FIFTY YEARS OF SUPPOSED AFRICAN UNITY....

As celebrations are under way to commemorate fifty years of The Organization For African Unity, OAU, now known as AU, African Unity, many questions still abound.

Fact! 60 per cent of untouched arable land in the world remains in Africa. Fact! Africa is the zone that offers the largest investment returns in the world! Fact! Consumer expenditure is projected to grow in Africa from 600 billion US Dollars in 2010, to 1 Trillion US Dollars in 2020. Fact! 40% of Africa's current population is under 35, yet steady employment stands at only about 30% over all. Although the potential opportunities are far greater than any other continent, as natural wealth is found in most of the 53 African countries, foreign investment has increased 90% since the 70's, and so has infrastructure, although this is yet to trickle down to the man and the woman in the streets.

The OAU, although it's founding members intended to be a pan -africanist organization, defending the principle that what is good for one nation will be good to its neighbor and so on; is still plagued with strong nationalist sentiments, many leaders, still preferring to adhere directly more to their people and culture, than to one generally accepted modi operandi. Easy nationalism wins internal elections.


It has taken 50 years to overcome quite a few problems, even though many still persist, the occasional armed conflict, famine, out of control corruption, tribalism, to mention just a few still ponder the magical land.

Surely to embrace one Africa, with one common goal, a clear common path, to undergo common sense objectives, such as triplicating trade within ourselves by facilitating the crossing of goods, and people within our borders, so our economies can become far more dynamic and unified,  constructing an african inter state highway or african inter state rail road line,  can only be seen as the obvious, and beneficial to africans and beyond , and one does not have to have a university degree to see this.
It is a dire shame many of our leaders or so called leaders are yet to see the light. But it is absolutely imperative for our survival, not only for Africa's survival, but beyond; that those given the opportunity to change the course of Africa  begin to see the larger picture as a hole, side line their personal selfish interests, and see down the line, that they simply are obligated and not by choice, to leave a positive legacy, if only for their immediate generations to come. let the next fifty years establish Africa as powerful, respectful, continent, where most of it's people are at least minimally taken care of, where the private sector has boomed tenfold thus creating millions of much needed jobs,  and I look forward to the day my children can take the train from Tunisia all the way down to South Africa, or drive down the highway safely, without having to board an aircraft.Then Africa will no longer be whispered as africa but roar as it should AFRIKA!!!

THIS PHOTO SUMMARIZES THE NEW RICH AFRICA.....

A brand new porsche driving down, a dusty, narrow little African road. This image, helps to capture the new wave of "New Rich Africans", multiplying in number annually, as if  almost an out of control plague. You buy a 100,000 dollar sports car and drive it on a road filled with pot holes, just to say "I can buy one". You buy a twenty million dollar private jet, and land it in some hopelessly ill maintained runway, praying you will land safely, and live another day.
You build a seven room mansion, without any running water, embarrassing your guests when they need to use the guest toilet. And so the new rich, show up, delivering what I summarize the half deliverables, in the ever quest to prove "I can buy, I can have." maybe to their immediate neighbors living in hellish slums. Long gone are the days, that a sincere display of sheer common sense, and intelligence, was enough to do the trick! As the song goes.... " O Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz, all my friends drive Porsches and I must make mends".....

Photo: BBC news.

TRUTH RETURNS TO AMERICAN FILMS!

Big thumb up for ARGO the film, it shows, that not only inter governmental co-operation can save lives, but that the iranian people just didn't get up one morning, and started hating americans. The american government, prior to the revolution, had installed a puppet, blood thirsty, money spending, playboy, Shah, whose secret police killed thousands of people, in order for him to remain in power. The truth is always sweeter when both sides of the story, are revealed!

AFRICA TODAY

What goes round comes round. An interesting westernized point of view. Source: Yahoo news.
Half a century ago, Africa echoed with the sound of anti-colonial liberation. Today, 10 years of dramatic and sustained economic growth and a growing political maturity coinciding with the economic meltdown in the West and political dysfunction in Washington and Europe, has granted Africa’s leaders the authority and means to once again challenge Western intervention on the continent, whether it comes in the form of foreign diplomatic pressure, foreign aid, foreign rights monitors or even foreign correspondents

WHAT'S THE CATCH THIS TIME!!!

Terrorists are destructive people mostly with out any fundamental political agenda? True. Terrorists pray on weak, impoverished, hungry people to be able to harness and recruit new members for their endless crusade of destruction? True! Mali became a new breeding ground for these faceless, mosquito type of beings, to perpetuate more recruitment, through more destruction? True.

Is any European or well positioned western power,  going to spend millions of Euros at a time when Europe is facing, a serious financial melt down, without having some form of tangible, physical interest in a small dried up territory that does not produce nothing in quantity but dust? No.

Stabilizing Mali, for the French government, means stabilizing Mali's immediate neighboring borders, which include Senegal, and France's Africa's golden apple Ivory Coast, just to mention a few, that possess more tangible, physical interests, than a dried up desert, where predominantly flies, dust, and poverty are more representative, than ivory, precious stones, cocoa, potential oil reserves, and the list goes on, and on...

WE NIGERIANS

It is time we Nigerians, begin to look into ourselves deeply, and ponder why do we have the country we have. Why do we have the the shabby political system we have; the poor health services, the decaying education system, the feeble principles we possess and poor moral standards we adhere to. And the list can go on and on.

When something goes terribly wrong, and in a huge country, with the highest African population world wide, we point to Abuja, and to our frail governing system.

But are we not the ones who many times voted for those who we are quick to blame? Why don't we blame ourselves too, for having voted in one "supposed" leader or the other.

It is time we begin to look seriously into ourselves, into our character as a people, who being a part of the society, to be very honest we have our fair share of blame, for the present status quo we are faced in our country today, tomorrow, and only God really knows for how long.

To avoid doing so, is to keep giving a colective green light, to the decaying ills, we face every day, in the spectrum of society as a whole.

NIGERIA HARDLY ANYTHING TO CELEBRATE

Nigeria today celebrates 52 years of colonial independence. Yet go and speak in the streets to the majority of it's citizens, the so called masses, and they will tell you they are not in the mood to celebrate anything. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa, with roughly 130 million citizens, as projected by the United Nations. It is also the richest African country in terms of natural mineral resources. Yet most of it's citizens live below the poverty line. Most live without regular power supply and water piped to their shacks a makeshift home where large families find a roof.

Yet the massive pilfering of the oil resources continues year after year. 90% of Nigeria's economy is based on oil exports. Yet it is abundant in Iron, Ore, Gold, Gems, of all sorts, rubber, and many other yet to be explored natural resources.


The country's infrastructures are still very poor, a large but very badly maintained road network, is filled with pot holes quilometres never ending, and in many states out of control erosion have actually destroyed a few built roads. Lack of regular power supply makes large cities be in total darkness, encouraging the increasing crime trend, not to talk about massive disconfort especially during the hot weather, or the dry season, when temperatures at night in many places can be 32 Celcius, with 90% humidity level. It is then, absolutely no wander that Nigeria is the biggest market in the world for generator sales. And even though it exports closely to 2.3 million barrels a day, it has to import most of it's fuel, because out of all it's four refineries, only one is operational.

And from government to government, president to president, this has been pretty much the modi operandi for the last 25 years or so.

No wander, those who are still struggling to eat at least one meal a day, will not celebrate independence day today, 1st of October 2012, The Federal Republic Of Nigeria, at 52 years of existence!