Don’t look away! Why we need to shout from the rooftops about Africa’s migrant crisis | Samuel Kọ́láwọlé

Many sub-Saharan Africans feel they have no choice but to leave home, myself included. I wanted them to know that their lives – and stories – matter

I knew of the global migration crisis involving crossings of the Sahara long before I wrote a novel about it. Military dictatorships, interventionist policies by foreign governments, poverty, corruption, hunger and violence have left many sub-Saharan Africans feeling they have no choice but to abandon their home in search of perceived safety and prosperity in Europe or the US.

The continent’s many problems have instilled a sense of desperation among its youth. There is also the perception that anything western is superior due to a deeply ingrained colonial worldview.