It took just one speech in Dakar, Senegal, in July 2007, to alienate Nicolas Sarkozy from a large section of the African elite. It took just one speech, on July 11, in Accra, Ghana, for Barack Obama to win the heart of the Dark Continent.
At first glance, however, the presidents of the two countries competing for power and influence in Africa seem to draw form a common rhetoric of responsibility. “Africa shares responsibility for its own misfortunes,” Mr. Sarkozy declared. “Colonization is not responsible for the bloody wars between African nations … or for the fanaticism and the corruption of their governments.” According to Mr. Obama, “It is easy to point fingers, and to pin the blame for these problems on others… but the West is not responsible for … wars in which children are enlisted as combatants.”
Both heads of state say they want Africa to participate as an equal in world politics. “Your fate is in your hands,” Mr. Sarkozy said. Mr. Obama declared, “Africa’s future is up to Africans.” Both promised to support African nations that are “on the right track.” “America will be with you. As a partner. As a friend,” Mr. Obama pledged. “If you choose democracy, freedom, justice and laws, France will help you achieve them,” Mr. Sarkozy promised, stating that Paris would “always be a friend” of Africa.
It is tempting to see the contrast between the booing in Dakar and the applause in Accra as a twisted form of political correctness, or even as a kind of racism: by alluding to his “African blood” and his Kenyan father, Mr. Obama gains credibility and respect. Clearly, the African people identify with the new American president; the pride he embodies makes them feel respected in the eyes of the world. It seems that “Obama the African” can deliver unpleasant messages that would be unacceptable coming from a white person. Mr. Obama can declare that “…for far too many Africans, conflict is a part of life, as constant as the sun.” On the other hand, when Mr. Sarkozy said, “the African man has not been enough of a presence in history,” it came off as a kind of post-colonial disdain, regardless of Mr. Sarkozy’s intentions. In addition, Obama’s emphasis on Africa’s responsibilities, among other things, gives merit to the political posturing behind Mr. Sarkozy’s former presidential rival Ségolène Royal’s belated “apologies” for Mr. Sarkozy’s Dakar speech.
The split between Dakar and Accra can also be examined by differences in style. Mr. Sarkozy gave Africa an anthropological lecture on “the African man” with grandiloquent pronouncements carefully carved out by his advisor and speechwriter, Henri Guaino. Mr. Obama spoke to the continent with a direct message of truth, faith and hope, written from the heart, without condescension.
The differences in form reflect divergent histories and present-day realities which are, in the end, fundamental distinctions. In Accra, Mr. Obama did not lecture Africa. Instead, he presented four pathways for advancement: democracy, opportunity, health care and conflict resolution. He promoted basic principles and concrete plans. “History is…not with those who…change Constitutions to stay in power,” he declared. He announced his support for the development of wind and solar energy in Africa. Regarding aid, he spoke of cutting budgets bloated by “Western consultants and administration,” in favor of local expertise. Mr. Obama announced $63 billion in funding to fight AIDS and eradicate malaria, tuberculosis and polio.
France, which claimed to be spreading enlightenment through colonization, continues to dispense its benevolent advice out of its “love of Africa.” The pragmatic Anglo-Saxons, who never hid their commercial motives, want present-day Africans to make business deals and partner with them. A half-century after African independence, without making the past an issue, Mr. Obama called on Africa to act, to at last keep “the promises” that his father believed in vain.
The Africans know perfectly well that Washington is interested in their oil and other natural resources. The best-educated are familiar with the long list of tyrannical regimes that America supported during the Cold War. But if America’s rhetoric seems more credible to the Africans than that of France, it is because the United States welcomes African immigrants. It is also because Mr. Obama speaks clearly. “No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves,” he declared forcefully. “That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end.”
The day after his 2007 speech in Dakar, Mr. Sarkozy went to Gabon to pay a “friendly visit” to President Omar Bongo. Mr. Bongo, who died this June, was a perfect example of a “president for life,” supported and protected by France.
I Denounce La France De Sarkozy For The Gabonese Holocaust
Mr. Sarkozy and the French Government were once more behind yet another Electoral COUP D’ETAT that took place in Gabon on September 3rd 2009. Ali Bongo whose father had ruled Gabon for 42 years until his death, decided to succeed him by FORCE.
PRLog (Press Release) – Sep 04, 2009 – As a citizen of Gabon I feel compelled to denounce this ELECTORAL COUP D’ETAT and urge the world community to intervene and put an end to what could become a RWANDA LIKE TRAGEDY.
At a time when Gabon has again ELECTED PIERRE MAMBOUNDOU FOR PRESIDENT
And the FRENCH GOVERNMENT HAS ONCE MORE CHOSEN TO IMPOSE ON GABON ITS OWN UNelected puppet president
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For causing inhuman suffering to 1.4 million endangered Gabonese
While orchestrating the Gabonese Holocaust
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For masterminding yet another Gabonese ELECTORAL COUP D’ETAT
By announcing worldwide the victory of an UNelected dictator
Ali Bongo Ondimba who has taken over by FORCE
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For sacrificing Gabonese freedom and lives
In exchange for keeping hidden the embarrassment of Omar Bongo’s kickbacks to French politicians
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For muffling the cries of dying African babies
While scorning the African orphans whose parents their actions killed
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For the sub human treatment they continue to inflict on Gabon, and other
former colonies
While running relentless and reckless campaigns of dehumanization in Africa
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For gambling our children’s lives and future
By denying them education, healthcare and basic necessities
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For robbing Gabonese oil, manganese, uranium
And exacerbating our infant mortality rate
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For annihilating Gabonese’s hope and innocence
While squandering our opulence
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For its perverted determination to perpetuate the cold grip of colonialism
And imposing on African Nations, leaders who will serve French interests
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For hailing our leaders when they cater to their politicians’ whim
And conspiring to overthrow or assassinate those who dare to say NO
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For corrupting our African leaders
While denying us fair and transparent elections
La France Guilty you stand
When your media dares to prosecute President Bongo of Gabon, while
giving your politicians a free pass
Guilty you stand
When you trial our leaders in your unjust courts, while cheering Sarcozy,
Kouchner, Chirac and others
Guilty you stand
When the very courts that should condemn the atrocities you commit in
Africa, conspire to condone your actions
Guilty you stand
For using Gabonese money to finance your politicians’ campaigns and
lavish lifestyles
Guilty you stand
Everytime a Sarkozy, a Kouchner, a Chirac gets richer, while Gabonese
die poorer
Guilty you stand
When the money going to Sarkozy, Kouchner and Chirac fails to provide
hospitals, schools and roads in Gabon and AFrica
Guilty you stand
Every time Sarkozy’s patronizing and racist rambling, lead to dangerous
misconceptions about Africans
Guilty you stand
For Sarkozy’s rare brand of ignorance of African history and culture,
His blatant contempt for cultural differences
Guilty you stand
when Sarkozy proclaims that ” The tragedy of Africa is that the African has
never really entered into history
That They have never really launched themselves into the future”
Guilty you stand
When Africans flee their homelands in droves to escape the inferno you
deal them, only to be denied refuge by the very people who conspire to
impoverish them
Guilty you stand
When Gabonese meet a premature death due to the lack of basic necessities
Guilty you stand
For claiming moral superiority when you fail the test of morality
Guilty you stand
For your crimes against the Nation of Gabon, your merciless assault
against the African community
Guilty you stand
For daring to claim the veil of moral authority, while masterminding
despicable atrocities
As a representative of Save Gabon I DENOUNCE La France de Sarkozy
Not la France of the loving and caring French kids we befriended in preschool
Not La France of the French woman, my beloved godmother, who loved and
half raised me
Not La France of the honest and the kind French who works hard, for a
decent life and vacation
Not la France of Cabrel, Bruel, Renault, and Goldman whose verses inspire
love, equality, Humanity
Not la France of the intellectuals who continue to despise and decry your
exploitation of Gabon, of the entire African continent
Not la France of Segoulaine Royal who might have kept the French Promise
of a healthier, mutually beneficial France Afrique relationship
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
Of yesterday and of today
And all the Presidents of the French V Republic
From De Guaulle to Mitterand, From Chirac to Sarcozy
From quasi-humanitarian Bernard Kouchner who received 1 million Euro from
the Gabonese Government
To other profiteering french politicians
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For the half century long pillage of the wealthy, defenseless Nation of
Gabon
For the genocide they sponsored in Rwanda, Ivory Coast and elsewhere
For their determination to make the world a worse place than it was meant
to be
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For assaulting democracy
While sequestering Gabonese liberties
For committing atrocities
While dodging accountability
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
For crimes against History
Crimes against Morality
Crimes against the African Community
Crimes against Humanity
As the world continue to climb the steep hill of a better human history
And we hope for world leadership with morality
In The Name of the Gabonese nation
And with the world community as our witness
I Denounce La France De Sarkozy
I DENOUNCE La France De Sarkozy
In the hope that the world will join us and denounce Ali Bongo
TO PREVENT AN IVORY COAST LIKE INFERNO IN GABON
And ENSURE THAT AFRICA WILL NOT RELIVE IN GABON WHAT HAPPENED IN RWANDA
I DENOUNCE YOU Mr. Sarkozy
So the lives of PIERRE MAMBOUNDOU and ANDRE MBA OBAME are no longer threatened
So 90% of an oppressed minority can stop living in terror
while the oppressing 10% majority squander the wealth of our oil rich nation
I DENOUNCE YOU Mr. Sarkozy
Because you now have the opportunity to ride the right wave of history
The opportunity to listen to the voice of morality
The choice to undo four decades of wrong doing to Gabonese
The option to save an endangered, oppressed and helpless people
I DENOUNCE YOU Mr. Sarkozy because
We are hurting, can’t you feel it?
We are crying, can’t you hear it?
Your actions are killing us, don’t you know it?
We are DYING, can’t you see it?
I BEG of You Mr. Sarkozy
Connect with whatever humanity is left in you
Listen to the voice that once inspired you to serve
Remember the inspiring dreams you once believed in
Open your heart to the YOU who once were
I BEG of you Mr. Sarkozy
Our country and people have long suffered
All they ever asked for was freedom, equality and justice
Like the French Gabonese deserve the leader they have elected
Gabonese deserve PIERRE MAMBOUNDOU
I BEG of you Mr. Sarkozy
Put an end to this farce TODAY
Put an end to Ali Bongo’s ELECTORAL COUP D’ETAT NOW
Allow Gabonese to be Led by the man they have now ELECTED 3 TIMES
The man they hope will lead them to a better, safer, less frightening tomorrow
The man they call their PRESIDENT: PIERRE MAMBOUNDOU
I BEG of you Mr. Sarkozy
Not as a UPGist or INDEPENDENTist
But as GABONist fearful of yet another 42 years of another Bongo’s regime
An AFRICANist who understand that recognizing Ali Bongo’S ILLEGITIMATE government will set a bad precedent for other AFRICAN DICTATORS throughout the continent
I BEG of you Mr. Sarkozy
Help FREE our people at last!
SAVE us from another Gabonese HOLOCAUST
Danielle The GABONist and citizen of the world
Contact – Save Gabon
albertnze@yahoo.com