Africa remains a writer’s delight; our beautiful continent continues to be a writer’s paradise.
So completely does art imitates life in Africa that a writer would be considered very imaginative if she only chronicles daily happenings in our beautiful continent.
Standing aside and watch the goings-on in Africa, I often wonder if some of us are for real. And our leaders never fail to produce the comic reliefs to lessen the tensions and the stresses and the grinds in our daily lives.
Mayhap this is deliberate ploy on their parts, as they do not provide any service for the hoi polio.
I watched and listened to some African leaders making speeches at the recent concave of the 67th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
I really have to shake my head and pinch myself several times to make sure that I was not in some dreamland.
Are these leaders from Africa for real? Are there some special diets prepared at our Presidential palaces that make our leaders look and sound like complete schizophrenics – totally divorced from reality?
Or is it the water they drink?
Ordinary mortals like yours truly will never know these top-secrets affairs, but methinks that it is time we all rise up and tell our leaders to stop making complete fools of themselves and embarrassing us further.
How on earth do we have leaders who cannot produce enough food for their people, or give their people potable water or electricity, going on world stage to beat chests and wax bombast?
What on earth is Mr. Jonathan Goodluck doing in New York when he should be in his country working hard to solve the myriads of problems plaguing his country?
With his 100+ advisers (plus their advisers), Mr. Jonathan still appear clueless on how to solve any of the problems Nigeria faces. Boko Haram has made life hellish for Nigerians in the Northern part of the country, and the President has not been able to achieve much, apart from issuing empty declarations of intent.
We are told that Mr. Goodluck recently forayed into Niger and Mali to discuss with the leaders of those countries, believed to harbor the training grounds of the Boko Haram Jihadists.
It is incredible that Jonathan plethora of highly-paid advisors failed to tell him what was evident to yours sincerely, when Mr. Goodluck cast a vote at the UNSC to help NATO launch its invasion of Libya.
One did not need a crystal ball to know that once a strong-man like Brother Ghadaffi is removed from power in a loose, tribal-based country like Libya, one can only harvest a bountiful of chaos.
Jonathan and Zuma, two embarrassments of leaders, failed to realize that the objectives of NATO were narrow and clearly-defined. They also failed to recognize that NATO’s objectives do not, in any way, augur well for their nations’ well-being.
They went ahead to offer support to the imperialists.
Today, Western firms are making a kill from their conquest of Libya, while Africans are left to hold the candle.
No one in NATO today remembers the support of Nigeria and South Africa.
The defeat of Ghadaffi opened a Pandora box of mayhem from which Nigeria is today suffering as Brother Ghadaffi’s massive arsenal was looted by Jihadists.
It is some of these weapons that are today being used to cause havoc across Northern Nigeria. How silly can a leader be?
We still wonder why Jonathan did not ask for something in return for his slavish support of the imperialists.
Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama also made his pitch at the UN.
Many said that it was a well-crafted speech delivered flawlessly.
The President paid glowing tribute to his predecessor and thanked the world for mourning with Ghana. He also extended condolences to Ethiopian, Malawi and Guinea Bissau countries that also lost their leaders.
Ghana’s new leader did not forget to make the ritualistic vow to wage war on poverty, disease, oppression, discrimination, illiteracy and unemployment which “still stifle the potential and shatter the hopes of millions.”
He waxed eloquent on the positive changes in Africa: “Today, Africa boasts some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with Ghana being one of them. The number of countries engaged in conflict is steadily decreasing year after year.
You see, today, right now, there is something spectacular happening in Africa. Growth is taking the place of stagnation; tranquility is taking the place of turmoil; democratic governance, founded on the rule of law, is taking the place of dictatorship.
This new Africa will wean itself off of handouts and humanitarian relief. It will not continue to succumb to the corruption and oppression of despots. This new Africa will stand on the world stage as a mutual partner.
Africa is ready for that true and sincere partnership.
The president concluded his speech with: “Our time has come.”
As our time really come?
In the next breath, the president that tell the world that Africa’s time has come was pleading with more of the same medicine from the World Bank.
This was how it was reported: “President John Mahama is pleading with the World Bank not to be quick in withdrawing financial assistance to Ghana. The president made the plea at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly sessions ongoing in New York.
President Mahama told the World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, Ghana is not completely out of the woods yet and a complete withdrawal of financial assistance could spell doom for the country.
http://politics.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201209/94510.php
President Mahama’s advisors should have told him that the World Bank is not in the business of assisting countries to develop their countries. Au Contraire; it was set up to make countries safe for exploitation by Western concerns.
World Bank assistance has never helped to develop any country and it never will.
Apparently buoyed by his well-received UN speech, we are told that the President courts American businessmen to invest in Ghana.
And this was how it was chronicled: “President John Mahama is courting American investors to invest in Ghana.
Speaking to top American investors in New York shortly after addressing the 67th UN General Assembly the president said Africa for that matter Ghana is a “good destination for investment”.
“Ghana happens to be the gate way to West Africa…Whatever we produce, rice maize, and everything many of the traders from Burkina Faso, Mali Niger which are constantly food starved come to Ghana to take their supplies."
“All the other West African countries have a demand for food supplies and so Ghana could become the hub for supplying all these counties with food," he said.
He conceded however that Ghana’s weakest link is manufacturing and industry and implored the investors to take advantage of those opportunities, adding the country will provide all the necessary resources and raw materials for such industries to work.
He also touted Ghana’s democratic credentials which he said will be consolidated in the December elections.
“Perhaps the best thing going for Ghana is stability and peace. It is seen as an oasis of peace in a turbulent continent.
“Ghana’s democracy has been consolidated. It is going to be consolidated further in December when we hold the next elections,” he stated.
http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201209/94596.php
The gods know that this writer has done his best to tell our leaders in Africa that no investor will set up manufacturing shops in our countries until we get the basics right.
The world has become globalized and information is freely available. Investors look for safe havens for their money and they are not going to put it in countries with shaky or non-existence infrastructures.
African leaders should try to fix the roads, water, electricity, and telecommunications and, above all, provide security and investors will flock in like no man’s business.
We can make this Femi Rules of Attracting Investors 101
Meanwhile, our MPs continue to get in the news for the wrong reasons.
Rescue me if I’m wrong, please, but I have never seen a single report of one MP sponsoring a single bill on how to improve the lives of Ghanaians.
Apart from debating and approving foreign loans and grants, no one knows what else our MPs do.
Our so-called Honourables make waves only when there are salary increases to be discussed.
It is sad that whilst Ghanaians groan under severe economic hardships, their MPs decided to increase their own pay.
This was how it was captured by Citi News: “Salaries Of MPs Go Up From GHC3,000 to 7,200
"Salaries of Ghana’s Members of Parliament have shot up from GhC3,000 to GhC7,200, insider reports reaching Citi News indicate.
Information reaching Citi News indicates that each legislator will receive the new amount as their new consolidated take home pay. The new pay will take retrospective effect from January 2009.
The MPs previously earned under GHC3, 000, a situation they complained was woefully inadequate compared to other African countries.”
http://news.peacefmonline.com/news/201209/137006.php
If people can get such a truly hefty pay hike and a back-dated one for that matter, we should stop wondering why politics have become a do or die affair in our beautiful country.
We should now know why everyone wants to go to parliament.
Sadly, whilst our MPs are getting and enjoying their consolidated new pay, no one cares about the hoi polio.
How about this story from Peacefmonline: “Cholera Outbreak Kills Three; Over 200 People Affected.”
“Three people have been confirmed dead in the latest numbers released by the Health directorate of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
More than 200 cases have also been recorded in the past one month.
Health officials say the soaring numbers of cholera cases calls for urgent pragmatic action.
The director of health at the AMA, Dr. Simpson Anim Boateng who spoke to XYZ News said the severity of the cases has reduced a little.
“The cholera situation is now better, it has reduced for sometime but since the beginning of this month it has started rising.
“But we are enforcing the by-laws, we are educating the people and it is working, that is why now the number has reduced significantly” Dr. Anim Boateng said. -
http://news.peacefmonline.com/health/201209/136986.php
And, how about this story, also from Peacefmonline: ECG Intensifies Load-Shedding.
“If you have been suspicious about the way the Electricity Company of Ghana is going about the ongoing load-shedding exercise, your suspicions may be well-founded.
ECG says it has had to review the schedule because the power available for distribution to homes and businesses especially during the day has reduced.
Consumers under the previous schedule would be without power twice every three days, once during the day with the other outage at night.” -
http://newsblog.peacefmonline.com/pages/news/201209/137038.php
And if you think that now it cannot get worse, they you have not seen this news item carried by Peacefmonline: We Gave Out 215m Cedis For Rituals Before Commencement Of Gas Project - Dr Sipa-Yankey
"The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC), Dr. George Sipa-Yankey, has revealed that his outfit gave out an amount of 215 million old Ghana cedis for ritual purposes at Atuabo in the Ellembelle District before the commencement of the gas infrastructure project.
Dr Sipa-Yankey said this was done to enable the contractors for the gas project, Sinopec, to cut down the deity tree "Hohor" at the project site.
The chief priestess of the Tohor deity, Mame Kpolakeh, performed the first ritual on Friday, October 12, and the second one on Wednesday, 17 October, respectively.
"According to GNGC CEO, the chief priestess, had warned that if the necessary rituals were not performed, she would not allow the tree to be cut, therefore the GNGC had to dole out the money to purchase some items for the pacification rites before it was felled by the contractors executing the project.
He further disclosed that the chief priestess also dared the Chinese contractors that if "they are men enough" they should cut the tree without performing the rituals adding that since GNGC wanted the project to be completed as scheduled, they negotiated with her for the necessary rituals to be performed.
The chief priest is also said to have demanded money to perform rituals on another deity tree called "Banzela", which also has to be cut down, so that no misfortune strikes the men working on the project. -
http://business.peacefmonline.com/industry/201210/142726.php
To put things in good perspective for us Dr. Sipa-Yankey was quoted as saying: "...we are in a country where superstition in our traditional set-up is very much respected and important hence the decision to convert the items demanded by the chief priestess into money for the rituals.”
Enough said!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The Presidents and their speeches
You have been quite of late, my brother. What happened?
Hmmm…
You, what happened? I never knew you to be tongue-tied. What happened to you?
My brother, our elders say when matters passed the stage to shed tears; we should just sit down and look.
What matters? Why do you want to cry?
No one is crying; it is a proverb.
Ah, you know that I’m not into these your African proverb things.
A great pity that. You really could learn a lot from them.
But you didn’t answer my question.
Which was?
You always try to be clever, ah. See the way you dodged my question by employing one of those hard to understand proverbs of yours.
Proverbs are actually quite easy to understand; if only you will listen carefully. They are the vessels that our elders used to convey words that are too heavy for ordinary conversations. Some of our elders say that proverbs are the horses of languages; if words are lost, we use proverbs to search for them.
You are still meandering, my brother. The simple question is: why have you stopped writing about the situation in our Africa?
And I try to tell you that writers occasionally need to pause, step back and watch what happens around them.
Why do they need to do that? Does it mean that you’ve ran out of ideas; of things to say?
Ah! On the contrary; there are always plenty to say. But because there are plenty things to say does not always mean that they have to be said. One always has to remember that we a pair of ears, pair of eyes, but only one mouth. A wise person advises himself on when to open his mouth and when to shut his trap.
And what do all these mean?
It means that, as our elders say, a wise man is like a nail; his head should keep him from going too far.
You are just impossible with all these proverbs things. I was thinking that since you are fond of criticising our leaders in Africa, their performance at the recent United Nations General Assembly is occasion for you sing their praises for once.
Are you for real?
Why; didn’t you watch them?
I did, but what did you find so joyous about their performances at the UN. Apart from Pa Mugabe, which African leader made any sensible contribution?
You! I thought Ghana’s president performance was sterling. Didn’t you listen to his robust defence of Africa and his condemnation of imperialism?
And what did he do afterwards?
What do you mean; what did he do afterwards?
He called on the World Bank and the IMF not to stop their support of Ghana and ask American investors to come and invest in Ghana.
And what do you find wrong with that; is he not right to try and woo investors to Ghana?
Don’t make me laugh…
What is there to laugh about?
Don’t you know the English expression about wanting to have your cake after you ate it?
Do you always have to talk in riddles?
There are no riddles in what I tell you; the meanings are quite evident for you to see. I wish African leaders will stay at home, rather than go on world stage only to make total fools of themselves. Their appearances at these world stages only increase the contempt the rest of the world has for us. Look at that one from Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan. Why on earth does he have to travel all the way to New York to deliver that insipid address?
But our leaders have to engage with the world, don’t they?
No, they don’t. No one forces them to engage with anyone. But as things are stand today, our leaders only make complete fools of themselves at these meetings, since absolutely no one take anything they say serious. They also manage to ridicule us in the process. As they say in Nigeria, rich men are talking and a poor man said he has ideas. What type of idea could he possibly have?
There you go again with sweeping condemnation.
Well-deserved condemnation, if you ask me. Can you imagine Mali sending a delegation to New York and these guys stayed in hotel that cost US$10,000 a night. And you and you tell me about sweeping condemnation. It is the unconscionable actions or inactions by our leaders that condemn them, not anything that I say. The truth of the matter is that our leaders continue to make us the laughing stock of the world. You said Ghana’s president condemned imperialism and all that. All jolly and well. But who will take him serious when, in one breath he stands up to condemn American imperialism and, in the next breath, he mounts the rostrum to plead that American investors should come to Ghana? Who is insane enough to take Goodluck Jonathan serious when he asked for direct foreign investment? Who wants to invest a hell-hole that Jonathan presides over?
Do you call Nigeria a hell-hole?
We can pretend all we want, but the sad truth is that Nigeria is a failed state in all but name. What should be more important to Mr. Jonathan: going to New York to talk gibberish at a UN Assembly or bring some sanity to the Nigerian body polity and to the Nigerian economy?
But you also wrote somewhere that no nation has managed to solve all its problems.
And who talks here about a country solving all its problems? Problems are part of human and national life. It is true that no nation has solved all its developmental challenges. I talk here about governments solving life’s basic problems. We talk here of clean water for majority of citizens. We talk here about adequate electricity to power the few disarticulate industries we have in Africa. We talk about citizens having enough food to eat. We talk about the provision of security for citizens so that they can sleep well at night. I do not even mean that all these should be comprehensively provided. I talk that governments should make it its main business to be seen to be doing its best to do so.
And you think that our governments in Africa are not doing their best?
No, they are not.
But you wrote recently that Africa is forging ahead on the right path.
That’s correct.
Don’t you see a contradiction there?
No, whatever positive things happening in Africa is due to the efforts of ordinary Africans, who do their best to forge ahead in spite of their governments.
Do you mean that Africans governments do not do anything?
They could be doing something, but not enough that they should be applauded for.
Let’s take the case of Nigeria. It is very difficult not to feel terribly sorry for that unfortunate country where the leaders have hijacked the machinery of government and run what could only be describe as a criminal enterprise. Where else in the world do we have a shameless cabal of thieves collaring the resources of state and appropriating it for their selfish benefits like we see in Nigeria? Few days after Mr. Jonathan made his impish address to the UN; he sent a budget to the parliament where he allocates close to a billion naira for food for himself and his deputy. He made the right noises about providing electricity for Nigerians, but then allocated close to 700 million naira to fuel generator for his governments. Do you know what the real trouble is?
Tell me.
The real trouble is that our leaders are like the naked emperor who continues to dance naked not noticing that he is stark naked.
What do you mean by that?
By that I meant that the whole wide world knows the parlous state of the services our leaders provide for their people in our blessed continent. All the countries our leaders are fond of running to have embassies here, and their staff are well abreast of what happens in our land. Sometimes, they even know more than us. They know everything, and we can take it for granted that they inform their home governments about the true state of affairs. So, we can only imagine the chuckles our leaders elicit in their counterparts who see in them only naked emperors unworthy of any attention or respect…
And why would they be laughing?
They would be laughing when they see leader of a country like Ghana where people still struggle for electricity coming to New York to talk big. They will laugh when they see leaders from Ghana where people still die from cholera hugging the world stage rather than confront the menace of that easily curable disease. And when they look at Goodluck Jonathan, in his resource-allocation attire, pontificating at the UN, they see only a total misfit who is totally beyond irony.
But our leaders have had praises from world leaders.
Don’t make me laugh. Of course, diplomacy demands that they praise them. But do you honestly believe that their hearts are in it? Do you really think that they saw our leaders as deserving of praises? Do they deserve to be praised? When the President of Mali got slapped around by a mob; he was taken to Paris for treatment. The First Lady of Nigeria, Goodluck’s own wife, is being treated in a German hospital. The president of Mauritania is recovering in a Paris hospital after he was shot by his troops. If our countries lack the hospitals to cater for the health of our leaders, who is going to respect us? Let’s get serious. Until we develop the abilities to solve problems that are very basic, no one will take us serious. Take for example the appalling traffic situation on the Accra to Kasoa road. Any responsible leaders would have fixed that perennial problem long time ago. But here we are: our leaders pay no heed as citizens waste upward of four six hours to traverse a journey of about twenty kilometers. This should be intolerable. But our paid officials simply blow their sirens to pave a smooth passage for themselves, whilst the ordinary people suffer from a problem that could very easily be solve by a few road engineers.
But we find those same problems all over the world.
No, that is not true. You may find it, but serious leaders will address the problem as soon as they notice them. My example of the chaotic traffic situation on the Kasoa road did not start today or yesterday. But our leaders looked unconcerned while a problem was allowed to develop into a major catastrophe.
But should that stop African leaders from going to the UN to peddle their case?
What case have our leaders peddled at the UN that benefited us? What case did Jonathan peddle that was designed to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians? To directly answer your question, I say yes, our leaders in Africa should bury their heads in shame. They should stay at home and fix our countries up well before they dare show their faces on world stages. We can borrow a leaf from the Chinese who refused to make any wave on the world stage until they get their internal acts together. The Chinese bided their time, built up their infrastructures and when they were ready, the world took notice of them. The world has to take note because the Chinese emerged as people who have managed to build up an economy that is the envy of the world. They have managed to build highways, airports, hydro-electric dams that could be classified only as world-beaters. That is the great lesson we in Africa ought to take to heart. No one respects anyone who clearly cannot provide his needs. Let our leaders stay at home and take serious the business of building our countries in Africa. When we manage to get our houses in order, we can then emerge to confront the world and demand to be treated as equal. We then can demand a seat on the United Nation Security Council, which is the real powerhouse; and not some General Assembly, which is a mere talk-shop.
Hmmm…
You, what happened? I never knew you to be tongue-tied. What happened to you?
My brother, our elders say when matters passed the stage to shed tears; we should just sit down and look.
What matters? Why do you want to cry?
No one is crying; it is a proverb.
Ah, you know that I’m not into these your African proverb things.
A great pity that. You really could learn a lot from them.
But you didn’t answer my question.
Which was?
You always try to be clever, ah. See the way you dodged my question by employing one of those hard to understand proverbs of yours.
Proverbs are actually quite easy to understand; if only you will listen carefully. They are the vessels that our elders used to convey words that are too heavy for ordinary conversations. Some of our elders say that proverbs are the horses of languages; if words are lost, we use proverbs to search for them.
You are still meandering, my brother. The simple question is: why have you stopped writing about the situation in our Africa?
And I try to tell you that writers occasionally need to pause, step back and watch what happens around them.
Why do they need to do that? Does it mean that you’ve ran out of ideas; of things to say?
Ah! On the contrary; there are always plenty to say. But because there are plenty things to say does not always mean that they have to be said. One always has to remember that we a pair of ears, pair of eyes, but only one mouth. A wise person advises himself on when to open his mouth and when to shut his trap.
And what do all these mean?
It means that, as our elders say, a wise man is like a nail; his head should keep him from going too far.
You are just impossible with all these proverbs things. I was thinking that since you are fond of criticising our leaders in Africa, their performance at the recent United Nations General Assembly is occasion for you sing their praises for once.
Are you for real?
Why; didn’t you watch them?
I did, but what did you find so joyous about their performances at the UN. Apart from Pa Mugabe, which African leader made any sensible contribution?
You! I thought Ghana’s president performance was sterling. Didn’t you listen to his robust defence of Africa and his condemnation of imperialism?
And what did he do afterwards?
What do you mean; what did he do afterwards?
He called on the World Bank and the IMF not to stop their support of Ghana and ask American investors to come and invest in Ghana.
And what do you find wrong with that; is he not right to try and woo investors to Ghana?
Don’t make me laugh…
What is there to laugh about?
Don’t you know the English expression about wanting to have your cake after you ate it?
Do you always have to talk in riddles?
There are no riddles in what I tell you; the meanings are quite evident for you to see. I wish African leaders will stay at home, rather than go on world stage only to make total fools of themselves. Their appearances at these world stages only increase the contempt the rest of the world has for us. Look at that one from Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan. Why on earth does he have to travel all the way to New York to deliver that insipid address?
But our leaders have to engage with the world, don’t they?
No, they don’t. No one forces them to engage with anyone. But as things are stand today, our leaders only make complete fools of themselves at these meetings, since absolutely no one take anything they say serious. They also manage to ridicule us in the process. As they say in Nigeria, rich men are talking and a poor man said he has ideas. What type of idea could he possibly have?
There you go again with sweeping condemnation.
Well-deserved condemnation, if you ask me. Can you imagine Mali sending a delegation to New York and these guys stayed in hotel that cost US$10,000 a night. And you and you tell me about sweeping condemnation. It is the unconscionable actions or inactions by our leaders that condemn them, not anything that I say. The truth of the matter is that our leaders continue to make us the laughing stock of the world. You said Ghana’s president condemned imperialism and all that. All jolly and well. But who will take him serious when, in one breath he stands up to condemn American imperialism and, in the next breath, he mounts the rostrum to plead that American investors should come to Ghana? Who is insane enough to take Goodluck Jonathan serious when he asked for direct foreign investment? Who wants to invest a hell-hole that Jonathan presides over?
Do you call Nigeria a hell-hole?
We can pretend all we want, but the sad truth is that Nigeria is a failed state in all but name. What should be more important to Mr. Jonathan: going to New York to talk gibberish at a UN Assembly or bring some sanity to the Nigerian body polity and to the Nigerian economy?
But you also wrote somewhere that no nation has managed to solve all its problems.
And who talks here about a country solving all its problems? Problems are part of human and national life. It is true that no nation has solved all its developmental challenges. I talk here about governments solving life’s basic problems. We talk here of clean water for majority of citizens. We talk here about adequate electricity to power the few disarticulate industries we have in Africa. We talk about citizens having enough food to eat. We talk about the provision of security for citizens so that they can sleep well at night. I do not even mean that all these should be comprehensively provided. I talk that governments should make it its main business to be seen to be doing its best to do so.
And you think that our governments in Africa are not doing their best?
No, they are not.
But you wrote recently that Africa is forging ahead on the right path.
That’s correct.
Don’t you see a contradiction there?
No, whatever positive things happening in Africa is due to the efforts of ordinary Africans, who do their best to forge ahead in spite of their governments.
Do you mean that Africans governments do not do anything?
They could be doing something, but not enough that they should be applauded for.
Let’s take the case of Nigeria. It is very difficult not to feel terribly sorry for that unfortunate country where the leaders have hijacked the machinery of government and run what could only be describe as a criminal enterprise. Where else in the world do we have a shameless cabal of thieves collaring the resources of state and appropriating it for their selfish benefits like we see in Nigeria? Few days after Mr. Jonathan made his impish address to the UN; he sent a budget to the parliament where he allocates close to a billion naira for food for himself and his deputy. He made the right noises about providing electricity for Nigerians, but then allocated close to 700 million naira to fuel generator for his governments. Do you know what the real trouble is?
Tell me.
The real trouble is that our leaders are like the naked emperor who continues to dance naked not noticing that he is stark naked.
What do you mean by that?
By that I meant that the whole wide world knows the parlous state of the services our leaders provide for their people in our blessed continent. All the countries our leaders are fond of running to have embassies here, and their staff are well abreast of what happens in our land. Sometimes, they even know more than us. They know everything, and we can take it for granted that they inform their home governments about the true state of affairs. So, we can only imagine the chuckles our leaders elicit in their counterparts who see in them only naked emperors unworthy of any attention or respect…
And why would they be laughing?
They would be laughing when they see leader of a country like Ghana where people still struggle for electricity coming to New York to talk big. They will laugh when they see leaders from Ghana where people still die from cholera hugging the world stage rather than confront the menace of that easily curable disease. And when they look at Goodluck Jonathan, in his resource-allocation attire, pontificating at the UN, they see only a total misfit who is totally beyond irony.
But our leaders have had praises from world leaders.
Don’t make me laugh. Of course, diplomacy demands that they praise them. But do you honestly believe that their hearts are in it? Do you really think that they saw our leaders as deserving of praises? Do they deserve to be praised? When the President of Mali got slapped around by a mob; he was taken to Paris for treatment. The First Lady of Nigeria, Goodluck’s own wife, is being treated in a German hospital. The president of Mauritania is recovering in a Paris hospital after he was shot by his troops. If our countries lack the hospitals to cater for the health of our leaders, who is going to respect us? Let’s get serious. Until we develop the abilities to solve problems that are very basic, no one will take us serious. Take for example the appalling traffic situation on the Accra to Kasoa road. Any responsible leaders would have fixed that perennial problem long time ago. But here we are: our leaders pay no heed as citizens waste upward of four six hours to traverse a journey of about twenty kilometers. This should be intolerable. But our paid officials simply blow their sirens to pave a smooth passage for themselves, whilst the ordinary people suffer from a problem that could very easily be solve by a few road engineers.
But we find those same problems all over the world.
No, that is not true. You may find it, but serious leaders will address the problem as soon as they notice them. My example of the chaotic traffic situation on the Kasoa road did not start today or yesterday. But our leaders looked unconcerned while a problem was allowed to develop into a major catastrophe.
But should that stop African leaders from going to the UN to peddle their case?
What case have our leaders peddled at the UN that benefited us? What case did Jonathan peddle that was designed to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians? To directly answer your question, I say yes, our leaders in Africa should bury their heads in shame. They should stay at home and fix our countries up well before they dare show their faces on world stages. We can borrow a leaf from the Chinese who refused to make any wave on the world stage until they get their internal acts together. The Chinese bided their time, built up their infrastructures and when they were ready, the world took notice of them. The world has to take note because the Chinese emerged as people who have managed to build up an economy that is the envy of the world. They have managed to build highways, airports, hydro-electric dams that could be classified only as world-beaters. That is the great lesson we in Africa ought to take to heart. No one respects anyone who clearly cannot provide his needs. Let our leaders stay at home and take serious the business of building our countries in Africa. When we manage to get our houses in order, we can then emerge to confront the world and demand to be treated as equal. We then can demand a seat on the United Nation Security Council, which is the real powerhouse; and not some General Assembly, which is a mere talk-shop.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Not so fast, Mr. Annan,
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein
“An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.” Buddha
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” - Socrates
In the course of producing my TV interview programme – Focus on Africans ((FOA) which currently runs on the CineAfrik channel of Ghana’s MultiTV station), I have been privileged to meet an incredible array of truly great, talented and outstanding Africans from diverse backgrounds.
Producing FOA has been a revelation; it has revealed to me the depth of passion Africans have for our beautiful continent.
One endearing thing I have found out is that irrespective of national origins, almost African I’ve met outside of Africa is a passionate Pan-Africanist who wishes the continent well.
Our sociologists in Africa should try and find out why we make so good Africans outside of Africa, only to resort to tribal and ethnic prejudices when we live inside of Africa.
The main theme of the FOA programme, apart from sharing with viewers the experiences of the guests, is also to pose the question as to why our great continent, Africa, continue to lag behind others.
The recurring answer we get is the type of poor leadership leaders in Africa provide.
Almost all the people we have spoken to agree with the great novelist, Chinua Achebe, that poor leadership is at the bane of Africa’s chronic under-development.
Our guests cite lack of vision as the single issue bedeviling governance in Africa; they all bemoan the paucity of quality leaders with transformational ideas and visions.
They cite the abundant mineral resources of Africa and the huge pool of young, enterprising and (now) highly educated pool of human resources they believe could propel the continent to super-power status in few years, if properly channeled by leaders with visions.
None of our guest can mention a single sitting leader in Africa who has any vision to lift the people up.
Our guests contrast this sad state with the enthusiastic post-independence periods, when the continent was suffused with leaders with big dreams/ideas and who could rub shoulders with statesmen across the world. Mention is made of Kwame Nkrumah, Kenneth Kaunda, Nnamdi Azikwe, Julius Nyerere, Obafemi Awolowo as example of leaders with clear visions about what they wanted to do.
Almost all our participants have also been very merciless with the perceived greediness, selfishness and the traits of primitive acquisitiveness exhibited by current leaders in Africa.
Many of them feel shamed that Africa’s current crops of leaders tend to lend credence to the racist stereo-types of Africans as happy-go-lucky, mindless consumers who give little thought for tomorrow.
Many also opined that African leaders appear to be people who allow the allure of offices to woo them over principles.
Sadly, our leaders in Africa themselves continue to give value to the perception that they will hold tenaciously to any position however untenable the situation.
Even were the offices to be bereft of any authority, Africans will still be found to occupy it, as long as they can continue to draw salaries and other appurtenances.
“Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.” - Jerry Garcia.
It is in this light that recent pronouncements by Mr. Kofi Annan, ex-Secretary General of the United Nations become quite problematic and very difficult to swallow.
“Apathy and evil. The two work hand in hand. They are the same, really.... Evil wills it. Apathy allows it. Evil hates the innocent and the defenseless most of all.
Apathy doesn't care as long as it's not personally inconvenienced.” Jake Thoene
I don’t know who Mr. Annan advisers were, but methinks that they very wrongly advised him to come out of his retirement, with pronouncements that could only provoke outrage from those who did not allow their memories to be short.
The tragedies that happened under Mr. Annan’s watch are just too vast, and they are far too recent for him to embark on any stupid PR stunt.
According to a recent BBC Outlook programme: “Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has revealed one of his greatest regrets was the fact he was not able to prevent the Rwandan massacre of 1994, in which nearly a million people were killed.
About 800 thousand people were killed in the ethnic war in 1994 in the East African country.
Mr. Annan, who was then the Head of the UN Department for Peace keeping, however explained why the body had some difficulties in stopping the killings.
The former UN Secretary General who was speaking on the BBC’s OUTLOOK programme said “we knew we will not get the mandate to do a more assertive action in Rwanda which would also imply additional resources- men and women” however there was just about 600 troops available for his office to work with.
Mr. Annan described the situation as “very frustrating and we withdrew some of those who were on the ground because the governments didn’t want to take the risk”.
“And it is frustrating because of as Head of Peace keeping or even as Secretary General, you are as strong as the member states. If they don’t give me the troops and the resources, there is nothing much you can do,” Mr. Annan told host of the programme Matthew Bannister.
Kofi Annan who felt sorry over the situation recalled making a statement that “if genocide cannot make us move, then what could move us?” in expressing disgust at the low level of commitment member states showed to the Rwandan situation which eventually resulted in the killings.”
Source: http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201210/95088.php
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Haba, Mr. Annan! If the killing of 800,000 human beings did not spur you to resign your position in protest, what exactly do you mean when you said: “if genocide cannot make us move, then what could move us?”
What movement exactly are you talking about, Sir?
If the Rwandan genocide (perpetrated on Africans) did not move you, an African, sufficiently, why do you expect it to move non-Africans, Mr. Annan?
I found Mr. Annan’s assertion: “And it is frustrating because of as Head of Peace keeping or even as Secretary General, you are as strong as the member states. If they don’t give me the troops and the resources, there is nothing much you can do,” just pathetic.
“The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.” – Any Rand
You could have resign, Mr. Annan; you could have resigned!
If those that employed you refused to give you the means to do your job (in this case troops), it means only one thing viz: that ‘THEY’ did not want you to do the job. The only honourable thing left for you is to resign your vacuous office!
There is a thing call honour, Mr. Annan.
African tradition put great value on honour, hence the Yoruba saying “Iku ya ju esin / Death is preferable to ignominy/public ridicule.”
By denying you the troops to forestall a massacre, the powers that be clearly wanted you to fail, thereby exposing you to public ridicule.
You had the choice then to redeem your name\image simply by resigning, thereby refusing to be part of the massacre.
Since you elected instead to stay on, you become an accomplice\accessory to the crime.
“Those who choose not to empathize enable real monsters, for without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves we collude with it through our apathy.” - J. K. Rowling
Sorry, Mr. Annan, it is a choice you made and it is a choice with which you have to live.
However hard you might try, there is no way history can absolve you from the Rwandan massacre, Mr. Annan – you are simply just too complicit.
In your position, Sir, a honourable person position would have resigned and stormed out of the UN Building in protest.
You didn’t resign and, for reasons best known to you, you went along with the charade that led to the massacre in Rwanda and the wholesale destruction of Iraq.
This is an unconscionable act and one that is quite unpardonable. But it was a choice you made and it a choice you just have to live with.
By clinging to your untenable and quite ridiculous position as an impotent Peace Keeping Chief, totally bereft of any power or authority, you did grievous damage to your own personal reputation, and also to the entire Black Race that look up to you.
History is replete with men and women who honourably chose to step down from their high positions, rather than blemish their character and reputations.
To refresh your memory, Mr. Annan, your immediate predecessor, Bhouros Bhouros Ghali, elected to lose his re-election bid rather than play the lackey of the imperialists.
That most principled stand made Mr. Ghali an eternal hero to many people.
Alas, you gladly stepped into the position so honourably vacated by that illustrious son of Africa.
Mr. Annan, no one forced you; you chose, of your own volition, to be the puppet dog of the imperialists, so kindly spare us any crocodile lamentations!
Your cries of regrets are pathetically inadequate, Mr. Annan; they are just too late and they help none.
It would simply have been best had you chosen not to open your mouth and re-open those painful and perfidious and truly dark chapters of history we still try to come to terms with.
Would your regrets, whatever they are worth, bring back the close to million lives lost in Rwanda?
Would your apology of an apology bring back the Iraqis killed under your watch, Mr. Annan?
It is difficult for some of us to think how people like you can look at themselves in the mirror and like what they see.
How do you sleep well at night, Mr. Annan, knowing full well that on your conscience lies the death of million or so of human beings?
Since no one has questioned your sanity, we have to think that you partook in the charade that led to the destruction of Iraq and the death of uncountable number of Iraqis on your own volition.
Not only did you sit on your filthy throne at the UN and partake in the perpetration of vast and evil crimes, your own son benefited from your callous participation in one of the tragedies that ever befell the world.
And you want us to take serious your dirges of regrets!
Close to a MILLION souls perished under YOUR watch and all you could render was an apology of an apology!
It is said that the hottest part of hell is reserved for those that kept silent in the times of moral crises.
However hard you try to whitewash your connivance with the perpetrators of evil, history will judge you very harshly, Mr Annan, for:
1. Heading an ineffectual Peace-Keeping operation under whose nose close to a million human beings were massacred;
2. for heading the UN, the body that authorized the criminal invasion and destruction of Iraq.
Yes, you had no army and you didn’t give an order for anyone to be killed, but you had in abundance a moral authority you could have used when the occasion called for it.
Your resignation and very public loud condemnation of the conspiracy against the Rwandan and Iraqi people may or may not have stopped the imperialist aggressions and conspiracies, but you would have written your name in pure gold had you done just that.
Rather than engage today in silly and contemptible ratiocination, millions of Africans (myself included) would have celebrated you as a genuine hero and I am sure that millions of men and women of goodwill\conscience would have happily join us.
I say that no amount of stupid rationalization or ratiocination can whitewash your wish-washy acquiescence with the imperialists, which led to destruction of so many million lives.
Mr. Annan, I rest my case by commending to you these words of Any Rand: “There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.”
“An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.” Buddha
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” - Socrates
In the course of producing my TV interview programme – Focus on Africans ((FOA) which currently runs on the CineAfrik channel of Ghana’s MultiTV station), I have been privileged to meet an incredible array of truly great, talented and outstanding Africans from diverse backgrounds.
Producing FOA has been a revelation; it has revealed to me the depth of passion Africans have for our beautiful continent.
One endearing thing I have found out is that irrespective of national origins, almost African I’ve met outside of Africa is a passionate Pan-Africanist who wishes the continent well.
Our sociologists in Africa should try and find out why we make so good Africans outside of Africa, only to resort to tribal and ethnic prejudices when we live inside of Africa.
The main theme of the FOA programme, apart from sharing with viewers the experiences of the guests, is also to pose the question as to why our great continent, Africa, continue to lag behind others.
The recurring answer we get is the type of poor leadership leaders in Africa provide.
Almost all the people we have spoken to agree with the great novelist, Chinua Achebe, that poor leadership is at the bane of Africa’s chronic under-development.
Our guests cite lack of vision as the single issue bedeviling governance in Africa; they all bemoan the paucity of quality leaders with transformational ideas and visions.
They cite the abundant mineral resources of Africa and the huge pool of young, enterprising and (now) highly educated pool of human resources they believe could propel the continent to super-power status in few years, if properly channeled by leaders with visions.
None of our guest can mention a single sitting leader in Africa who has any vision to lift the people up.
Our guests contrast this sad state with the enthusiastic post-independence periods, when the continent was suffused with leaders with big dreams/ideas and who could rub shoulders with statesmen across the world. Mention is made of Kwame Nkrumah, Kenneth Kaunda, Nnamdi Azikwe, Julius Nyerere, Obafemi Awolowo as example of leaders with clear visions about what they wanted to do.
Almost all our participants have also been very merciless with the perceived greediness, selfishness and the traits of primitive acquisitiveness exhibited by current leaders in Africa.
Many of them feel shamed that Africa’s current crops of leaders tend to lend credence to the racist stereo-types of Africans as happy-go-lucky, mindless consumers who give little thought for tomorrow.
Many also opined that African leaders appear to be people who allow the allure of offices to woo them over principles.
Sadly, our leaders in Africa themselves continue to give value to the perception that they will hold tenaciously to any position however untenable the situation.
Even were the offices to be bereft of any authority, Africans will still be found to occupy it, as long as they can continue to draw salaries and other appurtenances.
“Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.” - Jerry Garcia.
It is in this light that recent pronouncements by Mr. Kofi Annan, ex-Secretary General of the United Nations become quite problematic and very difficult to swallow.
“Apathy and evil. The two work hand in hand. They are the same, really.... Evil wills it. Apathy allows it. Evil hates the innocent and the defenseless most of all.
Apathy doesn't care as long as it's not personally inconvenienced.” Jake Thoene
I don’t know who Mr. Annan advisers were, but methinks that they very wrongly advised him to come out of his retirement, with pronouncements that could only provoke outrage from those who did not allow their memories to be short.
The tragedies that happened under Mr. Annan’s watch are just too vast, and they are far too recent for him to embark on any stupid PR stunt.
According to a recent BBC Outlook programme: “Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has revealed one of his greatest regrets was the fact he was not able to prevent the Rwandan massacre of 1994, in which nearly a million people were killed.
About 800 thousand people were killed in the ethnic war in 1994 in the East African country.
Mr. Annan, who was then the Head of the UN Department for Peace keeping, however explained why the body had some difficulties in stopping the killings.
The former UN Secretary General who was speaking on the BBC’s OUTLOOK programme said “we knew we will not get the mandate to do a more assertive action in Rwanda which would also imply additional resources- men and women” however there was just about 600 troops available for his office to work with.
Mr. Annan described the situation as “very frustrating and we withdrew some of those who were on the ground because the governments didn’t want to take the risk”.
“And it is frustrating because of as Head of Peace keeping or even as Secretary General, you are as strong as the member states. If they don’t give me the troops and the resources, there is nothing much you can do,” Mr. Annan told host of the programme Matthew Bannister.
Kofi Annan who felt sorry over the situation recalled making a statement that “if genocide cannot make us move, then what could move us?” in expressing disgust at the low level of commitment member states showed to the Rwandan situation which eventually resulted in the killings.”
Source: http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201210/95088.php
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Haba, Mr. Annan! If the killing of 800,000 human beings did not spur you to resign your position in protest, what exactly do you mean when you said: “if genocide cannot make us move, then what could move us?”
What movement exactly are you talking about, Sir?
If the Rwandan genocide (perpetrated on Africans) did not move you, an African, sufficiently, why do you expect it to move non-Africans, Mr. Annan?
I found Mr. Annan’s assertion: “And it is frustrating because of as Head of Peace keeping or even as Secretary General, you are as strong as the member states. If they don’t give me the troops and the resources, there is nothing much you can do,” just pathetic.
“The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.” – Any Rand
You could have resign, Mr. Annan; you could have resigned!
If those that employed you refused to give you the means to do your job (in this case troops), it means only one thing viz: that ‘THEY’ did not want you to do the job. The only honourable thing left for you is to resign your vacuous office!
There is a thing call honour, Mr. Annan.
African tradition put great value on honour, hence the Yoruba saying “Iku ya ju esin / Death is preferable to ignominy/public ridicule.”
By denying you the troops to forestall a massacre, the powers that be clearly wanted you to fail, thereby exposing you to public ridicule.
You had the choice then to redeem your name\image simply by resigning, thereby refusing to be part of the massacre.
Since you elected instead to stay on, you become an accomplice\accessory to the crime.
“Those who choose not to empathize enable real monsters, for without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves we collude with it through our apathy.” - J. K. Rowling
Sorry, Mr. Annan, it is a choice you made and it is a choice with which you have to live.
However hard you might try, there is no way history can absolve you from the Rwandan massacre, Mr. Annan – you are simply just too complicit.
In your position, Sir, a honourable person position would have resigned and stormed out of the UN Building in protest.
You didn’t resign and, for reasons best known to you, you went along with the charade that led to the massacre in Rwanda and the wholesale destruction of Iraq.
This is an unconscionable act and one that is quite unpardonable. But it was a choice you made and it a choice you just have to live with.
By clinging to your untenable and quite ridiculous position as an impotent Peace Keeping Chief, totally bereft of any power or authority, you did grievous damage to your own personal reputation, and also to the entire Black Race that look up to you.
History is replete with men and women who honourably chose to step down from their high positions, rather than blemish their character and reputations.
To refresh your memory, Mr. Annan, your immediate predecessor, Bhouros Bhouros Ghali, elected to lose his re-election bid rather than play the lackey of the imperialists.
That most principled stand made Mr. Ghali an eternal hero to many people.
Alas, you gladly stepped into the position so honourably vacated by that illustrious son of Africa.
Mr. Annan, no one forced you; you chose, of your own volition, to be the puppet dog of the imperialists, so kindly spare us any crocodile lamentations!
Your cries of regrets are pathetically inadequate, Mr. Annan; they are just too late and they help none.
It would simply have been best had you chosen not to open your mouth and re-open those painful and perfidious and truly dark chapters of history we still try to come to terms with.
Would your regrets, whatever they are worth, bring back the close to million lives lost in Rwanda?
Would your apology of an apology bring back the Iraqis killed under your watch, Mr. Annan?
It is difficult for some of us to think how people like you can look at themselves in the mirror and like what they see.
How do you sleep well at night, Mr. Annan, knowing full well that on your conscience lies the death of million or so of human beings?
Since no one has questioned your sanity, we have to think that you partook in the charade that led to the destruction of Iraq and the death of uncountable number of Iraqis on your own volition.
Not only did you sit on your filthy throne at the UN and partake in the perpetration of vast and evil crimes, your own son benefited from your callous participation in one of the tragedies that ever befell the world.
And you want us to take serious your dirges of regrets!
Close to a MILLION souls perished under YOUR watch and all you could render was an apology of an apology!
It is said that the hottest part of hell is reserved for those that kept silent in the times of moral crises.
However hard you try to whitewash your connivance with the perpetrators of evil, history will judge you very harshly, Mr Annan, for:
1. Heading an ineffectual Peace-Keeping operation under whose nose close to a million human beings were massacred;
2. for heading the UN, the body that authorized the criminal invasion and destruction of Iraq.
Yes, you had no army and you didn’t give an order for anyone to be killed, but you had in abundance a moral authority you could have used when the occasion called for it.
Your resignation and very public loud condemnation of the conspiracy against the Rwandan and Iraqi people may or may not have stopped the imperialist aggressions and conspiracies, but you would have written your name in pure gold had you done just that.
Rather than engage today in silly and contemptible ratiocination, millions of Africans (myself included) would have celebrated you as a genuine hero and I am sure that millions of men and women of goodwill\conscience would have happily join us.
I say that no amount of stupid rationalization or ratiocination can whitewash your wish-washy acquiescence with the imperialists, which led to destruction of so many million lives.
Mr. Annan, I rest my case by commending to you these words of Any Rand: “There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.”
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