Across the Niger with Ukachukwu OkorieI remember vividly in 2002, when I came home from college to complete my degree project, that my dad had an august visitor. Guess who? Uche, a maternal uncle I had last seen when I was six. He had lived and done business in Ivory Coast, in the commercial city of Abidjan, since before I was born. He told stories of heavy fighting between government troops and rebels, which prompted his return to Nigeria with his family.
Prior to the crisis era, Ivory Coast was a hub of sorts for African businessmen, an economy blessed with stability, a nation in tranquility and a prototype for the wannabe, poor African countries. However, Ivory Coast tilted towards anarchy when its former leader Felix Houphouet-Boigny died and his successor was swept out of power in a military coup d’etat led by Robert Guei. The flight of Henri Konan Bedie after the coup and a calculated disqualification of strong northerner Alassane Quattara, due to his genealogical background, trumped up Laurent Gbagbo as the only serious challenger to Guei. In a dramatic twist, Gbagbo – a former student leader – won the presidency after an uprising forced Guei out. As Gbagbo ascended into the hot seat in Yamoussoukro, uneasiness and tension stared in the face of the once vibrant country. Northern elites and immigrant voices started demanding a fresh and an all-inclusive election without the genealogy clause that barred the likes of Alassane Quattara. The continued neglect of their voices mustered a mutiny, which later graduated into a full-scale rebellion in September 2002. The rebel organisation, which was called the New Forces, advanced until the north fell under their command, and until recently, things had been at a standoff.
Their major grievance remains injustice, which has endured for decades, but the final straw came with the calculated, racial law of having to be a full Ivorian before running for the presidency of the country. Truly, this hurdle was placed to eliminate northern Ivorians, who were mostly descendants of migrants of neighbouring countries and beyond. Migrants from France, Europe, Asia and Africa flocked to Ivory Coast a few years after its independence as its large crops of cocoa, coffee, etc drove her to an unprecedented level of prosperity. As a matter of fact, most Ivorians gradually became disenchanted with these ‘strangers’, and with the government which lost control of the prosperity wheel.
Currently, the two main characters in Ivory Coast, President Gbagbo and Guillaume Soro, have decided to end the standoff and war after many other agreements failed to click. Soro, who is also a former student leader and head of the New Forces, came to light when he served as a reconciliation deputy during the crisis period. In the latest deal, which was brokered by Burkina Faso’s dictator Blaise Campaore, Soro was appointed as Prime Minister last March. The question on the lips of many avid watchers of the Ivorian crisis is: will Gbagbo and Soro cover their swords and vaulting ambitions to take Ivory Coast back to the exact spot Houphouet-Boigny left it at?
Some prominent sceptics have refused to believe in the new unity government, calling them ‘strange bedfellows’. As Gbagbo and Soro begin to carry out the business of the new government, they need to restore the confidence of the people. It’s a good thing that Soro declared that he will not be standing for next year’s elections, and in the interests of stability, President Laurent Gbagbo should follow suit.
Soro should be given a level playing field to operate as Prime Minister in order to fulfil his three cardinal programmes of organising a truly free and fair election, sharing national identities to all Ivorians and reunification of the army and country. ‘Strangers’ and Muslims should also have free access to all that is entitled to them.
This conflict once again showed the paralytic nature of the African Union; it has remained a toothless bulldog and paper tiger because it is only good in talk shops and at issuing communiqués. It takes the UN to intervene militarily – only after scores of deaths – before calm is restored. Now that the 600km-long buffer zone has been given the all-clear by the unity government, it will be wise for the French-led peacekeepers to prepare for home. In as much as the peacekeepers are needed for strengthening the fledging government, their activities should be taken up by the Ivorians themselves.
Lastly, France should show it cares for Ivory Coast by leading an international donor conference to raise funds for her former colony’s rehabilitation. Although anti-French sentiment has grown recently, a big brother’s help in revamping a once sound economy shall assure people that France’s proclamations of love for Ivory Coast are not hypocritical. If these are done in the right way, the world can effectively say: ‘Let there be unity, and there shall also be peace in Ivory Coast.’
Ukachukwu Okorie is originally from Nigeria. He writes a weekly column for Metro Eireann
olumoukachukwu@yahoo.com
Their major grievance remains injustice, which has endured for decades, but the final straw came with the calculated, racial law of having to be a full Ivorian before running for the presidency of the country. Truly, this hurdle was placed to eliminate northern Ivorians, who were mostly descendants of migrants of neighbouring countries and beyond. Migrants from France, Europe, Asia and Africa flocked to Ivory Coast a few years after its independence as its large crops of cocoa, coffee, etc drove her to an unprecedented level of prosperity. As a matter of fact, most Ivorians gradually became disenchanted with these ‘strangers’, and with the government which lost control of the prosperity wheel.
Currently, the two main characters in Ivory Coast, President Gbagbo and Guillaume Soro, have decided to end the standoff and war after many other agreements failed to click. Soro, who is also a former student leader and head of the New Forces, came to light when he served as a reconciliation deputy during the crisis period. In the latest deal, which was brokered by Burkina Faso’s dictator Blaise Campaore, Soro was appointed as Prime Minister last March. The question on the lips of many avid watchers of the Ivorian crisis is: will Gbagbo and Soro cover their swords and vaulting ambitions to take Ivory Coast back to the exact spot Houphouet-Boigny left it at?
Some prominent sceptics have refused to believe in the new unity government, calling them ‘strange bedfellows’. As Gbagbo and Soro begin to carry out the business of the new government, they need to restore the confidence of the people. It’s a good thing that Soro declared that he will not be standing for next year’s elections, and in the interests of stability, President Laurent Gbagbo should follow suit.
Soro should be given a level playing field to operate as Prime Minister in order to fulfil his three cardinal programmes of organising a truly free and fair election, sharing national identities to all Ivorians and reunification of the army and country. ‘Strangers’ and Muslims should also have free access to all that is entitled to them.
This conflict once again showed the paralytic nature of the African Union; it has remained a toothless bulldog and paper tiger because it is only good in talk shops and at issuing communiqués. It takes the UN to intervene militarily – only after scores of deaths – before calm is restored. Now that the 600km-long buffer zone has been given the all-clear by the unity government, it will be wise for the French-led peacekeepers to prepare for home. In as much as the peacekeepers are needed for strengthening the fledging government, their activities should be taken up by the Ivorians themselves.
Lastly, France should show it cares for Ivory Coast by leading an international donor conference to raise funds for her former colony’s rehabilitation. Although anti-French sentiment has grown recently, a big brother’s help in revamping a once sound economy shall assure people that France’s proclamations of love for Ivory Coast are not hypocritical. If these are done in the right way, the world can effectively say: ‘Let there be unity, and there shall also be peace in Ivory Coast.’
Ukachukwu Okorie is originally from Nigeria. He writes a weekly column for Metro Eireann
olumoukachukwu@yahoo.com
