Leaders Enjoying the Sound of Our Silence

African leaders have helped to build this continent. Whatever we have now is the result of good, bad and sometimes non-existent leadership in most African states. The level of under development is alarming in some regions. We complain about how the West put up images of sick and hungry looking kids when they talk about Africa, but we would do nothing to change the story. Rather, we want better pictures in the media (Shameful!!!). We want them to show the affluent part of our society. Instead of trying to change it so they have nothing embarrassing to show. Why do we concern ourselves so much about that image if we are not ready to change the real situation? And even at that, we wait for them to tell our story for us. They come here, study us, tell whatever story they like and then we start complaining about the story. Until the lion learns to write, the hunter will always be glorified! It all boils down to our mentality. The way we see ourselves. Talking about mentality, I will talk about the African leaders and a little about you and I. How we sit back and allow the rot from the top spread around until we are totally engulfed in the mess.

What exactly are the leaders doing? Why do they go out there begging for money when they know nobody can break away from the shackles of these monster financial institutions? It is difficult to believe that some of our leaders are educated! It is bad enough to be indebted, but it is even worse when the money received is not used judiciously. We are tired of such incompetent leadership. We have witnessed the backlash of such impudent corruption in one way or the other. The rich may think they are free from it, but who said it is ok to be able to afford uninterrupted power and yet not have it? These same leaders come out and tell stories of how they want to champion the cause of justice and equity with bravado! How long will people watch this and be quiet? African leaders are mismanaging resources in alarming ways!! There is so much poverty, insecurity and poor governance in this part of the world. While Africans are complaining about this, the leaders are devising clever ways of stealing public funds and staging strongly polarized partisan debates across media channels…Radio, Television and Social Media. (Should I take a break?...no!!)

The same channel they use to propagate these lies can be used to push them to do right…Social Media. One interesting thing about social media is that it gives the masses a voice. It provides an opportunity to stir people for positive change. #Bring Back Our Girls, #Black Lives Matter, #Charlie Hebdo and many other hashtag-revolutions have moved people around the world to focus on sensitive issues. This powerful tool is available and as usual, when purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable. People deserve to question government to ensure that our rights are provided and respected but we have people asking questions that unearth a shuddering level of ignorance and bias on social media. Your vote is your power, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you have because you can use it only once in four years and even at that, you can’t say anything! You can only thumbprint and leave. If we have a tool as powerful as social media, we need to use it objectively. Questions and issues should be properly directed to our leaders and not used to start shameful cross party debates…(Save the energy for football arguments). These are troubling economic times for most countries and we need to wake up from our slumber and save ourselves. I mean over the past 5 years, the Ghanaian Cedi has depreciated against the dollar by over 200%. Oil price falls have affected the Oil Producing countries and there are wars and conflicts ravaging other nations. If we remain silent, we will not change anything. I mean, it will only get worse faster than we think. One voice is not enough, so it is time to play your part to create the Africa you want. Nobody brings development on a platter of gold. People fight and work hard for it. If we must see change, we must be willing to keep our leaders on their toes. What is the use of an educated electorate if they remain quiet when things are going wrong? Don’t abuse the tool you have today. Your silence is good music to the looters and criminals. Change will only come when we speak up. Remember, only Africans can save Africa!!

An African Solution

I'm not going to start this post by saying all the inspiring things that we all expect to hear when we talk about an African renaissance. We can start with all the quotes and sayings that people have left us with in their moments of inspiration and we won't end up with a solution. All the proposed answers to the problems of under-development, hunger, wars etc have been laid down by great African philosophers and economists. Some of the greatest minds have macerated this subject with wisdom and experience beyond my present level. What exactly is the reason behind the slow, and in some cases non-existent, response to the proposed solutions? Africans, we are the biggest problem that we face!

The idea of positive change starts with the people. If the people are not ready for it, then the leaders cannot do anything. In a situation where nobody is ready to play his or her role, the work will never get done.

Let me start from the youth in society. The images of what is cool revolves around things that relegate African culture and society to extinction. These are things that empower foreign economies ahead of whatever we have to offer. It is not necessarily an issue of quality, but an issue of a lack of patriotism, distrust in the system and a very 'western' materialistic and competitive attitude. The world dictates what is cool and what is beautiful to you and you strive so hard to achieve this conception of 'coolness' and beauty. 

The young adults, the politicians and most of the leaders in industry are more self-centred than we have seen in many decades. People struggle to get rich, to intimidate and compete with others in terms of wealth and power. The average African wants to get power and wealth for these same selfish reasons that have slowed us down for so long. 

Don't get me wrong. I also want to be rich and powerful, but I feel that what we do with our wealth and power should be different. It should serve as a tool for development and service rather than a yardstick to measure how poor others are in relation to you. Somewhere deep down, there is still the ability to do good and help others. Black is the endpoint of all colours. All light has been absorbed into us. We should decide what type of light we give out. 

If we all decide to pay a little more attention to our local content, give them reasons to add quality and value to our local products and slow down with the entire physical and material pursuit, then we can start the revolution. I believe that proper change can only start in the mind. Read, explore, listen and train the mind to believe in quality and possibilities open to you as an African! If education should serve any purpose, it should make us realize how much we belittle ourselves. I'm not a prophet, neither am I the most optimistic person here, but I believe that only Africans can save Africa.