The Last Word
Africa still has slaves
“From where I sit, I believe the political will is lacking. It seems that most of our leadership structures serve themselves first and we continue to sell off our continent to the likes of China and India…” t the beginning of the year, I read a book called “The Book of Negroes”, an engrossing read about a young lass and her ordeal through slavery. I then watched the movies “Django Unchained” and “Lincoln” at a time when there is renewed talk of the effects of apartheid on our beautifully divided land. What gives people the right to invade another’s land and colonise them? What angers me most is that a nation of many let the few run amok and do as they wish. And now we sit here and say poor Africa and Africans, but that’s because we still let this continue. There are no guns that rule over us but we are just as weak because we allow poor leaders to lead us. We have failed our beautiful land and ourselves and will continue to do so. I tend to have this conversation quite a few times with my father and friends. A common response is to blame colonialism and apartheid. It is true that these events made a lot of people ‘stupid’ by starving them of decent education, which unfortunately will leave a legacy in our land for years to come. But I am tired of hearing it because we now have the land and can stop relying on the west to save us and instead save ourselves. I hear things like Swiss Chocolate; where in Switzerland do they grow cocoa? Nigerians buy expensive petrol yet they are amongst the world’s top oil producers. We have the resources and it is a high time we stood tall.
52
EXPATRIATE
I recently visited Malaysia which got its independence in August 1957. It has a population of 29.6mil, GDP of $492 billion and an unemployment rate of 3.2%. Ghana got its independence in March 1957, has a population of 25.2mil, GDP of $83.18 billion and an unemployment rate of 11%. Both countries were colonized, have similar climates and I believe Ghana has more resources than Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur has elements of poverty but this was overshadowed by the evident industrialization. So what happened? In 1991, the former prime minister outlined a vision 2020 wherein, he detailed the plan to make Malaysia a self-sufficient industrialised nation. A point to note is that the country’s largest trading partners are its Asian neighbours - food for thought for the African renaissance. The continent has all the commodities and all the professionals we need. Many of our teachers, doctors, engineers, bankers, scientists are seen to be amongst the best in their field. However, many prefer to ply their trade elsewhere because our own continent does not provide an environment for us to excel. From where I sit, I believe the political will is lacking. It seems that most of our leadership structures serve themselves first and this perpetuates the cycle. We continue to sell off our continent to the likes of China and India.
My father continually argues that the powers that be will seek to continue to sow divisions in our continent if we try to do something for ourselves which is contrary to what is to their benefit. He cites the examples of Gadaffi, Mubarak, Nyerere and Lumumba. This is a fair point but a lot of these presidents were depose/ killed by their own people. Who funded the process of elimination? In my considered view, if you create an environment where the majority believes that you are working for their benefit and opportunities are ever present, it is unlikely that they will even dream of harming you. Perhaps it is I who lives in a fools’ paradise, but I long for this paradise to be this land from whence I hail. Oh Africa! Yaw Peprah is a self employed entrepreneur pursuing interests in business advisory, consultancy and commodity brokering. www.asitissoitis.blogspot.com Twitter - @yawzie