An African man was allowed to ask for anything he wanted in a story. The condition was that, whatever he gets, his brother would receive double. He thought about asking for a house, but he didn’t like the thought of his brother having two homes. So he thought about asking for a million dollars to go to his bank account, but again, he was unhappy with the thought of his brother getting two million dollars.
The man sat down and thought hard. “What can I have and still be better than my brother when he has double?” So, he thought of having one of his eyes removed so that his brother might have his two eyes gouged.
It sounds like an improbable story; however, this typical mentality has set Africans backward for ages and caused witchcraft to thrive in Africa. An African wants to be better than his brother at all costs.
The African man is only careful to:
– Share his beer, not his books;
– Spread his diseases, and not the cure;
– Transfer his problems, and not the solution.
When an African man fails, he wishes his brother the same, so he won’t be the only one who tastes the bitterness of failure. An African man is happy when evil besets his brother. When most African men succeed, they want to enslave their brothers; they try to make the class gap between them and their brothers widen daily. An African man wants to outperform his brother in every area, and most African men do not want to let their brothers have any chances of success because they want to be the only ones succeeding. In African schools, students who can afford textbooks do not let other students borrow their books because they want to stay top of the class or don’t want to give another student the opportunity to perform better.
When one independently discovers the way to success, an African man who refused to give directions would still do all he can to stand in the path of that success. An African man is ready to spend money to intimidate his brother and make him look like nothing. Africa will become better when we begin to share books to pass knowledge, not just our drinks.
It will become better when we begin to let others lead without our influence and give the same quality of food and clothing to both our children and our maids. When we let our servants eat at the same table with us, the boss allows his lower staff to get paid before him. Africa can become progressive when we begin to look out for each other rather than stand in the way of one another.
When we can sincerely say, “let my brother get it too, and if I can’t get it, let me help him get it.”
This is also the case for us, AGbagyi. Let us help each other grow.
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