Grief, tears and blood: France and its permanent colonies, By Toyin Falola
Grief, tears and blood: France and its permanent colonies, By Toyin Falola
Demonstrators in Burkina Faso: Photo credit: Olympia DE MAISMONT/AFP.
It is indeed high time for France to cut its losses – whatever they may be – and withdraw from its permanent colonies to allow the people of French-speaking Africa to decide their preferred path for the future. After nearly 200 years of capture, citizens have good reason to say that France should leave. The unrest and coups that have become commonplace in the region are symptoms of deeper social, economic and political problems…
France ruined Haiti, the first black country to become independent in 1804. France is on the verge of ruining all of its former African colonies. It is no coincidence that the recent wave of coups in Africa has manifested itself in the former colonies of French Africa (so-called Francophone Africa), once again redirecting global attention to the activities of the France in the region. And that the comments, particularly among Africans, were very critical of France and its continued interference in the region.
This comes against the backdrop of France's continued interference in the economic and political affairs of "independent" French-speaking countries, an involvement which has seen it involved, directly and indirectly, in a series of unrest, controversies on corruption and assassinations. which have plagued the region since independence. Unlike Britain and other European countries with colonial possessions in Africa, France never left – at least not in the sense of the traditional distance observed since independence by other former colonial overlords. On the contrary, it has, under cover of a policy of cooperation (cooperation) within the framework of an “enlarged French Community, continued to maintain a cultural, economic dynamic , political and military presence in Africa.
In appearance, the promise of cooperation between France and its former colonies in Africa - which presupposes a relationship of mutual benefit between politically independent nations - where the first, thanks to the provision of technical means and military assistance, leading the development/advancement of one's formerly colonial "family" is both laudable and perhaps even worthy of imitation. However, when this carefully written façade is juxtaposed with the reality that has unfolded over the decades, what is revealed is a vast conspiracy involving individuals at the highest levels of the French government. Alongside other influential business interests – also domiciled in France – they worked with a selection of African elites to orchestrate the most extensive and heinous crimes against the people of French-speaking Africa today. A people who, even today, continue to suffer under the weight of France's insatiable greed.
The greed and lust that caused European nations to abandon trade in favor of colonization in Africa are still present today as they were in the 1950s and 1980s. The decision to give in to demands African independence was not the result of any benevolence or civilized reason on the part of Europe, but of economic and political opportunism. So when the French president at the time, Charles de Gaulle – who harbored ambitions for France to maintain its status as a world power – accepted the independence of his country's African colonies, it was only a matter of a preventative measure intended to stem further losses. of French influence on the continent. In other words, political liberation was offered "on a platter of gold", as a means of avoiding the development of other costly wars of independence that France was already waging, as World War II wound down. , in Indochina and Algeria.
In pursuing its interests in Africa, France has not hidden its contempt for all independent and populist reasons, while supporting puppet regimes. In Guinea in 1958, De Gaull...
Demonstrators in Burkina Faso: Photo credit: Olympia DE MAISMONT/AFP.
It is indeed high time for France to cut its losses – whatever they may be – and withdraw from its permanent colonies to allow the people of French-speaking Africa to decide their preferred path for the future. After nearly 200 years of capture, citizens have good reason to say that France should leave. The unrest and coups that have become commonplace in the region are symptoms of deeper social, economic and political problems…
France ruined Haiti, the first black country to become independent in 1804. France is on the verge of ruining all of its former African colonies. It is no coincidence that the recent wave of coups in Africa has manifested itself in the former colonies of French Africa (so-called Francophone Africa), once again redirecting global attention to the activities of the France in the region. And that the comments, particularly among Africans, were very critical of France and its continued interference in the region.
This comes against the backdrop of France's continued interference in the economic and political affairs of "independent" French-speaking countries, an involvement which has seen it involved, directly and indirectly, in a series of unrest, controversies on corruption and assassinations. which have plagued the region since independence. Unlike Britain and other European countries with colonial possessions in Africa, France never left – at least not in the sense of the traditional distance observed since independence by other former colonial overlords. On the contrary, it has, under cover of a policy of cooperation (cooperation) within the framework of an “enlarged French Community, continued to maintain a cultural, economic dynamic , political and military presence in Africa.
In appearance, the promise of cooperation between France and its former colonies in Africa - which presupposes a relationship of mutual benefit between politically independent nations - where the first, thanks to the provision of technical means and military assistance, leading the development/advancement of one's formerly colonial "family" is both laudable and perhaps even worthy of imitation. However, when this carefully written façade is juxtaposed with the reality that has unfolded over the decades, what is revealed is a vast conspiracy involving individuals at the highest levels of the French government. Alongside other influential business interests – also domiciled in France – they worked with a selection of African elites to orchestrate the most extensive and heinous crimes against the people of French-speaking Africa today. A people who, even today, continue to suffer under the weight of France's insatiable greed.
The greed and lust that caused European nations to abandon trade in favor of colonization in Africa are still present today as they were in the 1950s and 1980s. The decision to give in to demands African independence was not the result of any benevolence or civilized reason on the part of Europe, but of economic and political opportunism. So when the French president at the time, Charles de Gaulle – who harbored ambitions for France to maintain its status as a world power – accepted the independence of his country's African colonies, it was only a matter of a preventative measure intended to stem further losses. of French influence on the continent. In other words, political liberation was offered "on a platter of gold", as a means of avoiding the development of other costly wars of independence that France was already waging, as World War II wound down. , in Indochina and Algeria.
In pursuing its interests in Africa, France has not hidden its contempt for all independent and populist reasons, while supporting puppet regimes. In Guinea in 1958, De Gaull...
Demonstrators in Burkina Faso: Photo credit: Olympia DE MAISMONT/AFP.
