A community with good leadership thrives, while a community with failed leadership is surrounded by challenges. 

We often talk about solving problems, but never think of their root causes. As we try to resolve one issue, another arises, revealing that we have not fully understood the root cause of these problems. 

Similarly, you can only cure the disease if you know its cause. The fact behind Africa being a well of problems is nothing other than a problem of leadership. 

This is a problem of brainwashed leadership through colonialism. The generational inheritance of brainwashed leadership never left Africa, and it is the reason Africa will forever be in a well of problems, until we step forward to detach from this brainwashed leadership.

Trailing facts of brainwashing

Africa did not colonise itself, but the international community did. During colonialism, the international community realised how rich the continent is, and formulated equations to prolong their benefit from this rich continent. 

The use of brutal force to steal from Africans, devalue them and capture their thinking capacity, will perfectly define colonialism. 

Colonisers ensured that Africa became its well of wealth. 

They ensured that the economy of Africa and its people became dependent and controlled for centuries, which fairly describes brainwashing. The equations for this brainwashing are as follows.

Division amongst Africans

Africa was one unit, but it was difficult to conquer unity, which was very powerful. To break unity, colonisers invaded Africa to zone territories of their own. Colonisers made sure to keep these territories separated from each other for centuries through a locked padlock of language difference. They forced these territorial divisions to manage them well, and milk them down to the core. 

They knew that through this language difference, we would never think of talking to each other for help, but rather run to them because we do not understand each other. Instead of talking more with us, as African leadership, the preference is to run to the coloniser to seek help. What help do you get from a coloniser? Has African leadership ever thought of why there is unity in the international community? Have we ever thought about why they have a common language in the presence of unity?

Devaluing Africa

The coloniser ensured that Africans did
not realise how valuable we were and the value of our resources. The colony presented a paper in exchange for minerals. The audacity to present clothes in exchange for minerals. 

They ensured that the little they presented forth was worth our valuable minerals. The audacity of ensuring that we see value in their languages and not our own. Disruption of strength to obey and follow our culture, but rather see theirs as superior. That we do not see value-addition in ourselves, but rather depend on aid to prevent us from efforts of value-addition. 

That value in resource exchange is not within Africa and between Africans, but rather between us and the coloniser.

A paper to control us – money 

African leadership failed to realise that the trap of trading by exchange of a paper reflects self-sellout. The acceptance of valuing ourselves and our resources with a paper kept us attached to the coloniser. 

It was a strategy to ensure that they produce more paper, and we must run after it. This was to ensure that even if we own what they based the value of this paper on, we are still not worth the value of this paper. They ensured that even if we had printed our paper, it was still worthless than theirs. It was to ensure that for us to acquire something valuable from them, we needed to loan this paper from them to permanently dig a well of dependency through debts. 

Has African leadership thought of why we get the aid of a paper, and not the aid of building industries to become self-dependent? Has the leadership of Africa thought of how a mere paper became the daily struggle that is not between us, but with the coloniser? Have we ever thought of what is behind this paper?

Africa existed before colonialism. Agriculture existed in Africa before colonialism, and Africans did not starve. Look at who feeds Africa now.

 Africans were already trading with one another before we were colonised. Look at whom we prefer to trade with now. We already had mining and crafting taking place in Africa. Look at who mines for us now. Construction was already happening before colonialism.  All tools collected and stored in museums of colonialists show the uniqueness and creativity Africa was generating. Look at where we get our tools now. It shows that Africans were hard at hand, and using their brain to produce. 

It also shows that Africa was already in the process of evolution towards building itself.  Leadership already existed in Africa before colonialism, and it worked well. It shows how Africa was a compact continent, under its leadership, built by its people, inside the continent, without any exterior impacts. 

Look at where African leadership is running to daily. Argue with me that this leadership is not brainwashed.

Look at how a continent that had no debts became a trap of debts of the colonialists. Look at how the leadership of Africa has failed to realise that colonialism has brainwashed Africans to neglect our fundamentals, and follow them wherever they are.  Look at how the international community is owning our continent. It is leading our continent and controlling us, instead of us controlling ourselves. Look how the African leadership never realised why the colonialists never left entirely, and ever came back as investors. 

The day African leadership detaches itself from the colonialists and digs deep into the roots of Africa, is the day Africa will receive dignity, end poverty, restore its value, be empowered, and become equal to the rest of the world. 

*Efraim Shimbali is a civil engineer, Young African Leaders Initiative alumni, and the author of ‘I Woke Up on African Leadership’. He can be reached at shimbaliefraim98@gmail.com