Imperialism by invitation

By Onwubiko Agozino

 

Imperialism by invitation is a common sign of neocolonialism under phantom bourgeois rulers. Maybe the US will invite Africa to come and strike their domestic terrorists too and Americans will not applaud that foreign interventions at home no matter what for. 

 

If it is the abundant gold deposits in Northwest Nigeria that Trump is greedy for, he does not need to bomb Nigeria to get some for his family. If he wants to buy oil from the South East and Niger Delta, all he needs to do is place orders at fair market prices. There is no need for gangsterism by invitation, Africans are ready to sell their produce to interested buyers, we will not eat the gold nor drink the oil.

 

There is probably more killing of Christians in the US than in Nigeria and there is definitely more kidnapping in the US than in the whole of Africa. Kidnappings per Country 2025 Data pertaining to the number of people kidnapped around the world, sorted by the country in which the kidnapping took place... 

 

There is no example of the defeat of terrorism through militarism. All the armed conflicts in the world tend to be settled through dialogue around a conference table - Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Ghaza, Lebanon, South Africa, Sudan, Congo, Sierra Leon, Liberia, Rwanda, Columbia, Northern Ireland, Ukraine, you name it. On the contrary, everywhere the US intervenes militarily, tends to be ruined back to the stone age. 

 

The solution towards silencing the guns, according to AU, is to recognize the militants as legitimate political parties. Let them run for office nonviolently in line with the African philosophy of Ubuntu, and if they win a local government area or a state or country, let them govern without corruption to show that they can govern better than the corrupt politicians and war mongers. 

 

Let there be gender parity is all offices; and let there be ranches where the cattle will be kept and food and water brought to them instead of fighting feudal wars over land at a timer that the economy is evolving into an industrial one that depends on knowledge and not on land ownership. Defund the military and invest in education, agriculture, housing, roads, hospitals, technology, sports, arts, and culture.

 

Let the African states that committed genocide against their own citizens apologize to the victimized and offer reparative justice. Let Africans erase the colonial boundaries for a united States of Africa or the Peoples Republic of Africa. Never again should any republic of ants try to swallow the African elephant without facing insecticides. 

 

Donald Trump pardoned those who attacked law makers and law enforcement officers, he has no business bombing fishermen in the Caribbean and African youth - al Shabab - even if some Caribbean or African crooks invited him to do so in order to protect them while they loot the economies. Yes, Africa needs help from friends. What we need to see in Africa are more books and not bombs.

 

Down with imperialism! Down with recolonization! Decolonization Forever! 

 

Dr. Agozino is a Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies, Virginia Tech.