Right of Reply: At What Point do Africans in Africa Become Obsessed with Diasporites?
By Washington Osiro.“Being a diasporite is exhausting. I am ‘too’ western to be African and ‘too’ African to be western.” (paraphrased from “Selena”)“Don’t tolerate dish-washing/toilet-scrubbing diaspora rats who think that Kenyans in Kenya have no value. Just don’t. I don’t.” (message – Facebook wall – Robert Alai)The two quotes are emblematic of an annual rite of passage that is the love-hate relationship between Africans back home and Africans in the diaspora.The essence of the piece “At what point do Africans in America lose touch with reality about their home countries?” by Silas Nyanchwani is no different. The article is slightly substantive and mildly critical but a generalizing swipe against those in the diaspora nonetheless.As one of those “Africans living in the United States” I can only speak for myself and to paraphrase Deputy President William Ruto, write my own story; something I did back in 2012 in my book “WUODHA: My Journey from Kenya to these United States”.Having spent my entire adult life in the diaspora, home and relations (family and friends) can indeed be exasperating; primarily because of the time spent away from one and in the other. I am comfortable with what I am familiar with. Yes, there is the occasional “what the %$#@” moment but I would argue that said moments are fleeting.If that makes me “irredeemable”, so be it.Being critical of the state of socio-political and economics affairs back home is that proverbial double-edged sword. It – criticism – is also informed by what I value; by my world view. It is a documented fact that I am a huge fan of Barack Obama – for a host of reason – but mainly for his comportment and disposition. It doesn’t hurt that his father Obama Sr. was Kenyan; Luo to be exact. My son and I indeed have a soft spot for America’s 44th President.I view politics and politicians through that lens; that of a someone who came from little, took on the heavily-favored Clinton Machinery and won; then won again against the Romney machinery.Was Son of K’Ogelo a perfect president?Absolutely not!However, his temperament, in the face of some of the most strident oftentimes bigoted criticism was very instructive and given his successor…well.Once upon a time, I was convinced that a person with a seedy past, with multiple children from multiple women not to mention a history of questionable business dealings could never rise to become POTUS.Like they say in Dholuo; “we uro aweya” as in “just leave that alone”.Regarding security and overall safety, I’d say that it depends on one’s location. Would I be caught in certain parts of Oakland or Memphis or Chicago after dark?No.Would I be caught in Piedmont, Lakeview or Germantown after dark?No.And the irony?The last 3 neighborhoods are all in the first 3 cities listed above. My point is: Just like Nairobi, Kisumu and most cities in Africa, there are parts one would be advised to avoid, especially after dark – for a variety of reasons.I absolutely detest the traffic along the 101, 880, 680, 580 corridors – with a passion this side of my love for Liverpool. Yes, I am a fan of The Reds (a long and cool story for another day). I also file the atrocious traffic under the heading “Eyes Wide Open”. When I moved away from the uber-expensive peninsula where most jobs in my profession are located, I knew that I was doing so, along with many others who were presumably motivated by the same factors -- affordable housing and safe neighborhoods. I was mentally prepared for the interminable commute.As an engineer – manufacturing – steeped in the Charles Deming philosophy of continuous improvement, I have a very hard time accepting mediocrity. To err is human but at some point, one has to learn from their mistakes; especially after they’ve seen and repeatedly articulated possible solutions to the problems. The notion that one is an “armchair critic” for calling out failure to fix what even the writer agrees are “simple things”, while true, is also a strawman AND red herring all rolled into one!Referring to pointed criticism of recurring offenses as “unpatriotic” or “anti-development” detracts and deflects from the oftentimes raison d’etre for the repeated failures: utter incompetence birthed by brazen and unchecked corruption.Calling me an “armchair critic” or accusing me of being “overly cushy” as I sip a latte in downtown Mountain View (an actual slight) does not alter the fact that traffic in Nairobi is horrendous; security is spotty; schools have laptops but no building or electricity; that the GoK just walked back a decision to import doctors from Tanzania etc.Some of us DO have solutions to some African problems if anyone cares to listen. The hyperbolic characterization and deflection aside, it oftentimes IS as simple as refusing to offer a bribe and/or when safe to do, asking the “ignorant policeman” or “mweshimiwa” why they are perpetuating an ill everyone agrees IS the bane of the very patriotism and development those in the diaspora are accused of hindering.So “even those schooled in Ivy League institutions revert back to type when they are given management positions back at home.” Does that make it acceptable?Isn’t it ironic that African leaders simultaneously castigate colonialists while effectively colluding with their descendants to colonize those who entrust/ed them to lead?At the risk of generalizing, African leaders, most who wear their faith on their sleeves and are quick to drop the name of their favorite deity, have completely turned the servant/leadership construct on its head. Rather than lead by serving the least among them, most of the continent’s leaders have flipped the script and unabashedly use their positions of leadership to enrich themselves, their families and friends. In the process, these leaders end up forcing their subjects to serve them via their payment of taxes and fruits of their labor!I will offer this re-write from the original article:"The unenviable state most African countries find themselves in is a product of colonization, the cold war, globalization AND the incompetent and corrupt nature of the continent’s leaders. The adage societies get the leadership they deserve comes to mind: That Africa has the leadership it deserves is a reality those in the diaspora have very little to do with."Having said that, let me also say that “there is every reason to be optimistic” about the continent’s future. Africa is indeed rising and there are disaporites closing shop and heading back home to re-set shop back there and live their lives away from the west. I will also offer the caveat that the characterizations “more productive” and “less demanding” are relative constructs that cannot be summarily heaped onto the new lives in Africa just as they cannot be hoisted onto life in the west.Let me also eschew the psycho-analysis embedded in the notion that “only Africans indulge in the self-hatred and such vulgar pessimism”. To quote someone I care about dearly, “humans are funny” and to lump them and their experiences into neat and convenient packages is to give in to the very narrative the writer is decrying i.e. the boredom and exasperation “when talking to their relations back in Africa.”I also think that it is a tad presumptuous to assert that “brothers” and “sisters” in the west are oblivious to the on-going global winds of change. Between “Brexit”, the election of Donald Trump and the on-going wave of nationalism across Europe, one would have to be living off the grid to miss these examples of ongoing (and profound) changes. And while Asia and Africa have better promising prospects than the west, there is something to be said for the safety and stability that is more widespread in the west – the so-called “flight to the safety of the green buck”.No one decision fits all. Africans, including those in the diaspora, are individuals who make decisions based on their personal set of circumstances and to expect them to make monolithic decisions regarding where they live is, again, to subscribe to the narrative the writer complains about.Finally, and even as I agree with the sentiment that congratulations and well dones are in order to the 1.2bn Africans who stay in Africa and contribute to its remarkable development, congratulations and well dones are also due the 168.9mn Africans in the diaspora who remitted close to $60bn in 2015 towards the rising Africa.