Thomas Sankara was so popular among his people that even in death, his people still loved and adored Him. A note was left at his graveside which reads ''Do not worry, Mama Sankara, we will avenge the death of your son, we are all Sankaras".
Sankara lived a brief but eventful life. Born in December 1949 and died at the age of 38 in October 1987. Sankara was President of Burkina Faso from 1983-1987. When he assumed power, the country had been named Upper Volta but he changed the name of the country to Burkina Faso which means a land of upright people. Thomas Sankara was an upright man by all standards, he believed so much in equality and he was a strong feminist who would always stand to defend the women folk.
Thomas Sankara's death Is one that is filled with lessons for humanity, Sankara was not quite pleased with happenings in the country at the time. Too many things were going wrong, so he invited 13 others at the National Headquarters so as to discuss the way forward but it went out that that will be the last meeting.
The meeting began at 4:15 p.m. at the National Headquarters, They Had Hardly Begun The Meeting When Gunshots Were Heard Outside at 4:30 p.m. Exactly, Two Personal Bodyguards of Thomas Sankara and the Personal Driver of Sankara Were The First To Taste Death That Day, The Shooting Continued and Everyone In The Meeting Had No Choice But To Take Cover, Sankara Immediately Thought Of A Way He Could Save The The Life Of Everybody In That Room As at This Time, His Aide Was Still By His Side ,He Famously Said:
"Step aside, it is me they want," with both hands raised up and without any weapons on him, he went out to meet those whose sole purpose was to assassinate him, immediately he stepped his foot outside, it looks like the sight of Thomas Sankara angered the killers even more as they riddled his body with hot bullets. The actual numbers of bullets which penetrated his body were not known, because he was shot beyond recognition..
If what he did was to save those within the room, if he believed that after the killers must have murdered him, they will leave, he was wrong, The killers went to the room where the meeting was held and they sprinkled bullets as if they played in a movie. Everyone lost their life that day except for a certain Alouna Traore, his longtime friend and colleague Blaise Compaore who assumed his position after Sankara's assassination.
It was a clear case of betrayal on the part of Compaore because he assassinated Sankara. He denied his involvement in the killings as he said that he was at home at time and he was very sick, but all evidence to the fact that he gave the orders for those trigger happy men to kill Sankara. As if that was not enough, he assumed Sankara's position after his death. He had been in the plan all the way, he knew about it, the leaders of Africa and greed are indeed inseparable.
What's even more baffling was that when Sankara and Compaore met for the first time in Morocco, they immediately struck a bond of friendship. They seemed inseparable, hence when Sankara assumed the position of President, he made Compaore his deputy, but it was a fatal decision that would cut not just his political life but his true existence.
Source: African Voice
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