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Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BLAME OBAMA FOR S. SUDAN

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"It has become increasingly clear that there has indeed been a false start in
Africa. It is a false start, which is part of the legacy from Africa's colonial
past. …There has been a false start, too, by the academicians in their efforts
to speak meaningfully to each other and to Africa's lawmakers (Rene Dumont,
False Start in Black Africa, pp. 18-23)."

There is a crisis in South Sudan in which many of our poor brothers and sisters
are being killed. The question for us is: what is to be done? In my opinion, we
should stop blaming "Washington, London, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, etc." for
inciting the conflict. We must admit where mistakes have been made (often by our
selfish leaders at the expense of ordinary compatriots) and suggest ways to
combat them. Fortunately, we have some amongst us who have done superbly on such
issues. For example, when the ASUU imbroglio erupted, Mobolaji provided us with
a brilliant summary of the causes of the crisis (or wahala) and painstakingly
produced a template for solving the issue. This is the kind of stuff that I
would encourage us to generate in our dialogues—some of which others and I on
this forum have referenced in our works.

But, of course, whether the powers that be accept enlightened frameworks for
solving our problems is another matter. Even so, what is significant is that
some of us are providing solutions to our social, political and economic issues.
And, we must continue to do more on this score!

May the good Lord help South Sudanese--especially the poor who have nothing to
do with the causes of the conflict.

Ike Udogu


----- Original Message -----
From: John Mbaku <jmbaku@weber.edu>
Date: Monday, December 23, 2013 12:46 pm
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BLAME OBAMA FOR S. SUDAN
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>

> Dear KZS:
>
> You said I distorted what you said about the atrocities being
> committed in
> South Sudan. Please summarize your analysis of the crisis and bring
> intoplay the various characters that you mentioned earlier: United
> States;France; Israel; Khartoum/Sudan; Arab; Nuer; Dinka; UK.
> Please help us
> understand. Thank you.
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 23, 2013 at 7:49 AM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <
> emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:
>
> > Indeed. How can you solve a problem if you don't understand the
> > historical, international,
> > sociological and even psychological dimensions of the phenomenon in
> > question?
> >
> > Life is complex and so, too, are crisis situations. In this case
> it is
> > important to know
> > whether Machar made a deal with Khartoum, and the allies of
> Khartoum,> for conflict resolution purposes. We need to know also
> whether resources
> > are
> > skewed in the direction of one region at the expense of the other
> etc.
> > etc.
> >
> > ' The devil made me do it' is no less simplistic than 'Africans
> are> inherently evil' ---- in the world of caricature.
> >
> >
> >
> > Professor Gloria Emeagwali
> > africahistory.net
> > vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
> > Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
> >
> > http://vimeo.com/66699182
> > Docu on Sudan
> > ________________________________
> > From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [
> > usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kwame zulu
> shabazz [
> > kwameshabazz@gmail.com]
> > Sent: Monday, December 23, 2013 8:29 AM
> > To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> > Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BLAME OBAMA FOR S. SUDAN
> >
> >
> > Bro Pablo,
> >
> > Context and periodization are essential tools of peacemakers and
> political> solutions...certainly not synonymous with your "devil
> made me do it"
> > caricature.
> >
> > kzs
> >
> > On Dec 23, 2013 7:43 AM, "Pablo Idahosa" <pidahosa@yorku.ca<mailto:
> > pidahosa@yorku.ca>> wrote:
> > Right on, John.
> > They-made-me-do-it gets very tiresome. It reminds me of one our
> > prestigious African academics responding to patrimonial this and
> > extraversion that, and he responded, "naw oh, they just go steal!"
> >
> > While, Kwame, there's always a time and place for context and
> > periodization, here, at least, it is people, folks as you say in
> the US,
> > making decisions that have effects upon those whom they know, or
> don't> care, go suffer, irrespective of local geo-politics and
> regardless of the
> > historic conditions that gave rise to the general conditions.
> Basta!>
> > Pablo
> >
> > Sent from my grandfather's typewriter (MM)
> >
> > On Dec 22, 2013, at 4:04 PM, John Mbaku <jmbaku@weber.edu<mailto:
> > jmbaku@weber.edu>> wrote:
> >
> > Dear KZS:
> >
> > I am sorry, but when it comes to human atrocities in Africa, or
> anywhere> else, I do not buy the "Devil-made-me-do-it" defense.
> South Sudanese
> > soldiers are killing their fellow citizens and they must be made
> to account
> > for their actions. Such behavior cannot be excused by reference
> to some
> > supposed meddling by external actors. As an African, I cannot
> support any
> > attempt to justify this shameful behavior on the part of
> individuals who
> > took an oath to defend the people of South Sudan.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sunday, December 22, 2013, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
> > The point of Dinka -Nuer conflict over cattle is noted.
> > Do we have specialists on the list who can comment
> > in more detail on the nature of their relationship during
> > and after the colonial era?
> >
> >
> >
> > Professor Gloria Emeagwali
> > Prof. of History & African Studies
> > History Department
> > vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
> > Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [
> > usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kwame zulu
> shabazz [
> > kwameshabazz@gmail.com]
> > Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2013 7:17 PM
> > To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> > Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BLAME OBAMA FOR S. SUDAN
> >
> > Brother John,
> >
> > There is nothing "nuanced" about ignoring the mostly negative
> role of
> > western foreign policy in most African conflicts. In fact what
> you advocate
> > is the antithesis of nuance. The point of nuance would not be simply
> > blaming one side or the other, rather it demands that we analyze the
> > complex relationship between internal and external forces.
> Stating the
> > obvious and important fact that US/France/UK and the rest have
> profoundly> influenced African geopolitics for the worse is not
> tantamount to claiming
> > that African leaders are "mindless puppets." Nor does it mean
> that we that
> > we shouldn't hold the shooters responsible who "kill their own
> brothers and
> > sisters" (we might question your assumption that black aggressors
> view> their black victims as "brothers and sisters"). As for Sudan,
> even before
> > Arab and western interference, as I recall, Nuer and Dinkas, for
> example,> were not on brotherly terms. For instance, I seem to
> remember that cattle
> > raiding was common. Arabization and the increasingly scarcity of
> resources> have combined to make Southern Sudanese conflicts more
> deadly. Also, the US
> > and Israel have been supporting secession in Sudan since the
> early 80s. An
> > appeal to nuance needs to have all of these factors on board. I
> have not
> > followed the current crop of leaders closely, but Garang, I
> believe, was a
> > masterful strategist. That doesn't mean that his strategy of
> leaning on the
> > USA and Israel cannot have deleterious outcomes or that we can't
> hold the
> > USA and Israel accountable for their malfeasance aimed at South
> Sudanese> resources (US/Israel) and undermining Khartoum (Israel).
> >
> > kzs
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Dec 21, 2013 at 6:47 PM, John Mbaku
> <jmbaku@weber.edu<mailto:> jmbaku@weber.edu>> wrote:
> > How can anyone blame what is happening in South Sudan on outside
> actors?> Who is undertaking the actual killing of people? Are not
> South Sudan
> > soldiers pulling the trigger and killing their own brothers and
> sisters?> Unless one argues that South Sudan leaders are just
> mindless puppets being
> > manipulated by outside actors, I cannot see how the West can be
> blamed for
> > what is currently taking place in South Sudan. The situation
> needs a more
> > nuanced and contextual analysis and blaming the West is not it!
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Dec 21, 2013 at 4:21 PM, kwame zulu shabazz <
> > kwameshabazz@gmail.com<mailto:kwameshabazz@gmail.com>> wrote:
> > Brother Layi,
> >
> > "Looking inwards" is really not very different from what the white
> > enslavers said about indigenous Americans, Tazmanians, Aboriginal
> > Australians on and on. The justification was always that the victims
> > were"warlike," or "backwards" or "heathens" thus "incapable of
> governing> themselves." I think we can and must critique all sides
> of the problem.
> > Yes, absolutely, we should demand that our misleaders do better,
> but we
> > must also point out that they get lots of help. Looking over your
> list: the
> > Belgians devastated Congo and, later, an American president,
> Eisenhower,> authorized the assassination of Lumumba. The CIA then
> helped to prop up
> > Mobutu. Charles Taylor was working with the CIA, magically
> escaped from a
> > US prison and somehow made it back to West Africa w/out being
> detected.> UNITA in Angola was backed by Reagan. "Outside (western)
> forces" have
> > profoundly influenced African geopolitics. These are facts, not
> excuse> making.
> >
> > kzs
> >
> >
> > On Saturday, December 21, 2013 3:10:40 PM UTC-5, Abegunrin,
> Olayiwola M.
> > wrote:
> > My people,
> > Why do we always blame outside forces for most of our problems in
> Africa?> We need to look inward and see the kind of leadership who
> have imposed
> > themselves on our peoples and claiming that they were elected to
> rule us.
> > See what is happening in Democratic Republic of Congo, in
> Nigeria, in
> > Central African Republic, in Liberia, in Angola and other
> countries in the
> > continent. Are these so-called leaders committed to serve the
> African> peoples or serve their personal pockets and their neo-
> colonial masters,
> > especially the western Multinational Corporations that are been
> used as
> > proxies? No outside power or powers can impose them-selves on us
> if our
> > visionless, selfish, greedy rulers calling themselves leaders are
> not> sellout or play into the hands of the outside powers. We need
> to wake up
> > and look inward. People get the kind of government they deserve.
> > Layi
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On
> > Behalf Of william bangura [william....@gmail.com]
> > Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2013 1:06 PM
> > To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
> > Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BLAME OBAMA FOR S. SUDAN
> >
> > I am at the juncture where I hate to opine on the problems of sub-
> Saharan> Africa. The architect of the independence of South Sudan,
> Susan Rice should
> > have been prepared for this craziness in South Sudan where my
> brethren are
> > suffering due to none of their exploits. President Obama should have
> > critically analyzed the template of "independent" Africa to
> anticipate the
> > current debacle.
> >
> > William Bangura (WB)
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-
> Africa> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of
> Texas at Austin.
> > For current archives, visit
> > http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
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> > ---
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> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-
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> >
> >
> > --
> > JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.
> > J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)
> > Graduate Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
> > Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
> > Attorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in Utah)
> > Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics & Willard L.
> Eccles> Professor of Economics and John S. Hinckley Fellow
> > Department of Economics
> > Weber State University
> > 3807 University Circle
> > Ogden, UT 84408-3807, USA
> > (801) 626-7442<tel:%28801%29%20626-7442> Phone
> > (801) 626-7423<tel:%28801%29%20626-7423> Fax
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-
> Africa> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of
> Texas at Austin.
> > For current archives, visit
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> > ---
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> >
> >
> > --
> > THE NEUTRAL SCHOLAR IS AN IGNOBLE MAN. Here, a man must be hot,
> or be
> > accounted cold, or, perchance, something worse than hot or cold. The
> > lukewarm and the cowardly, will be rejected by earnest men on
> either side
> > of the controversy." Fredrick Douglass, "The Claims of the Negro,
> > Ethnologically Considered" (1854).
> > ---
> > EVERY ARTIST, EVERY SCIENTIST MUST DECIDE, NOW, WHERE HE STANDS.
> He has no
> > alternative. There are no impartial observers. Through the
> destruction, in
> > certain countries, of man's literary heritage, through the
> propagation of
> > false ideas of national and racial superiority, the artist, the
> scientist,> the writer is challenged. This struggle invades the
> former cloistered halls
> > of our universities and all her seats of learning. The
> battlefront is
> > everywhere. There is no sheltered rear. The artist elects to
> fight for
> > freedom or slavery. I have made my choice!
> > I had no alternative! - Paul Robeson, speech about the Spanish
> Civil War
> > at the Albert Hall, London,on 24th June 1937
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-
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> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-
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> >
> > --
> > JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.
> > J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)
> > Graduate Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
> > Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
> > Attorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in Utah)
> > Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics & Willard L.
> Eccles> Professor of Economics and John S. Hinckley Fellow
> > Department of Economics
> > Weber State University
> > 3807 University Circle
> > Ogden, UT 84408-3807, USA
> > (801) 626-7442 Phone
> > (801) 626-7423 Fax
> >
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-
> Africa> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of
> Texas at Austin.
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> > For previous archives, visit
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> > ---
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> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-
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> > ---
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> > --
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> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-
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> > ---
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>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)Graduate
> Certificate in
> Environmental and Natural Resources Law Nonresident Senior Fellow, The
> Brookings InstitutionAttorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in
> Utah)Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics & Willard L.
> EcclesProfessor of Economics and John S. Hinckley Fellow Department of
> EconomicsWeber State University3807 University CircleOgden, UT
> 84408-3807,
> USA(801) 626-7442 Phone(801) 626-7423 Fax*
>
> --
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