Gaddafi should spend his year fighting for a Marshall Plan

Ayo Akinfe

Since the last African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, the airwaves and print media have been packed with commentary about the implications of Libyan strongman Muammer Gaddafi assuming the chairmanship of the continental body. Given that the chair is rotational and the occupant only remains in the seat for one calendar year, I for one do not see what the big do but alas, I am in a minority.

No doubt, the eccentric character of the Libyan colonel has excited those looking for something to chat about, while the West appears terrified of the man. Given his record of standing up to imperialistic and colonial bosses, I am not surprised that some Western media are fearful that the earth will stop revolving around the sun now that Colonel Gaddafi heads the AU.

Many of those fearful of Colonel Gaddafi are doing so out of inexplicable phobia as the chairmanship of a continental body is largely ceremonial, however, this cannot blind us to the fact that he is an unpredictable character. Over the years, he has had his moments and a lot of his actions have left discerning minds wondering whether the man is indeed sane.

However, let us give him the benefit of the doubt and work on the assumption that age and the responsibilities of the new position he has taken up will temper his excesses a bit. It has long been said that the best way to cure a radical is to give him power. Maybe Colonel Gaddafi will be more measured in his statements, actions and temperament now that he is the AU chairman.

On assuming office, the Libyan strongman fired his first salvo, when true to style, he brazenly declared that he would like a United States of Africa that included Caribbean islands with African populations. I for one doubt the people of the Caribbean see themselves as or are interested in being African but hey, there is no harm in floating suggestions.

Colonel Gaddafi said he would like to see countries such as Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic within the AU. Not content with that, the new AU boss fired off several other salvos, including a comment that he sympathised with Somali pirates, describing their actions as self-defence. He also declared that he does not believe that multi-party democracy is right for Africa.

His critics have seized on this and it is not surprising that British Broadcasting commentators have been going on about how Colonel Gaddafi is too erratic to be AU chairman. Maybe what he needs is a press officer who will filter his statements before they are released to the general public, as a lot of what he says, stems from historical truths but the solutions he proffers generally only compound the problems.

Take his statement about Somalia for instance. Colonel Gaddafi said that Somali pirates were only hitting back against other countries stealing marine wealth from the region’s waters and he called on United Nations to protect Somali waters from the piracy of other countries. There is nothing wrong with condemning unfair trading practices and calling on the UN to try and get Africa a better deal but appearing to condone the violent acts of the pirates sends jitters down everyone’s collective spines.

I for one found his comments about multi-party democracy comical to say the least. I kept asking myself if Colonel Gaddafi really said that multi-party democracy only led to bloodshed in Africa and that the best model for the continent was the arrangement within his own country, where opposition parties are not allowed.

Whatever we all think of the Libyan leader, no one can doubt the fact that he has a lot of energy, is full of passion and knows how to fight. Given his flirtation with all sorts of ideas, including Arab nationalism, African unity, Islamic fundamentalism, Libyan expansionism in Chad and militant anti-imperialism, I, personally, get the impression that Colonel Gaddafi is a rebel without a cause.

This is where I believe the AU can benefit from his chairmanship. At the moment, Africa is the poorest continent on earth, has the least infrastructure on the planet, only accounts for about 2% of world trade, is portrayed by the global media as a place of destitution, hunger, war, poverty, ignorance, disease and corruption and is desperately crying out for foreign direct investment (FDI).

I would have loved it if the 12^th AU summit in Addis Ababa had mandated Colonel Gaddafi to spend his 12 months actively campaigning for a new Marshall Plan for Africa. As a continent, we badly need the investment to develop our infrastructure, create jobs and lift us out of dependence. We should be battling for every public and private dollar out there.

Colonel Gaddafi may be the only African leader who can energetically and successfully campaign for Africa to receive its fair share of funding, be it in the form of government co-ordinated programmes like the Marshall Plan or private investment in the form of FDI. He is also probably the best person to debunk the myth that Africa by its very nature is any more dependent that the rest of the world.

After World War Two, the Marshall plan, otherwise known as the European Recovery Program, was designed to rebuild and create a stronger foundation for the countries of Western Europe. It was in operation for four years starting in July 1947 and during that period some $13bn in economic and technical assistance were given to help the recovery.

Aid had been given to many European countries by the US before the Marshall Plan since 1945 with the usual accompanying political pressure. FDI also flowed into the continent, as the Americans feared the hunger-maddened masses would embrace communism.

Listening to the parochialism and condescending commentary that is associated with giving aid to Africa, one would have thought that funding development is setting an unheard of precedence. As we speak, the US senate is debating a $790bn handout, respectably called a stimulus package and across the country and the European Union, governments have been spending willy nilly to bail out troubled companies.

Africa’s problems are in no way unique and our current plight is no worse than that of Europe after World War Two where poverty, a lack of infrastructure, industrial paralysis, disease, famine and the bony hand of hunger threatened to decimate the populace. To me, what Africa needs above everything else is someone to explain this to the rest of the world and Colonel Muammer Gaddafi might just be that man.

For now, I am reserving my judgement on the Libyan leader but will assess his 12 month tenure as AU chairman by the amount of FDI and public funding he can attract to the African continent. If he succeeds, he may well go down as Africa’s best leader ever.

Ayo Akinfe

aakinfe@aol.com

Robot  # 1 | 14.02.2009 08:08

Gaddafi should spend his year fighting for a Marshall Plan Ayo Akinfe Since the last African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, the airwaves and print media have been packed with commentary about the implications of Libyan strongman Muammer Gaddafi assuming the chairmanship of the continental body. Given that the chair is rotational and the occupant only remains in the seat for one calendar year, I for one do not see what the big do but alas, I am in a minority. No doubt, the eccentric character of the Libyan colonel has excited those looking for something to chat about, while the West appears terrified of the man. Given his record of standing up to imperialistic and colonial bosses, I am not surprised that some Western media are fearful that the earth will stop revolving around the sun now that Colonel Gaddafi heads the AU. Many of those fearful of Colonel Gaddafi are doing so out of inexplicable phobia as the chairmanship of a continental body is...Read the full article.