Hekima Review No. 16 (Jan 1997)

"Soldier go, soldier come"is a song by Nigerian juju musician Fela Anikulakpoti, ridiculing military dictatorship in Nigeria. He saw the military rule as perpetuating the problems of the country; each government was a problem. Fela's cry is reminiscent of the problems of Africa which the Thirty-fourth General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, cuing in from the African Synod, relates: The marginalization of Africa in the "new world order" renders an entire continent paradigmatic of all marginalized of the world. Thirty of the world's poorest countries are African. Two-thirds of the world's refugees are African. Slavery, colonial and neocolonial subjugation, internal problems of ethnic rivalry, and corruption have all created an "ocean of misfortunes" there.