Africa is rich. Indeed, it is rich. And I'm not talking of material riches (you can't rule that out too). I'm talking of the immaterial. The invisible riches of the African people. What we ought to cherish and hold dear. The teachings and aspirations of the African people. Their visions and philosophies are outstanding.
They play in their own league. You can't compare them with anyone else. They are unique in all aspects. An African is a source of inspiration and hardwork. Get me right -am not talking of the contemporary definition of African. Mine is the "pure African"; the one who holds his values and whose conscience is not corrupted. Yes, this is the one I talk about.
Children form a fundamental aspect of the African people. They "belonged" to everybody. They were subordinate (in its positive meaning) to the members of the society. Children knew their roles were cut out. If they veered off the road they needn't expect their parents to "hit sense" into them - any right thinking person could do that. The fruits of this? The social bond and discipline was strengthened.
This begs the question - where did this "My kid! My kid can't do that! I discipline my kid and I know him/her!" come from?
Some say this is a symbol of modernism. But what is modernism? Methinks this is a self-afflicted condition. We know its consequence but we voluntarily choose to live in self-denial.
We choose to "demolish" the foundations that our forefathers worked hard to build. And they did this with the best intention for us; to foster a spirit of oneness and togetherness. But we've chosen to go the opposite way. We are now heading straight to "hell" - knowingly!
Look at this - Africa is a home to a good number of rich and super-rich men and women. Paradoxically, a bulk of the poor also live here - side by side with the rich. You hear of a man building a multi-storied “residential home" in a sprawling slum of humanity.
This summarizes the expression of riches -the contemporary-African way. This one believes wealth is a show of might. Yes it is! But remember you are not living in a forest of trees - you are living in a forest of humanity.
This takes me to my conclusion: that the solution lies in revisiting and restudying our African roots, its foundations and principles. But remember the African spirit of socialism is still alive!
Suggestion: suppose each of us takes in one orphan and school him; don't you think we shall contribute in sending poverty to museums? ENJOY THE BLOG.
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