Yesterday Presidents Biya and Sarkozy took a commitment to chart new paths of cooperation. Today, July 14 is the French National Day, marking the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789 which put and end to the monarchy and brought in a republican and democratic form of government. It is a feast to which Frenchmen and women attach great importance and this year’s feast incidentally coincides with the 50th anniversary of the independence of the territories formerly colonized by France or those, as is the case with Cameroon, over which France administered by virtue of a League of Nations mandate or as a trust territory as per a United Nations resolution.

France has wanted this feast to be a great moment of celebration, not of colonialism, but as a way of abandoning the much-criticized paternalistic relationship previous French governments have often entertained with their former African possessions and which President Nicolas Sarkozy is wont on promoting. And indeed, the build-up to today’s event has not been without criticism. For example, a no-nonsense critic of “Françafrique” (a neologism referring to the ambiguous nature of relations referred to above) recently put the participation of these African nations at today’s feast to question. “But what is one celebrating”? That is what is read on the lemonade website which goes further to suggest that the “results of this half century of independence for involved people is not glorious for France; neither is it glorious for the African States”.

When, at 1pm yesterday, some 12 presidents and a defence minister arrived in the Elysée for a working lunch, the ritual could have gone for some form of marching orders reminiscences of the distant events of the immediate post-independence years for as much as a few minds could still capture when African Heads of State used to organized must-go pilgrimages to pay their alliances of sorts to French leaders. At the time, that was considered a condition sine-qua-non to stay in power.

But today, things are far from such a picture which looks rather cartoon-like. Yesterday, the presidents arrived by their order of seniority in office. The youngest in power, general Djibo Salou of Niger began at about 1pm and within ten minutes, all 11 other Heads of State had arrived in the following order: Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, Boni Yayi of Benin, François Bozizé of CAR, Faure Gnassingbé of Togo, Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali, Abdoulayé Wade of Senegal, Dénis Sassou-Nguesso of Congo, Idris Déby Itno of Chad, Blaise Compaoré of Burkina and Paul Biya of Cameroon who, as Doyen, arrived last.

Pré-carré is no more

Within minutes, president Sarkozy was in the banquet hall where he told his guests that the time when France treated African Heads of State as underdogs was over. Africa’s sheer demographic weight and its economic potential are enough to enable it command some respect, Mr Sarkozy said. He insisted that the notion of pré-carré, referring to the paternalistic treatment of African States by French officials, was a thing of the past. Proof of this is the fact that France is dismantling many of the military bases it maintained in African countries substituting that with other forms of cooperation by way of training of the various armed forces so that they can meet some of the challenges of the day such as terrorism and piracy.

The French president also announced that pensions for African ex-servicemen who fought numerous victorious wars under the French flag will henceforth be pegged on those of their French counterparts. The subject has been a hot-potato for a very long time , especially as several Africans have often slighted with the way and manner they have been treated, reduced to taking home catechist wages in the form of pensions whereas their French peers enjoyed fabulous benefits.

Gratitude

President Paul Biya who spoke on behalf of his African peers, acknowledged that colonization was not a long, quiet-flowing river. While some countries fought for independence, others were offered it. But for the Cameroonian leader, the essential thing is to look in the forward direction as France and African countries have resolved to do. He expressed the gratitude of the African countries to France for its role in spear-heading some issues of great concern to Africa? Singling out the key role France played in the cancellation of debt which opened new avenues for economic prosperity in several countries. (See full speech)

Later yesterday afternoon, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the French First Lady hosted a friendly meeting of wives of Heads of State. Mr Michel Kazatchine, Executive Director of the World Fund for AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis took part in the meeting. Mrs Bruni- Sarkozy is World Ambassador for the protection of mothers and children against AIDS. Mrs Chantal Biya, who is the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for human suffering and AIDS, must have had very useful exchanges during the close-door meeting.