In a story, an African man was given the opportunity to ask for
anything he wants. The condition was that, whatever he gets, his
brother would receive double. He thought about asking for a
house; but he did not like thought of his brother having two
houses. So he thought about asking for a million dollars to go to his
bank account; but again, he was unhappy with the thought of his
brother having two million dollars in his account. The man sat down
and thought hard, “What can I have and still be better than my
brother when he has double?”
So, he thought of having one of his eyes removed so that his
brother might have his two eyes gouged. This sounds like a very
unlikely story; however, this is the typical mentality that has set
Africans backward for ages and caused witchcraft to thrive in
Africa. An African wants to be better than his brother at all costs.
The African man is only careful to share his beer, not his books; to
spread his diseases, and not the cure; to transfer his problems, and
not the solution.
When an African man fails, he wishes his brother same fate so that
he won't be the only one who had tasted the bitterness of failure.
An African man is happy when evil besets his brother.
When most African men succeed, they want to enslave their
brothers; they try to make the class gap between them and their
brothers widen daily. An African man wants to outperform his
brother in every area and most African men do not want to let their
brothers have any chances of success because they want to be the
only ones succeeding.
When an African man gets to sit on a seat of authority, he wants to
keep it to himself and refuses to give anyone else a chance to sit.
In
African schools, students who can afford textbooks do not let
other students borrow their textbooks because they want to stay
top of the class or they don't want to give another student the
opportunity to perform better than them. When one
independently discovers the way to success, an African man who
refused to give directions would still do all he can to stand in the
way of that success. An African man is ready to spend money to
intimidate his brother and make him look like nothing.
Africa will become better;When we begin to share books to pass
knowledge, not just our drinks. When we begin to let others also
lead without our influence. When we begin to give the same quality
of food and clothing to both our children and our maids. When we
let our servants eat on the same table with us.When the boss lets
his lower staff get paid before him. Africa can become progressive
when we begin to look out for each other rather than stand in the
way of one another. When we can sincerely say, “let my brother get
it too, and if I can't get it, let me help him get it”
Excerpt from the book *The Problem with Africa*
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