African Existence

One man said that his existence depends on his thinking or of his ability to think or his recognition of his ability to think. 'I am, therefore I exist'. For him the object is cut from the subject, is it possible in the same person?

Another said that his existence is a matter of fact, devoid of any dependency. His existence is the proof. ‘We are, therefore I exist’. The object and subject remain inseparable irrespective of disposition, circumstance and location. Then in a final annihilation of isolation, the immutable person emerges with a name, attributes and relationships. 

'Individual' is deleted making way for the collective hence, 'We are, therefore I exist'. Now prodding it further gets to the destination that family comes first and exists before the person from its smallest unit of nuclearity to the greatest collection of organisms and self-organisation even in the face of regressive positive laws.

Now extending the rapture to natural datum places the person as a body functioning on reason based on intellect, will and memory/understanding and their interpenetrative operations. The insufficiency of the natural operation brings up a number of issues especially the search for higher things by the person. At this point the part of the person directing the search in conscience manifests in the soul. The soul is the geography of the accident that grants it grace, receiving virtue (prompts) and gifts of the Holy Spirit, of course nourished by their operations. 

In all these skin pigmentation plays no part. A broad aggregation of persons on its basis is purely social and an imposed/artificial construct. This implies that parents especially mothers are duty-bound to lovingly tell their children to be proud of their pigmentation, love their pigmentation and to revel in it without condescending on other shades of human pigmentation. Accepted or not, bruised or battered, healed or bled. Self-validation, self (cultural) awareness and self-satisfaction is the script.

Without such elegant disposition it doesn't matter if one or many are temporarily rejected by one and all in one place or around the world. The rejected mustn't reject oneself at least for self-preservation. The circle of existence rises and falls over time i.e. thousands of years. A few hundreds of years are drops in the ocean of time. 

It is said that if an African or Black person is to be deceived, the issue must be hidden in books. The purpose of reading is beyond formal examinations. Those who are disconnected from their history are lost hence repeat of strategic errors, moreso when disconnected from their mother tongue/languages. Behold the breast-milk of our mothers/wives running dry on our children who are unversed in their mother tongues.  

For comprehensive historical treatment open these following books at your convenience and to your children: Precolonial Black Africa by Cheikh Anta Diop; Civilisation or Barbarism Authentic Anthropology by Cheikh Anta Diop; Cultural Unity of Black Africa by Cheikh Anta Diop; Early Christianity in North Africa by Francois Decret; How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind by Thomas Oden; They Came before Columbus by Ivan Van Sertima and How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney. Cambridge History of Africa & General History of Africa series are very helpful. You are the generation with the best potential to eradicate African history. Behold your poor children!

Finally, this piece is motivated in part by this content.

Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces at the Base – Ihitte-Okwe ‘Republic’ (3)

Population Collapse
Introduction

It is always the case that aggregate population is misunderstood by ordinary people. However the basis of development or decline rests fully on it. Population decline is dangerous tactically and strategically for any community. Here an attempt is made towards presenting a non-technical and realistic appraisal of its dynamics and demographics. Like all non-industrial and agricultural economies, its pre-Nigeria-Biafra War population pyramid reflects low-density, high-fertility, low growth and dominated by over 20s. Naturally females are higher in number. It is equally true that more than 70% of the total population is resident in the ‘republic’ with probably less than 10% in diaspora (ozibekee). 

Fertility and birth rates usually drop significantly during conflicts and this ‘republic’ is not excluded. However the end of Nigeria-Biafra War brought two important variables into play; probably less 20% in total decline accounted for mostly by deaths of the elderly and young soldiers/men. The bulk of the intelligentsia, mothers, children, senators, judges and lawyers of the ‘republic’ survived to advance stabilisation since reconstruction never materialised despite Lagos declaration of no-victor no vanquished. The ‘republic’ never that it is part of the vanquished. 

Post-Biafra

Between 1970 and 1985 birth rate took off increasing average family size to eight which modified the pyramid with higher proportion of under 20s. Agriculture remained the economic backbone while the average diaspora remained slightly high concentrated in Lagos and composed mostly of young men without skills and basic qualifications. This high birth rate afforded the local schools, markets and church viability and existence. 

This period was economically and socially stable but nevertheless politically weak for a number of reasons. Among them is the limited number of knowledgeable elders/senators and lawyers in village parliaments. In addition the growing silent tension over land resulted in some of these senators either boycotting sessions or attending without making contributions. These were leading men. This was the beginning of the political stalemate in vogue day. This was the time Ihitte-Okwe applied for and lost Eze’s vacancy for Ihitte-Umukabia-Ngor autonomous community.

One of the most fruitful outcomes was the continued investment in formal/school learning which increased the proportion of young men and women with prospects in petroleum-based economy. The number of post-secondary graduates were scanty due to limited resources. Besides tradesmen and professional were few. Still, optimism was high. Internal cohesion was effective as observed in community cleanings, wake-keepings, student union programme, holiday extra-mural lessons, Christmas carols, viable markets, full response to village councils and etc. Social division of labour was in effect while various age-grades played their part.

The best example of this period was the highest recognition accorded learning, experience and solidarity in Amauku. While this piece can only testify to the inconsistency of Ihitte-Okwe level policy development and implementation, the reasons for such outcome remains elusive and contested. However the rising need for clean water in the ‘republic’ compelled transformative action in Amauku where the young men and women mobilised themselves towards finding a solution. A wise decision!

This was the best and the brightest of the village mostly resident at home and Owerri respectively. These include Mr Julius Agah, Mr Francis Ekeanyanwu, Mr Valentine Obirieze, Barrister Paschal Diala and Mr Kenneth Mmegwa to mention a few. Owerri Branch crystallised the dependable diaspora though not exclusively. Bring together their time, resources, talents and experiences; they developed viable proposals in collaboration with the elders/senators/mothers. With these proposals they approached their best and brightest in Mr S O Obirieze and Rev Fr Julius Mmegwa. The success was the 1986 commissioning of Amauku Ihitte-Okwe water project by the then Lt Commander Amadi Ikwechegh. Of course Amauku Day followed suite. This was the finest hour in Amauku if not in the ‘republic’. Such glorious feat has not been repeated. A giant leap for the ‘republic’.

Rat Race

From 1990 a number of factors especially the economy gradually to impact on the population. First many young people started joining the diaspora. Secondly the spatial net of diaspora widened. Thirdly, immigration into the ‘republic’ dropped and concentrated only around Umueke comparatively. This emigration of our best mind and brains began to have serious impact because their connection with events in the community declined. In most cases, the frequency of spending holidays in the community reduced. 

In addition immigration was limited to marriage where our wives join to reside. Gradually birth rate followed a reverse trend which is currently averaging 4 per family size. This sharp drop in the number of under 10s is best captured at Holy Masses in Amauku and Umuagbom. Children formed less than 10% of attendees, this also accounts for the weakness of Amauku LA school. The population is not viable when some attend in Umuowa, Umuohii Amaki and surrounding private schools. Amauku is seriously indicted for the current state of its primary school. Commendation to Rev Fr Louis Obirieze for marble flooring one class in 2017.

This is a collapse because the dead and those in diaspora were not replaced. You don’t need to be a public finance expert to appreciate the impact of declining population on tax receipts, social/public services and infrastructure. Currently the best and the brightest of the republic is limited. This has a severe impact on policy development, strategic initiatives and solution implementation at all levels. The best example is the non-circulation of Amauku water scheme through Umuotukwe and Umuihim resulting in the glorification of silliness where each household sank a borehole. What a waste! While the situation is partly mitigated by collaboration between some diaspora representatives and HRH Eze’s palace, more needs to be done.

Scattered Souls

A few clarifications on diaspora. When a citizen is not resident in his/her place of origin for at least 180 days a year, he/she becomes a non-permanent resident or absentee landlords. Over 20% of our citizens fit this description including their wives, husbands and children. In addition many of our children are now foreign-born and foreign residents hence naturally displace Ihitte-Okwe as a primary location of interest. The gap is usually mitigated with periodic visit to the ‘republic’ if and when it is applicable. Korona biko! Current population of the 'republic' estimate is less than 6,000.

Attempt is made here for an objective appreciation to the fact that our diaspora are inadvertently disconnected and are limited to doing only goodwill via specialised knowledge sharing and remittances. It is also clear that such disconnection hurts human development due to disparate views, absence of ground truthing of proposals and authority without enforcement power.

Expanding Floors and Shrinking Sales

In summary, population size, make up and dynamics show important elements of the community’s aspirations. While there is no doubt of the increasing physical footprint in all the villages, you’ll be surprised to know that 80% of Ihitte-Okwe residential floorspace is empty and unused because of decline in total population. Another indicator is the unviability of Eketa including the disappearance of Nkwo Utu. 

Markets need (threshold) populations to survive and sadly we don’t have it anymore. The same applied to the new Eke Umuowa and many markets of southern Igboland. The only viable market in our area is Eke Isu Obiangwu. Ignorance of this fact has sustained the absence of markets including village Ugwumabiri to counter the lacks in the expensive ‘shopping malls’ sprouting in our villages. Is it conceivable for Amauku to go to Eketa or even Nkwo Utu? Besides markets are not only women, mothers, children and shopping. It is part of human social DNA. Our population needs high numbers, quality, skills, experience and strategic awareness. 

The commentary will be continued.

Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces at the Base – Ihitte-Okwe ‘Republic’ (2)

Emerging Patterns
Introduction

The previous series focused on the geophysical outlines and the initial actions of our ancestors. This part will pay close attention to outcomes from the initial actions over time. Change is the permanent state of human existence irrespective of action and inaction. In pursuing this presentation a number of points need to be understood. First, that the content here is drawn from first-hand experience and primary sources. 

Secondly, the time used references before and after Nigeria-Biafra War. Remember that most of the Biafran conflict concentrated  in the southern Igbo Heartland which Ihitte-Okwe is a part. The reason for this methodology is simple; that pre-colonial outcomes and colonial footprint can easily be distinguished but not so much between colonial experience and Nigeria’s independence until 1970. Thirdly, empirical tracing of emerging unique and dynamic patterns to the present is easier from 1970. Most of the elders did not survive Nigeria-Biafra War with the primary result of irreversible losses in knowledge, systems, structures, experiences and values. 

Lastly it must be stressed that these views and conclusion are mostly Amauku-centric. There is no effort at denying any bias apparent or imagined. My commitment is to balance objective and subjective dimensions in a discourse. Therefore let us now proceed to the main points that concern us in this phase: fear, population collapse, moral/spiritual decline and new market geographies.

Enthronement of Fear

One of the gross lapses in the (human) development of Ihitte-Okwe is the yawning gap between acquisition of foreign knowledge system and its effects towards effective policy evolution and implementation. Another yawning gap or friction continues to fester between the perceived unfitness of pre-colonial knowledge and the apparent inadequacy of received foreign knowledge. The gaps play a part in the unfortunate elevation of fear as a viable tool in the ‘republic’s’ arsenal to the present day.

The emergence of fear as an unfortunate tool in internal relations is best understood from its footprint and the timeline. The main variable of fear is the permanent fencing of private space. Between 1970 and 1982 the only fence in Umuotukwe Amauku is Imeogba Obirieze western wall, a -5ft structure parallel to the road without deviation. This means adults and mostly children with rights-of-way moved freely through all the access to their neighbours within and beyond kindreds. There were no permanent enclosure rather temporary boundary markers denoted with raffia (igu/akirika), camwood (oha), mkparata, aboshi and ogirishi where applicable. The security of one and all was assured and uncontested. 

Drivers of Doom

The wider geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics drove home patterns of change that gradually meandered from January 15^th 1970. This was advanced by shock exposure or integration into the petroleum dominated economy especially with 1974 -1976 inflation. Such an economy and politics required something from potential participants: specialised knowledge displayed in certificates and access or rights to capital. On both counts, our ‘republic’ was inadequate and collectively unprepared. By implication, the local economy defaulted to a shrinking agricultural economy underpinned by new breed of cassava. A jiapu ewerela eze! Besides land remained a fixed asset supply increasing household sizes. 

By 1982 following Shagari administration austerity policy, the end of Nigeria-Biafra War apparently displayed in full. With limited resources, lack of capital, increased competition and demand of needs and above all lack of collective will and poverty of strategic foresight; the fault lines of underlying tension surfaced to rupture in many families and clans. The inability of elders and amala to clearly appreciate the strategic existential monster at hand played a major part. 

This individual and collective myopia opened a giant door of contest, devaluation and sacrilegious approach to our legal/judicial structures and institutions. Inter-family and intra-family feuds started with zeal. I can recall that in Amauku alone, the number of family/kindred litigations rose sharply in various amala, customary and magistrate courts. Of course without dismissing petitions at various deities include Alaogbaga ‘Supreme Court’. Our husbands, fathers and brothers dominated the field; while our wives, mothers and sisters played their part naturally. Each of these players possess both good and bad characters because they are truly human. 

Hollow Remittances

In addition to limited ambition of most of the young men, savings started to be ploughed back from Lagos, Owerri and other cities into securing family land parcels gradually producing the current rural eyesore called concrete jungle. These fences are prison-like sending a clear message that all and sundry are excluded i.e. persona non grata. Relationships transformed negatively, inter-family visits declined and animosity increased as a way of life. 

Solidarity vanished. In some cases these conflicts, hurts and unlove became associated with questionable death of loved ones increasing the pitch of malice, anger, revenge and hatred. In addition some members maliciously and illegally dispose of collective owned lands in connivance with willing Umunna. It is now the norm for an individual to sell parcels of unpartitioned collectively owned plots. 

Any casual observation of Ihitte-Okwe will notice that 90% of her wealth is fixed in the ground as fences. Take a look on google map of your village and find regularity of boundaries across our ‘republic’. No one advises an investor on how to spend his/her fortune. Family ties became less dense, strained and suspicious. With this centrifugal investment it is very rich for any sane mind to pretend that peace and development will advance in the ‘republic’. Such terrritorisation of private space only reinforced restriction, fear, perception of unknowns, insecurity and uncertainty. In any case the full spectrum of Nigerian praxis played and continues to play out in our ‘republic’.

Sadly this fear ignorantly manufactured by the previous generation had our own generation as pliable vectors of its propagation and we have done an excellent job in the most part to advance and entrench it especially those in the diaspora. Diaspora imply anyone who doesn’t spend at least 180 days in Ihitte-Okwe. Evidence is clear that this ugly transmission of division, friction and factionalisation finds oxygen in our diaspora at both village and republic levels respectively. There is no subsisting disagreement, hurt and conflict that is not sustained, inspired or funded by a brother in the diaspora.

Hopeful Restoration

In summary our families became compromised, nevertheless efforts are actively underway towards remedying this ugly trend. Appreciation and recognition is expressed to Mr Remigius Obirieze for inviting and hosting the 1^st Umu Nwaike Council in almost 40 years on 25^th December 2019. This positive response indicated a genuine desire for healing, reunion and full restoration. A wonderful expression of trust and faith! There is hope that restoration of family foundations will attract our attention as the initial step towards collective transformation.

The series will be continued.

Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces at the Base – Ihitte-Okwe ‘Republic’ (1)

Introduction

The necessity for collective existence is written deeply into the fabric of self-preservation of peoples in their own communities. Ihitte-Okwe is not an exception. However like small communities whose trajectories and experiences were altered irreversibly by time through colonial impositions, it is increasingly becoming difficult over time to clearly separate the benefits and costs both colonial imposition and the best of pre-imposition experiences. 

Therefore in the coming series, a narrative or commentary will be developed to shade light on Ihitte-Okwe as a place in terms of historical geography, unfinished business of Biafra and development inertia in the last two generations. Ihitta, Ihitte and Ihitte-Okwe are used interchangeably. The motivation for this exercise is knowledge stimulation and trigger for increased documentation on Ihitte-Okwe. This is not intellectual, academic or conclusive but information and ideas rendered free for use, update, modification and dissemination. My sincere apology for writing Igbo words with non-Igbo orthography.

What is?

What is Ihitte-Okwe? It is easier to go for its location than its meaning. Colloquially it is Ihitta-Okwe displaying a familiar naming convention of an entity linked its source. Apparently Ihitte is the first son of Okwe, in a family including Nnorie, Umuhu, Umukabia, Ngor and Ohekelem. The mother’s name is not available at the time of writing. The spatial or geographical contiguity/closeness of Okwe is not lost on a careful observer. 

Okwe etymologically suggest agreement or a play arrangement. There is no conclusive documented source on the subject. The same applies to Ihitta despite the fact that such name prefixes are found in various communities in Igboland. A range of options include insect attack (ihi ta), present encounter/experience (ihu ta) and greatness (iha ta). It must be appreciated that Igbo language is not a young one so a feeble attempt to create meaning is fraught with difficulties. Sound meaning are welcome for update.

Meanings are essential as they are the primary objects of individual and collective identity. Individuals can easily clarify the meanings of their first and surnames while simultaneously anchoring their origin and heritage. It seems that such may not be the case with regard to our illustrious ‘republic’. Nevertheless Ihitta-Okwe or rather Ihitta-Ofo-Asato is our subject. For comprehensive historical treatment, reference should be made to a wonderful book written by a brother from Umunokoche. It is the best work and should be in every Ihitta home. The correct name and author will be obtained shortly. 

It must be clarified that Ihitta-Ofo-Asato doesn’t strictly determine the present eight villages from its time of inception as a community. The present distribution of villages only firmed around 1940s. The technicalities behind the arrangement and allocation of Ofo is beyond the scope of this commentary. What is evident is that total population grew and declined over time as migrations continued between various okpulo (abandoned settlements) and beyond until 1940s giving rise to the current linear formations. It wasn’t always linear since motorised transportation system came with the imposition of colonialism. Apparently the norm was a clustered formation for nearly self-sufficient populations connected by paths. 

Historical Geography

Ihitta-Okwe is bounded in the south by Umukabia and Ngor, in the east by Nnorie and Umuhu, in the west by Umuowa and in the north by Umuohiagu and Nnorie. There is no clarity as to when the current boundaries of Ihitte-Okwe were finally set. It is not clear when Okwe branched-off from the southern Igbo migrations that included remnants from Mbaise and Ngwa to settle in the area. 

Since yours truly is removed from Okwe by 12 generations, a rough allocation of 30 years for a generation highlights almost 400 – 500 years difference. Bearing in mind the complexity of site identification, logistics of boundary demarcation, resources, technologies, state of virgin vegetation, security and concern of neighbours; we can surmise that the whole process of securing Ihitte-Okwe site may have taken two to three generations to complete. 

Site Selection & Demarcation

Did Ihitta & Co arrive and make uncontested claims on a virgin plot? How was the claim staked? Did Ihitta fight with first settlers to claim the site? Was the entire area claimed in one or multiple phases? Where there contests with other Okwe siblings as well as with Umuowa and Umuohiagu? How were the boundaries delineated? How was geodetic (round) nature of the earth surface accounted for? Spherical trigonometry and lunar configurations are not ruled out among others.

This will remain the biggest project ever successfully undertaken in this area for many generations to come. It is important to stress that the current villages have moved around as some have vanished into oblivion like Umuekwum. These villages are Umuogwu (Opara), Umunokoche, Umuochere, Umueke, Umuagbom (Etiti), Umuohii (Amaaki), Umuohii (Amaozi), Umuotukwe and Umuihim making up Amauku (Oriogu).

The genius of population distribution by our ancestors become clearer. The first play of high intelligence is the north-west and south east slant which perfectly aligns with the tropical wind systems that bring rain (season) and dry (season). The physical footprint is Aba-Owerri road which cut through the ‘republic’ in the same axis. An excellent benchmark for a low-flying north-bound pilot in the airspace!

Considering that surveying is a complicated scientific and mathematical business, the final 1940s pattern can only invite deeper interest and inquiry. Naturally Ihitte-Okwe ended up a scattered or federated spatial arrangement without a common centre rather has almost each village posted near the ‘international’ boundaries. This is not unique to Ihitta. Few ‘republics’ like Umuowa and Nguru Umuaro have common centres. Even though the areal footprint of the ‘republic’ is small today, it was large when it was initially acquired and demarcated. Nevertheless the spatial formation favour multiple centres.

Strategic Initiative

I conclude that the reason for allocating villages to the borders is primarily for strategic defence of its spatial integrity. Look at Amauku, Umuogwu, Umuagbom, Umuohii (Amaozi) and Umunokoche! Bear in mind that such action naturally carry implication for distribution of power and authority for proper governance of the community with a small population, low birth rate and low replacement rate. Each village power base is anchored in the 4-kindred structure. So the strategic initiative was embedded in the reasoning of ancestors allowing for path development for interaction with other villages and neighbouring communities. These paths eventually expanded into the current wider road network imposed by British colonisation for cars and lorries. 

It is also useful to highlight the current average distance between villages as another evidence of pursuing strategic defence of the frontiers. Even today the distance between Umuagbom and Amauku remains huge, similar to Umuohii (Amaaki) and Amauku. Another implication can be found in the location of public services and infrastructure. In the case of internal markets, the laws of proximity to populations was fully observed with Orie Ihitta for Amauku, Eketa for Azu Ahia as we say in Amauku, Nkwo Utu in Umuagbom and so on. 

These evidence suggest that while Ihitte-Okwe may pursue a common approach to decision making, implementation considers regional differences. The natural tendency to devolve authority and solutions is not new though it is currently misunderstood in the last generation. There was evidence of flexibility in decision making taking into account location, population concentration and accessibility. At the time the common transportation is human trekking. 

This will be continued in the next series.

Coronavirus – Lessons from Senegal and Malawi

Introduction

While the invisible enemy continues to ravage the world as its primary geography, halting and reversing the best policies and plans, there is wonder that even the most powerful in the world have been contained for a while. Considering that this is not the first global pandemic human history, it is conclusive that Europe and North America decline is formalised. The emerging picture paints positive experiences from Senegal and Malawi devoid of neo-colonial machinations.

Hollow Media

Since coronavirus advanced ruthlessly into Europe and North America with its multiple star generals lethally attacking defenceless families and communities, the resulting shock and awe is felt most by outsiders caught up in an unexpected display of weakness of the supposed most powerful and most advanced parts of the world. The shock is driven by elevated error placing democracy, free-market and questionable Christianity as the recipe for virulent accumulation and monstrous domination. History is not linear and this is an important lesson for all nations across time. There is time for everything. Empires must rise and fall for others to rise and fall. 

So the western media in sudden shame and embarrassment at the domestic collapse of their governments have consistent deflected attention by insulting and humiliate Africans. Most by-lines anticipate doom and gloom for her peoples, relishing how coronavirus will decimate, poverty will build skyscrapers as a result and development will be reversed forever. Not debt cancelation for Africa. Wishes do not translate to reality. Sadly many Africans at home and in diaspora swallow these poisons hook, line and sinker. Pity their children who may inadvertently suckle the poisons. Good comes from Africa!

Senegal

This country on the western tip of Africa has prestige and pedigree. There is no stain of questionable military intervention since her independence. Her representative governments have sustained since their first president Leopold Sedar Senghor ruled in 1960. He was a champion of Negritude. His line of succession has continued by various ruling and opposition groups hence blunting the need for imported or evangelised brand of democracy.   

When the crowned poison arrived Dakar, there was no panic rather resources were allocated to join fight. Among the measures deployed by the government of President Macky Sall is the prescription of anti-malaria chloroquine to only those who show symptoms of coronavirus. This therapy is not applied to those with full blown infection. This position was attacked viciously in France since Paris led the anti-chloroquine campaign instead of focusing energy on protecting and saving her vulnerable population. Dakar defended her position robustly including demand for Africa’s debt cancellation, Paris is too weak to press action.

Why? Since medicine and doctors have become geopolitical, a clarification is necessary. Besides anyone can offer a sad opinion including recommendation of disinfectant (orally). There is peer-reviewed science on the role of chloroquine on coronavirus. The problem is thus: Europe and North America pharmaceutical firms no longer produce chloroquine since related diseases/infections have disappeared. Besides the profit margin of production is slender. Current major producers are India, China, Brasil and other member of the Global South. Support for chloroquine mean massive cash transfer out of Europe and North America. So Senegal held her line and won. Senegal makes Africa proud!

Malawi

This is a bastion of common sense in the southern region of Africa. Another nation untainted by misplaced military usurpation. Along with Taiwan, South Korea, Sweden and Nicaragua, she legally objected to lockdown. Of course, it is expected that lockdown is an unreconstructed and uncritical universal tool for stemming coronavirus. Lilongwe advanced a contrary narrative. When the government imposed lockdown probably without emergency powers, citizens objected by lodging a court appeal. 

The government failed to make her case and her lockdown policy was suspended for constitutional interpretation. The critical point is the government’s inability to explain how the vulnerable will be protected during lockdown. At the time of writing, with the lockdown suspended, the government has responded with public health directives and cash payment to the most vulnerable. 

The message is clear. The rule of law works in Malawi, constitution is respected by Malawians and common sense is operative in the land. There is no need for foreign intervention or international humanitarian assistance. The gullible position that Africans are incapable of managing their affairs with credibility, honesty and integrity has once again fallen. Of course attention always focus on the cancerous so-called giants whose foundation are no stronger than quicksand. Malawi makes Africa proud!

Conclusion

Coronavirus outbreak is global but the patterns of infection, mortality and recovery are non-uniform in time and space. Different communities and peoples address it based on experience and unique circumstances. Geopolitics can still play but its full spectrum application is modified by domestic pressure and internal centrifugal forces within the global powers. Within this context Senegal and Malawi’s mature and legal responses can be maximised for the dignified, honourable and excellent peoples of Africa.

Coronavirus Expressions and Geopolitical Outcomes

Introduction

2019/2020 Coronavirus outbreak may become the most insightful event in the last 150 years. While it is an invisible entity with limited ability on its own to act and operate, its vectors and agents in humanity have played significant roles in its thriving enterprise. The result will take time to fully emerge considering that coronavirus is not fully understood by the so-called advanced and developed countries. Our concern is to highlight state expressions leading from history and the emerging patterns of geopolitical power distribution.

Appetiser

Coronavirus has garnered much attention for a single reason, which is the concentration of infections and mortality in the Global North. This geographical space have 3 distinct parts with a single continental isolation of North America and the contiguous continental mass stretching from Europe to Asia. These techno-economic hotspots include New York – Toronto area, European Union radiating from Berlin and the Asian conurbation nucleated from Shanghai.  These areas are all north of the Equator, apparently the container of all the great powers and emerging powers. Coronavirus is running riot in these areas and seem unstoppable in specific areas under various governments.

Uncommon Cold

The first cases of coronavirus were mistakenly reported as a type of flu or pneumonia. Only when peer-reviewed empirical analyses confirmed its specifics did it become apparent that a new kid has arrived the infection block. It has been highlighted that common cold is lethal with high mortality per annum i.e. over a spread of time, coronavirus seem different. Based on infection rate alone, the speed is almost like a rapid-fire offensive. Of course infection rate/mortality rate relationship is complex, preparedness and response initiatives play an important part towards containment and reversal. 

Triumphs

As the world gets more interconnected events in a single location have higher tendency of wider impact and reaction. However the events of the past seem to have prepared the ground the current diverse reaction of countries in advance. A trend has been on the run in the last few decades and the results appear to have been misread or misinterpreted especially by the western world. 

In 1991 USSR collapsed which opened the door wide for hubristic triumphalism in the West which refused to close. In 2001 aeroplanes flew into New York causing much casualty and led to United States pushing the envelope of military dominance through war on terrorism among others. In 2008 the neoliberal economic model driven by Washington Consensus collapsed and stood still. In 2020 coronavirus unleashed its offensive with lethal revolutionary zeal simultaneously in many countries.  

In this 30-year run reaction aggregates presented binary behaviours in the West and East. Washington DC and her remora allies in the West projected uncritical and triumphalist disposition devoid of comprehensive awareness and far-reaching amendment. The interpretation is reduced to apparent magnificence of democracy and uncontested free market economy. In the East including Russia, representation in governance is tighter with restricted market economies in place. In a sense the economies are servants of the state rather than private interests. Overall, the East has limited global military ambition considering the cost and resource intensity. 

Boom

When the crowned poison i.e. coronavirus in Latin, arrived new patterns of response emerged. Despite all the decades of war against terrorism, shows of force in counter-terrorism, various policies of alert and emergencies by various western/NATO states; only confusion reigned and later blame game. If you add democracy and open market in the mix, then effective leadership took a walk in the park. The only countries with 5-digit mortality rates are United States, United Kingdom, Spain, France and Italy. It took coronavirus to reveal the West as the bastion of failed governments. Quite a strange performance! Something is wrong with politics in these countries.

Apparently Asian countries rose to the occasion not so much that they possess much of the wealth, democracy and free market economies. Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea, Laos, Cambodia, India, Japan and China took the outbreak serious to swiftly contain and decline its threat. These governments acted with tact, effectiveness, reliability, confidence and focus. They displayed acute awareness, rapid implementation, effective monitoring and dynamic feedback mechanism. Apparently United Kingdom and Spain retorted to hand clapping and pan hitting as viable solutions. Lack of organisation, lack of protective equipment, lack of effective supply chain and lack of critical medical tools abysmally trailed the so-called advanced countries. It is a woeful performance. This is an important lesson for the Global South.

Values

It is contestable that one of the logical conclusions of western enlightenment is atheistic materialism enthroned by communist Russia/USSR. There is a stark contrast between the West and the East in terms of culture, spirituality as a viable interiority and sustainable sociological foundations. There is a gruesome assumption that Europe and North America are Christian or that they thrive based on Christian values. These geographies are no more Christian than the moon has Igbo as its official religion/theology. 

The socio-cultural foundation of these geographies have not only evolved but strongly moved away from enduring immaterial truth. Secular humanism with its offspring of materialism is the religion without a permanent altar and priest driving virulent individualism and de-communitisation.  Living focused on select tribes of elite and powerful interests who interlocked into the state. Elite is the state and the state is the elite. It is poignant that as coronavirus took its toll, organised religions in the West are silent in the various states except the isolated voice of Pope Francis ringing from Rome. In the United Kingdom, there are no calls for prayer, fasting, redemptive sacrifice and fraternal solidarity. 

In essence it became apparent that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a subtle shift allowing for its effects and programmes to seamlessly meander into Global North minus Japan conscience as the preferred way of life as prophesied by Our Blessed Mother Mary in Fatima Portugal 1917. The West has no place for the sacred, the profound and the supernatural. Of course this is not suggesting that coronavirus outbreak is a reward for de-christianisation. 

Rather it is the case that absence of solid moral or spiritual foundation allows certain weakness to thrive because the justification for timely effective action disappeared into the purse of private profit. There is an overwhelming lack of positive interiority in Europe and North America. It would have been imagined that a continent that bore the brunt of 2 global wars would have become a bastion of population protection in emergency.

The lessons and policies developed by the same advanced countries where modified and exemplified in Asia to successfully combat coronavirus to the extent that South Korea held a credible general election. In essence Asia has shown viable leadership and unquestionable authority. By so doing, they have displayed the compass for future confidence and positive outcomes. It must be testified that most Asian countries have very enduring underlying social and cultural foundations upon which colonisation added with minimal removal. 

Of course they are not majority Christians and are not averse to it, the collective worldview is not strictly materialistic. There is a dominant thread of immaterial consciousness freely accessible and unthreatened in the public space. One would have expected that post-war Japan would have shed her core traditions and cultural foundation rather they accentuated a transformation and modification of accepted foreign values to their dynamic taste over time. 

Conclusion

The clear lesson is that irreversible change has arrived on the back of coronavirus. To all intents and purposes the West’s decline is evident and factual. Apparently not so much from external attack rather from the age-old internal weakness, poverty of leadership and lack of nuanced authority. The next inevitable stage will be facing the consequences which could be a cocktail of reappraisal, recovery and revolutions.

Summitry – Scramble for Africa Sustained

Introduction

Interaction between Africa and various parts of the world is the norm since the beginning of time. However the last 200 years has brought a new pattern of interaction where Africa’s descent is highlighted as a scramble by great powers. In the post-cold war climate, the complexity of this lopsided interaction has taken the shape of domination by both the traditional North and the emerging forces in the Global South. This is the focus of this discuss.

From Berlin to Berlin

Denial of geography is the nemesis of princes. Ignorance of military technology is the path to perpetual weakness for nations. The two universal geopolitical values were clear to the new German Empire concretised by Otto von Bismarck while imposing the Treaty of Versailles in 1871. However 300 years earlier Africa has been in long cathartic reverse of fortune and domination where her most valuable resources were industrially denuded. Slavery by the West and East industrially stripped Africa of its best on the basis of her perceived weakness.

This weakness was codified by the then emerging powers at the Berlin Conference which partitioned Africa without African input in 1885. The internal geographical subdivision where fixed as the building blocks of Westphalia architecture, nation-states. Those lines or boundaries remain in effect to this day. In 1914 and 1939 respectively Berlin sought and lost her place in the sun while the blueprint of its Conference became immutable. Africa turned into dominated pizza parts for various European capitals until the heavyweights arrived later.

Cold War

Conclusion of WW2 removed the old geopolitical guards into diminution as Washington DC and Moscow contested their supremacy in Africa. It mustn’t be lost to all that the uranium oxide used in the building of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively were stolen in Congo by the Colonial Kingdom of Belgium. United States much like Soviet Union was very aware of Africa’s geostrategic primacy. Africa’s ancient basement complex rocks contain huge commercial reserves of precious metals, natural resources, fresh water and other geophysical niches. Both hegemons battled it out on the continent directly or through proxies. Africans bore all the brunt in blood and otherwise.

UK and France consoled as WW2 runners-up acted as remoras on the latitudes allowed by the US hence the fierce colonial wars in Algeria, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and etc. None of the players fought for the Africans but her domination. Africa remained weak in strategy, policy and positioning. The colonial conflicts lasted longest in spots of higher geophysical significance. A divided Africa along colonial lines and short-term initiatives failed to grasp an intergenerational imposition already taking shape waiting for reinvigoration and innovation.

Death of USSR

After 70+ years Soviet Union died without external invasion in 1991. US won the cold war and with her ascendancy became the challenged master of the world. Russia took time to reinject vigour in her geopolitical ambitions, UK and France remain fossilised while Berlin re-emerged behind a matrix of EU states. India and China cracked the shells to wiggle weak fins in a reconfiguring geopolitical waters. Even Brazil finally made a debut in a weak contrast to her super-efficient delivery in the field of soccer. Africa renamed from Organisation of African Union to African Union in a controlled baptism of neocolonisation. The future remained bleak. There is no unity of Africa and Africans rather the shots are called from outside.

Summitry

As the challenged unipolar world unfurled, US moved into self-flagellation in the Middle East while Moscow and Beijing concentrated on economic consolidation with profits rechannelled into armed forces modernisation and economic development. As the ambience of disposable income soured, gaps in supply chains forced a review of probable resources sources and markets and the lot fell on Africa. Beijing played her cards with niche in-road into Africa for a phased strategic projection buttressed on infrastructure development and market expansion. The platform for one-stop-shop is the China-Africa Summit bringing African leaders to kowtow in Beijing.

Then Japan with her advance economic profile followed suit with her own Japan-Africa summit. There is Russia-Africa summit, India-Africa summit and UK-Africa summit. In each summit a collective of African leaders most bereft of skill, vision and awareness fleet about thousands of kilometres from their capitals to rubber-stamp treaties that will chain down future generations. Most of these leaders lack viable health care facilities in their neighbourhoods.

While Brazil and France limit their influence in Lusophone and Francophone countries, it is very clear that the renewed vigour in the scramble for Africa testifies to a refined innovation in grand-strategy and geostrategic initiative. Underlying all these in the war-on-terror format is United States African Command (AFRICOM), which in summary is the template for recolonization of Africa specifically her geological and geophysical assets. The conflicts in DR Congo, Libya and the ongoing conflagration in West Africa are examples of struggles for mineral resources.

These summits are windows for legitimisation of Africa’s dominance in a shrinking world that is opening to the gradual irrelevance of Westphalia building block. Increased hierarchisation of geopolitics has enhanced the position of African state at the bottom devoid of shift in context. Africa is reduced to a single entity despite her continental prowess in a massive of monumental proportion. In these summits a new pattern of domination has emerged, a new form of elites are emerging and another round of intergenerational dependency is shaped.  

Conclusion

The summits show a cultural ambience of ascendance in the dominating capitals and a hubris testifying advancement. It is impossible to indicate how these structures could be fought if such position is decided. The only open avenue for Africans is renewed incentive to reverse the identity crisis which has diminished individual and collective awareness. This cannot be sustained by total removal of the past or concentration on past glories. By providing a nuanced account of history the place of Africans in the present, including appreciating the complexity of structures & policies plus Africans contribution to such self-degradation opens a way towards strategic regeneration to boldly hold the future from a position of strength.

Brexit – A Normal Geopolitical Realignment

Introduction

Last month was the first of  conclusive steps in United Kingdom’s exit from the multi-state continent group European Union. In a sense UK have spent the last 5 years working feverishly to overcome what seem apparently like an crisis of identity but in reality is a natural response to emerging shifts in geopolitical power. The thrust of this discuss is to draw historical contours of this response in view of wider reconfigurations, isolate what remains for the Kingdom and summarise some evident post-Brexit structures.

Europe 2

Europe has been a sustained theatre of geopolitical contests for the last 500 years. In most of these centuries, power projection is coupled with fire power finally decided in major wars where and when necessary. To say the least, Europe is a violent space and such heritage remains near the surface despite a gap of conflict in the last 70 years. When the fate of post-WW11 was decided in Yalta, the real winners where United States and Soviet Union. United Kingdom at the table was no better than France outside. Evidently both winners divided the spoils of war i.e. Europe between them with the marking west of Vistula (Poland) on the doorsteps of Elbe (West Germany). This cartographic reality sustained by mutually agreed deception known in the West as Cold War endured till 1991.

As 2^nd rate players on the western flank with full awareness of history, UK and France spearheaded a dual renewal based on remaining colonial possessions in Africa & Asia under US imprimatur and revaluation of their common European home. As Churchill was deluding with grandiose global panache of uneconomically pedigree he locked totally in Washington DC embrace, De Gaulle was clear that French hegemony was limited in the face of the ascendant United States. As a professor of history and fluent in German he fully understood his remit. Keep out the Anglo-Saxons for a while!

His grand strategy was simple. Nip future German aggression in the bud by tying her down with trade arrangements powered by Paris and Bonn (then West Germany capital). He approached Adenauer, the German chancellor and they fleshed out a phased programme for European integration starting with 6 countries. UK was not part of the 6. With the Treaty of Rome in the bag, institutionalised Europe was decided, created and progressed. It was a success. De Gaulle ensured that UK will play no part and that 'law' was effective until his death. United States had no problem with the idea and its substance after all she was the unrivalled master of Europe.

Later Day

Bearing in mind that France is a permanent UN member with huge colonial possessions, was blinded by the complexity of a stale geopolitical identity which expressed itself in her wasteful wars in Indochina and Algeria. Nevertheless the cost of wars and cost of post-war reconstruction naturally opened the door to embrace trade in a global market. UK was deftly reconfiguring her colonies with ‘peaceful’ arrangements of future neo-colonial control with an awareness that the Commonwealth market is limited.

UK cannot be successful while removed from Europe, so with the demise of De Gaulle applied for EC membership and was accepted with Ireland in 1973. It was convenient for London to play in the new field of successors between US and USSR taking advantage of the new EC geopolitical realignment to advance trade expansion, technological advancement and diplomatic maneuvers. Falkland Wars was an example where France halted weapon sales to Argentina for UK interest.

The African space was collectively manacled with the odious Africa-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) wireframe called Lomé Convention. Simply put it specifies that ACP states are the markets while EC is the seller with limited access for ACP products in her market. This remains the case today. In a sense EC/EU arrangement suited London, Paris and Bonn/Berlin for a time. London’s status as a global financial centre became ascendant with the Thatcher regime drawing capital from the EC. The weight of UK in EC/EU mustn’t be underestimated, it was a heavyweight but this was not causing discontent at home.

Drawbridge

The collapse of the Soviet Union brought new realities to Europe and Berlin made the most of it by pragmatically restoring its sphere of influence. Starting with German reunification and advancing the collapse of Yugoslavia, it gradually stepped up the plate with its huge resources towards fuller mastery of Europe. Despite US geopolitical primacy, other developments in Russia and Asia especially Japan, China and India; opened the door to challenge the global order in various fronts.

United States found it cheaper to produce in Asia (with tax cuts) and progressed its deindustrialisation while concentrating on the niche/military/high technological footprints. Only Germany was ascending in similar path with economic growth, economic development and silent diplomacy on the world stage. EU’s advantage surged. With a new currency (Euro) constructed on the German Deutsch Mark, Germany became EU banker and lender of last resort.

With sustained less than 2% economic growth, poverty of innovation and limited industrial production, France and UK are bound to stagnate. With domestic interest rate at 0% for nearly 2 decades freezing savings out, declining wages and widening societal gaps; London was condemned to confront discontent and polarisation in its domestic politics. Failure to admit irresponsibility is equal to finding an enemy and EU fitted the bill and was baptised thus. All politics is economic! Simply put, Berlin is the rivalled master of Europe with the paraphernalia, wealth and influence.

With Trumpian US making clear its preference for an isolated hegemony devoid of remoras, UK was contained towards imposed renewal drawn the poverty of a virile political elite. So with rising Asia, consolidating Russia, buoyant EU and stirring rest of the world; UK had one way to go. The historical baggage of empire days languished in the face of modern aggressive geopolitical competitors. A test case is the recent past purchase of 5G network from Hauwei. UK lacks the technology and lack the resources to purchase costlier options from its western partners.

Final Descent

UK has never been far from Europe. It has decided the fate of many outcomes on the continent. She is a beneficiary of Westphalian geopolitical infrastructure. However the recent ascendance of Berlin is perceived as both a challenge and message. Germany was defeated in 2 horrible conflicts, and has emerged to take the hotspot two generations later without a shot. Germany is the new rivalled master of Europe, of course US is the security chief.

As UK returns to her place the chalky islands across the channel, it is important to stress that she is not a loser in the real sense as states are not condemned to remain ad infinitum in alliances. Alliances are parallel envelopes for short-term and medium-term expressions of grand strategy. London remains a permanent member of the UN with veto power, it possess nuclear arsenals, has limited armed force in terms extra-territorial projection/deployment ability and sustains a working economy. Her physical boundary is limited to North Atlantic waters and Northern Ireland on land. It wasn’t so in 1920.

Her global influence continues to weld through perception of its values, identities and image. One example is the recent past UK-Africa summit where African heads of state huddled together in London raptly focused on a dishevelled and inaudible prime minister. So the strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must.

UK remains one of the great powers in or out of the EU. Still a premier European state!

Amotekun – The Fresh Lion in Nigeria’s Regional Geopolitics

Introduction

2020 has brought an early fresh wine in the almost insipid Nigeria’s political concoction. A deft move from the Western Region bears the marks of a classical geopolitical response to perceived encirclement by apparent powerful protagonists. While the move is fresh and interesting, it invites the strongest insight into its structures and processes driving it.

History 2.0

To understand this view it is better to transcend the 36-states structure and settle on the pre-1966 regional arrangement for improved clarity. Look at the history books and maps again as they make sense. The pre-1914 map of Nigeria consists of Fulani Empire above Niger-Benue rivers and the nations south of the rivers. This is critical for under-50s.

It is important to stress what many hollow analysts refuse to admit as a fact. Nigeria is a multinational state which is uncertain, unstable and unreliable since it emerged from the womb of its designer. One can safely conclude that most data over time show that Nigeria’s objective is the paralysis of its nations bar a few favoured ones by violent means. Nigeria has never appreciated internal cohesion or the admission of the primacy of her nations as the building blocks towards the emergence of a Nigerian nation.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the first Premier of the Western Region,  laid it bare when he referred to the Nigerian as a mere geographical expression. Considering this nuanced geostrategic bluster buttressed on exclusive ethnic nationalism, Nigeria with all her human and natural resources became a rich source of ready exploitable wealth as long as it lasted. Other regions were the competitors.

Mindful of the cartographic manna that fell from geopolitical heaven with the creation of Mid-Western Region/Bendel State in 1963, the Yoruba nation consolidated into a favourable space for unassailable implementation of a calculated ethnic geopolitical agenda a la Awolowo. This was a credible and realist approach to stem the flow of idealistic constructions of power in a space devoid of clear purpose and an effective driver.

The consistency of one nation with one language, one culture and one dominant collective experience set the stage for rolling out a grand strategy by a grand master. Western Region shares an international land border with Benin Republic. Geography doesn’t lie!

For a man who retorted years later that 24 hours is sufficient in the highest office, his best opportunity arrived during Nigeria-Biafra War when the intellectually denuded counter-coup plotters offered Chief Awolowo the ‘presidency’ and the rest is history. Even Are Afe Babalola has said it on record that Nigeria-Biafra War was fought with funds from the Western Region, certainly an investment with perpetual dividend regardless of who is in charge of Lagos/Abuja with untold consequences to the other ethnic nations. 

The designs of Chief Awolowo were given legal imprimatur of the Nigerian State hence the regional advantage of an exclusive maritime area in the south feeding the landlocked hinterland. This remained effective regardless of who is the master of Lagos/Abuja. East of the Niger up to the 8^th parallel was condemned to waiting for time until the final excision of its rich maritime asset (Bakassi Peninsula) to Cameroun as negotiated under Chief Awolowo. This was the greatest geopolitical error that was only accounted for by the genetic instability of a state. Still Chief Awolowo deserve the utmost respect.

Next Move

The potency of Chief Awolowo’s grand strategy continued to flow with unmatched energy as the comfort of Western Region security declines in the festering Nigeria. Suffice to admit that the busiest seaport and airport is in this Region, it has the biggest commercial space and the highest concentration of physical development and infrastructure. Free education, free medical care, most universities/teaching hospitals, densest macadamised road network, busiest international airport, busiest seaport, high proportion of federal appointments and etc are some of the benefits. Western Region remains the biggest beneficiary of Nigeria. On this merit fittingly rest the magnanimous reference of Chief Obafemi Awolowo as the ‘best president Nigeria never had’ by the Head of State of ex- Biafra.

With such benefits, the post-1999 civilian rule gradually opened new spaces for contest, winning and losing that has condemned most players with poverty of vision and ignorance of purpose. The born-to-rule in the Northern Region may not have contemplated an impending challenge. The Western Region was not untouched by the machinations, alliances and reconfigurations as demanded by collective strategic interest. Huge changes were coming despite misleading appearances.

Lion Paws

2020 came with a flash of rejuvenation of intellectual advancement with the release of the lion, Amotekun in Yoruba. Amotekun is the regional security architecture launched collectively by all state governors in the Western Region. This geopolitical posture seem to have caught the Northern Regional political elite by surprise. The freshness of the idea is neither toxic nor is it original considering various earlier cheap alternatives designed for a piece of Nigeria’s cake.

Moving beyond its ethnic national flavour, it became clear that they have geographical consistency, concentration of infrastructure, massive commercial advantage and geopolitical disposition. For the first time Nigeria i.e. the deep state, took notice and panicked. This is most visible in the Northern Region despite the fact that Western Region is the most pro-Nigeria. Eastern Nigeria have other fish to fry.

What is attractive is the solidarity of governors in the region towards addressing a common interest with a common voice. While evidence suggests that the strategic initiative may be currently lacking, no sane mind across the Nigeria should deny its geopolitical potency. The obvious fact of the design is its confederal aroma and intellectual descendancy from the Aburi Declaration. Lagos/Abuja have vehemently continued on the path of security centralisation which has increased militarisation and regimentation of the society. In a sense Nigeria has become a densely militarised civil space.

Resistance to security apparatus decentralisation by the centre is vicious and potent. Centralisation of security apparatus ensures the consolidation of the deep state by the powerful elite who are the state. Amotekun lays bare the nonsense that governors are the highest security offers in their territories. Governors’ are legally inferior to commissioners of police in their respective states. Centralised police has the centre as its sole line manager. Governors cannot remove police checks near their governor’s residences.

Considering that all indicators of advancement and growth of Nigeria are negative offers a place for Amotekun to be rightful appraised. The arguments of insecurity is consistent across the territory and few ethnic nations are devoid of this existential concern. To deny that Nigeria is a serious security concern is immoral and inhuman. On this note Amotekun is justified as an idea, a hypothesis and a construct in reality; without dismissing its geopolitical potential.

Conclusion

Amotekun is an unclear but welcome development. It has arrived to remind regional elites and power brokers that power cannot be contained at least as an idea. Nigeria is very weak and has little traction among most capitals and chanceries of the world. Her internal structures and processes have sustained waste, corruption and illegality. Therefore uncertain regional dynamics cannot be dismissed. One thing is very clear from the recent geopolitical trend, all powers great and small are exhausted from the inside rather than from outside as the conditions favouring external intrusion are internally constructed. It is unclear whether Amotekun is a call for compatriots to arise or to hail the state. It is very early but certainly time will tell.