Contradictions
Demola and Wondimu, accidentally met in Marrakech, during their trips to Europe and Morocco in the Spring of 2024. They’ve not seen each other for 25 years, so they decided to talk about deep issues so they would have something to remember for their discussion before their next hang out.
Please find below their conversation.
Demola: It was pleasant to meet you yesterday at the souk. I didn’t want to visit the souk but apparently, I changed my mind so that I can meet with you.
Wondimu: My Chief! I am grateful you changed your mind otherwise this trip would be incomplete without meeting with you.
Demola: I’m glad we were able to connect for a face-to-face meeting. I don’t necessarily believe in zoom, google, teams, and skype meetings and the so-called connection on the different platforms that will always lag in terms of social interaction.
The reason I requested this meeting is that I need to know your impressions about the Faustian bargain – a deal with the devil.
Wondimu: Demola the Philosopher! I think you should metaphysically connect with Diogenes. There is a possibility he may be able to help.
Demola: Diogenes who during his lifetime doesn’t respect royalty, will ignore me now that he is relaxing in the great beyond.
Wondimu: Ok, what is on your mind?
Demola: Before this trip, I was in 24 African countries, and I met with senior officials who seem not to understand what is going on or they claim their hands are tight.
Wondimu: So, you think they have sold their souls?
Demola: I witnessed different types of Faustian bargains in these countries, including leaders selling their souls to political godfathers, election campaigns financed by lobby groups, and prosperity doctrine. And the reverence to local and international organizations that don’t necessarily understand the local context.
Wondimu: Immediate gratification at the expense of long-term sustainable development.
Demola: Democracy and election campaigns are exorbitant thus requiring a sponsor. These sponsors use dirty money already laundered. The question is how do you do good if your path to the top is mired with different agreements with the devil?
Wondimu: I agree with you. This phenomenon is rampant in both developing and developed countries and may not be peculiar to those African countries you visited. To corroborate your observation, Tom Burgis in his 2015 book “The Looting Machine” indicated that one of the former presidents of Nigeria, two-time governor of a Northern state, was sponsored by a successful smuggler known for his wealth and connections in West Africa.
Demola: The irony is that the president he sponsored was seen as a pious and straightforward individual. But maybe he will be far away from the state house and the presidential villa without the help of the entrepreneur – a smuggler to some people.
Wondimu: What a contradiction!
Demola: Some of these countries struggle to provide public goods and they are also advised by experts that liberalization is the way to go. But provision of public goods is good for all and sundry in the long term.
Wondimu: A few of them also had coups recently. They even alluded to the fact that they want to sever their relationship with France.
Demola: The francophone countries are not competitive because the coup plotters didn’t plan the coups for altruistic reasons. I think they have their own ulterior motives. How do you sever your relationship with a country that has influence on your currency and macroeconomic stability without a soft landing?
Wondimu: The political economy of the Sahel needs proper attention because its fragility will have a negative externality on the Economic Community of West African States, the African continent and eventually the global economy.
Demola: It’s not an issue with the Sahel. What about those countries rich in mineral resources, such as Congo and South Sudan that are rich in mineral resources but poor?
Wondimu: An example of a contradiction that emanates from a resource curse. It’s indeed a paradox!
Demola: It is also paradoxical that people with full time employment cannot access proper accommodation in developed countries nowadays.
Wondimu: I have witnessed this in major cities from Vancouver in Canada to New York in the United States. For example, in the fall of 2023, on my way to teach my morning class in downtown Toronto, I always see a homeless gentleman in a sleeping bag on Bay and Dundas in downtown Toronto. He is always browsing the internet on Monday and Thursday mornings when I pass by his side. How can an individual this educated be homeless? This is an indication that education and employment do not deter homelessness. Income has been stagnant, thanks to the economic model of profit maximization and cost minimization, and the cost of living keeps increasing.
…what a contradiction!
Demola: The economic challenges notwithstanding, education is still important. Learning is the most interesting thing in this life. For those who crave material and conspicuous consumption, I doubt whether they will ever be happy.
Wondimu: Very soon you will become a philosopher. But remember that if your success is anchored to a definition beyond your control, it may be a stretch. Although, you can get away with lack of plan if you have an inheritance.
Demola: Generational wealth is non-existent in most developing countries. Wealth may be elusive. This is because of lack of succession plan or wealth based on rent seeking that is difficult to transfer to offsprings except family members become career politicians.
Wondimu: I think the way out is to become career politicians and pass the baton to their offspring. It baffles me to see a civil servant in a developing country pay school fees (not less than $US50,000/year) for two children studying in a public university in the United States. The interesting thing is that people from the same country will ascertain that the public servant is rich! But how?
Demola: The scenario you mentioned happens all the time. A governor in a country in West Africa paid more than $US 800,000 in advance for the school fees of his children. This payment is for a period of more than 10 years starting from 2021.
Wondimu: Advance payment? It seems he already paid for unborn offsprings.
Demola: What are you talking about? He paid to an American school in dollars in a country where the currency is not even the legal tender. Apparently, corruption is only possible in developing countries with international collaboration.
Wondimu: It seems there is money laundering going on in this case. Meanwhile, the state the politician governed is full of dilapidated infrastructure and nonpayment of public sector salaries.
Demola: Truth telling is a dominant strategy (Groves-Clark Mechanism). But people fail to realise that when you are deceptive you will need to cover a lie with another lie which translates to the creation of a serial liar.
Apparently, animals are more truthful than humans.
Wondimu: Please expatiate.
Demola: I will! Growing up there was a gentleman in my neighbourhood who had a parrot in his living room or the veranda. Little did we know that the parrot was kept by Mr. Lartey to observe what is going on in the environment. He doesn’t trust the people around.
One day he came back from work, and he discovered that his video cassette player was hot. He was annoyed because he already instructed his family members not to turn his house into a cinema. He shouted in anger, “who used this cassette player?” No response from people but the parrot answered in Mr. Lartey’s voice – Emmanuel (one of his sons). The strange thing about parrots is that they can speak like humans and even imitate the people around them. This is the reason why Yorubas refer to them as Ayekooto (People despise the truth).
Wondimu: I also heard of a polygamist who keeps a parrot in his compound to update him about the activities within the household while he is away.
Demola: True. I once saw an elderly man with four wives hanging out with his parrots in a village in West Africa.
Wondimu: Parrots! What an interesting creature. I intend to see my friend in Detroit once I return to Canada.
Demola: The United States, a country of contradictions. In 2016 and 2017 - I discovered that in downtown Detroit you can't use washrooms in franchises, petrol station and grocery stores. Safety is a big deal and I think it's a food desert.
Furthermore, an exploration of the inner city and different neighborhoods with a friend familiar with the area showed intense neglect. Rundown houses, desolate neighbourhoods, food deserts, liquor stores, roads in disrepair are the characteristic nature of these neighbourhoods. If you mistakenly go into a trance, you will think you are in a disadvantaged districts in an underdeveloped country.
This is in a country that is supposed to be the most affluent in the world.
Wondimu: What a contradiction!
Special thanks to Ademola M. Badmus with whom we saw the contradictions in life together during our MBA program at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria.
By
Bamidele Adekunle @badekunl
May 22, 2024
What a contradiction indeed. This essay was very interesting, I would have to say my favorite part was when Deomla told Wondimu that she went to 24 African countries and the fist thing he ask was "So, you think they have sold their souls?". I truly enjoyed how both characters discuss about socio-political issues, not only in Africa but places all over the world. Corruption is not a new thing that cam be found in low-developed countries but everywhere. It was a fun read and very educational.
Awesome read! I love the conversational flow, and the discussion of political and social issues of not just West Africa and Africa, but also other areas of the world. Also, my vocabulary has been expanded, as I had to go back and forth to my dictionary to understand some words. I think the use of more everyday conversational English would make it more relatable. I love it! Awesome read sir!