Xenophobic Attacks, The Delusion of Our Dear Brothers

Xenophobic attacks, the delusion of our dear brothers

By Sola Akinbinu

Very serious crises are easy to analyze and cast aspersions, as long as we don’t imagine ourselves as the victims. People are shot and hacked to death with machetes on daily basis in a country that has “leadership” and “law”, it’s rather unfortunate that we have lost meaning to the two. The Nigerian National Assembly decided to send delegates to South Africa, I applaud that, but on a closer view, this diplomatic relations cannot bring a long lasting solution, it would not change the view of the ordinary South Africans until we redefine to them what values we expect of a healthy society, especially in the African Society. Far from what we occupy our minds with on daily basis, which doesn’t go beyond the scope of Business growth, GDP growth, FDI increase, FPI increase and how to win elections according our respective political parties, No Arm of our government, or News media sets an agenda on which values to bring up our children with, how do they see life?, and what values are they brought up to add to the society? It has suddenly got to a time in which just the “highest bidders” can train their children in expensive private schools or abroad, to become professionals and come to position them as office holders in a rotten and valueless society left only to decay.

Other Africans are being killed in South Africa daily on the claim that they are taking the jobs that should ordinarily have been for South African Nationals, this argument alone is delusionary and shows that school has failed in Africa. Worse off, that the government in South Africa became helpless in the midst of this mass killings, and breakdown of law and order.

It is in Africa that education does not train people in enterprise, creativity, productivity and healthy mutual coexistence, rather makes them believe that are only being prepared through school for jobs in corporate companies available. Even the government is such empty in Africa that they now worship the corporate companies, either because they are a source of IGR or employment for her citizens, no new idea on how to generate productivity with our enormous human, and resultant intellectual resources. Right to life in South Africa today is now dependent on the struggle for limited job provision by the available corporate companies and “cannibalism” on the prowl to reduce competition for the limited job offers, this is so ridiculous. In fact, at this pace, even if all other Africans quit South Africa, there will surely be reduced patronage for goods and services produced in the country, and an attendant reduction in the production capacity of the companies which are the illusionary constant, the South Africans will have to start killing themselves as they killed other nationals, one is left to wonder how the Government will manage that. They should also be reminded that automation by new technologies also cuts job and one wonders who they will kill as that inevitable situation continues to grow.

My message here is that we have failed in the area of education, and not just at the point of xenophobic killings. We didn’t explain the society to the young generation and they are surprised at what they see, so any violent ideology seems to be the answer, Xenophobia is just one among many.

We as a people and as a society have lost the view of how a healthy society should look like and how the indices should operate. Hence, there is no standard we are setting for our children and younger generation aside the mad rush to become billionaires and “escape poverty”, as if that is the entire essence of a human life. Political ambitions have become the tenets of every African child, even when he cannot define a purpose for the adventure, but he is sure of emoluments in office while it lasts, allowances, power and other extras. That explains why the South African Government and her security agencies are only in the media and not visible at the scenes where other Africans are being killed under her watch today.

The challenge is not for South Africa alone but all African countries. If home were homely, our children will not remain in hostile South Africa till now, but we have yet NOT decided to commence the building a homely society. We still leave our hope in the hand of politicians who are there for their own purpose. Nigerians need to rise up for Nigeria and jettison politicians and their self-serving governments. We must commence with our Primary and Secondary Schools and return them back to the communities, use these institutions to reposition our children in the right way of thinking, rebuild in them our morals, values and expectations. Teach them the values and the dynamic possibilities inherent in every human life. We cannot abandon this responsibility to schools of today which produce desperate and hopeless people who were only trained to pass external examinations. We need the schools to produce complete rational human beings, the values and knowledge they gather through school is the mirror of the society and if we want to live in peace and have progress, we are obliged to reclaim the schools. African governments have lost the capacity and credibility to raise our children, they only award contracts to build few facilities in conspicuous area to score political points and use external examination results (WAEC, NECO etc) as exhibitions and comparism. Training a responsible and productive citizen goes far beyond that.

If we as a people do not take our destiny into our hands and take responsibility for the training of our children, ignorance will reign supreme, xenophobic campaigns and worse will spread over Africa, unfortunately, politicians will use our resources to fly their families abroad as more avoidable wars break out.

 Akinbinu Olusola lives in Akure.

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