A warning cry… before I die.

Dear African leaders…

Image Credit : Pexels/Canva free image, edited by me

I had this song in mind while writing this :)

Apparently, I am tomorrow’s future. The bearer of a new flame.

It’s amusing. I should be happy about it, however every time it makes me laugh to see how much I’m taken for an idiot. A person devoid of any intelligence.

If just one word of this were true, I wouldn’t be abandoned and forgotten. Like withered flowers in an arid desert.

My life would matter, and I wouldn’t be dying every day, every hour, every second.

If just one word of this were true, I wouldn’t be walking in the shadows of empty promises, of hollow speeches, all this while my dream faded like fragile petals under the burning sun of indifference.

And opportunities that should be my natural lot wouldn’t be hijacked by corruption, negligence, and selfishness of those who should be my guide.

If just one word of this were true, I wouldn’t be forced to desperately leave everything I have behind to go to a place where I’m not wanted.

All this because I’m relegated to the periphery of society, as a secondary player in my own drama.

If just one word of this were true, at my age, I wouldn’t be dealing with adult problems.

I live in a world where even making mistakes is a luxury. I cannot allow myself to be carefree at this age, which itself is considered the age of carelessness because the slightest mistake would be fatal for me.

To be accepted, I have to excel at things where it’s normal to fail. And even when I do things right, it’s not enough because I don’t know the right people.

Amidst all of this, notwithstanding I smile, you have no inkling of my inner struggles. You can’t see the silent cascade of tears within my heart. You think I’m okay, but what you see are only ruins that threaten to collapse at any moment.

So, if you don’t breathe life into these words, then I’m not the one who will be in charge tomorrow, but a zombie : a mere echo of my former self. A desperado. A monster created from scratch by you.

When are you going to understand that the future you speak of is not a distant promise but an urgent responsibility?

I am a young African. I am not the future of tomorrow but of today.

This was inspired to me, by a video of a guy who shared the same sentiments. He also was tired of all these empty promises done to young African people. This sentence especially marked me : I’m not the future of tomorrow, but of today.