As we outlive each day in earnest hopes coupled with doubts
of seeing the promise land governments over governments have constantly
preached, inflaming the hopes of citizens as though the state of high mass
consumption could be attained within their term of offices. Yet their actions
and inactions when in government triggers doubts and faint believe of citizens in
the 21st century hoping to have the rare privilege of entering the
promise land where manner will always be available for all with little efforts.
Oh! We have longed waited for the Africa we want, the independent Africa of Dr
Kwame Nkrumah and other well-meaning freedom fighters in the likes of Nelson
Mandela of South Africa, Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Julius K Nyere of Tanzania.
OUR ENVISIONED AFRICA
Africa is a continent that is well endowed with resources,
in a matter of fact, we are the richest continent in terms of natural resource
amounting to over trillion and trillions of dollars yet the poorest in the
world. The precious myriad array of resource endowment ranges from very fertile
large land enveloped with oil, gas, minerals including gold, copper, uranium,
cobalt, zinc and bauxite. The sea which earnestly can support shipments and
harbor services, relatively friendly climatic condition that supports all year-round
farming with water body stock which could easily be leveraged on for irrigation
purposes, we have countless personalities who are highly educated in diverse
fields of study as very formidable human resource base. Yet the African we want
is alive and well in our dreams, documented blueprints and manifestos of
politicians which are yet to be realized.
We yearn for an African where Kwame Nkrumah’s vision of
African Unity comes to fore. It is very important that we unite as one Africa
only then will we be placed in a better position on the dinner table of
bilateral business negotiation as worthy partners to scratch well and be
scratched equally the itching backs parochial satisfaction. It is true that
when it comes to World business interrelations, the larger your possessions and
market force, the juicer trade deals you get. Hence, a ‘trade’ agreement
between let’s say Ghana and China is not trade but in the words of Prof. PLO
Lumumba is RAID of which I wholeheartedly side. But a trade agreement between
Africa and any of the super world powers among the G8 you can think of will be
a legit TRADE where both parties settles on a fair deal. True African unity
posits several benefits than one can think of,
- True African unity will imply we shall have one
big market
- One passport which shall be accepted at the
fifty-four (54) airports in Africa
- One currency for all 54 countries
- One President and fifty-four heads of states
Basically, all formal and informal systems of all the
independent African countries will be synchronized into a unified body. This is
what unity in its entirety will imply and that is the African we want to see.
In the quest for African unity, it is however important that
we propagate for true leadership, we want an Africa where true leadership will
be the hallmark of position seekers. True leadership is way more than power and
authority coupled with the desire to be recognized from folks within and
outside, instead true leadership is the Inherent desire to give out your all in
all in developing and helping people attain their full potential. True
leadership is not the insatiable desire to amass wealth but to judiciously use
available limited resources to the benefit of all, this is the caliber of
leadership we long yearn for in Africa.
In conclusion, it is apt that we purge off the ugly head of
corruption from our system in totality. Africa must and should be devoid of
corruption, corruption has been a bane to the realization of Africa’s
potentials. This has over the past years rained hardships, shortage of consumer
goods, high prices of available consumer goods and services. Corruption is
believed to have cost Africa over 148 billion dollars every year per a study in
2002. Monies syphoned through corrupt activities goes to the benefit of a small
circle of friends and family members of the one STEALING to the detriment of
the suffering masses. It is only true leadership that can guarantee a
corruption free Africa, an Africa where the corruption perception index will
zero. It is however important that we as Africans decolonize our minds and
hearts from mediocrity to enable us choose leaders not based on our various
ethnic affiliations, religious association but leaders who truly are worth
their salt.
We want an Africa, where its populace would be interested in
staying here and developing themselves and the country in its entirety through
their acquired technical know-how channeled at addressing societal issues.
Africans would be content staying here because having true leadership leading
to a corruption free environment will guarantee limitless opportunities on a fertile
ground to flourish, where the youthful population, graduates from various institutions
and universities will all be engaged in very profitable ventures to sustain
themselves and their families. The rampant death rate recorded on the Mediterranean
Sea by youth of Africa who in the quest to seek greener pastures in Europe and
America drown in the sea, die of famine or get attacked and killed in most
cases will be a sad event of the past. Africans in the diaspora will yearn to
come back home because their land is indeed flowing with milk and honey.
We want to see an Africa where the in the words of the great
Ali Mazrui; ‘’African produce what it does not consume and consumes what it
does not produce’’ will be proved wrong because Africans will consume what they
produce and stay true to themselves. We longed yearned of an Africa that will
no longer be dependent on foreign grants and loans but been self-sufficient.
Finished goods produced from our industries should be on high demand by Europe
and America fetching us foreign income.
In the quest to realize the Africa we want; all hands must
be on deck in contributing our individual quota to ensure we attain the heights
of true development to liberate our world from the realms of the Third World Country.
It all begins with You and I….
Written by: Mulumba Ngmenlabagna Songsore
Inspiration from: Prof. PLO Lumumba
