BODA BODA – A photo essay by Churchill

Plight of the Gifted in Africa by Simon Wariuoko

Africa spells a lot of names in the global history. Perhaps its hypothetical invisibility in prehistoric bed rest is what most transpired to the continent’s widely spread denotation: dark.

Surely as current times disclose, the Dark Continent has more light to its alleged darkness which could have been an infantry conclusive idiom to a people whose language they found to be way below the ‘primates’  league. 

Yes there is a lot of darkness in Africa, and yet in the shadows of darkness we see riches. We see a lot of colours in darkness. Reflections from objects, shadows, contours, all these are representative of just what to expect in darkness.

With over 200 million in youth population (world’s largest youth population in a continent), one can only imagine the synergy that is inclusive of this darkness. But if you thought that these 200 million are in ‘darkness’ then you are wrong. What these African people see is a future as bright as the sun rays that grace their mornings every day of the year.

There is this part that we however overwrite. We, every one of us, seems to turn a blind eye on what is and can be the turning point in Africa’s history. And yet the treasure lies right in our eyes and we do nothing about it. It is innovation at stake here.

With such initiatives as the Chandaria Business Innovation and Incubation Centre, some of us are beginning to understand what the gifted need. Considering there are countries in constant hunt for persons showing remarkable skills in intelligence, Kenya can only as a country accept what predicaments fate has for us if we continually and adamantly create barricades against our own gifted souls. Insecurity could be just the least of what is expected.

It is time our visual art, both literary and fine art spoke of us at the mountaintops, time we accepted ourselves for who we are rather than what history has always thought and brought us to be. The answer lies within ourselves. The Pyramids of Egypt and the Great Zimbabwe could have signed us but for all that is good Africa cannot continually dwell on her past glories.

Could we just for a minute or so pause our daily routine and for a moment think of what is there but is literally lacking in our overall design? Could the government look back to see what happened to an earlier proposal of having some schools in the country specifically for the gifted?

We might think that sieving our young with the ultimate test of examination is a big step that always leads us to having the best of them- the gifted. One doesn’t need to be a genius to notice the mighty overflow of wasted talent that goes back to the walls of our dilapidating towns. Small wonder our young, some of them probably gifted, are lost to the death pangs of illicit brews.

Enough said, none done. We are facing one of the most sophisticated ages of civilization in human history. Whether or not our art and literature as a continent, Africa, shall be a subject in this history rests on the sole factual reasoning and revolutionary ideas—products of upholding and constantly nurturing our own gifted minds.