STAND UP, LEST AFRICA FALLS – WILLIAMS OSEI
When the Blackman thinks the key to success is a white man. AFRICA MUST THINK!
About sixty (60) years ago, when Africa had few literates, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of the Republic of Ghana, was bold enough to make this thought provoking statement and I quote “We have awakened. We will not sleep anymore.
Today, from now on, there is a new African in the world! That new African is ready to fight his own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his own affairs. We are going to demonstrate to the world, to the other nations, that we are prepared to lay our own foundation. ”
The truth is that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was not joking when he made this statement on the independence day of my beloved country, Ghana. He was very serious and on point as at 1957, so how can we be joking in 2017? He really did mean what he said.
He was very optimistic that the black race especially Ghanaians would never be described as incapable as is the case today. He emphasised the point that we were not going to sleep again and that we will demonstrate to the whole world that the black race is productive. Why are we snoring as at 2017?
Africa must think!
Today, the black race has been painted as a class of people who are not productive, unable to solve their own problems, always wanting to depend on the white man for help, and even confused about their own state of being. We don’t know ourselves.
We are confused as to what we want to achieve. The black man has been made to think that the absence of a white man implies failure; this is clearly seen in social development, agriculture, and even amidst a common football tournament.
Africa must think!
Permit me to talk about just one of the ways by which Africans can be negatively perceived by the rest of the world.
It is 2017; the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) is here again. In this year’s edition of the competition, 16 African countries (teams) are competing for the prize of Africa’s best football team.
Now, the most surprising issue about this wonderful African tournament is that, out of the 16 African nations (teams) competing, only (4) four of these nations (teams) have employed their fellow Africans as their national team managers (coaches). The remaining (12) twelve African nations (teams) have white/non-African football managers (coaches).
Meanwhile the African Cup of Nations is a tournament among African countries. Why are we Africans running after the white man as if he is a “god”? The four African nations which believe that the Blackman is as capable as the White man hence making Africa and the black race proud by employing African team managers (coaches) are GUINEA BISSAU, SENEGAL, ZIMBABWE and DR. CONGO.
My dear reader, I am very proud of these four African countries, at least, they have made the African continent proud by telling the whole world that indeed Africans can manage their own affairs.
However, it will surprise you to know that, even the four African countries I am making noise about to have employed Africans as their national team managers (coaches), just like the remaining twelve (12) who have chosen not to see any good thing in the African, have equally filled their technical staff of their respective national teams with whites.
African countries do not want to employ their own citizens even in the area of sports. The team doctor is preferably white, while the African is best for the office of the cleaner, funny Africa! It is so sad that the African continent is continually telling its citizen that they do not have what it takes to manage their own affairs.
We have been made to think that the presence of the white man implies success; hence every African Country must have a white man as either a team manager, team doctor or a technical team member. Africa, if it is true, such that we need the white man to do everything for us, then I must say in tears that no African Country has achieved independence yet. We must stop wasting resources on our Independence celebrations. This is because we have still not freed ourselves from the slavery of the white man. We are just celebrating what we have not been able to achieve.
Africa must think!
We have been spending huge sums of money on these white coaches who are not even part of their own country’s umpteenth alternatives. Think about it, if these coaches who are employed by African countries were the best, they would have been working for their respective countries, not you Africa.
Isn’t it? So why do we Africans settle for that which is rejected by the white man? Apparently, when the white man rejects something that has lost its value, it becomes gold on the land of Africa. That is shameful, you know?
Africa must think!
Africa, let me tell you something, open your ears and listen, the white race would rather choose an uneducated white man to be their national team manager than to choose an African professor.
Africa, I plead, please train your own children and expose them to the world. Your children are capable. The black complexion has no defect on our minds. Our minds can also function as the whites’ we admire.
There is nothing we cannot do for ourselves provided we want to wake up from our slumber. The black man was not created to be controlled by the white man.
Africa must think!
My brothers and sisters, we are blacks; we are intelligent; we are unique; we are proud of ourselves. What the white man can do, the Blackman can do and even better. Let us not treat ourselves as if we are the children of a lesser god.
Mind you, God almighty is the one who created the black and the white; he gave to us all the same brains, abilities and capabilities. He is expecting us to make full use of them. He didn’t say the Blackman should always depend on the white man. We can also make a difference.
Africa must think!
I am not against the white man; I am only against the superiority of the White race to the Black race that perpetually makes us feel inferior. In fact, I hate the school of thoughts that see the White man as the reservoir of knowledge and skill.
I hate it when the world is made to believe that the African (of soil and by blood) is incapable. I hate the view that the Blackman can do nothing unless the White man is available.
I hate the view that the Blackman needs the White man to survive. I am strongly against the idea that without the White man, failure is the chosen option of the Blackman. Let the Blackman stand up, lest Africa falls.
Africa must think!
Below is a list of my suggestions to Ghana and Africa as a whole.
* Africans must learn to be independent. We must try and solve our problems on our own.
* Africa must use its human resources and stop depending on non-Africans to get jobs done. When Africans are trained, they can perform as expected.
* African countries must learn to seek help from within Africa and not from outside Africa.
* Africans must learn to write their own stories.
* We must not see the White race as a superior to the Black race. The White man is not a repository of knowledge and skill. The Black man can also make a difference when given the chance.
Thank you.
Organization: The Wills Anti-corruption Foundation (The WAF)
Writer: Williams Osei
Editors: Christopher Nyame, (Teacher), My own Giov’HONEY (Spoken Word Artist)
Email: [email protected]
Tel: + 233 545 322 678.
End corruption, it is a sickness, it is a canker.
The Wills Anti-corruption Foundation is an up-coming non-profit organization that seeks to fight corruption, injustice, laziness and other poor attitudes among Ghanaians and Africa as a whole. We give free public lectures on corruption, injustice, laziness and other poor attitudes and how they can be curbed. You can search for “The Wills Anti-Corruption Foundation” on Facebook to get access to other wonderful write-ups. Thank you.
Below is a list of some published articles on Facebook.
When a black and white uniform replaces the integrity of the Blackman.
When the Blackman thinks the key to success is the White man.
When the Blackman owns nothing. Africa, what do you have?
