In this CBS broadcast, President Obiang of Equatorial Guinea was introduced as a despot who has kept his country massively poor despite a high national revenue intake, mainly from petrodollars, revenues enough to make each of the six hundred thousand of the populace a millionaire. Instead, Obiang is reported as having hundreds of millions USD stashed in personal bank accounts offshore.
The CBS camera followed Obiang’s son in Paris, chauffeured in a “Lamborghini”, on a lavish shopping spree. One would think it was “dokafle” this young man was buying - thirty plus Italian style suits at a whop! Don’t even start counting the dress shirts and neckties to go with the suits; you are bound to lose count. The camera also took us on location in Equatorial Guinea, counting the number of châteaux (you know they are French people) of the Obiang family, amid sun beaten zinc shacks in a squalor filled countryside. Not surprised, but we will always ask, ’Why‘?
So, what was our president doing over there with
such a huge entourage? We have been following President
Sirleaf’s globe trot, basket in hand, in the
name of reconstruction efforts for our country. We
applaud that. We only hope that this stopover was
not in connection to that. Obiang could definitely
use some words of wisdom from our president. We sincerely
hope that’s what the meetings were about behind
closed doors.
On the other hand, if the meetings were about money,
it won’t sit too well with some of us. We know
heard of “blood diamonds”. “Snake
oil”! Yes, that’s the only name suitable
for any money that passes through the hands of Obiang.
No, Madam President. We may be desperate, but snake
oil is sure to soil what little pride we have left.
In biblical terms, let’s not gain at a loss
of our national soul. It is a shivery thought, indeed.
Our local papers summarized the outcome of meetings between the two president’s as one pledging bi-lateral trade relations, regional security, and an expression of a mutual abhorrence for coup d’etats. We all know that the coup d’etat thing is coming from the last time when mercenaries missed Obiang. We also know that, in the absence of democratic rule engendered by despotic rule of the non-benevolent kind, a coup d’etat is going to be on the people’s table, all the time. The sun rises over West Africa every morning. A true statement!
In Liberia today, it can cautiously be said that we, at least, have the ballot box as a resort to effect a change of government. Let no one tell us that the same can be said for the people of Equatorial Guinea. So, the bottom half of that mutual pledge between the presidents can be made good if, and only if, President Obiang has the guts, or has been advised, to open a new chapter on how he has ruled the people of Equatorial Guinea thus far.
As we in Liberia strive to become a “poster child” of countries recovering from civil wars, as we are being courted to become a “ beacon of hope for Africa“, we dare not plot asterisks conveying negative footnotes to our endeavors. Therefore, as a result of this ill-advised stopover in Equatorial Guinea, if we got “thirty pieces of silver” from Obiang, it is an outright betrayal of our impoverished brothers and sisters in that country. We would need to throw out such ill-gotten gain.