Friday, April 27, 2012

Why Western Style Democracy May not be Suitable for Africa- Prof. Ayittey



  • They declare themselves “Africans,” proud of their heritage, while building 25 Confucius Institutes across Africa. My foot.
  • They place all sorts of barriers and impediments on domestic and intra-African trade and then throw wide open the doors to FOREIGN trade.
  • They persecute and imprison their local experts and then spend about $7 billion a year on FOREIGN experts.
  • They denigrated their own traditional religion and adopted FOREIGN religions to kill and maim.
  • They persecuted, harassed and jailed local businessmen and entrepreneurs. Then they threw the red carpet down to FOREIGN investors.
  • They destroyed their production of local foodstuffs and then declared FOREIGN imported food items as “essential commodities.”
  • They destroyed their banking system and then kept their wealth or loot in FOREIGN banks.
  • They destroyed their health care system and when they got sick, went to FOREIGN hospitals for treatment or to die.
  • They destroyed their education system and then sent their wards and children to FOREIGN schools.
  • They denigrated their own indigenous ideology and then copied FOREIGN ideologies - Swiss Bank socialism and Jaguar Marxism – to impose on Africa.
The bizarre case of xenophilia (love for the foreign) that has hampered Africa’s development



The above taken from George B.N. Ayittey tweets. Follow him @ayittey Author of DEFEATING DICTATORS: Fighting Tyranny in Africa and Around the World

Monday, April 9, 2012

A Yoruba Poem- Ise Logun Ise (Work is the antidote for poverty)


  • A Yoruba Poem

    Ise Logun ise

    Ise Logun ise [Work is the antidote for poverty]
    ... Mura si se re, ore mi [Work hard and work smart, my friend]
    Ise la fi ndeni giga [Hard and smart work brings success]
    Bi a ko ba reni fehin ti [When there is no one to rely on]
    Bi ole la ri [Its like we are lazy]
    Bi a ko ba reni gbekele, [When there is no one to trust]
    A te ra mo se ni. [We focus more on our work]
    Iya re le lowo lowoh [Your mother might be rich]
    Baba re le lesin lekan [Your father might own a thousand and one horses]
    Ti o ba gbojule won [If you rely on them]
    O te tan ni mo so fun o [In truth, you might be on sinking ground]

    Apa lara igupa ni ye kan [families are like the arm, while extended family are like the elbow]
    B'aiye ba fe o loni [If you are loved by the world today]
    Ti o ba lowo lowo, won a tun fe o lola [If you are still rich, they will love you tomorrow as well]
    Abi ko wa nipo atata [If you have an esteemed position]
    Aiye a ye o si terin terin [You will be honored with "fake"laughter]
    Je ki o deni ti ra ngo [If you unfortunately loose your money or position]
    Ko ri bi won ti nyin mu si o [They'll turn their back on you]

    Iya mbe fomo ti ko gbon [There is suffering for the foolish child]
    Ekun mbe fomo ti nsare kiri [and there is sorrow for the child that have no plan or vision]
    Mafowuro sere ore mi [Don't waste your formative years, my friend]
    Mura sise ojo nlo. [work hard and plan well now, because time waits for no one]

    - Author Unknown