The sad reality of today’s ‘japa’ by our youth stems from our continuous dependency on help and assistance from other countries who don’t have much resources as we do in our continent.
I sat down a while ago and I thought of the losses of Nigeria from 1980s till date in manpower and others when we decided to check out of the country by every means available and decided to domicile in Europe and the United States. I thought of of our contributions to these nations. I thought of us, having raised our children in a culture totally different from ours. I thought of our investments in these countries and their economies.
Yet, we are still confronted with cultures shock on daily basis, we are only accepted conditionally in these countries and often viewed and dealt with suspiciously. This is a sad reality too.
African countries need to do much to salvage their people from perpetual slavery by gradually halting their dependency on foreign aids. I just read somewhere of the nation of China operating its own police stations in some of Africa and Nigeria inclusive. This is a sign of our foreboding weaknesses.
No country has become wealthy by being hooked on perpetual economic aid. Despite being rich in natural resources, African countries are the poorest in the world. The Asian nations of Singapore and Taiwan are not blessed with most African countries’ abundant natural resources. Yet, Singapore and Taiwan have gone from third-world to developed countries in one generation.
Despite billions of dollars in economic aid over the years, African governments today lack the infrastructure to fill the gap effectively if the aid were to stop immediately. US economic aid to Africa is not fixing the problem. It has simply created an unnatural system of dependency that will result in African countries still being dependent on economic aid 100 years from today. It is time for a change.
2023 for Nigeria must not be just another election year where reforms are campaigned for but quickly jettisoned when politicians settle down in their high offices. It must be a year where able hands are on deck to transform the country from where it is today to a proud one in the nearest future, because it’s obvious that Nigeria is a game changer in Africa.
Chief George Olufemi Ogunjimi
A lawyer, public commentator and the Bamofin of Ojo kingdom, Lagos Writes from Hertfordshire, UK.
