When Africa Began To Slumber

By Joseph Atchulo

When Africa began to slumber her gold was stolen from Ghana, when Africa began to slumber her oil was stolen from Nigeria, when Africa began to slumber her gas was stolen from Angola, when Africa began to slumber her Diamond was stolen from Serra Leone and Liberia, when Africa began to slumber her diamond was stolen from the DR Congo, Tanzania, Botswana and Namibia, when Africa began to slumber her Iron Ore was stolen from Sudan and all her natural resources where stolen by the West. Awaken oh mother Africa because in your state of slumber your youth, the young and vibrant, the energetic young people of this Continent no longer see any pride in you.

Africa today has become in the words of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair ‘a scar on the conscience of humanity’. Africa today has become a tragedy of gigantic proportion, how did it happen that even today the youth in Africa have no pride in Africa, in Africa's state of slumber her youth are stolen.

Today in Africa whether you are in Nigeria or Ghana or Tanzania or South Africa or in any part of Africa, the story is one and the same, we have a young population who have no pride and no interest in Africa, what the youth today seek is the green card, so that perhaps they might escape the tragedy of this continent into the United States of America, so that they might escape to Europe, so that they might escape to Germany or any part of the world as long as it far away from the black continent called Africa.

Today in Africa we have a young population who have no pride and no interest in Africa, on their WhatsApp platforms, and twitter accounts and Facebook pages all they talk about is the English Premier League, All they talk about is the Spanish premier league, the Germans Bundesliga and perhaps the Italian Laliga, the youth today are proud to form associations of Chelsea supporters and Manchester supporters and can mention all the name of the footballers from Christiano Ronaldo to Messi and even the last player on the Bench. The youth in Africa today have no pride and no interest in our local football, no!

In the area of our health we also don't have faith, PLO Lumumba once said that when we are sick in Africa, especially if we belong to the political class depending on which country Colonized you, if you were Colonized by the British you rush to England, if you were Colonized by the Spaniards you rush to Spain, if you were Colonized by the French you rush to Paris, and recently because the Asians are beginning to get their ups together we rush to India and very lately because the Arabs are beginning to get their ups together we rush to Dubai not withstanding that we have hospitals in our various countries.

Information circulating all over the media in Ghana revealed that we had 70 ambulances in the whole country supposed to cater for a population of about 25 million Ghanaians, that means about 357,142 people are entitled to one (1) ambulance whiles the presidential convey has no less than 20 V8 Land Cruisers give or take, whiles we have purchased V8 for about 200 members of parliament,

Africa is not poor, we don't need aid, because we are not poor, we are not a continent that needs to be pitied because we not poor, God has blessed us with all we need to turn the clock around and change the destiny of our continent. Yet the problem we encounter with the African man or woman is the problem of the mind, like the old books says as a man thinketh in his heart so is he, the youth today have lost Interest in Africa, they have no pride in Africa, if you ask a young man in Africa today, what is your greatest aspiration? He will answer: To work and live abroad, in the United States of America, in Europe, in Spain and France.

The youth have no pride and no Interest in Africa, the youth have lost Interest in our football and passionate about Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona, not Heart of Oaks, Not Kotoko, no! So when we talk about economic growth, the question I ask myself is for whom is the economy growing, Africans today have been turned to hewers of wood and drawers if water, in the words of PLO Lumumba “Africa produces what it does not consume and consumes what it does not produce”, that is the tragedy of Africa, How many companies in Africa are owned by Africans, From Telecommunications to Industry to Food and Beverages, very little is produced in Africa, the African mind is conditioned to think that anything made here in Ghana or Africa is inferior, when a blackman enters a shop to look for a pair of shoes, he wants to buy shoes made in Italy giving employment to Italians, He wants to buy a Swiss watch giving employment to the Swiss, he wants to buy a suit made in UK giving employment to people in the UK, He buys all these in a shop owned by Indians and yet turns around and blames the government for not creating enough Jobs for the youth, and yet wonders why the Cedi to dollar exchange is sky rocketing. 

The only way we can retain our money in Ghana is to spend it on Adonko bitters, Herb Afrik Bitters, Shatta Bitters, Matches, Wakye, Kelewele etc. for these are the products produced in Ghana. The tragedy and irony at once is that we preach virtue and practice vice, if we as Africans do not put in the necessary factors that will promote the local industries, Africa is going nowhere.

I look forward to an Africa where our political leaders will have our countries at heart and not occupy political offices for their selfish gain. I look forward to an Africa where our youth will have a reignited sense of confidence and commitment for the growth of our economy. I look forward to an Africa where Africans will no longer be the hewers of wood and drawers of water but will be masters of our destinies, an Africa where we will sit at the dinner table of equality with the United States of America, France and other Western countries and make decisions that will bring significant development to our countries and not to benefit a greedy few, am sorry to say we are going nowhere.

*Joseph Atchulo, a Ghanaian, is a commentator on public issues
Email: josephatchulo@gmail.com