By Seedy S. Fofanah
My Motherland, Africa, the second largest continent in World, is one of the miserable states where people are killing each other simply because they belong to wrong tribes. But it is my conviction that as far as there is life, there is hope for Africans to change for better life. Actually, when one looks at the current picture of Africa, one sees a picture of sadness, hunger, death, poverty, wars, diseases and worst of all a disorganized continent.
Moreover, history shows that since pre-colonial era Africa has known few good days. No continent has been more mistreated, misunderstood and misreported over the years than Mother Africa. The consistent wars, exploitation of ordinary people, enslavement, misery, poverty, disappointment and hopelessness etc. all had and still continue to bring Africa down on its knees and hold it captive to vested interests of local and international dimension. All other things being equal, absolute poverty, instead of declining is likely to gain ground, which has ripple effects on the continent’s economy, leaving it to lie in ruins.
Scientifically, it has been proven that nothing happens in a vacuum. Every event is linked to an earlier corresponding one. This theory is true in the African context. There are few new plights in Africa and the ones we call new have been repeated over and over that they are not new any longer.
The fundamental question that we have to ask ourselves is why Africa has found itself stranded in this miserable condition, in spite of its immense riches in natural resources. We are the original man of human Civilization in this World, the best and the first of God’s creation. Then what is the answer to our problem? It is simple and straight forward; is it because our leaders have failed us. It is true that history tells us that all countries have gone through difficult times similar to ours, but our approach in passing the test of time take us nowhere. Do we then have to retool ourselves or reinvent the wheel?
Most people agree that Africa’s traditional and political leaders who have been entrusted and mandated by the masses to set things straight for the continent’s people have continued to betray us. They denied us our inalienable right to economic prosperity by robbing our resources only to deposit them in Swiss Banks. To add salt to the new injury, our leaders have surrendered our national resources into the hands of foreign companies who do not care about our well-being. Despite the complaints, protest and violence surrounding this ugly development, our leaders keep encouraging more exploiters to come home right in our backyard.
Africa must change for better but the lingering question becomes how can we change for better? It is simple and easy. Our African leaders must put national interest ahead of personal, family, tribal or regional interests and realize that they are there for the people and not for themselves. But this cannot be achieved without dedication and sacrifice. If we have upright leaders and an informed citizenry, I am confident that most of our problems, including the unending wars, corruption, rape and flagrant violations of human rights will be taken care of.
Ends
Honestly, back in the day, before the Europeans interfered with Africans politics, I suppose the sub Saharan Africans were doing okay. They had food, shelter, chicks, dances and intoxicants.The European’s came in and fucked with their shit, and they never recovered.
Maybe if Africa was left to the Africans, they would still be living as primitives, but less of that cruel destruction that’s going on now, and a generally happier life.
Corrupt politicians aren’t exactly unique to Africa, but the continent does seem to have more than its fair share. At least Nelson Mandela showed the world that Africa is capable of producing an honest leader. Some of the political crises in Africa can be blamed on colonial legacy but most of it reflects greed and corruption on the part of incumbent presidents and political parties. The 2011 elections in Uganda and Cameroon, left the incumbents securely in place after questionable tactics and ballot counts. But the North Africans have certainly shown the way forward, starting with the Tunisian revolution and (so far) ending with the toppling of Libya’s Gaddafi. President Ellen Johnson Sir-leaf of Liberia along with 2 other women received the Nobel Peace Prize. And Zambia had a successful and fair election with a change of ruling party.
The Europeans did their part , and we could have learned from them , but now it is our own Africans who are the oppressors.We must move on, but, there is a bridge that we have to cross to get to a new Africa.What do we do with this bridge if you ask me? The answer is; we must destroy this bridge.How? Well The Gambia, I know for sure, is war.senegal..pen, Mauritania.. pen, Guinea B.. War.. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, these countries already went through it, and the list can go on for continental, from up north, to down south.
The Europeans did their part , and we could have learned from them , but now it is our own Africans who are the oppressors.We must move on, but, there is a bridge that we have to cross to get to a new Africa.What do we do with this bridge if you ask me? The answer is; we must destroy this bridge.How? Well The Gambia, I know for sure, is war.senegal..pen, Mauritania.. pen, Guinea B.. War.. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, these countries already went through it, and the list can go on for continental Africa, from up north, to down south.