Africa unite

I really wasn't going to write about the election today, but it's too close, too exciting not to mention it! I hope things go my way, but with these things (and previous Florida practices) one can never be sure. It's only sad that Obama's grandmother didn't hold on for another day or two to find out the results.

The only other news item which manages to distract my attention from the election is the situation in D.R. Congo (please, that's NOT pronounced Doctor Congo, a mistake both BBC and our own GTV reporters have made in the past). With supplies finally being sent to the victims of yet another autrocity, what were they given? Food? Drink? No, soap and some plastic malarkey. Come on people, let's give them what they need to survive before looking into their hygiene requirements. Besides, without water, how the #¤%& are they meant to have any use of soap??

Picture of UN officials delivering aid, borrowed from the BBC

Well, on the issue of need, a topic which often comes up is whether Obama winning will be beneficial for Africa. Bush gave a lot of funds during his presidency and past experience tells us that Democrats tend to focus more on domestic affairs rather than international matters.

Should this be a worry for us? Should we not be more worried about the fact that such an issue is still being raised? Why is the huge continent of Africa looking for help and rescue from America? It is time we take matters into our own hands, build our countries and help each other. No more excuses! With the kind of wealth we have on this continent, it is disgraceful that due to maladministration we are still relying on help from the West. With what is happening in D.R. Congo, it is our African Union which should be providing support in the same way the European Union could give funds to Sweden after the huge loss of timber during Hurricane Gudrun in January 2005.

So how do we get there? I'm hoping we can 'do a China' and quietly restructure our countries (starting with Ghana of course) and after a few years shock the world by coming out with a booming industry and economy, where we'll be able to say 'thanks, but no thanks' to any support offered to us.

Of course, the proud, boastful African man will never do anything good under wraps, but rather starts screaming 'we've found oil, we've found oil!' before the first drop has even hit ground soil...