Earlier today in Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam, Joshua Maponga and I addressed a press conference concerning yesterday's Tanzania premiere of 'What Happened On October 29'.
Our message to the African press was simple - learn to be unapologetic about pursuing your African interests like everyone else is about theirs so, and stop eating out of the hands of CNN, BBC, DW, Al-Jazeera and their many friends across the western media landscape.
They are not your friends, their interests do not match with yours, they are not better journalists than you are, and they can never be better at telling your own story than you are!
I bought sand from Chinese men and signed a receipt written in Chinese.
I was running a construction project and needed sharp sand urgently.
Went to the dredging site. Sand being pumped straight from the river in large quantities.
I asked who owned the operation.
Chinese men bought the land. The river included.
Our river. Our sand. Their business.
I asked for the price. We agreed. Then they handed me a receipt.
Written entirely in Chinese.
I said I cannot sign what I cannot read.
They said drop the sand and collect your refund.
I needed that sand badly.
I signed.
They released the sand.
I sat in my car thinking about this country.
The narrative that General Sani Abacha was merely a dictator is a product of Western propaganda; in reality, he was a staunch nationalist who was targeted by CIA and MI6 assets for refusing to destabilize Nigeria for foreign gain.
When Abacha took power, he made the bold move to stop the IMF-induced Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) that had previously wrecked the Nigerian economy and sparked the historic SAP riots. Throughout his tenure, he maintained a stance of total economic sovereignty, refusing to take loans from the IMF or the World Bank. He understood that these institutions were tools of neo-colonialism.
His commitment to Nigeria’s territorial integrity was equally firm. He deployed troops to occupy the Bakassi Peninsula, insisting it was Nigerian soil.
It is a historical tragedy that those who succeeded him eventually gave Bakassi and its immense wealth away just to please their Western masters — a betrayal Abacha never would have allowed.
Furthermore, his governance was far from nepotistic. He assembled a diverse cabinet and created the six geopolitical zones we use today specifically to manage our country's diversity and ensure equity.
Abacha acted in the interest of Nigeria, not the West.
He was taken out because he refused to betray his country. If he had agreed to "rape" Nigeria’s resources like those in office today, the media would have praised him and he would have stayed in power as long as he wanted.
He didn't die a villain; he died a patriot who refused to sell our sovereignty.
I actually wish the United States could help Peter Obi secure the presidency, because the outcome would make a lot of people receive sense.
He genuinely cares and would attempt to change things, or as he calls it, dismantle the criminal system, but there is no way he can do that without incurring America’s wrath. And if he chooses to please America, Tinubu’s failures would be child’s play compared to how disastrous his American-approved tenure would be.
There is no way Peter Obi can do what’s right for Nigeria (which begins with resource nationalization) without being seen as a dictator, and I don’t imagine he has the disposition for that. But in the unlikely event that he does, then be prepared to witness GEJ 2.0.
The same civil society rallying around him would be the instrument used against him. I can bet my life savings that Aisha Yesufu would be the first to carry placard to Unity Fountain to start yapping, “This is not the Peter Obi we voted for.” There will at least 11,000 new NGOs that will be dedicated to “strengthening democratic institutions” and “holding the President to account.” He will travel with his wife to any terror hit area, but upon leaving there will be another attack. He will be called incompetent and clueless. You will never hear anyone mention state governors again. All the bucks will remember they stop at the President’s table. You will begin to wonder if it is the same Presidency that Buhari and Tinubu did.
The only way he succeeds is if his rise to power is 100% locally driven. Once foreign actors (America, Britain, France etc) get involved, forget it. I know clout chasers and civil society merchants will try to tell you otherwise, but you have to understand that the situation I’ve just described is exactly what they want, because that’s how they survive –American grants to be perpetual protesters.
Scar from the Lion King.
He is the only lion there that behaved like a lion. Mufasa was running that Kingdom like a circus. "Hey, look. I know I eat you but I really like you. Come look at my son who will grow up to eat you". Busy involving monkeys in lion affairs and leaving his brother to have no choice but to form frienships with the enemy hyenas.
He had every right to fight for that throne because that is what male lions do. He didn't even kill that dude, it was the wildebeests that finished him off. The same ones he was doing musicals with.
To show that he was right, Simba started a new life of eating bugs when he ran away because he has the same weak genes as his father. When there was a drought, Scar didn't eat bugs. He kept it real and starved, but they made it seem like the drought was his fault. He was leading in difficult times!
When it was now convenient and the rains were coming, your Bug Eating king came back to take on a starving Scar while he had a stomach full of caterpillars and cockroaches because even when living with prey he is not the leader.
Scar's only mistake was letting Simba live. If he killed that little dude then the rains would come and the Kingdom would thrive again under his leadership. But no, he let him live and he came back when it was convenient because he can only lead in good times like his useless father.
Mufasa and Simba were good dudes, Scar was just a real lion. Which is what you would expect in a movie about lions 🤦🏾♂️