"Hands Off!"

I really must continue to fall back on my comparison of these African writers (like Iweala) and the original framers of our own country. I can't help but hold Iweala's claims of outrage and disgust at Westerners trying to involve themselves in African affairs along side arguments made by American colonial seperatists against the coddling and unfair impositions of King George upon the American colonies.

A good example of these abrasive impositions (as I think it's safe to call them), would be Iweala's citing of the "I Am African" campaign and college students trying to start a campaign to save Darfur from violence in the north for the sake of keeping up with a growing humanitarian trend. He then proposes that the only help Africa really needs is for the Western world to keep its hands to itself and allow the nations of Africa to make their own way without any interference. Again, ideas along this line of thinking are in exact tune with our American forefathers.

I would also, if I may, like to speculate that in light of works such as these, the world may witness a strengthened union between African nations over the coming century and maybe the birth of a new, larger and more unified nation from the currently exploited continent. I think that this would make for a very interesting line of discussion instead of going over how unfairly Africans are being judged by the west.

In traveling down this line of thought, I think I can also relate to the heart of Iweala's argument. He isn't going out of his way to try and appear arrogant or disrespectful towards those who wish to aid Africa. Instead, I believe that he is actually trying to dispel Western outrage at Africa's situation and stop asking: "Why don't these people realize they're incapable of self-preservation and take our help?" And start asking, "How can we start helping Africans by simply giving them the economic and political space to make their own way?"