AFINALE?!

[AQUI]


Posts Relacionados:


(Other) Fragments of History

Olhares ao Espelho

Angola: Pais Xenofobo?

Fiction with Reality

Angola: Identidades Coloniais Equivocadas?

Sobre o "Novo Jornal"

Sobre a "Cultura Africana Contemporanea"

&

A Implosao da Mentira

That Land




N.B.:

Dizer, nesta altura do campeonato – depois de ter passado por tudo isto e especialmente por isto – que se me esgotaram totalmente o tempo e a paciencia para este tipo de propaganda tribalista, genocidario-racista, colonial-fascista e de extrema direita neo-nazi seria, no minimo, uma redundancia: expressei-o terminantemente aqui e os posts indicados acima, entre varios outros neste blog, explicam-no a saciedade! E, apenas para fazer um “ponto de ordem” (...de honra!...), acrescento-lhes A Negacao e Afirmacao de Agostinho Neto.

Mas, uma vez que, de todas as pecas delirantes que “me foram dedicadas” ate’ agora, esta e’ a mais ridiculamente doentia e esquizofrenica (ou, simplesmente, disgusting!), porque totalmente desprovida de qualquer base material e factual de sustentacao argumentativa, logo totalmente falaciosa - onde e’ que eu ja’ falei de ‘argumentos non sequitur’? - e em aberta contravencao a todas as disposicoes nacionais, regionais e internacionais sobre os Direitos Humanos e os Direitos dos Povos [para quem ainda nao era nascido na altura, ou passou completamente ao largo do 27 de Maio de 1977, ou, "mais perto de casa", da Sexta Feira Sangrenta, este (juntamente com outros recentes e continuos vomitos de odio propalados pelo ‘Novo Jornal’ em que se fala, por exemplo, de “monstros raciais e taras tribais” e de “encarcerar os tribalistas”; ou, ja’ agora, tambem pelo ‘O Pais’, em que se fala de “baratas” a boa maneira genocidaria Rwandesa…) era precisamente o tipo de ‘perola propagandistica’ para a diabolizacao das suas vitimas e intoxicacao e manipulacao da opiniao publica com que se “batia no ferro quente” imediatamente antes e depois daquela(s) data(s) fatidica(s)!], dou-me ao trabalho de deixar aqui sobre ela apenas as seguintes “notas tecnicas”:

(…) O Reino do Kongo, cuja sede era em Mbanza Kongo, totalmente dentro das actuais fronteiras de Angola, estendia-se, na era pre-colonial, por uma regiao que, a Sul, ia ate’ a Ilha de Luanda e, a Norte, compreendia os actuais (ou partes significativas destes) Kongo Brazzaville, Gabao e Kongo Kinshasa, sendo que deste, actual RDC, areas houve que pouca ou nenhuma relacao directa, ou historicamente relevante, tiveram com o Reino do Kongo. E’ o caso do seu extremo Norte, de onde era originario Mobutu que, note-se, nao era baKongo, mas sim NgBandi (o mesmo se passa no caso da regiao Leste/Grandes Lagos da RDC, de onde sao provenientes os Kabila, que pertencem a etnia Luba e nao baKongo). Portanto, nem a actual RDC na sua totalidade, nem Mobutu, podem com propriedade ser considerados “sucessores” (certamente nao unicos) do Reino do Kongo – quanto mais nao seja porque Mobutu, como aqui se regista, assumiu o poder pela forca contra os legitimos titulares do primeiro governo independente daquele pais, Lumumba e Kasavubu, este sim, um baKongo;

(…) A “authenticite” nao foi uma 'doutrina politico-ideologica': foi, quanto muito, uma 'directriz de afirmacao identitaria nacional', que tanto nao foi culturalmente totalizante, nem na RDC, nem nos outros “paises sucessores do Reino do Kongo”, que conviveu com, por exemplo, La Sapologie e os movimentos musicais multiculturais e multi-etnicos locais, regionais e trans-continentais de que aqui se fala um pouco;

(...) Assumir a identidade e valorizar e divulgar a cultura de origem nao significa tribalismo. Tribalismo, tal como racismo, e' usar a identidade (tribal ou racica) para hostilizar, denegrir, diabolizar, humilhar, achincalhar e tentar aniquilar (simbolica ou realmente) os que nao pertencem a essa mesma tribo ou raca e respectivas culturas. E, assim sendo, aquilo que faz o autor do artigo aqui em questao, tal como os seus correlegionarios, e' precisamente, e para dizer o minimo, tribalismo e racismo! E, por isso, eles sim, deveriam ser nada mais, nada menos do que encarcerados!

(…) Seria de todo o interesse do ponto de vista do conhecimento historico-cientifico que se explicassem, demonstrassem e provassem cabalmente, por um lado, a ‘implicacao’ do Reino do Kongo no alegado “exterminio dos Khoisan” e, por outro, as suas alegadas “ligacoes e afinidades”, doutrinarias ou outras, com os Boers - talvez devam pedir a Mandela, como descendente dos Khoisan e ex-prisioneiro dos Boers, os seus insights sobre o assunto;

(…) Se algum “autoctone”, em algum momento, advogou, promoveu e praticou a “descolonizacao completa” de Angola (e de Mocambique), ele nao foi “descendente do Reino do Kongo”: a Historia tem em registo quem e como assumiu totalmente o poder pos-independencia nesse(s) pais(es); sendo que, no caso de Angola, muito gracas ao apoio de um dos “sucessores do Reino do Kongo”, o Kongo Brazaville, em oposicao directa ao Kongo de Mobutu... E, nao fossem reconhecimentos desse facto como este, dir-se-ia que ha' em todo esse irresponsavel delirio racista, xenofobo, tribalista e anti-Bakongo muito do que, com toda a propriedade, se pode e deve chamar "cuspir no prato em que se debicou"!

(…) Tanto quanto “retornar ao patamar tecno-juridico-administrativo” que Angola teve antes da independencia significa, ou pode significar, “recolonizacao” ou “neo-colonialismo”, seria de toda a conveniencia explicar-se, de preferencia “tecnica, juridica e administrativamente”, como e porque que essa e’ a unica via possivel e desejavel para que se atinja tal patamar. Um possivel ponto de partida para essa discussao pode ser encontrado, por exemplo, aqui;

(…) Finalmente, no que pessoalmente me possa tocar directamente em relacao a todas essas e, possivelmente, outras questoes relativas, tenho apenas a parafrasear aquele que, agora caminhando para o fim dos seus dias, para garantir o seu “lugar no reino dos ceus” comeca a render-se a Verdade Historica, Fidel Castro: A Historia Me Absolvera’!

[P.S.: Curiosamente, dois dias depois de isto escrito, Joseph Kabila efectua uma 'visita relampago' ao seu homologo Angolano para reafirmar os lacos entre os dois paises]




Ainda outro take sobre a mesma leitura:

O argumento basico dos apostolos da 'recolonizacao' e’ o de que todos os males de que a Africa pos-colonial enferma teem na sua origem a independencia e a saida dos colonos: "os negros sao congenitamente incapazes de se auto-governar e de criar prosperidade economico-social (sao predadores, bebados ou bufos, vida deles e’ so’ fazere bwe’ de kilapie’, roubar e matarem-se uns aos outros, e mesmo depois de terem passado pela universidade teem que tirar os sapatos para poderem contar ate' doze! E, na verdade, nao fossem os europeus, especialmente os etnologos e antropologos, nem as suas proprias culturas eles conheceriam!)"!

E os numeros e imagens das guerras, da pobreza e do subdesenvolvimento, especialmente se em comparacao com alguns paises de outras regioes do mundo (e.g. Asia e America Latina) que partiram do mesmo nivel de desenvolvimento (ou pelo menos de PIBpc) aquando das independencias africanas nos anos 60, estao ai para o demonstrar a saciedade: "o problema de Africa nao e’ outro senao os Africanos"!
Mas, mais do que isso, "se alguma vez a Africa ostentou algum progresso, foi durante o periodo colonial, logo, sem os Europeus e/ou os seus descendentes directos a Africa esta’ condenada a pobreza, subdesenvolvimento e fracasso total e eterno… logo, a unica saida possivel desse ciclo vicioso e’ a 'recolonizacao'"!

E' isto, alias, que une alguns negros e brancos, esquerdistas e direitistas, nessa canoa furada (ou, mais uma vez, de como os extremos se tocam...): i.e. aqueles que professam e sempre professaram a "supremacia euro-caucasiana" (e seus lacaios) e alguns dos que honestamente sao criticos do poder pos-independencia em Africa [com o Zimbabwe de Mugabe como grande ponto de convergencia entre esses dois afluentes - vejam-se, no entanto as posicoes (conflituosas?) de Graca Machel sobre essa questao: aqui e aqui]... Sendo que, pelo meio, ha' alguns que, como eu, nao estando seguramente do lado dos primeiros e nao necessariamente sempre do lado dos segundos, apenas tentam separar as aguas entre esses dois rios... [por isso reagi deste modo as recomendacoes do Prof. Paul Collier sobre a economia angolana - retomadas aqui e aqui - o qual, por coincidencia, foi tambem professor da Dambisa Moyo, que no seu Dead Aid advoga, nada mais nada menos, que o remedio para todos os problemas actuais de Africa esta' no fim imediato (dentro de 5 anos) da Ajuda ao Desenvolvimento (ou, como dizia a outra "experta" em patetices, "for God's sakes stop aid!") e o recurso dos estados africanos aos mercados financeiros internacionais (... nao, nada vagamente parecido com a criacao das bases para um desenvolvimento, nao apenas economico-financeiro, mas tambem e sobretudo socio-cultural, endogeno e sustentavel...), tendo-o feito num momento em que aqueles se encontra(va)m em profunda crise e num contexto em que a esmagadora maioria das economias africanas nao tem credit ratings que lhes garantam qualquer acesso significativo a tais mercados - veja-se a esse respeito o que no ultimo paragrafo deste artigo se diz sobre a economia Mocambicana... - e sendo que, tambem por coincidencia, para esses mercados ela trabalha...], e por isso acabam(os) sendo vitimas de tentativas de afogamento por ambos os lados!

Ha' ainda um terceiro afluente que e' alimentado pelos proprios circulos do poder de estado de alguns paises africanos e de algumas organizacoes regionais no continente que se tornaram aid dependent, tanto em termos tecnicos como financeiros - para estes, os contingentes de estrangeiros [ex-colonos ou nao; embora isto nao deixe de me trazer a lembranca um alto dirigente da nomenkatura angolana que, nao ha' muito tempo, foi a Portugal declarar que "nos precisamos do homem portugues"... nada contra, se isso nao soasse claramente a "nos precisamos do ex-colono (porque nao estamos a dar conta do recado)"... e menos ainda contra se ele tivesse sido mais especifico e declarasse algo como "nos precisamos prioritariamente de tecnicos qualificados" e acrescentasse, ainda que apenas implicitamente, "porque e' imperioso que invistamos em capital humano e nos precisamos mais ainda do homem angolano, quanto mais nao seja porque foi ele que nos colocou e nos mantem no poder e perante ele temos o dever e a obrigacao de lhe prover e aos seus filhos a formacao adequada para que os angolanos possam competir em pe' de igualdade com qualquer estrangeiro num mundo cada vez mais globalizado!") funcionam como um "buffer" entre os governos/aparelhos de estado e os respectivos povos, que lhes assegura a manutencao do poder e a perpetuacao de determinados individuos em certos cargos, bem como os seus hefty revenue streams e a possibilidade de "brilharem" sozinhos sem quaisquer entraves - era, em parte, a este fenomeno e as suas consequencias socio-culturais a que aqui me referia...

O unico contra-argumento plausivel a essa “inevitabilidade historica” seria se se pudessem encontrar na Africa pre-colonial exemplos de sistemas culturais capazes de gerar, pelo menos potencialmente, estabilidade politica e desenvolvimento economico-social. Aparentemente sim: “(…) o antigo Reino do Congo, notabilizado por ser, então e aparentemente, o único reino organizado na África sub-saariana. (...) Esse palmarés de primeiro entre os reinos sub-saarianos a ter contacto com a Europa e a ter relações diplomáticas com a Santa Sé foi - e continua a ser. .. – motivo de orgulho para os súbditos do rei do Congo e seus actuais descendentes.” Mas… esse mesmo Reino emblematico e paradigmatico “teve como successor o maior emblema e paradigma de fracasso em todas as frentes na Africa pos-colonial: o Congo de Mobutu”!

E, pior do que isso, os seus “actuais descendentes” e “apostolos de Mobutu e da neo-authenticite’”, mesmo quando se apresentam com creditos e meritos profissionais e academicos reconhecidos, sao “monstros racistas e tarados tribais a encarcerar” e “baratas” a eliminar da face da terra: “(…) eles sao, como os boers (e ao contrario de Agostinho Neto - casado civilizadamente com uma mulher branca e que declarou "nao havera' perdao (!) para os 'apostolos da neo-authenticite' do 27 de Maio"...; ou de Mandela - que se divorciou pessoal e politicamente da sua "profeta da neo-authenticite' primeira esposa" e que "so' nao fez o impossivel para nao 'desagradar' os brancos sul-africanos, boers incluidos"...), declaradamente neo-nazis e praticam o primado do dinheiro sobre o direito; o suborno e a falsificação de documentos; a instilação dum racismo e tribalismo como nunca existira na vida económico-social; a distorção de factos históricos e sociais; a intriga e a subserviência; o nepotismo; e, com todas estas armas, a sabotagem subreptícia dos esforços para pôr Angola a funcionar no patamar técno-jurídico-administrativo que já tivera antes da independência.”!

"Logo, 'recolonizacao' e’ o unico caminho a seguir e quem se atreva a 'levantar um dedo ou a bater uma tecla em contrario'... convem saber sempre o que lhe espera!"

Portanto:

QUE VIVA A RECOLONIZACAO!!!
RECOLONIZATION OYE’!!!



(...) Mas, na verdade, nao fosse a gravidade das questoes acima referidas, poderiamos ter poupado o ja' pouco tempo e paciencia que nos restam para todo esse nonsense a mistura com pure evil (!): e' que tudo isso parece claramente nao passar de uma "questao de inteligencia" ou, dito de outro modo, de "competicao pela paridade (ou supremacia?) da etnia, da raca e do genero no dominio intelectual" (poderia dize-lo ainda de outro modo, mas voltar a falar em inveja, ciumes, odio e afins, seria tambem mais do que uma redundancia neste blog... onde e' que por aqui ja' se falou em "inveja dos brains"?)... Senao vejamos (citando da mesma edicao do NJ acima referida):

(...) Os seus “apóstolos” não esmoreceram, nem quando encontraram situações imprevistas como mulatos com os pais, os quatro avós, os oito bisavós e os dezasseis trisavós nados, vividos, mortos e enterrados em Angola; angolanos negros tão ou mais inteligentes que eles e se não deixaram enganar; outros africanos subsaarianos nascidos em Angola (e, não raro de segunda ou até terceira geração) que não abdicam da sua actual nacionalidade e não alinham nos “cantos de sereia” dos apóstolos da neooauthenticité.

(...) O que devemos fazer pela Pátria? Provar à sociedade que o talento assusta os medíocres’ como tão bem descreveu José Alberto Gueiros há mais de 25 anos no extinto Jornal da Bahia - “assim como um grupo de senhoras burguesas bem casadas, boicota automaticamente a entrada de uma jovem mulher no seu círculo de convivência por medo de perder os seus maridos, também os encastelados medíocres se fecham como ostras à simples aparição de um talentoso jovem que os possa ameaçar” O que devemos, perante este cenário, continuar a fazer pela Pátria? Demonstrar à opinião pública que os medíocres, que não aprendem nada com nada, são obstinados na conquista de lugares de destaque. O que devemos continuar a fazer pela Pátria? Pôr em evidência que os medíocres entrincheirados em posições de chefia denotam um medo indisfarçável da inteligência. O que devemos incessantemente continuar a fazer pela Pátria? Desenterrar a famosa trova de Ruy Barbosa: “Há tantos burros mandando em homens de inteligência que às vezes fico pensando que a burrice é uma ciência”…

(...) Como diria o meu amigo Rainer (aprendeu nos Acores): Eta Corisco!...
Bem...! Que tal um 'cruzamento de referencias' com a minha confissao... ou com este "caso"... ou com os meus Boers... ou com os meus Khoisan...?!

(...) E... creio que Ruy Barbosa subscreveria esta: "ha' tanto kabungado tarado e monstruoso com bigodinho a Hitler e a espumar da boca com a lingua de serpente de fora, auto-convencido que e' super-inteligente e talentoizo (...e' que... Deus e' poderoizo!...) por ai a solta, que as vezes fico pensando que a kabunguice e' uma ciencia"!

(...) E, ja' agora, alguem reparou em como o obus dos "monstros raciais e taras tribais" foi lancado para o meu kintal em retaliacao directa e imediata ao comentario a este post e a este ?!... O que nos remete para "outras questoes", nomeadamente "quem e' quem, quem e' amigo de quem, quem se senta a mesa de quem e quem 'debica no prato' de quem"! Mas essas ja' aqui foram, pelo menos parcialmente, abordadas...

(...) Talvez nao seja de todo despiciendo relembrar aqui o meu "celebre debate" com o Negro Ugandes ('tao ou mais inteligente do que eu') Dennis Matanda no (agora infelizmente "desaparecido em combate") Africanpath, sobre a "recolonizacao". Como quem o seguiu de perto (e entenda bem Ingles) tera' anotado, eu comecei por responder ao seu primeiro "Call for Recolonization" com um comentario em que me declarava "un-comfortably numb" ("de-construcao" minha do titulo dos Pink Floyd que, mais recentemente, por aqui passei a volta deste post ), ao que se seguiu o meu primeiro artigo naquele site, como guest blogger, sobre a questao ("Are We All Losing The Plot?"). O Dennis respondeu imediatamente num outro artigo ("We Africans Have Lost The Plot a Long Time Ago") em que reiterava as suas posicoes iniciais, ao que eu voltei a carga tambem com um segundo artigo ("Are We All Losing The Plot? - Part II"), tendo dele obtido a seguinte resposta:

Recovering from an Intellectual Blow

Koluki, I finally got round to reading this article - and I can tell you that I have been blown away - completely. Having said that, you have made a case for the shifting of blame from the leaders of present day African countries to the history of their different nations. But is that not the problem? How can a people who have been showed these examples not react to them? How can we not look into history and 'force' our present leaders to do their good deeds? Lastly, how can we not blame our current leaders yet they, like our historical leaders, are not attempting to be students of history or leadership? That is the core of my argument. If we had leaders in the past, why do we have presidents today?
Again, your article is excellent - and I am bowled over.

Dennis Matanda

Bem, se "recovering from an intellectual blow" e "your article is excellent - and I am bowled over - completely" nao e' "cair no canto da sereia", o que quer que isso signifique...

[E abro aqui um parentesis para notar o seguinte: Este debate e, em particular, esta resposta do Dennis Matanda (e tambem estes artigos de dois jovens Sul-Africanos, ou este debate na blogosfera Mocambicana), e' bem emblematico da diferenca cultural estrutural e estruturante em relacao aquilo que (nao) e' o nivel do "debate" entre os angolanos (ou apenas alguns? ... ou apenas alguns "jornalistas"?... ou apenas alguns "intelectuais"?...): ali debateram-se seriamente ideias e conviccoes fortes e profundas sobre questoes extremamente sensiveis, tendo havido por parte do "derrotado" a hombridade, decencia, educacao, civilidade e elegancia de reconhecer a sua "derrota" e os meritos dos argumentos do adversario - mesmo sendo estes protagonizados por uma mulher (e, acrescente-se, negra!)... O que teriamos (temos tido) nos "pretensos debates" com angolanos? Nada mais do que os ataques ad hominem (... "ad mulher ", incluindo a sua vida intima e privada, ao seu corpo e a sua suposta sexualidade!...), o abuso e insulto mais baixo e soez, a tentativa de humilhacao, degradacao moral e espiritual, objectificacao sexual e destruicao fisica, psicologica e profissional (!) sem quaisquer escrupulos... E' essa a "mentalidade" da generalidade dos (ou de apenas alguns?... ou de apenas alguns "jornalistas"?... ou de apenas alguns "intelectuais"?...) angolanos!]

(...) E... quem diz, pateticamente, "resistir" (em vao) a este 'canto da sereia' e'... psicopata (ruim da cabeca) e... kabungadu (ou doente do pe')!

(...lol...)



ADENDA

"MANDELA, MOBUTU & ME"



In this stunning memoir, veteran Washington Post correspondent Lynne Duke takes readers on a wrenching but riveting journey through Africa during the pivotal 1990s and brilliantly illuminates a continent where hope and humanity thrive amid unimaginable depredation and horrors.

For four years as her newspaper's Johannesburg bureau chief, Lynne Duke cut a rare figure as a black American woman foreign correspondent as she raced from story to story in numerous countries of central and southern Africa. From the battle zones of Congo-Zaire to the quest for truth and reconciliation in South Africa; from the teeming displaced person’s camps of Angola and the killing field of the Rwanda genocide to the calming Indian Ocean shores of Mozambique.

She interviewed heads of state, captains of industry, activists, tribal leaders, medicine men and women, mercenaries, rebels, refugees, and ordinary, hardworking people. And it is they, the ordinary people of Africa, who fueled the hope and affection that drove Duke’s reporting. The nobility of the ordinary African struggles, so often absent from accounts of the continent, is at the heart of Duke’s searing story.

[from the hardcover edition]



Duke covered southern Africa as Johannesburg bureau chief for The Washington Post from 1995 to 1999. Her engaging memoir provides a close-up look at the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko in the former Zaire, the ascendance of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, dramatic high points of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and many poignant vignettes of everyday African life from Cape Town to Kigali. "Armed with attitude and ready for anything," she finds that being black and female is sometimes, but not always, an occupational asset. Knowing that her dispatches will help shape American perceptions of a region she cares deeply about, she works hard to balance her anger at the brutality and venality of "ugly Africa" against her admiration for Mandela and for the fortitude and ingenuity of ordinary Africans. Equally deft at presenting vivid eyewitness descriptions and concise evaluations of failed policies, whether African or American, Duke has given us a glimpse of what first-rate reporting on Africa can be.

[from Foreign Affairs]



Pictures: Mandela's 1997 mediation efforts between Mobutu and Laurent Kabila
[That's Afrika and That's Madiba For You!]

[AQUI]


Posts Relacionados:


(Other) Fragments of History

Olhares ao Espelho

Angola: Pais Xenofobo?

Fiction with Reality

Angola: Identidades Coloniais Equivocadas?

Sobre o "Novo Jornal"

Sobre a "Cultura Africana Contemporanea"

&

A Implosao da Mentira

That Land




N.B.:

Dizer, nesta altura do campeonato – depois de ter passado por tudo isto e especialmente por isto – que se me esgotaram totalmente o tempo e a paciencia para este tipo de propaganda tribalista, genocidario-racista, colonial-fascista e de extrema direita neo-nazi seria, no minimo, uma redundancia: expressei-o terminantemente aqui e os posts indicados acima, entre varios outros neste blog, explicam-no a saciedade! E, apenas para fazer um “ponto de ordem” (...de honra!...), acrescento-lhes A Negacao e Afirmacao de Agostinho Neto.

Mas, uma vez que, de todas as pecas delirantes que “me foram dedicadas” ate’ agora, esta e’ a mais ridiculamente doentia e esquizofrenica (ou, simplesmente, disgusting!), porque totalmente desprovida de qualquer base material e factual de sustentacao argumentativa, logo totalmente falaciosa - onde e’ que eu ja’ falei de ‘argumentos non sequitur’? - e em aberta contravencao a todas as disposicoes nacionais, regionais e internacionais sobre os Direitos Humanos e os Direitos dos Povos [para quem ainda nao era nascido na altura, ou passou completamente ao largo do 27 de Maio de 1977, ou, "mais perto de casa", da Sexta Feira Sangrenta, este (juntamente com outros recentes e continuos vomitos de odio propalados pelo ‘Novo Jornal’ em que se fala, por exemplo, de “monstros raciais e taras tribais” e de “encarcerar os tribalistas”; ou, ja’ agora, tambem pelo ‘O Pais’, em que se fala de “baratas” a boa maneira genocidaria Rwandesa…) era precisamente o tipo de ‘perola propagandistica’ para a diabolizacao das suas vitimas e intoxicacao e manipulacao da opiniao publica com que se “batia no ferro quente” imediatamente antes e depois daquela(s) data(s) fatidica(s)!], dou-me ao trabalho de deixar aqui sobre ela apenas as seguintes “notas tecnicas”:

(…) O Reino do Kongo, cuja sede era em Mbanza Kongo, totalmente dentro das actuais fronteiras de Angola, estendia-se, na era pre-colonial, por uma regiao que, a Sul, ia ate’ a Ilha de Luanda e, a Norte, compreendia os actuais (ou partes significativas destes) Kongo Brazzaville, Gabao e Kongo Kinshasa, sendo que deste, actual RDC, areas houve que pouca ou nenhuma relacao directa, ou historicamente relevante, tiveram com o Reino do Kongo. E’ o caso do seu extremo Norte, de onde era originario Mobutu que, note-se, nao era baKongo, mas sim NgBandi (o mesmo se passa no caso da regiao Leste/Grandes Lagos da RDC, de onde sao provenientes os Kabila, que pertencem a etnia Luba e nao baKongo). Portanto, nem a actual RDC na sua totalidade, nem Mobutu, podem com propriedade ser considerados “sucessores” (certamente nao unicos) do Reino do Kongo – quanto mais nao seja porque Mobutu, como aqui se regista, assumiu o poder pela forca contra os legitimos titulares do primeiro governo independente daquele pais, Lumumba e Kasavubu, este sim, um baKongo;

(…) A “authenticite” nao foi uma 'doutrina politico-ideologica': foi, quanto muito, uma 'directriz de afirmacao identitaria nacional', que tanto nao foi culturalmente totalizante, nem na RDC, nem nos outros “paises sucessores do Reino do Kongo”, que conviveu com, por exemplo, La Sapologie e os movimentos musicais multiculturais e multi-etnicos locais, regionais e trans-continentais de que aqui se fala um pouco;

(...) Assumir a identidade e valorizar e divulgar a cultura de origem nao significa tribalismo. Tribalismo, tal como racismo, e' usar a identidade (tribal ou racica) para hostilizar, denegrir, diabolizar, humilhar, achincalhar e tentar aniquilar (simbolica ou realmente) os que nao pertencem a essa mesma tribo ou raca e respectivas culturas. E, assim sendo, aquilo que faz o autor do artigo aqui em questao, tal como os seus correlegionarios, e' precisamente, e para dizer o minimo, tribalismo e racismo! E, por isso, eles sim, deveriam ser nada mais, nada menos do que encarcerados!

(…) Seria de todo o interesse do ponto de vista do conhecimento historico-cientifico que se explicassem, demonstrassem e provassem cabalmente, por um lado, a ‘implicacao’ do Reino do Kongo no alegado “exterminio dos Khoisan” e, por outro, as suas alegadas “ligacoes e afinidades”, doutrinarias ou outras, com os Boers - talvez devam pedir a Mandela, como descendente dos Khoisan e ex-prisioneiro dos Boers, os seus insights sobre o assunto;

(…) Se algum “autoctone”, em algum momento, advogou, promoveu e praticou a “descolonizacao completa” de Angola (e de Mocambique), ele nao foi “descendente do Reino do Kongo”: a Historia tem em registo quem e como assumiu totalmente o poder pos-independencia nesse(s) pais(es); sendo que, no caso de Angola, muito gracas ao apoio de um dos “sucessores do Reino do Kongo”, o Kongo Brazaville, em oposicao directa ao Kongo de Mobutu... E, nao fossem reconhecimentos desse facto como este, dir-se-ia que ha' em todo esse irresponsavel delirio racista, xenofobo, tribalista e anti-Bakongo muito do que, com toda a propriedade, se pode e deve chamar "cuspir no prato em que se debicou"!

(…) Tanto quanto “retornar ao patamar tecno-juridico-administrativo” que Angola teve antes da independencia significa, ou pode significar, “recolonizacao” ou “neo-colonialismo”, seria de toda a conveniencia explicar-se, de preferencia “tecnica, juridica e administrativamente”, como e porque que essa e’ a unica via possivel e desejavel para que se atinja tal patamar. Um possivel ponto de partida para essa discussao pode ser encontrado, por exemplo, aqui;

(…) Finalmente, no que pessoalmente me possa tocar directamente em relacao a todas essas e, possivelmente, outras questoes relativas, tenho apenas a parafrasear aquele que, agora caminhando para o fim dos seus dias, para garantir o seu “lugar no reino dos ceus” comeca a render-se a Verdade Historica, Fidel Castro: A Historia Me Absolvera’!

[P.S.: Curiosamente, dois dias depois de isto escrito, Joseph Kabila efectua uma 'visita relampago' ao seu homologo Angolano para reafirmar os lacos entre os dois paises]




Ainda outro take sobre a mesma leitura:

O argumento basico dos apostolos da 'recolonizacao' e’ o de que todos os males de que a Africa pos-colonial enferma teem na sua origem a independencia e a saida dos colonos: "os negros sao congenitamente incapazes de se auto-governar e de criar prosperidade economico-social (sao predadores, bebados ou bufos, vida deles e’ so’ fazere bwe’ de kilapie’, roubar e matarem-se uns aos outros, e mesmo depois de terem passado pela universidade teem que tirar os sapatos para poderem contar ate' doze! E, na verdade, nao fossem os europeus, especialmente os etnologos e antropologos, nem as suas proprias culturas eles conheceriam!)"!

E os numeros e imagens das guerras, da pobreza e do subdesenvolvimento, especialmente se em comparacao com alguns paises de outras regioes do mundo (e.g. Asia e America Latina) que partiram do mesmo nivel de desenvolvimento (ou pelo menos de PIBpc) aquando das independencias africanas nos anos 60, estao ai para o demonstrar a saciedade: "o problema de Africa nao e’ outro senao os Africanos"!
Mas, mais do que isso, "se alguma vez a Africa ostentou algum progresso, foi durante o periodo colonial, logo, sem os Europeus e/ou os seus descendentes directos a Africa esta’ condenada a pobreza, subdesenvolvimento e fracasso total e eterno… logo, a unica saida possivel desse ciclo vicioso e’ a 'recolonizacao'"!

E' isto, alias, que une alguns negros e brancos, esquerdistas e direitistas, nessa canoa furada (ou, mais uma vez, de como os extremos se tocam...): i.e. aqueles que professam e sempre professaram a "supremacia euro-caucasiana" (e seus lacaios) e alguns dos que honestamente sao criticos do poder pos-independencia em Africa [com o Zimbabwe de Mugabe como grande ponto de convergencia entre esses dois afluentes - vejam-se, no entanto as posicoes (conflituosas?) de Graca Machel sobre essa questao: aqui e aqui]... Sendo que, pelo meio, ha' alguns que, como eu, nao estando seguramente do lado dos primeiros e nao necessariamente sempre do lado dos segundos, apenas tentam separar as aguas entre esses dois rios... [por isso reagi deste modo as recomendacoes do Prof. Paul Collier sobre a economia angolana - retomadas aqui e aqui - o qual, por coincidencia, foi tambem professor da Dambisa Moyo, que no seu Dead Aid advoga, nada mais nada menos, que o remedio para todos os problemas actuais de Africa esta' no fim imediato (dentro de 5 anos) da Ajuda ao Desenvolvimento (ou, como dizia a outra "experta" em patetices, "for God's sakes stop aid!") e o recurso dos estados africanos aos mercados financeiros internacionais (... nao, nada vagamente parecido com a criacao das bases para um desenvolvimento, nao apenas economico-financeiro, mas tambem e sobretudo socio-cultural, endogeno e sustentavel...), tendo-o feito num momento em que aqueles se encontra(va)m em profunda crise e num contexto em que a esmagadora maioria das economias africanas nao tem credit ratings que lhes garantam qualquer acesso significativo a tais mercados - veja-se a esse respeito o que no ultimo paragrafo deste artigo se diz sobre a economia Mocambicana... - e sendo que, tambem por coincidencia, para esses mercados ela trabalha...], e por isso acabam(os) sendo vitimas de tentativas de afogamento por ambos os lados!

Ha' ainda um terceiro afluente que e' alimentado pelos proprios circulos do poder de estado de alguns paises africanos e de algumas organizacoes regionais no continente que se tornaram aid dependent, tanto em termos tecnicos como financeiros - para estes, os contingentes de estrangeiros [ex-colonos ou nao; embora isto nao deixe de me trazer a lembranca um alto dirigente da nomenkatura angolana que, nao ha' muito tempo, foi a Portugal declarar que "nos precisamos do homem portugues"... nada contra, se isso nao soasse claramente a "nos precisamos do ex-colono (porque nao estamos a dar conta do recado)"... e menos ainda contra se ele tivesse sido mais especifico e declarasse algo como "nos precisamos prioritariamente de tecnicos qualificados" e acrescentasse, ainda que apenas implicitamente, "porque e' imperioso que invistamos em capital humano e nos precisamos mais ainda do homem angolano, quanto mais nao seja porque foi ele que nos colocou e nos mantem no poder e perante ele temos o dever e a obrigacao de lhe prover e aos seus filhos a formacao adequada para que os angolanos possam competir em pe' de igualdade com qualquer estrangeiro num mundo cada vez mais globalizado!") funcionam como um "buffer" entre os governos/aparelhos de estado e os respectivos povos, que lhes assegura a manutencao do poder e a perpetuacao de determinados individuos em certos cargos, bem como os seus hefty revenue streams e a possibilidade de "brilharem" sozinhos sem quaisquer entraves - era, em parte, a este fenomeno e as suas consequencias socio-culturais a que aqui me referia...

O unico contra-argumento plausivel a essa “inevitabilidade historica” seria se se pudessem encontrar na Africa pre-colonial exemplos de sistemas culturais capazes de gerar, pelo menos potencialmente, estabilidade politica e desenvolvimento economico-social. Aparentemente sim: “(…) o antigo Reino do Congo, notabilizado por ser, então e aparentemente, o único reino organizado na África sub-saariana. (...) Esse palmarés de primeiro entre os reinos sub-saarianos a ter contacto com a Europa e a ter relações diplomáticas com a Santa Sé foi - e continua a ser. .. – motivo de orgulho para os súbditos do rei do Congo e seus actuais descendentes.” Mas… esse mesmo Reino emblematico e paradigmatico “teve como successor o maior emblema e paradigma de fracasso em todas as frentes na Africa pos-colonial: o Congo de Mobutu”!

E, pior do que isso, os seus “actuais descendentes” e “apostolos de Mobutu e da neo-authenticite’”, mesmo quando se apresentam com creditos e meritos profissionais e academicos reconhecidos, sao “monstros racistas e tarados tribais a encarcerar” e “baratas” a eliminar da face da terra: “(…) eles sao, como os boers (e ao contrario de Agostinho Neto - casado civilizadamente com uma mulher branca e que declarou "nao havera' perdao (!) para os 'apostolos da neo-authenticite' do 27 de Maio"...; ou de Mandela - que se divorciou pessoal e politicamente da sua "profeta da neo-authenticite' primeira esposa" e que "so' nao fez o impossivel para nao 'desagradar' os brancos sul-africanos, boers incluidos"...), declaradamente neo-nazis e praticam o primado do dinheiro sobre o direito; o suborno e a falsificação de documentos; a instilação dum racismo e tribalismo como nunca existira na vida económico-social; a distorção de factos históricos e sociais; a intriga e a subserviência; o nepotismo; e, com todas estas armas, a sabotagem subreptícia dos esforços para pôr Angola a funcionar no patamar técno-jurídico-administrativo que já tivera antes da independência.”!

"Logo, 'recolonizacao' e’ o unico caminho a seguir e quem se atreva a 'levantar um dedo ou a bater uma tecla em contrario'... convem saber sempre o que lhe espera!"

Portanto:

QUE VIVA A RECOLONIZACAO!!!
RECOLONIZATION OYE’!!!



(...) Mas, na verdade, nao fosse a gravidade das questoes acima referidas, poderiamos ter poupado o ja' pouco tempo e paciencia que nos restam para todo esse nonsense a mistura com pure evil (!): e' que tudo isso parece claramente nao passar de uma "questao de inteligencia" ou, dito de outro modo, de "competicao pela paridade (ou supremacia?) da etnia, da raca e do genero no dominio intelectual" (poderia dize-lo ainda de outro modo, mas voltar a falar em inveja, ciumes, odio e afins, seria tambem mais do que uma redundancia neste blog... onde e' que por aqui ja' se falou em "inveja dos brains"?)... Senao vejamos (citando da mesma edicao do NJ acima referida):

(...) Os seus “apóstolos” não esmoreceram, nem quando encontraram situações imprevistas como mulatos com os pais, os quatro avós, os oito bisavós e os dezasseis trisavós nados, vividos, mortos e enterrados em Angola; angolanos negros tão ou mais inteligentes que eles e se não deixaram enganar; outros africanos subsaarianos nascidos em Angola (e, não raro de segunda ou até terceira geração) que não abdicam da sua actual nacionalidade e não alinham nos “cantos de sereia” dos apóstolos da neooauthenticité.

(...) O que devemos fazer pela Pátria? Provar à sociedade que o talento assusta os medíocres’ como tão bem descreveu José Alberto Gueiros há mais de 25 anos no extinto Jornal da Bahia - “assim como um grupo de senhoras burguesas bem casadas, boicota automaticamente a entrada de uma jovem mulher no seu círculo de convivência por medo de perder os seus maridos, também os encastelados medíocres se fecham como ostras à simples aparição de um talentoso jovem que os possa ameaçar” O que devemos, perante este cenário, continuar a fazer pela Pátria? Demonstrar à opinião pública que os medíocres, que não aprendem nada com nada, são obstinados na conquista de lugares de destaque. O que devemos continuar a fazer pela Pátria? Pôr em evidência que os medíocres entrincheirados em posições de chefia denotam um medo indisfarçável da inteligência. O que devemos incessantemente continuar a fazer pela Pátria? Desenterrar a famosa trova de Ruy Barbosa: “Há tantos burros mandando em homens de inteligência que às vezes fico pensando que a burrice é uma ciência”…

(...) Como diria o meu amigo Rainer (aprendeu nos Acores): Eta Corisco!...
Bem...! Que tal um 'cruzamento de referencias' com a minha confissao... ou com este "caso"... ou com os meus Boers... ou com os meus Khoisan...?!

(...) E... creio que Ruy Barbosa subscreveria esta: "ha' tanto kabungado tarado e monstruoso com bigodinho a Hitler e a espumar da boca com a lingua de serpente de fora, auto-convencido que e' super-inteligente e talentoizo (...e' que... Deus e' poderoizo!...) por ai a solta, que as vezes fico pensando que a kabunguice e' uma ciencia"!

(...) E, ja' agora, alguem reparou em como o obus dos "monstros raciais e taras tribais" foi lancado para o meu kintal em retaliacao directa e imediata ao comentario a este post e a este ?!... O que nos remete para "outras questoes", nomeadamente "quem e' quem, quem e' amigo de quem, quem se senta a mesa de quem e quem 'debica no prato' de quem"! Mas essas ja' aqui foram, pelo menos parcialmente, abordadas...

(...) Talvez nao seja de todo despiciendo relembrar aqui o meu "celebre debate" com o Negro Ugandes ('tao ou mais inteligente do que eu') Dennis Matanda no (agora infelizmente "desaparecido em combate") Africanpath, sobre a "recolonizacao". Como quem o seguiu de perto (e entenda bem Ingles) tera' anotado, eu comecei por responder ao seu primeiro "Call for Recolonization" com um comentario em que me declarava "un-comfortably numb" ("de-construcao" minha do titulo dos Pink Floyd que, mais recentemente, por aqui passei a volta deste post ), ao que se seguiu o meu primeiro artigo naquele site, como guest blogger, sobre a questao ("Are We All Losing The Plot?"). O Dennis respondeu imediatamente num outro artigo ("We Africans Have Lost The Plot a Long Time Ago") em que reiterava as suas posicoes iniciais, ao que eu voltei a carga tambem com um segundo artigo ("Are We All Losing The Plot? - Part II"), tendo dele obtido a seguinte resposta:

Recovering from an Intellectual Blow

Koluki, I finally got round to reading this article - and I can tell you that I have been blown away - completely. Having said that, you have made a case for the shifting of blame from the leaders of present day African countries to the history of their different nations. But is that not the problem? How can a people who have been showed these examples not react to them? How can we not look into history and 'force' our present leaders to do their good deeds? Lastly, how can we not blame our current leaders yet they, like our historical leaders, are not attempting to be students of history or leadership? That is the core of my argument. If we had leaders in the past, why do we have presidents today?
Again, your article is excellent - and I am bowled over.

Dennis Matanda

Bem, se "recovering from an intellectual blow" e "your article is excellent - and I am bowled over - completely" nao e' "cair no canto da sereia", o que quer que isso signifique...

[E abro aqui um parentesis para notar o seguinte: Este debate e, em particular, esta resposta do Dennis Matanda (e tambem estes artigos de dois jovens Sul-Africanos, ou este debate na blogosfera Mocambicana), e' bem emblematico da diferenca cultural estrutural e estruturante em relacao aquilo que (nao) e' o nivel do "debate" entre os angolanos (ou apenas alguns? ... ou apenas alguns "jornalistas"?... ou apenas alguns "intelectuais"?...): ali debateram-se seriamente ideias e conviccoes fortes e profundas sobre questoes extremamente sensiveis, tendo havido por parte do "derrotado" a hombridade, decencia, educacao, civilidade e elegancia de reconhecer a sua "derrota" e os meritos dos argumentos do adversario - mesmo sendo estes protagonizados por uma mulher (e, acrescente-se, negra!)... O que teriamos (temos tido) nos "pretensos debates" com angolanos? Nada mais do que os ataques ad hominem (... "ad mulher ", incluindo a sua vida intima e privada, ao seu corpo e a sua suposta sexualidade!...), o abuso e insulto mais baixo e soez, a tentativa de humilhacao, degradacao moral e espiritual, objectificacao sexual e destruicao fisica, psicologica e profissional (!) sem quaisquer escrupulos... E' essa a "mentalidade" da generalidade dos (ou de apenas alguns?... ou de apenas alguns "jornalistas"?... ou de apenas alguns "intelectuais"?...) angolanos!]

(...) E... quem diz, pateticamente, "resistir" (em vao) a este 'canto da sereia' e'... psicopata (ruim da cabeca) e... kabungadu (ou doente do pe')!

(...lol...)



ADENDA

"MANDELA, MOBUTU & ME"



In this stunning memoir, veteran Washington Post correspondent Lynne Duke takes readers on a wrenching but riveting journey through Africa during the pivotal 1990s and brilliantly illuminates a continent where hope and humanity thrive amid unimaginable depredation and horrors.

For four years as her newspaper's Johannesburg bureau chief, Lynne Duke cut a rare figure as a black American woman foreign correspondent as she raced from story to story in numerous countries of central and southern Africa. From the battle zones of Congo-Zaire to the quest for truth and reconciliation in South Africa; from the teeming displaced person’s camps of Angola and the killing field of the Rwanda genocide to the calming Indian Ocean shores of Mozambique.

She interviewed heads of state, captains of industry, activists, tribal leaders, medicine men and women, mercenaries, rebels, refugees, and ordinary, hardworking people. And it is they, the ordinary people of Africa, who fueled the hope and affection that drove Duke’s reporting. The nobility of the ordinary African struggles, so often absent from accounts of the continent, is at the heart of Duke’s searing story.

[from the hardcover edition]



Duke covered southern Africa as Johannesburg bureau chief for The Washington Post from 1995 to 1999. Her engaging memoir provides a close-up look at the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko in the former Zaire, the ascendance of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, dramatic high points of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and many poignant vignettes of everyday African life from Cape Town to Kigali. "Armed with attitude and ready for anything," she finds that being black and female is sometimes, but not always, an occupational asset. Knowing that her dispatches will help shape American perceptions of a region she cares deeply about, she works hard to balance her anger at the brutality and venality of "ugly Africa" against her admiration for Mandela and for the fortitude and ingenuity of ordinary Africans. Equally deft at presenting vivid eyewitness descriptions and concise evaluations of failed policies, whether African or American, Duke has given us a glimpse of what first-rate reporting on Africa can be.

[from Foreign Affairs]



Pictures: Mandela's 1997 mediation efforts between Mobutu and Laurent Kabila
[That's Afrika and That's Madiba For You!]

The Oxford Companion to The Economics of Africa

DETAILS HERE

[Related Post]

DETAILS HERE

[Related Post]

Endogenous knowledge and the construction of the future in Africa

In the last century, particularly after the decolonisation of Africa, people started to discuss and study 'endogenous', 'indigenous' and 'subjugated' knowledge - very often simply referred to as 'know-how'. In the more developed countries, these issues were systematically ignored, and despite Michael Polanyi having developed his theory of tacit knowledge in 1966, it was not until the 1990s that this theory became more widely recognised, though not greatly esteemed, by researchers, managers and politicians.
Today, these concepts are finally gaining epistemological currency. Researchers from different scientific backgrounds are becoming aware that diversity of knowledge is important, where such knowledge is the fruit of many different cultures over the centuries. This is a positive input into new discoveries and has helped relativise the scientific knowledge spawned by Greco-Latin and Jewish-Christian cultures.
Some people - especially those linked to the business world - regard the exploitation of this sort of knowledge as part of their innovation and competition strategies. Others, however, view it as the abusive patenting of knowledge and practices that belong to the thousand-year-old heritage of many peoples. Others, still, consider it a field of research about which little is yet known.
It is therefore essential that we learn more about this type of knowledge, its forms of expression, its importance in peoples' daily lives, and its potential future developments in a world where the tendency is towards greater homogeneity.
Endogenous knowledge becomes particularly visible, relevant and politically meaningful at times of rupture and deep social change. Independence movements in Africa extolled endogenous knowledge and skills and enhanced the value of these resources, which became fertile ground for building the future. Thus, this type of knowledge can contribute to the making of Africa's future in many areas such as education, the preservation of existing languages, medicine, agriculture, the economy and all kinds of other cultural manifestations.
This conference is therefore crucial for deepening and expanding the debate on this transversal, multidisciplinary topic, in all its dimensions. The scientific interest of the meeting is immense, since research on endogenous knowledge by Portuguese scholars is sparse and scattered. In Africa, on the other hand, there is huge asymmetry in this field; there are countries where this topic is well advanced and others where it is barely taking off. The meeting of a large group of researchers from various countries will thus provide the perfect environment for participants to discuss and exchange ideas, thereby creating a first-rate opportunity to establish an international multidisciplinary network devoted to this issue, as well as to form fruitful partnerships and synergies.
Moreover, considering the relevance of this conference to a whole range of issues associated with development, the debate must be open not only to the academic community but also to other sectors, in particular those of cooperation and business. The participation of all these players will lead to a richer debate and a wider range of interpretations of how various African countries can ensure the construction of their future.
Building bridges between the scientific community and other sectors of society is thus a major goal, with endogenous knowledge being crucial to their activities and practices.

[Details Here]



Conhecimentos Endógenos e a Construcao do Futuro de Africa

No século passado, sobretudo após a descolonização e tomando como referência esses espaços, começou-se a referir e a estudar o conhecimento "endógeno", "indígena", "subjugado", muitas vezes tão-somente designado "saber-fazer". Nos países mais desenvolvidos estas problemáticas eram sistematicamente ignoradas e apesar de Michael Polanyi ter teorizado em 1966 o conhecimento tácito, foi preciso esperar pelos anos noventa do século passado, para ele ser mais frequentemente reconhecido, apesar de pouco considerado pelos investigadores, gestores e políticos.
Hoje estes conceitos vão ganhando cidadania epistemológica.
Os investigadores de diferentes ciências vão descobrindo a importância da diversidade de conhecimentos trazidos pelas mais diversas culturas ao longo dos tempos, contribuindo deste modo positivamente para novas descobertas e relativizando os conhecimentos científicos nascidos na cultura greco-latina, judaico-cristã.
Para alguns, os mais ligados ao mundo empresarial o aproveitamento desta forma de conhecimento começa a fazer parte da estratégia de inovação e concorrência. Para outros pode traduzir o abusivo registo de patentes de conhecimentos e práticas que constituíram o património milenar dos povos. Para outros ainda começa a entrar no campo de atenção da investigação do qual se conhece ainda pouco.
Importa conhecer esta realidade, as suas formas de manifestação, a sua importância na vida quotidiana dos povos, as suas tendências de evolução neste mundo que tende para a uniformização.
Os conhecimentos endógenos assumem particular visibilidade, importância e significado político em momentos de ruptura, em momentos de transformação profunda da sociedade.
Os processos de independência em África representaram momentos de exaltação das capacidades endógenas, de valorização destes recursos, tornando-se um campo fértil para a construção do futuro.
Os conhecimentos endógenos e a multiplicidade de campos em que se manifestam na construção do futuro em África levam-nos a olhar para a sua importância na educação, na preservação de línguas existentes, na medicina, na agricultura, na economia, nas diversas manifestações culturais, outras.
A importância desta conferência é, pois, central para aprofundar e alargar o debate deste tema transversal e multidisciplinar em todas as suas dimensões. O interesse científico da reunião é enorme pois o trabalho sobre conhecimentos endógenos em Portugal é diminuto e disperso. Em África verifica-se uma grande assimetria, havendo países onde esta temática está profundamente avançada e outros onde está a dar os primeiros passos. A reunião de um grande grupo de investigadores de diversas origens proporcionará, assim, as condições ideais para o debate e troca de ideias entre os participantes criando uma excelente oportunidade para a criação de uma rede internacional e multidisciplinar dedicada a este tema, construindo novas parcerias e sinergias que enriquecerão a investigação.
No entanto, sendo uma conferência de natureza científica, pela relevância do tema e a sua importância nas questões associadas ao desenvolvimento, pretende-se que a discussão seja alargada a vários sectores, nomeadamente ao da Cooperação e ao Empresarial, por forma a enriquecer a reflexão e a explorar as leituras possíveis sobre a forma como os diferentes países africanos são capazes de garantir a construção do seu futuro em todas as dimensões.
Neste sentido é também um objectivo importante criar pontes entre o conhecimento e a reflexão científica e outros sectores da sociedade para os quais os conhecimentos endógenos assumem um carácter fundamental nas suas actividades e práticas.


[Detalhes Aqui]


Related Posts:


Markets and Other Allocation Systems in History: The Challenge of Karl Polanyi

The East Asian Tigers in Africa?

E Por Falar em Hippos

Cronica de Uma Maka Anunciada

Festival Mondial des Artes Negres

E Por Falar em Representacoes

E Se os Paises Africanos Fossem os EUA?

A Irresponsabilidade do Vazio

Ao Nosso Carnaval Voltemos Pois

Meio Ano Adentro no Annus Angolensis

Simone de Beauvoir in Africa: Issues of African Feminist Thought

Feminismo Negro Brasileiro

In the last century, particularly after the decolonisation of Africa, people started to discuss and study 'endogenous', 'indigenous' and 'subjugated' knowledge - very often simply referred to as 'know-how'. In the more developed countries, these issues were systematically ignored, and despite Michael Polanyi having developed his theory of tacit knowledge in 1966, it was not until the 1990s that this theory became more widely recognised, though not greatly esteemed, by researchers, managers and politicians.
Today, these concepts are finally gaining epistemological currency. Researchers from different scientific backgrounds are becoming aware that diversity of knowledge is important, where such knowledge is the fruit of many different cultures over the centuries. This is a positive input into new discoveries and has helped relativise the scientific knowledge spawned by Greco-Latin and Jewish-Christian cultures.
Some people - especially those linked to the business world - regard the exploitation of this sort of knowledge as part of their innovation and competition strategies. Others, however, view it as the abusive patenting of knowledge and practices that belong to the thousand-year-old heritage of many peoples. Others, still, consider it a field of research about which little is yet known.
It is therefore essential that we learn more about this type of knowledge, its forms of expression, its importance in peoples' daily lives, and its potential future developments in a world where the tendency is towards greater homogeneity.
Endogenous knowledge becomes particularly visible, relevant and politically meaningful at times of rupture and deep social change. Independence movements in Africa extolled endogenous knowledge and skills and enhanced the value of these resources, which became fertile ground for building the future. Thus, this type of knowledge can contribute to the making of Africa's future in many areas such as education, the preservation of existing languages, medicine, agriculture, the economy and all kinds of other cultural manifestations.
This conference is therefore crucial for deepening and expanding the debate on this transversal, multidisciplinary topic, in all its dimensions. The scientific interest of the meeting is immense, since research on endogenous knowledge by Portuguese scholars is sparse and scattered. In Africa, on the other hand, there is huge asymmetry in this field; there are countries where this topic is well advanced and others where it is barely taking off. The meeting of a large group of researchers from various countries will thus provide the perfect environment for participants to discuss and exchange ideas, thereby creating a first-rate opportunity to establish an international multidisciplinary network devoted to this issue, as well as to form fruitful partnerships and synergies.
Moreover, considering the relevance of this conference to a whole range of issues associated with development, the debate must be open not only to the academic community but also to other sectors, in particular those of cooperation and business. The participation of all these players will lead to a richer debate and a wider range of interpretations of how various African countries can ensure the construction of their future.
Building bridges between the scientific community and other sectors of society is thus a major goal, with endogenous knowledge being crucial to their activities and practices.

[Details Here]



Conhecimentos Endógenos e a Construcao do Futuro de Africa

No século passado, sobretudo após a descolonização e tomando como referência esses espaços, começou-se a referir e a estudar o conhecimento "endógeno", "indígena", "subjugado", muitas vezes tão-somente designado "saber-fazer". Nos países mais desenvolvidos estas problemáticas eram sistematicamente ignoradas e apesar de Michael Polanyi ter teorizado em 1966 o conhecimento tácito, foi preciso esperar pelos anos noventa do século passado, para ele ser mais frequentemente reconhecido, apesar de pouco considerado pelos investigadores, gestores e políticos.
Hoje estes conceitos vão ganhando cidadania epistemológica.
Os investigadores de diferentes ciências vão descobrindo a importância da diversidade de conhecimentos trazidos pelas mais diversas culturas ao longo dos tempos, contribuindo deste modo positivamente para novas descobertas e relativizando os conhecimentos científicos nascidos na cultura greco-latina, judaico-cristã.
Para alguns, os mais ligados ao mundo empresarial o aproveitamento desta forma de conhecimento começa a fazer parte da estratégia de inovação e concorrência. Para outros pode traduzir o abusivo registo de patentes de conhecimentos e práticas que constituíram o património milenar dos povos. Para outros ainda começa a entrar no campo de atenção da investigação do qual se conhece ainda pouco.
Importa conhecer esta realidade, as suas formas de manifestação, a sua importância na vida quotidiana dos povos, as suas tendências de evolução neste mundo que tende para a uniformização.
Os conhecimentos endógenos assumem particular visibilidade, importância e significado político em momentos de ruptura, em momentos de transformação profunda da sociedade.
Os processos de independência em África representaram momentos de exaltação das capacidades endógenas, de valorização destes recursos, tornando-se um campo fértil para a construção do futuro.
Os conhecimentos endógenos e a multiplicidade de campos em que se manifestam na construção do futuro em África levam-nos a olhar para a sua importância na educação, na preservação de línguas existentes, na medicina, na agricultura, na economia, nas diversas manifestações culturais, outras.
A importância desta conferência é, pois, central para aprofundar e alargar o debate deste tema transversal e multidisciplinar em todas as suas dimensões. O interesse científico da reunião é enorme pois o trabalho sobre conhecimentos endógenos em Portugal é diminuto e disperso. Em África verifica-se uma grande assimetria, havendo países onde esta temática está profundamente avançada e outros onde está a dar os primeiros passos. A reunião de um grande grupo de investigadores de diversas origens proporcionará, assim, as condições ideais para o debate e troca de ideias entre os participantes criando uma excelente oportunidade para a criação de uma rede internacional e multidisciplinar dedicada a este tema, construindo novas parcerias e sinergias que enriquecerão a investigação.
No entanto, sendo uma conferência de natureza científica, pela relevância do tema e a sua importância nas questões associadas ao desenvolvimento, pretende-se que a discussão seja alargada a vários sectores, nomeadamente ao da Cooperação e ao Empresarial, por forma a enriquecer a reflexão e a explorar as leituras possíveis sobre a forma como os diferentes países africanos são capazes de garantir a construção do seu futuro em todas as dimensões.
Neste sentido é também um objectivo importante criar pontes entre o conhecimento e a reflexão científica e outros sectores da sociedade para os quais os conhecimentos endógenos assumem um carácter fundamental nas suas actividades e práticas.


[Detalhes Aqui]


Related Posts:


Markets and Other Allocation Systems in History: The Challenge of Karl Polanyi

The East Asian Tigers in Africa?

E Por Falar em Hippos

Cronica de Uma Maka Anunciada

Festival Mondial des Artes Negres

E Por Falar em Representacoes

E Se os Paises Africanos Fossem os EUA?

A Irresponsabilidade do Vazio

Ao Nosso Carnaval Voltemos Pois

Meio Ano Adentro no Annus Angolensis

Simone de Beauvoir in Africa: Issues of African Feminist Thought

Feminismo Negro Brasileiro

The Gender Debate: Reality Bites From The Youth* [R]

RECONCILE:


THE GENDER DEBATE


By Siphiwe Mpye

A female friend remembers with much disdain a column that appeared in this magazine aeons ago. It was an Off Ramp about the virtues of the independent black woman. The acerbic tone of the piece – which in parts ridiculed gold-diggers and gung-ho feminists – was unintended and in no way represented what I feel about all women. I only intended to highlight stereotypes that we perpetuate and the existence of a minority of women with ill intentions.

For example, there are men out there who still believe that women are out to get their money; that they have no place in serious business environments and are better suited to “lighter” pursuits such as public relations and so on. By the same token there are women who believe that the measure of success is showing off a R70 000 engagement extravagance from her “tycoon” fiancé and driving around in a BMW X5 paid for by the said banker, consortium chairman or newly moneyed cat with buddies in the government. I used these and other examples but my explanation was nonetheless lost on my friend who felt I had insulted women and was not sure if I was the man she has always known me to be. Whenever this pops up in conversation I maintain my stance and attempt to elaborate further in the hope of one day being understood. The importance of my resilience in this pursuit cannot be underplayed because there is a war going on out there and it is icier than the White House and the Kremlin in the days of the war that never was. It is the war between black men and black women.

(...)

I’m a journalist, my middle name is cynical – but some sort of platform for dialogue between black men and black women is urgently required if we are to unite to uplift a nation that was built on sacrifices by both sexes.

We need to start talking about our differences, and I speak not of the usual directionless, rowdy debates that end up creating more of a rift than effecting change. Both sides of the debate offer valid points but also present plenty of hogwash born from lack of understanding. Such a debate would strip down the clutter and hone in on the appropriate areas.

[***]

love not hate.

peace not war.

sister not slave.

“Who doesn’t want to be validated and respected by other human beings? Some men think the answer to that is: ‘WOMEN, OF COURSE’.


By Yazeed Kamaldien


I’m starting to wonder why men hate women so much. You see, the more I read newspapers and monitor what’s happening in our country, the more I feel that men must have something against women. If they don’t then why are they constantly abusing, raping or dehumanising women? Of course it’s not every man who behaves like this. But statistics are scary enough to make one wonder…

The government-funded Medical Research Council (MRC) released research findings earlier this year indicating that at least one South African woman is killed by her intimate partner every six hours. It also found that coloured women have twice the risk of being killed than other racial groups in our land with its brilliant and much hyped about constitution. Now that’s scary. Last year the MRC also found that women in abusive relationships with intimate sexual partners are more likely to get HIV from these men who deny them the right to be happy by instead making them their physical and emotional punch bags. This research study was done in Johannesburg’s biggest township, Soweto. The MRC found that half of 1 395 women interviewed experienced physical violence from their partners while 20 percent also experienced sexual abuse. A third of these women were HIV-positive and reported sexual violence more than others interviewed.

Okay, numbers aside, the bottom-line is that women are getting a double blow from men. Not only are they being abused but they’re also being infected with the incurable HIV-virus. Something seems rather unfair about all of this, don’t you think? It seems we are burying women alive in South Africa. It’s like we have no issues simply shoving them around. Sure, there are some shining examples of women who have made it in a seemingly man’s world. But that’s not the face of the majority of women, who live normal lives outside the bright lights, and who don’t have much.

By now we have to be asking ourselves some serious questions. Why are we allowing young girls and women to be raped in this country every day? Why are we allowing men to continue abusing women? What is it that we need to do to ensure women break free from oppressive men and stand on an equal footing as male counterparts?

(...)

And yes, you’ve already heard that old saying that respect is a two way street. Men demand respect and a platform and recognition and support not because they are men, but because they are human beings. And they get what they want because, unlike women, they automatically feel entitled to privileges – a right that society seems to bestow upon them from day one. But who doesn’t want to be validated by other human beings? Who doesn’t want to be respected? Who doesn’t want to feel that they are worthy of life? Some men clearly believe the answer to that is, ‘WOMEN, OF COURSE’.

And clearly it’s time we change the way some men think. So roll up those sleeves. We have work to do.

[***]

*These articles by two young South Africans were widely publicised in the local press during the first part of this decade. Revisiting them now (as South Africa prepares for the yearly August Women's Day celebrations) revealed to me just how much they are still factual and relevant not only to South African society but also to other countries in Africa (e.g. Angola!...) and elsewhere in the world.


[Full articles here]

First posted 28/07/10

RECONCILE:


THE GENDER DEBATE


By Siphiwe Mpye

A female friend remembers with much disdain a column that appeared in this magazine aeons ago. It was an Off Ramp about the virtues of the independent black woman. The acerbic tone of the piece – which in parts ridiculed gold-diggers and gung-ho feminists – was unintended and in no way represented what I feel about all women. I only intended to highlight stereotypes that we perpetuate and the existence of a minority of women with ill intentions.

For example, there are men out there who still believe that women are out to get their money; that they have no place in serious business environments and are better suited to “lighter” pursuits such as public relations and so on. By the same token there are women who believe that the measure of success is showing off a R70 000 engagement extravagance from her “tycoon” fiancé and driving around in a BMW X5 paid for by the said banker, consortium chairman or newly moneyed cat with buddies in the government. I used these and other examples but my explanation was nonetheless lost on my friend who felt I had insulted women and was not sure if I was the man she has always known me to be. Whenever this pops up in conversation I maintain my stance and attempt to elaborate further in the hope of one day being understood. The importance of my resilience in this pursuit cannot be underplayed because there is a war going on out there and it is icier than the White House and the Kremlin in the days of the war that never was. It is the war between black men and black women.

(...)

I’m a journalist, my middle name is cynical – but some sort of platform for dialogue between black men and black women is urgently required if we are to unite to uplift a nation that was built on sacrifices by both sexes.

We need to start talking about our differences, and I speak not of the usual directionless, rowdy debates that end up creating more of a rift than effecting change. Both sides of the debate offer valid points but also present plenty of hogwash born from lack of understanding. Such a debate would strip down the clutter and hone in on the appropriate areas.

[***]

love not hate.

peace not war.

sister not slave.

“Who doesn’t want to be validated and respected by other human beings? Some men think the answer to that is: ‘WOMEN, OF COURSE’.


By Yazeed Kamaldien


I’m starting to wonder why men hate women so much. You see, the more I read newspapers and monitor what’s happening in our country, the more I feel that men must have something against women. If they don’t then why are they constantly abusing, raping or dehumanising women? Of course it’s not every man who behaves like this. But statistics are scary enough to make one wonder…

The government-funded Medical Research Council (MRC) released research findings earlier this year indicating that at least one South African woman is killed by her intimate partner every six hours. It also found that coloured women have twice the risk of being killed than other racial groups in our land with its brilliant and much hyped about constitution. Now that’s scary. Last year the MRC also found that women in abusive relationships with intimate sexual partners are more likely to get HIV from these men who deny them the right to be happy by instead making them their physical and emotional punch bags. This research study was done in Johannesburg’s biggest township, Soweto. The MRC found that half of 1 395 women interviewed experienced physical violence from their partners while 20 percent also experienced sexual abuse. A third of these women were HIV-positive and reported sexual violence more than others interviewed.

Okay, numbers aside, the bottom-line is that women are getting a double blow from men. Not only are they being abused but they’re also being infected with the incurable HIV-virus. Something seems rather unfair about all of this, don’t you think? It seems we are burying women alive in South Africa. It’s like we have no issues simply shoving them around. Sure, there are some shining examples of women who have made it in a seemingly man’s world. But that’s not the face of the majority of women, who live normal lives outside the bright lights, and who don’t have much.

By now we have to be asking ourselves some serious questions. Why are we allowing young girls and women to be raped in this country every day? Why are we allowing men to continue abusing women? What is it that we need to do to ensure women break free from oppressive men and stand on an equal footing as male counterparts?

(...)

And yes, you’ve already heard that old saying that respect is a two way street. Men demand respect and a platform and recognition and support not because they are men, but because they are human beings. And they get what they want because, unlike women, they automatically feel entitled to privileges – a right that society seems to bestow upon them from day one. But who doesn’t want to be validated by other human beings? Who doesn’t want to be respected? Who doesn’t want to feel that they are worthy of life? Some men clearly believe the answer to that is, ‘WOMEN, OF COURSE’.

And clearly it’s time we change the way some men think. So roll up those sleeves. We have work to do.

[***]

*These articles by two young South Africans were widely publicised in the local press during the first part of this decade. Revisiting them now (as South Africa prepares for the yearly August Women's Day celebrations) revealed to me just how much they are still factual and relevant not only to South African society but also to other countries in Africa (e.g. Angola!...) and elsewhere in the world.


[Full articles here]

First posted 28/07/10

1960-2010: "The Year of Afrika" 50 Years on (XXII) *

Acaba de ser enviado para o prelo e esta’ previsto para breve o lancamento do primeiro Compendio da prestigiada editora academica Oxford University Press (OUP) dedicado as economias africanas, entitulado “The Oxford Companion to the Economics of Africa”, para o qual fui convidada pelos seus editores e contratada pela OUP para contribuir com uma entrada, que entitulei "Angola: China-Led Reconstruction".

Este Compendio, projectado para coincidir com as comemoracoes do “African Jubilee” que teem marcado este ano de 2010, integra-se na ja’ estabelecida serie “The Oxford Companion” e e’ apenas o segundo dedicado exclusivamente a economia de uma regiao geografica do mundo, depois do que foi dedicado a economia da India em 2007.

Dentre alguns dos nomes “mais familiares” aos leitores deste blog que para ele contribuem destacam-se os de Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (The World Bank), Paul Collier (University of Oxford), Robert H. Bates (Harvard University) e Joseph E. Stiglitz (Columbia University).

Como um appetiser, aqui fica o registo do prefacio pelos seus editores:

This compendium of entries, together with an overview, provides thematic and country perspectives by more than 100 leading economic analysts of Africa. The contributors include: the best of young African researchers based in Africa; renowned academics from the top Universities in Africa, Europe and North America; present and past Chief Economists of the African Development Bank,; present and past Chief Economists for Africa of the World Bank; present and past Chief Economists of the World Bank; African Central Bank governors and Finance Ministers; and four Nobel Laureates in Economics. Other than the requirement that the entry be analytical and not polemical, the contributors were given freedom to put forward their particular perspective on a topic. The entries are not therefore surveys of the literature. Rather, they constitute a picture of the concerns of modern economics as it is applied to African problems, as seen by the leading economists working on Africa. We hope that this Companion will contribute to economic analysis and policy in Africa and thus to African development.
Ernest Aryeetey
Shantayanan Devarajan
Ravi Kanbur
Louis Kasekende

*[Update: Ja' saiu - AQUI]

Acaba de ser enviado para o prelo e esta’ previsto para breve o lancamento do primeiro Compendio da prestigiada editora academica Oxford University Press (OUP) dedicado as economias africanas, entitulado “The Oxford Companion to the Economics of Africa”, para o qual fui convidada pelos seus editores e contratada pela OUP para contribuir com uma entrada, que entitulei "Angola: China-Led Reconstruction".

Este Compendio, projectado para coincidir com as comemoracoes do “African Jubilee” que teem marcado este ano de 2010, integra-se na ja’ estabelecida serie “The Oxford Companion” e e’ apenas o segundo dedicado exclusivamente a economia de uma regiao geografica do mundo, depois do que foi dedicado a economia da India em 2007.

Dentre alguns dos nomes “mais familiares” aos leitores deste blog que para ele contribuem destacam-se os de Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (The World Bank), Paul Collier (University of Oxford), Robert H. Bates (Harvard University) e Joseph E. Stiglitz (Columbia University).

Como um appetiser, aqui fica o registo do prefacio pelos seus editores:

This compendium of entries, together with an overview, provides thematic and country perspectives by more than 100 leading economic analysts of Africa. The contributors include: the best of young African researchers based in Africa; renowned academics from the top Universities in Africa, Europe and North America; present and past Chief Economists of the African Development Bank,; present and past Chief Economists for Africa of the World Bank; present and past Chief Economists of the World Bank; African Central Bank governors and Finance Ministers; and four Nobel Laureates in Economics. Other than the requirement that the entry be analytical and not polemical, the contributors were given freedom to put forward their particular perspective on a topic. The entries are not therefore surveys of the literature. Rather, they constitute a picture of the concerns of modern economics as it is applied to African problems, as seen by the leading economists working on Africa. We hope that this Companion will contribute to economic analysis and policy in Africa and thus to African development.
Ernest Aryeetey
Shantayanan Devarajan
Ravi Kanbur
Louis Kasekende

*[Update: Ja' saiu - AQUI]

Celebrating Afrika's Beaut(ies)y With Pride

[Here]

[Here]

This Day in 2010

Lady - Manu Dibango, feat. Ray Phiri
(Fela Kuti)

Lady - Manu Dibango, feat. Ray Phiri
(Fela Kuti)

1960-2010: "The Year of Afrika" 50 Years on (XXI)

This Day in 1960:

The evolution of Nigeria from about 1849 until it attained independence in 1960 is largely the story of the transformational impact of the British on the peoples and cultures of the Niger-Benue area. The colonial authorities sought to define, protect and realise their imperial interest in this portion of West Africa in the hundred or so years between 1862 and 1960. The British were in the Niger-Benue area to pursue their interests, which were largely economic and strategic. In the process of seeking to realise those interests, there were many unplanned-for by-products, one of which was the socio-political aggregation which is known today in international law as the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The first critical step in this uncertain path was taken in 1849 when, as part of an effort to 'sanitise' the Bights of Benin and Biafra, which were notorious for the slave trade, the British created a consulate for the two Bights. From here, one thing led to another for the British, especially to deeper involvement in the political and economic life of the city states of the Bights and to rivalry with the French who also began showing imperial ambitions in the area.

The result, in time, was that the British converted the coastal consulate and its immediate hinterland into the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1885, which, in 1893, transformed into the Niger Coast Protectorate. The apparently irreversible logic of this development led to deeper and closer involvement in the administration of the peoples and societies of this segment of Nigeria which, by the middle of the twentieth century, came to be known as Eastern Nigeria.

The second step, along the same path, was taken about 1862 when the British annexed the Lagos Lagoon area and its immediate environs and converted same into a crown colony. According to the British, they did this in order to be better able to abolish the slave trade which used that area as export point. According to Nigerian historians, on the other hand, they did so to be better able to protect their interest in the vital trade route that ran from Lagos, through Ikorodu, lbadan and similar communities, to the Niger waterway in the north and beyond into Hausaland. Be that as it may, by 1897, British influence and power had overflowed the frontiers of Lagos and affected all of Yorubaland which was subsequently attached to Lagos as a Protectorate. The political and administrative unit which came to be known as Western Nigeria in the 1950s came as the end of this second step.

The third and final step in this uncharted path came in 1888. The British administered political 'baptism' on Grenye Goldie's National African Company which had successfully squeezed out rivals, British and non-British, from the trade in the lower Niger, following a trade war of almost unprecedented ferocity. As a result of the 'baptism', Goldie's company became the Royal Niger Company, chartered and limited. It also acquired political and administrative powers over a narrow belt of territory on both sides of the river from the sea to Lokoj'a, as well as over the vast area which, in the 20th century, came to be known as Northern Nigeria.

Between 1951 and 1954, two important constitutional conferences were held in London and Lagos between Nigerian political leaders and the British government. These resulted in a new 1954 Federal Constitution whose main features were: the separation of Lagos, the nation's capital, from the Western Region; the establishment of a Federal Government for Nigeria comprising three regions, namely, North, West and East with a Governor- General at the centre and three Regional Governors; the introduction of an exclusive Federal Legislative List as well as a Concurrent List of responsibilities for both the Federal and Regional Governments, thus resulting in a strong central government and weak regions; regionalisation of the Judiciary and of the public service through the establishment of Regional Public Service Commissions, in addition to the Federal one.

From the point of view of the evolution of the Nigerian state, the most significant thing about the 1954 Constitution, which remained in force until Independence in 1960, was that the Lugardian principle of centralisation was replaced by the formula of decentralisation as a matter of policy in the administration of the Nigerian state. Another significant aspect of that Constitution, which was to cast a long shadow on the development of independent Nigeria, was that the federation it established was unique since one region, the North, was larger than the other two regions, East and West, combined. Thus, at Independence in 1960, the main features of the Nigerian state that had evolved since 1900 were: weak constitutional and institutional basis for development politics; an unbalanced federation; regionalism which engendered mutual jealously and fear; and regionally-based political constituencies.

Indeed, the Nigerian colonial state was perceived by Nigerians, especially the emerging political elite, as an illegitimate foreign system operated according to unfamiliar rules and norms which could not function to promote a sense of common national identity among the diverse ethnic groups or even the three Regions that then made up the country. These legacies of colonialism have remained the bedrock of the many problems of nation building in Nigeria since 1960.

[Partly sourced from here]

This Day in 2010:

At least eight people have been killed in explosions in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, marring celebrations to mark 50 years since independence from the UK. Police have confirmed that two blasts outside the justice ministry were caused by car bombs.
Earlier, the militant group Mend (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) had threatened to target the festivities.

Nigeria is a major oil producer, yet most of the population live in poverty.
The bombs went off not far from Eagle Square, where the Nigerian elite had gathered for the official celebrations, but no-one was hurt. President Goodluck Jonathan, who was inspecting a guard of honour at the time, called it a "wicked act of desperation by criminals and murderers". Mend, a militant group in the oil-rich south, issued a threat on Friday morning saying it intended to bomb the event. In the message, the group which is demanding a fairer distribution of the country's oil revenues, said there was "nothing worth celebrating after 50 years of failure".

[here]

Nigeria at 50: what is there to celebrate?

Nigerian blogger Adeola Aderounmu says the country’s democracy is in a shambles and the N17bn for the independence celebrations is money ill-spent.

Nigeria is 50 years old on 1 October 2010. This time in our history does not call for any celebrations. Nigeria used to be the giant and pride of Africa, but that was back in the day. Today, Nigeria’s economy and politics portray sad pictures. The educational system is so bad that Nigerian students are now trooping to Ghana for tutorship. Those who have looted, stole and destroyed the country have sent their children and family members abroad for education and comfort. Nigerians who have genuinely attained economic self-sufficiency also tend to prefer to obtain an education abroad.

It is not only the educational system in Nigeria that has suffered. Almost every aspect of our lives in Nigeria has suffered tremendous setback in such a way that the overall quality of life for the ordinary Nigerian is below an acceptable level for a human. In the Niger Delta, where most of Nigeria's revenues are generated, life is far from being a beauty to behold. National and international conspiracies have transformed the rich oil fields into killing fields and a valley of death and despair.

[here]

This Day in 1960:

The evolution of Nigeria from about 1849 until it attained independence in 1960 is largely the story of the transformational impact of the British on the peoples and cultures of the Niger-Benue area. The colonial authorities sought to define, protect and realise their imperial interest in this portion of West Africa in the hundred or so years between 1862 and 1960. The British were in the Niger-Benue area to pursue their interests, which were largely economic and strategic. In the process of seeking to realise those interests, there were many unplanned-for by-products, one of which was the socio-political aggregation which is known today in international law as the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The first critical step in this uncertain path was taken in 1849 when, as part of an effort to 'sanitise' the Bights of Benin and Biafra, which were notorious for the slave trade, the British created a consulate for the two Bights. From here, one thing led to another for the British, especially to deeper involvement in the political and economic life of the city states of the Bights and to rivalry with the French who also began showing imperial ambitions in the area.

The result, in time, was that the British converted the coastal consulate and its immediate hinterland into the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1885, which, in 1893, transformed into the Niger Coast Protectorate. The apparently irreversible logic of this development led to deeper and closer involvement in the administration of the peoples and societies of this segment of Nigeria which, by the middle of the twentieth century, came to be known as Eastern Nigeria.

The second step, along the same path, was taken about 1862 when the British annexed the Lagos Lagoon area and its immediate environs and converted same into a crown colony. According to the British, they did this in order to be better able to abolish the slave trade which used that area as export point. According to Nigerian historians, on the other hand, they did so to be better able to protect their interest in the vital trade route that ran from Lagos, through Ikorodu, lbadan and similar communities, to the Niger waterway in the north and beyond into Hausaland. Be that as it may, by 1897, British influence and power had overflowed the frontiers of Lagos and affected all of Yorubaland which was subsequently attached to Lagos as a Protectorate. The political and administrative unit which came to be known as Western Nigeria in the 1950s came as the end of this second step.

The third and final step in this uncharted path came in 1888. The British administered political 'baptism' on Grenye Goldie's National African Company which had successfully squeezed out rivals, British and non-British, from the trade in the lower Niger, following a trade war of almost unprecedented ferocity. As a result of the 'baptism', Goldie's company became the Royal Niger Company, chartered and limited. It also acquired political and administrative powers over a narrow belt of territory on both sides of the river from the sea to Lokoj'a, as well as over the vast area which, in the 20th century, came to be known as Northern Nigeria.

Between 1951 and 1954, two important constitutional conferences were held in London and Lagos between Nigerian political leaders and the British government. These resulted in a new 1954 Federal Constitution whose main features were: the separation of Lagos, the nation's capital, from the Western Region; the establishment of a Federal Government for Nigeria comprising three regions, namely, North, West and East with a Governor- General at the centre and three Regional Governors; the introduction of an exclusive Federal Legislative List as well as a Concurrent List of responsibilities for both the Federal and Regional Governments, thus resulting in a strong central government and weak regions; regionalisation of the Judiciary and of the public service through the establishment of Regional Public Service Commissions, in addition to the Federal one.

From the point of view of the evolution of the Nigerian state, the most significant thing about the 1954 Constitution, which remained in force until Independence in 1960, was that the Lugardian principle of centralisation was replaced by the formula of decentralisation as a matter of policy in the administration of the Nigerian state. Another significant aspect of that Constitution, which was to cast a long shadow on the development of independent Nigeria, was that the federation it established was unique since one region, the North, was larger than the other two regions, East and West, combined. Thus, at Independence in 1960, the main features of the Nigerian state that had evolved since 1900 were: weak constitutional and institutional basis for development politics; an unbalanced federation; regionalism which engendered mutual jealously and fear; and regionally-based political constituencies.

Indeed, the Nigerian colonial state was perceived by Nigerians, especially the emerging political elite, as an illegitimate foreign system operated according to unfamiliar rules and norms which could not function to promote a sense of common national identity among the diverse ethnic groups or even the three Regions that then made up the country. These legacies of colonialism have remained the bedrock of the many problems of nation building in Nigeria since 1960.

[Partly sourced from here]

This Day in 2010:

At least eight people have been killed in explosions in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, marring celebrations to mark 50 years since independence from the UK. Police have confirmed that two blasts outside the justice ministry were caused by car bombs.
Earlier, the militant group Mend (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) had threatened to target the festivities.

Nigeria is a major oil producer, yet most of the population live in poverty.
The bombs went off not far from Eagle Square, where the Nigerian elite had gathered for the official celebrations, but no-one was hurt. President Goodluck Jonathan, who was inspecting a guard of honour at the time, called it a "wicked act of desperation by criminals and murderers". Mend, a militant group in the oil-rich south, issued a threat on Friday morning saying it intended to bomb the event. In the message, the group which is demanding a fairer distribution of the country's oil revenues, said there was "nothing worth celebrating after 50 years of failure".

[here]

Nigeria at 50: what is there to celebrate?

Nigerian blogger Adeola Aderounmu says the country’s democracy is in a shambles and the N17bn for the independence celebrations is money ill-spent.

Nigeria is 50 years old on 1 October 2010. This time in our history does not call for any celebrations. Nigeria used to be the giant and pride of Africa, but that was back in the day. Today, Nigeria’s economy and politics portray sad pictures. The educational system is so bad that Nigerian students are now trooping to Ghana for tutorship. Those who have looted, stole and destroyed the country have sent their children and family members abroad for education and comfort. Nigerians who have genuinely attained economic self-sufficiency also tend to prefer to obtain an education abroad.

It is not only the educational system in Nigeria that has suffered. Almost every aspect of our lives in Nigeria has suffered tremendous setback in such a way that the overall quality of life for the ordinary Nigerian is below an acceptable level for a human. In the Niger Delta, where most of Nigeria's revenues are generated, life is far from being a beauty to behold. National and international conspiracies have transformed the rich oil fields into killing fields and a valley of death and despair.

[here]

1960-2010: "The Year of Afrika" 50 Years On (XX)

This Day in 1960:

The recorded history of the area now called Mali begins with the empire of Ghana, which is said to date from the 4th century AD . At its height in the 10th century, it occupied eastern Senegal, southwest Mali, and southern Mauritania and carried on a steady trade across the Sahara with Arab states. The Ghana Empire disintegrated by the 13th century and was succeeded by the Mali Empire, from which the independent republic takes its name.

The Mali Empire reached its peak in the 14th century under Mansa Musa (r.1312–37), who captured Tombouctou and made Mali a center of Muslim scholarship. Tombouctou and Djenné became key centers for trans-Sahara trade. By the 17th century, however, the empire had ceased to exist, and the Tuareg took much of the northern area. Meanwhile, to the east, the Songhai Empire was founded around AD 700 on the middle Niger. Later centered at Gao, the empire was at its zenith after the capture of Tombouctou in 1468. The chief rulers in this period were Sonni 'Ali Ber (r.1464–92) and Askia Muhammad I (r.1492–1528).

In 1591, the Songhai fell to an invading Moroccan army, which established secure bases at Gao, Tombouctou, and Djenné. Under Moroccan rule, a military caste known as the Arma developed, which controlled the countryside, but by 1780, the area had become fragmented into petty states. In the 19th century, al-Hajj 'Umar, a member of the Tukulor tribe, waged a Muslim holy war against the pagans of the area. In 1862, he conquered Ségou and Macina, and the next year he plundered Tombouctou. He was killed in 1864 trying to put down a rebellion. Around 1880, the French began their advance into what was to become the Republic of Mali. They were opposed from 1882 to 1898 by Samory Touré, a Malinké (Mandingo) leader who was ultimately captured and exiled. The capture of Sikasso in 1898 completed the French conquest.

Under French administration, the area became known as French Sudan (Soudan Français) and was a part of French West Africa. Achievements of French rule included the building of the Dakar-Bamako railway and a Niger Delta development scheme. In 1946, the Sudanese became French citizens, with representation in the French parliament. Under the constitution of 1946, the franchise was enlarged and a territorial assembly was established. Universal suffrage was established in 1957, when enlarged powers were conferred on the territorial assembly, which was also given the right to elect a council of ministers responsible for the administration of internal affairs. In 1958, under the constitution of the Fifth French Republic, French Sudan became an autonomous republic, called the Sudanese Republic, within the French Community.

In January 1959, in Dakar, representatives of the Sudanese Republic, Senegal, Dahomey (now Benin), and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) drafted a constitution of the Federation of Mali (named after the medieval African empire), but only the assemblies of the Sudanese Republic and Senegal ratified it and became members of the federation. Later that year the new Mali Federation asked the French Community to grant it complete sovereignty while permitting it to remaining a member of the Community. The Mali Federation became a sovereign state in June 1960.Discord soon arose over external and internal policy, and on 20 August 1960, the federation was dissolved.

On 22 September 1960, the Sudan declared itself independent as the Republic of Mali. Modibo Keita, a cofounder of the African Democratic Assembly and political secretary of the Mali Federation's African Federation Party, took control of the government. The break with Senegal was followed by the decision to leave the French Community. All ties between Senegal and Mali were severed, and Mali embargoed trade with or through Senegal until 1963, when an accord was reached.

The one-party dictatorship led by President Keita evolved into a socialist regime modeled on that of the People's Republic of China. However, by 1968, economic problems and discontent became severe. On 19 November, Keita was overthrown in a bloodless coup led by Lt. (later Gen.) Moussa Traoré. The 1960 constitution was abolished, and a 14-member Military Committee for National Liberation took command. The junta brought Mali back into the franc zone in 1968 and opened its doors to investment from nonsocialist as well as socialist countries.

This Day in 2010:


Mali celebrated 50 years of independence from France Wednesday amid a hostage crisis, with Al-Qaeda militants holding seven foreigners captive, five of them French, in the north of the country. French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux was in Bamako for the independence celebrations and was to meet his Malian counterpart President Amadou Toumani Toure.

Hortefeux was also likely to meet other African heads of state in Bamako, including Mauritania's Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, sources said. Discussions would focus on a military offensive by the Mauritania army against Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) units in Mali from September 17 to 19. The outfit has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.

The five French, one Togolese and one Madagascan hostages were kidnapped in Niger last Thursday and transferred to Mali, which borders Mauritania. Heads of state from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea, Libya, Mauritania and Togo were attending the independence celebration and many were expected to hold talks. "The festival comes at a time when there are many security problems in the region. It's normal that the heads of state shall consult," a Malian official said.

Malian musical duo Amadou et Mariam are known internationally for their music combining Malian and international influences.
They were the ones I was talking about, some three years ago (here): Beaux Dimanches: it's the title of a nice, simple song by an African duo (sorry I didn't get their names, but apparently they're from Bamako) I heard in the wrap-up of this year's Glastonbury Festival. It was also what it was today in London, after days of continuous rain!

[Sourced from here and here]

This Day in 1960:

The recorded history of the area now called Mali begins with the empire of Ghana, which is said to date from the 4th century AD . At its height in the 10th century, it occupied eastern Senegal, southwest Mali, and southern Mauritania and carried on a steady trade across the Sahara with Arab states. The Ghana Empire disintegrated by the 13th century and was succeeded by the Mali Empire, from which the independent republic takes its name.

The Mali Empire reached its peak in the 14th century under Mansa Musa (r.1312–37), who captured Tombouctou and made Mali a center of Muslim scholarship. Tombouctou and Djenné became key centers for trans-Sahara trade. By the 17th century, however, the empire had ceased to exist, and the Tuareg took much of the northern area. Meanwhile, to the east, the Songhai Empire was founded around AD 700 on the middle Niger. Later centered at Gao, the empire was at its zenith after the capture of Tombouctou in 1468. The chief rulers in this period were Sonni 'Ali Ber (r.1464–92) and Askia Muhammad I (r.1492–1528).

In 1591, the Songhai fell to an invading Moroccan army, which established secure bases at Gao, Tombouctou, and Djenné. Under Moroccan rule, a military caste known as the Arma developed, which controlled the countryside, but by 1780, the area had become fragmented into petty states. In the 19th century, al-Hajj 'Umar, a member of the Tukulor tribe, waged a Muslim holy war against the pagans of the area. In 1862, he conquered Ségou and Macina, and the next year he plundered Tombouctou. He was killed in 1864 trying to put down a rebellion. Around 1880, the French began their advance into what was to become the Republic of Mali. They were opposed from 1882 to 1898 by Samory Touré, a Malinké (Mandingo) leader who was ultimately captured and exiled. The capture of Sikasso in 1898 completed the French conquest.

Under French administration, the area became known as French Sudan (Soudan Français) and was a part of French West Africa. Achievements of French rule included the building of the Dakar-Bamako railway and a Niger Delta development scheme. In 1946, the Sudanese became French citizens, with representation in the French parliament. Under the constitution of 1946, the franchise was enlarged and a territorial assembly was established. Universal suffrage was established in 1957, when enlarged powers were conferred on the territorial assembly, which was also given the right to elect a council of ministers responsible for the administration of internal affairs. In 1958, under the constitution of the Fifth French Republic, French Sudan became an autonomous republic, called the Sudanese Republic, within the French Community.

In January 1959, in Dakar, representatives of the Sudanese Republic, Senegal, Dahomey (now Benin), and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) drafted a constitution of the Federation of Mali (named after the medieval African empire), but only the assemblies of the Sudanese Republic and Senegal ratified it and became members of the federation. Later that year the new Mali Federation asked the French Community to grant it complete sovereignty while permitting it to remaining a member of the Community. The Mali Federation became a sovereign state in June 1960.Discord soon arose over external and internal policy, and on 20 August 1960, the federation was dissolved.

On 22 September 1960, the Sudan declared itself independent as the Republic of Mali. Modibo Keita, a cofounder of the African Democratic Assembly and political secretary of the Mali Federation's African Federation Party, took control of the government. The break with Senegal was followed by the decision to leave the French Community. All ties between Senegal and Mali were severed, and Mali embargoed trade with or through Senegal until 1963, when an accord was reached.

The one-party dictatorship led by President Keita evolved into a socialist regime modeled on that of the People's Republic of China. However, by 1968, economic problems and discontent became severe. On 19 November, Keita was overthrown in a bloodless coup led by Lt. (later Gen.) Moussa Traoré. The 1960 constitution was abolished, and a 14-member Military Committee for National Liberation took command. The junta brought Mali back into the franc zone in 1968 and opened its doors to investment from nonsocialist as well as socialist countries.

This Day in 2010:


Mali celebrated 50 years of independence from France Wednesday amid a hostage crisis, with Al-Qaeda militants holding seven foreigners captive, five of them French, in the north of the country. French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux was in Bamako for the independence celebrations and was to meet his Malian counterpart President Amadou Toumani Toure.

Hortefeux was also likely to meet other African heads of state in Bamako, including Mauritania's Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, sources said. Discussions would focus on a military offensive by the Mauritania army against Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) units in Mali from September 17 to 19. The outfit has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.

The five French, one Togolese and one Madagascan hostages were kidnapped in Niger last Thursday and transferred to Mali, which borders Mauritania. Heads of state from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea, Libya, Mauritania and Togo were attending the independence celebration and many were expected to hold talks. "The festival comes at a time when there are many security problems in the region. It's normal that the heads of state shall consult," a Malian official said.

Malian musical duo Amadou et Mariam are known internationally for their music combining Malian and international influences.
They were the ones I was talking about, some three years ago (here): Beaux Dimanches: it's the title of a nice, simple song by an African duo (sorry I didn't get their names, but apparently they're from Bamako) I heard in the wrap-up of this year's Glastonbury Festival. It was also what it was today in London, after days of continuous rain!

[Sourced from here and here]

1960-2010: "The Year of Africa" 50 Years On (XIX)

This Day in 1960


With the backing of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a Congolese
military officer named Joseph Mobutu ordered the democratically-elected
prime minister of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, placed under house arrest in the
capital of Leopoldville on September 14, 1960. Two days later, Mobutu carried
out a full coup, suspending both parliament and the constitution.


The coup was the culmination of three months of orchestration by the US, the
United Nations, and the old colonial ruler, Belgium. Lumumba's nationalism, it
was determined, posed a threat to powerful European mining interests in the
Congo. At the same time, the bringing down of Lumumba would serve as a warning
to the rest of the African states, which were then gaining formal independence
from European colonizers in rapid succession.

After Lumumba's election victory and inauguration in June, mineral-rich Katanga
province seceded in the south, backed by Belgium. Belgians fled the country, and
a "capital strike" brought the economy to a virtual halt. As civil society
disintegrated, sections of the military revolted, forcing Lumumba to rely ever
more-heavily on the "loyal" element, headed by Mobutu.

The UN under General Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld actively collaborated with the
coup. The UN helped to precipitate the crisis by refusing to allow loyal
Congolese soldiers use of its airplanes for transport, in effect siding with
Katanga and other secessionist movements. In response, Lumumba appealed for
support from the Soviet Union, which sent material and "advisors." Then, after
president Joseph Kasa-Vubu's attempt to sack Lumumba on September 5
failed—Lumumba winning a vote of confidence in parliament—the UN shut down the
capital's radio station and blocked Soviet planes supporting Lumumba from its
airfields.

In one of his first acts after the coup, Mobutu ordered the Soviets out of the
Congo. The CIA had found its man.

[Sources: various]

This Day in 1960


With the backing of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a Congolese
military officer named Joseph Mobutu ordered the democratically-elected
prime minister of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, placed under house arrest in the
capital of Leopoldville on September 14, 1960. Two days later, Mobutu carried
out a full coup, suspending both parliament and the constitution.


The coup was the culmination of three months of orchestration by the US, the
United Nations, and the old colonial ruler, Belgium. Lumumba's nationalism, it
was determined, posed a threat to powerful European mining interests in the
Congo. At the same time, the bringing down of Lumumba would serve as a warning
to the rest of the African states, which were then gaining formal independence
from European colonizers in rapid succession.

After Lumumba's election victory and inauguration in June, mineral-rich Katanga
province seceded in the south, backed by Belgium. Belgians fled the country, and
a "capital strike" brought the economy to a virtual halt. As civil society
disintegrated, sections of the military revolted, forcing Lumumba to rely ever
more-heavily on the "loyal" element, headed by Mobutu.

The UN under General Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld actively collaborated with the
coup. The UN helped to precipitate the crisis by refusing to allow loyal
Congolese soldiers use of its airplanes for transport, in effect siding with
Katanga and other secessionist movements. In response, Lumumba appealed for
support from the Soviet Union, which sent material and "advisors." Then, after
president Joseph Kasa-Vubu's attempt to sack Lumumba on September 5
failed—Lumumba winning a vote of confidence in parliament—the UN shut down the
capital's radio station and blocked Soviet planes supporting Lumumba from its
airfields.

In one of his first acts after the coup, Mobutu ordered the Soviets out of the
Congo. The CIA had found its man.

[Sources: various]