The African Malaise

Apathy.
What a hellish idea!

And yet it manifests itself everywhere in as many parts of Africa. It is there to meet you when you land at Accra; in Lagos and in Abuja – and it slaps you right in the face as you snake your way across the Rubicon of the almost impenetrable traffic one must cross to get to the heart of Kampala.

But perhaps its not indifference or laziness that afflicts Africa. We may even be correct to suggest that the heart of the matter is certain cynicism. Some of our African leaders hold authority in contempt – what a hellish oxymoron – and unsurprisingly, this very negativity seeps down into the populace, the common man, the wanainchi and becomes an even deeper nihilism. Africans do not believe that someone will catch them when they fall; and so they set about to find solutions – each man for themselves, so to speak – and this is what leads to the outskirts of anarchy.

Anarchy.

Yes … This is it. When you come down to it, one must solve the simple propensity for absolute anarchy in Africa. Sitting with many an important man or woman, it will not escape the observant that many have simply given up. While many see solutions in the air, they are also seemingly aware that one will not succeed in getting what passes for common sense in the public sphere. They doubt that their projects will receive the foreign direct investment they seek; they do not think that capacity to deliver 4,000 goats a week to Saudi Arabia can be done; they will not even entertain the thought that some of their own people are honest enough to get their jobs done without resorting to petty thievery.

The leaders with whom we spent the last two weeks may be right. Africa may be doomed because people are indifferent or cynical and just do not trust that anyone can look out for them and their families as well as they, themselves, can.

Is that why the boda boda cyclists and matatu drivers have no respect for traffic laws and the officers who festoon the streets in their uniforms? Is the feverish abandon with which government officials misappropriate government funds a sign that anarchy is the way to generate a middle class? Have cynicism and anarchy and disdain managed to take down this beast of African burden?

The answer to these queries may actually be a simple no. Much change is happening in Africa, and like Why Nations Fail strongly suggests, the current oligarchs stand to lose out should the status quo change. Of course, a world power like China understands the sheer plexus upon which regime maintenance spins – and so the Middle Kingdom’s colossal amounts of ‘no questions asked’ investment may be meant to ensure the survival of the current economic order on the content.

However, there’s also the fact that the last kicks of a dying horse are powerful enough to change the ground on which most Africans dwell. They see the potential for progress, but not an improvement in their lives. They see the amount of material they could generate – and yet it seems so far away. And then they see their leaders. And in the air, they feel like a change is coming – not fast enough, not close enough – but still coming. And so they take cynicism to the fullest; apathy at its utmost and they become nihilists for themselves while praying, each night, that their children will experience the joy of playing their respective parts at building their respective nations.

The Editorial Board
The Habari Network

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