User:Abubakar Sadique kadir/sandbox/Africa’s Poverty Is Africa’s Problem

Africa’s Poverty Is Africa’s Problem

Africans’ attitude of blame game and leadership crisis has been the bane of Africa’s development. Blame apportionment are preserve of the Weak and should be eschewed by all.

Indeed, the culture of blame game will never fix anything on this continent. We are poor because we choose to be so. And such truth hurt our lackadaisical instincts. When will we stop complaining about inequality and inefficiencies that has resulted in our current situation? We are poor in economic variables and that is true but even more, we are poor in thoughts and that is a serious scorching indictment on us as a continent. But I see inequality as an issue of ‘comparison’ between us and the West. But I think it should be the African way with selfless thought and selfless leaders like in traditional African setting. Am going to facilitate and augment a ‘can-do’ philosophy, I don't believe there are different DNA embedded in the White man and the Black man, is just an issue self discipline and thought. I watched a video of Dubai and my focus was on their breakthrough from desert lands to prospect. It was a breathtaking taken pace and I started feeling moisture in my eyes, seeing the immense transformation of desert to a model state of art country for the world to imitate. In one of the clips, a man recounted if is not heavy and grand enough, and then is not good for Dubai. They never allow their environment or their geographical disposition to be a hindrance to their development. It means Africa with its rich soil and abundance of its natural resource still in this state has no moral justification to blame anyone on the state of its economies. To do model making on Dubai, I could say, ‘limitations provides opportunities’ and we have to capitalize on these limitations to bring change.

But we have chosen a modern brand of Christian religion that is more problematic. In this time and era people believe that every solution to a problem is in the church, even in economic spheres of country. In Ghana with our recent power outages, the government asking citizens and men of God to pray for the solution to the electricity situation without any action on it. How can God fix this without making effort to find a lasting solution to it? And always chosen to blame the west for unfair trade policies and their practices, yes it may be right because I have always disagree with conditions and rules of loans, debt and our begging for aids. This is a bore. Haven’t we castigated them enough?

Leadership paralysis is another issue which is causing our economic situation. It not surprising to see some African leaders struggling to hold on to power like a birth right. Most African leaders when voted into power, they are always happy just not to come serve but happy because they are coming to enrich themselves and their families. The selfless ‘will’ to serve is not there and is not like they have not been travelling to these emerging economies in Asia and the Middle East. Dubai has become the vacation destination for them, instead of taken the opportunity to emulate them during the vacations, they respond to the joy and entertainment aspect of it. Our politicians do not stick to financial discipline; they turn to spend on luxuries instead development agenda. Nigeria for instance has twelve presidential jets when even developed economies have no such number, aside haven one of the most expensive parliaments in the world. So is this a problem of the west not to make Africa develop? I am sticking the knife where it hurts most. I am saying, our poverty is our problem and it is staring at us for us to do something. If we can harness our best talent on the continent and decide we are tired of poverty, real change will be manifested in every corner of our continent.

In my next article will be ‘Is African development a mirage or it has solution?’ Abubakr Sadique Kadir Ghana kadir.cedique@gmail.com kadir.cedique@aiesec.net