EP 6 Is Nigeria still Sovereign?, Sudan’s War, U.K. Corporate Sponsors, and More...I African News Review 🌍

In this milestone 100th episode of African News Review, Adesoji Iginla and guests Milton Allimadi and Aya Fubara Eneli discuss the importance of collective responsibility, particularly in the context of Ujima.

They explore political dynamics in Texas and New York, the implications of US military actions in Nigeria, and the role of Western journalism in shaping narratives about Africa.

The conversation also touches on conflicts in the Sahel region, the impact of foreign intervention on African sovereignty, and the involvement of UK mercenaries in Africa.

Additionally, they discuss the Manchester Museum's efforts to uncover hidden histories and Ethiopia's ambitious airport project, highlighting both opportunities and challenges for the continent's future.

Takeaways

*This episode marks the 100th episode of African News Review.
*Ujima emphasises the importance of collective work and responsibility.
*Political dynamics in Texas and New York are heating up.
*US military actions in Nigeria raise questions about sovereignty.
*Western journalism often fails to represent African narratives accurately.
*The Sahel region is facing increasing foreign intervention.
*Foreign military actions in Africa often undermine sovereignty.
*The UK is implicated in mercenary operations in Africa.
*Museums in the UK are beginning to confront their colonial past.
*Ethiopia's airport project highlights both potential and challenges.

Chapters

00:00 Celebrating Milestones and Collective Responsibility
03:51 Understanding Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility
07:52 Political Landscape in Texas and New York
10:34 US Military Actions in Nigeria: A Sovereignty Crisis
17:00 The Role of Western Journalism in African Narratives
22:07 The Sahel Region: A Broader Context of Conflict
27:42 The Impact of Foreign Intervention on African Sovereignty
33:23 Mercenaries and the UK: A Colonial Legacy
40:12 Manchester Museum: Uncovering Hidden Histories
52:50 Ethiopia's Ambitious Airport Project: Opportunities and Concern

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:01.779)
Yes, greetings, greetings, greetings, and welcome to, I'm happy to say, the 100th episode of African News Review. And happy Kwanzaa to everyone. Yes, as always, we begin with two of the most brilliant minds I have here. First is I'm joined by the award, the Amazon Best Selling Author.

We have to say it if it is what it is. So the Amazon bestselling author of Kwanzaa, a celebration of community. And what can I say? Sister Ayafubara Eneli Esquire, who is the host of Rethinking Freedom, 98.5 Killeen FM, and host of Women and Resistance. Welcome, sister.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (00:34.095)
It is what it is.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:00.665)
Thank you.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02.941)
Yes, and to the gentleman whose book, Manufacturing Hate, is the inspiration for this weekly conversation that we have. Manufacturing Hate is the author of that book. He is also the publisher of Black Star News on WBAI 99.5 FM New York, Comrade Milton Alimadi.

Milton Allimadi (01:31.294)
Asante sana. Thank you to both of you, comrades.

Adesoji Iginla (01:33.503)
Thank you very much. No, listen, it's thank you to all of you. So I mean, obviously people would ask, how did you come to African News Review? I don't want to steal the thunder from both of you. So let's go in reverse order. Brother Milton first.

Milton Allimadi (01:55.2)
Didn't I run into you and hold foods or something?

Adesoji Iginla (01:58.719)
Yes, yes, yes. Whole Foods New York. Yeah, 14th Street.

Milton Allimadi (02:01.661)
in New York.

Milton Allimadi (02:06.284)
And we had a good conversation and we say, hey, everybody's going digital. Why don't you one day think of, know, here we are.

Adesoji Iginla (02:14.479)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, that was... Yeah. So, sister?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (02:16.909)
Wow, just a chance meeting at Whole Foods.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (02:29.779)
a part of African News Review? Well, I was in a collective with you, which obviously other members of the larger African, African-American community and

Adesoji Iginla (02:32.391)
Yes, yes, yes.

Adesoji Iginla (02:47.463)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (02:50.553)
part of what we did in that collective was read books, books from people like Aikwa Amah and Tengugu Watyongo, just to name a few. And we continued this conversation about what needs to be done on the continent. And to the extent that we are in the diaspora.

Adesoji Iginla (03:05.078)
Yeah. The collective work. Correct? Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (03:12.015)
And so when you started African News Review, which looked very different when you first started it, I was obviously one of the people supporting you and watching. But as we continue to have these conversations behind the scenes, you decided to invite me. I think I was filling in once when comrade Alamadi couldn't be here. And I guess the audience told you to bring me back. think that's what happened. So I want to thank all the viewers.

Adesoji Iginla (03:31.015)
It was yeah, yes. Yes Hey.

Milton Allimadi (03:32.645)
MMMM

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (03:42.091)
I appreciate you.

Milton Allimadi (03:46.078)
That's nice, I like that.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (03:48.183)
Yes, so I was a stand-in because the original, the real legend wasn't available. Yes, yes. And I guess I did something a little decent and people said, you should have that woman back again. So thank you so much. And thank you. Congratulations on your 100th episode.

Milton Allimadi (03:51.403)
You were drafted. That's good though, you were drafted.

Adesoji Iginla (03:58.975)
Thank you very much. Thank you. So I'm feeling like a dinosaur as it were, but the work continues. And in light of today being Ujima in...

Milton Allimadi (04:09.715)
I just...

Adesoji Iginla (04:23.311)
those people who are observing Kwanzaa, course, could you sister, could you just give us an idea of what that entails in light of what we do here?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (04:33.185)
Well, ujima, again, is a key Swahili word. And the definition is collective work and responsibility, what we do for and with each other, understanding that we are responsible for one another. So this idea of individualism is not how we used to function. And every time we function in that way, we end up

Adesoji Iginla (04:46.423)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (05:00.663)
opening ourselves up to harm. We harm ourselves and we open ourselves up to harm from other people. So in terms of the work that we're doing with African News Review, again, many of the stories that we cover are not covered widely.

Adesoji Iginla (05:08.506)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (05:14.473)
in the mass media that most people consume, you have to go almost hunting for these stories. And then of course, even when you find these articles, they are very slanted, they are very skewed, they are not African centered at all, we're often silenced. And so what you're doing here is taking responsibility for us as a collective want to be.

more knowledgeable and educated about what's going on and also teaching us how to critically think about the information we're consuming. And then of course pointing us to other writers and thinkers who can help sharpen the lens through which we see things. And so I think that the work that you're doing here, not I think I know that the work you're doing here with African News Review is

Adesoji Iginla (05:51.12)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (06:09.835)
essential to this idea of collective work and responsibility because if we're ignorant of each other, if we're ignorant about what's happening to us as a collective across the globe, then we are going to move in ignorance. We're not going to understand the whole picture of what's happening and how we can unify to really bring about our liberation.

Adesoji Iginla (06:35.751)
I should also use this opportunity to thank, she's actually in the chat now, Gloria Ladessima. She was, she sent me an email. She said, it's important that I support you in doing this work. And she has been contributing since the beginning, a monthly contribution unfailingly to my Patreon. And that has helped in

in numerous ways of helping to keep this, put it out there so that people can actually download it and stuff like that. So I have to thank her and thank everybody else that comes in and contribute to the chats, to the membership. It's again, like we say, it's collective work and we're all bringing our brick as it were. So thank you very much.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (07:30.447)
May I if I may interject so if we were to crown the Queen not that we need a Queen but if we were to give an award for Someone in the chat right now who definitely is about that collective work and responsibility It would be Gloria La Decima and I'll tell you another reason why From the moment I announced about the library in the global she gives monthly on failingly to that

Adesoji Iginla (07:52.489)
Library, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (07:58.291)
Yes, Never saying yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (08:00.751)
That project that works she is taking a responsibility for places and people that she has never seen I may never see and I'm telling you she is clockwork. I as I'm doing the budget each month I never know who's going to give I never know how much I have to cover but I always know I can subtract what she's going to give because she is so good for so mama let this amount I just want to thank you so much for your love and for living

Milton Allimadi (08:12.741)
Thank

Adesoji Iginla (08:21.821)
Yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (08:29.827)
the Kwanzaa principles every day without waiting for it to be Kwanzaa. And I did not know that, that she was supporting A &R. So thank you so much.

Adesoji Iginla (08:35.823)
Yeah, my. Yeah, she is, is. So that said, it's been a very bumper news week. So without further ado, news from where you at, let's start with Sista.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (08:54.763)
Well, we have primaries in Texas in March. And so the political arena is pretty hot. One of the hottest races right now in Texas is between Jasmine Crockett and James Tallarico.

I just saw an article where James Carville was coming out in support of James Talarico and I've got to tell you, I have no love for Carville at all.

I know that he's a quote unquote a democratic operative. Some people hold him in high regard, but I do not see him as a friend to black and brown people at all. I see him as really a soft white nationalist. And so him throwing his weight behind James Tallarico does not move the needle in for me towards him, if anything, not that I needed the needle moved. I'm definitely, I'm gonna say it. You don't have to say who you're voting for, but.

Adesoji Iginla (09:27.655)
.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (09:54.009)
Jasmine Crockett has my vote for all of the reasons that we see her show every day when they are in, they're actually in Washington DC working since the MAGA folk have pretty much had Congress only work 87 days this entire 2025 and yet they got paid their full salaries. So politically we see the MAGA folk again looking to primary.

Adesoji Iginla (10:10.691)
Wow.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (10:21.819)
some of the more moderate Republicans, they did that very effectively in 2024. And so people like John Cornyn, who is currently the senator on the, you know, the other senator representing Texas is being challenged by Ken Paxton who

Adesoji Iginla (10:24.903)
Mm-hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (10:42.57)
It's incredible to me that he can still run for any office given everything that has been exposed about him. But here we are. So yeah, politically things are supercharged right now in Texas.

Adesoji Iginla (10:53.28)
Okay, okay, thank you. Comrade, New York, New York. Monday.

Milton Allimadi (10:57.705)
Yes, well, it looks like the outgoing mayor wants to burn the house before he leaves. He's trying to put measures to block the incoming mayor from becoming a successful mayor. But they can try to block him from having the ability to put a rent freeze, which of course was the signature issue that he campaigned on. And I won't be surprised if this

Adesoji Iginla (11:22.407)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (11:26.955)
person who's now really confirming widespread suspicion that he's just a bitter nasty loser, I won't be surprised if he flies away on the swearing in day and that he doesn't even show up. Just like Trump did with Biden, I wouldn't be surprised. And I think many people would be happy if he doesn't show up either. So that's my neck of the woods.

Adesoji Iginla (11:32.991)
For handing over, just like his mentor,

OK, that said, let's go in for today's story, the first of which, surprise, surprise, comes from Nigeria. And it comes from the AP News. And it is that Mr. Trump has done it again. US launches strike against Islamic State group in Nigeria after attacks targets Christians.

And it goes on. says, President Donald Trump said the United States launched a powerful deadly strike against forces of the Islamic State group after spending weeks accusing the West African countries government of failing to rein in the targeting of Christians. A Defense Department official who insisted on anonymity to discuss details not made public said the US worked with Nigeria to carry out the strikes and they have been approved by Abuja.

Okay, hello, hello. Yes. Who wants to go fast?

Milton Allimadi (12:52.799)
Correct.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (12:56.16)
Let comrade go first.

Milton Allimadi (12:56.636)
Yeah. All right, so this story is not so much about the US strike, you know, to me. There are elements of that. So that's, I'll address that second. I want to start off by addressing Nigeria. You know, I've been saying on many occasions and many episodes that we really don't have an independent sovereign state in Africa. I've said that many times.

Adesoji Iginla (12:59.455)
Thank

Adesoji Iginla (13:05.567)
Hm.

Adesoji Iginla (13:20.191)
Hmm Hmm you

Milton Allimadi (13:23.71)
people can go back and look at some of the past episodes. We don't have a single independent country in Africa. I said that. So this action is the best proof that you can have. But also, the nature of these non-independent, non-sovereign states have even become worse since the 1960s and the 1970s. In 1960s and 1970s, there's no Nigerian civilian government.

Adesoji Iginla (13:48.639)
Yeah. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (13:53.148)
that would dare do something like this, allow the United States to conduct a military operation on Nigerian soil, because that government would be overthrown very quickly. You see? Think about that, where we've come. Nigeria, the most populous country, they're supposed to be the leader on the African continent, allowing the United States, the belly of the beast of imperialism, to conduct a military strike

Adesoji Iginla (14:19.839)
Hmm Hmm Hmm

Milton Allimadi (14:23.005)
on its soil. It's unbelievable. And it just tells you how far we've slid back since the 1960s, since the 1970s.

I dare anybody to challenge the statement I made that no government, Nigerian government would allow, not even a military government would allow it because other elements of the military would get rid of that military government, you see? So they're just telling you how far back. So I wanted to start off with that, number one. Number two, when they say they got permission from the Nigerian government, it means to me that they were allowed to say yes.

Adesoji Iginla (14:44.881)
of

Adesoji Iginla (14:49.14)
Of course, of course, of course.

Adesoji Iginla (15:00.204)
Yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (15:04.07)
five minutes before the bomb started dropping. And then number three, this is not a legitimate military operation. First of all, Trump and the Pentagon likes showing images of the targets. They show us every time they hit a boat in Venezuela, right? Even when the occupants of the boats have their hands raised, they still show us the video.

Adesoji Iginla (15:31.088)
yeah. Yeah. Mm.

Milton Allimadi (15:32.94)
of them getting hit, right? So where are the videos of this strike in Nigeria? I'm not saying it didn't happen, but you probably hit some empty building or you hit some desert, right? You think if there was something spectacular and successful, Trump would not have had that on his truth social page already? And then of course, the other question that people should ask themselves, if this was a legitimate military operation,

Nigeria has 150 jet fighters. Nigeria gave supposedly the intelligence to United States. Why could Nigeria use the same intelligence and it's one of, and some of it's 150 jet fighters to conduct the strike itself? After just recently reversing a coup in Benin, right? So people need to look at the geography of the region where the strike occurred.

Adesoji Iginla (16:14.149)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (16:23.167)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (16:29.024)
and which are the countries that are close there that has recently caught the attention of the West. Of course, it's the alliance of the Sahelian states, and beginning with Niger, right there on the spot. And then, of course, you go to Mali and Burkina Faso. So I think this is part of a broader creeping operation. So you have that French collaboration with...

Adesoji Iginla (16:37.035)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (16:46.119)
That's it, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (16:52.659)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (16:57.273)
I call him now Moïse Chambet, aka Tnoubou. So you had this collaboration with the French when they went into Benin. And I'm confident that the French are also involved in this collaboration. And that is not really limited to the people that they say they're striking. I think the ultimate target are the Alliance of Sahel States. Let's remember this. The United States has a military base.

that it built in Niger and spent $100 million for. And the US ultimately was expelled by the new government in Niger. I don't think they're just going to leave a $100 million base like that and not try to do something about it. Yeah, so those are my immediate observations. They're using Tinubu the way they planned to initially do two years ago.

Adesoji Iginla (17:32.167)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (17:55.755)
when they wanted ECOWAS to go into Niger and the Alliance of Sahel States basically was formed because of that threat. So they backed off and now they think this is a good opportunity to perhaps try that again. That would be my reading, but it has nothing to do. And of course, it also partly to send a signal to Maduro in Venezuela that you see what we're capable of doing, you could be next.

Adesoji Iginla (17:58.399)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (18:11.807)
Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (18:25.376)
So those are my observations.

Adesoji Iginla (18:28.799)
Okay, sister.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (18:32.942)
So, you know, one of the things that they say in Western journalism is this idea of being objective, which is a lie, that you can tell a story and completely be divorced from it and have no feelings, emotions, and maybe inbuilt biases.

Adesoji Iginla (18:51.408)
Masses, yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (18:55.884)
I happen to have my lineage in the area now called Nigeria, but even if I didn't.

All of us Black people, anyone of African descent across the world should be very concerned by what just happened. As Comrade rightly pointed out, Nigeria conservatively has about 240 million people on the continent. If you add Nigerians across the globe, we are probably another 20 million or so added to that.

the audacity of this 34th time convicted felon who wants to be not just dictator in the United States, but wants to rule the world. Look at how he's moving.

And the fact that the powers that can come against him so far are also being silent. I have not heard anything from the United Nations. Of course, we're not going to hear anything from ECOWAS. And we've not heard anything from the African Union on this. At least I haven't seen any statements that they've made. Remember when Tinibu was running for office and should have been disqualified based on

the rules, the laws in Nigeria, and whether he's even of the age that he should, that, that we're in which you're, within which you're allowed to run. Remember also that this man had to pay restitution in the United States, allegedly over drug trafficking. Remember that the United States has information on this individual and for whatever reasons chose not to prosecute in the way that they could have.

Adesoji Iginla (20:42.387)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (20:52.351)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (20:52.886)
And then he literally gets installed as president. And right now the Supreme Court in Nigeria is functioning for him in the same way the white nationalist Supreme Court judges in the United States are functioning for Trump. The will of the people is nowhere part of the equation in what is going on. As Comrade Reitley pointed out, Sokoto

Adesoji Iginla (20:55.423)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (21:20.684)
Go back, get a copy of Adesoji's book, locate where Nigeria is relative to Niger-Mali-Bokino-Faso, and then locate Sokoto, which is at the top. If you're looking at the map, it is at the top left-hand corner. It's the farthest state, an area where, yes, it will be very easy to cross the border.

and do whatever it is that you need to do in any of those three other countries. The area that was bombed for the community that was bombed, they said that they have not had any issues with insurgency in that area. They are described as a Muslim community, largely farming community, and they said, we have not had any issues with ISIS or anything.

Adesoji Iginla (21:53.902)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (22:19.648)
Now mind you in Medugri.

Adesoji Iginla (22:23.007)
which is the other side, not east.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (22:24.428)
which is on the other side, there was a bombing on the eve of this bombing by ISIS. They claimed that they did that bombing. It was in a mosque and they killed five people and injured many others. So if your goal is to attack the strongholds of ISIS, first and foremost, Nigerian leaders have been meeting with the leaders of Boko Haram.

for years. They know where they are. They've actually housed some of them. So this is not an issue of we are trying to find it. I thought they were going to bomb the San Basie Forest if they were to bomb anywhere else. Even I, as an uninformed civilian, knows that that is where, when they abducted the Chibok girls, that's where they ran into.

Adesoji Iginla (23:07.909)
for us, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (23:20.957)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (23:21.322)
And so the people of this area, now this is America with all its precision bombs and drones, said some homes were destroyed, nobody died, most of the bombs fell in open areas. So like Comrade was saying, in terms of fighting Boko Haram or ISIS, this was not it. This is a suff-terfuge.

But in terms of all the other things that comrade has brought up, the access to the Sahel, the sending a message to African leaders, as well as to any other leaders across South America, Latin America, who might feel, we can rise up against the United States of America. We cannot also ignore all beyond the military base, all of the minerals.

Adesoji Iginla (24:00.895)
Thank

Adesoji Iginla (24:09.503)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (24:10.38)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (24:17.44)
and resources that are available in Nigeria and the surrounding countries. And it's really the West and the United States in particular realizing that we are in a very important phase of our existence where what is happening in the Sahel can spread.

Adesoji Iginla (24:32.721)
Yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (24:37.888)
That is why they had to go into Benin the way they did, to quench that as quickly as possible. That is why they are holding up this dictator in Tanzania. That is why in Cameroon, they did not come against Bia, because they would like to keep these forces in place, as opposed to see the will of the people, which is to reclaim who we are. But right now, we really have no sovereign nations in Africa.

Adesoji Iginla (24:58.077)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (25:07.405)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't think that we are seeing the end of this in terms of the potential, but maybe I'm not reading Nigeria correctly. It's very difficult for me to believe there will not be some internal consequences on Tinubu going forward.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (25:07.654)
It's a joke.

Adesoji Iginla (25:31.433)
Yeah, yes, yes, yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (25:33.486)
believe that there will be, what also concerns me is, I think most of us have lived long enough to remember, there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The same Saddam Hussein that the CIA built up and funded, all of a sudden they manufactured this reason to go and decimate that area. And there are artifacts, and I shouldn't even call it that, there are.

things of importance that go back centuries that disappeared. They are in private collection somewhere. That country, I don't know, and that region, I don't know how long it will take them to recover. When they came against Libya and Gaddafi and all of a sudden we're concerned about this bombing that took place.

Adesoji Iginla (26:03.731)
Hmm. Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (26:20.564)
Decades earlier we got to get rid of him what so every we need to look every time Vietnam every time they come in and say they are coming to help you You face devastation and so my message to the Nigerians and the other Africans blinded by your stupid allegiance to a made-up white Jesus That blinds you to the extent that you

have a man who calls you a shit hole country, who has not given your Christians any free visas to come to the United States like he did for the white South Africans, who are not under any siege by the way, and that you will turn around and think this man means you're good? I'm sorry, are you stupid or are you crazy or what?

Adesoji Iginla (27:10.461)
Hmph.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (27:15.534)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (27:15.655)
Well, all I can say is this is the opportune time for the much more conscious elements of Nigerian society to intervene. This is completely unacceptable.

Adesoji Iginla (27:17.093)
I would.

Adesoji Iginla (27:30.399)
The good comrade raised a very important point earlier when you said, going back to the 60s, 70s, and the 80s, no Nigerian government would have allowed this to happen. In fact, at the height of the Nigerian civil war, Goaun was particular that no foreign forces would have a base on the Nigerian territory. And it goes back to this.

Milton Allimadi (27:43.965)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (28:00.511)
you know, the first head of state in Ghana, who happened to be a leading Pan-Africanist, would often visit Nigeria, but would visit Nigeria as a private citizen, even when he was head of state, because he was friends with Madame Foula Moulay and some Quiti, Fela's mom. And anytime he comes in, he's often asked this question, are you going to visit the Nigerian government? And he's

His retort is always, I don't speak to British neocolonialists. And that was his constant refrain. I don't speak to British colonialists. Now, here is what he said on the floor of Addis Ababa when they wanted to form the organization of African unity. He said, the unity of our continent.

Milton Allimadi (28:36.807)
sorry.

Adesoji Iginla (28:59.327)
is no less separate than our own individual independence. If delayed, if we do not lose it, that is our collective independence, by hobnobbing with colonialists, every step in the decolonization process of our continent has been brought a greatest resistance by those where colonials have provided garrisons available to colonialists.

essentially saying the likes of Tinumbu, the likes of all this, what do you call them, so-called Western idealist, they are causing irreparable harm to the African continent. And you said, finally, said, which regards to that shot landing in Sokoto in a place called Juba. Juba is on the border with, it's literally on the border with Niger.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (29:54.402)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (29:58.629)
it's not even in Sokoto, it's on the border. So what could you possibly be saying? You're saying if we can hit this place, guess what else we can do? We can hit anywhere. And so with that said, it's a good.

Milton Allimadi (30:15.374)
You know, when NATO went into Libya, that, you I think one of the editorials, we wrote many editorials. In fact, I think Adesoggi is aware of this. I don't know if Armand's sister is. We wrote so many editorials critical of the intervention. And we were one of the few, I think the only other media outlet, ironically, was the Wall Street Journal.

that wrote many articles, editorials about the targeting of Libyans that looked like us specifically. In the city of Tawaga, which was exclusively populated like Libyans that looked like us, completely wiped out, people killed or people forced to flee their homes. They wrote on their homes that they were destroyed, that we are the brigade to something like, I forget the specific words,

Adesoji Iginla (30:43.852)
Yeah. Yeah, would happen.

Adesoji Iginla (30:57.311)
Yeah. yeah.

Milton Allimadi (31:13.967)
to bring back slavery or something like that, right? And they wrote houses of slaves, houses of slaves, right? So this was an inconvenient narrative to the folks that are supporting these same so-called freedom fighters. So they suppressed it. They never covered it in the New York Times until after Gaddafi had been overthrown. We wrote about it consistently. We wrote one editorial. We said, phone the State Department.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (31:29.07)
you

Adesoji Iginla (31:29.671)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (31:43.595)
and ask them why they're not making statements about the targeted killing of Libyans that look like us. We put the phone number. Call the White House and ask President Obama why this is not being spoken about. We put the phone number. We said call the National Urban League. We put the phone number. Call the NAACP. We put the phone number.

Adesoji Iginla (31:52.194)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (32:07.222)
The next day, we could not access our website. We could not access our website for three days. And our provider kept saying that this was a technical problem. And then one night, like 4 a.m., I just woke up. I called because they're 24-7, right? And it's the same thing. said, You're telling me.

Adesoji Iginla (32:10.735)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (32:11.438)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (32:31.679)
But you... Hmm

Milton Allimadi (32:34.496)
that of the thousands and thousands of websites that you guys post, all of them have not been able to access their website for three days. I don't believe you, give me your name. I spoke to three different people, I took their names down. 4 a.m., I went back to sleep. I woke up, I got up like maybe seven or eight, our website was back up. I said, what is going on? So I went, I started looking at the content, that editorial had been deleted from our website. Think about that.

Adesoji Iginla (32:58.655)
Hmm. Hmm. you

Milton Allimadi (33:04.728)
That is the kind of world we live in. A private company, the US government can intervene and have a private company not only hijack our website, but delete a specific article from the website. That's number one. Number two, and then when they started dropping the bombs on Libya and not a single African state was willing to say,

Adesoji Iginla (33:30.91)
In.

Milton Allimadi (33:31.571)
I am going to come and help defend you. I knew that was the end of it for so-called sovereignty and independence in Africa. That was it. So in a way, I'm not that surprised with what we are now seeing in Nigeria today. Perhaps I was hoping that Nigeria would somehow be exceptional, you know. And by the way, I consulted some lawyers at the time and most of them told me the same thing. They said, listen, you have a good case, but

Adesoji Iginla (33:44.75)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (34:01.375)
And in this particular political and climate right now, if I were you, I would not pursue it.

Adesoji Iginla (34:07.935)
You

Milton Allimadi (34:10.787)
But I wrote about it, this so you know, because in the introduction, I wrote, you know. I just wanted to put that broad context.

Adesoji Iginla (34:13.659)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I remember. I mean, yeah, it goes without saying, most of the leaders, I just want to even hammer on this point with regards to the notion of sovereignty. When they formed the OAU Organization of African Unity, May 25, 1963, there were two groups. There was the Monrovia group and there was the Casablanca group.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (34:15.117)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (34:40.905)
Kanselblanker group was the group of the so-called radicals, the ones that completely wanted to break away from the colonials. If you go and look at the attendance meeting of the leaders in 1967 of the meeting, all of those leaders had been overthrown.

that tells you everything you need to know with regards to the state of play, with regards to after.

Milton Allimadi (35:06.946)
and they would rather maintain a drug dealer, as Sister said, and of course they would because they have the goods on him. All they have to do is, you know, if he's like, you know, we want to send our jet fighter, I don't know, I don't know, you don't know, well, you know we have that file, right? Do you want it on all the front pages of American newspapers? Oh, no, no, no, send as many planes as you want.

Adesoji Iginla (35:14.653)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (35:22.441)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (35:28.351)
Or better still, we do know where you have your money in France. It's just a phone call away. And that's it. And that's it. know, sometimes when brothers and sisters in the United States will be familiar with this process where you do go through background checks to check your exposure to possible blackmail. This is one case scenario where this cloud who are hanging over his head

Milton Allimadi (35:31.842)
Okay.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (35:32.384)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (35:57.075)
has now been used to undermine the sovereignty of the so-called country he leads. OK, that said, we go to our next story, which again talks about the use of Western platforms in order to further the interest of imperialism. This time, we go to the United Kingdom. And the news comes from The Guardian. It's tied to Colombian mercenaries in Sudan.

recruited by UK registered firms. A Guardian investigation finds companies set up by people sanctioned by the US hired Colombian fighters for rapid support forces, widely supported of war crimes in Sudan. It goes to describe where the place is, which is in central London. The one bed flats in North London, Cranthin Road is, according to UK government records, tied to a transactional network's

of companies involved in the mass recruitment of mercenaries to fight in Sudan alongside paramilitaries accused of a myriad war crimes and genocide. But there is one key pattern we wanted us to focus on, which is here. And it is where, yeah. The FEMI is active the day after the US Treasury announced sanctions on those behind the Colombian mercenary operation, night of December.

abruptly moved his operations to the very heart of London. On 10 December, the firm shared new address details. Its postcode matches 1 Alditch, a five-star hotel in Convent Garden that is basically the tourist capital of London. So what else can we say? Who wants to go first?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (37:47.988)
Let comrade go first on this one.

Milton Allimadi (37:49.853)
Okay, so this is really, I'm only interested in making two comments about this story. Number one, it goes back to the same point that we've made, that there are no independent sovereign states on the African continent. And of course, Sudan has clearly proven that in the last two years, where you have literally bandits,

Adesoji Iginla (37:57.183)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (38:12.101)
Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (38:17.473)
destroying the country and the people suffering, know, innocent people suffering. You have on the one hand, the official national bandits, which is the national army. And then you have the rapid support forces that because the country is not sovereign, cannot secure its borders, they can get arms from whatever they want. They control parts of the country that has the gold so they can buy anything they want.

Adesoji Iginla (38:22.726)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (38:31.231)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (38:42.911)
.

Milton Allimadi (38:44.961)
And of course, they're supported by many elements, including the British and the United States, because the US was serious on military targets. Not that I would want the US involved anyway on African soil. Certainly, the RSF would be a much more better target than the phantom targets they claim they were hitting in Nigeria. Then number two, to show you that the British are also essentially supporting this conflict.

Adesoji Iginla (38:50.079)
Thank

Adesoji Iginla (38:57.167)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (39:14.678)
and the RSF is because if this so-called clandestine operation was helping to finance, let's say, drug dealing in the United States or getting weapons into the United States, they would not be operating in Britain. So nobody can tell me that the British are not aware that this company is doing what they're doing on British soil. Utter nonsense, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (39:41.257)
Sister.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (39:44.214)
It's an important article for a number of reasons to the extent that for the most part so many of and almost any economic move you want to make goes through some European country.

We understand that any of the ills that we're seeing anywhere in the world can be tied back to some of these quote unquote superpowers, these places. You know, like really we, people have heard this phrase before, follow the money. When Switzerland would say, we're neutral, you're not neutral with all of this money being deposited in your account that you use.

Adesoji Iginla (40:11.603)
Correct.

Milton Allimadi (40:17.269)
Yes, thank you.

Milton Allimadi (40:23.425)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (40:27.062)
IMF is not neutral. You see how IMF is using their power to basically say, if you don't go along with X, Y, and Z, we will not fund you and so on and so forth. When countries and leaders are actually trying to make decisions that are in the best interest of their people, as opposed to these loans that mostly, by the way, go back to the Western nations. So everything, for instance, that...

Adesoji Iginla (40:38.862)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (40:46.907)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (40:57.302)
The reason why RSF, all of these other groups are being funded is ultimately to ensure that the powers that be can extract what they want and that they control the means of production, they control all the money, they control all the resources. They will achieve that or try to achieve that by any means necessary. And so again, this is just a wake up call.

Adesoji Iginla (41:01.663)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (41:16.993)
Yes.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (41:25.576)
If what, so, you know, since we now have this whole anti-immigrant ban, whatever, all over the place, we're pulling people's visas and citizenship and so on and so forth, at least in the United States of America. You want to tell me that if they wanted to keep those people out that they couldn't. You want to tell me that if they wanted to put some kind of squeeze on Columbia, on these particular, that they, no, so they're all in bed together.

Adesoji Iginla (41:38.815)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (41:43.588)
Of course they can.

Milton Allimadi (41:54.613)
Right. Right. So what is missing in the story is who in the British establishment is getting a cut of some of these profits. That's the only thing missing in the story.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (41:54.91)
And nothing has changed. It's about exploiting.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (42:05.266)
Exactly. Well, you know, the money is going through British economic channels and so they are making money, even if it's that they can use that money to generate more money. They are making money. But yes, so when

Adesoji Iginla (42:10.515)
Thanks.

Milton Allimadi (42:18.632)
They're making money by the specific people that can be named too. And if the Guardian knows those names, give us those names, you know.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (42:22.388)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (42:24.243)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (42:27.382)
And if they don't know the names, stop putting the pressure to say, need to know who's actually benefiting from this. So it's the invisibility of the evil of whiteness. It's like when we talk about, people are slaves, but you really hear us talking about the enslavers. Who were the savages who were enslaving people? It's like slaves was just this ubiquitous thing that just fell out of the sky and you were born that way.

Milton Allimadi (42:38.013)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (42:38.239)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (42:46.439)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (42:56.202)
But there are people who are actually creating an everyday with this.

Milton Allimadi (42:59.058)
Right. I like the fact that you said that and that's why we should not ever accept their use of the word slave because when you put it enslaved, then exactly we know somebody is operating to make them in that condition. So that's a good point.

Adesoji Iginla (43:15.529)
Correct, correct, correct. Yes, I'm out of time. We go to the next story, which is from, again, from The Guardian. And it is that Manchester Museum needs our help to do something.

Manchester from the Guardian, reads, Manchester Museum seeks help to uncover hidden histories of African collection. New Africa Hub confronts colonial era silences by asking visitors to share insight on 40,000 objects. It is a rare thing for a museum to talk about what it doesn't know, but unanswered question and archival silences are the heart of the New Africa Hub at Manchester Museum, North West England.

which is inviting people around the world to help fill the gaps. The museum holds more than 40,000 items from across Africa. Many of them were traded, collected, looted, or preserved during the era of the British Empire. As a result, the names of the makers, the cultural significance of the objects, and the people to which they once belonged are largely unknown to curators in Manchester, and in many cases, only the name of the donor or the collection from which an item came is recorded.

Well, they thieves.

Milton Allimadi (44:43.547)
Okay, so this story, I like elements of it and

Well, let me put it this way. Part of it is public relations, right? Part of it opens an opportunity and we have to push that element. So first the public relations part. The public relations part is when they discuss the Nigerian diaspora, the IBO organization in Manchester working with this museum and the quote from the lady.

Adesoji Iginla (44:54.843)
You

Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (45:05.247)
Yeah. You

Milton Allimadi (45:20.163)
that it really doesn't matter about the color, the culture, there's an opportunity to come together and all that. So that is to get rid of the guilt part of the fact that 40,000 items that should not be there is there. So they deal with that. But the part that I say has potential is the quote curators say, this could lead to restitution of items.

Adesoji Iginla (45:33.311)
Yeah. But the key word there is COOL. COOL! It not it...

Milton Allimadi (45:49.911)
Right? But in order for that, sorry.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (45:52.842)
Could, could, could, not will.

Milton Allimadi (45:54.795)
Exactly. That's right. That's right. I read it. No, no, no, listen, I did not miss that I underlined could and that's what I said that part is up to us. You see That's where we need to jump on and make sure that door that they've opened Comes to realization and then normally what they say many of these museums And the way I say I like it is because it's much better than what the British Museum for example Has been doing right?

Adesoji Iginla (46:04.403)
Yeah, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (46:13.194)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (46:20.991)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. .

Milton Allimadi (46:24.569)
So this one has potential. But what they've been saying, most of them is that even if we wanted to return these items, we don't know where to return them. We don't know the location and the ownership. And that comes back to this story, inviting engagement to buy them more time, right? That goes back to the public relations part. But this is a solution that I proposed years ago.

Adesoji Iginla (46:50.547)
Hmm Yeah, an African vision

Milton Allimadi (46:51.949)
I said, in cases like this, why don't we open, I think I mentioned it in one of our episodes, previous episodes, let's open a Pan-African museum where the capital of the AU is, which is Addis Ababa. Let's open it, let every African country drop in a little money to build this museum. And for artwork that is of questionable origin, let's put it at that museum, you know, so that...

all African countries can collectively benefit, it would attract global revenue because now all the people that are going to the UK and spending a lot of money will be going to an African country. People that are going to, and this should apply not only to the museum in Manchester, but to all the museums that currently have been withholding African art. So that's my comment on this article.

Adesoji Iginla (47:42.687)
Hmm.

Sister.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (47:50.29)
In my spirit, right, I feel mother Africa at this time. She'll rebound, in my spirit right now, I feel her with her hands on her head. I don't know if you guys have ever seen an African woman in despair. The hand goes on the head like this and there is a guttural cry that rises up.

Adesoji Iginla (48:14.089)
Mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (48:16.534)
Huh, 40,000 items. You know, these words that we use, what items exactly are we talking about? They did not describe them in any way. Are these drawings? Are these clay pots? Are these earrings? Are these skulls? Are these, what, you know, these collective items. So.

Adesoji Iginla (48:21.119)
45.

Adesoji Iginla (48:28.307)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (48:43.048)
like to ask the officials at the museum because I'm not sure that I got this from the article.

they don't have any idea of how they came about it. So you talked about looted or this or that, but at the time, how did the museum get possession of the items? Was it an executive? Was it an individual? Was it the British government? Like, where did you get, like, did someone just like dump it in your backyard? I just, I think that in terms of filling in the gaps,

Adesoji Iginla (49:15.443)
You

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (49:22.078)
It's helpful, you know, if I suddenly found stolen goods on my doorstep and I had a ring camera, maybe I want to check to see who visited recently. Like what, where, let's start there. The other question I have, and I'm very grateful, I guess, I can use that word gratitude, that the Evo's of Manchester are involved, they're asking for help. But I want to know.

Adesoji Iginla (49:26.706)
you

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (49:51.008)
How much money have they made from having these quote unquote items? Where are those resources going? And what are they specifically going to put in place so that it is not a could lead to restitution, but it is a guaranteed restitution that goes back to the beginning of.

Adesoji Iginla (49:54.463)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (50:12.457)
Tuesday.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (50:15.016)
wherever you got these things from and how much you have made including maybe even researchers who now get paid to get access to some of these so-called items so i mean again grateful that some of these things are coming to light grateful that some of us are involved it is a call as comrade said for african nations although you know we're still kind of dealing with can we eat to say

We're gonna create our own space, give us our stuff. And we have enough young people that we can educate and employ for the next 30 years, just figuring out what our things are in having them be in conversation with each other so that we can better even understand ourselves. I'm telling you, these colonizers have more information about who we used to be.

Milton Allimadi (50:47.461)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (51:10.63)
Yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (51:11.614)
than many of us living today Africans do of ourselves.

Adesoji Iginla (51:15.849)
Fact, fact, and I just want to go.

Milton Allimadi (51:18.308)
No, I think, I think the-

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (51:19.926)
just wanna know what the items are. Just telling me items. Come on, let's be more specific. What are we talking about here?

Adesoji Iginla (51:26.599)
items.

Milton Allimadi (51:27.462)
Right. Well, first of all, mean, clearly, I would be shocked if skulls are not included. So we can take that for granted that skulls are included. And I think for them to admit that skulls are included would sort of undermine the public relations aspect that this article is supposed to accomplish. But I think in the new year, we should explore, because we talk a lot about things that need to be done.

Adesoji Iginla (51:44.671)
You

Yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (51:56.256)
And I'm glad, know, we individually, are doing things, know, sister is operating libraries and schools back home, you know, putting resources together to support girls. We've actually financed education through college of six young ladies now over the last four years.

But I think collectively we can do a lot more. There's no reason why we cannot intervene in these museum situations. Because this is a big story that impacts every African person, whether they consider themselves African or not. You see? So long as you have African ancestry, it impacts you, it influences you. So you should be interested in this. We should engage

Adesoji Iginla (52:32.031)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (52:49.931)
if not with the Ethiopian government, with some other entity to say, if we can mobilize global resources, could we build this museum in this and that country? And once we have that commitment secured, there's no reason why we cannot launch a global campaign to raise the resources so that by the five years from now, we won't be talking about African artifacts in some Western museum.

Adesoji Iginla (52:53.983)
Thank

Adesoji Iginla (53:10.426)
Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (53:18.069)
So a lot of this is on us as well. Otherwise, we're just going to be continuing critiquing things, you know, for as long as we are alive, when in fact we should start thinking more about how can we make major intervention. And this, I think, would have such global appeal and interest, we can intervene on an issue like this.

Adesoji Iginla (53:39.795)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (53:40.032)
You know what? I'm so glad that you said that because today is about collective work and responsibility. So one of the goals that Ade Soji had set for this channel was to get 2000 subscriptions. We are at the hundredth episode. I don't know how many of us are watching live, how many are going to watch later, but if each person who hears the sound of my voice right now decides I'm going to personally get five people.

to come and subscribe to this channel before December or by December 31st, guess what? We can meet that 2000 subscription. What that does is just in terms of monetizing and things like that, it allows him to tap into more resources to be able to expand this work.

Adesoji Iginla (54:09.894)
you

Adesoji Iginla (54:19.139)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (54:28.032)
Mm-mm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (54:28.04)
Right? So someone in the chat had talked about the demise of African stream, and we need more outlets that will report African news. You know what? Every journey begins with that first step. And so what if we helped Adesoji to get resources where he can identify people regionally on the continent who can come in

Adesoji Iginla (54:42.226)
Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (54:53.247)
Yeah.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (54:55.634)
Weekly or once a month from their region and share on the ground what is happening in Brazil What is happening in the Sahel what's happening in southern Africa those kind of things? We are capable of doing that but like you said comrade Alamad, it's not going to be about or just sitting and pontificating It's really can you put your money? Behind where your mouth is going and so each and every one of us right now listening we can help grow this channel

Milton Allimadi (55:20.125)
right.

Adesoji Iginla (55:20.265)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (55:25.492)
we can help produce some, provide some resources so that some of the suggestions you're making can actually be funded. Because I don't know about you two of you, I don't get paid for what we're doing here. The bills come, you know. So what are we each, what responsibility are we each going to take as we talk today, the third day of Kwanzaa, about collective work and responsibility?

Adesoji Iginla (55:34.431)
Nope, nope, nope. Yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (55:50.49)
Excellent, excellent.

Adesoji Iginla (55:53.181)
Yes, the museum did ask for help with regards to understanding where most of those artifacts come from. So there was a book released a couple of years ago. It could be a first step. So 15 Colonial Thefts, the issue of looted artifacts in museums. So they could buy that book or speak to the guys who wrote this book. They will probably give them heads up as to what they need to know.

So one final story, let's end on a positive note, hopefully. It's that.

Ethiopia, and this is from Comrade's favorite magazine. It's from The Economist. And it reads, Ethiopia wants to build Africa's biggest airport, but conflict, competition, and government meddling is complicating things. So I was minded to highlight a few parts, essentially this.

Now the airline hopes to cement its dominance in African air travel by building Africa's largest airport near Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. The project is supposed to strengthen Ethiopia's as the company's air travel hub and help return the country of about 130 million people on the path of stability and development after years of internal strife. Yes, competition from other regional players, the fractured state of Ethiopian politics.

and government meddling raises doubts about the project viability. And I'm sure you've read the rest. So what's your take on this?

Milton Allimadi (57:44.525)
Okay, well, first of all, I want to give credit to the Ethiopians for operating, think, perhaps one of the few profitable airlines in the world, certainly perhaps the only profitable one on the African continent. And this is nothing new. I think they've been profitable for decades, actually. So, and I say that because these are operated by Ethiopians, management, operational, the flights and everything. So this

airline is a good story in the sense that it explodes the racist myth and propaganda that Africans cannot operate an entity successfully by themselves. So that's the good side of the Ethiopian airline story. The second part is the unfortunate one. Is that

Adesoji Iginla (58:23.135)
Hmm. You

Milton Allimadi (58:40.709)
there are so many African airlines that should not be in existence, right? You have countries that cannot, so finance, health care centers when they have, reminds me of a story in Uganda, a multimillion dollar hospital, spectacular, beautiful from outside.

Adesoji Iginla (58:51.743)
Okay. .

Milton Allimadi (59:04.719)
This is actually not funny, I'm sorry. I mean, but it's so horrific that it's almost comedic.

Patience.

and their relatives would sleep outside under trees. And this is a true story, so unbelievable. I want people to go and Google and research it, right? And why would people do that when you have a multimillion dollar modern billion like this? Because number one, lacks medicine once you're inside. Number two, it lacks staff to the extent that sometimes

Adesoji Iginla (59:20.703)
Hmm Hmm

Milton Allimadi (59:44.559)
Dead bodies will remain on the bed for three to four days.

in a hospital.

So the story got out in the Ugandan media, and of course it went, as they say, viral. So what was the government's solution? To station soldiers outside every hospital so that a story like that could never get out again. That was the solution. So I say this to say that the same country that has a story like that, the one I just gave the example of, operates a national airline.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:00.819)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:14.047)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:23.028)
at a tremendous loss of millions of dollars instead of putting medicine and staff in that hospital so that when somebody dies, the body does not remain three days on a bed. You see? And that's a contradiction. And they should allow Ethiopian Airlines that's been successful to run and operate airlines in every African country. So it has a Pan-African component too. That's the good side. Let me just be brief now.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:36.575)
Miss, please. Miss, please.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:51.192)
because I know we've spent a lot of time. The other side I'm concerned about is the reported 15,000 people, I think that's the number that are going to be displaced with this airport expansion. Are they really going to be adequately compensated? Are they really going to be given adequate new housing as said in that article? So that's my major concern. But those are my comments on this story.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:01.983)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:21.993)
that take it away.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:01:23.798)
Yes, so again, you we're reading the same article and Comrade covers almost all the major points. Very concerned about the land and the displacement of people because traditionally our countries have not proven that they really care about those who do not have the power.

to threaten government in any way. And so, you know, if I have my ancestral home and land and then you just drop me somewhere where I cannot eke out a living.

Milton Allimadi (01:02:02.577)
Yep, yep, yep.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:02:03.798)
I'm maybe in a two bedroom or two room apartment, you know, house for me and my whole family. It's not the same. So I'm not sure what that compensation is going to look like, whether they are going to also be given land in return for this particular land.

The other concern that I have, and again, I don't want to sound naive about what it takes to build and to develop as a business owner when I was starting my law firm, you know, met with the.

The advisors and consultants and they said hey You should have at least this amount of money already set aside You're going to need it for these startup costs and so on and so forth until you become profitable And I looked at a lot of the options and I just decided you know what i'm going to have to build this slow As I bring in income. I do not want to get indebted

Milton Allimadi (01:02:43.859)
Good luck.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:01.567)
Hmm.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:03:01.98)
And so when these guys are talking about outside financiers, again, for Africa to have the resources that we have for African pastors to be able to make the kind of money they make. think if you look at the top 10 richest people in Africa, I believe six or seven of them are pastors. There's money. We've covered another story before where the people donated those outside those within the country. And yes.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:10.759)
Yeah, good point, good point.

Adesoji Iginla (01:03:21.981)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (01:03:28.563)
Ethiopia. It's the same as Ethiopia. They build that dam.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:03:31.51)
It's the same as joking, yes, and they built the dam. Now, maybe the people are exhausted, but if they see what kind of success they had with that, my question is why not again? Because once you put in these outside...

Milton Allimadi (01:03:42.573)
I agree. I agree 100%. I agree with that position. That's correct. 100%.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:03:47.832)
And then the question is with these outside financiers and the guarantees that they require, what are these debt covenants going to look like?

the revenue streams, like who's making the money? And then how do they influence what ultimately this airport is about? If you've ever flown Ethiopian Airlines, they are doing a fantastic job. Their planes are clean, the professionalism is amazing, you still feel a sense of culture. Ethiopian Airlines is...

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:10.783)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:18.321)
Right. Right.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:04:20.663)
really, really, really top class as they would say for those of us who want to look at issues of class. But my point though is we know that this area when we talk about Addis Ababa and we know that the routes, the trade routes in Africa are still largely dictated by the colonial trade routes. And so,

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:40.378)
Yes. Yes.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:41.369)
Right. Right.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:04:43.411)
in creating this mega hub, this largest airport, is this going to be an airport or a project that allows Africa to be more connected to itself?

Milton Allimadi (01:04:57.038)
All right, so you raise a good question, but you also brought up something that has other implications. You spoke about what will they ask for the foreign financiers? And my number one concern, actually, to be honest with you, they will stop demanding cost cuts. And that might impact efficiency and safety, because they really don't care about safety. You see, they might want Ethiopian Airlines to start buying.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:16.927)
Yeah. Mm-hmm

Milton Allimadi (01:05:24.205)
I don't know, cheaper parts from some suppliers, you see, that would affect the safety of the plane and all that. So you're right, you raise a very serious issue because when they lend the money, they want to maximize the returns. And to them, it's always about cost cutting, cost cutting, cost cutting. So that's why the money should, as much as possible, come from domestic sources.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:48.125)
I was also minded because when I picked a story, because it's in The Economist, which is the imperial money paper, I immediately started looking at all the numbers, the 10 billion, the 15 billion. And I knew immediately that the only motivation for them writing that piece was because they've got vested interest in it. yeah, yeah, so you immediately know, yes.

Milton Allimadi (01:06:11.15)
yeah, for the investor.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:16.977)
We see that Ethiopia airline is doing a fantastic job. This is our way of getting in on the action. The country is currently going through a bit of turmoil, but still, that's the thing about capital. It doesn't discriminate when it comes to profit-making. It doesn't care. So it will go wherever. And so that said, I have to, of all, extend thanks to

Milton Allimadi (01:06:36.579)
movement.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:45.823)
for the super chats, Marlon, Sahan, Dancer, June, Kevin and Lorna. Thank you very, very much. And again, we've come to the end of this week's conversation. And I'm sure that we are testing for 101, which will be next week. But before we go, the sister and I also do

a midway conversation about women and resistance. And this week, are going actually into Ethiopia. We are going to highlight the role of an Oromo goddess named Ateta. So join us this Wednesday at 7 PM Eastern Standard Time for that conversation. And we continue. Again, thank you, comrade. What?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:07:39.403)
the book, the book, the book you're going to be going over.

Adesoji Iginla (01:07:45.694)
yes, we are also starting a book series in January and I have it on the community post but the first book is, let me see if I have my copy here, it's Pre-colonial Black Africa. I've already started going through mine so this is the first book and it's going to be the last Saturday of each month.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:08:02.487)
free colonial.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:13.887)
And so I'll just give you the first two. So this is Precolonial Black Africa. And the next one will be in February, end of February. It will be The Miseducation of the Negro by Kataji Watson. We also bringing in guests who will sit with us and help us make sense of whatever it is we've gained in the course of the book. And we are hoping you all join us. So that's it. Brother?

Milton Allimadi (01:08:44.395)
I'll continue. I'll see you all next year. Thanks for supporting this channel. Let's keep it growing. I hope everybody, you know, celebrate, but also occasionally with some moderation because we want to make sure you're with us in 2026. Be safe.

Adesoji Iginla (01:08:51.834)
Yes. Brings their fight. Brother, sister?

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:09:12.567)
really speechless at what you've been able to accomplish and what you're modeling for us is that we start with what we have, we start with where we are and we do what we can. And all of you watching this are a testament to the fact that that's all it takes. And so whatever, as we end 2025 and we're going into 2026, at least following this Gregorian calendar.

Think about the things that have been put on your heart to do, the things that you complain about that need to be done. And stop pointing the finger at who is not doing something and start looking at what role you can start playing. Because after all, it's about collective work and responsibility. So complain less and put your hand to the plow more is what I would say to us all. And on that note, wishing all of us.

Milton Allimadi (01:09:49.557)
Go.

Milton Allimadi (01:09:59.903)
Great.

Aya Fubara Eneli, Esq. (01:10:06.091)
That's safe end to the year. We would say, Afa baraka la, which means, you know, may the year end without taking anything it's not supposed to take. May it end and leave empty handed and not take any of our loved ones or the things that we need with it. So that would be my prayer over the rest of us.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:17.855)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:29.133)
Yes.

Milton Allimadi (01:10:29.662)
going to practice what I preach. I'm going to reach out to the Ethiopian authorities and I'll have a backup to maybe Ghana about the issue of providing the land and the authorization for the museum so that we can start this global fundraiser.

Adesoji Iginla (01:10:48.539)
Okay, okay, you see? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What can we say solidarity, solidarity. To echo what the good sister said, sometimes change just starts with the person next to you. The sister and I started Women and Resistance. And it was just a conversation we just said, let's do this. that's, you know, we're into the 40th episode now. It goes to show that you just need

It kicks that and that's it. you start and sometimes you don't have to start. You can join people who already doing the stuff. That's another, you know, we're talking collective sometimes just join, just join. What can I do? How can I help? And you know, we take it from there. And so, yes, it's been 20, 25. I hope everybody's been able to achieve whatever it is they set out to do. And if not, there is 20, 26.

Milton Allimadi (01:11:23.786)
You're on.

Adesoji Iginla (01:11:46.877)
So let's start as we finish this. Let's start in a good step. And happy new year in advance. And we'll see you on the other side. Until then, good night and God bless.