Just overheard a few pals of mine talking as they were going to watch an English Premier League game, they were a little bit drunk so they were letting off what they had in their minds in a more generous manner. They seemed to be late according to what I heard them say.” Omsakhulu hatujachelewa na hata kama tumechelewa hapa ni Afrika…African time bana...” This got me fascinated a little bit, it was 10:50 PM in the night, I supposed the game had kicked of some five minutes earlier. On the other end another friend responded “..by the way hata hivo ndo maana tuko nyuma hivi watu walirauka mapema wakatuacha, na sisi hatuna haja ya kukimbizana nao wacha waende…”.
These talk just hit me hard eking a little bit of emotions, they were just some drank up guys trying to justify why they were late I said to myself. However the small talk I overhead got me asking myself some leading questions, which every African out there should ask him or herself just to help decipher great problems and how best avoid them.
It’s high time we start to believe in what we know is right and hold onto the true virtues that our conscience reckon with. Africa is one big continent that can do better if only and only gets its priorities right. That is taking the initiative to wake up from slumber and doing what ought to be done.
We have some good examples out there Mauritius, Botswana and even of late Zambia, have shown that believing in something that has got sustainable interest of the country at heart is the way to go. Mauritius for instance did not implement the SAPs (structural adjustment programmes) and that to them really paid off. (Check on the Mauritius Success Story ())
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| Together We Are Strong |
The problems we are facing are minute, and just a walk over if the continent gets to realize the true potential it posses. What some of our pioneer leaders once dreamt of will always be the driving force. Realistically maybe it was not possible at the beginning to unite Africa but when we have certain issues that critically cuts across the spectrum of values being upheld by humanity in general we have to come in as a bloc to give a hand. That is the noblest thing that can happen at any given time.
Africa in general is faced with problems and needs solutions, which can best be solved through its own initiatives. These problems range from drought, diseases, civil unrests and bad governance and the list goes on, just like any other continent. These problems though do not need rocket science geniuses to unravel them.
However we need to really come to believe in our own initiatives; and above it all, avoid the monster of apathy. It’s the evil that makes us be content with the situation we are living in. The human rights abuses in Darfur, Northern Uganda and Congo and the humanitarian crisis in Somalia are not normal instances. They need to be stopped. We do not need some whistle blowers somewhere to always keep pointing out to the world that something is wrong somewhere so as to finally ring a bell to our scruples. Kony’s case is a good example; thumbs up to the African Union forces though for acting. We should have done that long ago so do other cases out there. At times we need that external eye but our consciousness too should always be on the alert.
All in all we are to a great extent our own problem, its answer and its finite/ ideal solution.
