Brussels – Europe’s Capital of Shame

Posted by By Akogun Akomolafe at 2 May, at 07 : 16 AM Print

 

Imagine it if you can: the European Union invite the leader of the State of Israel, and schedule the meeting in a city adorn with statues of Adolf Hitler. The Israeli leader attended the meeting, wine and dine with his hosts, allowed himself to be driven around the city in stretch limousines, from where he could gaze at the numerous statues of the Man who killed six million Jews.

If your mind reel at the incredulity, you are not alone.

Whatever one say about them, Israelis have enough self-respect not to allow themselves to be grossly insulted.

Not so, the people that rule in Africa.

From April 3 to 4 2014, African leaders summoned to a meeting by the EU went and attended the meeting at Europe’s capital of shame, Brussels.

For reasons best known to them, Europeans choose the capital of Belgium as their headquarters. That is their business.

It, however, becomes African business when we see Eurocrats invite our leaders to meet at Brussels, a city that bristles with portraits and statues of King Leopold II, the monster directly responsible for the death of ten million Africans in the Congo. Their crimes: unable to speedily produce enough of the wealth that Belgium flaunt at the world.

“I felt the same on a recent trip to Brussels, which in many ways is the political capital of Europe. Grandiose statues of King Leopold 11 adorn Belgium of a man who turned his African “Congo Free State” into a massive labour camp, made a fortune for himself from the harvest of its wild rubber, and contributed in a large way to the death of perhaps 10 million innocent Africans, and sewed the seeds of a troubled country for generations to come.

“Of all Europe’s colonial histories, the slaughter in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo was unique in its aims. While the exploitation of much of Africa, Asia and Latin America happened under a flimsy guise of state-sponsored enlightenment, the Congo was Leopold’s personal property. From 1885 to 1908, he ran it as a factory staffed with disposable workers whose only purpose was to produce more ivory and rubber to fund his ever-grander palaces, statues and monuments.” – http://world.time.com/2013/09/18/skeletons-in-king-leopolds-closet-colonial-era-belgian-museum-grapples-with-bloody-past/

 

 

It shows not only utter heartlessness and abject absence of historical and racial sensitivities/sensibilities, but it is also gross disrespect to Africans that all of EU protocol did not see anything wrong, in asking our leaders to attend a meeting where they cannot but see the statues of the man that killed so many of us!

If the Belgians/Europeans do not know better, our leaders, if only they have studied their history, ought not to be so bereft of their historical responsibilities not to have insisted on a change of venue.

Sadly, African leaders were, as usual, ill-equipped to deal with the exigencies of the time.

Very sadly, the mental capacities of most of our current crop of leaders leave much to be desired.

Among the most incongruous things I found during my sojourn in Europe, apart from the rampant and illogical, almost pathological racism, is the absence of any history knowledge by Europeans.

During my secondary school days in Nigeria, we made it our business to study history, especially world history. In contrast, little is taught to people in Europe that did not celebrate Europe.

Another baffling thing is the pomp and ceremony Europeans accord calamities that befell them, while they totally neglect the vast (God knows that they are truly vast] tragedies Europe has visited upon the non-White World.

A good example is the Netherlands where on the 5^th of May every year, the Monarch will be joined by officials to celebrate their Liberation Day. The Nazis conquered and occupied the country for about five years, and that was enough reason for the Dutch to make a major production of it annually. The Dutch, however, did not set a date aside to commemorate the victims of their centuries of despoliation around the world. While every Dutch child is taught about the Nazi occupation and atrocities, they are not told the Dutch truly bestial atrocities in South Africa, Indonesia and in Surinam – including the roasting alive of slaves.

Apart from the insulting setting, methinks that the time has come for African leaders to stop ridiculing us as perpetual beggars.

It galls these days to still read about Europe trying to aid Africa like we are some cripples.

It is time we stop pretending that Europe ever aided or is now aiding Africa.

It is time African leaders stop their abject groveling, and stop allowing people that should come to us as supplicants to walk over us like some important potentates.

It might make Europeans happy to go around the world celebrating themselves, and wrapping their selfish and greedy pursuits of their interests in humanitarian halo, but we certainly have no business to turn ourselves into their Cheerleaders.

African leaders should come out and tell us what help exactly we have received from Europe for the past six hundred years apart from slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism that they today packaged as Globalisation, that should make us continue to look up to Europe for succor.

There is a saying that physicians should first of all heal themselves. Our elders say that if someone promises to buy you a dress, you should first look at what he is wearing.

When we look at Europe today, do we see a people that can help anyone?

With what exactly can Europe aid Africa?

The truth is that Europe need Africa more than we will ever need them. Unlike resource-deprived Europe, Africa has enough to be self-sufficient. If only our rulers will get serious.

France will grind to a halt without Niger’s uranium which powers half of her electricity need – http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/61420

If only people will study their history.

Readers can read the inanities contained in the resolution of the EU-AU meeting here: http://www.european-council.europa.eu/eu-africa-summit-2014

 

Femi Akomolafe, a passionate Pan-Africanist, was one of the PCs Pioneers and ran a Computer Consultancy firm in Amsterdam, the Netherlands for several years, where he also set up the first African Bulletin Board System (BBS), the precursor to the Internet. He also established the first Black Newspaper, The African, in the country.

Femi has been very active in the Pan African Movement since the early 1990s.

A columnist for ModernGhana and a Correspondent for the London-based New African magazine, Femi lives in both Europe and Africa and writes regularly on Africa-related issues for various newspapers and magazines.

Femi was the producer of the FOCUS ON AFRICANS TV Interview programme for the MultiTV Station.

He is also the Man and Machine Coordinator at Alaye Dot Biz Limited, a Kasoa-based Multimedia organization that specializes in Audio and Video Production. He loves to shoot and edit video documentaries.

He is currently engaged in vegetable farming.

His highly-acclaimed books (“Africa: Destroyed by the gods,” “Africa: It shall be well,” “18 African Fables & Moonlight Stories” and “Ghana: Basic Facts + More”) are available for sales at the following bookshops/offices:

1. Freedom Bookshop, near Apollo Theatre, Accra.
2. WEB Dubois Pan-African Centre, Accra
3. Ghana Writers Association office, PAWA House, Roman Ridge, Accra.

Where to buy them online:

On Lulu Books:

18 African Fables & Moonlight Stories https://goo.gl/Skohtn

Ghana: Basic Facts + More: https://goo.gl/73ni99

Africa: Destroyed by the gods: https://goo.gl/HHmFfr

Africa: It shall be well: https://goo.gl/KIMcIm

 

Africa: it shall be well

on Kindle books: https://www.createspace.com/4820404

on Amazon books: http://goo.gl/QeFxbl

on Lulu Books: https://goo.gl/SQeoKD

Africa: Destroyed by the gods

on Kindle books: https://www.createspace.com/4811974

 

18 African Fables & Short Stories: https://goo.gl/s9tWAf

 on Amazon books: http://goo.gl/1z97ND

on Lulu Books: http://goo.gl/KIMcIm

 My Lulu Books page: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/FemiAkomolafe

 

Get free promotional materials here:

1. Africa: it shall be well: http://alaye.biz/africa-it-shall-be-well-introduction-in-pdf/

A FREE Chapter of ‘Africa: It shall be well’ can be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-it-shall-be-well-a-free-chapter/

1. Africa: Destroyed by the gods (How religiosity destroyed Africa) http://alaye.biz/africa-destroyed-by-the-gods-introduction/

A FREE Chapter of ‘Africa: Destroyed by the gods’ can be downloaded here: http://alaye.biz/africa-destroyed-by-the-gods-free-chapter/

Read a review here

 

Contact Femi:

Femi’s Blog: www.alaye.biz/category/blog
Website: www.alaye.biz
Femi on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/author/femiakomolafe
Femi Akomolafe’s Lulu Books page: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/FemiAkomolafe
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Profile on New African magazine: http://newafricanmagazine.com/tag/femi-akomolafe/

Kindly help me share the books’ links with your friends and, grin, please purchase your copies.

Comradely,

Femi Akomolafe

 

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