Jean Bedel Kobassa of the Central Africa Republic in 1977 coronated himself emperor in a very elaborate and luxuriant ceremony.
It is said that the ceremony sucked up a whooping 20 million dollars, with only his diamond crusted crown amounting to 5 million dollars. One cannot help but weep profusely for such profound stupidity and most needless flamboyance.
How does a person spend with such extravagance from the wealth of the state while the people perish in their numbers? Issues ranging from hunger, to poverty, to illiteracy, to lack of housing, lack of infrastructure and a host of others tear down the Central Africa Republic as we speak.
How does a person spend with such extravagance from the wealth of the state while the people perish in their numbers? Issues ranging from hunger, to poverty, to illiteracy, to lack of housing, lack of infrastructure and a host of others tear down the Central Africa Republic as we speak.
Whereas a great deal of these problems could have been forefended, some leader decided to squander the wealth of their people at the expense of the country's future.
In today's value, Jean spent a massive 12,121,000,000 billion CFA Franc for the absolutely meaningless ceremony. For a moment, imagine how many schools could have been built, hospitals equipped, roads and houses constructed, and so on off of the 20million dollars in the year 1977.
The most painful of it is the fact that the country just got independent from the claws of the French and needed to look at developing itself internally but, no! The leader had other gigantic selfish plans and cared less whether the people died or lived, hungry or full, clothed or naked, housed or homeless. Around the independence boom, this seemed to be the practice through the Africa states. Men who could control the power they had come into had seized this weapon from their people and misused it till the ripple effects sounded into the far future of their unborn generations.
Surprisingly disheartening, this has not changed. African leaders have been known world over to care less about the welfare of their people, while a selected few enjoy the vast wealth of the whole. It is no doubt that such characters have kept Africa where it is today, and will yet keep it so till the view and focus is taken from the selected few and put on the people.
In today's value, Jean spent a massive 12,121,000,000 billion CFA Franc for the absolutely meaningless ceremony. For a moment, imagine how many schools could have been built, hospitals equipped, roads and houses constructed, and so on off of the 20million dollars in the year 1977.
The most painful of it is the fact that the country just got independent from the claws of the French and needed to look at developing itself internally but, no! The leader had other gigantic selfish plans and cared less whether the people died or lived, hungry or full, clothed or naked, housed or homeless. Around the independence boom, this seemed to be the practice through the Africa states. Men who could control the power they had come into had seized this weapon from their people and misused it till the ripple effects sounded into the far future of their unborn generations.
Surprisingly disheartening, this has not changed. African leaders have been known world over to care less about the welfare of their people, while a selected few enjoy the vast wealth of the whole. It is no doubt that such characters have kept Africa where it is today, and will yet keep it so till the view and focus is taken from the selected few and put on the people.
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