Sankara

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani speaks of Thomas Sankara as someone he knew personally1: he nearly published his memoirs with Hachette, but Sankara was assassinated just as the book was being signed off for printing2. He counts him among his three favourite heads of state of the twentieth century3. What he mainly retains are specific political choices. The first is the renaming of Upper Volta, a colonial name, as Burkina Faso, "land of upright men," to bring two ethnic groups together4. He also mentions the return to French in schools, so as not to divide the country along ethnic lines, and the ministers driving Renault 5s, a first in Africa in his view. He quotes his slogans: "homeland or death, we shall overcome" and "better water for all than champagne for a few." He compares the small dikes Sankara built to Faust's dam5. He links him to his reading of Adotevi: for Sankara, the question is political action, not colour. He places his death among the victims of neocolonialism. He attributes it to the Atlanticist camp, and later, more precisely, to the French services acting through the Ivorian services6.

1. 1Au bistrot avec Pagani : partie 118 Jun 2016 · 9:44
2. 2MALI : Dominique PAGANI RÉAGIT aux propos d'Emmanuel MACRON au sommet Africa Forward16 May 2026 · 36:38
3. 3#5.2 ter FaceBookLive / Questions (2) suite à l'Atelier #5.26 Dec 2018 · 17:54
4. 4L'Histoire est elle une matière ?9 Mar 2017 · 1:17:59
5. 5#3 Le mythe du bon sauvage chez Rousseau !23 Sept 2014 · 39:22
6. 6AFRIQUE SAHÉLIENNE ET IMPÉRIALISME : Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger - avec Dominique PAGANI23 Mar 2024 · 1:00:16

Summary produced automatically from 18 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.