By Ilídio Manuel
Africa-Press – Angola. From the top of the podium, in front of a room decorated in red, the speaker drew a loud round of applause from the audience, made up of young people, after having announced a possible visit to Angola by the Argentine football team, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of National Independence.
In his speech during the conclave of the JMPLA, the youth wing linked to the ruling party, João Lourenço made no reference to the amounts that Angola could pay for the arrival of the Argentine team, nor the origin of the money to be paid for the sporting commitment.
Some young people, who applauded enthusiastically the news given first-hand by the president of the MPLA, were probably at the 11 de Novembro Stadium, days before the PR was booed.
The episode happened two weeks ago, as he was leaving the cathedral of our football, where he had just watched the Angola/Ghana game, João Lourenço was “honored” by some unkind words from a group of young people who were shouting loudly: “bag of rice, bag of rice, hunger, hunger, hunger”!
Despite the climate of animosity and visible opposition, the PR pretended not to see and hear the outcry, and, in an apparent escape forward, waved to the protesters.
Although he was at the “Jota” ceremony as president of the MPLA, João Lourenço did not shy away from addressing a matter that, in the first instance, should be handled by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
In other words, the president of the MPLA wanted to reap the rewards of a possible visit by the Argentine football team and Leonel Messi, by extension, to Angola.
With this gesture, João Lourenço wanted to reverse or mitigate the negative image that people have of his governance, the results of which have been poorly achieved and the target of strong opposition, both in private circles and in the public space.
Probably intoxicated by the festive atmosphere and infected by the psychology of the crowds, the young people who participated in the JMPLA conclave exploded with joy at the PR’s news, without, however, evaluating the high costs of an “adventure” of bringing the Albi Celeste Selection and Leonel Messi, its most shining star, to our country.
In sports circles it is said that a trip by the Argentine national team to Angola would cost the state a “modest” sum of 6 million US dollars, plus half of that amount if Messi were to join the sports delegation.
The planned arrival of the team from that Latin American country could burden the State with superfluous expenses and increase the already millionaire expenditure on the Dipanda festivities.
It is within this context that the political “pornography” of bringing 70 Heads of State and Government to Angola next year to attend the festivities relating to the half century of (in)dependence of a country that, despite its enormous economic potential, lives almost with its hand outstretched to the charity of others and is harassed by million-dollar debts fits in.
The burning desire to bring the best team in the world to Angola reveals a certain political vanity and the mania for grandeur of a power that believes it has the world at its feet.
If, on the one hand, they ask Angolans to accept ever more sacrifices, tighten their belts, and “eat”, if necessary, their buckles, on the other hand, the government does little or nothing to contain public spending.
In this process of blinking to the left and turning to the right, the State continues to support a fatty government structure, a well-nourished body of diplomats and high-ranking officials, to whom it grants princely subsidies and perks.
The political and governing class seems indifferent to the 11 million people (at least 32% of the population) who do not have daily and regular access to food, that is, they live in a situation of serious food insecurity, while 8.3 million (23.2%) are malnourished (they have nothing to eat, in other words, they are going hungry), according to recent data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The praise that João Lourenço gave to our national football team, which, according to him, is “in good shape”, and the announced invitation made to its Argentine counterpart to play in Angola made it clear that the Head of the Executive Branch (TPE) is looking to sport, especially football, to showcase Angola’s image abroad and guarantee the “circus” policy for the millions of poor people.
With due distance, this attempt to recycle the image through football also occurred a few years ago in Gabon, when the deposed President Ali Bongo, with his image seriously damaged by poor governance, decided to bring the Argentine star Leonel Messi to his country, in a marketing operation that, according to the magazine France Football, cost the Gabonese treasury 3.5 million euros.
The former President of Gabon, who granted Messi the status of Head of State, was humiliated when Messi arrived at Libreville Airport wearing torn denim shorts, a printed T-shirt and a distant look in his eyes. Did he want to send a message to the former President of Gabon about bad governance or the asymmetrical distribution of social wealth?
No less humiliating for the Gabonese dictator was the fact that he had served as the driver for the “number 10” on a tour of the streets of Libreville. It is said that Ali Bongo dismissed his official driver to drive the vehicle in which the former Barcelona star was being transported.
For this and other reasons, many African Presidents are not respected, as they place their personal interests and political ambitions above the interests of the nation.
Hence, Messi’s outrage did not, apparently, serve as an example to African Presidents who, in their eagerness to remain in power forever, spend millions of dollars on frivolities, when they could be using the financial resources for the benefit of their subjects.
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