THE DIGNITY OF HUMAN LIFE BEGINS AT HOME COUNTRY

The day we give up, is the day we start to die. If human life means nothing to us at home, our children will continue to risk it all to do just anything in foreign lands and they will be deported back to us in shame and shackles. In a continent where it takes a whole village to raise a child, we absconded from responsibility for one another as our children die of abused across desert, in foreign lands but we expect to be accorded decency, respect, and dignity when we debase ourselves at home. We cannot expect from others the human decency we deny ourselves.

What good is a country that cannot take care of its citizens or a citizen that cannot make use of bestowed talents to his or her country? We have poor countries made wealthy by ambitious people and rich countries made poor by complacent folks refusing to explore bestowed talents. There are also countries endowed with abundant resources and talented individuals wasting because they can never get enough of what others have and must pay with all their resources. We look up to countries that have distinguished themselves by sacrifice in areas we refuse to.

Countries are like families in many respects that either live within their means or acquire the tastes of other families paying through their noses. It does not mean that the richest family is the wealthiest. Indeed, the richest family can become the poorest by transferring what it has to the families that appreciate and know how to use it. Like talents, it can be taken from those that have it and do not know how to use it, and transferred to those that can multiply it. U.S.A, England and Germany encouraged talents, China and Russia impose talent, Nigeria did neither.

Africa remains the richest continent on earth but has the poorest people while a few gloat about their riches. African countries will never be respected as long as we strive to be second best looking up to others for what we can produce at home. We live on the tropic with the most fertile land for agriculture, yet we beg those that have limited time in the year to grow, for food. The same is true for everything else, be it clean water, gold, diamond, oil or toys. We are wasting our God given talents and our resources are exploited by those that can multiply them and then sell back to us for more of our resources.

If we have lost or wasted the older generation, at least we can agree to rescue the children that are coming up by determination and pledging whatever we acquired from our goodwill, hard labor, loots or compulsive tendencies to the development of all children. Since we have proved that we only care about ourselves and less about our fellow man, we may strive for a better future not a bleak one. We know we cannot live forever and no matter what we possess, we can't take it to our graves. No country will become greater in the next year or decade as we have been fooled over a century without paving for the future of all children today inside Africa.

There used to be a time when we had no control over our education. While we made progress in that field, we are still far from where we should be. As early as our childhood, we fail to learn in our languages to progress. While others learn our languages to explore or adventure, we learn theirs for survival in a world which is not ours. Many of our children with opportunities to learn everywhere cannot even use our languages well enough to transform our environment.

If our children cannot learn to think or reason in our language as Professor Fafunwa had wished, they cannot develop their talent to suit Africa and their taste in life will be different. Education starts from childhood but our early education is in religious dead Latin and Arabic rote learning devoid of Artistic and scientific development later in life, just to survive in environments where we are only second best. This is why we look for miracles from those whose first allegiance is rightfully to their countries not ours. Could China or Russia wait to perfect foreign language?

Africa will never be delivered from outside the Continent. No matter how much we spend from our resources, the steel industries built for us will be obsolete before completion and if it works, it will be manned and powered by those that built it while we pay. Since they will never let us man or build our nuclear industry, if built, we will pay through our nose. We are building Eko Atlantic City in the ocean when we cannot unclog our drainage to prevent flood from sweeping us away or reinforce our beaches. Even the Dutch cannot guarantee their City in the water will last into the future, we are building what we cannot locally operate. Only in Nigeria, Africa!

This may be difficult to understand if you are one of those high value targets in accomplished field whose expertise is needed in a host or adopted country. Of course you will be pampered and recognized for your accomplishment. However, there are conditions attached to this honor if you are not breed and born, the honor will last as long as your accomplishment is appreciated or until you are judged to have abused your privilege. If a citizenship is bestowed on you, it can be taken away and be kicked out of your adopted country. There are highly talented people in arts, science and sport that belonged to these categories. Their next year is always in Jerusalem.

We already know that within the same country, the rich and the poor are treated differently but most countries are rated on the civilized scale by poverty index. In order words, it depends on the standard of living of the middle and the lower classes. They have adequate accesses to basic necessities like food, water and shelter before basic social and health services. They are also rated high by infant mortality and average life span. A little Cuba, giving Africa assistance.

Total neglect of the poor can be calibrated from these indices. There are also indicators that can be measured politically as in liberal democracy, social liberty or socialism depending on the country expressed as the amount of freedom of expression and movement. How each country propagates liberty or freedom can attract citizen of the other countries. No matter which form of government, communist or capitalist, there are elites in each country that reserve the best gravy for themselves in the name of the masses. There are no excuse for dire poverty.

However, man does not live by bread alone. So there are countries where the poor are well taken care of by provision of basic necessities including education, social and health care services but may not be able to reach their maximum potential as the rich and wealthy in other countries. Human must be human and we lunge to taste life on the other side to test how far our potential can carry us. No country has all the answers but some countries have attractive combinations of social and political freedom. Why not African countries?