This is President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. Let me go straight to the point. He is a brutal dictator and he does not hide that. He overthrew his uncle Francisco Macías Nguema (one of the worst dictators in Africa’s history, Mbasogo saw to it that his marijuana-smoking uncle was executed by the firing squad) in August 1979 and he has been president ever since. Now aged 72, he is grooming his son, Teodorin, for the role of presidency. Teodorin is known for his very lavish lifestyle of a playboy but his own story is for another day. The tragedy of Equatorial Guinea is that it is a very small country (less than 700,000 people) and the people are supposed to be living in a kind of Dubai or Brunei because they have huge petroleum deposits but what obtains there now is the total opposite. More than 50% of the people cannot get potable and drinking water and 20% of the kids die before reaching the age of five. Mbasogo is currently one of the longest-serving rulers in Africa (he is actually the longest-ruling non-royal head of state in the world, of course, he is also one of the wealthiest) and he has managed to rule for so long because he has cleverly divided the people along tribal and ethnic lines. So the people are already too weak and divided to form any reasonable opposition. Sheer brutality is another weapon that is used.
But I notice this is a trend not unique to Equatorial Guinea alone, it is replicated all over the continent. By the way, did I mention that Nigerians are migrating to this country in search of greener pasture? And that some of our citizens have had some really nasty experience in the past in Equatorial Guinea? Today, Mbasogo is even more brutal than his late uncle and is currently consumed with constructing a brand-new capital he called OYALA. He inspects the place from time to time and when he sees a building he does not like, he asks it to be demolished and rebuilt. But do you know why he actually wants a new capital city? He said the old capital by the sea is vulnerable to attack from the navy/seaborne forces that may want to overthrow him. So he is building Oyala.
But that is not all: In July 2003, state-operated radio declared Obiang “the country’s god” and had “all power over men and things.” It added that the president was “in permanent contact with the Almighty” and “can decide to kill without anyone calling him to account and without going to hell.” He personally made similar comments in 1993. Macías had also proclaimed himself a god. (Wiki)
Obiang has assigned to himself several creative titles. Among them are “gentleman of the great island of Bioko, Annobón and Río Muni.”He also refers to himself as El Jefe (the boss).
In 2003, Obiang told his citizenry that he felt compelled to take full control of the national treasury in order to prevent civil servants from being tempted to engage in corrupt practices. To avoid this corruption, Obiang deposited more than half a billion dollars into accounts controlled by Obiang and his family at Riggs Bank in Washington, D.C., leading a U.S. federal court to fine the bank $16 million.
He is believed to be suffering from terminal prostate cancer while his opponents have accused him of cannibalism to gain power. But you know what? His people from his Essangui tribe are solidly behind him. They say he is the best thing to have ever happened in the Universe. When a man spends that long in power, he will truly start feeling like God….just that he’s not. And he will never be.
Source: ABIYAMO
