THE CHALLENGES OF AFRICA

Why did they call ours a dark continent?  Why did they say ours is the poorest of all other continents? Why must they say ours is a home of the deadliest of disease? We have even joined them to do the same, yes, we are blacks but we must not let our back remain on the ground, we are blacks, but an era of light has come. Africa is not a dark continent but the giant of all continents.

 Africa, I must confess is the richest continent but inhabited by people with poor mindset, ideas, mentality and selfish interests; Nigeria for instance many say is a rich nation with numerous natural resources but inhabited by 90% of poor citizens, and the profits from its resources are split between the government and few individuals. If we are not rich, then why did the west come to Africa with colonization and slavery, stealing our natural and human resources, destroying our sociocultural and economic system? But no matter what has happened, no matter our mistakes, I have just realized that we are the cause of our problems today, we are no more slaves but partakers of freedom, but what pains me most is that most Africans has refused to keep the fire of freedom burning.

We lack, not because we are blacks, but because we are blind and we keep going back, we lack currency because we refuse to use our common sense, we lack resources because we refuse to be resourceful, we lack breakfast because we refuse to break free from laziness, we lack lunch because we refuse to lunch our potentials, we lack dinner because we refuse to think deeper, we lack industries in our nations because we condone so much indolence. We experience so much scarcity because we condone laxity, we experience poverty because we involve in so much promiscuity, we remain unemployed because we refuse to employ our potentials, we have not found our wealth because we have not defined our worth and we’ve not joined other nations to reach the altitude of development, because we’ve not worked on our attitude. 

Other continents of the world are not better than us, they just think better. We have got what they have got; Africa shall become better if our values become better. They are not where they are because of their currency; they are where they are because of their current sense. When they dream, they dream to conquer, when we dream, we dream to consume. When they school, they school to be empowered, when we school we school to be employed. They plant for the next age; we plant for our next meal. Indeed we need a revolution, if our mind is reformed as theirs, we would get the results they get, but if our mind is blind, we would suffer the pains of darkness. It’s time we wake up to our responsibilities; most of our leaders are so vision less, they are so corrupt that they use decades to build for themselves mansions that will last for centuries and use just days to build for their people public amenities that will collapse tomorrow. 

In spite of our natural endowment, we still rely on import that now they are importing meat and toothpick, as a country we’ve gone far, but in development we are crumbling. All of us know our challenges today, a war without end, violence, corruption, a dependence on oil and neglect on other natural resources, thereby threatening our future, schools where too many children aren’t learning, we know these challenges, we’ve heard and we’ve only talked about them for years, but what have we really done? What has stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans, what has stopped us is the failure of our leadership and the corruption in our political system. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict; know that your people will judge you based on what you built and not what you destroyed. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit, know that you are on the wrong side of history; and your children and children’s children may never live a better life after you’ve gone.

Also of a particular concern is this new form of slavery called American green card lottery and other form of migration programmes that are seriously and gradually drifting a significant amount of our youths and talented able bodied men and women out of the continent of Africa into an unknown future?  As I watch these men and women do menial jobs that the whites will not touch with a long pole, I get provoked and only wish that these men and women will one day realize their dream of a better future not just in foreign lands in Europe and America but also within the black continent of Africa. Let’s all have the African spirit, spirit of persistence, the African spirit of strength, hope, courage and greatness; this is the African spirit, shared by our heroes of freedom. My earnest desire is that our youths and generation of leaders will awaken to the needed change; change by becoming leaders with great sense of commitment to leadership, leaders who sees politics as not just a game but an institution of public interest; we all can work together to track terrorists down with a strong military, who said we can’t stop violence, kidnapping, bribery and corruption that has claimed thousands of lives in our nations. Let’s be a generation that reshapes our economy; let’s set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed, let’s recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for accountability. Let’s invest in scientific research and let’s be a generation that ends poverty in Africa.

To all citizens I advice; although government will play a crucial role in bringing the changes we need, let’s all thrive to be agents of change in our societies; we need  a revolution, not a blood flowing revolution but a mind renewing revolution, each of us in our own lives will have to accept responsibilities; let’s share some measure of sacrifice, let us begin, let us begin this hard work together, let us transform our nations and continent; so that with God’s permission; the leadership and government of our past heroes will be an inspiration to all humanity.