‘From Africa always comes something stupid’
By
Idang Alibi
It is a character, appropriately called ‘’Professor’’, in the late Ken Saro-wiwa’s book Prisoners of Jebs, a book I consider one of the best satirical outputs to have come out of Africa, that made the remark which serves as the title of this piece. No one should therefore accuse me of coming up with this heading in order to denigrate our continent. ‘’Professor’’ had grown ‘mental’ thinking and wondering about the many foolishness of African leaders and peoples. There was a particular act of monumental foolishness that compelled him to make that remark.
This remark of his came to my mind immediately I watched on TV, news of the commissioning of the AU headquarters, a brand new $200 million, 12-storey building conceived, designed and built with Chinese money, intellect and labour for our leaders to sit in, deliberate and take decisions on behalf of Africa!
A reader who has been following my writings and who is obviously aware of my pride in my Africanness and of my passionate, if not consuming, concern for the fate of Africa, sent me an email asking what my take is on that Chinese-built AU Headquarters building in Ethiopia.
Well, my dear reader and my dear African brothers and sisters, my thinking about that building is that it is shameful, disgraceful, humiliating and stupid for our leaders to have allowed one foreign country (regardless of its size, wealth and influence) to put up for them such an iconic building that should symbolise our uniqueness as a race of people on earth. By accepting or even asking for it from the Chinese, we are telling the world that we have just come out from the grips of Western colonial masters , we are not content with colonialism and so we now want to enter into another colonial relation, this time around, with a potential lone world power of the nearest future.
In fact I feel so humiliated and angered by this building gift and our leaders’ acceptance of it that if I were to have my way, I will like to have the heads of all African leaders examined to see if the wires, nuts and bolts in their brains do not have the shame instinct in them. In fact, I think that our leaders ought to be caned like school children because when adults behave like children they deserve to be treated like children.
In fact as a child who grew up in the village I recall that we children were trained not to accept to eat food in neighbours’ houses except there was a communal feast to which we were invited or we were in the company of our parents. One reason for this was not to allow us to give the ‘misleading’ impression that we were from hungry homes! Such an impression would bring shame and dishonour on our parents. Therefore, no matter how hungry you were, you must reject any offer of food from people other than your parents even if it meant that you will go back to your home and scavenge for some miserable left-overs. If the pangs of hunger gnawed you so much on the walls of your stomach making it to rumble and you were tempted to accept food from an insistent motherly neighbour, you will be sure that a child from your household who is spying on you will report you to your parents when you get back home. And you can be sure also that you will receive some good spanking from your mum and songs will be composed by your mates calling you some unflattering names. That was meant to inculcate in us the culture of self respect if you ask me. But it is now clear that the apparently ill-brought up African children who have now grown up to be our leaders and who have been mentally colonised and Europeanised, have been denuded of the African value of self-respect to reject certain gifts from certain persons no matter how dire your circumstances may be.
Apart from the purely psychological feeling of self worth, ‘eyeing’ food from neighbours was seriously frowned against because of one practical useful purpose: if everyone learnt to wait for his better -off neighbour for his sustenance, the whole community would, in no time, cultivate the vice of dependency and laziness. Society will ultimately be the poorer for it as it will not be able to make any progress. People were therefore taught to learn to provide for themselves or look inward for their sustenance. And this teaching is in accordance with the prescription of the Bible which says that ‘’he who does not work should not eat’’
We have a saying in my place that the crab has squinted eyes because he learnt to ‘eye’, from the corners of his eyes, his neighbours’ food. There is a price to pay for learning to depend on others: you will not only have squinted eyes, you will also suffer the contempt of others. Today, Africans have ‘squinted’ minds because we have learnt to rely too much on the World Bank, UNDP, WHO, European Union and now China to do things for us. There are many things you cannot do if you have not taken the practical steps of learning to do them yourself. See the immense joy millions of us self-respecting Africans would have felt and the practical experience our architects, engineers, builders and labourers would have acquired for Africa’s development if that AU building had been conceived, financed and constructed by us.
Even if the building had been amateurish in design and construction, some of us would have consoled us with the saying that ‘’Rome was not built in a day’’. Even an amateurish outcome would be better than the hand-out from China because it will help to tell the story of the level of our development. It would also have announced to the world that Africa is beginning to come of age. We missed the opportunity of enjoying such a hearty feeling because our cultivated sense of laziness and dependency has made us to accept the gift of this house from China.
I have been in the massive European House in Brussels, Belgium. It is a true reflection of European power, ingenuity, culture and identity. I therefore think that an AU Headquarters should have been conceived, designed, financed and built with clay or red earth materials, possibly thatched with improved grass or other roofing materials that are uniquely African. In fact , the entire building should have been done incorporating features and motifs to reflect our climate, our architectural ingenuity and identity as a people. I expect that the ante-rooms, balconies, columns and other architectural features should tell without words how African elders conduct their state business. But the AU Headquarters will not reflect all these. Its conception and execution reflect the Chinese identity.
There are some who will ask what the big deal is in who builds a building to house a houseless people provided they have a place to lay their heads or for working? But this building we are talking about is not just any kind of building; it is one to house where leaders of a continent of about 700 million people will stay to trade wisdom and insight on which direction and strategy such a continent should adopt for their advance. That over 50 years after the over 50 countries in Africa gained independence from colonial rule, we Africans are unable to build for ourselves a headquarters building where our elders meet, is something no sane, self-respecting man should accept.
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Comments Page: 1  posted on 02-07-2012, 09:06:54 AM N.a.r. Re: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’I have been far to miffed at this development to make any comments on this till now. I think the construction of the HQ building is China's message to the world to announce the completion of their re-colonization of Africa. This is a very sad development, to say the least and a security risk to the continent. I pray that within a few years the building be converted to a Hotel and convention center and we build our own headquarters building...
Reminds me of the Ghanaians who invited the Indians to fund, design and build their new Jubilee state house...  posted on 02-07-2012, 09:59:15 AM Mark larRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’I cannot remember reading your comments on the issue of European aids for starving, diseased and war victims of Africans. I find that more deserving of your commentary than the construction of a talking -shop for a group of kleptomaniacs, dictators and goons posted on 02-07-2012, 11:18:04 AM Nigeria on my mindRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’The chicken flew the coop a long time ago, Mr. Alibi. Africans hate themselves more than White, Chinese or Indian people hate them. This building is irrefutable proof of that fact. African countries would rather do business with non-African nations than cooperate with one another. They will hire foreign coaches rather than indigenous ones, or coaches from other African countries. They avidly surrender the best that their countries have to offer to foreigners while maintaining their own citizens in destitution. Our colo-mentality knows no bounds. I know a Ghanian who lights up like a Christmas tree when treated to the company of non-Blacks, even when said non-Blacks come from the lowest rungs of the socio-economic ladder.
Nigeria, for example, claims to operate a government of, for and by the people. Yet one of the most critical decisions implemented by the government in recent times, the removal of the fuel subsidy, was done not in accordance with the opinion of the Nigerian people, but at the instance of a White woman from the IMF. There is no point lamenting our servility. We have willingly choosen it. If the Chinese are truly intelligent, they would have embedded hidden microphones and cameras in sensitive areas of that building to capture the deliberations of our unintelligent and venal African "brothers". If China re-colonizes Africa, it will be because Africa tacitly invited it. No use agonizing over it. As you make your bed, so you must repose on it. posted on 02-07-2012, 12:57:50 PM MrOneNaijaRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’THE LOG IN YOUR EYE
QUOTE:
Mark Lar, for once you have made a sensible remark in our open spaces. I agree with your take on this one. But our greater worry should be with the disgrace that Nigeria has become today, no thanks to its army of spineless crooks, election riggers, murderers, fornicators, rapists and madmen calling themselves leaders. Mr. Alibi should be troubled more by what is happening right here in Nigeria, the country that should normally be considered the nerve centre of the continent. When you have your president literally weeping like a small child on the shoulders of a female American diplomat in Abuja, that tells you to what extent the country is in a mess. Not long ago, Wikileaks revealed how key figures of the Jonathan regime, Mr. president included, have this unpatriotic and criminal habit of acting as de facto agents for the Americans and other Western interests in particular. Curiously, those damning revelations were not treated as deserving of scrutiny and strong denunciation by the Nigerian media. Today, by all intents and purposes, Jonathan and his cast of fellow clueless and "uncle tomist" mafia lords of the PDP hue have reduced Nigeria to an inconsequential banana republic that must be toyed with by their American puppet masters. A wimpy Jonathan who likes to fancy himself as a tough guy has alienated much of the country, yet seems contented in his fool's paradise by constantly repeating the vacuity that even if Nigerians don't appreciate his bumbling and anti-people ways, Obama and his American regime do love him! Since Mr. Alibi's primary focus here is with symbols, let him consider the more worrisome reality that Aso Rock and other strategic government structures in our dear country, Nigeria, have been constructed by foreign concerns, apparently with little or no thought given to the security implications of the matter. Today, a German engineering and construction outfit going by the name of Julius Berger (JB) has a virtual monopoly of contracts for major government projects. If my recollection is right, the building of the Vice-President' s official residence, that of the Senate president's house as well as that of the official residence for the speaker of the House of Representatives, amongst others, are being undertaken by JB. Also, consider the critical oil sector. Does it make any sense that fifty years since the beginning of oil exploration or production in Nigeria, the 'technical" dimension of that key sector is almost entirely controlled by foreigners? Where are our patriotism and commonsense? Beyond the moral and intellectual aridity of the depraved tin gods that have been involved with successive regimes, there exists a serious case of inferiority complex that informs the way we interact with foreigners and especially with the West. These days, it is not unusual for our journalists to canvass for American or British "help" when the rains come late, for instance. We have thus surrendered our rationality by opting for the easy way out, that is by inviting these foreign "geniuses" to come think on our behalf. Pathetic! Let me use this opportunity to recommend one of my essays which happens to deal with this issue of our relationship with foreign influences and especially with the USA. The article in question bears the title " Why Nigerians Must say 'No' To America's Meddling in Their Affairs" ( By Aonduna Tondu). It is available on NVS. http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15270&Itemid=154 Aonduna Tondu. posted on 02-07-2012, 13:46:34 PM DenkerRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
 N.A.R..., ya homework....lets have ya solutions to dis wahala below..thx.    posted on 02-07-2012, 14:16:47 PM EnyiRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
I agree with the main thrust of your post. Many people in sensitive postions in the country have inferiority complex. Initially, I used to assume it was colonial mentality. I guess it goes beyond that. Anybody, who is not identified as a Black person, receives VIP treatment from the powers that be. Yes, why should construction of official buildings be assigned to foreigners? Do our leaders consider the security implication? In my younger years, I had suggested to some top army officers that the military should have at least one top grade hospital where our heads of state and top public officers should be treated. Nothing came out of this. IBB had to go to France or somewhere for radiculo[athy when we have competent neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons who could have done the surgery locally, if given the necessar facilities. How much of state secret was divulged during that trip? Nobody knows. Our late President had to be flown to Saudi Arabia. The list goes on and on. How many foreign firms have been engaged to run our railways? What is the outcome? I may forgive Ethiopia for this because of the poor state of their economy. What reason do we have for this crass stupidity? posted on 02-08-2012, 07:07:56 AM YorubamanRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’And your point is ? Unless you are tolaly dumb or outright Stupid will you compaier what you just did posted on 02-08-2012, 07:13:04 AM YorubamanRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’why is it that we have fools on this forum and all around Nigeria , that whenever we talk about issues in Africa we allways have fools who will find a way to change it to a Nigerian issue posted on 02-08-2012, 07:33:41 AM DenkerRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’mallam Yorubaman...from emasculated yoruba nation...did ya see dos pictures...?infact they were shot in lagos...get dos elementary wahala right before ya start discussing a wonderful gift from our chinese friends...indeed! posted on 02-08-2012, 12:02:04 PM CikpattRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
N O T R E A L L Y ! I am of the opinion that it is Mr. Idang Alibi and others like him who cannot shake themselves away from "colonial thinking". It would have been a case of stupid pride that will make the AU forego such a free gift. Any stupid pride that costs $200 million is criminal and should be made a continental offence. Let us take the gift even if we have to spend $10 million to "clean" and customize for our convenience. There is nothing that is morally, politically or culturally wrong with accepting a mere building from the Chinese or from any other country. It is just what it is: a gift in Addis Ababa. Hardly will sovereign African nations go there to make serious national security, economic and other decisions for the respective countries. I don't think we have a United States of Africa yet. Event in that AU building will just be jamborees with pretences of seriousness. Even if the gift is wired up with bugs and/or critters to influence the minds of African leaders who once or twice a year may stumble in there for a meeting or two, there are cheap and good technologies to do a clean sweep. Let us get the building from China and call in a company from Europe or the Americas to do a clean sweep. That is easy and cheap to do in today's post cold war era. I do not see how a gift of an AU HQ is going to "force" sovereign African nations into making pro-China policies if they (African nations) don't want to. China is positioning to become an economic super power in a few years. We cannot ignore China in today's globalized world. It is for every African country to work out mutually agreeable terms of reference with China, taking into consideration their unique national security, economic and political needs while negotiating with the looming economic giant. To think that China and other countries will stay out of Africa in today's globalized world is self delusion. Of course, and yes, China will come into Africa as a matter of "must do"; that is what China is expected to do, which is to penetrate Africa for largely economic and perhaps military reasons. Let us not be afraid of China or USA or any super power registering presence in Africa. Rather, let us strategically plan relationships to both respect our sovereignty and that eliminate threats to our national security and sustainable development. posted on 02-08-2012, 17:44:18 PM AnonimiRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
And the best way to respect our sovereignty is to collect a "free" building from the Chinese? I am sure we all know that it is not really free as they would expect and receive many things in return worth way much more than the cost of the building? I am sure you must have read somewhere how the Americans were giving free buildings to the Chinese as a way for the Chinese to have their sovereignty respected by the Amercians 
A lazy person who is keen to celebrate at the least opportunity (rather than reflect & continue to sacrifice for even greater individual/societal success) while almost ONLY praying & fasting for her provisions, "breakthrough", "divine intervention" and "blessings" will undoubtedly find herself at the mercy of her neighbours, including her \"enemies\" for her wants (as opposed to her needs). posted on 02-08-2012, 17:47:55 PM AnonimiRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
I remember thinking also about the security implications highlighted above. I guess our RULERS are too dense to be concerned about such things. posted on 02-08-2012, 19:58:09 PM Nigeria on my mindRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
I was shaking my head in disbelief while reading CIkpatt's post. I cannot believe that any adult African thinks that advanced countries do anything for free in this day and age. posted on 02-09-2012, 01:37:29 AM DeepThoughtRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’There they go again - blaming the White man.
(Ah, Don't thank me Chaos.....) I had a good laugh with this: QUOTE:
The alternative is to weep. Ok, I'm also weeping posted on 02-09-2012, 12:44:23 PM EnyiRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
There is a simple answer to your question. The "fools on this forum and all around Nigeria" need to do this for the benefit of bigger fools who, either are unable to realize that charity begins at home or cannot appreciate the simple fact that African issues may also be Nigerian issues. posted on 02-09-2012, 12:58:19 PM EnyiRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
I disagree with the above post. The issue goes beyond source of the free gift. Self reliance is a key to earning respect. In the first instance, the African Heads of States do not need palatial buildings to host their meetings. Secondly, has the question of subsequent maintenance been addressed? If all we can afford is just a collection of mud houses, so be it. Let the HOS meet in such houses. As long as Africans run around asking for aides, crumbs from the master's table and hand-outs, nobody will respect us. The rise of China is instructive. We should be more interested in how to promote good governance and progress, rather than seeking white elephants, in Africa. posted on 02-09-2012, 14:27:39 PM AnonimiRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
Abeg helep me ask them again o. The wise Chinese could have given the building free only to have a maintenance contract for 20 years to more than recoup their "awoof" from the lazy, egoistic (i-better-pass-my-neighbour) black man. Not to talk of the intelligence and security risk of such maintenance contract!!! posted on 02-09-2012, 23:09:49 PM DeepThoughtRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
Sharraaaap. Stop blaming the White maaaaan! posted on 02-10-2012, 07:26:57 AM Nigeria on my mindRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
And that is the koko of the problem right there. We never think of what we can afford, never try to determine whether a practice or policy is compatible with our environment. Instead we are obsessed with how the "world community" perceives us. If the world enjoins us to adopt democracy, we gleefully do so, never pausing to ascertain whether it suits our economic, political or demographic circumstances. We simply embrace it to appease the outside world, to earn their approval. Then what do we do next? We engage China, a country that represents the antithesis of democracy, to construct the physical edifices our democracy will require. QUOTE:
We are still hobbled by a primitive craving for spectacle and pageantry. Invisible infrastructure such as plumbing, electrical power distribution and communications networks despair for our attention because the lack the capacity to excite awe. China has gotten this far today because she has upheld her culture, humanity and other national realities above quaint concepts such as a "world community" and "international relations." Their paramount priority is the Chinese community, and it shows. posted on 02-10-2012, 19:50:24 PM AnonimiRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
I don't think you were responding to my quoted post. Or were you? posted on 02-10-2012, 21:36:44 PM M. AkosaRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
Yes..oh ! Unfortunately, all this generation of Nigerians alive today will have to die off, by then the education system in our country and the socio-cultural values and indoctrination completely changed in Nigeria, before you can stop seeing, at least no longer too many of such obviously "educated" person(s) who reason like that one. posted on 02-10-2012, 22:16:26 PM AuspiciousRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’-
Where BOKO HARAM to come and help [them] BOKO HARAM this building, too? -- posted on 02-11-2012, 22:49:54 PM DeepThoughtRe: ‘From Africa always comes something stupid’QUOTE:
Of course I was. Are you not a Black man? What else do you people do other than that? (Chaos, I say don't thank me :rant  Comments Page: 1 |
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