Let’s Face it Africa

What would Donald Say?

Early December last year, I went to a government office in Nairobi to do my biometrics for a particular document I had applied for. I joined the queue outside waiting to be called in. As I stood there, I noticed that the guy directly in front of me had this design on the back of his t-shirt with the question “What would Donald say?”

There was nothing on the t-shirt to indicate which Donald the question was referring to, but a few thoughts started playing around in my mind.

Now, a few years ago, there was this uproar among African countries when the former President of the US, Donald Trump called African nations “shit hole” countries. To some Africans, it was the right time to haul insults and hate at the man but to others, it was a good time to think and reflect about the African narrative. But here is what was going on in my mind this time as I thought about Donald Trump.

Remember that it was in that same December that COP28, the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, was held in Expo City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The conference was held from 30 November to 13 December.

Do you know which were the countries with the largest number of delegates to that conference?

According to reports on the COP28 website, the UAE has the largest-ever registered delegation of any country, with 4,409 badges. This is followed by Brazil with 3,081 and then China and our beloved Nigeria, who had both issued 1,411 badges.

I looked at the number of delegates that the Nigerian government sent to Dubai even with all the austerity measures put in place in Nigeria and then compared it to China, which has investments all over the globe, and which Nigeria and other African countries have been borrowing money from, then I was forced to say Donald Trump must be very right about the things he says about Africa.

If you ask me, what is shittier than the Nigerian government that bought no fewer than 107 units of the 2023 model of the Toyota Landcruiser and 358 units of the 2023 model of Toyota Prado worth 40Billion Naira for the use of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives respectively, while the value of the Naira and the Nigerian economy are almost collapsing?

What is shittier than the same government of Nigeria budgeting 15 Billion Naira to renovate the official residence of the Vice President while in the same country of 220 million, 150 million are living in poverty, with no stable power supply, the best brains are running out to look for greener pastures, 1411 delegates were sent to Cop28 with no reasonable role that they all want to play?

We need new priorities

I only used Nigeria as a case study, so don’t excite yourself that I am not talking about your country. The “shittiness” of the lack of proper priorities of our governments stinks in every corner of Africa because we have simply just refused to grow up and be counted among those making wise choices and policies that put their people at the center of those policies instead of foreign agendas.

Come to think of it, how is it that in Africa we still don’t understand that the climate crisis narrative is mostly a money-making scam and an agenda to herd the global population towards a globalist-controlled world?

It’s only in Africa that we make noise about wanting to grow our economies or raise our foreign exchange reserves but we will not buy the very products that are manufactured in our countries. I am referring again to the 40 billion Naira used to buy foreign Toyotas in Nigeria, while there are car manufacturers in the same Nigeria that produce vehicles of the same if not better standards than Toyota. It seems we enjoy living life backwards and then complaining later. And, once again, what would Donald say?