Many readers have complained that they have not seen my writings in the last couple of months and they are right. I have been too busy with work and other personal issues but things are better now, with a lighter schedule and more time to devote to the great PV.
Political Junkies
Now what has been happening in Mama Salone? I notice that the election fever is out there in a nasty way with some media houses and politicians going hysterical and crazy, usually over nothing. Reading some of the papers in Salone, one would think nothing else is happening in that country except politics. Almost everybody seems to be obsessed with politics and political office as if those are the things that only matter. Sierra Leoneans need to have a change of attitude here. Politics is not the only occupation; how about setting up your own businesses? Foreigners are making enormous amounts of money right under your feet while you continue to insult, fight and sometimes kill each other over politics. There are several banks, insurance companies and scores of stores owned by our brothers and sisters from Nigeria in the country (one of them even owns a newspaper) with very few major businesses owned by Sierra Leoneans themselves. I will not even mention the Lebanese and European dominance of our economy. What a shame.
Aljazeera
There has been talk about the Middle Eastern media set-up, Aljazeera, which calls itself the voice of the Arab world. This organ has been doing several reports in Sierra Leone and other african countries lately. But who is behind Aljazeera? It’s owned by a Arab oil sheik and his Western friends, operating in a country struggling with democracy and human rights. Most of the journalists that work in Aljazeera used to work for the BBC and other Western media outfits. So Aljazeera is just the BBC or CNN with an Arab face eating Shawama instead of hamburgers.
In Africa Aljazeera is actively denigrating Africa and producing unprofessional and biased reports on Africa using their African stooges and lackeys who call themselves journalists. It is very disgusting and unconscionable, isn’t it, that Aljazeera would devote so much time and energy trying to unearth corruption in Africa without devoting that kind of energy in all Arab countries without exception.
Indeed as the late Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah repeatedly said when he was alive, the the rest of the world would continue to denigrate, dehumanize and demonize Africa until Africa has a strong and national media network to defend itself.
It’s true that there are a lot of bad things going on in Africa but the people of most African countries enjoy greater freedom and peace than the people of most Arab countries. Aljazeera should think about that and act fast, if they can. Can they? How can they bite the hand that feeds them?
I will be back.
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