Prince Justice Faloye
The new military governments of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso recently announced economic and defence cooperation between them named the Alliance of Sahel States. This is expected to resist expected French invasions through ECOWAS to take back the nations. However, though a good start, it doesn’t go far enough to bring about full decoloniality of French imperialism, nor strong enough to prevent French or any other imperialistic designs on the weak small nations in the long run.
The French ruled 17 Black African nation in two blocs – French West Africa Federation and French Equatorial Africa Federation, but they insisted on breaking the blocs into small unsustainable nations before reluctantly giving them independence. The French know that the only way Sahel could be efficiently and profitably ran was by linking the vast interior to the seaport, preferably by rail. Especially, French Sahel whose sociopolitical and economic geography and trade routes were the foundations of Mali and Songhai empires. Leaving French West Africa Federation together as one civilizational state would have broken the neocolonial barriers the French set in place after giving them pseudo-independence.
For economic viability, the Sahel States must amalgamate towards either the Senegalese or Guinean coasts. Preferably Senegal which was part of the Mali Empire from 1270 to 1672 and recently the Mali Federation from 1959 to 1960 before the French instigated a clash between Senegal and Mali to break them up. The French had started the breakups with Ivory Coast, it’s most prosperous West African colony, where they used Humphrey Boigny, a rich cocoa farmer, to push for separatism in guise of not wanting to share their profits with other West African colonies.
Generally, the French blackmailed and sabotaged all the Francophone African nations to standalone if they wanted independence that was tied to continue military and economic control. This was even more evident in former German colonies split between the French and British after defeating Germany in World War one. In Nigeria, the British side of the former German colony of Cameroon joined Nigeria and is what is now the Northeast region, whereas the French controlled side was made to standalone as Cameroun, despite sharing borders with four other French colonies Likewise, the British side of German Togoland became Eastern Ghana while the French side was made to standalone, despite being next to Benin Republic, an original French colony. Across Africa, the French pushed for small unsustainable neocolonies that could never revolt against their continued exploitation. Therefore it is not enough to chase out French puppet governments, but Francophone Africans have to reverse the economic coloniality.
Another strong French coloniality is that of French cultural imperialism which must be reversed if the nations are to regain their full true independence. Sahel nations must return to their civilizational status as an Afro-Arabic civilization that bred Mali and Songhai Empires. It has been predicted that the world will soon move from a bipolar world order to a multi-polar world, and the only way everyone can be assured of a level playing field, especially in a world of big economic blocs like USA, EU, China, is that small nations have to form loose civilizational federations.
With the current trajectory of world events, it is certain that the French backed by USA/UK will go to war to reclaim the Sahel from Russia, as an extension of their NATO versus Russia War in Ukraine. The most viable way this invasion can be carried out is coming from the West African coast that is largely Original African civilizational territories, which would provoke and forge tighter the Alliance of Sahel States on an Islamic civilizational front.
Morevover, at root of the problems across the Sahel that actually provoked the armies to overthrow the neocolonist political class was the insecurity caused by Fulani herdsmen and Islamic terrorism believed to be sponsored by the French and other Western Powers. A Western military onslaught through Nigeria, where the Fulani hold sway will also lead to intra-civilizational battles, as the Afro-Arabic Sahel revolutionary masses challenge and defeat the Fulani dynastic minority leadership. With Russia and Iran backing the Sahel States, the Afro-Arabic civilization might seek more democratization of its leadership like that of Iran. An intra-civilizational shift from the Sunni to Shia sect might gain grounds in Hausaland, the most populous Afro-Arabic group.
Though Islamic dogma claims to be non-racial, in a world of White Supremacy doctrines there are political undertones and segregation, with the lighter skinned Afro-Arabic groups like the Fulani leadership with just 47% Indigenous African DNA that rule over the more African Afro-Arabic groups like Hausa with 74% Indigneous African DNA. How this transpires depends on whether the resistance against the French and the West is powered by the lighter skinned Algeria army, the most powerful in the region, or by Russian/Iranian military might.
The danger which might also be a blessing in disguise is that since the Afro-Arabic civilization is imperialistic in nature due to its Abrahamic dogma, the Sahel civilizational superstate might venture into taking over the disparate groups of the Original indigenous African civilization to the south. It would be up to the Yoruba and Igbo, the two most populous and prosperous Original African groups, to put aside their tribal rivalries to unite and defend their civilization from the Middlebelt Kwararafa frontiers, like the ancient Kwararafa Confederacy of Original African groups united to restrain the advance of the Bornu and Fulani Afroasiatic civilizational imperialism southward into the source and heartland of the Original African civilization.
Unfortunately, most Yorubas and Igbos still suffer from divisive colonially induced Pan Tribalistic perspectives that favor Western styled tribal nations states. Tribal nationstates without strong linkages to their civilization wouldn’t survive foreign imperialism in the long run, especially against the Sahel civilizational state, just like they faltered with Songhai and Mali Empires. However, the unity of various tribes in the Afro-Arabic Sahel civilization state should serve as an example to Original African groups that beyond their tribal exceptionalism and rivalries, there are common genetic and cultural linkages that must be used to create a loose federation of an Original African civilization state.
If the seven Northern states opt to join the Sahel civilizational state, the South and Middlebelt of Nigeria should unite with other Original Africans in Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia to the West, and Cameroon, Gabon, Central Africa Republic Congo, East and South Africa. Or probably, the Original African civilzation currently balkanized into about 30 nationstates might end up being amalgamated into three or four federations – West African/ECOWAS, Central and East/EAC and Southern African/SADC. This would enable Black Africans to present a united bloc that is able to compete on the international stage with larger domestic markets.
Currently in the African Union, lobbying power has been skewed to the Afro-Arabic League while the Original African civilization lobby is enfeebled due to lack of a civilizational understanding, unity and focus. With the Maghreb North African lobby and now a unified Sahel Afro-Arabic lobby, the Original Indigenous African civilization will have no choice but to articulate and crystalize an Original African civilization narrative, or lose their cultural identity in the long run.
