26 Jun 2008 |
|
It is impossible to tell, with any degree of certainty, how
Unfortunately, too many Africans -- encouraged by African leaders and continental elites, and some scholars -- have made it fashionable to blame slavery and colonialism for all that ills the continent. And then, there are the religious leaders who harps fatalism into the consciousness of their followers. And so it is that a sizeable number of Africans have refused to take personal responsibility for the continent’s failure and recklessness. Day in and day out, they wait for a God or for a Rawlings with magical wand. In addition, they look to the West for direction and for handouts. How sad, how mistaken! Africans themselves must take back their own continent; they must take back their own countries. The West can help, but for the most part, Africans must do the unthinkable and the painful to regain their world. As it is, Africans are afraid: they are afraid to sacrifice their conveniences and their lives, and are very much afraid to venture into an uncertain future. This timidity is more pronounced in the post-independence generation -- a generation that is given to immediate gratification, laziness and gullibility. For the most part, they imitate absurdities from other regions. Almost forty years after most African countries gained independence, the continent continues to have a striking resemblance to the
For
What is the condition of things in
Virtually every African country lacks the fundamentals of development. They lack the infrastructures. These leaders create hell-on-earth knowing they and their kin can go overseas for education, for medical care and for all other necessities. Imagine what will happen if they and their family members are barred from travelling abroad for the best those countries have to offer. African leaders should be banned from those trips so they too can roast in the inhumane conditions they have created for their own people. Of all the problems facing the African continent -- weak institutions and the crisis of governance, the enmity between the rulers and the governed, the inability to draw lines between public and private goods, preliterate and fatalistic citizenry, the sheer stupidity and low self-esteem of African leaders, etc, etc -- the question of leadership is the most pressing. Beginning with
In “What Does the World Owe Africa?” I suggested a series of steps to be taken by the Western world. Here and now, I am suggesting a series of steps to be taken by Africans to rescue their continent from misery and squalor. There are twelve steps Africans must undertake to reclaim their continent. Today, I offer five: five things Africans owe their continent! First, assassinating certain leaders would be justified. Who will or who would have shed honest tears at the funeral of Said Barre, Issayas Afewerki, Idi Amin, Samuel Doe, Teodoro Nguema, Arap Moi, Robert Mugabe, King Mswati III, Joseph Mobutu, Hissene Habre, Gnassingbe Eyadema, Sani Abacha, and two dozen others or so. None of the aforelisted would have been missed had their lives been snuff out 2 years into their reign. Killing them would have done
Why do we execute armed robbers? Why do we execute those who commit treason against the state? Simple: we do because their actions are heinous. If an armed robber steals $1,000.00 we execute him or send him to twenty years in prison; but when a politician steals $2,000,000.00 we turn blind eyes to his crime. As drastic as some of the proposed measures may sound, they are entirely necessary if
Third, the revival and strengthening of the legislature and the judicial; the education and reeducation of the people and the introduction of a new political and governing system would be in order. Most Nigerians are weary and wary of the military establishment. Still, we ought to fashion a governing system that allows for both to coexist. For instance, the American or British style system does not seem to augur well for
Also, Africans must consider taxing religious houses (save for Traditional African Religions). Churches and Mosques are money making endeavors.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
# 
Your Comments
Please make The Square an enjoyable experience for everyone by refraining from gratuitous ad-hominem contributions, defamatory comments and off-topic posting. Such posts will be removed.