African countries need to shun corruption and explore ways to become economically independent
The phrase "Black Continent" alludes to the dark skin tone of the people who live on the African continent, but we need to know why everything there is so terrible. Many people do wonder why things are so bad in Africa and why nothing works there. Ignorant people have even claimed that Africans are cursed. Is this true?
Many people ask this question, but the truth is that because of the greed and lack of concern for our past tragedies, our leaders are compelled to let the average African suffer. As a result, we can no longer hold our colonial overlords, apartheid regimes, slave owners, or any other man-made diseases responsible for the continent's demise.
African nations once lost their conflicts to colonialists and for a very long time served as both a source of cheap slave labor and an appendage for raw minerals. The colonialists used the divide and conquer strategy to rule, stirring the tribes against one another, and had no interest in the development of African peoples.
Africa has been a continent that continues to experience under-development, illnesses, chieftaincy disputes, and rampant corruption that have affected all age groups on the continent. The borders of the colonies were established not by accordance with the national or other characteristics of the conquered peoples but in accordance with the desire of the invaders.
Due to the appalling poverty, inability to develop the nation with their own resources, political conflicts, and civil wars, which drained the population's already meager financial resources and intellectual capacity, the countries of Africa found themselves in very poor starting conditions after the collapse of the colonial system.
Since the colonial rulers didn't take away the continent's resources, we can no longer hold them responsible for Africa's decline. As a result, poor leadership is to blame for Africa's misery. Apart from their desire to accumulate a fortune, the bulk of African politicians and leaders lack the understanding necessary to run a nation. Since poor leadership has been the primary issue in Africa, the region is not developing, which causes unparalleled problems for the general populace.
Even though crime is unavoidable in both developing and wealthy countries, efforts are made to reduce crime in wealthier countries. However, it is a different story in Africa, where corruption has become a normal occurrence in everything, including politics, with impunity.
African politics, the legal system, healthcare, and education are all terrible. "I spent at least GH1,000 to each delegate on Election Day, but I lost the battle to become the party's Ashanti Region Chairman," Robert Asare Bediako, an NPP politician from Ghana, recently claimed.
In any industrialized nation, his statement ought to have landed him in jail, but in Ghana, he got away with it. This demonstrates to everyone that there is a grave problem in Africa, which is why the continent is not developing, and that we should stop holding the colonial rulers responsible for our mistakes.
No matter how long I live abroad, I will always be an African. As a result, I am also affected by the hostility, discrimination, and false beliefs that are directed at black people. However, the truth is that we Africans are to blame for our continued suffering because we have contributed to it.
The only way for African leaders to stop these demeaning remarks about the continent is to first cease relying on outside forces, expose corruption, and have the vision and know-how to increase the continent's resources so that it may become politically and economically independent.
