Dr. Arikana Chihombori: the unsung heroine of Africa

She will never get recognition in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean women have no vocabulary to appraise Dr. Chohombori breaking the glass-ceiling. The inner jealousy and the inherent envy among us women are so evident and revolting: we cannot even afford to suppress our envy or conceal it. The comment about Dr. Chihombori I got from a Zimbabweans is Dr. Chihombori is a prostitute! I said to myself, does that not sound like something I know? An African woman who shines in global platforms, by African standards and definitions must have slept around with big people and got herself the position of Ambassador to the USA. Dr. Arikana Chihombori was nominated by HE Dr. Nkosazana Zuma who was heading the African Union. My question is, did HE Dr. Arikana Chihombori bomb HE Dr. Nkosazana Zuma to get Ambassadorship in USA?

This is how women are reduced by men in a single sentence. Curiously, women are asked again by twisted men, to attack Dr. Chihombori and dress her down. Men ask women to do the job for them because they know how good, exact, penetrating insults; women can tear, thresh, bite, bend, until Dr Chihombori is in pieces and shreds of trash. When she succumbs, they will have a good laugh at her. She has been brought to size up with other women. Who is she? African women are not supposed to shine out other women. We are enemies of their own gender.

Dr. Chihombori is widely recognized as the great voice of reason in West African countries and the Diaspora. She is loved, appreciated and held high. She has become the voice that articulates the current political discourses especially in that region. Twinning together Dr. Chihombori and the Kenyan Professor Lumumba to one platform, illuminates hope in us who wish for a greater, prosperous and larger Africa.

Immediately after the subsequent coups in West Africa, preparations were made to invade Niger by ECOWAS at the behest of the former colonizer, France. Dr. Chihombori's authoritative voice crushed insidious acts behind-the back preparations to invade Niger. Nigeria and Ghana were at the forefront in deliberations to invade Niger, bank-rolled by France. African Presidents (appendages) conniving with France's assistance to invade Niger under the cover of reinstating democracy. The political leadership in ECOWAS countries are puppets of France sent on errands to bring mayhem in fragile west African countries marred by neo-colonialism: poverty, poor water and sanitation, and harrowing forms of exploitation including food insecurities.

Nigeria effected sanctions on Niger: they cut electricity export from Nigeria: it did not matter to President Tinubu how hospitals were affected because of power shortages with calculated intentions Niger will collapse; Niger did not, instead, it exposed African countries who were hell bent to destroy the newly coup leaders that were enviably supported by local people. They forgot, however, that a Nigerian pipeline cuts through Niger to reach the North African coast. These neighbour countries are economically, socially, and culturally interconnected: they need one another in several aspects of their daily living more than they need France and ECOWAS put together.

Forms of slavery in Africa has not changed with time but transformed in various subtle ways making it impossible to recognize consequences of being a neo-colonial hands-of-trust in the looting of gold, and uranium, leaving the owners of resources in abject poverty. It defeats the mind; how western democracies enjoy absolute opulence of civilization at the cost of abjectly poor Africa. Natural resources are looted openly. Several African politicians have challenged the unequal trade agreements and transactions of resources without much tangible benefit to local populations. Those African leaders who challenged the methods neo-colonizers use in looting the continent were eliminated and are now history: where is Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkruma, Sankara; just to name those few.

Dr. Chihombori is not only exceptionally intelligent, but a beautiful woman. She is a constant reminder of what Mrs. Winnie Madikizela Mandela embodied during her days fighting SA's apartheid. Her voice is eloquent: her themes, her gentle but commanding voice invites young Africans to listen to the voice of reason. It's luck like no other to have such a voice in the continent, that, after the death of Winnie Madikizela Mandela, we have Dr. Chihombori filling that gap that Winnie Mandela left. Just like Winnie Madikizela Mandela, Dr Chihombori's commitment is creating havoc in the conscience of colonial masters; her speeches are available in U-Tube media platforms. Amazing to us all is her tireless voice and her full presence in these delicate times of African revolution.  What a blessing: West African leaders need her advice. She recognizes military coups in west African countries not coups per se but a realignment. Wow!

Is Dr. Chihombori mothering young presidents in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Senegal? it appears her messages are well received, enjoyed and accepted. Bless Chihombori! She is speaking what we cannot do from our comfortable Diaspora confines. Chihombori is out there, putting herself in a dangerous disposition against France. She strongly advocates for change of mind of Africans because colonialists targeted our mindset; the first casualties of colonialism.
 
Colonialism taught an African that he/she is inherently inferior and will remain so. A century and half years are a long time to manipulate the African mind to believe she/he is an inferior being. An African must thrive better imitating what colonialists do. Time immemorial, Africans have been trying hard to "fit in" to the lives and the culture of colonial masters. They have fitted in, in several ways curiously. They speak colonial language and are proud to have mastered it: it is an acme of sophistication to articulate in Shakespear standards; and the accent together is a great achievement for the Africans. Christianity in Africa is a curse.

The themes that Dr. Chihombori emphasizes about Africa seem unlimited. Free trade is one of the most her important topics. Uranium cake that costs 0,80/kg Euro in Niger, will go at about 280/kg in France: is that not the definition of looting? Three bulbs lighting in every French household, one of them, energy is looted from the colonies. Much blame is given to African presidents who are merciless to their citizens, especially where looting is concerned. They connive with foreign companies to literally loot African resources at will: will be given a percentage to privately benefit own families.  It goes for other essential minerals including gold, cobalt, chrome, and lithium. What Dr. Chihombori is doing in West Africa must extend to Zimbabwe too. Chinese companies do not only loot Zimbabwean resources, but they also use cheap manpower to enrich themselves with resources that do not belong to them. The poor workers are even abused: the working conditions are inhuman, harsh and unhealthy. Dubious deals are made with indigenous politicians who benefit from loose cashflows from the mining constructors. (Mr. 10%) The environmental degradation due to Chinese mining activities have long term repercation in future. Our politicians are blind from environmental dangers, neglecting such degradations to take place in our countries. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander: Zimbabwe is a cause for concern. Dr. Chihombori, do your part in Zimbabwe equally. Advocacy is demanding in your backyard in Zimbabwe.

What is important when giving gratitude to Dr. Chohombori, is her unwavering commitment to the cause of African renaissance. We acknowledge her work deeply and are moved by activism in the entire African continent. Thank you very much, dear sister of the soil!