Sunday, October 23, 2011

LETS WATCH THE SPACE IN LIBYA

By: Qeko

Now that the Gaddafi regime has been dismantled by NATO led rebels from Benghazi in the eastern region of Libya, the next move by western nations led by Britain and France is the scrambling for OIL. The question of Oil will remain the major agenda in Libyan politics discourse because finally the west will have their hand in the administering of Libyan Oil through their companies. Many western nations led by the World Bank and IMF are reported in Tripoli trying to find out how they could help bring back the dismantled economy of Libya. Of many realises that these two institutions are in Libya not to help but to force the Libyan people implement some of the policies that have failed across Africa. We only wish if there could be somebody out there to civic educate the Libyan people this time around to be careful and not hand over the economy of their country to the IMF and the World Bank because African countries since independent they have lived at the mercies of these two lending institutions but their economies have never improved but instead nations have gone into economic crisis as never before.

Historians should be keen to see the repetition of history. In 1885 at the Berlin Conference the issue was land and today in Libya the question is OIL. While in 1885 it was about dividing African land, the 21st Century and mainly the Libyan neo colonial politics is about the big nations scrambling for the Libyan Oil. It is because of OIL that the western nations are in Libya and the world should watch this because the western nations have no love and regards for the Libyan apart from the OIL. If Libya was a poor country with no OIL, these nations could not have wasted their time and money to help fight war just as the west can not do a thing in many troubled African countries particularly Somalia. Western nations are getting into Libya not that they help the poor but for their own selfish economic gains just as they have done in many part of Africa. Now the question is what will happen to the Libyan people after their oil is taken away by the western companies? These companies will one day sell the Libyan people the very oil at a high price? Now below are the few points on what the Libyan people need to understand and know as they are building their nation.

Firstly is that they need to identify the type of democracy they would want to practice as a nation so that they effectively accommodate all the tribes even those who supported Gaddafi. The fact that Gadaffi tribes supported their son does not mean that they are less Libyans because they still remains Libyans and should be involved in mapping the future of a new Libya for all. The Politics of tribal segregation will lead to more bloodshed and instability.

Secondly is that they need to understand that everywhere the IMF and World Bank have gone, nations have never remained the same because of their harsh conditions. The IMF and World Bank will force the NTC to make sure that they hand over control of some key national Assets to the private sector and in this case, the western nations companies will come to Libya and buy all the key national assets and finally take over the nation economically. This will create a big gap between the rich and the poor just as is the case in many part of Africa due to the imposition of harsh condition by the IMF and the World Bank.

Thirdly is that the Libyan people should be ready for the western music called, “privatisation” where Libyan national assets will be put in market and those with money will buy them and in this regard, it will be big companies from Europe who will eventually control the market and economy of Libya. This means also that ordinary Poor people in Libya will not have access to the services renders by such facilities.

Fourthly is that some of the key items that privatization will focus on include, electricity, water, medical and education. These services were given free to the people by the Gadafi regime. Now the question is will the IMF allow that electricity, water, education and even medical be given free to the people? So the Libyan people need to get prepared because there are hard and difficult days ahead where in as much as Gadaffi was bad all his good services he provided will begin to be appreciated.

Finally as events unfold in Tripoli, we are watching this space to see what will be the next major thing to happen in Libya after the nation and its wealth get into the hands of the World Bank, IMF and western 21st neo-colonialism. Will the dismantling of the Gadaffi regime benefit the poor people in Libya or will this open a new chapter in the continual suffering for the people. Many analysts have said that the presence of the IMF and World Bank is a terrible signal for the Libyan poor people because these two lending institutions have conditions that don’t fit well with the poor. These two institutions have conditions that make forces nations to get into the 21st century economic slavery where the poor nations are at the mercy of the rich ones.

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