KENYA

“Bob Marley said, how long shall they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look
But little did he know that eventually, the enemy would stand aside and look
While we slash and kill our own brothers
Knowing that alreadyThey are the victims of the situationStill licking wounds from brutalityStill licking wounds from humiliation”
Lucky Dube
Victim
1993
Lucky Dube himself became a victim of violence in Africa on the 18th of October last year. He was killed in front of his kids during an apparent car-jacking.
Last year when African leaders, hoping to follow in the footsteps of EU proposed the formation of a United States of Africa. The west looked at them and laughed. Why would they think the idea for a United States of Africa is not only funny but also ridiculous? Because they believe that we are too divided to unite. How can a continent that diverse unite? How do you correct centuries of tribal divisions? In Kenya, president Kibaki did exactly what the Nigerians did in their last elections and got the same results: killings of innocents citizens. African government keep organizing fake elections while believing that their people are just too stupid to react.
In the wake of the election killings in Kenya, I start pondering some questions, like when is Africa gonna join the rest of the world in the 21st century? When the fuck are we going to stop being the victim of our own stupidity? and is anybody else fed up with this senseless killings? If only we would be fucking lucky enough to have leaders who would use our diversity for and not against us. If only we would start a war against tribalism and the so-called bigger tribes would stop marginalizing so-called smaller ones. If only we can replace tribalism with a deeper sense of brotherhood and deep empathy for one another. How in God’s name can a house divided against itself stand? When the fuck are we going to get a clue from the Yoruba broom that when it remains a bunch is impossible to break, but take it out strand by strand and you would pieces the broom. When are we gonna wise-up and put an end to this divide-and-conquer system that the west had used to explored us since the first time they landed on our shores. We already did the division part for them, all they have to do is conquer.
I’ll tell you when, whenever we stop seeing ourselves as tribes and ethnic groups, whenever the fuck we can realize that we are one people, whenever Africans back home would learn something from the diasporas. I mean, how do you think it is possible for thousands of people to come together and stand behind 6 teenagers in Jena? Because they have no fucking tribes that is why. They see each other as one people and one blood. The young people that left the comfort of their home to march for the Jena 6 did not see through the lens of tribalism. They saw those guys as brothers and they have empathy for them. The older people had sat down and think “this could happen to my son too.”
Now, one could only wonder which other African nation is ready to kill hundreds of its citizens by failing to learn from these bloody results of fake elections? And would young Africans learn from the mistakes of our fathers and work hard to change Africa for the better in the next 30, 40 years? Would we?
United we Stand
Divided we Fall Flat Yakata,
While the Rest of the World Soar the Skies in this 21st Century.
Its not too late!