Seun Kuti and Bro. Diallo Expose Scammers Exploiting Pan-Africanism on ‘Bird’s Eye View’

Every ideology is susceptible to being exploited and manipulated for personal gains and other toxic reasons. In the second episode of OkayAfrica’s podcast show, Bird’s Eye View, hosts Seun Kuti and Diallo “Bro. Diallo” Kenyatta break down the myriad of scams taking place both in the name of, and against Pan-Africanism.

The episode opens with an amusing sketch ad for a dishonest pro-Black subscription, leading into a freewheeling discussion on the types of scams affecting Black people everywhere. “I think one of the key characteristics – if you’re approached by or are seduced by or attracted to a scammer – is panacea,” Bro. Diallo says in the opening minutes of the episode. “Scammers tend to offer a singular or a small set of solutions to a wide-ranging, systemic problem.”

Both hosts delve into this initial summary motion, noting that Pan-Africanism scammers often promote their own remedies, which they tout as the ultimate answers. Kuti and Kenyatta tersely expose the underlying ineffectiveness of these ideas, rolling through them in dismissive terms.

On a systemic level, they touch on the longstanding practice of misogynoir that unjustly lays the blame for all the ills of the global Black community at the feet of Black women. They also discuss the decolonization scam, citing the late, great Pan-African thought leader John Henrik Clarke, who coined the term “flag independence” in relation to colonial powers keeping control over the affairs of their former colonies and entrenching neo-colonialism.

The latter ties into autocratic leaders who make being anti-Western a big part of their agenda, but can’t necessarily be referred to as paragons of leadership. Burkina Faso’s head of state Ibrahim Traore, widely beloved among many African youth despite noticeable foibles, gets a nod here, but it’s the former, late Congolese dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, that gets the ignominy of being explored as a pan-Africanist scammer that was installed by the west in service of ousting Congo’s revered, first Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and keeping the central African country in a constant state of violent crisis.

Following exchanges on ecofascism, the imbalance of climate change responsibility, and the nonsensical belief that Africans are the world’s leading financial scammers, Kuti leads this week’s edition of ‘All Praises Due,’ giving a lesson on Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first Prime Minister – and also regarded by Bird’s Eye View hosts as the first Black president in last week’s debut episode.

Kuti speaks to Nkrumah’s rise as a pioneering pan-African force on the continent, shedding light on his relationship with Henrik Clarke to show the longstanding ties between Black people in crucial times, and the late icon’s vision for a united continent that would form the strong foundation for a dignified global Black community.

Watch episode two of Bird's Eye View here.