France military base and life assurance policy

When I read Professor Bola Akinterinwa’s “Polemics of French Military Bases” and how it struck the chord on Nigeria’s External Affairs Minister then, sounding the warning that under no circumstance would Nigeria accept the use of Africa simply as a source of raw material for the development of Europe, and that of Professor Chidi Odinkalu on the Ides of January and February against Africa as most of the assassinations of Africa’s heads of State happened in January and February, and that they were engineered and executed by Europeans starting from Sylvanus Olympio of Togo, Amilkar Cabral of Cape Verde, Murtala Mohammed, Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumunba, Muamar Khaddafi, etc, the quote of former President of Côte d’Ivoire finds great relevance.

It is all about right to life whether for the Europeans or the Africans. The man who intends to carry out a revenge in Burkina Faso against those who assassinated Thomas Sankara views it the same way: “Right to life supersedes Human Rights”. His explanation for violating human rights of his opponents posits that Right to Life is a stronger argument than that of Human Rights. Paradoxically, both Africa and Europe are fighting more for life than for rights. When you decide against exploiting your raw materials, “Right to Life” comes to play for both. The assurer and the assured are fed from the same source.

Life assurance policy is contracted on the basis of what experts in Actuary see as functions of life expectancy and number of people subscribing to it. France and its African former colonies must be seen as having entered into term assurance policy that is no more guaranteed under the terms of first contract in 1958 as General Charles de Gaulle’s referendum indicated, and furthermore, in 1960 as independence was granted with caveat of military protection latching on new rate of “premium” guaranteed by raw material supply. To Felix Houphouet- Boigny it is an open secret as no one expects a super power like France to keep its military bases in Africa for “father Christmas” purposes.

According to Boigny, peace and economic development of Africa can only happen if wars are avoided the way the Swiss people – contending among the French Swiss, German Swiss, Italian Swiss, Romanche Swiss, Tessinois Swiss – agreed to cease fighting among themselves and to remain neutral in wars outside Switzerland that affect their countries of origin. It worked for Switzerland as one of the most developed countries in Europe with no known mineral resources.

Hence, after protecting its former colonies with military bases so as to avoid unnecessary warring paths with Nkrumah’s Ghana planning to annex Bassam in Côte d’Ivoire and Aflao in Togo, as well as against seemingly powerful Nigeria which could not consolidate its ownership of Bakassi and needed to cede it to powerfully protected Cameroon, and even seaward some spaces shared with Equatorial Guinea as France remains the only super power in the Romance world of Europe, as Portugal, Spain and Italy are second world war subdued countries monitored by USA bases as NATO’s greatest power, planted in their spaces.

So, military bases are not just France’s monopoly, they are NATO – induced against WarsawPact countries’ interference led by the then USSR. However, the struggle for both NATO and USSR then was unabashedly race for raw materials – another “Right to Life” struggle.
The foresight of Nigeria as not to allow Africa to be used as raw material sourcing ground for the development of Europe remained and still remains a wishful thinking. Nigeria itself has been overexploited more than any other country in Africa for raw material purposes – crude oil, solid mineral and even agricultural produce like cocoa, groundnut and palm fruits. These are products that have served as “mining site” for what is known today as Blockchain technology.

For Boigny, collaboration for the two continents is the utmost to avoid mutually assured destruction (MAD). The same way some Nigerians see Britain as the source of their problem, the same way some Francophone Africans just started seeing France as their problem when indeed they ought to be seeing their elite who fail to see that premium charges for the “term assurance” requirement they entered with France need to be revised as old age had caught up with their association with France, and that right to life, even at old age for both France and its former colonies, must be mutually assured by the use of what both of them make of the raw materials and mineral resources for the well-being of the collectivity of their citizens.

Russia or China cannot be as sympathetic as France in a better revision of the “life assurance”, just like over two million Africans – excluding the Maghreb population there as they don’t count themselves Africans – are receiving adequate attention as French citizens and are remitting funds to their relations in sub-Saharan Africa. How many Africans could lay claim to Russian or Chinese citizenship?

So, it is high time Africans re-evaluated their relationship with Europe so as to recoup in relative terms what the supply of raw materials and mineral resources seen as premium paid for the France’s military bases in Africa could fetch back. France has helped the Maghreb Francophones – of recent Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia as shared Mediterranean’s neighbours – to be able to boast of 100% electricity coverage.

Let it be extended to Francophone sub-Saharan Africans also as France cunningly accept the withdrawal of their military bases as forced withdrawal and as president Macron recently said to French people, the Africans will come back to thank France for the 60 years of that military collaboration which they failed to do. Note that it happened to Guinea after the demise of Sekou Touré. Guinea returned to collaboration with France forgetting that in 1958 Sekou Touré proclaimed “Down to France Imperialism”. It also happened to Mali after many coups d’état from Modibo Keita’s presidency till when Alpha Oumar Konaré took over the presidency and restored France’s collaboration as Russia’s game plan started failing.

Re-imagining the collaboration template with France should be most appropriate without which both France and its former colonies in sub-Saharan Africa could run into mutually assured destruction (MAD). The Princes of Machrek are alleged to be in support of terrorists, draining West Africa; and France with its superior intelligence knows that.
Ariole is a Professor of French and Francophone Studies, University of Lagos.