By Worlea-Saywah Dunah
Inarguably Captain Traore charm is not the military attire; it is the economic policy that liberates and generates wealth for the development of the country. And this is the new reason for military leadership new acceptability. Is he the new cornerstone for Africa economic liberation? For no man has earned that accolade since our own President Tolbert in the 1970s as he roused Liberia under the mat to mattresses economic revival agenda.
I salute the man; but I realized from the sordid pages of the history of our struggles with the empires that whenever Africa sees hope, sees a new light to lead to the development of the continent that leaders is swiftly eliminated. So went the great N’Krumah, Lumumba, President Tolbert, the venerable Khadafi and the list goes on, thus these demonstrations across the world in support of him is to tell the empire and its lackeys, ‘leave our leader!
Captain Ibrahim Traore, 35, to the Burkinabes is the reincarnation of the perpetually mourned Captain Sankara who was murdered by his closest friend to satisfy the western powers. His version of economic independence and nationalism is the aggressive pursuit of national ownership of natural resources exploitation as the path to economic development; and he has become overnight the face of a new awakening of Africa economic liberation.
In Liberia where ethnicity, fraternity, religion and sex have ambushed and corrupted every attempt at genuine progressivism, an ancient state still struggling to find a common national identity – as a ‘countryman’ in this country means your ethnicity not Liberin citizenship – this youthful leader has gained incredible traction here.
Few days ago, I read in the papers that a large group of Liberian youth, concerned about alleged role of the Ivory Coast in the most recent of the numerous assassinations attempts on his life marched on the Ivorian Embassy near Monrovia in support of Capt. Traore. France is always accused of engineering these failed attempts and that the neighboring Ivorian government which is hosting Sankara murderer is accused of complicity.
The truth is that Captain Traore seized power in response the advance of the jihadists as the military with the French troops were in retreat; interestingly his popularity more for his pursuit the revolutionary economic nationalism than the improved security in Burkina.
He is wrestling the control of mineral exploitations with the government of Burkina Faso taking over gold mines; and now that country can produce gold bullion instead of exporting raw gold.
He is tackling food security aggressively as well with an innovative practical-ness; for example, he recently built new tomatoes processing plants which has elevated Burkina into a leading tomato paste exporter while the government supplies farmers with equipment, seeds and trainings to enhance productivity. Prisoners are making farms to feed themselves and earn income to support their families back home.
And when he drove the French military whose presence over a decade had rather than stifling the advance of the insurrection but rather discernable marked the strengthening of the jihadists, the army has stabilized the frontlines and on the offensive because he has tremendously upgraded the military in every way from training to salary and benefits.
Captain Traore has become an international revolutionary diva as evidence by his thunderous reception by Ghanaians when attended the inauguration of President Mahama early this year. Incredible scenes proliferated the social media of joyous youth mobbing his convoy, singing revolutionary slogans through the streets of Accra and upon arrival at the inauguration venue the crowd gave him the loudest applause reducing all other African leaders gathered to mere spectators.
What do your make of this man?
Leaders of Africa must wake up and see the immense African and global followings of this young leader as the mirror of the yearnings and aspirations of their people for change. His message is that it is time for a turnaround from the culture of business as usual, the neglect of the security, kowtowing to the west, relying on the World Bank and IMF, two institutions that have notoriously failed since 1945 to transform even the smallest poor country in the world to become a developed country but to generate indigenous independent economic policies to improve the livelihoods of the people.
Captain Traore reminds us of President Tolbert
Like Burkina now the early 1970s was the era of exciting times in Liberia when the long serving Vice President William R. Tolbert, Jr took over after the death of President Tubman who had been president for twenty-seven years. He took his oath of office in the casual safari suit immediately discarded the tailcoat suits of his predecessor and made the safari suit, known as ‘swear in suit’, the symbol of the new era of accelerated economic developments.
Popularly known as ‘Speedy’ for his aggressive pursuit of development programs, he immediately sold Tubman presidential yacht which upkeep was around two million dollars per annual in united states dollars of the 1960s. He used the money to put asphalt on the road from Tubman Farm to Ganta. The irony of all is that had President Tubman been building roads with the money he bought the yacht and the annual operations money from 1960 – 1972 we will not be talking about the need for coastal road to his home in the southeast or the lack of access to the southeast.
His leadership in Africa warranted an invite to address the joint assembly of the US Congress in 1974 where in the liar of imperialism he thundered, demanding the liberation for Zimbabwe and South Africa and the halt to support of insurrections by the west in Africa.
President Tolbert was dubbed the new cornerstones of Africa liberation in the 1970s, he rose to become the Chairman of the African Union. At home he espoused an economic revival with unprecedented development that in mere eight years his achievements were way beyond the tailcoat party-master Tubman’s twenty-seven years of corruption and yes-man role to the west which happened at the height of Liberia’s iron ore wealth; an era sadly described as economic growth without economic development.
Speedy, as President Tolbert was loving known for his development blitzes, established the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company, the Liberia Products Management Corporation, the Agriculture Development Bank, the National Housing Bank, commenced works on the sports complex that bears the name of the leader of the coup that murder him, established three rural agriculture projects in Bong, Nimba and Lofa to accelerate the modernization of the three bread basket counties, launched the rally time to build modern markets for Liberian traders, open roads and built schools, clinics etc and built housing estates named Cabral, Stephen Tolbert, Matadi, New Georgia for the low income workers. This list is infinite.
But Speedy was murdered, Liberia’s most progressive leader was cut down all because he was awakening and developing this old backward nation; and since then Liberia is still waiting for his reincarnation.
We pray for Traore: We pray for Traore but he needs more than prayers; no true revolutionary has escaped the vicious death sentence of the west, their ageless gameplan is to replace such greatness with the lowest.
In place of Khadafi Libya is a killing field; in place of the incomparable Tolbert, few years later we witnessed Sergeant Doe shamelessly reporting to the nation that he was untying his tie to fight Khadafi at OAU Conference because of Khadafi’s fiery condemnations of the western economic exploitation, hypocrisy, double standards and self-accommodation which purpose is to keep Africa as an impoverished, unstable and a feeder continent.
But die or live, Captain Traore at a very youthful age has stacked his legacies in the hearts of a global community in this age of social media and his place in history is written in stones which no amount of imperialists propaganda can ever conjure a tsunami to wipe out.
The critical lesson for other African nations is that the new leader has shown the path: follow it; or deny it at your peril, for the fire he has lit kindles in hearts of the restless African youth seeking employment and better standards of living everywhere today.
As Africans home and abroad hail him and pray for him, Africans leaders must look at the needs of the people and the security sector for the inexorable law of nature is that all peoples everywhere crave for good things to happen in their settings.
