By Eze Eluchie, Esq.
In a strange and laughable
turn of events following the enlargement of military operations by Russia in
its so-called ‘special military operations’ against Ukraine to include attacks
on the Port city of Odessa which crippled Ukraine’s ability to export its stock
pile of grains, a dubious clarion call on the need to ‘preserve global access
to Ukraine’s grain stockpiles for the benefit of all humanity, particularly for
most of Africa and other aid-dependent territories’, was highlighted and
promoted.
In furtherance of this
‘clarion call’, a group of African rulers under the auspices of the African
Union, headed by the then Chairperson of the AU, Senegalese President, Macky
Sall, devoid of any iota of shame, took the unusual step to travel to Russia to
meet with Vladimir Putin to plead for cessation of hostilities between Russia
and Ukraine, so that Ukraine’s precious grains will be able to find its way to
various African countries and the warehouses of the donor agencies.
It’s instructive to note
that at the time the AU delegation made this trip to Russia, the following dire
situations which ought to have attracted the interest of the AU were afoot: (a)
the war in Democratic Republic of Congo (where they got the ‘democratic
republic’ tag from still remains a mystery) was attaining new heights with the
M23 rebel group recording increased military successes against the Congolese
army; (b) the Sudanese crisis was tipping over the full scale war; and (c)
attacks by Islamist jihadist elements across Africa which was threatening the
stability of several countries in the West Africa sub-region. Despite all these
continental challenges, the leadership of AU opted to prioritize frolicking all
the way to Sochi, Russia, to plead for a cessation of hostilities so that food
aid can continue to flow to Africa? Goosh!
One doesn’t need to be a
genius to appreciate the scorn with which the Russian leadership would have
viewed the Sally-led AU delegation - a bunch of stooges who rather than work
towards finding domestic solutions to the food insecurity problems besetting
Africa, were rather okay with being sent on a frolic to plead for food
handouts.
Though so much hullabaloo
had been made about the type of soil in Ukraine being conducive for cultivation
of wheat, one must also appreciate that of the 53 member states of the AU, 20
have land masses larger in size than Ukraine. Agreed some of these 20 countries
have huge swaths of arid desert regions, some African countries which have land
areas greater than the size of Ukraine, such as South Africa, Nigeria,
Tanzania, Mozambique to list a few, and other countries of lesser land mass
such as Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zambia and all the countries in the coast of West
Africa, are actually blessed with sizable fertile soil which if adequately
developed and adapted to crop production, can easily transform some African
countries to the food basket of the world.
Yet, rather than look
inwards to address Africa’s food insecurity crisis and or expend resources
trying to address intricate conflict situations which are rife across the
African continent, the then AU Chairperson, opted to embark on degrading
journey, at the behest of foreign neocolonialists, to plead for a cessation of
hostilities in Europe.
The folly exhibited by the
AU under Macky Sall’s leadership is more of a continuum in the African
continent. A clear example of repeat of such density by rulers across Africa,
is the present tacit approval by authorities in Nigeria of the strangulation of
domestic agricultural activities by Islamist jihadist elements who are allowed
free and near-unfettered reign to kill, plunder and destabilize farming
communities in the agriculturally rich Middle Belt region of Nigeria, only for
same Nigerian government to seek World Bank loans to be able to procure and
distribute foods/palliatives to mullions pauperized and rendered destitute by
lack of food and basic amenities.
Already viewed with
ignominy by the rest of civilization, leaders across Africa have to rise up,
put on thinking caps and look inwards for solutions to own problems, or risk
being consigned to the trash bin by their own populations.
My sub-3 minute
podcast on Africa’s food insecurity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZpoWu5KuQM
Picture: Small-scale
mixed-crop farm in Nigeria
