Ne jamais oublier

L’ambassadeur du Togo aux Etats-Unis, Kadangha Limbiyé Bariki (photo), était lundi à Tuskegee (Etat d’Alabama) dans le cadre du renforcement des échanges et de la coopération avec cette ville qui entretient un lien très particulier avec le Togo.

En effet, en 1901, l’Institut d’agronomie de Tuskegee avait envoyé une mission au Togo, alors colonie allemande. Trois de ses membres étaient morts sur place alors qu’ils tentaient d’aider la population à développer la production de coton.

Leur histoire est relatée dans un ouvrage écrit par un professeur de l’Université de Princeton, Andrew Zimmerman (Princetown University Press), « Alabama in Africa »

Lors de son intervention devant le Maire de la ville, M. Bariki a rappelé l’héroïque travail mené par Lincoln Harris, Hiram Simpson and William Drake. « Leur sacrifice ne doit jamais être oublié », a-t-il déclaré.

S’appuyant sur une histoire commune, le diplomate a appelé l’Etat d’Alabama et Tuskegee à développer les relations économiques avec le Togo.

Voici l’intervention de l’ambassadeur du Togo (Anglais)

Mayor Neal,

Minister,

Ambassador Oguin,

Distinguished Members of the Delegation from Benin,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I want to thank you for extending me an invitation to return yet again to the city of Tuskegee and the state of Alabama and affording me the opportunity to address this meeting of the Alabama-Benin Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum.  

Please accept from me the greetings of the People of Togo and of the President of Togo, His Excellency Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe.

Mayor Neal and Governor Bentley are to be commended for continuing efforts to broaden and deepen not only the fraternal ties between Tuskegee and Alabama and Benin and Africa, but also for seeking to expand the commercial and trade ties between the United States and Africa.  

My Brothers from Benin, including the men and women represented here, are to be equally commended for responding in such a forthright and positive manner.  I have no doubts that your efforts will be mutually beneficial.

Mayor Neal,

Minister,

Ambassador Oguin,

Distinguished Members of the Delegation from Benin,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to say that part of my visit will be dedicated to fostering a relationship between Togo and Tuskegee.  

Those discussions will be guided by a relationship than spans over 100 years, back to the time of the Tuskegee Expedition of 1901. The bonds that were formed at that time could not have been deeper – three members of the Expedition Shepard Lincoln Harris, Hiram Simpson and William Drake – died as they sought to assist the people of Togo increase the scale quality of their cotton farming efforts.  

Their selfless sacrifice cannot be forgotten.

In May of this year, I sought to expand Togolese public awareness of the Expedition by co-hosting a teleconference with the United States Embassy in Lome on the Expedition. I am happy to say a direct descendent of Expedition member, John Winfrey Robinson, who married an Ewe woman in Togo, was in the audience in Lome. But this pursuit of a better world did not just go one way.  Edward Andreas Anthony from Lome travelled to the Tuskegee Institute and was a member of the Class of 1908.  Unfortunately, he died before he was able to return to Togo and he lies buried here in Tuskegee.

Mayor Neal,

Minister,

Ambassador Oguin,

Distinguished Members of the Delegation from Benin,

I hope create more abiding ties between the city of Tuskegee and the Government of Togo, perhaps by determining how Togo might best take advantage of the city’s Foreign Trade Investment Zone provisions as regards the Generalized System of Preferences and the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.  I also hope to determine if links between Tuskegee University and the University of Lome, might be forged, perhaps in the areas of agricultural early warning systems and food security.

Le site de la ville