There are times I worry about us.
Tendai Ruben Mbofana
I still can’t shake off the recent news that the UN General Assembly agreed to remap the world simply because African countries made noise over the size of the continent on standard maps.
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For centuries, the Mercator projection—developed in 1569 for ocean navigation—distorted the relative sizes of landmasses, inflating regions near the poles like Greenland and Europe while shrinking equatorial areas like Africa.
The Mercator map was never a geopolitical conspiracy; it was a mathematical solution to represent a 3D globe on a flat sheet of paper.
While rectifying cartographic inaccuracies to reflect true land area is reasonable, one must ask: was Africa the only region affected by this projection discrepancy?
South America, India, and Indonesia were similarly distorted on traditional maps.
Yet, none of these regions launched diplomatic campaigns or aired grievances at the United Nations over map sizes.
This episode raises an uncomfortable question about our collective mindset: why do we as Africans appear to love moaning and whining over our supposed unfair treatment?
From the horrors of slavery to the indignities of colonialism, and continuing into the present day, our default setting often seems to be a chorus of victimhood.
We have built an entire political culture around blaming our current failures on a colonial past that ended decades ago.
When infrastructure crumbles, when state enterprises collapse, or when state coffers are looted, our leaders routinely point fingers at imperial history rather than taking responsibility for present-day incompetence.
We have even taken this victimhood industry global, demanding reparations for slavery and colonialism as if financial compensation can substitute for visionary governance and national discipline.
Why do we behave as if we are the only people on earth who were ever colonized?
History tells a vastly different story.
Even our own former colonizers were, at various points in time, subjected to brutal foreign conquest.
Britain spent centuries under the thumb of the Roman Empire, followed by successive waves of Anglo-Saxon, Viking, and Norman invasions.
Gaul—modern-day France—was thoroughly subjugated by Julius Caesar, its native cultures largely erased or assimilated.
Spain spent nearly eight hundred years under Moorish rule.
Yet, these nations do not spend their modern existence whining over historical subjugation.
They have never blamed ancient conquests for modern policy failures.
I am reminded of a conversation I once had with a British friend who jokingly remarked that if Britain had not been colonized by the Romans, they would likely still be living in caves and painting their faces blue.
Rather than wallowing in resentment, European nations absorbed the useful elements of their conquerors’ legacies—law, language, architecture, and infrastructure—moved past their trauma, developed their societies, and eventually grew powerful enough to become colonizers themselves.
So what is wrong with us as Africans?
Why do we seem perpetually unready to grow and mature?
Why do we appear intent on remaining trapped in the past?
The only way forward for Africa is not to erase our history, but to refuse to be imprisoned by it.
We need to learn from our past and build from there.
In truth, African nations at independence were in many ways more advantaged than the early European states when their occupiers departed.
When the Romans left Britain, they left behind a land entering the Dark Ages, leaving populations to rebuild from a far lower baseline of societal organization.
In contrast, post-colonial African states inherited modern functional hospitals, schools, paved road networks, industrial processing facilities, and established administrative frameworks.
It was a privileged foundation from which to build independent nations.
Yet, instead of progressing, much of the continent has retrogressed.
We have watched systems deteriorate through chronic mismanagement, rampant corruption, systemic underfunding, and institutional neglect.
Blaming dead empire-builders for today’s broken water systems and underfunded schools is no longer convincing.
As Africans, we must look to other formerly colonized nations—from Asia to Eastern Europe—that chose discipline over grievance and transformed their economies within a single generation.
It is time to stop nursing historical wounds, discard the politics of pity, and focus unequivocally on building the future.
*Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to contact him on +263715667700 or *
mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com
