THE BATTLE FOR GENIUE INDEPENDENCE OF AFRICA.
I, like any other adult in Africa must have heard of the story of how each sovereign States in Africa got their independence from the hands of theirs colonial masters. This story is been told from primary school right up to college. Every country in Africa have a group of leaders who fought violently to attain the ultimate price of statehood ‘sovereignty ‘. Most leaders lost their lives and only few got their demand freely.
When one visit all the Africa counties of today, Two things are Cristal clear and evident. There are : 1, the current breeds of political elites in Africa are quite different from the ones that got us the independence. There are huge difference in their leadership styles, mentality and patriotism. 2, when you visit most Africa States you still see the features of colonialism panning out physical while in some other countries, the actives of the colonial masters are been done indirectly. I will use 4 Africa countries to illustrate the full impact of neo-colonialism in Africa.
Congo. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the largest County in Africa, has vast natural resources and spans a surface area of 2.3 million square kilometers. With a population of over 77 million, With 80 million hectares of arable land and over 1,100 minerals and precious metals identified, the DRC has the potential to become one of the richest economies on the African continent and a driver of African growth, provided the country manages to overcome political instability.
Nigeria. The most polluted black nation in world. With a population of over 180 million Nigerians, With a land mass of 923.756km2 blessed with all the kinds of mineral resources needed to make the country to be among the 13th most developed Countries of the world. In spite of all this natural and human resources, over 120 million Nigerians live in acute poverty and hunger.
South Africa. One of the most Industalized country in Africa. South Africa is blessed with 10% of the world’s Gold and highly endowed with Diamonds South Africa is home to 72% of the globe’s chromite reserves and South Africa has more than 80% of the globe’s platinum reserves among other breath taking natural resources. South Africa has a population of over 60million people. Despite this God giving gifts, over 55.5% of South Africans live in Chronic poverty and hunger
Libya. A county with the highest oil reverse in Africa and has thus contribute 90% to the country’s GDP. All efforts to diversify the country to allow other sector grow has been abortive. 40% of its 7 million population live in poverty despite the efforts of Gaddafi’s administration.
The one thing this above countries have is that they have all been blessed with natural resources. There is this notion among Africa scholars that God use this resources to impaled Africa’s development. I totally disagree with that argument. While we are still where we are is mainly because of our leaders have all been brain wash to focus on exploring the natural resources that is beneficial to the western economies rather than what will improve the lives of Africans and her economy. In my own point of view, if truly exploration of these natural resources is what need to be among the best countries of the world, then by now we ought to be getting close. But as you can see, despite the massive attention been giving to the exploration of these resources, we are still backward in all ramifications.
Africa must return to massive agriculture. It’s totally embarrassing that African States are importing food to feed it’s population. On a daily basis Africans are dying of hunger. If hunger can be eliminated from the numerous problems of Africans then we can say we are moving forward. Africa has a land mass of about 11.7 square miles good to grow all kids of crop. We must come to the realization that we can’t develop on present mentality. An average African believe that any thing that is been made in Africa is bad ranging from food, drinks, cloths, music and etc. As long as we keep doing this, we are submitting ourselves for perpetual colonialism. A wise man once said “Our colonial masters are not the British or French or even the Portuguese… our intellects are our colonial masters.
The day we start regarding ourselves as being morally and intellectually equal to the ‘white’, is the day we will truly be ‘independent.’