Two years ago, the world was hit with the novel Coronavirus. We heard medical practitioners, biochemists, corporate entrepreneurs and the media especially from the West, project the future of Africa. Some said Africa could be the epicentre of the pandemic, others predicted a worse state for the continent. But one comment that stood out for many was that which came from Melinda Gates the then-wife of the once world’s richest man.
Melinda Gates, with grave accents of concern for Africa, said she was deeply bothered that the continent is not well equipped and might not be able to handle the devastating effects of the raging virus. She went ahead and stated that reported cases in the continent did not look bad because Africa did not have access to many tests.
Two years on, and here we are. Africa has handled the Coronavirus better than America, the home continent of Melinda Gate and Europe. As surprising as it may seem to some of us that is a fact. And there is data to back it up. Check the total number of reported Covid deaths in Africa against that of America and Europe. Leading to loss of faith on the part of many of their citizens in the official anti Covid efforts, some of their scientists together with their children are now refusing to get vaccinated.
Granted that the leaders of the African continent could’ve provided better protection for their citizenry and that some errors were made. Shouldn’t the West be learning from Africa, and perhaps other unsung places in the world on how this was achieved?
Why isn’t everyone talking about this extraordinary feat against all odds? The whole world would’ve been bombarded by the news anytime you turned on the TV or logged on to any mainstream media platform if it had been the other way round.
I wouldn’t be surprised if our African local herbal remedies played a role in this. In this and many other instances, because these remedies are not stamped with an European seal it receives nothing more than a put-down.
When will Africa, and the rest of the world, find value in things African? When will Africa find her voice? Why do we continue to wallow in the margins? When can Africa come into her own and firmly decide what she wants and the rest of the world would have to deal with that?
This is the time to carve our image of ourselves. This is the time for us to tell our own stories. This is the time to annihilate the feelings of inferiority. This is the time for us to be energized with self-confidence, desisting from constantly seeking external validation. This is the time for us to break away from the colonial mindset.
