Goodbye Brother Gaddafi!

It is a shame that it should be in this way…
It is even more shameful that your demise could be associated with a deep blow on the ideals of Panafricanism – which you have so forcefully tried to personify, especially in as far as they relate to a genuine alliance between Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa, which you have championed…



However, the Panafricanist ideals can only be incorporated by the peoples of Africa. They cannot be hijacked by one leader, or even a group of leaders under our African Union banner. They cannot be dispensed through a top-down prescription. They can only be achieved if lived from a truly bottom-up experience:



- when free movement of people across borders becomes a reality;

- when the peoples of the continent can really know, respect, enjoy and appreciate their common ancestry and each other’s cultures and identities so as to avoid our recurrent inter-ethnic conflicts;

- when the immense riches of our motherland are effectively and fairly distributed and shared among all its sons and daughters so that our chronic poverty and human underdevelopment records can be definitively overcome…

And all that cannot be achieved under dictatorial and/or corrupt regimes and life-long rulers!



So, it is indeed regrettable that it had to be in this way – especially to the extent that you gave foreign powers a “good excuse” to intervene and interfere in what should/could have been a normal, peaceful and democratic process!

But…



Brother Gaddafi is down – Long live the Brotherhood (and the Sisterhood) of Panafricanism and the African Union of and for the peoples of the Continent and its Diaspora!


[Related Posts]

It is a shame that it should be in this way…
It is even more shameful that your demise could be associated with a deep blow on the ideals of Panafricanism – which you have so forcefully tried to personify, especially in as far as they relate to a genuine alliance between Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa, which you have championed…



However, the Panafricanist ideals can only be incorporated by the peoples of Africa. They cannot be hijacked by one leader, or even a group of leaders under our African Union banner. They cannot be dispensed through a top-down prescription. They can only be achieved if lived from a truly bottom-up experience:



- when free movement of people across borders becomes a reality;

- when the peoples of the continent can really know, respect, enjoy and appreciate their common ancestry and each other’s cultures and identities so as to avoid our recurrent inter-ethnic conflicts;

- when the immense riches of our motherland are effectively and fairly distributed and shared among all its sons and daughters so that our chronic poverty and human underdevelopment records can be definitively overcome…

And all that cannot be achieved under dictatorial and/or corrupt regimes and life-long rulers!



So, it is indeed regrettable that it had to be in this way – especially to the extent that you gave foreign powers a “good excuse” to intervene and interfere in what should/could have been a normal, peaceful and democratic process!

But…



Brother Gaddafi is down – Long live the Brotherhood (and the Sisterhood) of Panafricanism and the African Union of and for the peoples of the Continent and its Diaspora!


[Related Posts]

SYMPOSIUM ON "THE UNITED STATES OF AFRICA"

Believe it or not, agree with or not, there are some people seriously working on the dream, the idea and the reality of a "United States of Africa":


Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) / Republic of Senegal , Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Symposium on the United States of Africa
Dakar, 15-18 June 2009


Call for papers


The Heads of State and Government of the African Union made it clear, in a Decision, that the ultimate objective of the African Union is the political and economic integration of the Continent, leading to a United States of Africa.

Cheikh Anta Diop University , Dakar , will organize a “Symposium on the United States of Africa” in Dakar from 15 to 18 June 2009, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Senegal .

In view of your interest in Pan-Africanism and African Unity, it is our pleasure to invite you to participate in this important meeting so as to make your invaluable input to the dialogue that will, thereby, be initiated between politics and the drive to enhance the unity of the peoples of Africa .

We request you to kindly confirm your participation in this Symposium before 30 April 2009, and to let us have the summary of your presentation in regard to the underlisted five themes of the meeting, the Terms of Reference of which is attached hereto:

1. Federalism and Sovereignity of States;
2. Federalism, Cultures and National Languages;
3. Federalism, Economic Development, Science and Technology;
4. Federalism, African Peoples, the Civil Society and the Diaspora; and
5. Union Authority.

Three Papers will be chosen for each theme, and will be presented at the plenary. The Papers so selected will serve as basis for the discussions and will be published in the Acts of the Symposium. Other Papers will be selected for dissemination and publication.

All the Papers should reach us before 15 May 2009 - the deadline for submission.

The outcomes of the discussions will help enrich the ongoing brainstorming in the Universities of the Continent and the Diaspora, and contribute to political decision making in the African Union, agenda of which should take on board the outcomes of academic research and the experiences of political and social players.

Honorarium will be paid in respect of the fifteen Papers selected for presentation. The organizers will be responsible for the transport fares and subsistence allowance of the participants.

We count on you to make this “Symposium on the United States of America” a resounding success and ask you, dear Madam (dear Sir) to kindly accept the assurances of our highest consideration.

Professor Boubacar Barry

Chairperson
Scientific and Organizing Committee

[More details here]

N.B.: Some sort of freudian lapse must have prompted the reference to "this Symposium on the United States of America" in the last paragraph...

Believe it or not, agree with or not, there are some people seriously working on the dream, the idea and the reality of a "United States of Africa":


Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) / Republic of Senegal , Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Symposium on the United States of Africa
Dakar, 15-18 June 2009


Call for papers


The Heads of State and Government of the African Union made it clear, in a Decision, that the ultimate objective of the African Union is the political and economic integration of the Continent, leading to a United States of Africa.

Cheikh Anta Diop University , Dakar , will organize a “Symposium on the United States of Africa” in Dakar from 15 to 18 June 2009, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Senegal .

In view of your interest in Pan-Africanism and African Unity, it is our pleasure to invite you to participate in this important meeting so as to make your invaluable input to the dialogue that will, thereby, be initiated between politics and the drive to enhance the unity of the peoples of Africa .

We request you to kindly confirm your participation in this Symposium before 30 April 2009, and to let us have the summary of your presentation in regard to the underlisted five themes of the meeting, the Terms of Reference of which is attached hereto:

1. Federalism and Sovereignity of States;
2. Federalism, Cultures and National Languages;
3. Federalism, Economic Development, Science and Technology;
4. Federalism, African Peoples, the Civil Society and the Diaspora; and
5. Union Authority.

Three Papers will be chosen for each theme, and will be presented at the plenary. The Papers so selected will serve as basis for the discussions and will be published in the Acts of the Symposium. Other Papers will be selected for dissemination and publication.

All the Papers should reach us before 15 May 2009 - the deadline for submission.

The outcomes of the discussions will help enrich the ongoing brainstorming in the Universities of the Continent and the Diaspora, and contribute to political decision making in the African Union, agenda of which should take on board the outcomes of academic research and the experiences of political and social players.

Honorarium will be paid in respect of the fifteen Papers selected for presentation. The organizers will be responsible for the transport fares and subsistence allowance of the participants.

We count on you to make this “Symposium on the United States of America” a resounding success and ask you, dear Madam (dear Sir) to kindly accept the assurances of our highest consideration.

Professor Boubacar Barry

Chairperson
Scientific and Organizing Committee

[More details here]

N.B.: Some sort of freudian lapse must have prompted the reference to "this Symposium on the United States of America" in the last paragraph...