You can do it. Your birth name is not Mr. President after all, it is
Laurent Gbagbo. And as an ex-president you are still entitled to a
relatively long limousine. Yes there'll be fewer toys on offer, less
pomp, no sirens… but you certainly won't be destitute. Indeed,
Laurent, it may surprise you to realise that due to the scarcity of
African ex-presidents (your colleagues – for some reason – prefer to
retire to mausoleums) you may be in a position to commence a lucrative
career on the international circuit as a much fêted public speaker.
But you have to hurry. The window on the 'fêted' bit is closing fast,
especially if you provoke another crisis in that long-suffering
nation. You should know that presidents who precipitate unnecessary
war and bloodshed are no longer as hot as they used to be. Tony Blair
can barely walk an English street these days, how much more speak in a
British bookshop.
Your permanent address is not Abidjan's Presidential Palace, Laurent.
I know you have been there since 2000, but egos are pretty elastic
things. However large it may seem right now it will fit snugly into
more modest accommodation. The relocation of an ex-president is not
the end of his life. There are metropolitan examples of this and you
are welcome to look north to France as usual. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
was rejected as President of France at the 1981 polls. After the
dizzying spendours of the Palais de l'Élysée, in 1995 he returned to
local concerns, campaigning for election as mayor of Clermont-Ferrand.
Sadly he lost that election. But neither the shame of standing for
humble office nor the humiliation of losing it killed d'Estaing – and
that is the moral of this little anecdote...
....http://blogs.african-writing.com/chuma/?p=1433
--
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