As we ponder about the demise of Leopold Senghore, it is right that we
subject him to a discour for Zeng belong to a breed of politicians that will
always intrests us Africans. After all these were the protagonists that
fashioned the foreign as well as the socio-economic policies whose effect we
still live with, hence what they stood for and what things they said is as
much relivant now as it was then.

It is apparent that Senghore was opposed to Senegals indepence as oppose to
the aspirations of the people at the time. He was one of those success
samples of the french policy of assimilados, he was what was termed then as
coconut, black from the outside but white in the inside. His whole
comportment was white hence he earned the admiration and support of the
French establishment.

This was Senghores oulook and at this point in time the wind of change was
fast blowing in Africa, the people were demanding the right to self rule and
a genuine independce, hence it was very important for the colonial masters
to have loyal servants to whom they can entrust their administration without
hinderance, where they failed to cultivate such proteges they engaged in
bloody battles to subjugate the people into submission. A lot of people
confronted the colonial masters, hence they preffered to  die as matyrs and
patriots than be subjugated. A lot of genuine Sons and  Daugthers were
executed, those obstinate ones that survived and led their people to
Independence were sanctioned and turned into pariah states.  Infact many of
them through dirty plots hatched by the colonialists  were either murdered
or overthrown.  It was in such a climate that Senghore was the darling of
the colonial masters hence he was a suspect collaborator and this was
important because the colonial masters needed alliances to continue their
presence so as to justify their involvement in the internal affairs of our
countries, with  the likes of Senghore they were using Senegal as a
launching pad.

This is why Senghore's acts needs to be put in  a historical context, yes he
was highly educated, well respected academic but that does not exonerate his
policies for it was people like him that has mortgaged the future the
consequence of which we now live with .

The arrangements and self intrests that manifested at this embryonic stage
of nation building has left us poorer and weaker and being one of those
principal architects he must be remembered differently by the radical
African, the ones that had called for a programme of independence and not
dependence. The road championed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nkurumah, Saikou
Touray, Modibo Keita as well as Patrick Lumumba is well documented it
testifies to the intrests that were being defended by their contemporaries.
In fact the blue print of their calling is what EUROPE is now implementing
in full, from monetary union to military as well as trade and economics.
These people were ahead of their time at a time when Senghore was being
celebrated as a poet laureate these people were carving and strategising the
future of the continent. No wonder they were feared by the colonial masters,
the respect they commanded was evident, wherever, they appeared in Europe
the media would follow every utterance they made. These people can never be
forgotten, after all Senghore before he passed out was nearly forgotten.
History has absolved Nkrumah, so whatever critics may say, on balance he
contributed more to the African conciousness than any of us or Senghore may
ever do. Their roles were different one was loved by the African people, the
other by the Europeans, take you position and define yourself.

He went for dependency and got all the support and now all that support
turned out to be the debt that is slowly strangling. With such an approach
Senghore must be ranked amongst those that failed us.

>From: Jungle Sunrise <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Is Senghor a true son of Africa or not?
>Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2001 15:49:05 +0000
>
>You see, you do use your head sometimes. It sometimes seems that we are
>programmed in such a way that any view that is unconventional is to be
>dismissed as lacking merit or irrelevant. For example, people would rather
>remember Kwami Nkrumah for his speeches and vision rather than the way he
>tried to implement that vision. Nobody, in his right mind, would deny the
>fact that Dr. Kwami Nkrumah was both an intellectual and a visionary. But
>try to talk about his short-comings and you are labelled "Anti-Nkrumah".
>The
>fact remains that Dr. Kwami Nkrumah was one of the first dictators that
>Post
>colonial Africa
>produced. It is also a fact that one of the most repressive legislations
>ever passed in any country in Africa was the Preventative Detension Act
>(PDA). This piece of thrash was used by Nkrumah and those close to him or
>in
>uniform to jail inocent people for indefinite periods just because they
>dared ask where the country was heading. Instead of explaining his vision
>of
>Ghana to those who were better placed/equiped to implement them, he treated
>them as insurbodinate anarchists. This is were President Jammeh differs
>from
>the rest of those Pan-Africanists. You people may not believe it now, but
>time will tell.
>
>Have a good day, Gassa.
>
>
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