In Africa memories are uncherished

The other day while gazing through the latest model of plasma flat TV, a scene catched my nerves and sent a flashback to 1980's. Yes, I like flashbacks, those good golden days when I was a football fan. Gentleman going by the name of Renatus Njohole was presenting his foundation named Njohole foundation.

That was a noble cause coming from our own lad playing in Switzeland. That the foundation is aiming at supporting our old uncherished heroes need to be supported by all sensible football fans. The fact that old players are miserable is not to be envied. Looking at the poses of Juma Pondamali and others at that bash on the tele, i was ashamed. Those were the guys who entartained me in those teenager years but now I see them languished.

In Africa we have a very short memory span changing daily as cameleon living nothing for the present generation to emulate. Some highlights should bring sense to the present generation.

Football is massive thing, at least in Tanzania; men loathes football, we talk football all the time to the point of not being sensible, but our tit-chat misses one important point; MEMORY. Ask a twenty something youngman to mention a Tanzanian footballer of 1980's and he wont have an answer.Few remembers a 1980 National team that lifted our flag in African cup of Nations that played along with big boys from Nigeria,Egypt,and Ivory Coast.We hadly hear these old guards being mentioned in the media let alone in the street; unsang heroes die miserably while surviving ones are languished in the streets, the likes of Juma Pondamali,Ahmed Amasha,Adolf Rishard, Omary Hussein, Peter Tino, Mtemi Ramadhani,and Jella Mtagwa.( Luckly Leodgar Tenga is a reknown personality in footy leadership, but he seems to be the only one. To me forgetting these heroes have a big impact to success of today's competittive game. Lads are not getting skills from the old guards but again even the game itself lacks enthusiasm as today's would be players feel that they will be ignored in later years, hence non-committment.

Perhaps one should also zoom in the world of technology as we see the flood of gadgets in our midst. In 1960 through to 1980 the format of our offices were furnished with typewritters, land line telephones, ceilling fans, fax machines etc. Enter a reasonable office in this 21st century, and typewritter is obsolete, ceilling fans are replaced by air conditioners, and fax machines are replaced by desktop facilitating e-mail transfer; its a paper less office enviroment. But again, a big question roams around; why pulling down ceiling fans, i think we dont need air conditioners all the times, there're chilly days that ceiling fan would save a purpose.

In infrastructure the story remains the same. Germany colonizers constructed a central railway line from Dar-Tabora-Dodoma-Mwanza. From Tabora the line escapes to Kigoma. Today this railway line is non-functioning for silly reasons and not a single reasonable answer can be forthcoming. The railway line is left for the weeds to surround those iron-bars. Ask a lad born in 1990 and he will look into your eyes with awe as he has never boarded a train in his life. In Germany, grandsons and daughters of our colonisers commute in trains daily to and from work,Africans cannot move cargo from one region to the other as roads are patchy with potholes. Reports are rife that Tanzania is having food surplus to the tune of 1.3 million tones and yet prices are skyrocketting due to failure of transporting cargo from abundant regions to the hunger stricken parts of the country.

It was a reknown critic Prof Ali Mazrui who commented that jews treasure memories of 1000 years ago, but africans can not fathom stuff that existed some thirty years ago.

My positive guess is that just as we forgot fine and heroic work of Chief Mkwawa of Iringa, Nyerere we are trumpeting now will be out of our brains thirty years from now.

I think our levels of thinking need a serious make over.