I would like to begin with one of my favorite quotes which is: “History happens twice because people don’t listen at the first time.” In Africa, I think Africans are already experiencing the repetition of history for the second time as we are still under direct or indirect influence of the descendants of the early intruders or as they are referred to in Africa as the whites or the Westerners who through trade and under the disguise of missionary works looted the continent.
Our parents and grandparents didn’t listen for the first time when the intruders came and the repercussion of not listening is what we are seeing in Africa now (Modern colonization). I hope this current generation of Africans will not just listen but will be ready to also read in other to prevent the repetition of history for the third time in the near future.
Actually between the late 1950’s and the whole of 1960’s, there were celebrations of independence, liberation and emancipation from the colonial powers almost throughout the African continent, at the same sending messages to others that ‘YES’ we are free, we did it and any other country or continent under colonial domination can do the same. And I remember what Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana said in his famous independence speech, he said: “We have awakened. We will not sleep anymore. Today, from now on, there is a new African in the world! That new African is ready to fight his own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his own affairs.” 6th March 1957. So inspiring, isn’t it? But I wish Kwame Nkrumah is here to see that the black man has not been able to manage his own affairs.
Since the independence of various African nations back in the 1960’s till date Africa has been under enormous dominations again and inhumane propaganda to make sure that Africa remains the way it is now and will not be able to compete with the intruders (western world) or any other continent at any level. No matter how hard Africa tries, it is still being labeled as either “undeveloped”, “less developed” or “developing” whichever one you choose and I bet you they will continue to label Africa as “undeveloped”, “less developed” or “developing” until we go back to what Nkrumah said and that’s start managing our own affairs.
Just imagine from our educational system, economic policies to the political and social structures is under the direct or indirect influence of the same foreign intruders who at once do not recognize anyone from Africa with the word freedom and human right, and when they had the complete control over Africa, they deliberately destroyed everything just to satisfy their selfish interests. Malcolm X once said: “You have to realize that up until about 1959, Africa was dominated by the colonial powers. And by the colonial powers of Europe having complete control over Africa, they projected Africa always in a negative light – jungles, savages, cannibals, nothing civilized.”
These misconceptions and many other wrong ideas about Africa are still widely held in the so called modern world, often in very prestigious places. The social scientist Samuel Huntington at Harvard university, serve as a telling example of the reflexive and unreflected ways in which many well-educated Western-educated people think. In his book published in 1996, The clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order, he sees Africa as a set of weaker civilizations. He and many influential writers and officials are predisposed to think Africa as irrelevant.
Now the game is, when they have something to gain from Africa, they call it the richest continent on earth and after looting it and the people, they say it’s the most corrupted continent on earth. Sometimes ago, the Former British Prime Minister David Cameron had the nerve to call Nigeria a “Fantastically corrupt” when all the corrupt leaders we have in Africa either have bank accounts and assets in Britain or in some other western countries. Maybe he forgot that the corruption in Africa is another source of income for the British government and the west since those “fantastically corrupt” leaders pay taxes for having assets in Britain and in the western countries.
We can’t deny the fact that Africa is really sick and needs a doctor, at the same time, it is being led by clueless leaders who are in one way or the other more interested in their own gains than the development of their own people and the continent at large. Again there is no doubt that the development of Africans and the continent Africa depends on the efforts of Africans and Africans alone not some self-serving aid workers or the insatiable West.
Furthermore, Africans need to understand that development never comes from outside, it comes from inside which means, it starts from within Africa and within the African people. Again not with IMF, not with the World Bank or with the foreign aids, it starts with the people.
The reason why I am saying this is that, just imagine a sick person whose doctor happens to be his rival or enemy. Instead of giving this sick person the right prescription for his sickness, the doctor being in the position of a rival or an enemy will definitely give him a wrong prescription which will either worsen the sickness or be the cause of his death. Africans are looking for solutions from people who are not interested in the development of Africa and its people. And because we force them to help us do what we can do for ourselves, they have no other option than to give us the prescriptions that will even make us more undeveloped and poor. Whiles the prescription they always give to us makes us more poor, on the hand, it serves their own interests.
Nobody can refute the fact that Africa is the richest continent on earth. Because it is said that, “the richness of a nation lays in the land, what is in the land and the people that work on the land.” There is no doubt that there is indeed richness in Africa. Unfortunately, the dwellers of Africa are not as rich as the land. Richness not in money or accumulated wealth but rather in character and attitude.
Africans have problems with the way they carry themselves and in the state of their minds. It’s either Africans don’t care or don’t know how to show resistance when we are face with oppressions and injustices, because we are afraid and fears is the oppressor’s weapon.
Again, it’s either we don’t care or don’t know how to be perseverant when we are in difficult situations. Our eyes, hands and minds are always open to help and aid from outside which in turn makes us vulnerable in the eyes of the provider. These make us lazy and take away our abilities to think, create and provide for ourselves.
Furthermore, Africans are too individualistic and egocentric, we always think about ourselves and do not care about each other, we don’t care about the future of youth and the brilliant children of Africa. That’s why you see almost all the policies and plans that are made by most governments and politicians are short term, because they are interested in themselves and the next election not about the people.
Also, Africans don’t like reading anything about themselves and the world, when we became far away from our own history and culture, we became far away from our own selves. They say if you want to hide something from an African, put it in a book because we will never read it. These and many others are the reasons why we call for Patriotism or a Patriotic Africa.
Ok! then what’s Patriotism?
Patriotism is the love of country; devotion to the welfare of one’s compatriot; the virtues and actions of a person who loves and zealously supports and defends their country; the passion which inspires one to serve one’s country; the desire to compete with other nations. But let me chip rise a red flag here, when I talk about patriotism I don’t mean chauvinism.
There is a difference between patriotism and chauvinism. Patriotism is about the love of one’s country with the respect for others to do the same for their country but chauvinism leads to racism. With the definition I gave about patriotism, the question is, as an African how patriotic are you? Just give a sincere answer to yourself now!
Most people will agree with me that, patriotism in Africans and Africa is, if not zero then I think it’s getting closer to zero. Honestly, I met with a lot of Africans who are very patriotic but being under societal criticisms and ridicules, they are gradually giving up the idea.
To be honestly, people who are patriotic are not afraid, they do not fear to stand up against any oppressor or any leadership who they see swaying from the reason they brought him where he is even if they voted for him. Patriotic people are perseverant and stand their ground whenever they are face with problems politically or economically and try everything they can to find solutions to their problems. Patriotic people think about the future of their children and the next generations, so their decisions and plans are made to cover the future.
Throughout history, there are hundreds examples of patriotic people and with their patriotism, they lifted their countries from ashes to glory. It was patriotism in 1775-1783 that helped Americans to gain their Independence from the British. It was patriotism that help Germany to recovery from the economic crises after the World War 2, when the citizens agree and eagerly worked after a pay cut in their salaries. It was patriotism in 2016 that lead the Turks to stand against the attempted coup that was meant to topple a democratically elected president. It was patriotism in 2017 that lead the Romanian people to stand against their own elected government when the government intended to approve a law that will give way to corruption in the country.
All these people were ready to sacrifice everything they have to protect what they believed in. they were ready to give up their sleep and stand in the cold nights to defend what is rightly for them and to have a secure future for the next generation. That’s what patriotism installs into people, the need to give up all you have for that you believe in.
How can we be patriotic? Or simply, how can we love our country?
It’s simple……it starts with education, more education and more reading about our countries and Africa. We didn’t just come into being from nowhere. Some people had to sacrifice everything they had to secure everything we are enjoying today. We never met any of the Prophets but how come do we love them that much? It’s about education.
We were taught about them ad we also read about them in such a way that, they become part of us. And most of the time, everything we do is straight from what we learn about them and has an influence on us. The more you read and learn about something, the more it becomes part of you.
We need to read more about African history and the people who sacrificed themselves for us to get to where we are today. The more we read about our history, the more we get closer to the missing part of us that disconnected us from each. And with time, we will reconcile with our past and help create the Africa that once attracted a lot of people to herself.
So what about the leaders at the top who are not patriotic, how can we be patriotic to someone who is not patriotic, how can we make them patriotic? I believe that everything starts with the people, if we can create a house of patriotic people, it will later turn into a community or society of patriots then we become a nation full of patriotic people. It is at this level that we will see some patriotic leaders because the people we choose to represent us will be from us with the same values and believes then we will see the reflection of it in the leaders or in the government institutions.
With the power of our votes, we reject anyone who doesn’t recognize our values and believes. We change anyone who we choose to represent us and later deviate from our course. Just don’t forget that everything starts with us and that we can make progress whenever we choose to. The power is in our hands. I want to end with a quote from the late MP Tony Benn of the Labor Party (UK), he said: “I think progress is being made by two flames that has always been burning in the human heart. The flame of anger against injustice and the flame of hope that you can build a better world.” LET’S KEEP THE FLAMES BURNING!
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