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From Colonial chains to sustainable gains: Redefining empowerment in Nigeria, Africa
The white man came uninvited to Africa to wage war on us, wage war on our culture and traditions, set us against one another, and enslave us on our land for nearly 200 years.
They came to steal and rob us of our natural gifts. The white man introduced his own ways of life, his religion, and called it education and civilization to destroy our own ways of life, destroy our own religion, and described it as barbaric, yet they took away our artifacts.
The Chinese were never colonized by any nation. The Chinese developed their own style of education and civilization, developed their own religion, and means of communicating with the supreme being. Today, the Chinese government is among the superpowers of the world. They are among the leading economies in the world and dictate the pace in information technology, science, and agriculture.
Now, I keep wondering, who was Britain’s colonial master, and who gave them their own style of education? Who says their ways of life are civilized?
In the course of my study of history, I asked, who gave the Arabs their own style of education and civilization? Africa, the most blessed continent in all ramifications, was robbed by the British, French, Germans, Arabs, and Spanish.
The Supreme Being, the Almighty Creator, established all races with their modes of worshiping Him, their modes of education and civilization, but these self-acclaimed masters altered God’s plan for the black race and stole all our natural gifts.
Again, having gained independence from these masters for many years, we are still not independent. Africa, a massively blessed land, still depends on the white man who was less blessed but brilliant and smart.
Our political leaders tactically returned us to the colonial masters out of their sheer greed.
I was ashamed two years ago when I heard Congressman Keir Starmer, now British Prime Minister, chastising his country’s government for aiding corruption in Nigeria. Can’t we reason right?
Many homes in Africa live on less than one US dollar per day, yet our political class finds joy in keeping money in British, French, and American banks. All the money late President Mobutu Sese Seko kept in Paris banks and businesses established in that country became a humongous loss to Africa when he died.
A poor man who cannot feed his family, but keeps his money with a multi-billionaire is nothing but a fool and indirectly calls for more hardship for his family.
You established an industry in the UK, creating more jobs for strangers while your own family members back in Africa are jobless and living a very poor life.
My fear now is the Chinese men who see Africa as a newfound golden haven. Are we not going into a second slavery or colonialism?
These new masters use our young ones like slaves in workplaces. A less qualified Chinese man comes to our land to control our master’s degree holders and even kill our girls who refuse to be their girlfriends.
I often feel sad each time I see pictures of African youths giving a Chinese man umbrella protection; what a shame on our leaders. “Omo eleran tin je eegun eran, omo alaso to nwo akisa.” (Child of a meat seller eating bones and a child of a cloth seller wearing rags).
Chinese miners have taken over our natural gifts; they now do what they want on our land.
After years of independence, why are we inviting another colonial master? It is high time we knew our rights.
Enough of this senseless greed of our leaders. Our leaders should start thinking of sustainable empowerment, not giving 5kg of rice, not a sewing machine, not a cobbler’s box.
Sustainable empowerment is creating industries in each senatorial districts, sustainable empowerment is giving us stable electricity, sustainable employment is developing agriculture and making food affordable for all.
We, the followers, should stop praising senators for sinking boreholes and providing solar lamps, stop praising representatives for distributing cash and food.
Let our leaders, our representatives, create jobs in agriculture, mining, textiles, food processing, manufacturing, information technology, etc. That is the sustainable empowerment we want.
God bless Nigeria.
Lai Gidado is the publisher of Ebony Herald International Magazine and Abuja Herald newspaper