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Opinions of Tuesday, 6 March 2018

Columnist: Arthur Kennedy

Ghana's independence and Africa’s stillbirth

File photo: Ghana gained independence on March 6, 1957 File photo: Ghana gained independence on March 6, 1957

Oh Mother Africa, where did we go wrong?

We proclaimed the arrival of a New African in the world but the old African endures.

We looked at our centuries of oppression and pledged an end to oppression and yet oppression endures.

We looked at our fertile lands and boasted that we would feed the world and yet we are fed by the world.

We looked at our mighty rivers and bragged that we could light the world and yet, we live mostly in darkness.

We fumed at the wealth from Africa that has gone to build other continents and pledged that we would rebuild Africa with our wealth and yet the looting has continued-- by us on behalf of the imperialists.

We looked at the pyramids, the manuscripts of Timbuctu and our contributions to science, commerce, the arts, sports and knowledge around the world and pledged to build in decades what others had built in centuries and then built nothing.

We pledged boldly to show the world that the black man is capable of managing his own affairs and then worked hard to show otherwise.
We stated firmly that Africa would face neither East nor West but forwards and then turned backwards.

Let us redeem all these pledges we made at the dawn of Africa's independence for the sake of posterity.
Long live Ghana.

Long live Africa.

By: Arthur K