*When U.S. President Barack Obama left office and President Trump succeeded, I felt Africa would miss him and that is stating the obvious. Obama’s government and that of his predecessors had curtailed coups in Africa and instead advocated for Democracy.
I remember Obama warning Nigeria of a fair election that ushered in President Buhari in which he quoted the then famous Nigerian government’s civil war slogan…”To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done.” I am not convinced that Trump will be bothered about Zimbabwe.
He only wants to make America great again. I haven’t been a fan of Mugabe (my cartoons have not been kind to him) neither would Bob Marley. If he was still with us today, would he like what’s going on in this Southern Africa nation and even before then? After all, he did a recording for the liberation of Zimbabwe from colonial rule.
The overthrow of Mugabe is a coup in all but name and has been carried out with boldness and precision and thank God it’s bloodless. This was carried out perhaps with the Military knowing that the not so caring US leader and the rest of the Western leaders have enough on their plates to be bothered, well except for their citizens living there. Then again, Mugabe had not helped himself through his years of leadership since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980. I found it bothering that his wife was being eased into the position of a future leader of Zimbabwe without concern for proper democratic transition through the silencing of opposition leaders by Mugabe’s government.
Lest I forget, Mugabe evicted Zimbabwean White farmers from their lands and passed on to Black Zimbabwean Farmers, after which the nation’s economy nose-dived and has since not recovered. My cartoons of Mugabe have been mostly negative towards his actions to his own people. I do not do biased cartoons to please everyone because of my African heritage. One cartoon that I have been criticised for is the one I drew of Mugabe with horns on his head for his eviction of White farmers. Another cartoon of of Mugabe which has stood the test of time is the Jurassic leadership cartoon drawn after I had watched the Jurassic Park movie, the first of the sequels many years back. It was obvious that the weakened Mugabe was being propped up as a leader in his old age.
Albeit many will be happy to see the back of Mugabe, I wonder if there will be more coups to follow in Africa. It’s worrying times in Africa and as such, Africans and the world should be worried. Now that the dinosaur has been removed, what next Zimbabwe, what next Africa? A crocodile?
EURweb.com contributor, TAYO Fatunla is an award winning Nigerian Comic Artist, writer and illustrator and Editorial cartoonist. He is a graduate of the prestigious U.S. Art school, The Kubert School, New Jersey. His cartoons are used for educational purposes in school books, Newsletters, journals and for presentations – www.tayofatunla.com
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