Dear Mr. President,
Accept greetings from the people of Africa. This essay may not represent the view of all the peoples of Africa, but it will certainly cut across the lives of all people of African origin living in the Diaspora.
Africa is blessed abundantly with many natural resources and peoples of various backgrounds and cultures. We are a generation that has started taking our responsibilities into our hands by working hard to excel in whatever domain we engage. What I write here should not be taken for a complaint; these are just my observations which I want to share with you, hence, with the rest of the world.
Mr. President, I think that just as much as it is not the choice of a child to belong to a particular pair of parents, or to have a particular set of people as a family, both immediate and extended, so too it is not the choice of a man to be born in a particular continent like Africa or Europe or America. Please Sir, don’t misconstrue my intentions. I am certain that together with most Africans, we are very proud to be born in this part of the world because we know that Africa is richly blessed by God for the benefit of her wonderful children. But just as much as it is not our choice to have been born here, so too are many of our leaders not our choice. Choosing a leader in most African countries is a near forbidden luxury for the African people. These very leaders the West asks us to blame for the backwardness of Africa came to power through means strange to the common African. Perhaps you know how, perhaps you don’t know. And unless we the common people are called upon to believe that power is not always given by the choice of the African people, we say that we have no authority over our leaders who have often not been our choice. Does it thus suffice for us just to blame these people, most of whom we never chose to lead us?
It is not our choice either for our leaders to steal and starch gargantuan sums of money in foreign and mostly western banks. Neither is it our choice to have these leaders prepare their sons and/or daughters to succeed them in what is fast becoming a monarchic democracy in Africa. It has never been our choice to suffer in a land that is richly blessed with human and natural resources way beyond our needs; a land where plenty means all for a few and nothing for the majority; where fighting poverty means all sorts of economic manipulation meant to extort money from the poor man; where laws of the land are distorted to keep the corrupt in power; where speech is free only when words of praise are constantly lavished on unproductive leaders. All these have never and may never be our choice. Yet we can only blame them and continue to swim in this misery which remains our only stock. What a weapon; blame.
What happens when we blame our predicaments on our leaders? They still encroach to power as if their entire life depends only on that power. They organize bogus and fictitious elections in which their ultimate victory is ensured years before the election. They fight corruption only by witch-hunting those whom they consider as potential threats to their position. Yes we will blame them but can do nothing because they are adorned with some of the most modern and sophisticated riffles that can shoot through concrete and kill indiscriminately. Yes we will blame them for siphoning billions worth of our money, yet they have the judges and police officers that have been trained to be repressive, who kill thousands in a protest against the excesses of our leadership. Yes we will blame them, but they will continue to get the support of some western democracies whose interests in the nation supersede that of the common man. Yes we will. Is it our fault Mr. President that we have such leadership that we never chose. We have seen more than enough pain and agony come out of some countries where such leadership has led to the most blatant genocides the world has ever experienced and truly, we don’t envy those countries. It wasn’t the choice of nationals of those countries to be born there. Moreover it wasn’t their choice to have been brutally murdered. Just like us now, perhaps they were called upon to blame their leaders for their countries’ predicaments. While the leader who loses his popularity among the common man loses his position automatically in your democracies, most African leaders become stronger and more determined to stay in power when they lose their popularity, even if it will cost millions their lives. That is why African countries fight wars. Power does not change hands. One person holds power for longer than he can manage the affairs of his country. He gets tired and instead of going on retirement, opts to rest in the presidency. He makes countless pleasure trips abroad on his country’s finance. Such trips are made for reasons known to the common man as largely unproductive and non beneficial to the country. They create fictitious political parties to mislead the international community and convince donors that their countries practice true democracy. When their unpopularity can no longer be tolerated by the common man, they engage force which may eventually lead to civil war. Yes we will only blame them, for that is the only weapon you have equipped us with.
It is true that the predicaments of Africa should be blamed on our leaders. African leaders are often very corrupt dictators who siphon the resources of their countries and starch the money in foreign accounts, most of which are in the West. Hence a form of complicity between Western banks and our leaders is established as long as the money stays where they have kept it. Those banks are not our choice and for that we blame our leaders for their naivety and greed. If anybody can stop these banks from acting as accomplices to our corrupt leaders, it will definitely not be the common African. Blames have not been known to affect leaders one bit in Africa. Even if their atrocity caused the death of millions, they still raise their shoulders high and enter world respected circles with no one raising so much as a finger. The common African like me does not have any say in the future of my country, unless when we take to the streets. When that happens, our leaders, who feel that their dear power is threatened, deploy their most sophisticated killers they call soldiers to loot and kill indiscriminately. Moreover, blaming our predicaments on our leaders won’t provide bread on the table; it won’t reduce unemployment or solve the numerous crises that Africa is facing. Blames can never deliver Africa from the evils of her leadership. Yes they can never.
It is true that as president of the United States of America, you have your priorities which are contextual to the inner and outer stakes of your country and you as the commander-in-chief are expected to enhance the interests of your country the world over. Yet Sir, be informed that it was the desire to a great extent of almost every human being on earth to have you as president of the United States of America. Most of us thought and still do firmly think that you are like the Messiah who has come to wipe tears from the eyes of those who weep, give food to those who starve, medicine to those who are sick, shelter to those with no home, hope to those who fear and doubt, and correction to those who commit crimes against the common man with impunity. Have you been possessed yet by the true spirit of leadership Sir? We understand that the commitments of that House are many but Sir, your mission to the common man is imperative. You have been ordained to radically transform the life of every common man in this world. Perhaps I am just dreaming, perhaps I am not.
Whether we like it or not, your name will be engraved into some of the greatest tablets as a one time president of the United States; even if you folded your arms now and went and stayed in your grand mother’s house. There have been many presidents and more are yet to come. Yet the kind of president you will be is what matters most. What do you want posterity to say of your presidency? That may not be my business, yet it may be, somehow. It is not my place to judge you Sir; you are a man of integrity with your own vision in life. I truly believe that when your vision as president is consistent with the amelioration of the lives of all men, then your presidency will be the most popular so far.
Mr. President, I know that it always takes a bold radical step to do the right thing. Work for the common man with all your might, for he is the reason that you occupy that office. Many will oppose you when you set out to do the right thing. Many will persecute you. But no one can stop the right thing from being done. Only the wrong things are hidden. The right things are just done. We are doing our part everyday, though in the most difficult circumstances. Do yours for the common man; in Africa and the world over.
Your Sincerely,
Walang M. Abang,
African Commoner and Citizen of the World,
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