Africa Union must shun Chavez, Ahmadinejad
This continent as vulnerable as it is, must face an all end losing battle against sanity, hunger and disease and scorn advances by pain-staking roving extremists.
A summit
of African leaders took place last week in Banjul, capital of a West African
state of Gambia. These leaders gathered to discuss steps aimed at easing
tensions in the Darfur region of Sudan, where civil war has claimed more
than 300,000 lives. They also had in their agenda vast discussion on prospects
for future African political integration and a charter for African democracy,
main themes of the summit.With almost all regions in this continent facing
surmounting socio-political problems, this summit came at the appropriate
time to deal with severe issues including conflicts in Somalia, Northern
Uganda and Ivorie Coast.However, observers saw with disappointment how this
forum lost concentration to focus on two strange intruders.
A mile long list of issues was shoved aside for a special welcome to President
Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Iran's hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
who gate-crashed into the arena with an entirely different agenda - seeking
support for their anti-American campaign.
Ahmadinejad's visited to generate support for his country, Iran in its standoff
with the United States and Europe over its nuclear program. He had targeted
Muslims in Africa, especially the host country, Gambia - a predominantly
Muslim poor country. Ahmadinejad made similar high-profile trips to Asia,
and drew crowds of Muslims who cheered him for defying the West.
Chavez
on his own part needed a romance with African leaders to boost forces against
the United States in oil politics. He specifically requested Africa to join
with Latin America in "south-south" cooperation, especially in oil and banking
to escape from what he called foreign domination. Just like a bunch of fools,
summit participants especially host, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh lost
control of the primary agenda.
Jammeh hailed the presence of Chavez and Ahmadinejad at the summit as "a
morale booster as well as an assurance that Africa can make it." Jammeh
was excited about his uninvited visitors and believed his country rated
one of the poorest in the whole world needed a "morale booster" from persons
unable to boost their own morale in solving their own crisis. This was where
the summit crumbled like a stale-wet cookie. While praises where showered
to these two roving extremists, major issues in the Summit's agenda were
thrown out of consideration. For instance, a proposed charter that would
ban attempts by leaders to change constitutions of member-states so as to
extend their term limits was neither deliberated nor adopted.
It was gathered the project was postponed because of the strong opposition
of some presidents, but some officials openly criticized refusal to address
this issue that would complicate efforts by unpopular presidents to remain
in power - a situation now generating controversy in major countries including
Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Again, African-born United Nations Secretary-General,
Kofi Annan expressed concern to his fellow Africans over suppression of
press freedom. Another issue that was not even tendered. African countries
no doubt have a long way to go in meeting up with responsibilities of providing
its tax-paying citizens with basic amenities of life. Besides unending political
issues that threatens various regions, battle against starvation and diseases
remain an uphill task. While problems in Sudan, Congo and Ivory Coast are
being slept on, other regions remain in jeopardy. Just last week, the United
Nations World Food Program warned that more than three million people across
Southern Africa would remain short of food because of chronic vulnerability
caused by grinding poverty and the world's highest rates of HIV/AIDS. In
Zimbabwe, inflation has taken a deadly toll, for more than 80 percent of
the people live below the poverty. 80 percent are unemployed and more than
3,000 die every week of hunger and the HIV/Aids pandemic.
This is not funny! With these pending problems, Ahmadinejad and Chavez who
obviously visited to lure Motherland into a disgusting world of terrorism
through filthy oil politics and car-bombing philosophy in name of 'holy
war' are not needed here. This continent as vulnerable as it is must face
an all end losing battle against sanity, hunger and disease and scorn advances
by these pain-staking roving extremists, who in fact are unable to solve
their own issues. Any such distractions at this time may backfire. o Editor,
Anthony Ogbo has been in active Print Media for 25 years.
