It is no longer news that the African continent can be likened to a man who is suffering from an illness whose cure is right in front of his house but yet he ignores it. His case is even more challenging because he is aware of this cure but refuses to take advantage of it.

Nelson Mandela said it better in his quote: “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” If this statement is to be dissected, we would realize that it can be said that for development to strive in any geographical location, Africa being the subject in this context, there must be respect for rule and order. This rule and order is the not the absence of crimes but the presence of the rule of law that checkmates criminals. This is to say that everyone is under the law and as a result must respect it. In the case where the law is broken, the law must be strong enough to address such a person through its systems. This brings us further to advocating for strong systems that can address defaulters of the law. For no country on earth has enjoyed development without peace. So it is safe to say that peace and development go together. The former has to be in place for the latter to take place.

Having made an elaborate explanation on what peace means, it will be important to point out that countries that have developed and are currently developing did so because they gave peace a chance and understood that no reasonable development can be achieved without peace. Examples of such countries are China, Japan, Canada and many other countries not mentioned. These countries have taken industrialization to a whole new level, and the world admires their tenacity and doggedness in their pursuit of development. However, we must not forget to give them credit for agreeing to stay and work together in peace.

In conclusion, for us to achieve the Africa of our desires we must give peace everything it needs to thrive in Africa, having understood that the absence of peace is the absence of development. It is our collective duty to raise Africa so high that we are proud to associate with her. Our dogma should be “there is no me without us” which means without us there cannot be me.