Economic monopolization

               Africa should be the richest continent in the world because of all the resources it has. However, most resources like gold, diamonds, phosphate, wood and many other natural resources are exported from Africa to other countries in the world. Nevertheless, African presidents don’t use the profits of those exports to take care of the population, and that makes people struggle. People go to school, get a bachelor’s degree, but they still can’t find a job. I am one of those young people who went to school for seventeen years, studied sociology in the university for three years, and was forced to move to the US trying to realize my dream. Therefore, the bad economy has had negative effects on the many African countries and its citizens, and young people in Togo, as well as many African countries, choose to immigrate to the others countries looking for a better life.

                In most countries in Africa, once a president wins the election, he monopolizes the property of the state. The most surprising thing of that situation is the fact that although these countries have many resources that can take care everybody, the presidents refuse to create jobs for young people, even if they have graduated and have bachelor’s degrees. Those young grow up without purpose or goals. When somebody tries to protest against this situation, those leaders arrest that person and put him in jail for speaking their minds. In my country, Togo for example, the previous president was elected in 1967, and stayed until 2005 when he died, almost thirty eight years. After his death, his son was enthroned in 2005 until now which is almost eight years. The same family was in power for forty-six years. If young people at least had a job and everything was fine, people could absorb it, but things are getting worse and that situation has caused the discontent of many people who leave the country looking for a better life. However, Togo should be one of the best states in Africa because it only has a population of seven million, and it has many resources like phosphate, marble, product cement, café, cacao and cotton that it exports to other countries for the money which can take care its population. However, the presidents steal that money and save it in their own account out of the country. All this makes people leave.    

                  In Africa in general, and also in Togo, the rights of citizens and the constitution are unknown. The police and the gendarme are corrupted by the presidents. Moreover, as long as they know that people are not going to be happy about an election, due to cheating, they make sure to recruit many soldiers for their protection. Thus, nobody can talk about what is going on because if you try to discover their plan, they also corrupt you, they let the police arrest and kill you. There is no respect for citizen’s rights. On the campuses for example, the students have to fight all the time for their rights like transportation, healthy foods in the restaurant, and also the money each student receives to take care of themselves. My parents had to send me money every month in the campus for food and clothes, which is the minimum the government is supposed to provide for students. That makes people depressed, and feeds the desire to immigrate.

                  Another effect of this situation is that people don’t take care about the environment anymore. Togo used to be very beautiful before the 1990s, but after the state had voted the law of democracy, which people misunderstood, the county became dirty. People thought that the freedom meant doing what you want to do without force. People never used to cut trees, because they would be punished by paying ticket for that, but with democracy, people started cutting down trees. That changed the country negatively because the trees, which are supposed to bring the rain and promote good production of food, have been cut. This situation caused widespread famine. In addition, people used also to take care the environment, clean the city and sweep houses and the roads every day. Togo was so clean because they used to give tickets to people who have unclean houses. However, with democracy, people thought they are free not to do it anymore. That made the country worse and some of young people like me, for example, decided to move. 

                   With all these situations in Togo, it seems like the young men will not have a better future, and they have no choice but to immigrate to other countries. Some of them go in the best countries in Africa, others to Europe, others to Asia, and others to the US. I am one of the immigrants in the US who leaved Togo because of this corruption. I grew up in a middle class family with six siblings, and started going to school when I was five years old. I graduated from high school, graduate from college, studied sociology in the University for Almost Four years and still I was living without any job. Moreover I want to live, get married, have children. However, how am I going to realize my dreams without a job? That’s actually the reason which made me immigrate to the US looking for a better life.