Friday, October 31, 2014

Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso




At long last Blaise Compaore, the cold-blooded dictator of Burkina Faso, is gone, even though he has been replaced by someone of the system that France put in place. Even so, the ultimate objective of Burkinabes should be to dismantle the system and replace it with a progressive one that nullifies the enslaving Colonial Pact and that ensures democracy, freedom, liberty, transparency, economic progress, technological openness and fiscal responsibility for the country.

Compaore came to power almost three decades ago by killing the popular former president Sankara (he was very close to him) in a French-sponsored coup against claims that Sankara was a Marxist.

In most countries in Francophone Africa, France and some Western governments have their puppets who have been in power for decades and who during their rules have been impoverishing their people, selling off their country's resources, saving the wealth they loot from their home countries  in foreign banks and buying properties and businesses abroad (Paul Biya of Cameroon—32 years, Eyademas of Togo—4 decades, Bongos of Gabon—5 decades—Sassou Nguesso of Congo Brazzaville—31/2 decades, Derby of Chad—21/2 decades etc.

It does not come as a surprise that the people are fed up with the paralysis in their home countries that is caused by political leaderships that don’t have a clue what good governance is all about and have no idea when it comes to moving their countries forward into the 21st century by using the power they usurped, power that is supposed to be used to make it impossible for hard-working citizens to live a decent life. These puppets are in power to safeguard the benefits France gets from its former colonies as spelt out in the “Colonial Pact”, which France imposed on its colonies before granting them independence in the 1960s.

While Burkina Faso would be remembered in  African history  and more especially  in Francophone African history as the  first country where an Francophone African dictator was forced to step  down due to a popular revolt by the masses he had been oppressing and suppressing with the help of foreign interest groups,  the  event today should be looked upon as the precedence in the struggle to free Africa from tyranny, a liberating fervor that would see the “Power of the People” confining  other dictatorships like those of Paul Biya of Cameroon, the Eyademas of  Togo, the Bongos of Gabon, the Kabilas of Congo-Kinshasa, Sasse Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville, Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea, Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan, Idris Derby of Chad, Yahya Jammeh of Gambia, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and other less vile figures in the African political scene, confined to the dirt heaps of history.  Hopefully, the less vile African leaders would not transform into the leeches that the afore-mentioned have become, while tapping on the tacit and open blessings of foreign entities that besides safeguarding their inhuman interests through deals with these clueless dictators, might even be gleeful that these monsters epitomize Africa and Africans.

The day the 32-year rule of French-imposed Paul Biya of Cameroon is brought to an end and the six-decade old anachronistic French-imposed dismantled, would be the beginning of true freedom, prosperity and democracy in Francophone Africa. 

Blaise Compaore was imitating Paul Biya of Cameroon when he tried to get around the two-term limit on the presidency as spelt out in the constitution he approved hardly a decade ago. He failed, but Paul Biya of Cameroon did not. The Cameroonian president changed his constitution once again in 2008, allowing him to get two more seven-year terms in office through elections that are nothing but masquerades and a sacrilege to democracy, a farce that he has always pulled off with messages of congratulation from his foreign backers. Even though Cameroonians protested and 150 were killed that February 2008, Paul Biya went ahead with his plan and changed the constitution, and then faked elections again in October 2011, after which he promised Cameroonians another victory in 2018, when he would be 85 years old. He has continued imposing himself on the people, with the backing of France, the corporate world and other Western governments. And today, Cameroon, one of Africa’s most resources-rich (human and material) countries, is almost a failed state with the worst brain drain rate in Africa and without a sense of direction.

In a world devoid of hypocrisy, human leeches like these psychopaths posing as African heads of state would not be tolerated by powers who brandish human values as the corner stone of their advanced cultures or civilization. It is about time the leadership of the cultured world understand that their interests are best safeguarded in a world and more especially in an Africa where the vast majority of the people have a stake in the progress of their countries.

October 31, 2014

Janvier Tchouteu-Chando is a pro-Democracy advocate and the author of author of “FALLEN HEROES: African Leaders Whose Assassinations Disarrayed the Continent and Benefitted Foreign Interests” , “Triple Agent Double Cross”, “The Union Moujik”, “and Disciples of Fortune”.                                


 

Disciples of Fortune

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

"THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL" Quotes

 THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Writers understand the world better, but they lack the strength to change it. Perhaps that is so because they understand their limitations more than others.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Having a deep sense of understanding is a huge burden for a mind that can’t directly influence things.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Kindness is a source of relief to the soul of the giver, creating a sense of fortitude that is incomprehensible to those who do not know what kindness is all about.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Even the enslaved peoples of the world wouldn’t be held down if they stop thinking that they are partly to blame for their plight."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“Why do we complicate life, when it was meant to be very simple?"
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


We, humans, have come up with so many superficialities that are completely unnecessary for our existence and happiness on earth.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Whenever you think of something bigger than yourself or bigger than one person, know that you are weaving ideas. Revolutionary ideas are those that we weave to better the wellbeing of humankind or a broad spectrum of the people of this world who even, may know nothing about it.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

In today’s world, human desires far supersede human needs. Waste, as you can see, is the result of that disparity.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Writers are the most tormented of all the different categories of artists that are out there in the world.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

“…a writer, like most artists, needs a partner who can act as the fuel to his artistic mind and soul, yet has the great ability to sober him up and help him be in sync with the non-artistic part of his soul.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

Man craves joy far more than anything else in life, but there is nothing as madly intoxicating as the feeling of joy that comes from the soul.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


There are people we should deal with on conditional bases, my dear Tania. These people come in different forms. You will come across those who lag behind because it is their fault; you will also come across those who are a reminder of where we come from. They are the ones to come to terms with by being true to ourselves and by heeding our consciences. And now, the other!”

“What other?”

“There are also those who remind us of where we don’t want to be by consciously or unconsciously keeping us connected to our nightmares. They are the ones to avoid.” 
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL 


Singers, actors or artists who touch on sorrow are trying to give comfort to aggrieved souls by giving some meaning to their sorrows.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“With true love, you can move mountains, make unusual sacrifices, live a life of deprivations and still be happy.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


A man can’t talk of true happiness if he has never known true love—the trusting, selfless and unconditional love that I took for granted.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“…the truest feeling of happiness is the security that comes with being loved.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Most people live lives that are full of mysteries, lives whose ultimate purpose we may never really understand. But for the sake of serenity, we must believe in life’s nobleness.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


.. People who are the spices of this world are the natural souls with instincts and impulses that have not been pruned by evolution and civilization.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“The writer is the cursed artist of the soul. The expression of his art is a reflection of his quest to understand man by unraveling the mysteries that have been haunting humankind from time immemorial. In the end of his journey to understand man, the writer becomes more human even though his soul ends up finding less peace.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

“Perhaps fate has a way of turning things around and making something good out of the action of someone who failed humanity without meaning to.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

Never allow yourself to be sapped of your extraordinary energy that is the necessary ingredient for creating something new and progressive.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

I think preconceived ideas or prejudgments are meant to give us an edge whenever we are dealing with others we don’t know or haven’t made the effort to understand."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

The selfish and self-centered have a hard time being kind, even though you and I know that kindness is a source of relief to the soul.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL
…our recollections bring out our joyful smiles, but hardly make us chortle or guffaw; our recollections often leave imprints on our faces that show our regrets, but they hardly  produce sounds that echo the depth of those regrets.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Some honest people think it is better to know the ways of the devil without being evil.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


There is nothing as discouraging as treading a path that you know leads to nowhere.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

Writers are the most pathetic souls when it comes to expressing their own feelings. Their personalities are as complex as the characters they weave.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Our preconceptions sometimes stem from our ignorance, insecurity or a complex of inferiority.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


"...a woman he hurt badly decades ago thought he was a lethally good soul that no woman could afford to love. She was right in a way. Notwithstanding the women whose hearts he could not satisfy, I still regard Uncle Paul as an instinctively good person capable of hurtful actions, a wandering soul lost in a conflict within, a heart that has been weeping internally for the mistakes he could not undo, and a restive spirit that could only be calmed by rue. At the end of the day, I love him for finally admitting to himself that his love could not be relied upon..."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

“We still need to give our best to life even if we do not understand the purpose of our existence on earth.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

Most of the truly kind people of this world show some measure of discomfort when offered kindness. Their gratitude stems not only from their understanding of the depth of the force of kindness, but also from their conviction that kindness should not be taken for granted.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


"The scrupulous survivors in life are the best counterweight to unscrupulous survivors."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“When we tend to be too hard on those we love, we erode the softness of our souls in the process, taking out the humanity within us that is the nucleus of our goodness, even if our actions are for their own sake.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“…reality is the make-believe of the majority that can only thrive in conformity.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


The true leaders of our time, the legends of this world or the movers of the movers are the towering figures that are blessed with beautiful minds, receptive ears and directing voices. They are the ones we should emulate in life.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Don’t be afraid of those failures that do not lead to a loss of life or that do not incapacitate people."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“…reality is the make-believe of the majority that can only thrive in conformity.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


So, you see; you have the soul of a missionary, the heart of a revolutionary and the mind of a reformer. But what are you to yourself and the family and friends who will always be there for you?”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“At what point is normal natural?"
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“Isn’t reality based on the prevailing culture, the trend that people want to identify with?”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

Never give up the freeness of your soul. Live your duty to mankind, nurture creatures of this world as a true mother of the earth, but never shut your imagination off from those desires that distinguish you from the ordinary. Never allow yourself to be sapped of that extraordinary energy that is the necessary ingredient for creating something new and progressive."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Hold onto your creativity, that idealism that is rooted in some degree of innocence and a firm belief in something finer than the things we already have.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


There is no bigger gratification than the realization of the things you believe in after overcoming all the odds.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


In your selflessness pursuit of things higher than yourself, you appear selfish or inconsiderate to those who truly love you and who have cared deeply about you from the first day you came into their lives."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Avoid people who hurt from an impulse. I mean people who have this tendency to relish their capacity to hurt the good souls of this world, and who after hurting, wake up the next day without a trace of despondent brooding, and then move on with life never thinking that they should show some remorse or try to repent.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL



Life is full of intriguing souls that you cannot penetrate… An uncomfortable percentage of those anguished and impregnable souls also have suffering hearts that are further tormented by a deluded mind. They will hurt out of an impulse, and then live their lives after that without the slightest remorse.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


We need the wisdom to accept the fact that this world abounds with issues we cannot solve; and we need to part ways with those people, ideas and things that are a vexation to the soul.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


In dealing with others, man is inherently a slave to his preconceptions, to the stereotypes he became familiar with that made life easier for him to comprehend.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

Most people have this tendency to make judgments on others based on preconceptions, especially when they are dealing with them for the first time."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

“The narrow-minded find it convenient to create stereotypes, and then try to fit everybody, everything and every situation into those stereotypes."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL

Judgments based on preconceptions make life simple for us to deal with since that means we safely shield ourselves behind barriers of preconception that helped us feel safe in whatever views or assumptions we are having."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Life is a mighty joke that is not meant to be funny."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Some people live their memorable years fighting against their basic instincts only to succumb in the end to what was actually good for them.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“There are people who bring joy to our lives, but who fail to make us happy. They are the people for the moment. Never rely on their love because it is not sustainable. Their love is like a comet that illuminates the sky, but then fades away because it lacks the sustainable energy of the sun."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


In the world of today, human desires far supersede human needs. Waste, as you can see, is the result of all of those contradictions. That is how we ended up complicating our world.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Societies and people that come close to being happy are those that do well in narrowing the disparity between their desires and their needs, especially the material things of life.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


When somebody you love dies, a phase of life’s innocence dies with that person, and a part of you dies as well.
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


We always emerge from the death of a loved one like a phoenix arising from its funeral pyre."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Writers are the most tormented of all the different categories of artists that are out there in the world.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


“Having a deep sense of understanding is a huge burden for a mind that can’t directly influence things.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Writers are the most pathetic souls when it comes to expressing their personal feelings. Their personalities are as complex as the characters they have weaved. And in a curious way, without them really knowing it, writers are the sum total of the characters they created in their heads or in their writings. Yes, My Dear Tania; writers are capable of reflecting their characters, even though most of them are determined to be just like your ordinary guy next door.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


A writer needs a partner who can act as fuel to his artistic mind, yet has the great ability to sober him up and help him be in sync with the non-artistic part of his soul."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL


Male writers who never find the stabilizing force of an understanding woman in their lives usually end up as the jaded figures of their days, the types who give much artistic expression to the world, but who are lonely in their overcrowded worlds of love."
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL



When singers, actors or artists touch on sorrow, they are trying to give comfort to aggrieved souls by giving some meaning to their sorrows. The job of the singer, actor or artists ,in general, is to make us comfortable with our feelings or emotions―be it pain, hurt, anger, hatred, sadness, pleasure, love, cheerfulness or joy.”
                                                               THE GIRL ON THE TRAIL



The Girl on the Trail

The Girl on the Trail

by Janvier Chouteu-Chando