memories

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhxdD-_IrlA


enjoy....

 

Joe Mobuto was a thief who stole billions. The biggest country in Africa and now his mansions are owned by the current rulers.

 

Yes, a brutal, knuckle-dragging degenerate who was a puppet of the United States and France. Patrice Lumumba was leading the country in a positive direction until the CIA (President Eisenhower ordered Larry Devlin to do it) intervened and put Mobutu in power. From his beginning to end, he literally ruined that country, putting them in economic recession, social instability and the well-being of the people plunged. What's more, he cracked down on ALL forms of dissent. You speak out, you die. Simple as that.

And he isn't alone. Many African these countries have been run by insolent, greedy, power-hungry despots. Some of them include Mobutu himself, Samuel Doe, Charles Taylor, Sani Abacha, Ibrahim Babangida, Idi Amin, Robert Mugabe etc. So these countries have been unable to build themselves after indepedence because they've had despots who've sold off the country to foreign interests.

Hopefully, with new leaders, Africa will change. At least Nigeria is beginning to show signs of it.

 

Lets hope so LCris.

 

Word up Criss....But honestly, i believe its pretty hypocritical and some what suspicious that most well off Africans, those that were educated by valid school systems, never even live in Africa for long. They are usually the first to point fingers at the brothers and sisters back home because they KNOW more. Too many blacks in Europe and the states can make it big in african politics, but do they ever choose to GO BACK and initiate change??...of course not.....they'd rather use their mental resources and blessings to assist other races, and abandonne their own....

 

Say what? Now you've just proven to me that you know nothing about Africans in diaspora. FYI, Africans living overseas have been contributing to their native countries since they ever began emigrating. I cannot speak for all Africans, but for Nigerians (which my parents are) and Ghanians - to be honest, West Africans - they never really used to stay overseas when they first used to come. Until about the 1970s, Africans used to come here, study and go back home. In fact, many of Nigeria's prominent leaders like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, Obafemi Awolowo, Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun Obasanjo (the former president) and the current President Umaru Yar'Adua all studied in either the United Kingdom, United States or both in some cases. Of course they have become revered figures in African history, not only Nigerian history. Many other people have contributed and sacrificed personal gain for the passage of Nigeria from a developing country to a well stable one.

The whole idea of remaining overseas really started in the 1980s when Nigerian socio-economic status reached a nadir and the political climate was tempestuous. The military and authoritarian regimes in many African countries, particularly in West Africa, had led to a "one-way" system of political and social "progress", with corruption and anarchy running amok. Of course, when there's corruption there will be inflation and it caused the currencies in many West African countries. For example, in Nigeria, in 1973, one British pound sterling was equal to TWO Nigerian naira (the official currency which itself was devolved from esd currency system). Of course, then there was less corruption and we were in the most stable economic era of post-independence Nigeria. But after a series of bloody coups and overthrow of government, the balance collapsed and greedy politicians took over in Nigeria. By 1984, Nigeria owed so much debt to many Western nations that some had to be defaulted.

That is when the mass exodus of Africans began. Most were middle class Nigerians who could take advantages of job and education opportunities in Western countries. Initially, some returned back to their countries in the hope of an improved nation but as that was not the case, the majority returned back to the countries they were living in. Many settled there permanently, taking over their families and in some cases, starting new families over there.

In the 1990s, the exodus increased ten-fold as the socio-economic system deteriorated and with war, poverty and social chaos reached an over-saturated point in countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Sudan and many more, those who could afford to leave the country did so and came overseas. Of course, many were educated and those who weren't got an education, started a business or did something else and eventually got the lifestyles they had dreamt of having but couldn't. Many Africans today are prominent lawyers, bankers, teachers, doctors, businesspeople and can be found on the payroll of many Fortune 500 companies.

Thankfully, there is a bit of stability in many African countries today. Since about 2000, many of the corrupt leaders have either been overthrown, exiled, assassinated or chosen to step down. In Nigeria, for example, Sani Abacha, perhaps Nigeria's most notable dictator who brought the country from the 55th wealthiest country to the 33rd poorest (not all by his doing though) died - through questionable ways albeit, but who cares -. After that, his successor briefly took power but promised a transition to democracy and (thankfully) kept his promise. Today, Nigeria has had two successful democratically elected President, although their victories have been controversial. Similarly in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Burkina Faso and many more, old, brutal, oligarchic dictators are no more and there has been more chance for social redressing in those countries.

This, and other happenings, has prompted many African leaders (and some foreign leaders) to plead to Africans in the diaspora to return home and help rebuild the country. The results so far have been very mixed. Many have heeded and have indeed returned home. Others have ignored for various reasons such as the improving but still dreadful climate in terms of jobs, education and healthcare. Others simply have settled here, had many families and even lost contact. For example, my father has been here for 42 years now and my mother 28 years. For many of the like, it's perhaps too late to go back home and start afresh.

Nonetheless, many Africans abroad have been generous in their support to their countries. Many Africans have set up committees and political parties in the countries they live in to offer financial aid and man power to their countries. In the recent Nigerian presidential elections, many delegates of Nigerians from New York, California, Texas, London, Amsterdam and even Denmark went home to get heavily involved in the process and those who could not go home assisted in any way the could. Similarly, other Nigerians have given money to their countries either to write off debts owed or to keep to rebuild. Of course the outcomes of such funds are questionable but that's another story.

So BlackMasterJay, Africans abroad really are helping - some even better than the governments in their home country - and do some research before making such an assertion.

 

The World Bank and the IMF are the new colonizers...

They go in offering low-interest loans to developing Countries only to jack the interest rates beyond reach..

Then they privatize(loot) everything they can get their hands on..

Argentina was the wealthiest Nation in Latin America...but when the IMF got thru with their asses..they were LOWER THAN MEXICO!!!

The media tells about how fucked-up Mugabe is..but they conveniently leave-out the 1,600% interest they slapped on that Country..

Another way they BREAK Countries(especially in Africa) is thru VULTURE FUNDS..

Vulture funds are companies which buy up the debt of poor nations cheaply when it is about to be written off, then sue for the full value of the debt plus interest. :evil:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6365433.stm

 

Yarn my brotha. The new president is not playing games. Buying a couple of fighter jets, making the 20 or 50 naira to be the highest bill now,etc. Trying to make the ex government responsible for the missing 500 billion is a big step, not to mention the firing of some corrupted generals I believe it was.

Can't wait to go home this may.

 

Cris your father has been in the states for 42 years and mother 28 years? I thought you grew up in Nigeria? And don't you speak yoruba? Just curious..

But I think masterJay just didn't know. Just to add on masterJay. My moms cousin Uche went back to Nigeria twice to help with the elections. For about a week or so each time. My father also went back 6 months ago to attempt to start a business. And when or if I have kids, they'll definately be spending time between Africa and North America. Right now I wouldn't say it's stable enough to live full time. Not yet.

But cris explained it perfectly. My mother got a degree at waterloo then went back and started working. My father studied in the states then went back as well. My parents would always tell me about "the good times". They desperately wanted to stay, but things got too bad in the early 90's before they came to Canada. And have been wanting to officially go back when things are stable.

 

I actually agree with you on this. I've made the same observation. (I strongly dislike your race comment though!)

The Africans I know are mainly from Cameroon, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Eritrea. They are all highly educated and could have done a lot for their countries. Yet most of them do not want to move back. Ever.

This is not only a "problem" with the people I know personally. To me, it seems to be a trend. Let me use my Bf as an example, since it's him I know the best: My boyfriend went to one of the best schools in Cameroon. Most of those he graduated with now have PhDs. Just two (out of almost 100 pupils) have "only" bachelors degrees. Less than 1/4 are still living in Cameroon.
(If half of his abroad classmates move back later. There's still almost 40% loss of intellectuals.)

Of course I do understand the benefits of living in the west. And, yes, they probably do still contribute to ther countries. However I think they could do a lot more if they actually lived there. (I even know doctors who'd rather be plastic surgeons in Europe, than help their own people. It's such a waste!)

 

I think Cris explained the whole situation well. That's like a woman going to the police for help because her husband beats her up. But the police says "Just go home. I think you'll be more useful at home" I don't think any woman would go home until

A. The guy is arrested and removed from the house.

B. The guy gets the help he needs.

This is not a movie. We're dealing with reality. In some african countries, it's ran by the military. If you don't do what they say, you die. Corruption. Some people haven't been paid in months. And in alot of cases, the government is too greedy and selfish to even care to provide the basics. Running water, paved roads, electricity,etc. I don't care how educated you are, nobody wants to live in such conditions. How can you be an effective doctor when power always goes off? And a generater is not always guaraneteed.

Would you honestly expect a guy from sudan for example, to go back to sudan after he gets a degree? With all the things going on there?

When these corrupted leaders are gone, and the government starts caring about the people, I guarantee more will come. But for now, it's not really fair to make that observation because of what's going on with the leaders. I doubt any of us here would be eager to go back, if we were in these guys position either. So lets not act like it.

 

Has anyone gone to Switzerland and other places to get that money back from those dictators who stole from their national treasuries and donated funds?

 

I totally understand that some/most sub-saharan cuntries suck. And no, I don't expect anyne from Sudan, Zimbabwe, Somalia etc to go back. However most of the countries are not that bad. Currupt, and pseudo-democratic, yes, but not total disaster areas. I do think it's a huge shame that for instance Cameroonians and Ghanians don't go back. At least for a few years. (And the plastic surgeon I know, yes, he's from Ghana. Not Sudan.)

f course beng a doctor in Africa must suck big time a lot f the time. Even with water and electricity, you mght not have the most effective drugs or the right equiptment. However, you have the possibility to help a lot more people than you can here. No matter how poor the conditions are, I would think that should also feel somewhat revarding.

I'm extremely happy that my BF want to go back. (We're just going to live here untill we've saved up some money and had the number of babies we want (I don't like the Cameroonian infant mortality rate. Not willing to take that risk. Our children will be at least 3 years old before we move.))
I'm a secondry school teacher, and hope to get a job in one of Cameroons public schools. I know conditions there are far from what I'm used to, and that it's much lower payed than the private schools, but I see it as a possibility to help poorer children. That is much more revarding in my mind.