Africans on Twitter are criticising Nigerian billionaire businessman, Tony Elumelu, after he accepted an honour conferred on him by Belgium over links to colonial genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Officer in the Order of Leopold, which Elumelu was conferred with, is Belgium’s oldest and most important national honour.
King Leopold II, who the award was named after, from 1885 to 1908 perpetrated many crimes against humanity in the Congo Free State now DRC.
Leopold plundered the country to build Belgium and forced locals to surrender their rubber, Ivory and other valuables — those who resisted were brutalised, raped and killed en masse.
About 15 million people are said to have died on his orders during his reign of terror in the Congo.
He also captured Congolese natives and took them to human zoos in Belgium where they were displayed as animals.
Elumelu, who owns several businesses across Africa, posted on Twitter that he had accepted the Officer in the Order of Leopold honour on Monday, enraging many Africans.
Last night, the Kingdom of Belgium conferred on me with the honorary distinction of Officer in the Order of Leopold, the countryâs oldest and most important National Honour. pic.twitter.com/92akJE3wLl
— Tony O. Elumelu, CON (@TonyOElumelu) November 16, 2020
Thank you @MonarchieBe  @BEinNigeria and as Belgium reflects on and resets her relationship with Africa, we look forward to further partnership.#TOEWay #Africapitalism #Entrepreneurship #MonarchieBe #KingsDay
— Tony O. Elumelu, CON (@TonyOElumelu) November 16, 2020
Reacting, Togolese activist, Farida Bemba Nabourema, said, “Congratulations on joining the honourable league of slave servants who see nothing wrong with receiving an award that bears a genocidal family name. The millions of Africans butchered by the Belgian monarchy are very proud of you.”
@TonyOElumelu I’m disappointed in you for the first time.
You’ve always been a mentor to young Africans, but you receiving an honor named after the racist devil, Leopold that was responsible for the death of over 10 million Africans in Congo, just showed you’re on their side.— Plugger Boi (@greenbox247) November 16, 2020
With NO efforts by Belgium to do right by Congo Kinshasa in any way, this award is a total NO NO!
@TonyOElumelu & @TonyElumeluFDN you are focused on development in the continent. You should be protesting against institutional racism, exploitation & abuses committed by Belgium.
— Ms_Jydh (@Ms_Jydh) November 16, 2020
Iyamu Victor @iyamuvic007 tweeted, “The order of Leopold. The same Leopold who killed and maimed more than a million Africans in the Congo. The same Leopold whose Belgium killed Patrice Lumumba and have rendered the Congo ungovernable. Is there any African intellectual or upper class who really thinks about the people.”
Shame you accepted the “Order of Leopold”, which is a title dedicated to the most vicious imperialistic scoundrel that instituted an industrial-scale killing regime in colonial Congo. 10 million lives and countless limbs were lost in the Congo just to sate his acquisitive ardor. https://t.co/53vJSjNpgJ
— ‘Ãmeka Okoye #EndSARS (@EmekaTweets) November 16, 2020
