Pebbles with Igbotako Nowinta
‘‘The western countries must be made to pay reparations to Nigeria, nay African countries for centuries of terrifying institutionalized economic and political suppression.”- Quoted in Nowinta’s book, 2009: Where We Are (page 152)
Something quite dramatic and exciting occurred recently in Africa which many people did not celebrate or notice
I think the Christmas/New Year celebrations contributed largely to the non- universal celebration of the swearing-in-ceremony of Burkina-Faso’s new democratically elected President by fellow Africans.
Those of us who know what befell the Burkinabes and the entire African continent several years ago felt satisfied and sang hosanna when Roch Marc Christian Kabore was sworn into office on December 29, 2015 in Ouagadougou.
With the successful coming of President Roch Kabore as the first civilian head of state without any military background the people of Burkina-Faso will now heave a sigh of relief.
Why will the Burkinabes not heave a well sigh of relief, given what they went through in the bloody hands of ex-President Blaise Campaore?
I had planned to do something else on this page today, but I kept feeling unsatisfied and guilty in my mind that I will be doing a great injustice to the memory of late Captain Thomas Sankara who was murdered like a fly by his fellow and trusted comrade, Blaise Campaore.
The eventual emergence of President Roch Kabore as the most popular candidate via the general election in November 2015, was actually the culmination of a series of nasty, hideous and savage events in which Blaise Campaore played unpleasant role.
Therefore, the democratic peace ushered into Ouagadougou simply means that the spirit of Captain Thomas Sankara has triumphed over and above one of the most hated enemies of Africa – Blaise Campaore.
Really the ghost of Captain Thomas Sankara has finally revenged the wickedness which imperialists and neocolonialists perfected by using Blaise Campaore to scuttle one of the visionary philosophies on the coup-fertile continent of Africa.
Who was Captain Thomas Sankara? Sankara grabbed political power in1983 from a fumbling military apologist and went on to institute a most transparent, accountable and dynamic administration, yet unseen in Africa.
Sankara as a revolutionary leader was more or less a reincarnation of legendary leaders like Patrice Lumumba of Belgian Congo; Amical Cabral of Guinea-Bissau; Gemal Abdul Nasser of Egypt; Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea, etc.
Sankara was ready absolutely to pursue his Marxist/Pan -Africanist ideology to logical conclusion; he wanted to make his country a super model for progressive government in Africa; his neck-breaking reforms staggered the mortal foes of Africa.
In less than five years in power, Captain Thomas Sankara renamed his country from Upper -Volta to Burkina-Faso (meaning land of Upright men). He was nick- named Africa’s Ernesto Che Guevera; extremely popular, handsome, pragmatic and charismatic, with excellent power of oratory.
It was this great man and twelve of his comrades that were wasted on October 15th 1987 by Blaise Campaore (second in command to Sankara) and hurriedly dumped into a mass shallow grave in the outskirts of Ouagadougou!
Who said Sankara’s blood and ghost will not haunt such a demented and inhuman fellow?
So died Africa’s poorest President by choice! Even, shortly before his painful death, Sankara was asked what he would do if his comrade-in-arms (Campaore) work against him? Sankara told the whole world that he trusted Campaore as a brother; that a Blaise Campaore’s coup was unthinkable.
Blaise Campaore went on to rule Burkina-Faso for twenty seven years, and the idiot still wanted a constitutional alteration that would have extended his rule before the Parliament building was set ablaze in October 2015 by an angry mob, which dramatically led to his being chased across the border to Ivory-Coast.
Sankara’s assassination was one of the cruelest high profile cases in post independent Africa.
Now as President Roch Kabore’s Peoples Movement for Change that won him 53% of the votes cast last November settles down to the business of day to day administration, Campaore is sucking badly in exile.
Today, an international arrest warrant has been issued by Burkina-Faso’s investigative Judge for Blaise Campaore.
Sankara’s family attorney is fuming and demanding that Blaise Campaore must be brought to trial for his role in the heartless murder of his comrade-in-arms.
As a deterrent to would-be Blaise Campaore in future in Burkina-Faso, President Roch Marc Kabore must ensure that ex-President Campaore is dragged back to the country to answer for his atrocities.
Every money he has stolen and properties acquired illegally must be confiscated. Who says the ghost of Captain Thomas Sankara has not taken control of things in Burkina-Faso after 28 years?
After all it has taken President Muhammadu Buhari about 30 years to fight his way back to power to confront corruption head-on in Nigeria!
Nowinta wrote Where We Are-A Call for Democratic Revolution in Nigeria
