Senator urges Africans on economic emancipation of the continent

In what he viewed as economic subterfuge of Africans despite the continent’s political liberation from the claws of colonialism centuries ago, Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central) has called on African leaders to be committed to economic emancipation of the continent. He also condemned government’s proposal to sell its national assets, adding that the rationale behind that was for the elites to grab those assets for themselves and not necessarily because of recession.

Sani disclosed this yesterday to journalists when the Executives from the West African Students Union Parliament (WASUP) paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja. He explained that despite Africa’s capacity to over run the entire world economically because of its enormous resources, the West and lately East, continue to use debt as instrument to control Africa and its resources.

“Africa is politically independent but not economically. We are still under the tutelage of economic powers. It used to be the western world but now the east have joined in the new scramble for Africa,” he said. “They have seen Africa as a place to showcase their NGOs either in malnourished IDP camps or famine areas or to take selfies with impoverished people.”

Part of the challenges, the lawmaker stressed, are internally generated, where civilian dictators find it difficult to hand over power whenever their tenure ends, but instead, manipulate the constitution in order to extend their stay in office; a situation he said, has spurred political crisis.

He urged Africans not to be deterred by economic problems by attempting to seek asylum in Europe, saying it was shameful seeing thousands crossing the Mediterranean Sea with harrowing experiences.