Opinions of Sunday, 14 March 2010

Columnist: The Royal Enoch

African Unity In This 21st Century

In 1933, a full blown persecution was unleashed upon the Jewish emigrants living in Nazi Germany. Nobody knows exactly when the Jews did migrate to Germany. However, what we do know and could also confirm is that by the year 1933, there were more than six million Jews living in Germany as citizens. The Jews migrated to Germany purposely to trade. See, the Jewish people are entrepreneurs by nature. Unlike most emigrants, Jews love to work for themselves as opposed to working for somebody else. Also, they create their own employment where ever they go as opposed to waiting on somebody to employ them. Therefore, the notion that the Jews migrated to Germany with nothing to become something, or indeed somebodies is utterly false. Simply because; most of the Jews, who migrated to Germany were entrepreneurs in their own right with their own cash to burn. Anyway, to keep a long story short-it didn't take long before the Jewish emigrants in Germany became a powerful socio-economic force to reckon with.

The more the Jews became powerful in Nazi Germany, the more the Germans became envious of them. Indeed, prosperity never leaves without envy. Of course, envy, when it goes unchecked develops into hatred. The persecution of the Jews started, when the German citizens became dissatisfied with their own lives, and began blaming the Jews for this. They held the view that the Jews were bleeding their country to death. Also, they blamed the Jews for Germany's numerous socio-economic woes. For instance; Germany's crime rate was in parallel with the employment rate amongst the Germans themselves. This unfortunate socio dilemma was propagated as the work of the Jews, albeit untrue. In fact, the Jews got blamed for almost everything. Thus, the beginning of the gruesome mistreatment of Jews in Nazi Germany, which saw the confiscation and destruction of Jewish owned businesses. Most Jews, sensing the inevitable, decided to leave Nazi Germany with their accumulated earthly belongings.

There were other Jews, however, who felt that Germany was their home. They decided to stay come rain or shine. Also, they believed that the violence, which was being meted out to them by the Germans would soon cease. How mistaken they were. It's reported that almost six million Jews lost their lives during what has now come to be known as the Jewish holocaust. A tragic occurrence in human history, which would be spoken of in millenniums to come. Undoubtedly, this unfortunate era in Jewish history has somehow managed to unite Jews everywhere. The shared horrors of their past have created a strong bond amongst the Jewish people. Moreover, they have come to realize that a people, who once had a common enemy must be each other's friends if they're ever going to survive. The African continent has had its fair share of human atrocities and crimes. Its people have been robbed, colonized, enslaved and murdered. In fact, the slave-trade was an African holocaust in and of itself.

It's estimated that more than 16 million Africans lost their lives during the transatlantic slave-trade. A disturbing figure by anyone's wildest imagination. Unlike the Jews, who have managed to use their past horrors to create a strong unity amongst themselves, we Africans have no yet succeeded in achieving this. And the question is; why and how come? Today, the African continent is facing so many challenges, which cannot be solved by an individual African country or state alone. Challenges like massive unemployment, the exploitation of the continent's resources, diseases and the likes would demand a collective effort. Hence, the imperative need to unite by all means necessary. The Europeans have proven beyond a shadow of doubt that unity is indeed possible. Also, the Americans would testify that unity is the only way to achieve an elevated socio-economic status. Africa has the uttermost potential to become a world super power. Nonetheless, her unity must be in order before this could be realized. Let's try to make this twenty first century the century, which gave birth to a united Africa, shall we?