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In the history of transportation in Nigeria’s Lagos, there was a MercedesBenz-911 tractor front converted to bus used for public transportation where overloading was common, standing and people clung to the edges, with some of the old buses tilting to the side.
The buses are no longer in use, but in recent videos showing the city, there are red and white buses, separate from the government’s blue-colored public buses, where there is also often overloading, standings and some of the buses are tilted sideways.
One era to another, different buses, similar ideology, with nothing done to transform it for years. This means that nothing has changed because what changes is not the object, but the thing that runs the object.
A home is to the taste or desire of the occupant, some are painted differently, or arranged differently, but it is not often the function of the house, but what runs it. There could be constrains for some choices, but ideology leads, whichever way.
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There are lots of Africans desirous to leave the continent and some of the countries have special names for it. It could make sense to leave a bad place for a better place in some situations, but to use this as a dominant ideology is erroneous.
Africa may have frustrated some people, but whatever is wrong with Africa is a result of any individual African and the people they like, not the people they know. There is usually this throwaway of responsibilities that the continent is bad because of government or foreigners, yes, in some cases, but in general, there is no adult African in Africa who does not have a share of the wrong of the place.
There is responsibility with whatever anyone has or does as an African adult that if handled better, has a way to prevent deteriorations. But people don’t often see what is wrong for what they do, or by those they like. It has to be others, so they have to leave the place, when they still carry that attitude that does not accept responsibility and theyare guided by the ideology to just go somewhere for mostly self-interest, or loyalty for what to gain, or bias for status like others.
Some say their place will never be become like other places, but they forget that building is not just the problem, it is maintenance, the character and quality of a people to maintain what they have, correct and build better.
As evil and forceful as slavery was, carried out by foreigners, there were elders and leaders that were excited by things they benefitted for themselves and those they like, making what could have led to aspects of reforms, technology transfer, or industrial revolution annexation, by collective bargain or negotiations, never fruitful.
There are often situations where many Africans have elevated self-interest over common interest subtracting the responsibility of that, from the problems their places face. There aresome African countries that are worse, requiring that some leave, but there are people there with responsibilities that could make a difference, but they do nothing.
Some often say they have to travel to have a better future for their children, possibly. Most children of recently migrating Africans to new places would do fine, but at an average level, very few would excel at a very high level in the future, but not necessarily by obvious reasons at present. However, a few too would do very bad, doing things their families would never approve of, causing pain and hurt to them and that place.
There are adults too who have left who would get in situations where what they have to do to get themselves out would be things they never believed they could ever do, and would not be able to tell anyone, though they would be fine with hypocrisy to judge others, for whatever reasons, continuously.
There are those who think what it means to be better is to have more of material things, when they have weak values and character. They mend and bend along the bias of self-interest of whatever others are doing. They would do whatever it takes to buy things that knowledge built, even as others build new knowledge to build new things they would want to keep buying, remaining in that loop.
In some African countries, people often complain that some tribes have national political power than others, or that they stay in power and are responsible for the decline of the country, maybe or not so. The measure of the excellence of a people is not what they do in other places or positions, it is what they have done for themselves, as a people, at home.
There are tribes where they have power, but their region or home is where they cannot go back to stay. They may exercise power or what some would call cleverness, elsewhere, but for what it means to transform their own place, it is beyond their capability. Those in position also, in their own place have nothing to also offer, so their place is backward and static. They may do well, where there seems to be a path, but to create one in their own place, they cannot.
This is similar to some foreigners from all over the place in other countries who rise to positions and prominence, the measure of their excellence is not what they do where there is also ready a path, but what they have done for themselves back home, as a people, or how their own place is getting transformed, more quickly.
Those back home cannot, those elsewhere cannot, they may seem different, but not that better according to what drives them.
There are people who went to other places hundreds of years ago, in expedition and exploration, to find what is elsewhere, they sometimes got into battles that some died, they faced diseases, cold, storms, wrecks, deprivation, etc. Though some of the history of what they later did was not great, they at least went from their places, say average, better or just ok, to the unknown, which is part of how they dominated and continue to.
There are several Africans who have left for many years that no one knows them except their family. What it should really mean back home for how they have advanced, to benefit and in responsibility of that edge, is nothing. They may send money to build or do things in the place they left, but for the most part, it makes no difference.
This does not mean there are those who have not excelled, because they left, or there are those who have not done great, there are many. However, the ideology of leaving as the only possible way to excel is itself a weak value and quality action.
The African who has left and who is leaving should ask, what would this leaving mean to collective development of the place if people look back in years to come? If the question is too stupid to ask one’s self, or to consider, then maybe the same reason some go into government to benefit and loot, for comfort could find a loose parallel with their objective.
Nneka Okumazie
