Hard hearing

In Nebraska last week, the President-for-now, Donald J. Trump lambasted African leaders who have through their greed and corrupt tendencies reduced their people to slaves and sub humans. He was appalled at our indignant leaders’ procesed withdrawal from the from the International Criminal Court located in Hagues, not in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Reacting to a question from a South African reporter, President Trump said: "It is shameful for African leaders to seek exit from ICC. In my view, these leaders want to have all the freedom to oppress their poor people without anyone asking them a question.

I think there is no shortcut to maturity and in my view, Africa should be recolonized because Africans are still under slavery”. Strong words from an equally representative of a strong order.

Before you write off Donald Trump as a demagogue, let us laser focus on the message and  you will realize  that Mr Trump has not said anything earth shaking. Similar messages and opinions have been expressed at different fora by divergent leaders in the past. However, apart from President Mohammed Buhari, who can be excused on medical ground because of his impaired hearing, it appears other African leaders’ ears are mainly decorative and not meant for hearing.

To be called a slave in the modern era is insultive. To be one without knowing is horrible and to not be able to do anything about it is demeaning. This is our lot in Africa-a continent that is the bank of almost one third of the world's hidden treasue.

Slaves are naturally timid and submissive, unable to seek more than ideal and quite content with deplorable conditions. Slaves are bound more by mind than matters and that is why after celebrating independence over some decades ago, our fellow slaves whom we shared the same colonial master are now reminding us that we are still under hidden shackles like our treasures.

Further more, a European court prosecuting mainly African leaders in Europe, while Bush Jnr and Tony Blair may never have their day in court over atrocities in Iraq, has the characterizations of modern slavery judiciary process.

Given the backlash this speech is going to generate in the social media, it is pertinent we look at the options available to us both as acclaimed slaves and unrepentant optimists.

With the treachery of some few native leaders and the European leeches the continent of Africa witnessed these: the destruction of magnificent civilizations, the break-up of family and kinship circles, the massive depopulation, forced impoverishment, famine and starvation, the ravishing of an environment which had been so conducive to human civilization for millennia.

Compared that to what we have now and you may want to agree with me that while neither conditions are suitable; Trump’s call for re-colonization is completely insensitive and off the mark.

The saddest and unmentioned part of this narrative is that our leaders are as enslaved as the led. And this story is not likely to change anytime soon.

Driverless driving

Before this piece becomes obselete in another few weeks, the state of Virginia will have concluded on the decision to allow the possibility of allowing autonomous, or self driving cars on express lane of Interstates 95 and 495 in Northern Virginia.

Tests will focus on whether autonomous vehicles could “talk” with each other and successfully run in the same lanes as regular traffic. The tests will similarly determine what wireless tools may be needed to keep the self driving vehicles on track.

Known as AV( Autonomous Vehicle) such services will be safer, reduce pollution and congestion, and will also bring about a paradigm shift in personal vehicle ownership rates, which are likely to decline steeply. The insane crave for car ownership may be resolved.

We don't need proof of research to prove that human error is responsible for 95% of fatal car accidents .When you eliminate human error, our roads become dramatically safer: no more drink-driving, phone calls at the wheel, carelessness, inattention or plain bad driving. Clearly there needs to be adequate industry testing to ensure that AVs are safe for all other road users, but we can look forward to far safer roads as human drivers become a thing of the past.

Back home, our public buses popularly known as “danfo” literally means autonomous run on similar or amended technology as the America’s pilot test and it has been in existence over the centuries with minimal casualtities according to our unavailable statistics.

The buses run on gas so also are the drivers, the only difference being in the high level of ethanol present in the drivers’ intake. Both bus and drivers are however agents of pollution as the buses belch carbon monoxide; the drivers suffocate the passengers with the smoke twirling from nicotine stained index fingers.

Perching suisidicaly on the tailboard of bus, in tattered under shirt and rythimically shouting bus stops and destinations is not the most approachable of customer service postures, but that is the best our research and development in that sector has been able to come up with.

There are always going to be drawbacks, even with precision technology.I am not convinced that silicon valley programmers, effectively driving the car remotely, are any more competent than the average driver.

However, with what we call roads, epileptic energy, newt-sized network and our autonomous leadership, we might as well for now and in the far future stick to our present mode of transportation. And then, hope that there will still be people left to embrace VA in year 4045 when this technology will become available to lesser nations.

Totally Dependent

Some hours before the commemoration of America’s independence, North Korea successfully launched an ICBM to the beliwerdment of everything and everyone peaceful. In retaliation, I stood at the rooftop bar of the Hyatt Place, five blocks away from the white house and watched in awe as the military might of the United States of America showcased colourful fireworks that will intimidate both known and perceived enemies of the State.

Every July 4th, since Fourth of July 1776,is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence 241 years ago on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and were no longer part of the British Empire. The Congress actually voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2nd. The discrepancy in dates have little or no impact on the sanctity of the occasion.

The main issue that birth the nation was taxation and a lack of control over their affairs (conditions that sound familiar), and this declaration marked the beginning of war against the colonial master in a way that eventually spelt out core American ideals– *that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.*

In achieving above, the founding fathers opened up the country to visitors who share similar philosophies and looking for a conducive environment to call home. Today's America is the tireless and timeless efforts of both settlers and immigrants who jointly sacrificed all to have a country where dreams come true, irrespective of the nightmares you had before leaving home.

However, just like the Nigerian armed robber who after stealing your car went ahead to install an anti-theft device in the car to prevent it from being stolen from him, American documented immigrants in positions of authority are beginning to embark on policies that are capable of undermining the very foundation on which the new order was born.

Lagos State share similar fate with the USA in terms of her heritage and cosmopolitan nature. It is however beyond my comprehension why the folks that relocated there from other part of the country continue to refer to Lagos as no a man's land and by implication, disdain the sanctuary offered them by Lagosians.

For the sake of America,  a country built on the idea of being a refuge for those in need, *the tired masses, yearning to breathe free.* Both host and guests must remember the ideals of the founding fathers.

I miss dependence day at home.