When faced with an intractable challenge, my mother would say, “Nsogbu Katanga, Katanga Crisis.” Despite the reoccurrence of that expression throughout my formative years, I neither knew its origin nor its significance.

In my high school, Nnobi High School, Nnobi, I did notice that students’ halls of residence were named after dead white men like Patterson, prominent Nigerian politicians like Michael Iheonukara Okpara and finally, one man named Ezeugbana. I was in my senior year when I found out that Ezeugbana was a prominent Nigerian army Lt. Cornel who died in Congo . He also happened to hail from Nnobi.

It all started to come together when my brother, Webster, wanted to attend the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA). Beside my father who supported him, the near-universal response he got was a no-no. Nnobi people stopped joining the army the day Ezeugbana was brutally murdered in Congo , I found out. The last Nnobi man in the army, Major Humphrey Chukwuka, later became one of the five majors who planned the coup of 1966.

In spite of all these connections to Congo , I never bothered to know what happened in Congo , in Katanga , to Ezeugbana, until recently.

In 1955, a postal worker who also moonlighted as a beer traveling salesman named Patrice Lumumba joined the Liberal Party of Belgium. As a party member, he edited the party literature and helped in its distribution to masses politically unaware of their rights. Within the year, the postal service awarded him a three-week study tour of Belgium . Upon his return to the Congo , then the private property of King Leopold, he was arrested on charges of misusing Post Office funds. He was sentenced to two years in prison. His sentence was however reduced to 12 months when he returned the fund.   

 Following his release, he joined others in founding the non-tribal political party called Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) in 1958. As a representative of the party, he attended the All-African People's Conference in Accra , Ghana , in December 1958. There he met President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana . The conference strengthened his pan-African beliefs. Upon his return to Congo , he intensified his political activities which culminated in an anti-colonial riot of 1959 in Stanleyville at which thirty people were killed. He was charged as an instigator and sentenced to six months in prison.

In December of 1959, though in prison, his party won a majority in municipal elections. As agitation for his release continued, he was brutalized by guards who aimed to break his spirit. On his trial day, January 18, 1960, the same day for the first all party round-table conference on the future of Congo in Brussels , authorities in Brussels yielded to local and international pressure. They released him from prison and allowed him to attend the conference.

At the conference, Lumumba quickly established himself as the prime Congolese politician with pan-African credentials. Together with other Congolese politicians, he negotiated for independence slated to commence June 1960. Lumumba and his fellow politicians returned to Congo and campaigned for the May 1960 election. Lumumba’s party won the election and he became the first Prime Minister of Congo.

Upon gaining independent on June 30, 1960, Lumumba, a fierce anti-colonist, confronted a secessionist movement in the province of Katanga , led by men loyal to the colonists. On September 14, 1960, Joseph Mobutu, with the help of the CIA planned a coup and overthrew the government of Lumumba. Lumumba was placed on house arrest but he escaped. On December 1, 1960, he was arrested by troops loyal to Mobutu in Port Francqui and flown to Leopoldville . Beaten severely at various detention centers, on January 17, 1961, he was executed in the bush by Katanga soldiers under the command of Belgian officers.

Those Belgian officers then carried his corpse into a bush, decapitated it, tucked them into a barrel and set them on fire. His un-burnt bones were later melted in acid.

I recently watched Lumumba, the movie. As the credit rolled, I felt like a man who had been stupid all my life. I felt like I had been talking rubbish about Africa . I felt sad, the way I never felt before. I was in tears. Of all the feelings I felt, the scariest of them was the feeling of hopelessness.

Africa never had a chance in the sun. Never.

Lumumba had no chance in Congo . And Lumumbas of Africa had no chance anywhere they were.

The Lumumbas of Africa were young men and women who had a romantic view of where the new Africa should go. But their views were naïve even as they were authentic. In Africa that was still manipulated by those who enslaved it, the Lumumbas had no chance.

There was nothing the Lumumbas of Africa could have done. They were destined to die. All was set for them to be crushed and be vanquished. They were objects for sacrifice. And that was what happened to them.

The Africa they thought was given to them to run was not ready. And it is still not ready. There are too many Moise Tshombes, Joseph Mobutus and Joseph Kasa-Vubu. What is so scary is that nothing has changed since Patrice Lumumba walked the grounds of the Congo .

I asked- Where are those who helped to destroy Lumumba? Moise Tshombe of Katanga died of heart failure in 1969. Joseph Kasa-Vubu died on March 24, 1969. Joseph Mobutu was used and abandoned by the West. He died of cancer on September 7, 1997.

Just like the Americans sponsored Joseph Mobutu, gave him all he needed to crush Lumumba, the same scenario has continued all over Africa .

One particular incident in the movie will haunt me for the rest of my life. It was a scene where Lumumba was telling his pilot to fly him to the breakaway Katanga region and the pilot refused citing orders from above. And it struck me: there was the Prime Minister of the largest and riches African nation trying to tame the ravaging Belgians colonialists while his government plane, built abroad, of course, was being piloted by a Belgian. When the pilot refused, Lumumba was helpless.

That scene made me think. How many listening devices are in all the presidential fleet of African heads of state? What listening devices are in those imported marbles used to build presidential palaces across Africa ?

If you are an African and you haven’t watched the following movies; Sankofa, Hotel Rwanda and Lumumba, you should be ashamed of yourself. And you should stop speaking about Africa for chances are that you do not know what you are talking about.

These three movies give you a complete picture of what happened to Africa . Maybe if you think along with them you will know why they happened, in Katanga, in Congo, to Ezeugbana, and why they continued to happen in Darfur, in Harare, and to a man in a village near you.

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Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo is the author of Children of A Retired God. To find out how my novel is coming along? Visit www.mytrashmore.blogspot.com

Robot  Villager

# 1 I recently watched Lumumba, the mov...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 13.11.2007 11:40

Ebe2  Villager

# 2 Rudolf: A great movie in every respect. I show it every year in at least two of my classes. My American students always have a reaction of shock to it, although some of them do say that Roul Peck, the producer-director, has an agenda. I always tell them that every historian, sociologist, political scientist, novelist, physicist, movie producer, etc, has an agenda. I don't tell them this to dismiss their accurate observation about the movie and its producer. I merely use this to get them to (re)focus more on the historical content of the movie than its supposed agenda. Sometimes Roul Peck over-dramatizes the events a little but that's excusable for a movie with such a weighty historical subject matter. I am glad you loved it. Posted by Ebe2| 13.11.2007 13:15

abayomi_komolafe  JJC

# 3 Interesting piece Rudolf. Just to add to the mix, fellow villagers should endeavor to read Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone by Former CIA Chief of Station Larry Devlin. An insightful account of how African leaders are assassinated through covert operations. Posted by abayomi_komolafe| 13.11.2007 13:27

hap  JJC

# 4 Where can i get the three movies( sankofa, hotel rwanda, lumumba and the book written by the ex- CIA agent). Thanks Posted by hap| 13.11.2007 13:38

ula-lisa  Villager

# 5 Please add to your list of movies - Steve Biko, can be found in some libraries. Posted by ula-lisa| 13.11.2007 13:56

EezeeBee  Villager

# 6 Since you might be in a learning mood, also take the time to read 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman' by John Perkins. It tells you a lot about the thinking behind organizations like the IMF, World Bank etc. Posted by EezeeBee| 13.11.2007 15:30

Anon  Villager

# 7 Dr Damages, thanks a lot for this beautiful piece. I particularly liked the following admonishment from you: If you are an African and you haven’t watched the following movies; Sankofa, Hotel Rwanda and Lumumba, you should be ashamed of yourself. And you should stop speaking about Africa for chances are that you do not know what you are talking about. These three movies give you a complete picture of what happened to Africa . Maybe if you think along with them you will know why they happened, in Katanga, in Congo, to Ezeugbana, and why they continued to happen in Darfur, in Harare, and to a man in a village near you. I had said in another post yesterday that I have started reading more of African history particularly after listening to Tony Anghie, a Harvard trained professor in law who teaches in Utah where he spoke about the history of Colonialism and it's impact on under developed or developing former colonies, particularly those in Africa. I posted an excrept of one of his many works on the subject matter here and feel they fit in aptly into the conversation here. The two quotes that stand out for me... in that article are below “The ideas of development and the particular policies formulated to achieve it had a profound impact on the types of sovereignty that emerged in these mandate societies” And yet another If my analysis is correct, then the tragedy for the third world is that the mechanisms used by international law to achieve decolonization were also the mechanisms which created neo-colonialism; and that, furthermore, the legal structures, ideologies and jurisprudential techniques for furthering neo-colonialism were largely in place before third world states actually attained independence. These are the structures which third world peoples intent on achieving real self-determination must identify and contest if they are to achieve real sovereignty, real self-determination. Posted by Anon| 13.11.2007 16:33

Franklyne Ogbunwezeh  JJC

# 8 Rudolf, Yours was a reminder to what anyone who ventures into the African predicament is confronted with. May ideas never abandon you!!!! As an expansion to the reading list already suggested by some here: I would add that we must first of all grapple with the following: Chinweizu's the West and the Rest of Us, (1978, Lagos, Nok Publishers) Walter Rodney's How Europe underdeveloped Africa. We must equally make Noam Chomsky our vade mecum. He has written extensively on the strategies and tactics of imperialism. His is a collection of insights into what imperialism is all about. There is a book titled Empire co-authored by an imprisoned Italian academic. I have forgotten the name of the guy. Gore Vidal's books and essays are equally a great source. Happy reading Posted by Franklyne Ogbunwezeh| 13.11.2007 16:47

Aristarchy  Villager

# 9 This same Adolf-Ogongo will turn around and call yoruba newspapaer writers the NGBATI PRESS ! He,ll say obasanjo to go to hell, abusing him with all kind of venom, lacking objectivity, sincerety and full of bias. You sir are the Kasavubus and the tshombes. Ethnic merchants who see only IGBO as the best thing since Potato. Abeg shut up. Go back to Naija and IBB will deal with you I rest Aristarchy Posted by Aristarchy| 13.11.2007 21:18

DeepThought  Villager

# 10 I felt like a man who had been stupid all my life. I felt like I had been talking rubbish about Africa . I felt sad, the way I never felt before. Africa never had a chance in the sun. Never. Lumumba had no chance in Congo . And Lumumbas of Africa had no chance anywhere they were.The Lumumbas of Africa were young men and women who had a romantic view of where the new Africa should go. But their views were naïve even as they were authentic. In Africa that was still manipulated by those who enslaved it, the Lumumbas had no chance. There was nothing the Lumumbas of Africa could have done. They were destined to die. All was set for them to be crushed and be vanquished. They were objects for sacrifice. And that was what happened to them. They did achieve one thing though. Their time will come That scene made me think. How many listening devices are in all the presidential fleet of African heads of state? What listening devices are in those imported marbles used to build presidential palaces across Africa ? :D:D Silly question If you are an African and you haven’t watched the following movies; Sankofa, Hotel Rwanda and Lumumba, you should be ashamed of yourself. And you should stop speaking about Africa for chances are that you do not know what you are talking about.These three movies give you a complete picture of what happened to Africa . Maybe if you think along with them you will know why they happened, in Katanga, in Congo, to Ezeugbana, and why they continued to happen in Darfur, in Harare, and to a man in a village near you. I understand your point but I find movies to be superficial People should read as many different books with as many different perspectives on these issues as possible. Speaking of books, perhaps, I should get this your book on God, his children and retirement! Posted by DeepThought| 13.11.2007 22:33

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