Only Africans Can Save Africa

AT every historic juncture of a great people comes a leader to show the way.

This is a truism throughout human history. Moses led the Jews to the Promised Land.Americans found great leadership in Jefferson, Madison, Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Franklin and other founding fathers.Gandhi emerged when India needed a liberator.The apartheid regime in South Africa was dismantled, thanks to Mandela’s great leadership.These are what great leaders have in common.They emerge to liberate their oppressed people.Today Africans are crying out for leadership.They’re looking for the messiah to show them the way.They’re in search of a true leader, who is endowed with the power to give them new hope and lead them out of current crisis.The long-awaited leader will have all it takes, not just to counter the great forces of opposition and the status quo.His ability to persuade and mobilise the people equally will be unique.But in his absence, Africans have acted like a people without direction.Without a great leader, we’ve embraced “easy” ways.We’ve come to believe we can simply contract out development to those who are “specially endowed.”And who out of sheer sympathy, must come to our rescue.But as victims of our own failures, we ended as a laughing stock.In the absence of the messiah, confusion has reigned everywhere – in politics, in religion, and in economics.Where seeking narrow gains in everyone’s interest, more so among those in power, since they’re aware they may not be there for long – or may not have such a chance again in life.Little wonder therefore, that the region is today littered with so many failed white elephant projects – projects that ended up oiling institutional corruption.These massive failures now make it extremely difficult for any serious projects to take place on the continent.In today’s Africa, no one wants to take the risk or make the necessary sacrifices.Living in sheer affluence is synonymous with elitism in Africa, while being outside the corridors of power is synonymous with living in dehumanising poverty.Now with less and less available to share, seeking greener pastures outside the continent of Africa has become popular among the privileged few.Western colleges and universities have replaced their African counterparts for their children.To the extent that those in power could care less about the deplorable state of African universities.In fact, it is in the best interest of their returning “if they ever return” that the status quo be maintained.With such a mass exodus and poor university education, we’ve – because of narrow gains – compromised the future.And fully aware of the consequences, we have undermined the fate of the next generations of Africans.The rare minds badly needed to lead our economic development are now a give-away to the western economies.It is outrageous.It is mind-boggling that nothing is being done to reverse Africa’s brain drain.To say the least, it is a tragedy generations after generations will anguish about.If they may forgive us for anything else; it will never be for selling their future so cheaply.Our failure to look at ourselves in the mirror is the tragedy future historians will be perplexed to read about.Historians will be perplexed by what was going on in our minds.They will wonder for whom we were expecting to do this, if not for us? They will be perplexed that, naively, we expected foreign rescuers.But as historians, they will have no problem understanding why no distant nations came to our rescue.Without any historical precedence, historians will be convinced that no such distant nations would have left their own problems to come to Africa’s aid.It doesn’t take a genius to understand such an impossibility.No individual in his right senses can leave his own problems and come to solve yours.Even with huge benefits involved, he must first deal with some basic questions: what are the long-term consequences of doing so? Will helping my neighbour for short-term gain undermine my children’s future? What about my grandchildren, will their future be in jeopardy, he may ask? Should there be any doubt, not only will he not help you, in fact, he may go to the extent of ensuring you do not succeed yourself.This is the simple law of human survival.Like other animals, humans almost always depend on the weakness of an opponent.And no amount of moralisation will change this survivalist law of nature.The day we begin to recognise these realities is the day we begin to seek the right answers to our problems.That’s the day we understand that the uniqueness of our problems require unique and home-grown solutions.It’s the day we recognise that there are no silver bullets or shortcut solutions; that there is no great success without an accompanying great risk, sacrifices, trial and error, and learning.The day everyone is given the opportunity to participate and to experiment is the day our entrepreneurs enthusiastically take their right place in leading Africa’s development.And it’s the day foreign investors attracted to our huge market invade Africa in the millions.That day begins with Africans believing in themselves, trusting one another, treating one another with respect and praising and giving credit to the deserving.History will be on our side the day we begin to respect the rule of law and show an appreciation of the importance of economic and political institutions.There’s no doubt that some great achievements have been made, thanks to the sacrificial leadership of people like Nkrumah, Azikiwe, Kaunda, and Mandela.Their fight against and defeat of colonialism brought us political independence.They deserve a great place in history.There’s no doubt about the remarkable role that Mbeki, Obasanjo, and Gadhafi have played in leading the African Union and NEPAD.There’s equally no doubt that leaders like Masire of Botswana have demonstrated that, given nurtured economic judgements and discipline, a middle-income economy and a strong democracy can thrive in Africa.But Africans need more widely spread and consolidated efforts and more action than blueprint declarations.We need an “afro-currency zone” to reduce present dollar transaction costs.We need our people to move freely.We need free movement of goods and services to gain the benefits of such a large market.We need a new Africa where a regional assembly makes laws, where a regional police force maintains law and order, and where a peacekeeping force makes war a thing of the past.We owe these both to future generations and to ourselves.Basil EnwegbaraMoses led the Jews to the Promised Land.Americans found great leadership in Jefferson, Madison, Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Franklin and other founding fathers.Gandhi emerged when India needed a liberator.The apartheid regime in South Africa was dismantled, thanks to Mandela’s great leadership.These are what great leaders have in common.They emerge to liberate their oppressed people.Today Africans are crying out for leadership.They’re looking for the messiah to show them the way.They’re in search of a true leader, who is endowed with the power to give them new hope and lead them out of current crisis.The long-awaited leader will have all it takes, not just to counter the great forces of opposition and the status quo.His ability to persuade and mobilise the people equally will be unique.But in his absence, Africans have acted like a people without direction.Without a great leader, we’ve embraced “easy” ways.We’ve come to believe we can simply contract out development to those who are “specially endowed.”And who out of sheer sympathy, must come to our rescue.But as victims of our own failures, we ended as a laughing stock.In the absence of the messiah, confusion has reigned everywhere – in politics, in religion, and in economics.Where seeking narrow gains in everyone’s interest, more so among those in power, since they’re aware they may not be there for long – or may not have such a chance again in life.Little wonder therefore, that the region is today littered with so many failed white elephant projects – projects that ended up oiling institutional corruption.Thes
e massive failures now make it extremely difficult for any serious projects to take place on the continent.In today’s Africa, no one wants to take the risk or make the necessary sacrifices.Living in sheer affluence is synonymous with elitism in Africa, while being outside the corridors of power is synonymous with living in dehumanising poverty.Now with less and less available to share, seeking greener pastures outside the continent of Africa has become popular among the privileged few.Western colleges and universities have replaced their African counterparts for their children.To the extent that those in power could care less about the deplorable state of African universities.In fact, it is in the best interest of their returning “if they ever return” that the status quo be maintained.With such a mass exodus and poor university education, we’ve – because of narrow gains – compromised the future.And fully aware of the consequences, we have undermined the fate of the next generations of Africans.The rare minds badly needed to lead our economic development are now a give-away to the western economies.It is outrageous.It is mind-boggling that nothing is being done to reverse Africa’s brain drain.To say the least, it is a tragedy generations after generations will anguish about.If they may forgive us for anything else; it will never be for selling their future so cheaply.Our failure to look at ourselves in the mirror is the tragedy future historians will be perplexed to read about.Historians will be perplexed by what was going on in our minds.They will wonder for whom we were expecting to do this, if not for us? They will be perplexed that, naively, we expected foreign rescuers.But as historians, they will have no problem understanding why no distant nations came to our rescue.Without any historical precedence, historians will be convinced that no such distant nations would have left their own problems to come to Africa’s aid.It doesn’t take a genius to understand such an impossibility.No individual in his right senses can leave his own problems and come to solve yours.Even with huge benefits involved, he must first deal with some basic questions: what are the long-term consequences of doing so? Will helping my neighbour for short-term gain undermine my children’s future? What about my grandchildren, will their future be in jeopardy, he may ask? Should there be any doubt, not only will he not help you, in fact, he may go to the extent of ensuring you do not succeed yourself.This is the simple law of human survival.Like other animals, humans almost always depend on the weakness of an opponent.And no amount of moralisation will change this survivalist law of nature.The day we begin to recognise these realities is the day we begin to seek the right answers to our problems.That’s the day we understand that the uniqueness of our problems require unique and home-grown solutions.It’s the day we recognise that there are no silver bullets or shortcut solutions; that there is no great success without an accompanying great risk, sacrifices, trial and error, and learning.The day everyone is given the opportunity to participate and to experiment is the day our entrepreneurs enthusiastically take their right place in leading Africa’s development.And it’s the day foreign investors attracted to our huge market invade Africa in the millions.That day begins with Africans believing in themselves, trusting one another, treating one another with respect and praising and giving credit to the deserving.History will be on our side the day we begin to respect the rule of law and show an appreciation of the importance of economic and political institutions.There’s no doubt that some great achievements have been made, thanks to the sacrificial leadership of people like Nkrumah, Azikiwe, Kaunda, and Mandela.Their fight against and defeat of colonialism brought us political independence.They deserve a great place in history.There’s no doubt about the remarkable role that Mbeki, Obasanjo, and Gadhafi have played in leading the African Union and NEPAD.There’s equally no doubt that leaders like Masire of Botswana have demonstrated that, given nurtured economic judgements and discipline, a middle-income economy and a strong democracy can thrive in Africa.But Africans need more widely spread and consolidated efforts and more action than blueprint declarations.We need an “afro-currency zone” to reduce present dollar transaction costs.We need our people to move freely.We need free movement of goods and services to gain the benefits of such a large market.We need a new Africa where a regional assembly makes laws, where a regional police force maintains law and order, and where a peacekeeping force makes war a thing of the past.We owe these both to future generations and to ourselves.Basil Enwegbara