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The Africa which the world needs is a continent able to stand up, to walk on its own feet rather than on crutches or on its head, in vacuous mimicry or escapism. It is an Africa conscious of its own past and able to keep on reinvesting this past into its present and future. It is an Africa which "lies on its own mat", because "to sleep on someone else's mat is akin to sleeping on the ground".
For almost half a century I have personally fought for this ideal. As Africans would say, I have "drunk much water" - which means I have lived a long time. I have covered at least half a million kilometres driving various vehicles through villages in Burkina Faso. However, the award from the Foundation will not become "a garage" for me. Rather, I see the Foundation as a "service station", where the fuel provided is the most efficient in human history. It is called hope - hope which transcends all adversity, hope which boosts the struggle for life by giving us reasons to live.
The philosopher Hegel proclaimed that Black Africa was outside history - and after him, Francis Fukuyama suggested that the nation-state, invented by Europe, was the final destination in the journey of reason through history.
Now, not only have we not seen the end of history - in fact it is running faster. Less fast, however, than the truth, the thirst for justice, patience and comparison for the countless lives of all those living today.
No, the course of history has not run out. The race is still on. One day the best one will win: the best one - certainly not the most violent. Africa is the continent of the marathon, and the race continues!
I would like to offer to the Right Livelihood Foundation this statue representing an African woman - not as a hostage, you understand, but as a permanent messenger, an ambassadress plenipotentiary of my gratitude, which will always be with you.
lire complet son Acceptance Speech to the Right Livelihood Award, December 1997
