Africans: Surviving at the Mercy of Others?
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| Irony : Africans can't feed themselves Photo courtesy |
(i) Any society that lags behind in science and technology is exterminated, enslaved or survives at the mercy of others which is the present situation of all the Black Countries other than South Africa; and
(ii) All societies, even the most primitive ones have always made their implements (hoes, axes), made their own weapons (spears, arrows), provided their own shelter and produced their own food.
It is only the Africans of the Colonial and Post-Colonial era that are not independent in respect of the above capacities. Ancient Egypt was conquered for the first time in 525-532 BC by Darius from Asia Minor (Present day Turkey) because the latter had developed iron technology while the former were still using brass, a much weaker metal.
The whole of Africa was colonized and the spectre of Slave Trade was visited on us because we lagged behind in technology. The American Red Indians, the Aztecs of Mexico, the Mayas and Incas of Peru and the Aborigines of Australia were exterminated because they lagged behind in technology and had inferior political organization. The Africans today are surviving at the mercy of others. Rationality would have propelled us to quickly use the recovery of our independence to ensure that Africa stands up once and for all time.
The independence and Post-independence African leaders need to bear the historical responsibility for the future tragedies that may befall the Africans in future. The whites plundered Africa but we survived the slave trade, colonialism and the neo-colonial regimes. The whites are now in decline. They will be overtaken by China in a matter of a few decades. The Chinese are so packed up that they have now resorted to a One-Child policy. Since Chinese like boys, whenever they produce a girl, they kill her and wait for the boy. Consequently, I hear the proportion of boys versus girls is getting seriously upset. Chinese boys will have no girls to marry. More seriously, however, is the problem of natural resources (Minerals, agricultural land, etc.) If you notice, the oil and other commodity prices such as copper have been going up.
The main factor here, apparently, is China. The 1.3 billion people of China are, finally, getting modernized. Demand for steel, copper, cement, etc. that had collapsed in the past is now picking up. With both India and China becoming modern, the pressure on raw materials will increase. In twenty years’ time when China will have a GDP of US$ 45 trillion; and USA a GDP of only US$ 35 trillion, who will prevent China from any adventures that they may feel necessary for their continued prosperity? We survived Western Imperialism. Are we to wait in our present weak and dependent state to see what the future Asian imperialism will offer? We occupy one of the biggest land masses (11 million sq miles) with considerable natural resources (although our uninformed policies exaggerate the magnitude of these resources). Why can we not turn, at least, parts of this land mass into a powerful and secure base for the Black Man? Besides, the Black Man must also be able to go to the Moon and Mars.
The Black race is just sitting in these micro-political units created by Colonialism (the 53 States of the African Union), completely oblivious of what is going on in the World.
There is the problem of the Global Warming caused by the profligate living of the Western countries (the aristocrats of the World for the last 500 years). About seventeen years ago there was an attempt to control this in form of the Kyoto Treaty. USA and Russia have refused to sign it. What is their argument? Apparently, part of their argument is that Global warming is not, after all, so bad since it will mean that frozen Siberia and Alaska will be suitable for agriculture.
Where does that leave Africa, which is already warm? It means that the marginal areas of the Sahel will become drier since, as we know, warm air expands and, therefore, retains moisture; contrary to cold air, which contracts in volume and, consequently, loses moisture (precipitation). In fact the process has already started. The snowcap on Mount Kilimanjaro is becoming smaller and the glaciers on top of the Rwenzori are getting shorter.
What is Africa’s response to these species-threatening aggressions by the White man’s countries soon to be joined by China? Nothing; not even the awareness of the problem. We are just busy looking for daily bread in the form of handouts from the very countries threatening our survival. The present generation of African leaders must rise to the occasion or else they will be like the African chiefs of yore that were busy fighting each other for local supremacy while the white man was busy taking slaves and colonizing the continent.
What always amazes me is the ability of Africans to hate themselves and love their enemies. Africans now worship the United States of America. We are always trooping there to get handouts as well as accounting for our domestic policies to the imperialists of yesterday and “quality” controllers of democracy of today!! Yet, at our disposal for the last 40 years, we have got this huge land mass with populations that are linked culturally, linguistically and economically (that is why they smuggle in from West Africa up to here) that we have failed to turn into strength. Why do we love and get mesmerized by the strength and might of others but are indifferent to building our own? The USA is made up of a hotch potch of people (Germanic, Latinos, Red Indians, Africans, Arabs, etc).
In this part of the World we are talking of only Bantus and Nilo Saharans (Nilotics and Nilo-Hamitic) with a lingua franca known as Swahili. Why can we not turn this great area into a powerful base for the Black race?
By H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
President of the Republic of Uganda.