Instability

Instability — this particular word is so familiar to the continent at different levels that you don't need two words to describe Africa. Dating as far back as the slavery and slave trade era, which was characterized by brutality and gross inhumanity, brotherly communities largely lived in fear and mistrust of each other, leading to a breakdown in social cohesion and economic cooperation between kingdoms. Even after its abolition, former African slave traders had already adopted the culture and continued some of their activities like bribery, corruption, kidnappings, livestock theft, and looting. Such activities only went a long way to create tensions and sow seeds of self hatred among Africans, and as time went on, it gave birth to some of the bloodiest and dumbest interethnic conflicts the continent's history has ever witnessed. And I can just imagine how many centuries that alone and the impending emergence of Napoleon-type power-mongering warlords and kingdoms would have lasted if colonization hadn't taken place, which at least turned Africans' attention from self destruction to one common enemy — 'the colonizers'.

The sporadic declaration of independence and self-rule — ridiculously without autonomy and sovereignty in francophone Africa though — inflated the African political elite with so much hope and big dreams that they made unrealistic promises to people during political campaigns – so much that the ills of the past (slavery, colonialism, and other systems, like apartheid) were almost forgotten. Post independence Africa knew very little about world history and the devastating effects of conflict versus stability and development through investment in infrastructure. Dreams gradually became illusions as the realities of poverty and stagnation emerged through opposing parties, armed radical groups, military regime changes, recurrent labour strikes, and civil savagery for another half century – depriving the entire continent of the proceeds or at least the meaning of statehood. Even when different governments come to power and peace treaties and democratic reforms are reached, significant progress is hardly noticed because resources had been destroyed, exhausted, or abandoned during conflicts.

From the blood-soaked ruins and deserted bullet-riddled walls of Liberia and Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda — the list is long, one can easily conclude that the most painful injury is that which is self-inflicted. This is why blaming the West for all of Africa's current problems will always fall short. The rest of the world is built on ruins of conflicts. Africa and the Middle East have practically indulged in the same activities to resolve differences instead of learning from it. How do you lick your own wounds and expect to compete with the rest of the world at the same time?

Given that peace and security achieved through compromise always lead to stability, followed by economic growth, it is hard to disagree with historians who argue that Africa's current underdevelopment is a result of collective instability that has not only put the countries involved but entire regions of the continent on its knees. This has led to slow or no growth at all due to loss of human capital, destruction of fixed capital, high inflation, famine, and general volatility. Not even reconstruction and reinvestment is easy in such countries because of scepticism among investors, while some leaders may take advantage of the confusion to embezzle and illicitly move public funds into secret accounts. You never really know if conflict is over because there is always such difficulty in shifting attention away from war and, most importantly, in reintegrating men who are former militia programmed to use machetes and machine guns, who can pick up arms at any time to force their demands to be met.

A country's history of statehood and infrastructural networking and human capacity building is the conditioner of its current development. Unlike when former colonies were administered as part of Europe and had all resources milked off, self-ruling governments only emerged in the 1960s and have not yet accumulated enough reserves for infrastructural development while some African countries are yet to have functioning governments even in the twenty-first century. Characteristics of statehood could be seen with communities (see development in pre-colonial empires) that had centralized institutions which succeeded more in artisan trade and development, education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Up till now, it is still such kingdoms — now engulfed by colonial territories — that assist in governance, maintain stability, and contribute in attracting local and foreign trade and investment. Their level of success can be seen in the relative peace and prosperity they enjoy.

Unless you're not born yet, at least remain hopeful that your would-be parents will have a blueprint on how to own oil fields and gold mines one day if such resources were not sold to greedy corporations in exchange for foreign aid. Better wish you were not born at all than to embark on a suicide journey to the 'green lands' of Europe.

Man on the Run

When and how can people trade, build homes, and educate children when they won't settle in one place and call it home?

'My parents reactively migrated to this remote area because these cliffs served as a security barrier against Warafi attackers. This is actually our third settlement after the first two came under frequent attacks. The fear and uncertainty that reigned at the time even discouraged us from cultivating food crops because a successful harvest was never guaranteed. They were either burnt, looted, or we had to abandon farmlands with crops and move to another area. We were so alert that all we wanted to hear was the sound of a town-crier's horn from top of the cliff, and we'd run for our lives and hide under rocks and thick bushes when Roman Catholic converts/missionaries, who came to lure us to acquire Western education, were mistaken for invaders. Besides, the nearest mission schools were either situated in the attacker villages or our brothers had to go live and study in Bichati village-fifty kilometres away. Abductions and killings were rampant, so our parents wouldn't risk that much to have us educated. The white man's education didn't have that much value to us at that time anyway,' said my granny after I had questioned her about the inaccessibility of our village, which is situated on a small plateau almost completely surrounded by giant cliffs, and why only a few villagers (only males) were educated.

These sporadic tribal attacks took place around the mid twentieth century when most African communities were moving from mud-and-thatch houses to European-style ones with bricks and corrugated iron sheets. It must have taken a family their entire life's efforts to construct such houses three times since they were largely in peasant villages. No doubt my grandparents left...