By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Human Rights Activist and former federal lawmaker that represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly, Senator Shehu has reminded Africa that it is time to help Haiti.
Sundiata Post recalls thar the chaos of the last two weeks in Haiti has reached new levels. During that period there has been no leadership, no law and order in the capital and a dwindling supply of humanitarian aid. The country has been effectively cut off from the outside world.
Further recall that on Thursday, gangs continued their rampage across the capital Port-au-Prince. They shot at the airport just as workers had begun to fix damage from previous attacks. Local news reported that gangs had also looted the house of the national police director and then set it on fire.
Shehu Sani who made the call for Africa to help Haiti via his X sccount (formerly twitter) stated that it appears no country is willing to help them.
In what looks like pre-empting critics who might counter him by saying Africa and indeed Nigeria have their fair share of problems too, Shehu Sani reminded them that having problems is not enough reason for not giving a helping hand to others, adding that after all, Ukraine have problems, yet they sent grains to Nigeria.
Comrade Shehu Sani’s statement reads;
It’s time for Africa to help Haiti. It appears no country is willing to help them. I know you will say we have our problems, yes we do have problems, but our problems are far less than that of Haiti. Ukraine have problems, yet they sent you grains.”
Further recall that the violence in Haiti follows a couple of days of relative quiet and it comes just days after Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry agreed to resign, as part of a deal brokered by regional and international governments to install a transitional council that will eventually elect a new transitional prime minister.
Some prominent gang leaders have rejected the plan, saying it doesn’t represent the will of the Haitian people. The gangs have threatened more violence as a means to oppose the plan.
Guy Philippe was a former senator and ex-chief of police who was one of the leaders of the 1991 coup that deposed Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In the United States, he pleaded guilty to drug-related money laundering and when he was deported back to Haiti a few months ago, he started organizing big anti-government protests.
He tells NPR the problem with the current political transition deal is that it allows seven traditional politicians to choose the way forward in Haiti.
“They were the same guys who were working with Ariel Henry for three years. The same name, the same organizations, with no popular support. I don’t know why the international community wants to take that path,” Philippe says.
When the international community announced the deal, the president of Guyana said no gangs had been consulted. But he was corrected and briefly added — “that we know of.” To Philippe, that spoke to what he calls an open secret: that traditional politicians in Haiti are the ones who he alleges created the gangs to begin with. They funded and they armed them, he claims.
“The biggest gang in Haiti is the state of Haiti itself. It’s the president, the prime minister, the ministers. They are the worst gangs in Haiti,” Philippe says.
