Neo-Colonialism and West Africa
Morning Comrades.
I am certain that many of you have caught glimpses of a coup in Niger, West Africa and at best, a few rallying cries in favour of this coup. On that note I wanted to shed a little insight into the underlying reason for this, and many other coups in the past - with more guaranteed to come across this part of the world - to not only help put this into context but additionally give an introduction into the practices of the self-proclaimed, ex-colonial powers such as the UK and in this case France.
When I went to school the only talk of Colonialism was centred around the fact that it was well and truly over and mostly benign. Sure, that was some 30 years ago but I would wager that for the majority today, especially here in Europe, that understanding of it remains the same. Sure, the reality and the academic study thereof has been around for longer than I have but for all the obvious reasons, these realities haven’t made it past the niche intellectual circles I float in and out of. Thus, when a previous European colony such as Niger, Burkina Faso and others attempts a coup the usual reaction, propped up by a media machine that is told to maintain this utterly racist and capitalist narrative is one of, well, guess they need some more democracy. You know the drill. With that, let’s get into one of the material realities facing West Africa, the majority of the African Continent to be clear and why, after centuries after being bled dry by us Europeans, they have had enough.
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