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CommunityWWW.MSINGIAFRIKAMAGAZINE.COM | we tell the true afrikan story 42No country or nation, or society can be built by miracle or magic, or even prayers. If it were so, Nigeria, with all its massive mega churches, should be the greatest nation on earth. But we can see that while the people pray their eyes out in their state of poverty, their pastors go on holiday in Dubai. But Dubai was not built by praying Christians. In other words, it must take the faithfulness and consistency of willing souls to show up and make nation-building work. We hear of corruption in our African societies, and as a matter of speaking directly, Africa is where it is right now due to systemic and individual corruption that has created rotten institutions with no ability to steer change. But what is corruption? Corruption is simply the lack of faithfulness to that which is true, honorable, and community-building. The politician who plunged his nation into darkness because he stole the budget meant for development did not do so because he was ignorant of the potential darkness his corruption would create in the nation, but because he lacks the heart that is faithful to that which is true and beneficial to the well-being of his people.Various Africans like to say that the problem with Africa is a lack of unity. I agree that unity will play a big role in the true emancipation of Africa from the various challenges it has, but unity will be meaningless if there is no vision to unite for. Unity does not start with conformity or saying or thinking the same thing; it starts with seeing the same thing. It starts with seeing one vision. There can never be unity if there is nothing to be united about. I like the way Yaw Kissi puts it in one of his LinkedIn posts. He wrote:%u201cPeople ask me:%u201cYaw, how can Africa unite with so many tribes, religions, and beliefs?%u201d%u201cIf we unite, what language will we even speak?%u201dAnd the classic: %u201cReligion will always divide Africa.%u201dLet me be clear:UNITY IS NOT UNIFORMITY.Europeans have over 24 official languages, multiple religions, and centuries of war between them yet they built the EU.So what%u2019s really stopping us?Lake Chad from Apolo 7. Image: NASA. Wikimedia Commons