I have been away from my motherland for quite some time now. I have been in a country that encourages promiscuity (from my own analysis), a country who's president has many wives and concubines, and even sleeps with HIV+ women, then takes a shower afterwards, believing that he'll not get the deadly virus.
Please don't get me wrong, the country is quite developed; more developed than Kenya... and Kenya has a long way to go before it catches up with it.
Absence from my motherland has opened my eyes wider. I have come to realize that things are not as they seem to be. For instance, this country gained independence almost two decades ago. The country is still controlled by its former colonizers. Their former bosses own the land, the companies, they employ, they feed the nation, the make decisions on behalf of the president, they run the economy.
The lifestyle of the natives is extravagant, they depend on loans to get food,clothes, shelter and even luxuries. They then spend the rest of their lives repaying their debts, and the cycle continues with their offspring.
To the North of this country is another troubled country. It has been on the headlines for quite some time for the wrong economic reasons. First of all, its president chased all foreign farmers from the agriculturally-productive country... then disbursed all the fertile land to the natives. Then natives were not familiar with managing farms. In addition to that, it has not been raining as it used to when the foreigners occupied the land. He then started blaming the foreigners by saying that they were playing tricks with the sky, and God... and that is why it doesn't rain any more :)
Secondly, the country's currency lost its value shortly after doing away with the foreign farmers. It now doesn't have its own currency, it uses the USD as its currency.
In my motherland, there's a silent fear in everyone's heart. The fear of being a victim of a terrorist attack. My country has been threatened, on several occasions, by the Al Shabaab and the Al Qaeda. There's also a fear of an ethnic battle (My country is made up of 42 tribes). The fear is not only on my fellow countrymen, it is also felt by the foreign investors...consequently reducing the level of foreign direct investments.
To the East of my country is a country in which bomb-blasts happen more frequently that it rains, and more frequently than child-birth. The economy in this country is the worst in the world (I stand to be corrected). I hope that it'll be a better place, especially now that it has a new president, Hon. Xassan Sheikh Mahamoud.
To the North-West of my country, Kenya, is the newest nation in the world as at today. Kenya helped the country in its journey to independence. It is so sad that the residents of the black-diamond-rich are jealous of Kenyans. Xenophobia is rampant in the country. It is a common thing to see corpses of my fellow country-men being returned home for a decent send-off. Kenyans are killed mercilessly in this neighbour. This consequently discourages investors and great minds from going to invest and to develop the Kenyan neighbour.
To the South of my country is a country that disregards capitalism and embraces socialism. Unlike China, this country with extremely slow people has been unsuccessful in practising "all for all". In this day and age, it doesn't have any form of identification for the citizens. Despite the long coastline, numerous islands, many tourist-attraction sites and the wonderful opportunities presented to the natives of this wonderful country, the inhabitants are still too slow to capture, or to even see, the opportunities.
Further to the West, Nigeria has been experiencing its share of problem of this wonderful continent. Corruption has been ailing the country, interfaith war, oil wrangles. Despite the efforts of Hon. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala (my role model) in eliminating corruption, the leaders of this country continually let her down. She's now working hard to formulate irreversible economic policies (She's the finance minister. I long for the day that I'll meet her, and ask her so many questions about economics in Nigeria and the policies made during her tenure as the World Bank deputy president. Oh God, please make my dream come true).
To the North, the people have been under a wave of transformation - which am so proud of. But really, why kill the US ambassador? How would they feel if their ambassador at the US was attacked and killed? Do people always have to turn violent when their religion seems to be attacked? Shouldn't religion guide us on how to live peacefully with each other? Don't Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hindu and other religion teach us how to love each other, to do good, and to repay evil with good?
I always look at my continent and wonder whether we should be living the way we do. Poverty has attacked a high percentage of the continent's residents, people are at war killing each other. With all these vices, the world looks at us and just laughs at what they call "African problems". Meanwhile, they develop their countries and shun from Africa. They invest in their own countries, chase poverty and love each other.
Issues that affect the economic progress continent in my continent ignite in me a passion to make a change. Africa would be a better continent if there was a South Africa with hardworking people, a Zimbabwe with its own currency and hardworking farmers, a terrorist and ethnic-free Kenya, a stable and safe Somalia with its own currency. It would be the envy of other continents if South Sudan didn't fight with Sudan and if its people would welcome foreign business people. Africa would be wonderful if Tanzania realized that this is the 21st century, socialism wouldn't work if it hasn't worked for more than half a century, and if Tanzanians woke up and learnt from the rest of East Africa. I'd be proud of Africa if Nigeria wasn't as corrupt as it is, and if its citizens weren't be feared by the rest of us. I'd be happy if Christians and Muslims didn't fight.
I always have, and I always will be inspired by my dream of making Africa a better place for our people and children. I will work hard to make sure that I improve the economic situation in my continent. I always pray to God to give me opportunities that will make me productive to my continent...so that I may be active in implementing functional currencies for countries without currencies, in formulating economic policies for countries like Somalia and Southern Sudan. If presented with an opportunity, I would work tirelessly to make sure that the East African Community (EAC) is successful, with common goals (including sociatalism > a term I've come up with that describes a combination of socialism and capitalism. If implemented, I believe EAC would be productive).
God, please hear my prayer for this beautiful continent.
