[OPINION] The notion that Africans are LAZY

By virtue of our rationality, humans necessarily become the architect of their life and by extension the world. In understanding this enormous responsibilities alone makes man an agent of change and not a being condemned to laziness. In essence therefore, it is in man nature to be restless, thus keeping him busy and not idle.

When the Ancient philosopher Socrates declared ‘‘man know thyself’’, it was a call for man to search for his own awareness or discovery as that is the way to understanding who he is and what his purpose in life is all about.

People live through life without understanding why they seem to get little out of it. Such is the case because they have not gained that mastery of the self. When man is conscious of his own being, he naturally becomes a creator and therefore cannot live an idle existence.

One of the greatest tragedy of the 21st century man, is that he his continuously on the path to inventing and reinventing the world without taking a moment to reflect on his own self and this has led to people giving different interpretation to the meaning of work.

A lot of people especially in Africa really have different conception of work. Many believe it is waking up day in day out to look for daily bread for the family. They never realize that even the art of thinking is work in itself and if they take out time to listen to that ‘‘still small voice’’ within them, it could actually make the difference in their entire earthly existence.

Africans by virtue of their level of degradation and human indignity have in many cases been describe as lazy and unwilling to change their circumstances unless shown the way forward by their long gone colonial masters. Hence they remain the way they are?

It is my belief that no man is lazy, at least to the one who has gotten that illumination of his own being. We must shun the thinking that our people are lazy when the condition for human survival in this modern age is far from their reach. How else do you want them to live than to hope and dream of an elusive future full of all they don’t have in their present reality?

 

YEKEME

Independent Observer

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