Are Africans citizens of the world? | Ooooota Adepo | TEDxBerlin

[Music] [Music] [Applause] we have all been made aware of our identity in our differences which I believe can be good as it reminds us of our individuality we were born alone you will die alone and there is no reason we should live our lives under terms outside of our own but when differences in nationality are used to determine which people have more of a right to see the world a systemic abuse of moral authority occurs as an African I believe an injustice occurs on two fronts towards Africans the first when the world imposes strict travel restrictions on us the second and perhaps more disturbing when Africans impose similarly strict travel restrictions on other Africans this injustice the latter more so than the former challenges the idea of freedom or lack thereof a conflict I realized at age ten was not uniquely my struggle I cannot speak for all Africans but I believe many of us associate feelings of frustration and even desperation with travel and immigration let me take you back to 1997 I'm ten years old it is a late August afternoon at Gatwick Airport I bump into my two best friends who like myself are connecting through London to Lagos our parents have left us to huddle together and we are excited to demand adjacent seats on the plane there is a familiar Nigerian energy as we approach the aircraft which makes the menacing thought of going back to elementary school much easier to bear as we approach the aircraft I glanced behind me and lock eyes with a thirtysomething year-old major man he smiles at me and I smile back but before the air hostess has a chance to direct me to my seat the air is suddenly interrupted with screams from behind blood of Jesus a woman cries my friend's mother quickly pulls my friends and I to the side and as I look up I see the same Nigerian man I locked eyes with being escorted from the aircraft with a curtain of blood descending from a gash on his forehead his casual smile remains and as he wipes the crimson cascade from his face in the same way an athlete dismisses sweat from skin I see the tiny blade he holds delicately between his fingers that this man felt compelled to inflict bodily harm on himself as a way of being over voiding being brought back to Africa is unfortunately commonplace with migrants who fear deportation it sounds unbelievable but it is true I have another story for you and in this one I'm the main character the years 2014 I fly into Entebbe Airport in Uganda I'm flying because it's my friend Grace's birthday and she's turning 13 it's gonna be great the first time I visited Uganda I was escorted through immigration by Grace's family security but this time I go at it alone no guided service I'm asked to stand in a queue that I believe is quite long to my right are a series of much shorter queues all of which were moving quite quickly that's strange I thought I didn't realize visas on arrival were segmented at the front of my queue sit two uniformed immigration officers one male one female when I get to the front I hand the female official the format completed which he takes from me looks that quickly before glancing up in my face you add grace to Chalmers friend yes how do you know grace chuma we went to school together and you will stay in Greece Juma's house yes what else are you doing in Uganda well after Grace's birthday I will go back to London where I live may I just ask I see that in that other queue which is moving quite quickly people don't have to fill out a form can you please tell me why I have to fill out a form this time the male official response what kind of question is that she occurs silly woman who are you to question us just take your things and go I smile but I can't help but feel hurt more hurt than I felt by the European immigration officers who take an extra 10 minutes to look at every single stamp in my passport including during this trip to Berlin more hurt than I felt by the Singaporean official who took me into a secluded room and proceeded to interrogate me harshly for 15 minutes with three military officials before locking me in that room for another 15 minutes without an explanation this sting felt particularly unique as it came from people who looked just like me both examples the man in 1997 and me with the Ugandan officials illustrate a sense of displacement which I believe is the result of African countries not being sufficiently accommodating of Africans I've lived on three continents I visited over 50 countries and I have seen how the treatment of certain passports gives agency to a politically correct form of discrimination so how did we get here how did we get to the point where a majority of immigration officers across continents including Africa feel that it's okay to treat people from my continent like second-class citizens of the world let's briefly look at Africa's modern history after decolonization African countries for the most part remained tethered to their colonialists Nigeria to the UK and gola to Portugal Senegal to France as a result we collectively developed a fragmented sense of identity considering our paths to Europe and the US before any connection to a neighboring country following the 60s minimal intricate trade occurred but while African markets remain virtually sealed from one another a vibrant channel of trade flourished between Africa and the rest Western world this is the legacy of twentieth-century Africa which still dictates our way of life today today I reside in London a city whose multicultural identity I cherish still hopefully and as is common with most Londoners traveling the world is one of my greatest passions unfortunately because I'm Nigerian I'm subject to travel restrictions which make it difficult for me to see some of the countries that most fascinate me ranked number 89 on the global passport index actually it's 82 now I checked this morning Nigeria sits in the company of Kosovo Libya and Pakistan as one of the countries facing the toughest travel restrictions while my friend a Sacco from Japan can travel visa-free to Buenos Aires I must submit my passport to the Argentinean consulate four months in advance and pay a visa application fee which feels like a tax but just think about that for a second think about giving up your travel document for four months and how inconvenient it would be for your life you would essentially imprison yourself in that country wherever you're applying from for that period of time until a decision has been made and that decision is not a guaranteed es prior to my trip to Sri Lanka in April of 2015 my supporting documents included a personal bank statement a company bank statement a proof of address an invitation letter written from a friend of a friend in Sri Lanka and a letter from my doctor confirming that I do not have Ebola even though I hadn't visited a West African country in six months prior to the outbreak despite the obstacles I always comply and submit whatever is asked of me why because I feel I have as much of a right to see and discover this planet is any other person unfortunately Africans still face restrictions in travelling their own continent Somali citizen cannot travel to a single African country without a visa US and UK citizens can travel to about 36 35 African countries either visa-free or with visa on arrival that Africans seem more tolerant to Westerners than they are to other Africans reflects a troubling bias one that feeds the business pursuits and wonder lusts of Europeans Americans while starving Africans of their own right to see their own continent let me give you a few more examples for Senegalese women to travel to South Africa she needs a visa which might take two to four weeks to process for a Nigerian man to travel from Nigeria to Cape Verde both of which are countries in the same economic community at a similar distance as in the traders to Hamburg his total trip time will take 22 hours he will begin in Lagos and then fly to Casablanca before flying down to be sawed and finally to Cape Verde so what does the ridiculous nature of this journey show well it demonstrates how a lack of infrastructure connecting complements our lack of knowledge of one another it's bad enough that the world makes it difficult for many of us to visit North and South America Europe and Asia it's even worse when we impose these restrictions on ourselves the consequences undermine every goal in agenda set by the IMF the UN in the World Bank which is to see Africa prosper self sustainably international movement to an extent mirrors our ability to at sighs personal liberties bearing this in mind I have identified three main consequences of restricting the travel of Africans firstly it prevents the average African from wanting to discover the world beyond London Paris Dubai New York secondly it allows for a missed global education for Africans on regions like rajasthan patagonia basque country thirdly and this doesn't just apply to africans the decision to selectively restrict travel punishes people for the wrongdoings of a handful of citizens it punishes people for the policies of presidents and dictators who harm their countries and it pre determines who is more worthy of the world you've heard this before but i believe it's worth repeating the solution to the mistreatment of Africans is in the hands of Africans we as Africans are responsible for creating in Africa that is politically stable intellectually empowered and socioeconomically integrated as recently stated by the President of Ghana once African countries start taking themselves seriously the world will follow in March of 2018 forty-four of Africa's 54 countries agreed to establish a continental free-trade area this is good this is progress and will hopefully bring inter-african trade currently at 12% closer to the EU figure of about 65% I checked this morning but our signing agreements and photo ops enough how do we move forward constructively here are three suggestions infrastructure needs to be created so that travel within the African continent does not require a connecting flight through Europe or Turkey African states need to have a thorough understanding of their industries so that trade with other African countries is meaningful and so that business and bilateral agreements with the Chinese or the Americans actually benefits both parties finally there needs to be a re-education on Africa non-africans for Africans culturally historically and economically these conversations need to happen in classrooms as well as around dinner tables which will in turn improve the quality of conversations in business and international forums when all of the above happen Africans will not need to pursue treacherous routes through the Mediterranean risk being enslaved or auctioned or inflict bodily harm in a desperate attempt to stay abroad we as Africans are responsible for creating an Africa that is stable and that presents real growth opportunities to be sufficiently curious about another one another and to treat each other with respect to realize that if an American citizen can travel visa-free to South Africa then a citizen of leisure should be allowed the same right and it is the responsibility of the rest of the world to resist the temptation to make fast money in Africa and to instead consider mutually beneficial long term opportunities and maybe just maybe together we can create a world that is more welcoming to Africans not just affluence but more importantly one in which we Africans are welcoming to each other thank you [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 177,286

Rating: 4.9203787 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Education, Africa, Change, Consciousness, Culture, Travel

Id: gS1n3MdzF0k

Length: 15min 7sec (907 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 14 2018