Revising history

"What is history but a fable agreed upon?"

---Napoleon Bonaparte.

Has any one of you wondered why the Sphinx by the Great Pyramid of Giza has no nose? According to the legend, when the great French general later to be emperor, Napoleon invaded Egypt, he was shocked to find that the Sphinx's nose had the distinct broad features of a Negro. This was in direct contradiction to the prevailing thinking at the time that Negro peoples had absolutely no history and that the ancient empire of Egypt for example had a Caucasian upper class who lorded it over subject peoples.

The Negro nose possessed by the Sphinx challenged that school of thought, so to remove any doubts in his mind, Napoleon had his soldiers break the nose off. As time has gone on since that incident in 1798, it has become accepted thinking that Rameses II was Caucasian. Recent archaeological evidence challenges that perception, but whole generations have come and gone in the 211 years since, who have believed with their entire souls that the Egyptian Empire was ruled by a Caucasian upper class. In that regard, Napoleon has successfully revised history. Of course that story is not exactly true as a Danish explorer, Frederic Norden made sketches of the Sphinx in 1737 and it was without a nose then. Napoleon was born in 1769. However, there are so many cases of history being rewritten to suit the whims of a conquering peoples.

Fast-forward the clock some 211 years, and there is a genuine attempt to rewrite the history books.

In Sierra Leone in May 1997, the government of Ahmed Tejan Kabbah was deposed by a rebel force led by John Paul Koromah. The 'international community' as is usual in such conflicts where Western interests are not directly affected, passed a token resolution imposing sanctions on Sierra Leone. Of course the rebels were unruffled. Everyone knows the script. The rebels were in control of the resources, and all they needed was to add some resolve to their rebellion, and it would just be a matter of time before the same international community came calling for a share of the spoils. So many criminals have been kept in power in Africa in such ways before, and probably quite a lot more would remain in power through such means.

Questions were raised about British involvement in the Sierra Leonean conflict when 11 British marines were kidnapped by a militia that was loyal to the ousted government, especially given the fact that the British involvement in Sierra Leone was officially non-combatant. However, credit given where credit is due, the British helped in the capture of Foday Sankoh, one of the rebel leaders.

In any event, the real credit for the restoration of democracy to Sierra Leone has to go to the Nigerian led ECOMOG Force. No one for sure knows how many Nigerian soldiers lost their lives in Sierra Leone, but what is certain is that Nigeria especially paid for Sierra Leonean democracy in cash and blood. Tejan Kabbah was restored to power in February 1998 after months of international dithering and 'consultations' failed to yield any positive results. The then BBC West Africa correspondent, Mark Doyle was full of praise of the Nigerian military prowess in his report which was published February 1998.

What beats me now, is an article my attention was brought to in the UK's Daily Telegraph which claims that democracy was restored to Sierra Leone only after British intervention.

Does this mean that Africans deserve no credit for their efforts?

Anyone who was not keenly following events in Sierra Leone at the time (or a participant) would easily be swindled by the Telegraph's story, but for crying out loud, this writer was witness to Sani Abacha receiving a hero's welcome in Freetown shortly before Tejan Kabbah was reinstated as president.

Where, when and who did the British REALLY fight against in Sierra Leone?

Were British troops on hand ANYWHERE in Sierra Leone to join the fighting during the 5-14 February 2008 effort by ECOMOG which led to the ouster of the Koroma-RUF junta from power?

Were the British part of the effort during the fierce street to street fighting to flush out the combination of renegade troops and RUF rebels from Freetown between Christmas and New Year 1998/9?

Did British troops fight the Revolutionary United Front alongside ECOMOG at ANYTIME between 1997 and 1999 at Lungi, Waterloo, Kissy, Port Loko, Kailahun, Kenema, Segbwema, Bo, Koidu, Pujehun and elsewhere?

Were the British party to the Lome Peace Accord of May 1999?

This is simply another effort to rewrite the history books and somehow write Africans out of what really happened.

Sources

1 - Daily Telegraph report http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/sierraleone/4863771/Sierra-Leone-targeted-by-Latin-American-drug-cartels.html

2 - Sierra Leone's Battle of Waterloo http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/241735.stm

3 - Britain's role in Sierra Leone http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/05/98/arms_to_africa_row/91060.stm