Posterity for his work? The message
OIB's « love and light » is still alive and therefore invincible.
Our approach is resolutely aimed at rehabilitating our father, grandfather and great-grandfather OIB. Unjustly accused of “madness” by the French colonial administration, he was deported to Oubangui-Chari, far from his family and his people.
And for what result? He was excluded from their “political game” and even from social life (prevented from working in French companies and administrations in the colony to earn a living and look after his family...). He described the French colonial administration's attitude towards him as impolitic and hostile.
All he wanted was for a “New Dawn” to dawn in Gabon in 1932.
His message is alive and well and continues to vibrate within us, which is why :
1) Continuation in the same direction as him is well underway, hence this first book “OWANGA OU L'APPEL DE L'AURORE” (OWANGA OR THE CALL OF AURORA), and others are in preparation, notably a “Relecture de l'Acte du 1er juillet 1932 et l'Idéal de Lumière au Gabon” (Rereading of the Act of July 1, 1932 and the Ideal of Light in Gabon).
2) A collaboration with CNRS researchers and IMAF (Institut des Mondes Africains) is underway for a digital exhibition focusing on the OIB affair, the theme of which is: L'aliéné d'Afrique entre enjeux de pouvoir et instrumentalisation du savoir médical.
Which goes to show that OIB's singular trajectory continues to attract the interest of scholars interested in the subject of messianisms in Africa, and particularly in the equatorial zone.
3) New academic publications citing the OIB case have recently appeared, in Italian: “Folli, mistici e ribelli. Diritto coloniale e alterazione mentale in Africa equatoriale francese. Silvia Falconieri”, mentions ‘Owanga ou l'Appel de l'Aurore’.
4) Research work by Silvia Falconieri, Sandra Fancello: shedding light on the story of Benoît Ogoula Iquaqua, to give substance to forms of repression through the accusation of madness, and to the victims of this instrumentalization.
5) Restoration of its Library-Museum: the idea is gaining ground.
6) Reclaiming and rebuilding the village of Owanga.
7) Produce an English version: “Owanga ou l'Appel de l'Aurore”.
