Rethinking Africa's development

Over the years I have seen, read and heard about how much Africa needs help. Our leaders, civil societies and those in the fore front who we entrenched with the responsibilities of leadership and who have access to “ the help” of the ‘developed worlds’ have presented our case as that of ‘the helpless’.

I grew up in an academic environment and I studied there, a nuclear, simple family of six children, a father and one mother. I put my mind to deep thinking and I challenged all statuesque, maybe not overtly though.

I remember as a child I didn’t want to go to school because I really did not understand why I should but I was forced to, thanks to my good parents but then I knew at an early age that the mind is very important, seat of decision making and the strength for all purpose.

Growing up was normal, nothing spectacular.

Lost all we had as a family when our house got burnt. All was gone, a point for my family to begin again.

A few years after that life was normal again, no body remembered we lost all a few years back. We had regained all.

Through this and many other real life experiences one thing became clear; all impossibilities can be made possible.

I also defined for myself ‘time’ as events in motion or humorously ‘motion pictures’.

I am driving at a point, I was privileged to attend the 5th YES global summit in Sweden recently and nothing became more obvious and real to me than the fact that “we can, we could, but we will, only if we try and persist”.

NOTHING is wrong with AFRICA but the people! Nothing is wrong with NIGERIA but the few bad Nigerians! We are developing, growing towards development. In my own opinion I believe that all the problems that we have in Africa are signs of underdevelopment in the minds of people.

We need to make this clear, my country, Nigeria will be 50 years after independence on the 1st of October 2010, we are young though but not really young.

We do not need sympathy; we do not need people to feel bad for us. Let the western world look and probe deep into all ‘Africa needs help’ projects before grants are released.

I believe that there are stages in development and Nigeria is at a stage, on this level of development that we are, leaders are selfish and greedy. As we grow up the ladder of development, information and general awareness increases and it will become less and less possible to have selfish leaders.

Corruption will hence be reduced and development will be faster.

This is what I think, social entrepreneurs should be encouraged, general public re orientation should begin; a new culture of selflessness should be developed and taught from primary education before characters are formed.

Let us invest in the future while we manage the present and learn from the past.

Our investment should be more on developing the right culture, reaching out to early primary education before character is formed, a culture of love, selflessness, togetherness with community growth and development.

Also we work on a re orientation campaign, what to do and not to do as adults, expose the ills of the society and punish wrong doers, dos and don’ts should be well spelt out in black and white

And then we need to establish the fact that Africa needs collaboration and not help, partnership and not sympathy, we obviously have a lot of resources that the develop world needs and they definitely will not be able to run without it. So let us as Africans identify our strengths and negotiate with these.

In summary, Africans should understand themselves and should fully appreciate what level each country is on the ladder of development, at the base of the ladder of development is poverty, selfishness and chaos, and at the top is wealth, selflessness and peace. We are going somewhere and we will get there.

The developed world should also know this and should be sincere in their dealings with us. Exchange rather than exploitation would be a better strategy to display their maturity.

Sponsors and organizations involved with supporting the civil society for development in Africa should actually have bodies within each country totally loyal to them to scrutinise, study and recommend eligible societies for grants and supports so that the global purse is not squandered by selfish humans who do not understand the times and ways of development.