“The true measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort but where he stands in times of challenge and difficulties”….. Martin Luther King Jr.
How do you measure a man after he has served God, his generation, and country?
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Do you measure a man by financial exploits or by how many lives he touched?
Do you measure a man by the victories he gained or how he dealt with those he vanquished?
Do you measure a man by how he manages losses, failings, and tragedies, or how magnanimous he is when he bags a win?
Do you measure a man by how he treats his peers and equals, or by how he treats his subordinates?
Do you measure a man by what he started or by what he finished?
The true measure of a man is by what he does with power, how he handles his opponents, what he does to his family, what he does when misfortune hits, and what he does with his influence.
This metaphor applies to the current state of our relatives, workmates, and employers.
Kagawa was given the opportunity to ask for anything he wanted.
The condition was that whatever he gets, his brother would receive double.
He thought about asking for a house; but he did not like the thought of his brother having two houses.
So he thought about asking for a million dollars to go to his bank account; but again, he was unhappy with the thought of his brother having two million dollars in his account.
The man sat down and thought hard, “What can I have and still be better than my brother when he has double?”
So, he thought of having one of his eyes removed so that his brother might have his two eyes gouged.
This sounds like a very unlikely story; however, this is the typical mentality that has set Africans backwards for ages and caused witchcraft to thrive in Africa.
An African wants to be better than his brother/colleague at all costs.
The African man is only careful to share his beer, not his books; to spread his diseases, and not the cure; to transfer his problems, and not the solution.
When an African man fails, he wishes his brother the same fate so that he won’t be the only one who has tasted the bitterness of failure.
An African man is happy when evil besets his brother.
When most African men succeed, they want to enslave their brothers; they try to make the class gap between them and their brothers widen daily.
An African man wants to outperform his brother in every area, and most African men do not want to let their brothers have any chances of success because they want to be the only ones succeeding.
When an African man gets to sit on a seat of authority, he wants to keep it to himself and refuses to give anyone else a chance to sit.
In African schools, students who can afford textbooks do not let other students borrow their textbooks because they want to stay top of the class or they don’t want to give another student the opportunity to perform better than them.
When one independently discovers the way to success, an African man who refused to give directions would still do all he can to stand in the way of that success.
An African man is ready to spend money to intimidate his brother and make him look like nothing.
Africa will become better when we begin to share books to pass knowledge, not just our drinks.
When we begin to let others also lead without our influence.
When we begin to give the same quality of food and clothing to both our children and our maids.
When we let our servants eat on the same table with us.
When the boss lets his lower staff get paid before him.
Africa can become progressive when we begin to look out for each other rather than stand in the way of one another.
When we can sincerely say, “Let my brother get it too, and if I can’t get it, let me help him get it.”
Africa’s development can only be possible with Africans’ love/respect for other fellow Africans.
Fellow countrymen, what God gave us was in abundance; we can all shine. Intimidation, blackmail, hate, selfishness, superiority complex are signs of ignorance, backwardness, and ill heart.
FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY.
The writer, Kangave Mudi, is a National chairperson private teachers platform Uganda
mudikangave@gmail.com
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