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Will Africa Have Another Patrice Emery Lumumba?

Will Africa Have Another Patrice Emery Lumumba?

  • As a youth, Patrice Lumumba challenged the colonial powers for an independent DR Congo. Sadly, youths of today have other priorities.
  • Patrice Emery Lumumba can never die; like every good man, his name will be passed on from generation to generation and as one whom the history books favor. Parents will proudly christen their children by his name, not only in the Democratic Republic of Congo but in Africa as a whole.
    Many youths of today are nothing like Lumumba.
    Africa is as bad as it was in the times of Lumumba – or even worse, but the majority of African youths are not bothered. This generation is more concerned with running back into slavery in Libya en route to Italy - they have gladly chosen the option to become rejects in Europe, Asia and America rather than fight for their heritage in Africa.
    Youths, of whom it is often said are the leaders of tomorrow, have bartered that tomorrow to foreigners - like the Chinese, for daily bread. We have refused to see beyond our noses that the bread which we are offered is a product from our hard work and lands - in which we have become slaves. Strangers sit on our thrones and palaces in Africa and the youths are less concerned.
    Patrice Lumumba refused to watch this happen, he fought and died for Africans and African youths to have their rightful place in our homeland; but unknown to him, this crop of African youths have other priorities, and fighting for what is rightfully theirs isn’t one of them.
    At a young age, he had a fairly good job as a senior Beer salesman and could easily have lived the good and quiet life his paycheck could afford; but no, the emancipation of Africa from the Belgians was his goal.
    African youths look forward with more enthusiasm to the next episode of cheap Mexican and Philippine soap operas, we are more concerned with who wins the next episode of lucid reality TV shows like Big Brother, and follow events of the Kardashian family like our sanity depends on it; while our continent and indeed our generation sinks in the hollows of recolonization.
    African youths would rather engage in the argument of who is greater between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and cast our votes for the next Ballon d'Or than for the next president of our countries; thereby giving room to incompetent, power drunk foreign puppets to roam the corridors of power.
    We care less and when asked, we come up with the weirdest of excuses to back our stance. Very few are ready to stand for a better Africa as Lumumba did. 80-year-olds rule the different countries in the continent and continue to operate an analog model in a fast-paced digital era, yet no one is concerned, as far as the European football teams which they support play every Saturday and their favorite entertainment artiste twerks on Instagram, life is good.
    Where are the African youths who will lead tomorrow?
In his 30s, Patrice Emery Lumumba was already the leader of the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) Party and was a major player in the transformation of DR Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent state.
It is disheartening that African youths of today have refused to follow in his footstep to fight for a better Africa.
He died on January 17, 1961, after he was assassinated near Elisabethville, Katanga (now known as Lubumbashi); but his legacy lives on and will be passed on from generation to generation.
Sadly, this cannot be said of the legacy of African youths in this generation. In your opinion, what can be done?

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