African China, Broken China, and Chummy China
African China – The Musical Metaphor
Two decades ago, just as Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, a young Nigerian afro-pop musician emerged with a rather funny stage name, ‘African China’.
African China, Chinagorom Onuoha was quick to reveal his identity as a socially vibrant and politically aware voice with hits like No condition is permanent, Mr President, Crisis, and many others.
Just like few people know the real name of African China, fewer people know the meaning of his stage name to be African Children Have Ideas Natural for Africa. Yet the fewest people know the metaphor behind the name to be a foreshadowing and warning of the subversion of the ongoing Africa-China reality then into today’s China-Africa wedlock.
It was Africa first before China, now the thinking is China first before Africa. Of the 6 foremost organisations centring on Africa-China realities, only one put Africa first before China – The Africa-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum (ACETCF).
- The China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) conducts research on the economic, political, and security dimensions of China-Africa relations.
- The China Africa Project is a media organization that produces articles, podcasts, and videos about China-Africa relations.
- The China-Africa Development Fund is a private equity fund that invests in companies in Africa that have business ties to China.
- The China-Africa Business Council is a private-sector organization that promotes business and trade between China and Africa.
- The China-Africa Think Tank Forum is a platform for think tanks from China and Africa to exchange ideas and conduct research on issues related to China-Africa relations.
- The Africa-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum (ACETCF) is a platform for economic and trade cooperation between Africa and China.
Composed with Chat GPT
Yet, African China, the man, the music, the meaning, and the metaphor, warns that no policy think-tank, bilateral trade council or developmental finance institution can ideate or mediate an equally beneficial African-China friendship than Africans themselves.
African China reminds us that only African Children Have Ideas Natural for Africa. Foreign extra-African developmental models for Africa would be unnatural. They may alter and deter the continent’s natural development, as was in the age of Europe-Africa realities that the China-Africa reality now threatens to replace.
Broken China – The Ibadan AI metaphor
John Pepper Clarke (1935-2020), one of the foremost African creatives, was the first to capture Ibadan’s modern-antique rusty-shiny allure as “broken china in the sun.” He determined this, with magisterial finality, in his poem, ‘Ibadan’.
No mortal ever tried to replicate the evergreen authority of this masterpiece of man-written (and Muse-assisted) statement on Ibadan. Until Artificial Intelligence (AI). Until Chat GPT.
J.P. Clark (and his Muse)
Ibadan
Ibadan,
running splash of rust
and gold-flung and scattered
among seven hills like broken
china in the sun.
The latter, assisted by Chat GPT reads:
AI (and his human Muse)
Ibadan
Spread between hills and plains
Streets that’s seen much joy and rains
Earthen houses, once whole and unbroken,
Now cracked region of rooms, and spoken,
Of a love that was once tethered
Under leaky roofs that once sheltered
Yet, like a china plate that lies shattered
Under the sun’s bright rays all still mattered
Because the Cocoa House still stands tall
With the premier University before all.
One recalling the golden heights of the past
The other preparing a future that will last.
Though times may change and cities grow,
Ibadan’s spirit will forever glow
The western city full of life and pride,
Ibadan, forever by our side.
AI is currently displaying the sunny side of the cherished but broken antique earthenwares of composition and design “like broken china in the sun.” It exhibits the broken coded scripts of academic research writings, from the arts to the sciences, from architecture to tech.
Despite the enormous help AI lends to writers, designers, and researchers, it still remains a tool. It does not promise to replace natural human intelligence.
Despite the weaknesses of Chat GPT, like many AI-enabled tools, it could be invaluable for all kinds of writers in composing reports, research, and other writing forms.
Chummy China: The African friend Metaphor
Besides being a country and also costly porcelain dishware, china means friend!
Not many agree! Not many western countries, like the United States of America and those in the European Union.
However, China has a number of friends and allies around the world, but the exact number and nature of these alliances can vary depending on how one defines “ally.”
Some countries that are considered to be close allies of China include:
- North Korea, which has a long-standing alliance with China dating back to the Korean War.
- Pakistan, which has a close relationship with China, particularly in the realm of defense and security.
- Sri Lanka, which has a close economic relationship with China, with Chinese companies investing in infrastructure projects in the country.
- Belarus, which has a close economic relationship with China and is a member of the China-led Belt and Road Initiative.
- Cuba, which has a long-standing alliance with China and receives economic and political support from China.
- Kazakhstan, which has a close relationship with China, particularly in the realm of energy and resources.
- Russia, which has a strategic partnership with China and cooperates on issues such as defense, energy, and trade.
It’s worth noting that some countries have complex relationships with China, and may have both cooperative and competitive elements to their interactions with China.