Azikiwe: US using Ebola to advance its imperialist agenda in Africa

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Tuesday while commenting on President Barack Obama’s announcement that the US military will be involved in tackling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, arguing that it represents a serious national security concern.

“I believe this is just another means for the United States military intelligence’s deeper penetration of the African continent. Already the United States has military presence in Libra, in Sierra Leone, as well in the west African state of Nigeria, all of which have been… impacted by the epidemic of the Ebola virus,” Azikiwe said.

“The only way in which this disease can be tackled is through the proliferation of medical personnel, trained doctors, nurses, the development of the field hospitals and clinics, and through this process that the disease can be arrested,” he added.

“The reason why this disease is having such a traumatic impact on Africa… a lot of it is a direct result of colonialism and neocolonialism. It has been admitted by the World Health Organization, the MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders), the African regional organizations themselves, the fact that there are not adequate healthcare facilities in these various countries — adequate research facilities — so this disease can be tackled both through research as well as through medical treatment,” the civil rights activist noted.

“This treatment will be designed to contain a virus and also to eliminate it. But it’s not a military solution, it’s a medical solution, and the medical solution is definitely related to the lack of the development, the lack of resources in the entire region,” he stated.

 “The Ebola cases that have been sent to the Unites States for treatment have gotten very positive results and that’s directly related to the level of medical facilities and healthcare professionals that can address this issue,” Azikiwe said. “But it’s not a military issue, it’s a medical issue, and the medical issue is definitely related to the question of development in West Africa.”

“And this is the only way of which there would be a long-term solution for this crisis. The disease [at] this point is a threat for West Africa but it’s also an international threat because there’s no way it can be contained strictly in the West African region,” he emphasized.

“We go back to the question of adequate medical facilities and adequate medical personnel. So this is the real solution. And AFRICOM, the United States Army for Africa, these military intuitions are not established for  the purposes of healthcare, they are established for the purpose of carrying out the United States’ imperialist foreign policy in Africa. And this is just another mechanism for Barack Obama to move in that direction,” Azikiwe concluded.

Source: Press Tv