The United States African Command: A probable catalyst for African
political and economic development
No period
is more auspicious than now in African history to discuss African
socio-political problems and search for solutions with all engaging attempts to
steer the African continent towards human, institutional and material
development. The recently concluded Nigerian Presidential and general elections
of April 2007 have highlighted more socio-political problems than anticipated. The election has been described as no election owing to multiplicity of
malpractices to rig it and pre-determine its outcome in favor of the ruling
party; the Peoples Democratic Party, led by the ex-president Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo. We can no longer go back to the pre-colonial traditional political
system because it has become archaic and no longer relevant to our needs as a
modern political entity. It lacks the modernized institutions which contemporary
democracies have established in common, in order to relate with themselves at
the International level, especially at the United Nations Organization.
Having successfully agitated for political independence after WW II
from their European masters, the new educated leadership in the various African
countries became saddled with social services dispensation. Except in the
French colonial territories, no other European colonial power made any attempt
to give representation to the huge colonial population in their metropolitan
centers. In other words, only France among other European colonial powers gave
its colonial subjects some sense of political representation and belonging at
the French National Assembly and government in Paris. The rationale was to
prepare the new political elite leadership in Africa for probable future
political challenges, exposure and training for political modernization and
development obligations for their people. The French unique colonial policy has
been criticized as an attempt to acculturate a people whose traditional ways of
life are naturally different from that of the French. However, the difference
between France and other European nations in terms of colonial policy execution
has not given an advantage to the poor performances of African governments in
general after independence.
Most African nations with the exception of a few have failed in
terms of their obligations to their people. The Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement
in African Leadership is recently designed to encourage good governance in order
to situate political stability which will induce economic investment and promote
technological advancement in an atmosphere of peace and security all over
Africa. The detailed implications of Mo Ibrahim Foundation to promote good
governance in Africa are as follows:
(a) Safety and Security of lives
and properties.
(b) The application of and reliance on Rule of Law,
Transparency and abhorrence of corruption.
(c) Political participation
and observation of Human Rights.
(d) Introduction of, commitment to and
attainment of policies for sustainable Economic Development.
(e) Continuous effort and execution of public policies for Human
Development.
A government that is committed to achieving the above stated
goals and objectives would be a strong democracy without any doubt. Socialist-Communist governments or any other form of dictatorship have no
consideration for the Rule of Law and transparency. Political participation is
minimal in socialist-communist states, yet it is jealously guarded and watched.
Human Rights as a principle to be extended to their people are
non-existent.
Security for Young democracies
All
African countries emerged as sovereign nations after WW II. From 1956, with
Sudan being freed from the joint colonial control of Britain and Egypt, which
endured from 1899 to 1956, the huge nation has not known internal peace since
then. Sudanese socio-political problems arise from its diverse geographical
divisions which are partly desert, mountain ranges, swamps and rain forest plus
a tense religious rivalry between the Muslim north and the Animist-Christian
south; a situation that does not guarantee religious freedom in the new nation. No western political philosophy could effectively take root because of the
strong Islamic religious order which had been established firmly in Khartoum as
a result of the Egyptian influence during the colonial period.
Barely two years after political independence in 1956, had the
Sudanese military taken over the government by force. Since then, Sudan has
experienced a violent civil war in 1962 and endured four additional military
coup d’états. The Communists took over in 1971 and were soon after displaced. In 1972 the southern region which is partly Christian and partly traditional
was granted a self-governing status after relentless political agitation. Petroleum was discovered in 1978 in the south but it had no noticeable impact
on the economy. By 1983, the Islamic Sharia; the controversial code of ethics
for religious fundamentalism was imposed on the new nation. Oil became
exported, twenty years after discovery, in 1999 but had no economic effect in
terms of national development or creating new opportunities to the average
Sudanese. President El- Bashir and Turabi the popular Speaker of the national
legislature created a political grid-lock for the young nation, a result of
their personal political rivalry which made the nation suffer for it. By the
turn of the century, Osama Bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda leader took advantage of the
chaotic political situation in Sudan and went to live there. It took the
invention of the United States to have Sudan expel him and he consequently moved
from there to live in Afghanistan. That was the beginning of the current problem
with the Taliban and the inordinate desire of Osama bin Laden plan his mad
attack of September 11, 2001.
The United States African
Command if comprehensively and meticulously organized and politically ordered,
all the developing African countries which are good and trustful enough to
participate in its establishment, stand to benefit immensely from the huge
socio-political, military and economic assistance the United States will
provide. First, is their crucial security from external but negative influences
of ambitious communist China and the remnant of the old Soviet Union, that is,
Russia. After the full security of the entire African sub-region or continent
is guaranteed from terrorists’ plots, then comes political stability and
economic growth opportunities for these young democracies.
Somalia
In the East-African sub-region, Somalia has unfortunately
become a collapsed sate. Since Said Barre’s government was forcibly overthrown
in 1991, the average Somali has remained a stateless person. Somalia was a
unique African nation among all sub-Sahara political entities. Its uniqueness
lies in its entire population which is made up of the same people. They all
speak the same language including those living outside the national boundary of
Somalia, such as Somaliland and the Ogaden region. They share the same
religion, similar or same set of beliefs, same social orientations and same
history. The only social division among them is the unfortunate division
created by the socio-political development and the subsequent maintenance of
strong clans or large family groups which operate as one another’s nemesis for
political power. They seek political supremacy at one another’s expense and
bitterly and violently struggle for control of the Somali nation among
themselves. They do not trust one another and therefore desperately seek
political advantage over themselves. They have been at war with one another
since Said Barre’s government was toppled in 1991 and they are yet to see eye to
eye after sixteen years of civil and sectarian wars leading to the total
collapse of their nation. In a hypothetical sense, if the United States African
Command had been established in the eighties, before the problem in Somalia
reared its head, the political situation would not have degenerated to the
present abysmal collapse.
Ethiopia:
This ancient
kingdom of the biblical dynasty of King David was fortunate to escape the heavy
hand of colonialism at the Berlin conference of 1884/85. Though a Republic
today, it endured series of social and political problems dating back to the
Italian invasion of 1895 when the Ethiopians fought purposefully to defend their
country against an invasion by Italians who were desperately looking for a
colonial possession in Africa. The Ethiopians, armed with traditional weapons
and with the aid of homeland logistics and landscape knowledge and know-how,
inflicted a surprise military defeat on the Italian army at Adowa. An earlier
friendship treaty which was signed with Italy at Wuchale in 1889 was therefore
annulled and Italy thereafter recognized Ethiopia’s independence but retained
control over Eritrea.
The devastating Ethiopian famine of 1973/74 which destroyed
about 200,000 people in Wallo province set off the initial military intervention
in governance in Ethiopia. In 1961, Togo‘s military had intervened in
governance. Five years later in January 1966, the Nigerian military also
mutinied and a group of colonels overthrew the government of Nigeria. Shortly
after, within a couple of months, the military in Ghana also followed the same
pattern of overthrowing the Socialist inclined Kwame Nkrumah’s government.
Military coup d’états had suddenly become a politically ‘linkage occurence’ in
Africa and the unfortunate event continued to spread from one part of the
continent to another. The military overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie’s
government occurred in 1974 and General Teferi Benti took over power. By 1977,
Benti was killed in another putsch by the military led by Colonel Mengistu Haile
Mariam who introduced communism. One of the characteristics of Communist rule
anywhere is to physically destroy opponents because Communism neither tolerates
nor recognizes political opposition when in power. A communist state is always a
one-party state. Ethiopia became a friend and ally of Soviet Union and Cuba and
they helped it to defeat Somalia in the Ogaden war. By 1991, the Ethiopia
people’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, a new political group opposed to
communism and its dictatorial policies invaded the country and captured Addis
Ababa, forcing Mengistu to flee the country. In 1992, Haile Selassie’s remains
was discovered under a palace toilet. The overthrow of Mengistu government
created an opportunity for Eritrea to secure its political independence from
Ethiopia. The old enmity between the two peoples; Ethiopia and Eritrea soon led
to border dispute with violence in 1995. By 1999 the border dispute had become
a full-scale war for which a peace agreement was signed in Algeria in 2000. It
is ironic today to see Ethiopia trying to bring order and peace to chaotic
Somalia, a former enemy. The friendly situation and the noble role of Ethiopian
army in Somalia today was designed and executed by the United States to
eliminate the Al Qaeda terrorist’s threat in that part of Africa and give it
peace and security to in order to improve the needs of its people. The United
States African Command will definitely do better when it is effectively on
ground.
It is evident that African nations the majority of which have
chosen western democracy as their philosophy of government need to be secured
from the terrorist threat an which opportunity some political leaders in Africa
and elsewhere could seize upon to re-introduce some form of dictatorship to the
detriment of democracy which has become popular in the continent. All the
fairly big nations of sub-Sahara Africa which have some economic relevance for
development are beset with some political, religious or ethnic problems. The
smaller ones such as Botswana, Seychelles, Cape Verde and Senegal are
progressing as developing democracies while among the bigger ones, there are
Ghana and South Africa. The worst governed according to Mo Ibrahim Index
include Democratic Republic of Congo ranking 47, Chad ranking 46 and Sudan which
has earlier been discussed in this paper ranking 45. One would wonder how
ranking on the Mo Ibrahim index than Nigeria which ranks 37. Joaquin Chissano’s
Mozambique which had progressed much faster than any other African country in
the past quarter of a century was able to achieve lofty political and economic
goals because of the peaceful environment created by Chissano’s quality
leadership. The peaceful condition needed in Africa in order to propel the
struggling democracies and wake the dormant economies is now due to be provided
by the United States African Command. This paper calls on all suspicion
included African States to outgrow their unfounded but psychological mistrust of
the United States and co-operate with this unprecedented and huge economy and
world leader to assist them in order to utilize their potentials for development
and growth politically and economically.
Perceived advantages
of nations hosting the United States: e.g. African Command
(a) Territorial Security: One of the major reasons why the United States deploys to
different countries is to safeguard the host nation from external aggression or
internal ethnic cleansing or genocide. This role becomes imperative for the
United States as a result of its leadership role in the world starting from
after WW II with the inception of the united Nations where the U.S. holds a veto
implying responsibility for peace in the world, if not unilaterally but
collectively.
(b) Military Cooperation: This is an advantage to both the United States
and the host nation. Since the United States is the dominant military power in
the world, the host nation or nations can take advantage of joint training
programs such as military research and development in terms of equipment,
logistics and personnel training and development.
(c) Economic/Business Advantage: The tradition with the United States Armed
services is that wherever the United States has service members it tries to make
the place and its environment a mini-America so that troops can psychologically
feel as close to home as possible. This operation consists of construction of
bases, roads, living quarters and other necessary structures to American
standard. These are properties which will be inherited by the host nation or
nations once the mission is completed. The economic benefits are enormous most
especially for underdeveloped/developing nations. These countries may benefit
from numerous financial assistance programs, loan/debt forgiveness,
management/development of natural resources to the benefit of both nations (i.e.
when the crude oil reserve in Nigeria was discovered, Nigeria did not have the
know-how to explore the resources available so Nigeria had no alternative than
to engage foreign hands-multi-national companies).
If feasible the host
nation might be used as the Hub/commercial nerve center for that particular
region which will in turn boost its economy in terms of the Gross Domestic
Product, business activities, international investment, foreign exchange,
standard of living and level of development etc.
(d) Employment: The
United States always enter into a STATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENT with the host
nation. In the ease of the United States African Command, this kind of
agreement will apply to all the African nations concerned, if not all. Under
this consideration, the host nation or nations have an advantage to dictate
terms to the United States depending on situation at hand. The United States,
in the circumstance, will have to employ local people for different kinds of
services, such as interpreters, drivers, teachers, contractors and several other
government services.
(e) Relative Peace: In the present order of power configuration among
nations in the world, no nation would attempt to attack militarily any other
nation that hosts the United States, especially when it’s military is resident
there either temporarily or permanently. The Iraqi situation is unusual and
uncommon. The United States military presence in Japan, Western Germany after
WW II and South Korea after 1953 Korean War are better illustrations of our
discussion in this paper.
(f) Committee of Allies: As a strong
democracy and a powerful economy, many nations all over the world have
developed some form of alliance with the United States. It could be in form of
trade or a military training or assistance or any other supportive program for
the economically weaker member of the committee.. A committee of allies has
been developed over time in the course of this kind of relationship and
developing nations and others that can be classified as less developing, stand
to benefit immensely, depending on their geographical location in the world and
the relevance of that part of the world in relation to peaceful co-existence
with other nations of the region and the development of democracy and its
values.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) has been set as an
objective developmental goals for African nations which continue to suffer
economic and political problems since they became sovereign states after WW ll.
The Millennium Development Goals, as a body of socio-economic goals was
established by the United Nations where the United States as a founding member
holds a Veto Power and also belongs to its Security Council as a leading world
economic and political power. It becomes therefore critical for the United
States to be interested in promoting the goals of the Millennium Development
formulated by the United Nations. In the circumstance, the United States’
African Command would the appropriate international body or agency needed to
dispense its program in line with the Millennium Development goals for
developing African nations. The International Labor Organization has expressed
some doubt about the ability of the young African nations in meeting the
Millennium Development Goals because the Breton Woods financial institutions
conditionalities are not good enough to assist the young African nations meet
the goals set by the United Nations against 2015. Once again, the United States
is the original initiator and creator of the Breton Woods financial institutions
with the intention to regulate and provide financial and other economic
suggestions and advice to nations that need them.
By share coincidence at the Third Africa Forum in
Wiesbaden, Germany between the end of October and the beginning of November 2007, Nigeria’s President Mr. Musa Yar’Adua called for an economic supportive
effort similar to the Marshall Plan for Africa from members of the European
Union.
This irony of the call is that Nigeria’s president was calling on
the beneficiaries of the Marshall Plan to do what the United States did to the
European Nations after WW ll to save the western European economy from total
collapse for African nations which are beset with bad and corrupt leadership,
civil wars, drug dealers, money launderers, and all kinds of dictatorships. The
socio-political problems of African countries are self-imposed by a lot of
factors which can be dispensed with if the ‘ Rule of Law’ can be promoted and
regarded as a guiding principle for government and its operators. A similar
program as Marshall Plan which the Nigerian president is advocating may not be
appropriate in the circumstance because those who are responsible for the
devastation of African economy after political independence are the
irresponsible and reckless African political elite who failed to follow the
example of the Asian tiger, that is, Malaysia which refused to follow the
Chinese adaptation of Communism yet succeeded economically by holding on to
western democratic values and promoting its nations economy with capitalist’s
discipline.
In conclusion, the United States’ inspired African Command
offers the best option to the poor African countries today to help themselves
and begin to remove out of economic and political squalor.
Events of the
past on how financial loans, grants, financial aids and such other economic
assistance had been utilized without accountability by African governments do
not suggest that any financial or economic plan developed to help African
nations to rise from their poverty base, cannot be left to the African leaders
alone to execute. The contemporary African leaders need to make up their minds
and accept the United States’ African Command because it is the catalyst needed
now to set the African nations on the path of security for peaceful economic
transition and political development.
By: Bankole A. Okuwa Ph. D.
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