Thomas Sankara: An African Hero

“We have to dare to invent the future . . . Everything that we are capable of imagining we are also capable of attaining.” President Thomas Sankara

Unapologetic in his love for Africa. Uncompromising in his defense of African Interests. Upright in his stance on African values and principles, this is the historic account of an African hero who is rarely talked about but whose record speaks for itself.

Thomas Sankara was the victorious military genius whose valiant conduct and strategy during a border war with Mali led to his rise. Burkina Faso won that war thanks to the future gun-toting President. Sankara was ready to defend his homeland against terrorists both foreign and domestic. The handsome, courageous mighty man of valor was resolute in his convictions. He was Uncompromising in his defense of African Interests; Unapologetic in his love for Africa; Upright in stance on African values and principles.

He was once branded as betraying the revolution but today his ideas are embraced by the young people who have inherited the dust following more than a quarter century of failed leadership under the incompetent Compaore dictatorship. The only thing that Compaore left the Burkinabe descendants was billions of dollars of debt on top of debt in the name of progress and terrorism from radical Islam.

Young people are searching across Africa for an example of leadership and they find it in Thomas Sankara. This is a man who exemplifies African pride and the self-sufficiency and action with results.

“Our country produces enough to feed us all. Alas, for lack of organization, we are forced to beg for food aid. It’s this aid that instills in our spirits the attitude of beggars”

Sankara defended local industries by encouraging consumption of local products to protect local fruits and fruit juices and the local cotton industry. In 2016, Donald Trump won the presidency based on his vow to protect local industries. In the 1980s protecting local industries  was an African issue today, it has spread to western countries as the issue of globalization consumes the dialogue.

Sankara took  power from the colonial oppressor by changing the name of the country from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which means the land of upright people. In African culture one exerts power by naming something and names have meaning. The idea of keeping a colonial name would be viewed as a symbol of continued French dominance of the Burkinabe. Sankara was not a god, he was human and had he lived he would have seen the collapse of Soviet Union.  However, he brought accountability by prosecuting perpetrators on a continent that is often plagued with corruption and mismanagement.