Africa’s Unyielding Struggle: From Colonial Chains To Neo-Colonial Sabotage
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Africa: — As Burkina Faso’s President, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, announces free education for all citizens—from primary school to university—a storm brews thousands of miles away. In Paris, hundreds of Burkinabé expatriates, draped in red ribbons symbolizing resistance, protest his leadership, demanding his resignation. Meanwhile, at home, Burkinabé masses flood streets in a counter-movement, chanting, “Long Live Traoré! Long Live the Revolution!” This duality—external condemnation versus internal fervor—exposes a recurring script in Africa’s fight for sovereignty: leaders who dare to reject exploitation face orchestrated destabilization, often through proxies among their people.
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Captain Ibrahim Traoré, hailed by supporters as the spiritual heir to Thomas Sankara, has become a lightning rod for Africa’s unresolved tensions with former colonial powers. His policies—eradicating school fees, expelling French troops, and aligning Burkina Faso with Mali and Niger in a defiant Sahel alliance—embody the anti-imperialist ethos of Sankara, Kwame Nkrumah, and Muammar Gaddafi. Yet, his rise has also revived a familiar Western playbook.
The protests in France, labeled by many Africans as “neo-colonial theater,” echo tactics used to undermine Libya’s Gaddafi: weaponizing diaspora communities, amplifying dissent through media narratives, and isolating leaders who reject resource exploitation. “They did it to Gaddafi. Now they want Traoré,” read banners at pro-Traoré rallies. Critics argue that such demonstrations abroad lack organic grassroots support, reflecting foreign agendas to destabilize nations resisting economic subjugation.
Africa’s history is littered with martyrs of liberation. Patrice Lumumba, murdered in 1961 with Western complicity; Sankara, assassinated in 1987 by French-backed conspirators; Gaddafi, lynched in 2011 after NATO’s regime-change war. These leaders shared a common vision: self-determination, pan-African unity, and socialist-oriented development. Their fates, however, reveal a darker truth: imperial powers tolerate African leadership only when it serves their interests.
Today, Traoré’s Burkina Faso, alongside Mali and Niger, stands at the forefront of this struggle. The tri-nation alliance, born from the mutual expulsion of French military forces, seeks to reclaim control over resources and governance. Yet, as Traoré himself warns, military might alone cannot sustain revolution. “Only the people can guarantee liberation,” he declared recently, invoking Sankara’s ethos.
Revolutions thrive when workers, peasants, intellectuals, and soldiers unite—a lesson Traoré seems to heed. Burkina Faso’s free education policy mobilizes the intelligentsia; agrarian reforms target peasant upliftment; labor unions rally workers; and the military defend territorial integrity. Yet, as Cuba’s 1961 Bay of Pigs victory proved, survival requires mass political mobilization. Traoré’s critics urge him to institutionalize this through a Libyan-style JAMAHIRIYA (mass participatory democracy) or a vanguard party, ensuring the revolution outlives its figureheads.
The call for Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to unite under one government resonates with Nkrumah’s dream: “Africa Must Unite.” A federated Sahel state could leverage collective resources, deter foreign intervention, and model continental integration. However, imperial powers have historically sabotaged such unity—dividing nations, propping up puppet regimes, and stoking ethnic strife.
As FIFA tournaments and global forums perform “unity,” African athletes still endure racist abuse, and multinational corporations extract $2.6 trillion annually from the continent with minimal local benefit. The Traoré saga reminds us that until Africa dictates its destiny, faux partnerships will mask exploitation.
To African leaders: Resist the “resource curse.” Reject IMF loans that chain nations to debt. Expel foreign military bases. To the people: Guard against manipulated dissent. Remember Burkina Faso’s 1987 tragedy, when external forces turned Sankara’s comrades against him.
Captain Traoré’s fate remains uncertain, but Burkina Faso’s streets roar with a truth imperial powers fear: Africa’s masses are awakening. As Traoré builds schools, France’s protesters demand his head—a juxtaposition Sankara foresaw when he said, “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.”
The road ahead demands more than military defiance. It requires political education, grassroots organizing, and unflinching solidarity. Yet, history’s arc bends toward justice. From Algiers to Accra, Vietnam to Cuba, oppressed nations have triumphed when the people lead.
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