Berlin Conference to EU-AU Summit
"The one who betrayed you yesterday, will not save you today."
“Think about the Sahel Region, one of the poorest, yet fastest growing demographically. The succession of military coups will make the region more unstable for years ahead. Russia is both influencing and benefiting from the crisis and the region has become fertile ground for the rise of terrorism. This is of direct concern for Europe, for security and our prosperity, so we need to show the same unity of purpose towards Africa as we have shown towards Ukraine. This is a must. We need to focus on cooperation with legitimate governments and regional organizations. We need to develop a mutually beneficial partnership which focuses on common issues for Europe and Africa. This is why … we will work on a new strategic approach to take forward at the next EU-AU Summit.”
Ursula von der Leyen
European Commission President
September 13, 2023
1884 - 1885, Less than 150 years ago, leaders of 14 European countries got together in Germany to negotiate agreements to better organize their cooperation to colonize Africa. This “Berlin Conference”, which lasted over 3 months, became the hallmark event of the colonial period in Africa. Though this conference was not the first or last such event, it marked a significant moment when European explorers were starting to think they had discovered most of the lands and peoples of the interior of the continent.
The timing of this conference is also notable. After the so-called abolition of slavery and the slave trade; after many African Kingdoms had been divided against each other and the continent had been depopulated of hundreds of millions of human lives; these European leaders set about enslaving the entire continent.
Within the next 20 years, it would be estimated that over 10 million people lost their lives during the reign of terror of King Leopold of Belgium, just in the “Congo Free State" (modern day DRC) which he had claimed as his sovereign territory during this very Berlin Conference. This holocaust ostensibly for the exploitation of rubber for car tires. Yes, 10,000,000 lives for rubber for car tires.
In his article, "Berlin Conference: Creating the Devil's Garden” in his book, Philosophy Podium - A Dogon Perspective, Neb Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig counters prevailing narratives about slavery and colonization, writing, "There is nothing honorable in any individual or group who attack others simply because their victim has all the qualities that the criminal individual or group can only dream of. It is undeniable that if European empires lived under favorable conditions, they would have stayed in their territories and celebrated their human genius; hunger, famine, disease, ignorance, obscurantism, etc., are the facts that made them envious of other people."
Contrary to the popular opinion that European colonists succeeded because they were stronger or more intelligent, Neb Naba counters by stating, "One aspect of European imperialism that one never hears about is surprise. The invasion of Africa and the rest of the world had been planned and prepared from year 145 of the Julian Calendar, when the small barbarian kingdoms of Europe saw that they had finally succeeded in ruining the dynasty of the Pharaohs. While people focused on the the preservation of human qualities and were spending their energy to improve their individual qualities, Europeans were preparing themselves for war by developing and perfecting diverse instruments of torture, assassination and war generally."
In 2025, Western leaders are still holding on to the idea that the same Africa, that their forefathers did their worst to destroy, wants or even needs their help in the ongoing process of recovery. As Neb Naba proclaimed, “the one who betrayed you yesterday won’t save you today.”
As we approach the May 2025 EU-AU Summit referenced by Ms. von der Leyen in her speech, let’s unpack some more of the absurd hypocrisy of her claims.
First, as it relates to the sequence of events in Africa’s Sahel as she presented them.
The Sahel Region, one of the poorest, yet fastest growing demographically.
The succession of military coups will make the region more unstable for years ahead.
Russia is both influencing and benefiting from the crisis.
The region has become fertile ground for the rise of terrorism.
1. “The Sahel Region, one of the poorest, yet fastest growing demographically.”
We will have to define poor in terms of what. If we are speaking in terms of dollars, then yes, though it should go without saying that this is a result of the aforementioned centuries of enslavement and colonization.
2. The succession of military coups will make the region more unstable for years ahead.”
The region had been unstable for many years prior to the succession of military coups in Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, etc. the latter three of which united to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). This instability was and is the direct result of the funding and arming of known terrorist groups by EU countries and their allies, notably France and the USA, to brutally murder Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. Over the subsequent years, these terrorist groups penetrated the Sahara Desert, crossed into Northern Mali and continued south into this same Sahel Region.
Despite or, some may argue, because of the French military forces present in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the onslaught of these jihadist terrorist groups, which are literal branches of al Qaeda and ISIS, continued to worsen. Interestingly, as whole villages fled their Ancestral lands and these countries were classified under the “do not travel” advisory by the US State Department, foreign mining investments in Burkina increased and in 2022, Niger was France’s 2nd biggest supplier of Uranium.
Should it not be alarming that these same jihadist groups who have been actively at war with Western armed forces in the Middle East for over 20 years, who brazenly fight with African and French troops for control of of villages, towns, cities and vast areas of the countryside have somehow allowed these mining companies to operate comfortably in the middle of nowhere? Are they afraid of the mining companies? Are they not interested in the gold and uranium being extracted from beneath their feet? Or are they being paid off or even employed directly by these same mining companies to make sure there are no villagers around to interfere with the exploitation and destruction of their lands while they get next to nothing as compensation? Somehow, only one of these possibilities seems realistic.
This is an account from the current President of Mali, Col. Assimi Goita who, prior to leading a coup d’etat to take control of his country, was a commando in the Malian Army.
"I remember that famous day when we were 5 kilometers from Kidal, we could already see the rebels coming back. We told each other that Kidal is going down. In no less than 15 minutes, a lieutenant colonel comes to inform us that we are forbidden to enter Kidal. Me and 4 of my comrades wanted to force and disobey France.
"As we were moving forward, they clearly said one more step and you will each have a bullet in the head. On this day I cried like a baby.
"And I call our superiors in Bamako, their only response, 'we must stay behind France.'
"The next day, we see these French refueling rebels in front of us. I even looked at one of them in the eyes and he smiled to laugh at me.
"After refueling and donating 8 pick-up vehicles. These French told us they did it for peace between Azawad and Mali. I revolted again. It is in this context that I saw myself delivered to his rebels one day. "
Now, after many shared experiences of this sort, where the militaries of their own countries were under the direct command of French “military advisors”, the military of the very nation that colonized them and paid slave raiders to kidnap their populations by the millions, these brave military men arrested their presidents and took control of their countries without bloodshed; Col. Assimi Goita of Mali in 2020, Capt. Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso in 2022 and Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani of Niger in 2023. The French and American military forces have since been expelled from each of these countries.
It is in this context that Ms. von der Leyen has said that “the succession of military coups will make the region more unstable for years ahead.”
3. Russia is both influencing and benefiting from the crisis.
The implication here appears to be that Russia is somehow responsible or involved in the current crises in the Sahel Region, while Russia only came into the picture after France was expelled from these countries for the aforementioned reasons and many others. The idea of Russia benefiting in the process of helping these Sahelian countries that have been so thoroughly ripped off by Ms. von der Leyen’s constituents is being framed here as somehow exploitative and harmful. The fact is, any nation who helps another nation will be looking for their benefit. Ms. van der Leyen herself, in the very next sentence, spoke to the situation being “of direct concern for Europe, for security and our prosperity.” Therefore, the question should be whether Russia benefiting from its involvement with another country happens at the benefit or at the detriment of the people of that country.
The collective “West” for its part, has proven that its involvement with other countries almost always results in that country’s detriment. If not, which country in history has met colonialism and ended up better for it? Unless you are willing to accept the the murder, starvation, torture, etc. of that country’s population at the cost of their own ancestral heritage was a necessary means to the ends of “civilizing the savages”, that list will be very short, if you can call it a list at all.
4. The region has become fertile ground for the rise of terrorism.
Again, this region became a fertile ground for terrorism under the watch of the French, not the Russians. “The one who betrayed you yesterday will not save you today!”
Ms. von der Leyen, if the concern for the security and prosperity of European Nations was how your predecessors legitimized the slave trade and colonialism, why do you think Africa, again, should bear the burden of your concerns? While your liberal governments claim to be supporters of Black lives and Black causes, Black people in Africa and around the world have come to terms with the truth, that you and your ilk do not and have never valued Black lives or the well-being of Black people.
The proof, dear reader, is in her very next statement, that Europe should “show the same unity of purpose towards Africa as we have shown towards Ukraine.” The message is clear. Now that the blood is finally drying on the battlefields of Ukraine, as the country is running out of live bodies to send to the front lines, Europe needs to find a new population to be sacrificed to Western ideological battles. She plans for the African Sahel to be obliterated like Ukraine! Note that she only mentioned concern for security and European prosperity and neither the well-being or prosperity of the peoples of Africa or even Ukraine.
The remark that, "We need to focus on cooperation with legitimate governments," also needs to be examined. With regard to the Sahel Region, which legitimate governments is she talking about? Moreover, who is she, or any outside leader, to speak upon what constitutes a legitimate government in Africa? As if it should be necessary, let's go further and observe that Ms. von der Leyen, as the President of the European commission, is not elected democratically by the European people. If she had any concern for the will of the people of sovereign nations, she would take note of the overwhelming support the AES leaders have in their countries before commenting on their legitimacy.
The arrogance of these European leaders to even think that African people and their leaders lack the ability to fight their own battles and solve their own problems, to the point that they feel the need to assert themselves as parents to a wayward child, might be beyond belief if it hadn’t been the history of the past several hundred years. It is time for them to accept that the story of these past hundreds of years will not be written again!
Ten days after Ms. von der Leyen’s outrageous proclamation, at the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, Bassolma Bazie, Burkina Faso’s Minister of State, in response to this sort of talk, announced, “In the name of this same UN Charter and International Law that you all invoke here at this assembly, the African peoples in general and the Sahelians in particular are resolutely committed to absolutely and fully assuming their total emancipation for true social progress. Thus, Burkina Faso will sovereignly link its partnerships with whomever it wants and will buy its means of defense from whomever it wants! Whether a country is called Russia, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Nicaragua or North Korea: Burkina Faso will freely buy and sell its products there without an intermediary, much less an authorization from anyone; and for this, come what may!”
We have heard over the past several days, the outrage at the accusations by US general and head of AFRICOM that Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traore is using the country’s gold reserves to protect his government. Regardless of whether these claims reflect any immediate plans by the US government, the tone and undertones of his words have ignited a global uprising in support of President Traore and the revolution he and the other presidents of the AES countries are leading.
Therefore, as we approach the next European Union - African Union Summit in May 2025, KEEP THAT SAME ENERGY because these European leaders have had the last 18 months to plot their next moves to secure their interests in Africa, and guess who is most likely intended to pay the cost once again. It’s time for all those who stand for Africa as dignified descendants, patriots and allies, at home and abroad, to double down on our pledges and commitments before we have to sing Redemption Song again, asking:
“How long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look?”
Not this time and never again!
Motherland or death, we will win!
#HandsOffBurkinaFaso
#HandsOffAES