In one of his typically enigmatic phrases, Jean-Paul Sartre says that a paradoxical feature of human existence is that “I-am-what-I-am-not and I-am-not-what-I-am.”
This paradox of human existence is even more apt when Africa, rife with socio-political and economic crises, is brought into direct focus.
Making such a remark about Africa may seem pejorative or disparaging.
But, when one recalls that Africa is a paradox to both Africans and non-Africans, then one will stand better to appreciate what informs this argument.
In brief, the paradox is that a continent so blessed with many natural and human resources remains the poorest and most unstable among other continents in the world.
Many people have either spoken or written on this subject matter.
Dwelling on this appalling situation, F.O.C. Njoku sorrowfully cried out in one of his poems:
…O mother Africa pushed to the precipice!
Scrambled for and divided to her disfavour.
Taken into slavery and abandoned between the Islands.
O Africa! A question in the land and seas!…
Definitely, Njoku’s poem articulates correctly the vicissitudes of the African predicament.
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| Brendan Amadi |
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