Intellectualismo!

My heart wept when I saw the picture of the Malawian man set ablaze by the angry mob in South Africa on the front page. My first thought was, how can they do this to their fellow brother? All over, Zimbabweans, Malawians, Mozambicans and Somalis are being targeted. Due to poverty, rising unemployment and lack of adequate housing foreigners are being hunted down like animals in Alexandria township. Homes and properties destroyed. Many have escaped persecution at home only to be facing murder.

This is not the first time. Immigration related hate crimes have been in existence for over a decade and continue to get more violent. Sporadic violence anywhere in Africa smacks of an unseen hand. According to a BBC radio interview with the president of the Somalian Association in South Africa who has been risking his life to help his countrymen/women, the mob were organized and well armed. Some with AK47s! Till date almost five hundred Somalians have died in xenophobic attacks in SA.

The lackadaisical nature of African rulers and their persistent failure at addressing issues in real time often culminates in death and destruction. Still, why does the failure of leadership blow up in the people’s face? And why don’t the people ever take out their frustrations on the progenators of their predicament? If they can be organized enough to lynch foreigners, why can’t they petition the government for a better quality of life?

As desperation and frustration continues to deprive people of a productive life and drive them out of their countries, xenophobia in Africa and racism outside Africa has left me wondering if African’s will ever have a place they can truly call home. A place where they are not persecuted or discriminated against for their skin color, tribe, or language. All this has taught me is; if you’re going to be killed for leaving your home you might as well stay, fight and die to make it better for your children.

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Meanwhile, I’m holding my breath for when Nigerians will be angry enough to storm the corridors of power to demand redress and renovation.