. So recently they've been 83 year old, 73 year olds, been getting themselves arrested because they subscribe to Palestine's actions, way of doing things. But here is the kicker. The only reason why that thing,

Aya Fubara Eneli (41:35.765)
Exactly.

Adesoji Iginla (41:41.533)
or that body was prescribed and made a organization was because an American company got in contact with General Darnett, who apparently, according to sources, implored the Home Office to see to it that that body is dealt with.

So since then, people have been watching General Danart, and General Danart has been in a couple of stories. This one just happens to be the one that he did in regards to Africa. He's in a couple of other stories where he's been asking for, let's just say, a more than fair handshake in order to make things happen.

So that's the background.

Aya Fubara Eneli (42:32.906)
So, all right. So let me take it back to Africa, right? So where is this mine that we're talking about? It's in the Western region of Ghana on the Ashanti Green Stone Belt, right? This area, Prestia, has produced about nine million ounces of gold over more than...

Adesoji Iginla (42:43.307)
gone.

Adesoji Iginla (42:49.739)
Yeah. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (43:00.822)
a century, nine million. Golden Star Resources operated this complex before selling it to Future Global Resources in 2020. I don't know how much they sold it for. That's not money that went to the people of that area. It's not money that was farmed back into infrastructure or any of those things. That's money that's been extracted. So now here comes this new company.

What were their extraction levels that they expected? They projected about 4,000 ounces per month, approximately $6 million. This was in late 2020. So perhaps Ghana starts to get more of a backbone and decides to revoke their lease. And so these white folk again.

Adesoji Iginla (43:50.336)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (43:55.212)
Gotta come in and say, a second, you want to stop us from our natural birthright, which is to take whatever we want from you with impunity? hold on, we got something for you. And so then they put international, they put their pressure.

And understand if you go back to colonial Africa and we talk about gunboat diplomacy, it's the same thing even though we may not see the gunboats now. Maybe it's drones, maybe it's cell phones and beepers that explode while people are on them. But he goes to their high commission to say, hey, wait a second, how dare these heathens, these impudent.

Adesoji Iginla (44:27.997)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (44:41.61)
savages try to stop us from being able to extract at will.

do something about it. That's what this story is about. And they put pressure on them, exactly. And now my own resources are open to international arbitration? Who are the arbiters? Who are the ones who are going to decide what happens to my own resources on an inter, please tell me whenever have,

Adesoji Iginla (44:52.959)
Yeah, for Queenland Country.

Aya Fubara Eneli (45:19.286)
been able to come into any of these European or Western countries and have an international arbitration on access to? Let's look at just the immigration situation in America now. Internationally, who is advocating?

for the people being unlawfully detained or who are being abused in detention. Let's look at Gaza. South Africa is the country that took it to the international court of desert. Who is advocate? Where are the international arbiters? But when it comes to our gold mines, okay, let me continue. Again, like I brought up with the other story, what are the environmental hazards?

Adesoji Iginla (45:44.801)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (46:09.868)
Scientific studies have shown heavy metal contamination in the soils and in the areas of that Pristia. How are the people supposed to farm? What's happening in terms of cancer rates? And who's working to mitigate any of this? There've been cyanide spills.

Adesoji Iginla (46:15.115)
saw it.

Aya Fubara Eneli (46:29.294)
Notable pollution of cyanide pollution events that took place in 2004 2006 there was nothing done to mitigate it or to Recompense a to the people who suffered on social economic challenges the population there is a little over 252,000 They face persistent infrastructure gaps. There's multi-dimensional poverty. There's limited health care and yet you are extracting

According to their figures, which probably this is understated, at least $6 million a month, unaudited, in raw materials, which you determined what price you're going to, yes, it's not even a fair market price. So I was trying to figure out how many of the mines across Africa are even owned by Africans.

Adesoji Iginla (47:01.045)
Yeah. it's.

Adesoji Iginla (47:05.811)
unordered amount.

Adesoji Iginla (47:13.619)
to pay.

Adesoji Iginla (47:26.056)
Aya Fubara Eneli (47:28.556)
And from the little intelligence I could come up with, at least two thirds, I'm going to say the number is higher, two thirds of the minds operating in Africa are foreign controlled.

Aya Fubara Eneli (47:43.832)
foreign controlled and the devastation is left for the people there. Large gaping holes in the ground.

contamination. The people have nothing to show for it. And yes, Lord Dannett, who was a decorated British general, and I guess deserves, and then the story of, whatever money he made from the shares, he was gonna donate to charity. People like, who are you fooling?

Adesoji Iginla (48:00.875)
general.

Adesoji Iginla (48:09.909)
He's got to hit a charity.

Aya Fubara Eneli (48:15.756)
You bought shares just to donate it to charity? You know what? Don't donate it to your son's charity in the UK. How about you guys be charitable to the people in the area that you're devastating? But okay, I'll stop there.

Adesoji Iginla (48:30.857)
Okay, just to add to that story is which you pointed out for me is the devastation to the local. And we've seen this with people who come in to extract oil. BP is going through a load of cases in the British courts. At present, they're finding in the favor of the local population. But why does it need to get to that point where you are bringing corporate entities?

who on the face of it have in their brochures corporate social responsibility as part of their ethos, but yet you're destroying the place where you're getting your raw materials from. Now in this case,

Aya Fubara Eneli (49:17.9)
Well, but you know, they have responsibility to their shareholders. Let's not get this confused. Absolutely, they are responsible to their shareholders, not to you.

Adesoji Iginla (49:28.147)
Okay, I take correction. So, but in the case of this very commendable general, the guy still thinks we're in the 1640s when you could basically pick up a phone, call an official on the other side of the world and tell them, could you see to it that the affairs of this company is taken care of in the views of the UK government?

Aya Fubara Eneli (49:55.542)
No humans involved. No humans involved.

Adesoji Iginla (49:58.016)
would be exactly because if you notice in that story there was no quote attributed to a Ghanaian official.

Aya Fubara Eneli (50:09.538)
They don't matter. It's our mind. We own this thing. We own you. And I don't know why you people don't get that in your head. You have zero autonomy and we will use diplomatic pressure, which includes knowing that we are stronger militarily, at least we think we are. We will squeeze your arm in other ways. And yes, you will acquiesce to our will. And that's how it's been and that's how it should remain.

Adesoji Iginla (50:22.561)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (50:35.809)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (50:40.126)
Bottom line is there's no independence for us without pain. There is no True liberation if we are not willing to fight and die for it and that is across the diaspora Anywhere where we think we can negotiate and sign a document for our freedom We are sadly mistaken check out the Native Americans how many treaties

Adesoji Iginla (50:40.168)
End.

Adesoji Iginla (50:53.876)
Wow.

Adesoji Iginla (51:02.229)
That is not the, yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (51:08.234)
It's not worth the paper it's written on. If you cannot, you know, I look at my house right now. Yeah, I'm paying the mortgage here, but can I defend it? And if I can't defend it, then it's not mine. I have the illusion of it being mine. Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (51:19.485)
It's not yours.

Adesoji Iginla (51:25.025)
Hopefully it doesn't come to that, you know, mean, history suggests we need to be mindful of what has gone before, which is why stories like this and what we do here, we have to tie history to our present conditions, because without which it's almost as if we're walking blind into the wall. And speaking of walking blindly into the wall, we go to CNN for our next story.

which is about something closer to the heart of people who love the nature and it reads Britain to pay nearly four million in compensation after troops sparked huge forest fires while training in Kenya. I repeat Britain to pay four million dollars in compensation after troops sparked huge forest fires while training in Kenya.

First question is, why are you training in Kenya? But the lead goes, the British government has agreed to pay almost four million to thousands of victims of a blaze started by its soldiers while training in Kenya, according to documents seen by CNN. The settlement follows a long legal battle by local community members in the East African country. The campaigners have said the effects of the 2021 fire in an expansive wildlife conservation in central Kenya.

had been caused them lifelong health issues that made their property and polluted the environment. Some of the part, some of them have told CNN that they lost family members due to ailments arising from the inferno that blotted through 10,000 acres in privately owned Lolideaga Conservancy. Again.

Here we go again.

Adesoji Iginla (53:21.59)
Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (53:23.31)
Okay, so the fire, no humans involved. The UK was paying 400,000 a year, equivalent of $400,000 a year, I believe, for their troops to train in this area. It doesn't tell me who they were paying. You always gotta follow the money.

Adesoji Iginla (53:24.18)
No humans involved.

Adesoji Iginla (53:36.981)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (53:47.874)
They are and the purpose for why they have to train in Kenya. Again, please point to any African troops that are training on Western soil at will with no oversight. Please somebody give me one. I would like to know. Like you said, the fire devastated the Lodega conservancy in central Kenya.

They're saying about 12,000 acres, 12th.

12,000 acres.

of wildlife area that had been recently transitioned from private ranch. So let's look at just the lingering effects of colonialism.

What individual or individuals privately owned, actually the whole thing is 45,000 acres, but the part that was born is 12,000. So what individual or individuals privately owned 45,000 acres of land? And who did they dispossess in the first place?

Adesoji Iginla (55:06.527)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (55:12.248)
to now own that land. This land is home to endangered Grevy's zebra, elephants, buffalo, lions, and more, probably also where they collect money for people like Trump sons to come in and shoot animals, leave their bodies to rot while they take their heads and mount them in their homes to show how brave they are. But the fire was caused during a British army training unit in Kenya exercise. It was actually from a

Adesoji Iginla (55:30.219)
Horns and...

Aya Fubara Eneli (55:41.71)
from a cooking incident.

Aya Fubara Eneli (55:47.49)
The Kenya Environment and Land Court, don't know if they got a call as well, required the claimants to first use the defense cooperation agreement to dispute the Mekli. So it's like, was the country fighting on their behalf or these people had to come and fight their government to even have the right to go after the British troops, right?

Adesoji Iginla (56:15.361)
the people had to take the matter of themselves.

Aya Fubara Eneli (56:18.964)
Exactly. It was a 27 year old lawyer who spearheaded all of this. But now let's look at this formula. They said the Kenyan parliament through its defense and foreign affairs that are in bed with British troops that get to train on their soil, investigated the British troops, the Batuq activities, including the fire and the unresolved murder.

of Agnes Wanjiru who was last seen with British soldiers. The government negotiated the compensation. The agreement is without admission of liability. Which also means in addition to the pittance that it is to the individuals, this agreement is silent on how do we

try to heal this land? What are the conservatory policies that are going to be put in place? Okay.

So the fire destroyed more than 12,000 acres caused widespread smoke related health issues resulted in the death at least of one civilian, Linus Murangiri. Environmental assessments estimate recovery may take 30 to 50 years with massive reforestation needed. They're talking about over a quarter of a million trees need to be planted, right? The carbon emissions were estimated in the hundreds of thousands

tons. The amount that is going to be paid quote-unquote after all the legal costs to 7,723 claimants is on the average going to be about hundred and seventy dollars.

Adesoji Iginla (58:17.569)
Do you want to my hand?

Aya Fubara Eneli (58:19.694)
$170.

Adesoji Iginla (58:24.641)
no humans involved.

Aya Fubara Eneli (58:28.034)
The payments don't cover medical costs, don't cover ongoing medical issues that people have, do not cover relocation, do not cover long-term livelihood recovery, do not cover reforestation, do not.

No admission of guilt.

The fire destroyed large tracts, actually they're saying decimated most of the African pencil cedar and endangered wildlife habitat. The gravy zebra is in danger. There only about 2300 to 3000 left. And with this increased loss of their habitat.

The biomass that was burned during the incident, they're saying it averages about 178,000 tons of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Who is this impacting? So, four million, what is $4 million to the UK British, to the truth?

Adesoji Iginla (59:29.566)
into the atmosphere.

Adesoji Iginla (59:42.261)
That will be about 3.0.

Aya Fubara Eneli (59:44.334)
It's 2.9 pounds something like that, but what impact I mean is that do they even is that like a fly purchase and you just

Adesoji Iginla (59:53.707)
Yeah, Probably buy two luxurious homes in Central London.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:00:02.114)
but no humans involved and Africans not fighting for the devastation of our areas. We've talked about mines. Now we're talking about the forest. We're talking about the impact on people's medical health. Again, no education and advancement for the locals. And.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:22.145)
And what is

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:00:24.674)
The AU largely being silent, even as the Kenyan government, like the Ghanaian government, is not pushing back in the ways that we should. So again, how independent are we?

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:37.147)
Exactly. I was going to ask that question. just... I mean, it just brings it back to a full circle to say the so-called independence is nothing. It's laughable at this point when countries that you claim to have caught eyes with are still training on your soil, devastating your soil. The ones that have gone are making phone calls to say, listen, my interest is still there.

nothing should happen to my interest. The others are still saying, listen, we've been around for 65 years and long may that continue. Yes, people can talk about a few wins for the locals from time to time, but it largely remains to be seen that majority of those French speaking countries are still in the throes of colonialism.

You have a 92 year old man seeking elected office in whose world rules are being rewritten as we speak. Alain Ouattara in Cote d'Ivoire has decided to go for the third time in complete contradiction of the constitution. But the same French that removed Laurent Bagbo because he wanted to do the same thing.

are cheering him on. So what independence really?

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:02:08.718)
Can I also share this and I'm mindful of the time but since we started a little late, So with this fire in Kenya, there was a report that was generated an environmental impact report. It is called the Howard Humphrey's environmental impact report This was shared with some petitioners by a body that

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:10.804)
Yeah, go on.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:26.847)
or good.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:02:35.626)
adjudicating their claims called the Intergovernmental Liaison Committee. Don't ask me who controls that committee. So listen to this. The Intergovernmental Liaison Committee is an obscure UK Kenyan body. Ask me why the UK is even involved in, okay, okay.

So it's like I murdered somebody and then I'm part of the investigation to determine what impact my murder had. Okay, so let's just, just keeping it in simple terms. This obscure UK Kenyan body, which is adjudicating the claims of the people who were impacted, right? Is co-chaired.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:06.785)
station.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:03:30.614)
by a British Army Brigadier.

The Fox are co-chairing the commission to determine how the Fox. Yes, okay. Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:42.057)
The safety of the hen house.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:03:47.854)
The body said it reserves the right at its sole discretion to extend any timeframe and indicated they will determine the compensation claims when they will be settled, how they will be settled. Listen to this. Robert Wells, who owned L'Hol Daiga at the time of the fire, so he's possibly the one who was getting paid the 400,000, has since sold the ranch

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:52.587)
Cool.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:04:17.472)
which his family, listen to the language, acquired during British imperial rule.

We just sanitized up. just, he just acquired it. You know, it was just this vacant acres of land, right? That he just acquired and he has now sold for profits. And he has nothing to do with the reforestation or the compensating the people in any way. Other descendants of European settlers continue to own vast farms in Kenya.

They're often marketed as wildlife conversing, conservancy, sorry, while also hosting military exercises for the former colonial power. Is this sedition? You own our land, you use our land, you invite the British, you deprive us of our land, they come in, they're paying you, you're getting compensated. We absorb all the devastation.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:22.603)
There is part of Kenya known as Naoki. Naoki is almost like you'd be hard pressed to think you're in Europe when you go to Naoki. mean, if you Googled the pictures of the place, you would see it. when his family acquired, the story behind that, mean, again, the reason why we do this is to give

framework to some of these stories. In the 1895s, there was a company named the British, the name of the company escapes me now, but the essence of the company was to seek fresh lands. And lands like that was earmarked in Kenya. And what was the earmarked for? It was earmarked to be given to Britain because they were trying to establish a settler colony in Kenya. So

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:06:06.05)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:06:20.748)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:21.841)
The plan was then to resettle 55,000 ex-British soldiers by giving them parcels of land in Kenya, which people who are familiar with Kenya will then know that is what brought about the Maomao, the Kenyan land and freedom army. And the Britain would give us what were then known as

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:06:44.812)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:51.135)
the concentration camp, the second time they've done it on the African continent. And I say that to say this. When the British left in 62,

The man who became president, Jomo Kenyatta, the same man that people, that parliamentarians who had been voted in decided they were not going to take their seats in Kenya parliament, except he was released, decided to keep things as they were and not disturb the order. What he would then do is de-place 13

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:07:18.508)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:31.457)
British families and then sold the land to himself. So the Kenyatta family is one of the richest in Kenya. And so for people who want to read more, you could read Imperial Reckoning by Carolyn Elkins. And you can see the concentration camp there. In fact, there were over 300 of them in Kenya alone, where people were... Go on.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:07:58.383)
So this idea of leaving things economically, structurally as they've been, but then your family gets enriched. We see that in South Africa as well. Mandela's family got very wealthy. Not much economic changes in terms of land ownership. Of course, Cyril Ramposa has also made a lot of money. Bia, we just, it would see it over and over again, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:07.158)
Yes.

Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:16.128)
Exactly.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:23.071)
Yeah, I mean, that is why it's also very important that when we started, we were talking about the conversations between the African continent and those in the diaspora. That conversation should be strengthened. All these diaspora wars about who did what, who is controlling what, who is doing all of that are just besides the point. Because there is enough in Africa to satisfy the

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:08:47.148)
distraction.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:52.583)
needs of everyone within it and without. But the more you fall in line with the narration that you're given in terms of, these people over there don't like you, that one. Of course, there'll be the one or two knuckleheads amongst us. But then that is not helpful to the plight of anybody, as long as we keep this

that same negative back and forth going. So I say that to say the second emancipation like the book of Howard French is alluding to should commence. I mean, we have platforms like this, the other platform where we are, narrative Nubia, that is a very good way to start. I mean, lots of conversations are being.

are going on even outside of that space. The United States of Africa is another example. we need to open those channels of conversations and keep it. Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:09:52.642)
Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:10:02.518)
Can I say one more thing about this Kenyan situation, right, with the British army? So with this Humphrey, Howard Humphrey's study that was done, environmental impact study that supposedly now drives what the compensation would be. Local farmers asked to participate in the study and they were denied because they're saying we suffered losses. It's not just the actual track that burned down.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:05.953)
Show again. Show again.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:18.869)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:24.139)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:10:31.392)
all of this carbon emission, all of that, we lost animals, so on and so forth. Some of us are blind now, some of us have respiratory issues, we can't even work. Five of the lead petitioners of the local farmers to participate in the study were arrested by the Kenyan government and charged with extortion.

Yes, the charges were dropped after this largely elderly group spent a night in police custody. So I guess now they had effectively repressed them. And so this environmental impacts report that is going to be touted as, know, and cheered, co-chaired by so and so, did not even allow for the voices.

of the local farmers who are now going to get, if they're lucky, $170. Period.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:26.369)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:32.894)
Wow.

And something to go in line with that. I want to read something from imperial reckoning. And that will give you an idea of the kind of leaders we have. And this is the former governor, former colonial governor, who goes in to meet Kenyatta. And so the conversation I'm going to read now is the one that happened between them. I was sitting.

I was sitting at that actual decks when I signed your detention order. That's the old colonial governor, right? Under 20 years ago, I know Kenyatta told him, if I had been in your shoes at the time, I would have done exactly the same. And I myself have signed a number of detention orders to detain people who are going to upset the cart.

So when we're talking about leaders, that's the kind of leaders we inherited. They're leaders who saw the position they gained as a result of prominence to feather their own nest, but not to fight in the cause of the people. So you have to experience this thing in the context of Africa's history. Most of these stories, to the average mind, are just written.

and they would read, they would move forward with it, but majority of those stories are filled with backstories. And then you begin to understand that all of this are planned and taught a well out, taught out action. You just said about arresting elderly, know, arresting elderly, elderly members of the community on the basis of what really?

Adesoji Iginla (01:13:31.221)
on the basis of

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:13:31.55)
that they had the audacity, yes, to say, a second, before you do this study, we want to be included because we have been negatively impacted. And for that, they are charged with extortion. Who is extorting who, really? And Robert Wells walks away from this multimillionaire.

Adesoji Iginla (01:13:34.067)
Eternity.

Adesoji Iginla (01:13:43.167)
How dare you.

extortion.

Adesoji Iginla (01:13:50.593)
Mmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:13:56.429)
You know, sanctified. You know, if I research him and his family further, he's probably living a good life. May come to the United States and pull an Elon Musk, who knows? But they're not held responsible in any way.

Adesoji Iginla (01:14:08.306)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:14:13.729)
I mean, that said, yes, we've come to the end of this week's episode and I must thank Sister Aya. Unfortunately, Brother Milton is held behind a technical wall. He has contributed a bit, but because the conversation was flowing, I couldn't read some of his submission and hopefully he was able to join us next week.

Sister? Kyrifin. We're going to be doing Women and Resistance on Wednesday. We're going to be looking at Eileen Seleff, the first female president of Liberia. And it's going to be an interesting conversation.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:14:56.984)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:15:05.166)
It is going to be beyond interesting because it ties in slavery, emancipation, repatriation, colonized minds, civil war, devastation, imperialism, how they train African leaders and then send us back to continue their bidding.

And we are well meaning through all of this and yet so confused in our mindset. Yeah, please. And in the meantime, please like, please subscribe, please share.

Adesoji Iginla (01:15:32.181)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:15:41.823)
Yeah. Yeah, please leave comments underneath the video. I will make an effort to answer all of them. All of them. And yes, continue to give Sister Aya her flowers. Yes, I'll pass them on when I get them. Yeah, I mean, I don't need flowers, but box of chocolate, yes. Put more flowers.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:16:02.158)
No, Vots of chocolate, right? from, from, okay, No, but of course, as always, thank you for the work that you do for sourcing out these articles and keeping us educated. It's important and the more of us that are, hopefully that changes how we show up.

Adesoji Iginla (01:16:06.677)
from Kenya, from Cote d'Ivoire.

Adesoji Iginla (01:16:26.785)
Yeah, I mean, we continue to do this because I feel it's important that these conversations be had. Again, like I said, most of these stories are not they're not devoid of context. If you put them in their proper context, you understand we're being gamed to use truth balance. And yes, thank you, everybody, for coming through. Any famous words, sister?

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:16:44.056)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli (01:16:55.534)
in the spirit of Brother Milton.

Adesoji Iginla (01:17:00.865)
I'll do to continue having to.

I would like to leave people with the quote of one of my favorite revolutionaries, Ernesto Shea Guevara, which says, if you are miffed by the, if you have indignation at any site of injustice, you're definitely a comrade of mine. So yeah, that's Shea Ernesto Guevara. And yes, until next week.

Good night and God bless.