By Chukwudi Iwuchukwu
Comoros is a poor country by all standards, but there is a neighboring rich country called Mayotte, which used to be part of Comoros but now belongs to France.
Mayotte is also a member of the EU as her citizens have French passports.
Because of the relationship the island of Mayotte has with France, the citizens of the small island, which has over 250,000 residents, are more prosperous than the 900,000 citizens of its former country, Comoros.
Mayotte is the most prosperous territory in the Mozambique Channel, making it a major destination for illegal immigration (I will explain more about this later).
The question that needs to be asked?
How did Mayotte break away from the Comoros that we watched today on TV?
Comoros, an Indian Ocean archipelago made up of four islands (Grande-Comore, Anjouan, Moheli, and Mayotte), were originally colonized by France.
Comoros declared independence from Paris in 1975, but Mayotte chose to remain a part of France.
At the time of independence in 1975, the people of Mayotte believed that life would be better off under the rulership of France than joining their black brothers to form a new country known as Comoros.
In 2009, Mayotte opted to remain part of France for the second time by voting overwhelmingly in favor of becoming an integral part of France, mainly because of the economic benefits associated with becoming French.
In 2011, it became the 101st French department, following the 2009 referendum.
It is a predominantly Muslim country, and although French is the official language, only about half of the population can read or write it.
With the passing of years, that decision to remain with France turned out to be a masterstroke and a smart move by the early leaders of Mayotte.
And this is why:
Mayotte, though smaller than Comoros, is far richer than its original country.
The economy of Mayotte is based primarily on the agricultural sector, including fishing and livestock raising, and then subsidies from France.
The island of Mayotte is not self-sufficient and must import a large portion of its food requirements, mainly from Metropolitan France.
The economy and future development of the island is heavily dependent on French financial assistance, an important supplement to GDP. Mayotte's remote location is an obstacle to the development of tourism.
A child born in Mayotte is an automatic citizen of France and can travel to any country in the EU with a French passport when the child is older because Mayotte is also a member of the EU, as I pointed out earlier.
Mayotte has an uninterrupted power supply, Comoros is like Nigeria where the power supply is not steady.
Because Mayotte is doing economically better than Comoros and is the most prosperous country in the Mozambique Channel, a lot of illegal migrants from the Comoros and Mozambique are running away from the poverty in their home countries, and they are heading to Mayotte, where the standard of living is far better than in their home countries.
In 2018, a heavy protest rocked the island of Mayotte. The protest was triggered because illegal immigrants from Comoros were becoming one too many in the country, and the locals did not like it, and that pent-up anger triggered the protest.
Locals complained that the arrivals of migrants from Comoros were putting Mayotte's health, housing, and education services under pressure.
According to official statistics, about 70% of the 10,000 babies born every year in the island's only maternity hospital in the main town of Mamoudzou are born to illegal migrants, mainly from the Comoran islands.
It is said to be one of France's busiest hospitals in the world, to the point that the government back home In France is considering declaring the hospital as a non-French territory so that children born there do not automatically qualify for French citizenship.
The truth is that we're suffocating in Mayotte. We can't access our hospitals anymore. We have to go to Reunion Island or elsewhere for treatment, " Marianne, a protester, told the AFP news agency.
"We can't give birth in Mayotte anymore because there are too many deliveries." Our safety is at stake”.
Also in 2018, there was a protest in Comoros, and the protest was because the people of Comoros rejected the illegal immigrants deported from neighboring Mayotte by French police who are offering protection to the locals.
Locals in Comoros also insisted during the protest that the island of Mayotte was illegally taken away from them by France while calling on France to reliquench the island country of Mayotte back to Comoros.
The descendants of the natives of ancient Comoros who might have chosen to move to France would rue their ancestors’ decision of staying to form Comoros because a child born in Comoros today is born in poverty and lack.
Their relatives on the island of Mayotte would be eternally grateful to France for the integration of the locals of the island into the French culture and identity, France’s generosity of spirit, and to their ancestors for making the right call.
The contrast and the outcome between both countries through irony is a reflection of what leadership is all about.
It shows that something is fundamentally wrong with a black man, as black men are incapable of taking care of their affairs.
For more than a century, the outcome of the fortunes of Africa has been this dire and bleak, primarily because we have had people like Buhari as our leaders.
The future of Africa is worrying
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