As a scholar of literature, I do encounter some daily experiences that are reminiscent of some contexts I came across in literature books that I read. One of the most inspiring books I read was the popular “Things Fall Apart by famous Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. The book essentially tells the story of one Okonkwo, a highly respected man in his Igbo tribe of Umuofia. But fundamentally, Chinua Achebe alludes to how life and traditional society was crumbling under the influence of the British colonial rule and he highlights the destructive impact of colonialism on African culture and identity. Africa’s socio-political and economic systems were attacked from the heart, the centre could not hold any more, and so things fell apart. Has the thing come back to order after independence? A question to be answered by any one according to the way they see things. I will not go into the details of the book and will rather leave you to read it for your own, but I would like to make a reference to one excerpt, where Okonkwo narrates one of the worst experiences when everything seemed to be going wrong naturally. The first rains, he says, were too late or when they came, they lasted a brief moment. The worst was, when the rain returned, it fell like it had never done before. Trees were uprooted, and deep gorges appeared everywhere. That year, Okonkwo says, the harvest was sad like a funeral and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life. It always surprised him when he thought about it later that he did not sink under the load of despair. Okonkwo was a fierce fighter but that year had enough to break the heart of a lion, he says. The part that impresses me most in the excerpt, is the conclusion that Okonkwo made; “Since I survived that year, I shall survive anything”. The above excerpt takes me back to 1994 when Rwanda went through the worst tragedy of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi and I ask myself if there is any worse that Rwanda could face. For our youth today, they have only been told the stories and many of them have not known anything close to 1994 in their lives apart from what they have seen at memorial sites. But those who lived the moment, will surely agree with me that, if Rwanda survived 1994, it will always survive, no matter the circumstances. The reality of what Rwanda has lived, can only be told by those that have lived it and these can testify to the above, and that development partners threatening to cut their aid to Rwanda will not cause more harm than what Rwanda faced in its history. Throughout the times of Achebe and other patriarchs who witnessed the arrival of the colonialism, lived the times of independence, received the aid from then, history will tell that the interest of the aid donors is never to ensure that recipient of aid graduates to self-sustenance but rather remains submissive to the donor forever. If the aid was aimed at having the recipient graduate to another level, Belgium and other European countries of their ilk should not be strongly mobilising to cut aid to Rwanda. Every penny given to Rwanda is accounted for to the satisfaction of the donor and outcomes are evident. So, aid cannot be cut on the basis of miss use but for other inner motives of the donor. The superiority complex that the Global West harbours has closed their thinking that they will never see the Global South as an equal partner to sit and reason together to address matters. Consequently, in the international meetings you will hear the West giving instructions to the Global South in rather an embarrassing tone even on matters that do not necessarily concern them. If any member of the Global South does not abide by the orders, then they are doomed to be cast out, denied aid and kept in poverty. There are many cases known to many in this regard. For the young Rwandans especially those born after 1994, they may think if aid is stopped, Rwanda will die. I would like to assure you that you will never live the worst that your elders lived in 1994, if only you become a good custodian of the achievements made so far. Our leaders have always promised and honoured the promises, we only need to trust them and support them. The writer is a senior Rwandan diplomat and academic.
