THE TRAGEDY OF AFRICA

Corruption is something that we talk about, it is something that we complain about, it is something that even the corrupt acknowledges that its a bad thing.

But the irony and the tragedy at once is that those who engage in corruption love it. .

The tragedy at once is that those in our shoe who do not engage in it directly accommodates it. Our levels for tolerance in Africa is amazing.

Long time ago, a greek philosopher said;

"It is in the nature of man to hang the small thieves and elect the great thieves into public office".

We do that in Nigeria, we do that in Tanzania, we do that in Kenya, we do that in Africa generally. This is why Africa remains the poorest continent on earth.

Today, many young Africans are running away, not so long ago, about four weeks to be exact, about three hundred young Africans drowned in the Maditralian sea in Lapadusa because they were running away from Africa. Not so long ago, about three weeks to be exact, another group of young Africans drowned next to the Island in malta because they were running away from Africa.

When you look at Africa today, whether you are looking at Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania or indeed anywhere in any country in Africa, our richest men and women are the men and women who occupy public office. We live in a continent where we celebrate thieves and disregard good men and women. That is the tragedy of Africa.

While every other continent in recent past has moved in the right direction, Africa remains in the word of Tony blair "As the scar in the conscience of humanity".

We live in a continent today where as a young man has said "our young women who are born attain puberty, can not afford sanitary pads, but our public servants have ipads which they don't know how to use".

We live in a country today, where our leaders who preside over our health sectors have no faith in the health sector, when they are sick and their families are sick, they run away to seek treatment in Germany, in France, in United kingdom, in South Africa and india. Even our health Minister don't have faith in our health department.

We live in a country and countries today where the political leadership have no faith in their education sector, they bring unto us what they call free primary education or universal basic education, but they can never dare take their children to those schools.

We live in countries, where we claim that Agriculture is the back bone of our society, but we do not use technology to produce crops. Africans are dying younger than they were dying 50 years ago.

We live in a country where Africans will energetically seek the amend of the Status of United States Of America, while there is war in Mali, while there is no peace in Somalia, where there is no rest in Nigeria... Africa is a tragic continent.

And I want to submit to you that corruption is the source of all these. For some reasons that I do not understand, Africans still engage in primitive accumulation, many Africans particularly those in public service will never rest until they have homes in different capitals in the world which they will never live in, they have cars which they will never drive, they have bed of gold which they will never sleep in because they have no sleep anyway, they buy food which they can not eat because they have long lost appetite.

We live in sad times... We have the privilege of having a body like EFCC in Nigeria that is to fight corruption, but it appears we do not understand their work anymore, we assume that their mandate is to go out there and fight the corrupt, but the truth word is that they are not suppose to fight corruption, they are to appear to be fighting corruption.

The history of anti corruption crusaders in Africa is one and the same, their mortality rate in office is very short. It will appear that in Africa, if you serve a full term as an anti corruption crusader in office, it is because you have refused to fight corruption.

So, the question we must ask here and now is; what should Africa do to go forward?

It gives me great joy that we Nigerians have moved from the drawing table and went out there to do that which is right and good during the election.

Corruption is a cancer that shouldn't be allowed to grow, but I am to remind you that it is not going to be easy. The children of darkness who are the perpetrators of corruption have more advantage over the children of light, they are more organised, they are prepared to do anything on earth to make sure that their ill gotten wealth is retained. They will cook up any form of propaganda to get you brainwashed, it is left for you to resist them and support that which is just.

This is the opportunity we gotten to chase corruption out of our country Nigeria, this is the opportunity to recover our stolen wealth... And as expected, the children of the dark (the corrupt and their supporters) will resist, thereby making it difficult to achieve but with God on our side, we will pull through.

The summary of everything I have written so far is for us all to join hands, support the incoming government to tackle the issue of corruption which has eaten deep into our society. Let us shun all forms of bigotry, let's team up as one to make Nigeria the real giant of Africa not the pseudo giant of Africa that it has been.

Written by Anita C Herbert
CC®™©2015

Abstract gotten from a speech made by a Kenyan Anti-Corruption Crusader in a video clip, modified and written by Anita Chinwe Herbert.