The Earth, the World, and Life

Have you ever wondered where some troubled and indebted developed countries get money to aid developing or underdeveloped + 'refusing-to-develop-countries like Nigeria? I have this gut feeling that Greece will want to contribute something to the war in Mali or Nigeria election in 2015 despite being in the throes of total economic collapse. Where do hungry people get food to feed those that owns all the food? Africa is one continent with so much resources at its disposal that you'll expect the world to come begging at its gate, plate in hand. Rather we are the giant that stays outside his own gate to beg for his own belonging.

On Monday, the Economic of West African States (ECOWAS) decried the global trade imbalance against Africa as the continent’s share of the global trade stood at a paltry 3 per cent. Three percent (3%)!!! Don't we export crude oil, cocoa, timber, tea, cassava and all? We feed the world for Christ sake! Or does it imply that we feed the world for just 3% of all its earning?

While trying to figure out why Africa is so backward in trade, a conception comes to my mind. It is the concept of space and its content. The earth, the world and life. The earth as David described it, is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. As such, every drop of crude, every seed of cocoa, every plot of land, every tuber of yam is of the Lord. The World on the other hand is the economy of the earth, the monetization of the fullness that the earth holds. The clamour for the power to control the fullness of the earth give rise to politics and governance. The world is callous, the world is canal, the world is of the 'devil'. We are in the world but not of the world! The third conception is of life. Life is that singular possession of breath that a man possess. It is man's greatest asset that must be protected at all cost. A recourse to the Bible still tells us that he who loves his life will loose it and he who looses it will find it.

I hope someone is seeing the interrelationship among these three concepts and the position of Africa in the world trade. Africa is blessed with the fullness of the earth but we are not of the world so we don't care what the 'sons-of-the-world' like USA, Germany, and Russia do with the affairs of the world, all what we want is a morsel or two to our keep our life, body and soul together. At most, a fleet of bullet proof BMW cars or some funds stashed in a Swiss account for no other purpose than, eat, wine, dine and keep staying alive as long as we live.

The evil of life, when viewed from individual point of view is selfishness and desperation. As individuals realise the need to survive, albeit selfishly, we join the world, not for a balanced trade, rather for a barter. Less than 50, 000 teachers are on 6-months strike for a rise in pay, keeping millions of students at home. Less than 500 legislatures will share the fortunes of millions. Those that feel alienated would take to the guns and arm-twist the government. Some would turn to each other in terrorism, just to make sure that the world is wrestled from the 'devil'. In all of these, the sons-of-the-world are wise in their ways. Since we are less concern about the world, we don't know how much oil we produce, we expect an international organisation to tell us there is corruption in our oil industry. We call on foreign investors to develop everything from power, governance to water and to lauder our ill-gotten wealth. They trade our oils for guns and our cocoa for grants and aids. We get loan to make them do for us what we can do for ourselves. The new ruse is that we are not close to the debt ceiling, when indeed we are far far above. But how does the world trade balance if Africa gets more than the paltry 3%.

The fault, if any, is not totally ours. We never had the Bible and knew little of the Quoran when the great Oyo empire flourished in trade or the trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and other precious commodities championed by Mali, Ghana and other kingdoms that realised the need to take charge of the fullness the earth possess. Now we have 'known God' and things of the world seems not to fascinate us any more, or so it appears. Our singular concern is of our life here on earth and possibly the realm beyond; so we go spiritual. God MUST provide the food we refuse to farm, He must give us light even with no transformer, He MUST employ our half-baked or burnt graduates, He MUST prevent flood while we block the drainages, He MUST make us rich though we make trillions from oil. Shebi He is God that made the heaven and earth? Then he must do everything for us. The only responsibility we owe as Africans is to go to church, mosques, Mecca, Jerusalem and hope that the devil takes a good care of the world to favour us, or better still, our lives.