Talk:Thomas Sankara/Archive 1

Untitled
Is the RDP a political party? -- Zoe

No, RDP means "Popular and Democratic Revolution" that's the name that's Sankara himself gave to the period while he was president.

"Libya which was at time close to war with France in Chad". My english is too poor to summarize it :

In fact France was at war with Libya, but diplomatic language from both side hidded the reality even in France. France was providing Air Force support to governement that's official and French troops were also involved in ground operations -I know it from some reliable witnesses- but this was not official. Of course they where only military advisors.

I Hope you can help. Ericd

I reintroduced something about guitar and motorbikes. This not a joke ! Ericd

Compaoré was the officer directing the commandos. In fact the elite troops of the army and the most able to make a coup d'état. But the people disliked him in fact he made 3 coup d'état. I believe he was an opportunist waiting for his time to come. Some people believe that the coup d'état which killed d Sankara in 1987 was very bloody because it was made in hurry because Sankara was trying do minor political influence of the army and thus of Compaoré. Even if Sankara was captain, as a pilot he didn't command troops so the most powerful officers where a permanent danger for him. Ericd

Is excision OK or should I use Female circumcision ? Ericd

Who can translate "Malheur à ceux qui baillonnent le peuple !" Ericd 21:33, 20 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Who can translate "économat de l'armée" ? Ericd 14:19, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Hi, Ericd: Malheur à ceux qui baillonnent le peuple! is "Misfortune to those who gag [or muzzle] the people!"; économat de l'armée is "stewardship [possibly in a sense of sound financial management, depending on context] of the army" Graculus 16:21, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Thanks. What is the strongest gag or muzzle ? I was uncertain about "stewardship" it seems to have many senses in English. In French the "Economat" provide food for the army in Burkina Faso it included a store reserved to military that Sankara transformed it into a supermaket I don't know exactly how to write that. Ericd 16:45, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

I think "gag" is the stricter translation, so I'd go with that. Is the supermarket open to all? Maybe "provisioning by"? Or maybe it's just one of those not-readily-translatable expressions that needs fuller explanation. Graculus 17:00, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Yes it was a real supermarket open all in. What do you think of something like "In Ouagadougou Sankara converted army's stewardship into a state-owned supermarket (the first supermarket in the country)." Ericd 17:07, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Maybe "In Ouagadougou Sankara converted/extended the army's provisioning store/service into a state-owned supermarket (the first supermarket in the country)"? (was there an army store there already? - if not, "service") Graculus 17:15, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Not sure if there was a store bu for someone who know Africa it's obvious that the officers could buy everything they want before Sankara ;-) Ericd 17:23, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Sankara was Marxist. But was he leninist ? He never made any reference to the dictatorship of the proletariat nor to a leading role of the communist party. Ericd 09:28, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

In this case, I am equating Leninism and democratic centralism, which are very similar but have slightly different meanings. For the general reader, I believe the term "Leninism" is more familar than "democratic centralism."

Democratic centralism is essentially what happened in the CDRs and the CNR. In its most basic sense, it means to openly discuss and reach decisions democratically and then expect the people (including those who disagreed with the original decision) to massively mobilize in support of these goals. Operations such as "Alpha Commando" and the vaccination program were carried out in this manner, as well as smaller village-level governance, especially with regard to agricultural issues.

In 1986, Sankara gave an interview about his reading habits:


 * Elisabeth Nicolini: But you read political books?
 * TS: Of course. Without giving myself away, I can admit to being familiar with the classics of Marxism-Leninism.
 * EN: You've surely read Capital by Karl Marx.
 * TS: No, not all of it. But I have devoured all of Lenin.
 * EN: Would you take these works with you if you were stuck on a desert island?
 * TS: I would certainly take State and Revolution. This is a book I take refuge in, that I reread often. Depending on whether I'm in a good or a bad mood, I give the words and sentences different interpretations …

(source: Thomas Sankara Speaks, pp. 202-03)

— Sesel wa  16:52, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

I have no doubt that Sankara had read Lenin. However the last sentence is ambiguitous and leave some room for some distance.

Well you're right that the decision making process was democratic centralism but when I was there most people where referring to participative democracy. However there was a difference with the Russian version IMO, the CDR were widely open and thus more reprensentative of the population while in USSR the party was a small elite. Combined with some African tradition of researching consensus this worked well and was more democratic than many could believe. The price to pay was very long debates. As a foreigner I did'nt belong to the CDRs (and didn't wish to be a member), but I've been invited to a few meeting as technical adviser. I remember I've been caught sometime in some debate on minor points lasting for hours. Combined with hot weather that was often really exhausting...

Ericd 08:26, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

last name?
What does the name Sankara mean and what language is it in? pamri 13:11, September 3, 2005 (UTC)

Thomas is Thomas. The guy that wanted to touch to believe... As for Sankara, I don't think it means anything obvious... Please get rid of the caricature of Ameridians : Your name is XWXYZ : That means Dogs-fucking-in-front-of-our-home because the day you born there was dogs doing... Hmmm... Well... You know what I'm talking about... ;-) Ericd 14:34, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

Found this at the end of the article 10/31/2005
Translate Thomas Sankara Web Site (french)into english NOW We seek volunteers to translate the site of Thomas Sankara into English. Thank you to visit the wiki for the occasion
 * Translate Thomas Sankara Web Site into english NOW --Dvyost 06:06, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

I wanted to use the Sankara quotes in my thesis, and I was frustrated when the source for the English translation was not listed. (Only a website to the originals in French was given--although I'm not even sure about that because I couldn't find the exerpts on the French page either--but my French is not great.) Therefore, when I eventually found the same translation in the volume _Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-87_ trans. Samantha Anderson. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1988. I went ahead and listed it and the information about the original interview from which the quote was culled. I don't know if the other quotes are from the same source, but at least this provides one source for anyone else wanting to use the quotes in a scholarly setting ---Crmccain 15:34, 28 April 2006 (UTC)crmccain


 * TSS is the source for Sankara's texts in English. I'm not aware of any other English-language volume that provides similar material. Most of the stuff in the book is translated for the first time, but I think one or two of the chapters were previously published (the authors credit the original source). —Sesel 01:12, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Burial?
It says in the article that he was buried in an unmarked grave, but the article on Yako says that he was buried there. Which is it? I can only find references to the "unmarked grave" claim in mirror sites, and I can't seem to find anything on his burial in Yako. The Disco King 20:38, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I've seen a photo of Thomas Sankara grave in Yako. However, as far I remember he was first buried in an anonymous grave in Ouagadougou to avoid a demonstration by supporters. His remains were later transfered to Yako, but this has to be verified. Ericd 08:53, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Name?
There is a small number of websites that give "Isidore Dieudonné Thomas Sankara" as his full name. Is this correct? Are there any print sources to verify this? —Sesel 02:40, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Coming from a French-Canadian family, I know that this is somewhat common practice in Quebec. For instance, my grandfather is named Daniel Louis Clark _______, but he goes by Clark. I'm not sure if that's unique to Quebec, or if it's just a general French thing. (The same wasn't true of my mother's generation, so maybe it's more old-fashioned.) Cheers! The Disco King 15:24, 5 June 2006 (UTC)


 * It also a French common practice to hve 3 first names, however the common practice is to use the first. It also the sign that Sankara family had probably strong catholic conviction, because he has 3 christian first names. Most people in Burkina Faso have two first name a christian or muslin one according to their religion and an African one. Ericd 16:08, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

"leninist" ad "participatory democracy"
I replaced "leninist social organization" by "social organization with some participatory democracy", because, right or wrong, for most people, "leninist social organization" means "single-party dictatorship" —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 194.65.151.249 (talk) 11:23, 11 April 2007 (UTC).

Social changes
I have read about several big changes that Sankara made while in power, which were omitted from this article. I can't remember where I got this information (it was from various sources), so they need to be verified. However, if any of the points below can be found to be true, I think it is very important that they be included in the article. These are the points: - Sankara stopped all foreign aid, except for medical aid coming into the country - The literacy level of B.Faso soared during his time in power - He started a nationwide vaccination drive which succeeded in eradicating a large number of diseases - He tried to stop the advance of the Sahara by transporting 'volunteers' from the cities to the countryside to plant trees on weekends - He also used 'volunteers' to build more houses which led to a housing surplus (this is probably true. The areas surrounding the big cities are dotted with identical red brick houses, many of which are empty)

And some points of interest: - B. Faso experienced a mini economic boom during his time in power - Many of his policies were reversed or forgotten about when Compaore took over

I will try to get confirmation of these points, if anybody can confirm or refute anything on this list, then please do.

In my opinion Sankara was one of the greatest characters in African history. It would be great to see him become better known. Maybe through Wikipedia?

Tim (callagytim@yahoo.co.uk) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 193.120.171.9 (talk) 14:46, 10 May 2007 (UTC).

Ericd 18:47, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Sankara never stopped all foreign aid. What do you think I was doing in Burkina Faso while Sankara was in power ?
 * He started a nationwide vaccination drive (vaccination commando) this protected a lot of people from diseases. But this didn't eradicate any diseases. As far as I know onchocercosis was eradicated from Upper Volta years before but this a success of the World Health Organisation and previous Presidents.
 * Sankara built several "cités" of modern houses. They were for sale however many remained unsold because the cost was higher than expected and they were too expensive. I remember discussing with Burkinabé engineers (rather well paid people considering Burkina standards) and the credit anuitees were at the upper limit their budget could stand. The material was not red bricks but mostly concrete made with Lybian cement. Sankara buyed cement at bargain price because after a massive construction drive Lybia had surpus of cement.
 * B. Faso did not experienced an economic boom or a mini boom during his time in power. Sankara enforced International Monetary Fund recommendations rather strictly like Jerry Rawlings in Ghana. This lead to a serious reduction of income for the Burkinabe middle-class, leading to some economic depression. On the other hand the quality the quality of public finance and economic management greatly improved it became according to the World Bank or the IMF (I don't remember) "among the best in Africa". Anti-corruption policies helped to a better use state income and foreign aid. Most of the activity of the TPRs "Tribunaux Populaires de la Révolution" (Popular Courts of the Revolution) was oriented toward fighting corruption. Despite serious objections reguarding human rights these Courts were not as brutal as it was reported most sentences were banishement from public service. (To be continued). Please consider myself as a primary source. All this has to be sourced and verified.

I think it's more likely that the middle class was dependent on the west, on France in particular, and "suffered" when Sankara had the government not to open it's coffers for a small elite anymore who already were profiting on the bad economic situation in the country. We have all read pre-WTO stooge John Perkins book by now and I suggest you do the same. You're not fooling anyone. Not anymore. Nunamiut (talk) 06:36, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Prison?
This article states "Sankara became prime minister in January 1983, but he was dismissed (May 17) and placed under house arrest ..." My Norwegan encyclopedia says that he was imprisoned in 1982 ("Fengslet 1982"). Which is right? --Tannkremen 18:49, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Government posts
This paragraph states that Sankara was dismissed on May 17,1983 after a visit in Ouagadougou of French President Mitterrand's son Jean Christophe Mitterrand. Actually, Mitterrand was not in Ouagadougou but Guy Penne, who was at the time a major adviser for African affairs arrived in Ouagadougou on May 16. The implication of Penne (which means the implication of President Mitterrand) is controversial. According to Jean Baptiste Ouédraogo (who was president of the Upper Volta at that time) in French, it was a coup, lead by some officers of the Upper Volta army, and they just did it while Guy Penne was in Ouagadougou.--Paddy92500 (talk) 15:03, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Possible discrepancy..
Introduction: "Sankara seized power in a 1983 popularly supported coup at the age of 33, with the goal of eliminating corruption and the dominance of the former French colonial power.... he was overthrown and assassinated in a coup d'état led by the French-backed Blaise Compaoré on October 15, 1987." President: "A coup d'état organised by Blaise Compaoré made Sankara President on August 4, 1983,[11] at the age of 33. The coup d'état was supported by Libya which was, at the time, on the verge of war with France" Did Compaore really make him president and then kill him later? Or is one of these an error? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dr.queso (talk • contribs) 07:58, 5 August 2010 (UTC)


 * That's really what happened; it was something out of Shakespeare, betrayed by his best friends Blaise Compaore and Henri Zongo. Capitalism is murder (talk) 09:13, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

No reference to the Provisional Committee of Popular Salvation
Which basically launched him to nationwide status. Can someone help fix this? thanks Capitalism is murder (talk) 09:42, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

potable water
Let us not forget that Burkina Faso remained (perhaps still does) the sole place in West Africa, possibly anywhere on the continent, where water was safe to drink anywhere and everywhere. Sankara instituted a phenomenal public health program inasmuch as it was during his administration that covered wells were dug for provision of potable water in all of the country's villages. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 110.137.233.151 (talk) 06:54, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

The fact that he was a communist seems to be downplayed
I provided sources alluding to his connection with Marxist theory and communist organizations, and his personal belief in Communism and labor theory, and instead it gets removed. also, the book "Thomas Sankara Speaks" wasn't written by Thomas Sankara, because Thomas Sankara was dead long after it was made; rather, it is a compiled collection of his writings and speeches during the revolutionary years. 66.41.178.195 (talk) 23:42, 13 August 2010 (UTC)


 * IP 66, if you wanted to be taken seriously, it may have been helpful to not have gone by the potentially inflammatory username Capitalism is murder, which as a result also got you banned right after your additions to this article. Nevertheless, the previous wording included that Sankara was indeed a "Marxist revolutionary", thus noting him as also being "communist" was seen as potentially synonymous. Sankara himself did view himself as a Marxist and a communist, so yes your addition in that regard was factually correct, although I deemed it unnecessary. With that said I won't remove it as you have taken the appropriate route and made your wishes known via the talk page. As for the "Speaks" text, I have added a note that the book was published posthumously as a compilation, and don't really see any other reason why you would object to its inclusion. If someone goes to the bookstore to buy a book on Sankara, that is the most likely text available.   Red thoreau  -- (talk) 00:35, 14 August 2010 (UTC)


 * La lutte des classes s'efface au regard de la nécessité du développement (en gros). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.228.158.48 (talk) 03:11, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

Photo
How on earth is there not a single free image of Sankara on wikimedia? Stamboliyski (talk) 17:55, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

Currently working on editing and expanding this article
I will be posting a bibliography soon of articles and books I will be reviewing to help me in adding new information/editing this article. All comments are welcomed. HunterTharp (talk) 20:20, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

I will be adding onto this bibliography as I find more articles. If you have any articles please feel free to leave them in a comment below. Also I am checking through the old references as a few seem to be extremely biased or the article has been removed.

Thomas Sankara. Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution: 1983–87., Pathfinder, 2007. Print.

Ernest Harsch. “Thomas Sankara: An African Revolutionary., Ohio University Press, 2014. Print.

Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man. Dir. Robin Shuffield. CreateSpace, 2006. DVD.

Bonkoungou, Mathieu. "Burkina Faso salutes "Africa's Che" Thomas Sankara." Wed, Oct 17 2007 2007.Web. .

Akinyemi Adeseye. "We are heirs of the world’s revolutions’ : Lessons from Thomas Sankara." Wednesday, 05 May 2010Web. .

United States Department of State. "Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1986." February 1987Web. .

"US freed Taylor to overthrow Doe, Liberia's TRC hears." 27 August 2008Web. .

---. "Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1987." February 1988Web. . ---. "Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1988." February, 1989Web. . ---. "Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1989." February 1990.Web. . HunterTharp (talk) 20:30, 16 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Your preliminary bibliography looks good. Please keep in mind that you'll want to use the Cite widget when you are adding citations to the live article. If you have any questions, please let me know. Otherwise, happy editing! Tburress (talk) 21:54, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

The lead isn't encyclopedic
It reads like a fan article with sources, and a random 'cool' quote attributed to him is given more space and attention than his actual life (life, not a list of government policies). --94.246.154.130 (talk) 09:44, 21 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Sort of like a modern public school history book? MMart9 (talk) 00:23, 5 November 2014 (UTC)
 * I find the intro to be good, text-wise. Formating could be better. I say that as no "Sankara fan". Stamboliyski (talk) 01:06, 5 November 2014 (UTC)
 * I think the tone of the introduction is wildly inappropriate. It shows a clear enthusiasm for Sankara, lionizing his legacy and trivializing the criticisms. A short and neutral presentation of biographical information would be much better.Victor veitch (talk) 13:05, 23 December 2018 (UTC)
 * I tend to agree with the IP commenter, MMart9 (despite the sarcasm), and Victor veitch. The lead reads as if he was establishing a communist paradise. In fact, the reforms brought mixed results and complete political repression. Perhaps more could be done to highlight the negatives as well as positives of his regime. Lacking expertise I am probably unqualified. Jgalt87 (talk) 13:29, 22 March 2019 (UTC)

Sources and Extreme claims
In my brief research, this article makes very extreme claims that I cannot find corroborated anywhere else, and the sources cited are very questionable.

Two extreme claims that I find particularly problematic:

"This success meant Sankara had not only shifted his country into food self-sufficiency, but had in turn created a food surplus."

I could not find a single reliable source corroborating that this was the truth. In fact, the country today continues to struggle with food scarcity issues. Moreover, none of the sources for this claim appear to be reliable. First, the indie documentary "The Upright Man" has serious questions about it's reliability, as it's just a small film that doesn't appear to reference any reliable data or evidence. Second, the website "africanagenda.net" is questionable as well especially since it's currently down for an unspecified amount of time.

"Sankara's first priorities after taking office were feeding, housing and giving medical care to his people who desperately needed it. Sankara launched a mass vaccination program in an attempt to eradicate polio, meningitis and measles. In one week, 2.5 million Burkinabé were vaccinated."

Once again, I have struggled to find an RS corroborating this, and this claim appears to evidenced by the same small film discussed earlier. If these large claims are accurate, why are there not more reliable sources corroborating this? I managed to find a BBC article repeating this vaccination claim, but the source appears to literally just Sankara himself:

Overall, many sections article is very problematic makes many broad claims about Sankara's regime without strong enough citations, and, at times, reads in a very biased way in favor of the subject.

Triggeredbytriggered (talk) 22:41, 9 October 2019 (UTC)Triggeredbytriggered

POV Tag
Too much material on this page reads like a hagiography. A more balanced rework is required in order to bring this article within the Wikipedia guidelines on neutrality. Fi11222 (talk) 21:36, 18 January 2016 (UTC)
 * The onus is on you to explain what you believe is WP:POV, rather than just slapping a tag on the article and not offering any suggestions or sources etc. An article isn't tagged over a single person's opinion of it, if that was the case they would all be tagged.  Red thoreau  -- (talk) 12:09, 22 January 2016 (UTC)


 * "Too much material on this page reads like a hagiography." first, please state what material you feel this applies to! You can't just write general things and expect everyone to get your point...especially on the internet. Secondly you have to know and understand (which i assume you haven't done enough research not being rude) that getting an unbiased opinion on this topic is not 100% possible. This country has very terrible literacy (<13%) at the time, not many people could or have shared their negative experiences and historians have largely ignored this part of Burkinabé history (partially because of government cover-ups/public interest). What you get left with is basically 99% of information that is super biased in favor of TS, remember his name is still one of the most important politically in BF and Africa. It has spawned political protests, parties, revolutions etc. I think the article as is does a very good job of painting a neutral view by using contrasting views of his time in power. Again it is unrealistic to have 100% unbiased information when we are talking about a figure regarded as bigger than life in a time when history was trying to be erased. If you have any suggestions Id love to change the article for the better. Thanks. HunterTharp (talk) 2:09, 2 February 2016 (UTC)


 * It indeed still reads like some hagiography. 105.0.6.230 (talk) 21:15, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

Heavily reliant on unreliable, pro-Sankara sources such as a documentary titled "Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man". Uses loaded language such as "feudal landlords" (country was not feudal in the 1980s) to describe private landowners whose property was seized. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oceanstream73 (talk • contribs) 11:47, 19 December 2020 (UTC)

Verbatim record of UN 1984 General Assembly
Hello,

This source (EN archive) might be useful at some point; it contains Sankara's address to the United Nations – paragraphs [2, 83] – during which he covers a range of topics: women's rights, "the third world", the emancipation of Nelson Mandela, and a lot more.

"Fatherland or death: we shall triumph."

If used it can be cited as above. Whether or not it is used as a reference in this article, it is a good candidate for one's further reading on Sankara. I hope this is useful to some degree! ritenerek talk :) 15:30, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

Whole article reads like propaganda
"Solidarity "style" with bullet points listing his greatness. Really? Should be reworked to sound less biased. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:EmilePersaud 19:03, 14 November 2021 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by EmilePersaud (talk • contribs)

Untrue that Sankara wrote the national anthem
I am a journalist based in and covering Burkina Faso for two years now. I spoke to Sankara's brother for an interview and asked him afterwards if it was true Sankara wrote the national anthem. He said not true. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 102.67.105.73 (talk) 20:19, 27 January 2022 (UTC)

POV, Propaganda and Neutrality
On the subject of propaganda in the article— it is wise to consider that some of the “facts” of Sankaras alleged “successes” in governing Burkina Faso were derived under a dictatorship where the news media was put under government control.

Balancing that— there can be POV problems in articles about similar figures, where editors critical of such kinds of regimes are themselves so “political” that they become unable to acknowledge government reforms that may in fact be successful. Or to make contributions that are truly neutral in source attribution or otherwise factual.

Other editors, however, can fall under the exact opposite blinding political bias. One notable omission in articles like this is a tendency to ignore neutral facts about what happens to the economies of nations over time, when they are put under heavy state control.

Due attention to the neutrality of sources and any resulting citations is well advised.

173.66.134.81 (talk) 05:19, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

POV concerns (again apparently)
This is written like a hagiography: To summarise, this article appears to have been written by an armchair fan of Sankara (especially with that list of policy stances), not someone who is knowledgeable about Burkina history. -Indy beetle (talk) 05:46, 2 August 2021 (UTC)
 * The "Early life" section contradicts itself, saying Sankara wanted join the military partly because of its popularity in overthrowing Yameogo while also saying that while he was at the military academy the coup happened...which is it?
 * "Military career" - Sankara was a decent guitarist...and rode a bicycle Some of my friends are "decent" guitarists and can ride bicycles. This seems to be geared more to his public persona during his presidency, and simply doesn't make much sense here.
 * The "Government posts" section really glosses over his role in the overthrow of Zerbo and his actions during Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo's presidency. Their dispute was a long one, and during his time as PM he went on a foreign trip that included Libya. Sankara's attempts to head off the coup and reach a negotiated resignation from Ouedraogo are also missing.
 * Sankara was the first African leader to appoint women to major cabinet positions This is what the source (the documentary) says, but is somewhat dubious; i.e. what counts as a "major" cabinet portfolio? Women were holding ministerial positions in Africa since the 1960s. A woman, Marie-Louise Nignan, was actually Minister of Justice of Upper Volta under Sankara's predecessor.
 * The "Agacher Strip War" seems to attempt to excuse Burkina Faso (I heavily researched the war and don't recall Mali rounding up its friends to pressure BF to accede the Agacher) and are sourced to Bryant's History's Greatest War without page numbers. It also fails to mention both how Mali sought to use the war to weaken BF and how Sankara's government's international reputation was somewhat tarnished by it.
 * The section "Personal image and popularity" is a laundry list of various policy positions and actions (none actually support any claims about "popularity", though he certainly had plenty) that have been assembled like cool trivia. Whose also to say that all of these initiatives were original and in what context (in the country, in Africa, in the world, etc.)?


 * I have to agree—the language seems unencyclopedic in places, at best. theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (they/them) 03:01, 29 September 2021 (UTC)


 * Very valid and very specific points have been made above. I suggest that people get to work and edit the article accordingly.


 * 173.66.134.81 (talk) 05:59, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

https://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-02465029/document — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A01:E34:EE49:E300:21E:C9FF:FE46:9883 (talk) 12:10, 13 October 2021 (UTC)


 * Very valid and very specific points have been made above. I suggest that people get to work and edit the article accordingly.

173.66.134.81 (talk) 05:56, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

Early life section is way too far down in the article
The location of the “Early life” section in the article is far out of step with the rest of Wikipedia. There should be a pretty short “Summarizing” section that opens the article, kept to a bare minimum, then followed by “Early Life”.

The rest of the article content should therefore be moved below it, with article section headings added where appropriate.

173.66.134.81 (talk) 06:02, 1 February 2022 (UTC)

To Best Help the Article
See Wikipedia guidance on this: WP:POV and WP:Sources

173.66.134.81 (talk) 06:32, 1 February 2022 (UTC)