shymmex: [/s]

The slave trade is non of my business - and I don't care about it... I'm talking about the control, Brussels, and Washington exerts over the policies in Africa... Yes, our leaders are utterly corrupt - but they're stooges...

Africa as far as I'm concerned is still under indirect colonization... The coup in Mali, and Guinea Bissau should be enough to prove people like you wrong... When the Malian coup took place - everything after the coup was under the supervision of France... Decisions were taken in Paris!

The same for Guinea Bissau - Portugal acted as the surrogate dad..

redsun: The kind of indoctrinated religion africans practice kills off reality and reasoning. It puts the minds of africans in a state of suspended animation,thereby,rendering it useless to instincts,creativity and rationality.

Same applies to the brainwashed education africans acquire,education without meaning. That is why the socalled educated ones are happy to blow their trumpets from oyinbo land,running away from problems they are supposedly educated to solve. Their education only seems to make sense when they are under oyinbo control not when they are on their own because they are totally devoid of initiatives,like educated zombies.

And all these boils down to losing the fundamental beats of life,of losing the track of the essence of being.

Metalgoong:
Please go back to the romance section where your mates are playing.I don't engage your type in political discourse.

redsun: If u like give a billion reasons why africans are backward. But the whole thing can be summerized into two words- mental slavery.

[s]Until africans are mentally emancipated and free from all colonial indoctrinations like christinity and islam,[/s]common bees will be better placed in animal kingdom than africans because they tend to understand their fundamental place in nature better than everyday africans.

It is sad but it is true.

Logic Mind: you all forget god.
conveniently.

Amaka G29: Economic exploitation
Political unrest
Violence towards women
Poor national infrastructures
Lack of quality, accessible education for all
Lack of quality, accessible health care for all
Stunted technological advancement
Extreme instances of poverty and disease

Certainly different countries are experiencing different rates of growth and improvement in some areas over others, but these are the things I've noticed

I would never use the term "backward," because the "West" damn sure ain't forward...I would say that the continent is in a state of economic, political, and social warfare where most of the violence is experience by the poor.

Okiki_Oluwa: Well said every1. Let's put aside slave trade.
What has 9ja archieved since 1960? Our leaders 4rm dat time till date r responbile 4 d present failure. Recall back & tell our archievement.
What 9ja has lost btw dat time till now is more dan slave trade loss. Nigeria's no 1 problem is greed(curruption). Its d result of our greedy leaders dat s underdeveloping d nation. Look @ our present situation (subsidy,police pension probe political tussle etc.) they r all products of greedy(currupt) people in d system. We v 2 clean ourselves inoda 2 b free 4rm d west & 4get d bad memories of slavery.

MsDarkSkin:
you lack comprehension....slavery had every thing to do with the present. Who were the colonial masters of those two nations? Were there not slaves extacted from them? How else would they have influence from outsiders? Thats the problem. If you cannot admit to africa's failures you stand NO chance at elevation. Ppl "like me are informed". Know that brv.

OzReal:
3. The effects of colonialism still reverberates in Nigeria, and all around Africa. As much as I believe that we are our own greatest enemies and cause of most of our problems, the 'invisible' hands of the colonial masters cannot be dismissed lightly. We all know the saying that: "He who pays the piper, call the tune"; in the case of Africa, this is very true. We already know that our continent possesses vast resources and all, but we also know that we are in a very weak position against the West and if I might add, China. This weak position has put us in a situation whereby we cannot easily dismiss or go against their(powers that be) vested or potential interests in the continent, otherwise the results of doing so could be more devastating than they already are.

These are some of the reasons I believe that Africa is in a backward state.

ril19: Most of the responsible commentators have basically touched on the fundamental issue responsible for the current and seemingly perpetual backwardness of Africa. For the sake of emphasy, prior to the scramble and resultant colonization of Africa, the black man have always wanted to remain the way he was. The typical African man is afraid of change, exploration, and quest. Take for example the area of medicine. Africa only discovered the roots and herbs in their immediate environment but could not go further than that. Today, on the other hand, as a result of education, the white man is able to prepare such roots and herbs and convert it to more convenient substance for consumption. Someone stated that all other continents already had education before their colonialists came. You can imagine the shock that greeted the Europeans as they entered into a completely unexposed and uneducated black world.
The psyche of the black after the colonial era has not not even helped the issue any bit. Neo-colonial slavery has taken over. The African man, somewhat naturally, considers "himself" inferior to the white man. The African man sees his home as not "home enough" and that is why there is a continuous push for Europeby young people in Africa.