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Who Will Cry for Him? Nigerian Murdered in Spain By
Dr. Udeme E. Akpan
Some European countries have the dubious
reputation of being hostile to non-Caucasian peoples.
Those of us in Diaspora find this constant
threat, a reality of our everyday lives especially in
It sometimes takes a strong-minded black man
or woman to walk the streets of the big cities of some of these countries.
I've had monkey chants in
As a frequent traveller, I find it such a big responsibility carrying this beautiful colour and feature!
I find few black people of means touring the world, dispelling the prejudiced impression of Black people associated with poverty, disease, war and sub-human existence, prevalent in Europe especially, non-English speaking Europe.
I have come to accept the usual greeting of:
'
The implication is that you must be an
African-American to be a black tourist in
I thought I was just being paranoid, until a
middle aged black-American couple literarily ran to my wife and me in
Venice-Italy, happy to see another black face in a
I still present a novelty to a group of
Neuro-Scientists in a research group I occasionally attend in the
What breaks my heart is the look I get from immigrants I see parading the streets of some European cities, obviously scraping a subterranean existence in these cities, they avert your gaze, so you do not see the pain and inhuman conditions they are prepared to live in!
They sell everything from fake designer labels to trinkets and most humiliating- their bodies, their eyes darting about for the ubiquitous patrol of the Carabinieri, the local police.
A wave of shame pours over me. Why am I embarrassed? I see in their eyes broken dreams, betrayal by their homeland for not holding up its citizens in dignity! NO black country, has been able to hold up the black man to say; 'THESE ARE MY CITIZENS, THEY ARE BLACK AND PROUD. MUST RESPECT THEM'! Not one black African country is a model for any developmental parameter, except for conspicuous consumption, senseless corruption and aversion for accountability, the basis of which are retrogressive tribal affiliations and warped religious expositions!
Abraham Maslow described a hierarchy of psycho-social needs, a scheme that describes all human groups and individuals. It loosely locates our developmental level on a pyramidal schema. At the base of that pyramid, are basic human needs- sex, food and shelter. Human needs then become more sophisticated as we climb this ladder and satisfy or master 'lower' needs, to the apex where we become self-actualised, listening to the dictates of our own conscience, able to be free to come and go at will. All human beings are on a perpetual search for meaning and possibly self-actualisation.
Where do my people locate themselves on this scheme? Why can Nigeria not have a visionary leader that can sell us a dream, move us away from the disease of poverty, lack of opportunity and Information, Identify an enemy in corruption fortified by a robust and transparent judicial process?
An immortal treatise of development as the key to freedom is described by Professor Amartya Sen, 1998 Nobel laurel for Economics, in his classic book: Development as Freedom. Do I see myself trying to justify and excuse these aberrations in a time of unparalleled global development and opportunity? I certainly hope not!
Will another African be killed in the
subways of
How do we promise the teary-eyed traumatised
child in
Who will tell President Yaradua, Obasanjo, Babangida, Buhari, Gowon, David Mark, Ette and all newly elected Governors, that we Nigerians as a people are more than Hausa, Igbo, Efik, Yoruba, Ijaw, Andoni, Tiv, Shua-Arab, Kanuri and at least over 250 other tribal groups? That for us to cross the rubicon of poverty and insecurity, something must unite us. That this unifying force may be a dream, a goal of developmental target!
South Africa had it's unifying force in the anti-apartheid struggle, forging a bond between Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele, Afrikaans and many other tribal groups, thereby setting the stage for the modern rainbow nation where all our Kleptocrats squirrel away our resources to buy expensive real estate on the Cape Coast and Sandton!
Will Yardua assure us that another innocent
Nigerian's life will not be extinguished by brigands and highway robbers
in Uniform and plane clothes? What will it take for the cesspool of theft
that is the Power Holding Company of
Do I ask for too much from our new Legislators dressed in their elaborately embroidered 'parachutes', if I dared to wish for creative leadership and laws that will invest in the education of the child in Potiskum, Ikot-Abasi, Kaura-Namoda, Ohafia or Illesha? Who will educate us? Which messiah-leader will develop us?
While I wait for the legislators to cash their million Naira cheques for 'wardrobe allowance', another mother wails and beats her breast at the loss of a son, bludgeoned and gagged to death by racists in far away Spain. Never to lay his head on his motherʼs chest to wipe off her tears that he has returned to take his place, and play his part in her life, like his father before him.
While our leaders sleep,
Who will cry for the baby who has just died in a clinic in Ifelodun, in Shendam and Isolo, because his mother was unable to afford another dose of an Antibiotic or Antimalarial agent, to treat a mild infection, a miniscule fraction of the cost of our legislatorʼs entertainment allowance? The last dose contained maize powder or water, a last vial of hope that ushered this babyʼs demise. Who will cry for him?
Dr. Udeme E. Akpan
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