Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com> wrote:
>Ogugua,
>
>I appreciate your intervention. I used that language not out of anger but
>intentionally to respond in kind to Abdulkarim Bangura, who in his usual
>coarse manner chose to reduce a serious issue (and a carefully expressed
>position) to religious motivation even though there is absolutely nothing
>religious about my or anyone's interventions so far. I mean, Mr. Soro, the
>man whose choice as Ouattara's Prime Minister I critiqued is a Christian!
>And I outlined my reasons for opposing his appointment clearly: his being
>the leader of the New Forces and his Northern origin and his regional and
>political kinship with Ouattara. I won't question your motive, but I am
>surprised that you failed to comment on Bangura's provocative and insulting
>remark to Gloria about my motive for critiquing Ouattara's appointment of
>Mr. Soro as Prime Minister or for my reservation about Mr. Ouattara. I
>clearly stated my reason for that reservation (his Bretton Woods baggage)
>and followed it up by stating that Gbagbo should vacate office and the
>rightfully elected man (Ouattara) should take over. Yet, somehow, Bangura,
>who cannot see beyond religion--*largely* foreign religions I might add,
>located my position in Islamophobia. Is that what you call civilized
>discourse? Is that respectful? Gloria, my interlocutor in the conversation,
>did not impute any primordial and sinister motive to me, only outlining her
>take. But Abdulkarim Bangura rudely barged into the discussion to label me.
>By the way, I mean every word I used to describe Bangura's antics on this
>forum. It's all true.
>
>2010/12/7 Anunoby, Ogugua <AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu>
>
>> "Intellectual rascality", "resort so cheaply to emotional blackmail",
>> "easily run out of ideas and logic", project your emotional sympathies",
>> your thinking pedestrian and self-absorbed".
>>
>>
>>
>> MEO
>>
>>
>>
>> All the above are in my opinion, over-the top and untoward language. Forum
>> participants should be more respectful of one another. They must avoid the
>> use of abusive and incendiary words and language when words and language
>> that edify and enrich conversations and debates are more appropriate, more
>> helpful, and readily available.
>>
>> It is always possible to disagree with others respectfully. Civility and
>> facts should be evident and palpable in sound intellectual discourse. There
>> should be no place for anger and rancor in this Forum's exchanges.
>>
>> The political situation in Cote d'Ivoire is grave and precarious. Mr.
>> Gbagbo and Mr. Quattara must not forget that they are both dispensable
>> assets. They must recognize that their fellow citizens have suffered enough
>> and deserve to be allowed to continue eke out a living, in a relatively well
>> endowed country, in peace.
>>
>>
>>
>> oa
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:
>> usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Moses Ebe Ochonu
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 07, 2010 8:40 AM
>>
>> *To:* usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
>> *Subject:* Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Coup d'état in Cote d'Ivoire
>>
>>
>>
>> Abdul, you can't help exhibiting your intellectual rascality even if you
>> tried, can you? You should be shamed for resorting so cheaply to emotional
>> blackmail in such a serious continental matter. Why do you easily run out of
>> ideas and logic and why are you so quick to project your primordial and
>> emotional sympathies unto others? You're pathetic. What a disgrace to
>> scholarship! Apart from childishly dropping names, bashing Obama, and
>> announcing your every personal move condescendingly to your peers as if
>> you're on twitter or facebook, what do you do on this forum? You add nothing
>> of value to discussions on this listserv. Your prose is challenged, your
>> thinking pedestrian and self-absorbed. So what are you good for? Go get a
>> life. Not everyone is as obsessed with religious determinism as you are!
>>
>> 2010/12/7 Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com>
>>
>> Gloria,
>>
>>
>>
>> I recognize that offering jobs to members of Mr. Gbagbo's
>> government/cabinet (in addition to Soro, Ouattara has reportedly offered
>> jobs to other Gbagbo cabinet members) may be a shrewd political move, but
>> appointing Mr. Soro in particular as the prime minister is not in the spirit
>> of reconciliation and may stoke future crisis. Mr. Soro is no supporter of
>> Gbagbo and is not a Southerner; he is/was a New Force leader who was
>> representing the New Force and the North in the unity/transition government.
>> As you know, Gbagbo only reluctantly accepted this arrangement. Gbagbo may
>> have been rejected by the majority of the voters, but in the South, he
>> enjoys fanatical support. So Southerners will likely interpret the
>> (re)appointment of Soro as a deliberate affront on them. So, far from a wise
>> move, appointing a leader of the New Forces whose political constituency is
>> in the North to the second highest office in the country is a potentially
>> escalatory provocation. I recognize that Ouattara is probably trying to
>> ensure the realization of his mandate by pandering to the major political
>> figures in the country in order to isolate Mr. Gbagbo, but at what cost? At
>> the cost of peace and unity? If the appointment holds, would it not amount
>> to alienating and marginalizing the Southern half of the country? You'll
>> have two figures who essentially represent the political interests of the
>> New Forces and their allies occupying the two most powerful offices in the
>> country. Political pragmatism calls for a regionally representative
>> government in which the top two posts of president and prime minister are
>> occupied by a Northerner (New Force sympathizer--Ouattara) and a Southerner
>> or someone with a political constituency in the South of the country. I fear
>> that Ouattara may have sown the seed for more division. As dictatorial as
>> Gbagbo was, he reluctantly accepted Soro as his prime minister because he
>> saw that without sharing power with the New Forces/North, the country would
>> remain divided and may implode. Mr. Ouattara ought to do be inclusive and
>> not pander to his New Force supporters.
>>
>> 2010/12/6 Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 'What sane logic explains the appointment of Guilliame Soro, the leader
>> of the New Force rebel force, as the Prime Minister?' Ochonu
>>
>>
>> In fact, appointing Guilliaume Soro was a shrewd move, if you note that
>> Soro was Prime Minister
>> in the Gbagbo regime for the last three years, in the spirit of
>> reconciliation.
>>
>> Ouattara won the election outright. Not only did he get support from the
>> North
>> but also from Bedie's Baule supporters in the Center.He also got huge
>> supporters in the South.
>> Bedie apparently agreed with Ouattara on this move.
>>
>>
>> Gloria Emeagwali
>> www.africahistory.net<http://www.africahistory.net/>
>> ________________________________
>> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [
>> usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Moses Ebe Ochonu [
>> meochonu@gmail.com]
>> Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 3:46 PM
>> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
>> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Coup d'état in Cote d'Ivoire
>>
>>
>> Even though Mr. Ouattara's IMF association is worrying, especially in light
>> of the enthusiastic and uncharacteristically hasty and unequivocal support
>> for his victory, this is democracy and there is a sacred quality to the
>> democratically expressed will of the electorate. The people of Ivory Coast
>> have a right to choose any eligible Ivorian of whatever pedigree and
>> professional calling to lead them. In the interest of democracy and respect
>> for the will of the majority, Gbagbo must vacate the presidency for the
>> apparent winner.
>>
>> That said, Mr. Ouattara's first act as the elected president is scandalous
>> to say the least and raises concern that, like Gbagbo, he may quickly
>> transition from respected opposition leader and intellectual to a divisive
>> egomaniac concerned only about political self-preservation. What sane logic
>> explains the appointment of Guilliame Soro, the leader of the New Force
>> rebel force, as the Prime Minister? Is this not a recipe for further crisis?
>> Instead of appointing someone from the South in a gesture of inclusion and
>> national unity, Mr. Ouattarra has chosen the leader of the northern rebel
>> movement that is widely despised in the South, ensuring that the positions
>> of president and prime minister are located in the hands of people with
>> political constituencies in the North and with sympathies to the New Forces.
>>
>> I don't understand the political wisdom or the altruistic patriotism of
>> this move. Time will tell. But I am not yet impressed with Mr. Ouattara's
>> ability to forge peace and reconciliation in the fractious country.
>>
>> 2010/12/5 Abdul Karim Bangura <theai@earthlink.net<mailto:
>> theai@earthlink.net>>
>>
>> Thanks a heap for this press release, Mwalimu Ibrahim. I will cite it
>> tonight during my Al Jazeera International TV interview on Cote d'Ivoire. I
>> had been on the show a couple of nights ago to discuss this crisis. As you
>> may not know, I have been working with peace groups and women's cooperatives
>> all over the country for many years and I had just returned from there a
>> couple of days before the election. I am being updated by our folks in the
>> country minute-by-minute.
>>
>> Gbagbo will go sooner than he thinks!!!. We have a Conversation On Africa
>> meeting tomorrow in Washington, DC to strategize about how to put pressure
>> inside and outside the country to make him stand down faster.
>>
>> In Peace Always,
>> Abdul Karim Bangura/.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 4th December
>> 2010
>> Press Release
>> Coup d'état in Cote d'Ivoire
>> Jibrin Ibrahim PhD
>> Director
>> Centre for Democracy and Development
>> Today, 4th December 2010, the spectre of renewed bloody conflict emerged in
>> Cote d'Ivoire following the illegal swearing of Mr Laurent Gbagbo as
>> President of the country. This followed the closure of the country's borders
>> by the army and the declaration of a curfew the night before the November
>> 28th second round presidential elections. Gbagbo supporters have also jammed
>> all foreign radio broadcasts to stop citizens listening to the condemnation
>> of the Coup d'état.
>>
>> The Electoral Commission had declared Alassane Quattara winner of the polls
>> with 54.1% of the popular vote in last Sunday's elections. During the
>> initial public presentation of the results, a supporter of Mr Gbagbo had
>> seized and torn the result sheets to shreds as if to announce to the whole
>> world that they would not accept the verdict of the ballot box.
>> Subsequently, Mr Gbagbo got his cronies in the Constitutional Council to
>> annual Quattara's votes before the Electoral Commission had even transmitted
>> the tally to them and declared Gbagbo elected.
>>
>> The United Nations, which closely followed the collation of the votes, has
>> however affirmed that the Electoral Commission is right; Mr Quattara won the
>> presidential elections. The Peace and Security Council of the African Union
>> in a press release today has clearly "condemned the usurpation of the
>> popular will of the people in Cote d'Ivoire."
>>
>> At the same time, ECOWAS which deployed a major Observer Team for the
>> elections for the elections has reaffirmed its commitment "to ensure
>> peaceful and democratic election in line with the ECOWAS Declaration on
>> Political Principles and the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good
>> Governance." In addition, it very clearly "strongly condemns any attempt to
>> usurp the popular will of the people of Côte d'Ivoire and appeals to all
>> stakeholders to accept the results declared by the electoral commission."
>>
>> In pursuit of this objective, ECOWAS has convened the Authority of Heads of
>> State and Government to an Extraordinary Summit in Abuja, Nigeria on
>> Tuesday, 7th December, 2010 with the sole objective of examining the
>> situation and deciding on subsequent action on the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire
>> in accordance with the ECOWAS relevant texts.
>>
>> The Centre for Democracy and Development calls on ECOWAS under Nigeria's
>> presidency to act decisively:
>>
>> 1. In affirming the victory of Alassane Quattara as the duly elected
>> President of Cote d'Ivoire.
>> 2. In taking immediate steps condemning the coup d'état and suspending Cote
>> d'Ivoire from ECOWAS until there is a return to the constitutional order.
>> 3. To take proactive steps to immediately remove Laurent Gbagbo from
>> power and install Alassane Quattara who the International Contact Group as
>> well as the Ivorian Electoral Commission have declared as the duly elected
>> president of the country.
>>
>> It is important to recall that the elections in Cote d'Ivoire are part of
>> the long and pain staking attempts to save the country from the ravages of
>> civil war following Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to hold elections for five
>> successive years after his last electoral mandate expired in 2005. Cote
>> d'Ivoire is a country that was not too long ago one of the shining stars of
>> stability and prosperity in the West African region. This history was
>> shattered when war broke out between the between the government-controlled
>> Southern army and the Forces Nouvelles (New Forces) controlled by the
>> Northerners. The human carnage and heavy collateral damage associated with
>> the conflict was unprecedented. West Africa cannot afford a return to civil
>> war.
>>
>> The coup which brought General Robert Guei to power in December 1999
>> erupted just before the general elections slated for 2000. General Guei who
>> had promised to stay in power only to "sweep the house clean" took all by
>> surprise when he indicated his interest to run in the elections. He
>> disqualified Quattara from standing in the October 2000 elections, via a
>> politically manipulated Supreme Court judgment, on the grounds that the
>> latter's mother was from Burkina Faso. The exclusion prompted Quattara's RDR
>> to call for a boycott of the elections. General Guei's attempt to stop the
>> elections in which early results indicated Gbagbo was winning led to
>> widespread protests and violent demonstrations by Gbagbo's FPI against him.
>> Guei was assassinated and Gbagbo emerged as President who maintained the
>> exclusion policy. The result was civil war. A second exclusion of Quattara
>> in a context in which he had already won a free and fair election would
>> definitely precipitate civil war if pro-active measures are not taken to
>> restore the sovereignty of the Ivorian people.
>>
>>
>>
>> Jibrin Ibrahim PhD
>> Director
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Toyin Falola
>> Department of History
>> The University of Texas at Austin
>> 1 University Station
>> Austin, TX 78712-0220
>> USA
>> 512 475 7224
>> 512 475 7222 (fax)
>> http://www.toyinfalola.com/
>>
>> www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa<http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
>> >
>>
>> http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
>> For current archives, visit
>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>> For previous archives, visit
>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>
>> To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>> <mailto:USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
>>
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>
>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com<mailto:unsubscribe@googlegroups.com>
>>
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
>> For current archives, visit
>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>> For previous archives, visit
>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>
>> To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>> <mailto:USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
>>
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>
>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com<mailto:unsubscribe@googlegroups.com>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's
>> greed.
>>
>>
>> ---Mohandas Gandhi
>>
>> --
>>
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
>> For current archives, visit
>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>> For previous archives, visit
>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>> To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
>> For current archives, visit
>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>> For previous archives, visit
>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>> To post to this group, send an email to
>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's
>> greed.
>>
>>
>> ---Mohandas Gandhi
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's
>> greed.
>>
>>
>> ---Mohandas Gandhi
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
>> For current archives, visit
>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>> For previous archives, visit
>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>> To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
>> For current archives, visit
>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>> For previous archives, visit
>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>> To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>
>
>
>
>--
>There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's
>greed.
>
>
>---Mohandas Gandhi
>
>--
>You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
> To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment