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This is an excellent article written by a Ugandan citizen analysing the systemic rot in all African nations with Uganda as a case study. 

Please enjoy the article.

The biggest problem of Ugandans or Africans in general is this illusionary belief that they could change their countries by voting a different person into power. It is this belief that all problems of a country start and stop with the President. That if you could just have the right man in power, then all of a sudden, Africa would transform. This is what they call chasing a mirage, imagining some utopia. Unfortunately utopias are never realized in life. 

The actual problem of Africa is not the presidents. From where do these presidents come? From within. The problem of Africa, the problem of Uganda is its citizens, their shared values and mentalities. The day Africans wakeup, and stop looking for an external enemy and realize that they themselves are Africa's problem is the day we shall get closer to finding an African solution. 

I have often told friends that I am happiest whenever the MPs draw bigger salaries every financial year. As Ugandans we lambast our representatives in public for drawing these salaries. In private, we drain our MPs. We invite them for funerals, for introduction ceremonies and expect them to contribute out of pocket to save us. A Ugandan MP attends no less than 10 functions in a week on average. They are expected to find jobs for their people. They must contribute towards the least of needs. These big salaries they draw, they all go straight to the people they represent. Yet it seems some of us live in an illusion called Uganda. We expect our MPs to act as MPs in UK except that in our case, we also expect to play donor to their people's needs. 

We decry the corruption in the country yet we bribe to get our children in the best schools. We bribe our way out of police tickets. We have no respect for traffic rules. We are every evil we see in the president and his team. 

Every ill you can diagnose in Museveni and his government, you will find twice or thrice the magnitude in a Ugandan citizen. 

We complain of government incompetence, yet go ahead to champion incompetence in every aspect of our lives where government has no control. Our carpenters produce substandard furniture. 

I often ask myself; if the public sector is too incompetent, how come the private sector has not been any better? How come you are more bound to have a misdiagnosis in a private hospital than in a public hospital? 

Daily Monitor, Observer, Red Pepper, New Vision write stories everyday that highlight government incompetence. Yet, there will never be a single day where you will pick up a Ugandan newspaper and fail to find an error on every page. 

Perhaps one day as Ugandans we ought to self reflect, and look within and realize, that we are demons we are trying to fight. If Museveni and his government were the only incompetent people and everyone else was competent, then Uganda would be a scandinavian country of sorts. Why don't we have world class restaurants in the country? Why is it that customer care sucks in private institutions just as it does in public institutions? 

Every Ugandan I meet complains of the system, of the incompetence. Then I ask myself; "you dear Ugandan, where can I find examples of your excellent output?" 

The same people who complain of poor working conditions run slavery rings in their own homes. The day maids of this country decide to speak out, we shall be shocked at the evil we sustained in our homes. 

I now suspect that our anger, our rants, our complaints about the system are all because this system is a daily reminder of our own incompetences, our own weaknesses as a people. What this government has done is hold a mirror up to the Ugandan society and we are not happy about our own reflection. 

Today I read a sad story. That there are about 20,000 Asians in Uganda, less than 0.5% of the Ugandan Population. And that these pay 64% of our tax revenues. To put it simply, even the taxes we complain that government mishandles, more than half of them are paid by non-Ugandans. In other words, we don't even have a right to complain. 

That should signify an innate Ugandan problem. There is something deeply wrong around how the Ugandan and African societies are constructed. Ugandan Citizens promise so much and deliver so little. Our shared beliefs, mindsets and values have been constructed in such a way that regardless of the president in power, we shall always produce substandard results. It is no wonder that all over Africa, we complain of the same problems. Littered cities, corruption, failed government institutions, name it all. You could fly from Uganda to Malawi to Ghana to Zambia and not notice a difference. Because? It is not a problem of presidents. It is a problem of the African citizens. But they are too scared of self-criticism, they have dabbled in escapism and found scapegoats in their leaders.

As Plato wrote in the Republic; "like man, like state." We can't expect to have better leaders until we have better people. You can't create great companies without great employees. It doesn't matter how great the CEO is, if she has crap employees, she will have a crap company. That is the case of Uganda and other African countries!

A rice miller in Adamawa State has cried out for succour after thugs broke into his mill and carted away bags of parboiled and white rice valued at N188,465,000.

Alhaji Mohammed Shemad, Chief Executive Officer of Shemad Concept Nigeria Ltd, told newsmen Monday morning that the thugs forced their way into his rice mill located at Bakin Kogi, a riverside community in Yola North local government area (LGA), and removed all the 10,615 bags of rice that had been processed.

Our correspondent recalls that thugs first broke into government warehouses in and around the state capital, Yola, in the morning of Sunday October 25 and took away all they could find, prompting Governor Ahmadu Fintiri to impose a curfew which took effect from 3pm Sunday.

The thugs had however defied the curfew, breaking into more government establishments and later veered by Sunday evening into private establishments, including Shemad Concept Ltd.

“Altogether, we had 10,615 bags of rice – 5,210 of them were perboiled rice and the rest white rice,” Alhaji Shamad said, explaining that his company sells white rice at N17,500 per bag and parboiled rice at N18,000 per bag to wholesalers.

Shamad said he was forced by the incident at his mill to employ thugs to guide his paddy warehouse, located some distance away in Maiyanka, a community in Yola South LGA.

At the warehouse where the interview for this story was conducted, the thugs, numbering over a hundred, milled around the gate of the warehouse brandishing knives, cutlasses and sticks that served as their weapons.

“Unruly as they are, I have to engage them to guard the warehouse because they are the only ones who can can keep other thugs away,” Shemad said.

He explained that he got and employed the thugs Sunday evening when he was called while still at his mill in Bakin Kogi that youths were about to force the paddy warehouse open.

Use of thugs as guards now sound right in an Adamawa State currently under the siege of thugs who were up to Monday morning still either looting or conveying their loot home and blocking roads in some remote communities to see if they could find hapeless residents with valuables to steal from.

Contrary to assurance by the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Sulaiman Nguroje, that police and other security personnel would be on hand to enforce law and order, most of the Yola metropolis, comprising Jimeta and Yola Town, had no police presence all of Monday morning up to the early afternoon when this story was filed.

Travelling to the southwestern part of Nigeria is quite an experience one could ever venture into. Aside from Lagos, Abeokuta has more fascinating and socio-economic factors that attract visitors in comparison to other urban centers within the region. First timers are often curious to know something about the place they are travelling to. Not just first timers, but it equally important to get a little information about the place you are visiting. This article cannot exhaust your curiosity, but it can divulge a little that you can add to your other knowledge about the city of Abeokuta.

• Geography

Abeokuta is the capital of Ogun State in southwestern Nigeria. From Lagos, by rail it is 102 kilometres north of Abeokuta. It has a population of over six thousand inhabitants according to the 2005 demographic report. 

The town is located 90 km to the north of Lagos through the Ogun River. Ogun River, with 200 metres in width, it is navigable for small boats around Olumo mountains. 

Center of the agricultural area, Abeokuta specializes in the cultivation of cocoa, brewery and cement industry. In the past, it is notable as the main town of people in the eastern part of the Egbe Upper Guinea.

In the 19th century, this settlement was located in healthy surroundings on granite flat upland, adorned with good water and was surrounded by an earthen wall of about 20 km.

About 150,000 inhabitants, hitherto, are affiliated to the christian persuasion. The city and its surroundings were under the authority of one of the leaders of the tribe known as Aleke.

After the destruction of the kingdoms of the Yoruba people of Felatta, who fled from him, Egbe was founded in 1825, the city Abeokutu, which quickly reached the blossoming condition and in 1851 and 1864 respectively victoriously repelled the attack doggedly. English missionaries during the incident in October 1867 coup were expelled from the city.

But from 1960 onwards until now, Abeokuta has remained an integral part of independent Nigeria. 

Abeokuta has nurtured the birth and grooming of prominent and outstanding Nigerians who has left a mark on the sands of history. Some of these famous individuals include amongst them, Fela Kuti – the rascally and radical musician who through his musical ingenuity challenged social misconduct and political wrongs. The meteoric writer, Amos Tetuola. Not to mention the Nobel Laureate award winner for literature, Sole Soyinka. The list also includes Archbishop Peter Akinola and the two time head of state in (military head of state and civilian president), Olusegun Obasanjo.

compiled by Cosmas Nwokafor