These European colonialists, instead of developing the manpower and resources needed in these states that are feeding the current migration, busily took everything to make themselves rich and wealthy and left these people desolate and in abject destitution. Now they are at the receiving end of their myopic policy and should not be heard to complain that migration through the Mediterranean Sea is getting out of hand. If only they did right by these people and helped develop their respective economies, they would not need to migrate to Europe for survival. Needless to add that these Europeans are privy and participants in all the unrests and instabilities and wars and distortion of governments of these migrants' countries? Therefore they must accept every immigrant that makes it to Europe, fully aware that they owe them big time by reason of their colonial and slavery past policies that left these people economically, hopelessly destitute. It is possible that all these Africans, especially, now taking grave risk, making the dangerous crossing through the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, would have been rich and wealthy in their own respective countries and thus not needing to infest Europe with their struggle at survival. But the then unthinking European colonial masters were short-sighted, short-term themed and not focused to look into the horizon to see the bigger picture. Now their descendants have their work fully cut out for them, fending off these Mediterranean invaders who are so determined to make it into Europe or like hip-hop artist 50 Cents sang, die trying.
Icheoku says it could only be utter hopelessness that drives people to go to this great length just for an opportunity at survival? They trek through dangerous parched desert for several months before embarking on their sea voyage through the treacherous Mediterranean Sea, in rickety rafts and boats. Then some of them stow away inside trucks with some perching precariously on truck tops and sides; some trekking through the English Chunnel from Calaise France to get to Britain while thousands perish enroute. Icheoku says it can only be a one-way, all or nothing, shot at survival that drives this wildebeest-like migration by these people. Since the alternative is an assured certain death at their respective home countries, it becomes imperative for them to embark on this migration up North, in a desperate life saving effort, since they have nothing to lose anyway. To them, nothing can be worse than what they have already experienced, hence anything out there beyond the horizon will surely be an improvement to what they have. Like one refugee rightly pointed out, he is already a living-dead and in prison living in his own country, so what difference does it make if he leaves the free prison in his country to try his luck in an unfree prison in Europe?
But regrettably, these Europeans are mounting effort to stop these dying and desperate immigrants from reaching their shores and are threatening in any other event, to deport them back to wherever they came from? Icheoku queries why force a man who is fleeing from a certain death back to the nemesis he was running away from if not for meanness and uncaring attitude? Whatever be the inconvenience, these Europeans should see their culpability in this migration and then make some mea culpa by admitting whoever successfully makes the treacherous sea-crossing and allow them a shot at survival. The irony of the whole planned 'intercept and send them back' strategy is that the same white Europeans who brought their religion and introduced their God to Africans as God of a heaven of bliss and abundance, are the same people now denying these refugees the comparable 'heaven of bliss and abundance' in their continent. If these Europeans would not permit these hungry and starving immigrants a taste of their heaven on earth, what then is the use preaching to Africans about a heaven utopia upon death? Are they by their action forcing these migrants into immediate death so that they can hurry off to heaven, instead of wasting their time here on earth in penury and lack thereof.
Icheoku says if indeed their preached-about heaven do in fact exist, would these white people allow Africans and the poor and wretched of this world access thereinto or will they forcibly appropriate it also just for themselves only? If they cannot share their own heaven on earth here, what is the guarantee that they will share the blissful heaven later in the other life? It is equally disturbing that these white people are wasting so much food and throwing away a lot too, yet their bible-clutching preachers and missionaries come to Africa with loads of bibles but no morsel of food to feed the hungry and the starving poor. Icheoku admonishes these preachers to always include some sacs of wheat, millet, rice, corn and some dairies and meat products whenever they embark on their evangelical missions to Africa, as there are so many yawning mouths of children and pregnant women that needs nutrition. It is a well known logic that nothing goes well on an empty stomach; so the soul will be more amenable to their preaching when the stomach is no longer churning and rumbling. Icheoku says what would Jesus say to these white people if and when they eventually meet and see him; except that no one knows for sure the veracity of the bible stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment