Who can answer me?
(i)How comes Africans are unable (40 years down the line for most of them) to develop and have working systems? How comes other nations, with similar starting circumstances are now developed, and Africa continues to seek western Aid?
(ii) How comes Africans do not realize that Aid impoverishes and taken a stand against it? It has been said that “those who do not work, should not eat”.
(iii)How comes Africans have immerse resources, but are not protective of them, nor does it benefit them, but they instead sell them off at bargain prices?
(iv)How comes africans are now fleeing their nations for the western nations, instead of solving their own problems?
(i)Where did they learn that it is better to die in a Cayuco seeking a hawking lifestyle in Europe instead of finding better methods of fishing?
(ii) Where did the professionals learn that it is better to experience “brain waste” in the west, rather than force their political and economic systems to work for them in ways that they want?
(iii) How comes Africans, seeking a kind of “peace”, have never realized, that in order to have a real lasting peace, they may have to redraw their national borders? Does it require a rocket scientist to understand that language is uniting factor in a nation?
Thanks for reading. You reminded me of Yancey’s famous I WAS JUST WONDERING article. Uhhmn, you raise pertinent questions there and I sure do agree that Mimmz had a valid point. But i suppose my point was that demonizing evangelicals in the manner that appears to have been the case here – i.e the HIV / Aids quiz – was totally off-key. Not that I condone some of the Church games and gymnastics we currently have in Kenya and africa in Jc’s name. Just that I yearn for a keener sense of justice here. And am not expecting such to come from our Western brothers and sisters, – precisely, their media outlets. Thanks for linking me up on your blog. Blessings!
Hi Toiyoi,
Methinks you’re guilty of reading too much western media. The first step to africa’s liberation? Positive thinking. If it can turn around the life of an individual, why not in the lives of all 700 million of us?
Rista: I am the most positive person you will ever meet. Two things (i) Is what i am saying true or false?. If true, then maybe it should jolt us to action (ii) You have to know the negative in order to think the positive, not so?
Toyoi,
i) there are other responses besides true and false. I have mentioned elsewhere that we imagine only newsweek and time or the economist can tell us about who’s doing well. When’s the last time they featured a positive story on africa? I laughed when i read an old story on bbcnews about the pretoria-maputo highway. The author of the article was wringing his hands and gnashing his teeth about what a terrible idea the highway was, but many years on… the highway is a pleasure to drive on (tolls and all), and it has spurred plenty of business. Let us accentuate the positive… there will always be bad things, let’s talk about how and where we have succeeded. e.g. see story on how Constitutional Development Fund is being explored by other african countries. A very telling statement was “they thought it was from the west and were shocked to find that it is home (Kenyan) grown”.
Rista: To learn what i think of western media and how we ought to react, see my post on Koigi Wamwere’s articles about kenyan’s “self-hatred”. I indeed do advocate for “skewed” content directed towards us, in order to re-educate our minds from the “negatives” we have been taught, not only in school, but are being fed daily but people whose interest is the advancement of their life at the expense of ours (for example, tell me, why do “we” all want to live in the west, citing problems/insecurity at home? Where did we learn to flee from problems?).
ii) it’s not necesary to know the negative in order to think positive. Positivity is not a child of negativity, it can exist in its pure form, and that’s where we need to be going.
Instead of doom and gloom, let’s look for stories that show we’re doing well. Rest assured that the western media we bow before won’t help us find these stories.
Rista: +vity in a pure form? Not in this world at leat. I would rather people knew the pending dangers and be forwarned to act, rather than a happy-joy-joy and be taken unawares!
Nothing is possible in changing our economic status! First out with the negativity as all it breeds is more content. Put the right people in govt…yeap its an old line but that the 1st step & our short memories (only need to check the circus in Meru at the moment). All this policies we get from west will be our down-fall if not alread. e.g. on trade.
Darfur perfect example. Africans as a people need to believe in ourselves and our destiny!
wandia: I believe we must stare truth in the face to move forward. You have to realise the cause of the problem before you provide a solution. If -vity is the problem, deal with it. I suggested to Koigi wa Wamwere to use his powers and resources as information minister to help change the attitude of our people, but i doubt he or anyone else cares; probably becaos those that have power, would like things to be as it is.