The popular African proverb that ‘a person who is surrounded by clean water does not wash his eyes with spittle’ has no relevance when it comes to Africa. This is because even though Africa is surrounded by water, we still find it difficult to clean our eyes. Why is this so?
Africa is unarguably one of the richest continents in terms of resources, land, water, and manpower, yet she continues to wallow in abject poverty. The matter gets worse with each passing second.
What is the cause of this calamity and why has Africa not solved her persistent problems? Despite the funds flowing into the continent and the high number of African graduates from the best educational institutions across the globe, Africa still struggles to get it right.
Many observers have come to the submission - and I concur, that Africa is made up of three set of people – the rich, the poor and those who dare.
Although the poor are a hand tool for the rich, both categories have their own share of the blame regarding the present situation which Africa finds itself, albeit in different proportions.
Majority of those who find themselves in the upper class have distanced themselves from the travails of those below the ladder. They treat the poor around them as tramps undeserving of anything good.
Like an infectious disease, some of them stay clear from the poor and it is often war whenever their children attempt to mingle with people outside their class.
These are the ones who often acquire political positions and continue to exploit the continent so as to preserve their status and further widen the gap between the rich and the poor.
They pill up wealth in foreign accounts, have garages packed full of exotic cars and own numerous buildings all over the world which they do not use.
The other class is the poor – a large majority of those in this category blame everyone and everything for their predicaments. Rather than work or act to improve their lives, they wail and complain nonstop.
During elections, it is either they refuse to vote or they choose to sell their votes to the highest bidder. Yet, they complain of poor representation. They fail to recognize that there is power in their numbers and if they unite, they can achieve a lot together.
They readily make themselves available to be used by the corrupt ruling class against the few like them who dare to stand for change. They and are often the first to pull down those who try to rise up among them.
Lastly, there are the few who have taken the yokes off their necks and no longer belong to any of the aforementioned classes – like they once did.
These are the ones who dared to be different. It is to these African that we owe the future of our continent.
The ones who despite their wealth, have dared to care; and the ones who despite their poverty, have refused to allow their background pin their backs to the ground.
What category do you belong?
Header Image Credit: Mbare Times