AFRICA ARISE

I know I promised to share some tips on how to capture your thoughts and think strategically on my next post, but I came across some statistics over the weekend that left me a bit sad for a while, but after I had gotten over it, strengthened my resolve to champion a pragmatic mind shift in this generation. Maybe I should share some of the statistics I came across with you, that way you might have a better understanding what I’m talking about;

·         The major part of the world live in underdeveloped countries.

·         About 1.2 billion of the 6.7 billion people in the world live in underdeveloped countries (According to thefreedictionary.com, underdeveloped countries are poor unindustrialized countries that are “seeking” to develop its resources by industrialization).

·         According to the Economic and Social Council of The United Nations (UN), there are 50 underdeveloped/least developed countries in the world, 34 of them are in Africa.

·         Half or more of the adult population of 23 countries, mostly in Africa are uneducated (and you find some of these people in key leadership positions).

·         40% of the natural resources in the world are in Africa and Africa makes up just 10% of the population of the world.

·         In 2011, The World Health Organization(WHO) published a list of the Life expectancy in countries all over the world, Japan topped the list with 82.70 years, Canada had 81.54 as her life expectancy, USA 78.57, UK 80.49, UAE 75.67, Sierra Leone 46.53, China 75.56, Nigeria 53.20 by recent reports  Life expectancy in Nigeria has dropped to 47yrs

·         10% of children under 5yrs die at a rate in excess of 100 per 1000 in at least 32 countries mostly in Africa.

I could go on but I have no intentions to dampen your mood just wanted to highlight some information that is out there and represents a reality of the conditions surrounding us.

These statistics had me in deep thought for a long while over the weekend and I asked myself some salient questions like;

Why are we the way we are in Africa specially Nigeria? Did Africa do anything to God that all this negativity is found mainly in Africa? Then again I look at the fact that 40% of all the natural resources in the world is found in Africa so it’s not God’s fault, He God has blessed us exceedingly.

Is this blessing now a curse? Maybe, maybe not but there is just so much that doesn’t add up so I decided to try and localize the issue and figure it out from where I am.

I live in Lagos Nigeria and I have some great minds as friends (I don’t want to name names so that their heads wont pop and increase in size *grins*), anyways by virtue of my interactions with these great minds, I can generally say that Africa is not lacking in human resources, we are not. So if human resources isn't the issue, what then is?

Then in the course of the day, someone mentioned something about the centenary celebrations and how much it is estimated to cost the Nation to celebrate it, then it hit me, Africa’s major problem is our MINDSET. 

The slave trade did not help our “ministry” at all lol. How else can you explain a scenario where across an entire continent, corruption amongst government leaders is the order of the day and the people seem to be handicapped with regards to how to combat the menace? All over Africa, you find in all the countries a few people controlling the wealth of the entire nation while everyone else look up to these few people to be able to make it. An appointment into public offices is not by merit, but by who you know and what you are willing to give up to attain a desired position. The way I see it, we just drove out the white slave traders and replaced them with black slave traders which is why though we claim to be independent, we are still struggling to regain freedom hence the uprising in the South-South part of Nigeria and most recently the Northern part of Nigeria and all over Africa the civil wars abound.

Africa must change her Mind set in order to advance. We must be courageous enough to face the realities of the fact that we are still held bound by a slavery mentality; we must be courageous enough to contest with and confront our Cultures and Beliefs; we must consciously make the change first in our minds and then our actions. Africa must realize that the only thing limiting her is herself. A trip to South Africa will convince you that it is not the land that is cursed but the people in the land have just refused to allow their minds conceive positivity enough to drive developmental change. You and I know that South Africa is the way it is now because the whites were in charge for so long. What's the difference between the white man and the black man? Is it the skin pigmentation? No. Is it the size of the brains? No. What then is it?

The answer is simple, its all in the MIND.

Think about this and answer truthfully to your self; what is the first thing that comes to your mind whenever you see a Caucasian(Oyinbo hehehe)?

No one is Limiting Africa but Africans.

AFRICA ARISE