Reported by Quest FMTV News
Dr. Rachel Leslie, a renowned scholar of African history and culture, has praised Burkina Faso’s transitional leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, for embodying the spirit of Pan-Africanism and decolonial leadership, while urging Nigeria to rise to its full potential as a continental leader.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Amazing Africans programme, Dr. Leslie reflected on her upbringing and scholarly journey, shaped by a rich heritage of African intellectualism. Born in Paris during what she described as the Paris Noir era, she was surrounded by the African diaspora’s leading minds — including her father, the first man of African descent to earn a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Paris, who studied alongside legendary figures like Cheikh Anta Diop, Richard Wright, and Langston Hughes.
“I was born into this ambiance of Pan-Africanism and activism,” she said, recounting how her parents later met at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. Her academic path took her across the globe — from Paris and California to Northwestern University in Illinois, and later to Nigeria and Germany — shaping her worldview as both a global citizen and a Pan-Africanist.
Turning to the current landscape of African leadership, Dr. Leslie highlighted Captain Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso as a standout figure among a new generation of leaders. She described Traoré as a “child of Pan-Africanist revolutionary, Thomas Sankara,” aligning him with the legacy of Sankara, Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Kwame Nkrumah, and Patrice Lumumba.
“I think Ibrahim Traoré is coming out of that tradition of African leadership,” she said. “He is trying to repurpose the resources of his country for human and industrial development — and that is powerful.”
However, she cautioned that Traoré must strike a careful balance to ensure that the military’s growing influence does not suffocate civic dialogue. “He has to preserve an intellectual space within civil society,” she noted, warning against the risk of military dominance overshadowing democratic engagement.
Dr. Leslie, who leads the African Historical Society — a non-political body committed to preserving Africa’s legacy — drew parallels between Traoré and the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, noting that both challenged global economic interests. She also expressed concern for Traoré’s safety. “His life is in danger because he’s upsetting powerful global structures. He must be very, very careful,” she warned.
When asked whether similar transformation could happen in Nigeria, Dr. Leslie dismissed the need for military intervention, stating that Nigeria’s enormous wealth and population make it capable of far greater achievements through democratic means.
“Nigeria does not require a military junta to transform itself,” she declared. “It is incredibly wealthy — with oil, gas, uranium, gold, fertile land, and a population of over 200 million. Nigeria exports educated and skilled labour. It can easily surpass what Ibrahim is doing in Burkina Faso.”
Calling Nigeria’s leadership role in Africa “long overdue,” Dr. Leslie urged the nation to embrace its capacity to lead, innovate, and inspire across the continent.
“Nigeria has everything it needs to become a beacon of African transformation,” she concluded.