Africa for centuries has birthed great leaders and people of paramount substance who when they had believed what they were gifted with could have changed the political and socio-economic background of Africa but that did not happen as expected simply because we do not believe in ourselves and Africa at large.
Before the birth of civilization, Africa used to be one of the greatest continents in the world. Africa’s landscape was beautiful. The continent was covered by green vegetation not dried grass. Killings and deaths were not common and love for the continent was greatly exercised.
Our local gods were powerful and could call rain in times of need or stop it when they were angry with the people. Our local herbs were helpful and could heal quite a number of deadly diseases but again we didn’t believe that Africa has the potential of producing the best medicines in the whole world.
We have vast and fertile land that when properly put into use could feed the whole world but unfortunately, that land has turned out to be a burial ground mothering millions of Africans who died as a result of diseases and those who were killed by men like them. Our rivers, more especially the Nile, suffer from neglect because we do not know its use. And I wonder if the Nile were to run dry today, maybe that would be the time we would begin to understand its importance.
On the same day, we will feel that something is missing and it would be too late to bring it back but thank God it will never happen. The Nile will never run dry but the question is: Are we protecting it and are we using it well? What about the blood that sometimes colors its water, where does it come from?
It is sad to see the hidden tears of a great continent like Africa. Africa has been ridden for so long and it has not lost the balance. It is still the same even with tears in her eyes. Africa has been strong for years. It has withheld its tears for decades. Africa cries for its people, not the people crying for her. Suffering is everywhere in the world but ours surpasses all. It is incomparable. It bites deep in the flesh of every African.
The African children still had to work until they fell on their stomachs to get food to eat. Women become widows when they are still young and young girls are still being forced against their wish to marry men who are their parents’ age simply because of poor ancient beliefs that they are a source of wealth. A great number of people is still poor and earning one’s living requires a lot of courage and strength but most Africans have been strong for a long time and nothing has changed.
It has been years since we discovered that we are African and that we can prosper if we come together as one family but why are we still behind?
What is wrong with us making our own discoveries and building our great continent? I don’t want to sound pathetic because I love Africa but it is true that we believe and fear the whites because we see them like semi-gods. It seems like we have forgotten that it was the white man who colonized us, brought their civilization, and robbed us of the great African values. It is the gun that has left the whole continent of Africa in ruins and planted hatred in our hearts and white man created it. But the white man is calm and they don’t use those dangerous inventions to kill themselves. Instead, they use them to protect their continent.
And we are the ones using them and there has never been a single day we sit down and ask ourselves why we are doing this to our great continent and ourselves. When we see our schools, our health care systems, and our infrastructure, we tend to blame the gun created by the white man for having caused the great mess but we fail to blame ourselves for using the machine created by somebody to kill ourselves. Are we not ashamed?
How can we who are blessed with the gifts of nature be sold on a poor belief that we are not capable of doing great things for ourselves and for the whole world? It is now another decade but Africans still go abroad for medical treatments, Africans still hire foreign engineers and Africans still buy villas in Paris and the United Kingdom and they use their beautiful homes as a battlefield. Can someone tell me if this sums up the reasons why Africa is still behind? I think it could be the reason because we don’t believe in ourselves and that Africa could be a donor to the rest of the world.
Africa has for long suffered from neglect and stood some of the greatest tests of its times. But it has not lost its value; it is still the same in Africa with people with small brains. Needless to say, the day when we will wake up from our sleep, we will find that all is gone and we will have nothing but guns and poor roads, schools, and hospitals.
We have been asking for humanitarian assistance for quite a long time and nothing has been done to tackle issues that force us to go for humanitarian assistance. It seems like we are happy with the way we are as Africans. We have completely forgotten our values and how great we are. We were created and perfectly designed and given a very rich land but we are still poor amidst plenty simply because that is what we have chosen.
How can we who happened to be the second largest continent in the world still be lagging behind? It means our physical bodies are in Africa but our hearts and minds are outside Africa. We want beautiful places and if traveling to such countries was as simple as traveling to any other African country, everyone would have left Africa. We would have been left with only the poor who cannot afford transport fares.
Little or none has been done with those funds. Driving progress cannot be the role of the United Nations or the Western world, ever. As Africans, we need to take ingenuity and be the change we want to see.