Falana Slams Obama over Speech in Ghana

[gogannaka]

Lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, has berated President Barack Obama over his speech in Ghana, saying it was a huge embarrassment to the African continent and black people.
Fielding questions from newsmen yesterday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Falana said Obama was wrong when he said Africans should stop blaming the colonialists for slave trade and  subsequent under-development that followed.
."I watched the Obama stop over in Ghana, sentiments apart; I think it was an embarrassment for Africa that Obama only made a stop in Africa.  And even at that,  it was a 'yabbis session.' And that was not what Africans were expecting from the first black President of United States of America . He talked down on Africans. He also said, 'you cannot blame the under-development on Africa ; you cannot just dismiss it on the basis of corruption of its leaders.'
"And I reject,  in its entirety,  the statement credited to Obama that we should no longer blame colonialists for slave trade. Why shouldn't we? Incidentally, he visited the Cape Coast where you have the slave camp. And Obama almost had nothing to say there."
Recalling the slave trade, Falana said  Europeans traded on Africans for 500 years and wondered who would pay reparation for the exploitation of the continent over these years.
"For 500 years , Africans were illegally seized, they were kidnapped, through terrorist action of the Western countries and shipped to Europe and America to build those countries.
"Who is going to pay reparation for them? I thought Obama was going to talk about reparation. The Italian government has agreed to pay N5billion reparation to Libya for colonialism for 40 years. So who is going to pay us colonialism of 100 years?
"Who is going to pay Ghana  And then you come around and say your problem is your problem,  that is unfair. You got to solve your own problem. America must be part of the solution to our problem, because they created part of it, " he said.
Also reacting to part of Obama's statement where he attributed the decay in the African continent  to sit-tight African leaders, Falana also said: "President Obama was in Egypt recently. Is Egypt a democratic country? President Mubarak has been in power since 1981, he was recently in Saudi Arabia , did they hold elections there? So you can't use lack of democracy or free reign of corruption in Africa to excuse the connivance of the United States government or Western European countries, the connivance of these countries is the destruction of the economy of Africa ."
He also said fighting corruption has to be holistic and not partitioned, as it is currently being done in Nigeria.

[Cekenah]

The Atlantic slave trade was hardly a matter of Europeans kidnapping Africans as Falana seems to think; it was, for the the most part, a matter of Africans selling other Africans to Europeans. After all, its called the slave trade for a reason. There was an already existing slave market in many sub-Saharan societies which was exacerbated by internal warfare and the sky-rocketing demand caused by European interest.  Many African communities, especially those along the western coast, organized themselves to meet this demand and grew fat off it, contributing greatly to the severity and tragedy of the slave trade in the process.

Therefore, the repeated demand from African nations for reparations for the slave trade make no sense apart from political expedience. We were paid for our slaves - what did we do with it? What happened to the 'wealth' - the guns, mirrors and other 'shiny things' - that we got in exchange for our human beings? Indeed, tragic short-sighted thinking on the part of the African leaders at the time. Is it any different now?  

[HUSNAA]

The Atlantic slave trade was hardly a matter of Europeans kidnapping Africans as Falana seems to think; it was, for the the most part, a matter of Africans selling other Africans to Europeans. After all, its called the slave trade for a reason. There was an already existing slave market in many sub-Saharan societies which was exacerbated by internal warfare and the sky-rocketing demand caused by European interest.  Many African communities, especially those along the western coast, organized themselves to meet this demand and grew fat off it, contributing greatly to the severity and tragedy of the slave trade in the process.

Therefore, the repeated demand from African nations for reparations for the slave trade make no sense apart from political expedience. We were paid for our slaves - what did we do with it? What happened to the 'wealth' - the guns, mirrors and other 'shiny things' - that we got in exchange for our human beings? Indeed, tragic short-sighted thinking on the part of the African leaders at the time. Is it any different now?  

Hear hear!
There is a difference between the sort of sit tight leaders that Egypt and Saudia have and the sort that are found in subsaharan african countries. At least the Egyptian and Saudi sit tight leaders do not sit tight ON TOP OF their subjects as is the case with the black african leaders. There is running water, electricity, good medical services good educational services good transportation networks and CHEAP FOOD in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. What about in the sub saharan African countries where they have the sit tight leaderships. Can the same be said? If not then Obama was right to lambast the African tazarce leaders.

[Baruti M. Kamau]

Cekenah made a great post.  Read my article on "al-Hajj Umar: One to emulate," where I quote Umar al-Futi (1794?-1865) directly where he documents and criticize the enslavement of free people and selling them to Europeans and Arabs.

If Falana is implying that Obama is not pro-black, then Falana is absolutely correct.  The first black President of the United States is not, can not and will not be pro-black.  We have to wait until the second black American man is elected to be the president of the United States to enjoy the pro-black sentiments.

In my opinion, as Husnaa touch upon in his post, the basic criteria for good and effective leadership is to insure that the entire population have 100% unfettered access to clean running water and 24 hour, non-stop, electricity.  If the current political leadership refuses to put 70% of the country's wealth and resources towards that end, then its time for leaders who will do it.  There is no true development in the modern world without clean running water and reliable electricity.  Big buildings lacking clean running water and uninterrupted electricity is a JOKE and makes a mockery of modernity.