Kigali by Jude Idada
The two words that pop into your mind when you enter Kigali, Rwanda are...
Clean
and
Order.
This place is impossibly neat.
The people are incredibly orderly.
I have not seen a piece of paper or an empty pure water sachet or a fallen branch of a tree or a clogged drain or anything dirty.
Then there is electricity.
The city is a dazzle of lights.
And there is security.
Everywhere there are armed policemen.
And the city records near zero crime rates.
When I pointed these things out to Isaie, the smartly dressed guy who picked me from the airport, he answered me with pride.
"We have come a long way. And there is still a long way to go. In this country if you drop an ordinary chewing gum on the ground, anyone who sees you has the duty to report you and you will be severely punished. Even our electricity we have 90% supply and in 2 years when the new plants come on stream we will have over 120% supply and maybe we can help power Nigeria. I hear you live in darkness over there."
It was humbling.
I asked.
"How did you guys do it?"
"We learnt in a very painful way what hatred and division can do. We saw the monster called corruption up front and realised it destroys both the thief and the owner. We learnt to be one truly. Think as one. Dream as one. Fight corruption with a single.mind. Destroy nepotism and cronyism. We banned tribe. We changed our official language from French to English. We started a new page and struggled together for the creation of one Rwanda."
I looked out of the window and thought sadly about Nigeria.
He continued.
"At most in ten years we will be the giant of Africa."
I turned to him.
Puzzled.
"Rwanda is at most 12 million people. Nigeria is nearly 200 million with more than 30 times the land mass of Rwanda."
He turned at me smiling.
"It is not how many but how well. Quality not quantity. David was the giant not Goliath."
PDP Apologize, For Nigeria Can Still Be Great!!!
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