AN ANALYSES ON THE STATE OF AFRICA AFTER FIFTY YEARS OF "INDEPENDENCE"

This year a number of countries in Africa are celebrating fifty years of independence from their colonial masters. There are exactly seventeen countries that gained their independence from the grips of colonialism fifty years ago, however, despite all these years of political freedom, Africa still has little to show. In most cases many African countries still depend on foreign aid for their survivor, and most of this financial aid comes from the same colonial masters of the past. Despite the fact that this continent is the most resourceful in terms of potential,it still the poorest of all the continents, what a paradox. A continent that has all the resources that the world needs for its survival cannot survive on its own resources, this dilemma makes the continent an economic slave to the nations of the west. Because despite the fact that the continent has been politically liberated, it still has nothing to show economically. This poses the question of what indeed constitutes Independence? What is the criteria to measure the level of independence of a people. From what we have seen, Africa has nothing to show of its fifty years of independence, except a continent ravaged by civil wars, corrupt governments, and poverty. Of course we can go on and on discussing the reason why Africa is still the poorest continent on the earth. We can rationalize as much as we want and even blame the west. The reality is that Africa still remains poor and in the begging line. The borrower is a slave to the lender,what gain  is in being politically free yet economically in bondage. What is real freedom?Is it political or economic, i believe that a country that is not economically independent is not independent at all. This are the rules of the game in the world in which we live. A continent that cannot survive on its own economically does not have the right to call itself independent. The crude reality is that Africa borrows to survive, living from the band aid from the west and accruing huge interests of the borrowed money  as an inheritance for generations to come. I think the discriminators of Independence of the African continent are living in an illusion and myopic quagmire, in their failure to distinguish what real freedom is. 

How can we speak of celebrating fifty years of independence when we have nothing to show for it, most of the countries that were the first to earn their so called Independence, lack infrastructural development, economic development and social development. To be honest, i even question the level of sanity of most African leaders when they proclaim that are independent, yet they still receive orders from the WHITE HOUSE. It is time to go back to the drawing board and begin to assess the state of the African continent and its strategic position in the global panoramic arena. This is a continent  of great destiny. It is my desire to see a new breed of leaders emerging from this continent with a totally different mindset in contrast with that of its predecessors. A breed of unselfish leaders with capacity to take the nations to the fulfillment of their destiny in God.It is time for the people of Africa to cry out aloud for leaders that are going to indeed liberate them from the economic shackles that infests this dear continent.