In 1979, legendary reggae and Jamaican artist Bob Nesta Marley released the song, Zimbabwe, to support the freedom fighters and masses fighting the white supremacist, racist, repugnant and oppressive regime of Ian Smith.
Today, 45 years on, its lyrics stressing the God-given right; Every man has a right to decide "his/her destiny", holds true. This was the "right" of the colonialists, imperialists and today's neocolonialists, who have subjected Africans to second-class citizens appropriated to abuse, manipulation, exploitation and robbing of their heritage and wealth with impunity.
This injustice has been the modus operandi of the Western political elite that has for aeons subjected Africans and the continent to the cruel and unacceptable paradox of penury, misery and cultural mis-identity.
So, Marley calls for a fight to liberate the victims of this cruelty of mental, physical and spiritual slavery. And he says; So in arms, with arms, we will fight this little (it is no longer little!) struggle, Cause that's the only way we can, overcome our little trouble (threatened existence).
Today, the political elite of Western hegemony continues to perpetuate its single narrative agenda through unipolarism, new world order and insidious globalisation that is about them, by them and for them. The rest of humanity and other civilisations (polars) are to be isolated and subjugated.
Unfortunately, the colonial legacy has virtually remained critically unchanged because Africa's post-colonial leadership has remained beholden to the Western imperialist and neo-colonial agenda. The West has drawn a "Subservience Template" that defines the Africa-West relations.
The US drive to have Kenya lead a multinational policing team to Haiti and restore order to that sick child in the western hemisphere is a case in point. But the unsettling questions beg answers: Why would the US, a neighbour and a powerful state that has arrogated itself the Globo Cop role not directly help? Why would it hide behind Kenya in this mission?
As expected, the Kenyan leadership led by President William Ruto has acted true to what his predecessors across Africa have done. It is as if, to continue enjoying Western support and reward, he, like other African countries, had to operate on a scorecard frame drawn for them on foreign policy and other socioeconomic relations.
African leaders demand rewards in such a situation, which the West sadly provides with conditions that are frequently detrimental to the welfare of the populace.
The unipolarity template has made Africa's position as the political inferior of the Western political elite easier to maintain. Africa has lost great opportunities to advance the welfare of a continent that is rich in natural wealth and human resources but is defined by poverty.
But there is a new debate on multipolar and Western universality, which speaks to freedom of free will, freeway and goodwill of all; in this other, all other civilisations (polars)—Africa, Eurasia, Russia and Latin America, among others, must engage with each other with respect and honesty.
Already the axis of resistance is growing. The defiance of the three West African states of Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea has planted the seed of "Un-French/de-French" in their countries, which have borne the brunt of a sick ideology of assimilation that has not only killed their cultural identity but also socially, economically and political fractured them.
Like many mineral-rich countries in Africa, they have suffered the scourge of puppet leadership, political instability and engineered poverty to create a fertile ground for the plunder of their wealth.
The story is written in blood from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Angola and Libya, using the same template.
It is against such a background that the second Congress of the International Movement of Russophiles convened in Moscow on February 26 and 27, 2024. The participants from the 130 countries that converged at the Lomonosov Innovation Cluster, had a triad agenda—Push for Multipolarism; Global South: Changes in the Global Architecture and The West after hegemony: Is it possible to save European Civilisation?
They also discussed the sub-themes of the role of China in a multipolar world, information and hybrid warfare, and traditional values.
In the interest of a sane, peaceful and diverse world, Western civilisation must recognise that it is one of the human civilisations and perish its domineering, condescending, exploitative and divide-and-rule attitude.
Africa must wake up and smell the coffee that the world is changing. It must realise the West has shortchanged it and must demand respect and the latitude to engage with all other nations for the good of the welfare of its citizens. And that time is now.
Independent journalist
