WELCOME TO THE AFRICA PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
First came the Arabs, then came the Caucasians and now the Asians are invading Africa like Covid-19, no pun intended. The present day Africa is the real black China, which is practically the black orient, whereby the ratio of Negros to Chinese is a hundred to one.
The Chinese are literally everywhere on
the continent, from our governments, to our industries, our neighbourhoods, our
homes, and even on our black screens, such that I believe that it is now almost
impossible to rid them from our lives, no matter how hard we try.
How the Chinese have invaded my life! Decades
ago, the first China man I ever recognized officially was the late Bruce Lee,
in Enter the Dragon movie. Before you know it, Chinese movies were all the
rage. Well, maybe there were some movies made in Japan or Korea but honestly I could
not have told them apart, even if I tried to. As an African, it still is
difficult to group Asians of the orient into their respective nationalities, no
matter how hard I try.
Anyway, years later, the Asian cars were
all the rage. The Toyotas, the Isuzu’s, and the Mistubishis. African roads were
flooded with these car brands. Then came the product brands like Sanyo, Sany,
Samsung, just to name a few. Then all their products followed suit. So, now all
my home appliances are made from China. Then came the construction. All over
sudden, the Chinese were everywhere, building our roads and constructing
buildings. Then sushi became popular in all posh spots across the continent. Then
came the wedding shows on television, where the Chinese were boldly wifing up
African brides, while the Africans conquered the Chinese brides.
Give me some of that stuff, let me smoke
it, for Africa is changing rapidly. Nowadays, I can hardly retrace my village,
for the Chinese have built pagodas on top of my grandfather’s kraal. My cousins
allowed for the development to take place, and now I am afraid to cry publicly
over spilt milk that I did not pour. I cannot even pour libations upon the
graves of my ancestors, because there are now great walls built upon their mud graves.
Maybe I should return the favour and travel
to China to plant my African roots there. I guess if I could; I would persuade
a few souls to journey with me to the orients, make the kimonos using the African
print fabrics, open up a chain of restaurants that serve up afro-delicacies
eaten by bare hands, while I play rhumba, zouk and Bongo music in my pubs and
clubs all day long. I would as well learn Mandarin and Cantonese in order to
translate all the African literature for the folk in China, digitalize every
service product, because everything equates to technology in China.
As I claw my way into China, I would also spread
my tentacles into her neighbours, imposing my way into every nation around her,
spreading my afro-roots all over the orient like wildfire, while rocking my
nappy locks with uttermost pride, and marching on with my soul tribe on toe, invading
their empires, and turning that flaming dragon into the roaring lion of the
great African jungle. Oh, how I wish!
Like I said, Arabs landed first in Africa,
then the Europeans followed, and now the Chinese are here to stay, a phenomenon
which begs the question, why do foreigners love the motherland so much? Well, I
guess it is the African sun that attracts them to her or better yet, maybe they
cannot get enough of the magnificent negritude that is our pride.
Perhaps, trade is their sole purpose of
why they are stuck on the continent like glue. Whatever it is that drives them
to this mama land, we already know that once you go black, there is no coming
back. Hence, I solely predict that in the next decade, this continent will have
a populace that is Afro-China!
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