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Africa & The Western Response

This is a response to an article from TheGuardian written by a westerner, whining in typical altruistic fashion, about the inadequacies of the handouts from the western world to underprivileged entitled African nations.

Well I am from one such "poor deserving African nation" and I say it's about time we learned to clean up our own messes.

All my life, I have observed African countries waiting for "the Western response" to our own problems. The Nigerian president publicly opined that "America will know" when US dollars are "stolen" anywhere in the world as it is "their money", meaning it is somehow the responsibility of the US government to investigate corruption in Africa.

Americans do not mess around with the safety of its citizens. The Ebola missionaries flown to US for treatment are just an example. Then again, there was the captured US soldier that was gotten in exchange for 5 Taliban soldiers (yes, 5 terrorists in exchange for 1 US citizen) earlier in the year. Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has been waiting for "the western response" in form of US intelligence to resolve the case of the missing 200+ Chibok girls.

We expect America to cure our diseases, fight our rebels, know about corrupt practices within our borders. In short, we essentially want to go back to a colonial era where Mother Britain took care of all our worries and breastfed us from her abundance.

We don't seem to realize that the abundance is here. America has a population that is twice the size of Nigeria, the largest population in West Africa, yet they cater for their citizens. With what? Nigeria sits on an oil reserve, acres of agricultural land, and massive human capital but we still want America to solve our problems.

Interesting side note: While America sent 3,000 military personnel to fight Ebola in Sierra Leone & Liberia, they sent 7 anti-terrorism agents to help with the Chibok kidnapping. Point? Their priorities are not yours. Ebola can cross borders, Boko Haram can't even get past Cameroon.

Jack Ma, CEO of AliBaba.com, was quoted as saying "if you're still poor at 35, you deserve it". It is that kind of thinking that has driven China to be one of the economic giants of the 21st century. It is the opposite of our mentality, that America will know what to do about our problems, that they will find a cure for Ebola, find the missing Chibok girls, deal with our corrupt officials. It is the expectation that the solution to our problems will come from abroad that is keeping us stuck in the dark ages.

We need to stop waiting for the white man to help us. We need to help ourselves.

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