“THE
AFRICAN MINDSET”! A REAL CHALLENGE TO AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT: THE THOUGHT OF AN
AFRICAN YOUTH.
“Africa can be
transformed when the mindset of Africans is first transformed and put into
concrete actions”. These words of President Paul Kagame appears to be a true
reflection of the path Africa needs to carve in ensuring development. A total
liberation and change from the “typical African mindset” is key in our quest to
develop.
It is saddening and
disheartening that, in this age and era, the “typical African” still holds on
to several “mindset” that has either consciously or unconsciously affected our
thoughts and actions.
In the “typical mindset
of the African”, ladies and women work hard in order to “catch the eye
of a man”. Ladies are groomed and nurtured to become “marriage materials”. What
happens to the potentials, dreams and aspirations of the African lady? Ladies
are often victimized and given all sort of names when they decide to pursue
higher education and career instead of settling down to be “marriage
materials”. As to the number of yards
required to be a marriage material, Its not been determined yet!! The basic questions that linger: Is marriage the key to heaven for our African ladies? Can’t a lady
pursue her career and still be married? How can we develop as a continent when these beautiful brains and potentials of the African lady is kept in the kitchen and bedroom?
Sadly, within the “typical
African mindset” religion has become synonymous to development and prosperity.
We spend several hours in church expecting bread to fall from heaven. We have
abandoned common sense in the name of religion. Our aged parents who have
worked tirelessly to see us through life are abandoned and ill-treated because some
men of God through whatever means accuse them as witches. Instead of us to
devote office hours to work, we resort to prayer centers and convention with
the hope of a breakthrough. We sometimes forget that, it is written clearly
that, “Heaven helps those who help themselves”.
In the beautiful continent
of Africa, the “typical African mindset” believes that, any product coming from foreigners is far superior and better than African
products. Students with foreign certificates are perceived smarter and capable
than students trained in the continent. Commodities from Europe, Asia and
America are perceived to be of higher quality than local products. This trend
has resulted in several instances where quality commodities made by Africans
and from resources in Africa are branded as foreign goods. How do we progress
with this mindset?
One other devastating
and sad issue with the “African mindset” is in respect to time. GMT is often
translated to mean ‘Ghana Man Time’ which is synonymous to lateness. In every
function, guests are always notified an hour earlier else the program might
start with no or just a few guests. Time has been described as an important
resource in development yet that is not the case in the “mindset of the typical
African”. How then do we confront our challenges when we don’t value time?
In the beautiful
African continent, governments have often relied on aids, grants and foreign
assistance hoping that is the easiest means of ensuring socio-economic
development. In opposition, political actors give wonderful sermons on effective
ways of mobilizing revenue. Sadly, upon assumption of office, they resort to
the “typical African mindset of governance” which is surviving on aids, grants
and loans with several conditions which draws us slowly into "slavery" which our forefathers fought against.
The “typical African
mindset” in relation to public or government work can best be described as a tragedy.
Public service workers often use public goods without any maintenance. They use
state facilities for their private work. They report to work late and leave
earlier. In some public institutions, the weekend holidays start on Fridays.
What baffles me is the fact that, these same persons are more effective and
efficient within the private sector. The sad and annoying answer given for this
mindset to public service is “their parents are not the owners of government
institutions and facilities”.
My fellow brothers and
sisters, Africa undeniably remains the most blessed continent in terms of
natural resources. It is high time we make away with this “African mindset”. It
is time to project our girl child. The African lady must be given all the resources
required to achieve her dreams and not confined to the kitchen. It is time to
apply common sense to religion. The time has come for Africans to see time as a
resource. It is time to develop positive attitude to public goods and services.
Let us change the
African narrative to a positive path by doing away with the “typical African
mindset”. With this change, we can charter a path of progress and development.
By:
Kwame Ohene-Ntow
YALI DREAM
A BETTER GHANA
A BRIGHTER AFRICA.
The writer is a graduate student of Development
Policy and Planning at KNUST and an
Alumnus of Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI).
Email: vincentntow12@gmail.com
