by Tabi Nimba Elvis

Created on: March 31, 2009

Sitting in the barber's shop the other day waiting for my turn to go under the blade, my interest was picked when I realised the topic of the day wasn't about who was going to win the English football premiership or which girl was hottest in the neighbourhood or better still which supermarket sold the cheapest beer. Rather unusually, the debate was all about who or what was responsible for Africa's slow development. For the first few minutes, I listened quietly trying to identify who had a point and who didn't. I was rather pleased with the atmosphere at that point in time because to be frank constructive arguments were a rarity at this particular barber's shop. It got me thinking. My mind started racing and I realised I desperately needed answers to the questions that kept haunting me way after I left the shop that day. Didn't civilisation start in Africa...? Isn't Africa rich enough in resources and brain power to be at the forefront of global development? How and why is this magnificent continent still considered an undeveloped world?

On both sides of the "panel" in the shop, the views expressed couldn't be any further from one another. While the barber argued that Africa's slow development is a direct result of the conspiracies that reigned in the colonial period with the "white man" tapping from the benefits of the land, my fellow customer was more inclined to believing that the root-cause of Africa's lag is as a result of African Mentality, in other words, the way Africans think and work things out. At this point I couldn't agree more with the latter view as I couldn't help wonder whether there was a direct link between a man's mindset and capabilities and his racial origins. Is it possible that Africans are the way they are because their mindsets are intrinsically skewed to limit their apparent capabilities? Can the way Africans behave now shed some light on why they just can't be as advanced as other races?
Almost two years ago, when I first came over to the UK from Africa, I expected some degree cultural difference. I however wasn't prepared for the enormity of these differences. The year was 2007 and the smoking ban in public areas (pubs, restaurants , all office buildings and indoor work places) across the UK had just been announced. That sounded like good news to most non-smokers but what made me wonder was exactly how this law was going to be enforced. Amazingly though, not much was needed to persuade bar, shop, restaurant owners and customers to

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