George Christopher

To keep , to keep growing, to keep choosing , that too is part of the making

One of the greatest tragedies in many African societies is not simply corruption itself, but how easily ethnicity and religion are used to protect it.

Too often, political accountability disappears the moment leadership failures are questioned. The conversation immediately shifts from competence to identity. A failed leader is no longer defended because of results, but because he is “our own.” Criticism becomes interpreted as tribal hatred, religious bias, or an attack on a community rather than a legitimate demand for better governance.

And that is how many African societies have become trapped.

Once people become emotionally loyal to identity over principles, politicians no longer need to govern well. They only need to sustain division. They only need to keep citizens suspicious of one another long enough to avoid scrutiny themselves. The painful irony is that ordinary citizens from different tribes or religions often suffer the same realities - poverty, unemployment, insecurity, inflation, and weak institutions. Yet instead of uniting around competence and accountability, many African societies remain politically fragmented along identity lines carefully maintained by elites who understand that divided people are easier to control.

In my opinion, while diversity is often presented as Africa’s greatest problem, it should, in many ways, have been one of its greatest strengths. Because the deeper problem is not diversity itself, but the manipulation of that diversity by political actors who profit from division, confusion, and emotional politics.