Africans do not want or need Britain’s development aid

The following letter appeared in the Telegraph on August 22, 2010:

SIR – The parlous state of the public finances in Britain provides the perfect opportunity for British taxpayers to end their half-century-long experiment with “development aid”

Finding New Ways To Talk About Africa

Graham Knight suggests another way of looking at the world in the hope it might offer a solution to the negative ways we have of talking about Africa.

In my posts Redefining the African Identity and How to Insult and African and Get Away With It, I discussed the problem that the only language we have to talk about Africa is negative – Third World, undeveloped, backwards, primitive, etc.

Finding other words to use has not been an easy task.

Kings, Presidents or Both: What Should We Have?

Ogochukwu Nweke asks whether traditional African leadership still has a role in todays world

Kenneth Kaunda
Julius Nyerere
Hosni Mubarak
Mamman Ghadafi
Mobutu Seseseku
Joeseph Kabila
Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Jomo Kenyatta
Jerry Rawlings
Paul Biya
Robert Mugabe…

And many other leaders that ruled and are ruling Africa, remained/remain in office for at least 15 years. Others like Sani Abacha, Kwame Nkrumah, etc. declared themselves life-presidents.

We have openly declared this act of African leaders desiring to perpetuate themselves in power, as a rape on democracy. But if we truly believe

The Battle for the World

Graham Knight believes there is a battle of worldviews taking place and that it’s time for Africa to stand up and fight.

“The African peasant, who for thousands of years has lived according to the seasons, whose life ideal was to be in harmony with nature, only knew the eternal renewal of time … In this imaginary world, where everything starts over and over again, there is room neither for human endeavour, nor for the idea of progress.”

Why the World Needs Africa

Africa is still a prize highly desired by the rest of the world, writes Graham Knight.

From the colonial struggle for Africa to the present day competition for Africa’s raw materials and new markets, Africa has been a desirable prize for foreign powers. Nowadays, even the idea of ‘Africa’ is also a cause for people to enhance their careers.

The Accident of Birth: Africa’s Greatest Loss

Ogochukwu Nweke laments the death of Africans merely because of who they are and calls for unity.

Hotel Rwanda has been the most difficult movie for me to watch – I dared to watch it again a month ago, and I wept (again) like a baby. Some of the people I know (perhaps including you the reader) do not share the same emotion, but it still makes me weep.

I weep because the Rwandan situation is a replica of over 80% of the crises, civil wars and genocide that Africa has experienced since 1960.

The Hidden Wealth of Traditional Cultures

Graham Knight compares the care provided by traditional cultures with the crumbling support offered by the state in the ‘developed’ world.

When non-Africans come to Ghana they are amazed at how happy everyone is. It just doesn’t seem fair somehow! How can people who appear to have nothing be so happy,

The Image of Africa

Ogochukwu Nweke challenges our view of the continent and asks if merely being born in Africa makes you an African.

A friend of mine once did a survey with the question – “what comes to your mind when the word AFRICA is mentioned?” 70% out of 100% answered along the lines of poverty, wars, conflict, aids, corruption

The Black Mind

Graham Knight asks what we mean by ‘The Black Mind’ and is it beneficial?

I often hear Ghanaians refer to the ‘black mind’. I rarely hear it mentioned in a positive way. It’s usually mentioned when they want to belittle something about Ghanaians, whilst at the same time praising the ‘white man’.

A Crisis Too Urgent for Wisdom

Ogochukwu Nweke argues that Africa’s reactive approach to problems has not produced any long lasting solutions.

Daniel Quinn once told the story of how a certain Thomas Abbens, or Abbena, reputed to be the wisest man in Europe at that time, was summoned to the court of a young Walachian prince.