This tiny country of about 1.5 million people has an important place in the history of Africa’s struggle to free herself from the indignity and oppression of colonial rule. Guinea Bissau was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve independence through armed struggle. The PAIGC under the leadership of Amilcar Cabral defeated the Portuguese Army on the field of battle, resulting not only in the freedom of Bissau Guineans but contributing to the downfall of Salazar-Ceatano’s fascist regime in Portugal hence freeing Portugal itself from fascism. It saddens to say but the Guinea Bissau of today is a picture perfect case study for any racist wanting to showcase their bigoted assertion that Africans cannot govern themselves. The social indicators after nearly 40 years of independence are painful to fathom. Such a catastrophic failure can be sourced to two related issues. First it’s the nature of colonial rule. The Portuguese system of assimilation coupled with the colonial economic policy called Estado Nove deprived the country of the political, educational, and economic infrastructure to succeed in the post-colonial dispensation. The Portuguese colonial posture like other colonial regimes in the African continent was based on the idea that Africans had no culture, history or religion. The second factor that explains the current bankruptcy of Guinea Bissau is the nature of the armed struggles and its impact on the post-independence dispensation. Today the country is a museum of our post-colonial failure. I know it’s uncool to tell an African narrative of despair in the age of ‘Africa Raising’ but one cannot hide the raw facts that the country of Cabral is now the home of unrelieved misery. Africa in this little pocket is regrettably not rising but rather wingless and stuck. If there is one main positive takeaway, it is that the legendary African resilience is again on display in Guinea Bissau. Ordinary people are able to keep their dignity and get on with their lives in spite of the poor administration.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Feb 2014 00:41:03 +0000