(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Elnur Enveroglu Read more The 21st century has already begun to break the dogmas
established by many empires and powerful states as an era of
realities. For example, with the collapse of the Soviet empire, a
number of states were recognized as fully independent states, while
ensuring their territorial integrity. However, there are also some
empires that, although they try to maintain themselves as
imperialists, internal protests and pressures lead them to
destruction. Because as is known, according to Newton's Third Law
of Motion 'for every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction'. The more the pressure increases, the more it creates the
opposite effect. The current situation in France shows exactly
that.
Currently, Paris is on the verge of saying goodbye to Africa.
The reason is very simple - violation of human rights, racism and
colonialism. Unless France abandons its outdated behavior, in the
near future, other territories will have to completely withdraw
from its control.
France detaches from Niger
Sections of the military had staged a coup against Mohamed
Bazoum, Niger's democratically elected president, just before 3
August, the country's National Day, when it marked 63 years since
gaining nominal independence from France in 1960.
Crowds were chanting“Down with France” as they targeted the
country's embassy, smashing windows and setting fire to perimeter
walls. As Bazoum remained under house arrest, his close allies in
Paris feared that the safety of westerners could no longer be
guaranteed. A bullish statement from the Élysée Palace vowed that
Emmanuel Macron“will not tolerate any attack against France and
its interests”. If anybody was hurt, retaliation would come
“immediately and uncompromisingly”, said Macron, sounding every
inch the imperial master issuing a stark warning to unruly natives
causing trouble more than 2,000 miles away.
After three weeks, on Tuesday, the African Union strongly
opposed the military intervention in Niger by any non-African
countries that Macron conceived. For him, of course, there remains
a loophole to arrange his punitive expedition to Niger through a
smaller bloc - the Economic Community of West African Countries
(ECOWAS). But even there, Paris faces problems.
The other day, an attempt to involve Nigeria, the largest ECOWAS
country with a seriarmy, failed in this matter. Its president
rushed to loudly support the invasion, but parliament intervened
and banned the participation of the Nigerian military in the
operation. At the moment, only one country with a relatively large
army is ready to participate in it - Senegal. Two more states -
Benin and Côte d'Ivoire - can only send symbolic contingents.
Meanwhile, it will not only be Niger itself that will oppose the
operation. Neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso have already pledged
to treat the attack on Niger as an attack on themselves.
The current Niger crisis can tbe linked to former colonial
relationships being restructured as Françafrique – a formidable
neocolonial neacross sub-Saharan Africa encompassing economic,
political, security and cultural ties and alliances centred on the
French language and values.
Paris' dependence on Niger's uranium
To operate the fifty-six nuclear reactors in France's eighteen
power plants, operator EDF requires an average of around 8,000 tons
of natural uranium every year. Following the cessation of mining on
French soil in the early 2000s, France turned to several countries
simultaneously for its supplies. Therefore Niger is considered one
of France's top three uranium suppliers.
According to the report on a website, for the time being, Orano
has announced that it will continue its mining activities, despite
the ongoing tensions in Niger. "To date, activities at the
operational sites in Arlit and at the headquarters in Niamey are
continuing with an adapted organization in the context of the
curfew in place throughout Niger."
How France earns the hatred of Africa
There are several important reasons for the rise of African
resistance to France. One of them is that Paris interferes much
more in the politics of its former colonies than do other former
colonial empires. Seven of the nine francophone countries in West
Africa do not even have their own currency, but use the so-called
CFA franc - guaranteed by Paris and depriving them of the tools to
conduct their own financial policy. Paris has entangled the region
not only with a network of military bases, but also created corrupt
puppet regimes there, whose leaders, in collusion with the Parisian
elites, have been stealing and oppressing their peoples for
decades. At the same time, the white gentlemen in Paris, ranting
about democracy, like to support regimes on the Black Continent
that are based on minorities - the Fulani, the Tuareg, the
Arabs.
And only when these African friends of France quarrel with
Paris, human rights activists and liberal media immediately find
signs of“authoritarianism”, facts of“human rights violations” and
evidence of“corruption” in them. So, for example, it happened with
the former president of Chad, Idriss Deby, with the former leader
of Burkina Faso - both were declared "scoundrels" despite their
decades-long friendship with Paris.
The other reason is that French leaders are destabilizing entire
parts of that continent. For example, blaming Paris for the recent
fall of the pro-French regime in Mali, Western liberal media write
that the country has been destabilized as a result of the
relocation of extremist groups that have bred in Libya since 2011.
But who toppled the government of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and
wreaked havoc there in which jihadist groups flourished? Ah, the
president of the then France did this to cover up the traces of the
bribes he took from lynched leader.
In general, the situation facing France is an inadequate approach
both in power and in the traditional political administration
inherited from them. For this reason, France began to lose its
reputation in Africa. Now those traditional methods are no longer
useful. In the colonies, the puppet rulers no longer have the power
they once had, and the dominance of the will of the people cuts off
the connection between Paris and those vassals.
The overthrow of the pro-French puppet regime in Niger is just
the latest example of what rotten regimes Paris supports. Since
1990, 78 percent of all 27 coups d'état in Sub-Saharan Africa have
taken place in Francophone states. This interesting statistic
speaks volumes about Paris. After all, the problem is not only in
the long history of colonial oppression of non-European peoples -
all Western countries (and the Russian Empire as part of the West)
have polluted themselves in this monstrpolicy, and Africans
still have to deal with its consequences. Another thing is more
important, as elementary statistics show, for some reason there are
still much more problems in those non-Western countries where there
is traditionally a seriFrench influence, usually associated
with French colonization.
Moving on the way to nowhere
Imperialism may seem like a regime that will last forever. Even
those who run that regime can be extremely powerful and financially
rich. But in the end, all empires are doomed to collapse - this has
been repeated at all stages of history. For example, the Soviet
regime also lasted for 70 years, but eventually went bankrupt.
Today, France is experiencing the same fate. France believes that
African states are left in the 19th century. However, today's
Macron government is not aware that times have changed. Now, as
everywhere else, people in Africa understand all political
ambitions. No African is willing to sacrifice his life for a French
noble anymore. Already, Algeria sees and understands France's
political crimes transparently. They understand that the hatred and
racism against them is hidden in the false concept of“democracy”
of those noble people in and