Stop Whining, Time to Upgrade Our Huts.

• I know I may get a lot of bashing for this article, but will share this all the same. I actually started the article over a year ago, but threw it right under the writer’s bushel. The world especially people of color were shocked at the comment attributed to the President Donald Trump about Nigerians becoming so mesmerized/enamored by the bright lights of Uncle Sam that they dig their heels right into the American Soil refusing to get back to their Huts - once they see this wonderous light. As people were recovering from the Hut issue and the White House denying that those were not the exact words …. another lexicon bombshell, too colourful/dingy to reprint here was attributed to POTUS. African Union, African Ministers, South African Government at that time were up in diplomatic arms, and people of African origin began protesting or using the traditional or social media to express their outrage at what appears to be the denigration of the motherland.

• Strange that this was not the first time I heard Africa or a part of Africa described in this fashion and not from non — Africans, not even from a “complexed” African , an educated apologist who cursed the fact that he came into the world with a dark skin. It came from a young naïve lady who was once my Housekeeper- Mary on one of those numerous kitchen sit -ins when the line between “Madam” and employee gets blurred by the bond of humanness . “Mary real” as my daughter called her judging from the other Mary Housekeepers who never stayed because of one misdemeanor or the other.

• Anyway, Mary is from the North-Central area of Nigeria, from a state that should be the food basket of the nation and truly export food to other states and countries. However, what they export across the country, are mostly menial workers and what we call House Helps in Nigeria. In reality, a cluster of people from three states that I dare to call the axis of poverty produce these menial workers especially when Akwa Ibom and neigbouring Republic of Benin servants began dwindling.

• Back to the story. She told me how people are so poor in their village that they still do trade by barter. “You give me yam, I give you oil” even in this century. Then with a lot of pain she expressed a sense of hopelessness. “ Ma my village is like a place where a bird after eating seeds and grains in other rich areas come to deposit it droppings — with disdain.” Nothing is going on there.

• Yet someone was and is in charge of the village. There will be Councillors who get allocation from the Chairman, who gets allocation for his local government , the Governor who gets until very recently very sturdy Federal allocation. It is almost like the the nursery rhyme we learnt as children, “This is the house that Jack Built”. Change build in this context to this is a House that … “killed”

• For one moment, I will ask Africans to reason with me and to borrow the words of Hubert Ogunde’ “the Father of the Nigerian Theatre”, to the Yoruba race in his literary works “ Yoruba Ronu” translated “Yoruba Ponder”. We need to ponder and muse over this matter. As Africans and specifically Nigerians I ask that we refrain from the emotional frenzy of the wronged and slighted, but see this as a challenge and a shock therapy to wake up from our state of sedation and build not castles in the air, but solid concrete structures that will stand the test to time.

• Have you ever asked yourself why Nigerians excel in Europe and the United States? It is largely because they have been given the enabling environment to unleash their potentials — pardon the cliché. Man is an animal of his environment and most of the time chameleons to his environment. A crass environment begets crass people.

• We have an adage from my local dialect about the fainted hearted “ Ka na nuno jua nnem na alu wa tam owuewu ko ogwu b’su intepreted to mean I need to go ask my mama how deep the bite from this fight is before I come back and deal a deadly blow to my adversary in a battle of all battles. Look in the mirror. We do not need to be told that we need to improve our environment, that we need to reduce unemployment in Africa that currently stands at extremely dismal rate and provide hope for our youth that will prefer to drown in the deep blue sea, rather than face the devil which is the life of drudgery staying at home.

• The staggering youth unemployment leading to growing security issues and desperation, over dependence of imports and mono resource, almost unbelievable stories and allegations of corruption that assail the ears, nepotism of staggering proportions, dilapidated infrastructure, run — down educational and health care systems, the hemorrhaging of foreign exchange no thanks to medical tourism and education abroad; foreign debt overload, the age long dependency on donations almost like children who have refused to grow and must have the adult conversation that it is time to move out of Papa’s house and live on their own.

• To be fair, not all countries in Africa are equal in reverse development. There are countries that have respected at least the Abuja declaration of 15% of budget dedicated to Healthcare and committed a significant investment in strengthening systems including governance systems. Such countries have seen significant growth in their economy.

• That is why the African Continental Free Trade Agreement if taken seriously becomes an opportunity to improve the trade across all/between countries; for us to upgrade our huts to the castles we yearn for. As every thing else, it requires commitment. Especially with the advent of COVID 19.

• As Wamkele Mene the Secretary — General of AFCFTA noted, this may just be the needed Economy Recovery Stimulus for the Continent.

• Africa must begin to have an adult conversation with itself. Lifelong existence of being donor — recipients, a grueling disparity between the rich and the poor, mineral rich countries but marred by indiscipline and challenging leadership, the loss of those values that hold us together as our brother’s keeper.. the list is endless.

• Remember in the slave trade saga, we had the slave marauders, those fellow Africans burning villages to get merchandize for the white slave traders. In every paradise, there is a serpent and our task should be to flush it out and not complain about the person who jeered about the snake in our paradise.

• Like another proverb about the madman who insisted that he has set his own fire and the yonder fire is not the work of his hands, the aspersion about what we are as Africans is something we hear all the time with due respect to the POTUS. People ask if Africans live on trees, pictures of famine and war, flies on the face of children in the midst of stupendous wealth is a crime against ourselves. Added to this, is the painting of Africa as one country rolling with nature ,24 -hour waist gyrating people.

• We need to take this as a challenge, a wake up call to upgrade our straw headed huts to worthwhile edifices, moving to castles. If we get even ambitious, Sh..t Holes can become bunkers or rich storehouses.

• We really should stop whining when we get the candid perhaps raw feedback on who we are. We just have to “ronu” ponder and think of how we can get to where we should be.

By the way, discipline and governance may be the starting point.