THE BUILDING OF THE AFRICAN UNION HEADQUATRES: OH MY AFRICA

THE BUILDING OF THE AFRICAN UNION HEADQUATRES: OH MY AFRICA 

[First posted 13th August 2022]

Do you know that the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where African leaders converge to discuss affairs concerning Africa biannually and which also serves as a conference center for African and diaspora businesses, were built and donated by the Chinese government? The magnificient building was started in 2009 and completed in 2012 at a cost of 200 million dollars. The architect was Chinese, the designer was Chinese, and the builders were Chinese. We are saying that the 55 African states could not provide 200 million dollars to African architects, engineers, or bricklayers to build what is supposed to be Africa's most important building. It is not all. The Chinese government also installed all the computer and communication gadgets in the building via Chinese computer experts. 

"In 2018, the French newspaper Le Monde reported that China had installed listening devices in its headquarters. The report alleged that servers in the AU headquarters were secretly sending data to a computer system in Shanghai each night between midnight and 2 a.m." The Chinese government denied this and other allegations of spying on the African Union. Despite all these allegations, the heads of the 55 African states have continued to meet at least twice a year in a building that needs only a Chinese to repair a faulty microphone. 

This is what happens when people lose their culture and identity. This is what happens when people wake up every morning to remind their children that they are slaves, third class citizens of the world, and creatures of a lesser God. This is what happens when people are brainwashed to believe that they do not have what it takes to solve their day-to-day wahalas by themselves. This is what happens when a people's educational or academic curriculum is designed by foreigners. This is what happens when people cut themselves off from their ancestors. This is what happens when people depend on a savior who does not live in them. The poor man is not the one without money, but the one who has lost a sense of dignity and shame. 

Fada Angelo Chidi Unegbu 

August 2022