Africa is not poor, Africa is a rich continent inhabited by poor people. Once we fix the people problem, everything else will fall into place. Humanitarian organization like UNICEF, UNDP, Doctors without Borders, and alike have done more damage to Africa than the marginal positive impact they supposedly have had.
In order to raise money for their operations, they have engaged into a “poverty porn” depicting Africa with the most degrading, and humiliating image. African people dignity is not something they cared about. The huge billboard and magazines photos showing Africa at its worst now fill the mind of billions of people around the world, and unfortunately those people can’t help but think about Africa only through those images. The worst consequence of this “free publicity” is the way it has deeply impacted African self-perception and self-image.
The “Poverty porn” of the NGOs, the humanitarian organizations, and Western Medias is the problem number one because it sabotages Africans self-image, weakens their sell-confidence and resolve, and contributed hugely to the hate and racism Africans face all over the world. If foreign aid would develop any place, Africa will be the most developed continent in the world. International Aid is now doing more harm to Africa than good. It became the main tool used by foreign governments and organizations to corrupt the African Elite, and get them to behave so irrationally toward their own populations and the basic interest of their countries.
Aside corruption and the criminality, International Aid is the root of the Five Stars Colonization disease that cripple the African elite which dislike the responsibility and the self-sacrifice that comes with being In control of a nation destiny. As far as they enjoyed the status offered by their positions, they never liked the responsibilities demanded by the job. Therefore they use international aid programs as substitute to their responsibilities.
If Africa needs any aid, the most urgent one is to get rid of the 50 billion corruption industry (called International Aid) that shackles its youth and elite, cultivates and maintains the beggar mentality.
How would you develop any country when the dream of the majority of its youth and elite is not entrepreneurship, innovation, education and self-sufficiency, but the dream to have a job with a humanitarian organization or to get their project financed by some International aid Agency or proxy?
A Friend of mine recently told me that the “Global Lying System” (referring to the western Medias covering African new) is one of the biggest threats to peace and development in Africa. African Tribes are created in London, Brussels and Paris by Journalists. The colonial heritage of those Journalists (Unless they are instructed to do so) makes them to see Africa only as a collection of tribes and focus their coverage on what they call as tribal issues.
The western medias seems to follow an agenda of further dividing African nations and populations with their constant framing of Africa through fight between tribes, religions, geography, etc. This must stop before African could unite to fight their way out. The influence of western Medias in Africa is very negative and could be considered as part of African problems. The second most negative effect of the western medias in Africa is that they tend to focus their attention on what the Europeans doing in Africa or for Africa, and how they are saving Africa, therefore continuing to create false impression that Africa is a hopeless place with lazy people that could be saved only by the white man.
What you often see is white person helping African or an outsider making change in Africa. That is bad, and perpetuates the feeling that Africans are incapable to solve their problem by themselves, and reinforce in the mind of the young people and generation “the white man as a savior” mentality. V very Bad! Ignorance of the Books of Machiavelli, Hegel and Darwinism…….The western elite that currently rules the world has Three majors intellectuals influence: Machiavelli (how to rule over people with cynicism and deception), Hegel (using the Hegelian dialectic of history they consider the western civilization as the end of history) and Darwin (the Survival belongs to the fittest, therefore the white race should stay at the top and rule over other races)
The problems are that you cannot develop a country or continent where the majority of people who have the potential to become leaders are raised to be “good subalterns” to be successful.
Africa is not poor, Africa has a leadership problems. For any society to prosper it should have an endogenous system of identifying, training and coaching its future leaders. Some countries do it through their military services, some do it through elite schools, and some others do it through informal coaching and assistance organizations or secret societies. The main issue Africa leadership is not the quality of its individuals, but the quality of the group of individuals.
Individually there are lot of brilliant people, but collectively they fail to work together harmoniously on long term vision, and commit with integrity and loyalty to their country or long term vision. The reason behind this failure is that most the so called leaders are trained outside their country and context, by people who have no knowledge of the context in which their leadership skills would apply.
Colonial power tends to drastically reduce the study of science and engineering in the countries they have occupied. They would favor literature and subaltern studies that would make the graduates just good enough to assist them in running the colonies or the occupied countries. Results, Africa has a lot of “talkers”, people with oratory prowess. Now, we do not need more of those lawyers, sociologists, philosophers, but more scientists and engineers.
An African Proverb Says; ‘When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you’,
Peace and Milk
ANIIS ABDILLAHI ESSA
SOMALILAND ADVOCACY GROUP
WASHINGTON DC…USA
Email: aniis@yhoo.com