I want to embark on a historical discourse today. My foray into this is due to a reminder during the week that December 2 was set apart by the UN to mark the eradication of slavery world over. When that dark blot on world history is recalled, what readily comes to mind is the African continent.
The black man, believed to be stronger than people of other continents began to experience slavery or slave acts around the 15th century. One of the World’s Super power at the time, Portugal and some other Countries of Europe began to expand their influence into the African continent. It was the Portugese that first began the act of kidnapping people on the west coast of Africa and transporting them to Europe. Thus in 1501, the first set of African slaves trickled into Europe while a substantial number were to follow around the 18th century when a large cache of people were captured during a raid into the interior of West Africa.
The first set of slaves arrived the new world in 1619. Subsequently, the brisk trade in African slaves began and the destination was to the plantations of the new world. Realizing the allure of slavery, Africans also became active participants. They wage war on themselves and the captured are taken down to the coast in exchange for what one would consider inconsequential when placed beside the fact that human lives were involved. The European slave trader rarely enter the interior of Africa due to their fear of diseases and the resistance from those empires, but would rather await their ‘good’ at the coast. It was a notorious fact that most empires in Africa depended on slave revenue to function.
This fact was further corroborated by Wikipedia that, “the slave trade represented the major source of revenue for the state of Bornu”, like other empires around that period. It is still said that the eastern regions of Central African Republic have never recovered as a result of the depopulation occasioned by slavery. The British empire abolished slavery with the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. This law effectively ended the purchase and ownership of trade throughout the empire. And most African countries under the thumb of the United Kingdom became beneficiaries of this Act.
This Act has not however stopped what is today considered modern slavery. There continued to be a rise in enslavement across the world through human trafficking, forced and child labours. Most of our people have also voluntarily entered into the stranglehold of slavery for economic reasons. Stories are rife of young ladies lured into Europe with promise of jobs. They later found out that the jobs on offer were prostituting. Young men from Africa embark on dangerous trips to Europe through the deserts and the stormy seas in search of the proverbial greener pasture. In the process, most perish on the seas, forgetting that the grass could be green where they are coming from. As the saying goes, when life gives you lemon, make a lemonade of it. What they are looking for in Europe is here in Africa.
Have we ever wondered why Europeans and Asians are trooping into Nigeria and other African countries? Because they know the grass is greener here. They know there is a need that they can tap into. So why is it that our young ones are not tapping into this? Why do they need to embark on a death search in the deserts and on the seas? Some would say there is no enabling environment, I disagree. You create the environment you want and work consistently within it. But no one wants to do that again. The idea is to put in little effort and make humongous money. Our culture of hard work is eroding. Then one begins to fear for the future of the country. In the next 20, 30 40, 50 years, what sort of leadership would we have as a country. Leaders weaned on indolence, yahoo yahoo and all forms of sleaze? We need to retrace our steps. We need to bring back those values of hard work.
I recall that when we were growing up, we had voluntary clubs and organisations that were part of our training. We had the Boys Scout, Boys Brigade, Girls Guide, Brownies. These clubs engage the youths and instil in them leadership skills and the team spirit of hard work. But the clubs are no longer there. We need to bring them back. Our youths should be encouraged to engage in worthwhile ventures and what will encourage team spirit.
But enough of the international dimension to slavery. In our country, we are still in bondage. We have the chain round our neck without realizing it. Some call it neo-colonialism. Though Nigeria is a free, independent sovereign state, we are still enslaved. The Europeans enslaved and are still enslaving us. Now, the Asians are on our case. They are taking over the countries of Africa. They have taken control of our economy and every facet of our lives. We now ask ourselves whether we are differently endowed. Why has it been difficult to come out of this stranglehold of exploitation? In every facet of life, the presence of the new colonialists is still felt.
We thrive on the best designed fabrics, shoes from Italy and other different parts of the world. We are the country that would import the fanciest vehicles from any part of the world. We are so vain. We want the best of the world without slaving for it. Innoson Motors is doing a good job with designs and assembling of automobiles, but we prefer to import vehicles from Europe. Leaders that should live by example are major culprits. We want to eat rice from other countries instead of our locally produced, thus developing those economies. For how long are we going to continue with this.
What does the future hold for this lifestyle? What fate awaits us in the future? But the future is with us now, it is not too far off and in the words of the American financier and stock investor, Bernard Baruch, “a speculator is a man who observes the future, and acts before it occurs. We need to act before that future occurs.