Image courtesy of
http://www.tesfanews.net
Having visited Hiroshima in Japan and left in awe of the developments even after the 1945 atomic bomb attacks, Prof. Krydz Ikwuemesi wrote in his book - A Critical Travelogue
"...But I know that even human beings work miracles and that the miracle of growth and development is not the monopoly of any race. A people only need the right will and spirit to be able to attain their golden destiny. To this extent, African countries, caught in the web of under-development and neocolonialism, certainly have a lot to learn from the Japanese experience..."
Japan was saddled with the task of rebuilding its country post WWII and looking at the country and how far they've come along, you'd agree with me that the leaders and its people did a fine job. For a place that was said to not be able to grow grass again to move from barren to what it is today according to Prof. Krydz's description is a feat that is only achievable with a changed mindet and a people's strongwill.
We as a people need to see ourselves as fit first and then tackle underdevelopment head-on. Our leaders need to wake up, see leadership as not just national service but a platform to drive development and also stop the habit of borrowing from foreign nations in the guise of developing their countries but instead enriching themselves and their generations unborn. This is just plain stupidity because as they squander this money, the future generation who is supposed to drive its development with revenues generated spend years and these resources paying the debt incurred by these crop of ineffective leaders cum thieves in power.
We need to believe in ourselves as Africans first and not really rely on the western world for everything. If they really want to assist as they claim, they should first start with putting a stop to the idea of colonial tax.It would shock you to learn that about 14 African countries are still paying colonial tax to France and we are not talking little money here but billions of US dollars. How do you expect these countries to grow with these conditions?
This is article was borne out of the desire to see us sit up as a continent and emancipate ourselves from mental slavery or neocolonialism if you like. We need a total overhaul of our mindset and start seeing ourselves as a strong continent that can drive its development. We need assistance in certain areas no doubt but overdependence on the same set of people who raped and sold us for years is what gave meaning to the term neocolonialism in the first place.
Wake up Africa!
------------------------------------------------------------
Follow me on Twitter @Victorikeji
No comments:
Post a Comment