This ‘popular uprising’ is nothing of the sort. It’s a carefully organised campaign by the political opposition who are trying to create pseudo-sympathy for themselves and against the government. Why now? Because key elections take place later this year, so they’re drumming up popular sentiment, they hope, and trying to connect the Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab demonstrations to their allaeged grievances in Gabon. Only trouble is, there are no comparable grievances in Gabon – apart from disappointed oppositionists still feeling sore at losing the last election a year and a half ago.

I know of no popular anti-establishment feeling, apart from the fact that everyone would like to earn more money – a common sentiment the world over. Certainly a few stroppy peudo intellectuals in the African Diaspora with various chips on their shoulders do NOT count as the Gabonese public nursing grievances.

From what my friend in Gabon has witnessed, the new government has introduced long-verdue and welcome changes across a raft of social, political and business areas – and all this in a very short space of time. Tellingly, corruption is being openly and deliberately discouraged as well (habits of a lifetime, I know), and actively rooted out.

I’m sorry to say this, but the opposition are really no angels themselves. By and large, they’re an unimpressive bunch with rather big mouths, a wild propensity to exaggerate and with less-than-honourable records concerning honesty and probity. This, in my humble opinion, gives their rhetoric a very hollow ring. Their so-called ‘uprising’ and protests are empty, stage-managed amateur dramatics. Nothing more. I, for one, am not impressed. There wasn’t much to admire about them before; and now their cheap tactics have squandered what credibility they had. I somehow doubt they are building the new electoral support they seek. Perhaps now they’ll pack up their overtly political baggage and all go home.