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From the frying pan to the fire
Wednesday, 04 May 2011 13:07
By Ebou GayeAn African peasant is reported to have asked the president of his country: "When will independence end?" The poor farmer implied in his question that life was harder for him after independence than before independence. Like many of his compatriots who viewed colonialists as encroachers and craved and clamoured for independence, his hopes had been shattered shortly after the attainment of independence, hence his desire for reversion.
Although I would not call for reversion or re-colonization like that despondent peasant, I concur with him that post-independent Africa is more difficult than pre-independent Africa. In fact, I am inclined to believe that things have grown from bad to worse and continue to deteriorate by the second since he made his utterance. This is substantiated by the political, economic and social crises we are currently experiencing in Africa.
Civil wars are very common in Africa where many countries have been destabilized, with large numbers of people displaced. There is political repression and suppression, as evidenced by the persecution of politicians, writers and journalists in the form of harassment, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, incarceration, banishment and assassination. Today, most African countries are suffering from economic slump, exemplified by depreciation of local currencies, exorbitantly high level of inflation, heavy debt to the point of insolvency, low salaries and high rates of unemployment and brain drain. Misappropriation of public funds, fraud, arm robbery, drug peddling, arms trafficking, prostitution and baby dumping are rampant and on the rise.
The question arises now: Who is responsible for this adverse situation? To me, a large proportion of the blame goes to our leaders, whose avarice and desire for self-aggrandizement prompt them to oppress their people as a way of defending their selfish interest. That many African leaders endeavour to cling unto power at all cost, amass wealth rapidly, operate foreign bank accounts and keep expensive properties abroad or lead flamboyant, extravagant lifestyles, amply demonstrates their immense contribution to our woes. They unscrupulously maltreat people in their attempt to perpetuate themselves or eternalize their stay in power. In some cases, the money looted by African leaders can go quite a long way in servicing the debt of their countries, which leads many to wonder whether they are sincere and justified in their clamour for debt relief. In other cases, the money wasted in cheap propaganda or in trying to make the image of heads of state can attenuate the problems of their people or improve their wretched living conditions significantly. For these reasons, many people believe that such leaders lack mercy and are thus insensitive to the sufferings of their compatriots. This behaviour is ironical, irrational and grossly unfair. What is more shameful and sinful than mistreating people for self-interest after seeking their mandate to lead them and taking the oath to serve them without fear or favour, affection or ill-will? Why take loans or seek debt relief while spending profligately or lavishly? Why impose a heavy debt burden on people and deny them the chance to benefit from the money?
However, we should remember that a leader is just one person among many and hence cannot hold a whole country to ransom without the complicity of others, no matter what powers he has or is believed to have. I quite agree with the philosopher who contends that leaders are shaped by their societies and that members of society have their share of the blame where leaders go wrong. According to this philosopher, all leaders, good or bad, have their twin brothers or twin sisters in society. Simply put, there is affinity or inherent resemblance between leaders and some members of society, or every leader has people like him in his society. This argument is cogent, for leaders come from society, not from the sky. A leader cannot do anything without the help of others, nor can he lead or become a leader without the help of people. Therefore, the blame cannot be laid squarely on the feet of African leaders for their misbehaviour.
Going by this philosophy, we can see that African citizens, like their leaders, have their share of the blame for their predicament. Put in simple terms, some subjects are tarred with the same brush as their leaders. Like leaders, many Africans aspire after prestige and material resources to the extent of conniving or conspiring with bad leaders in their misdeeds. This explains why some people in Africa put the interest of their heads of state before the interest of the masses and are thus engaged in obscurantism, prevarication and fudging. This is why some shameless, wicked people in Africa are always ready to do the dirty job or try to defend, justify or cover up any nonsense, regardless of the sufferings of the masses. It is for this reason that some Africans lead a life of sycophancy and praise-singing, trying to portray their leaders as infallible, immortal and indispensable beings or demigods, while demonizing their opponents or perceived enemies.
Africa has gone to the dog owing to this obnoxious behaviour of her sons and daughters, which begets affliction for the masses. Post-independent Africans have been impoverished, pauperized, agonized and antagonized by their own compatriots who hold them hostage. This is an era in which Africans are enslaved by their fellow Africans, which is heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable. Figuratively, this dire situation can best be described as moving from the frying pan to the fire. Literally, we have experienced deterioration in terms of living conditions and miserably suffered human rights abuse at the hands of our compatriots after having been ill-treated by our colonial masters in many ways for quite a long time.
To reverse or remedy this exigent situation and prove our colonial masters wrong in their belief that we cannot decide or shape our own destiny, we need to put collective or national interest before personal interest and treat each other with mercy, justice and fairness. Otherwise, we will continue to blame our colonial masters and other outsiders for our numerous crises while, at the same time, begging them and seeking protection or salvation from them.
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amongst this sea of confusion.
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