Africa’s history has been a checkered one. “Scrambled” and scattered into colonialism, granted political independence across its jointed parts at a temporal swoop and perpetually visited by intermittent interposition by its “colonial masters.” Socioeconomically and politically; Africa has come of age to chart a new course in its trajectories and become the hill set on the mountain of the world. Realistically, its growth and development have been steadily slow but progressive. It is excruciatingly battled by diverse and compacted troubles that include the elusiveness of responsive and responsible political leadership immune to the disorder of greed, economic doldrums, sociopolitical unrest, underfunded and sterile education, religious fundamentalism and insurgency, etc. In all these confronting grim existential circumstances, Africa moves on.
Writers, social commentators and engineers alike (in and beyond Africa) have commonly identified the absence or elusiveness of responsible, responsive, truly patriotic and selfless political leadership as the bane of Africa’s growth and development. Thinking on Nigeria in his widely cited essay published in 1983 The Trouble with Nigeria, the father of African literature, Chinua Achebe laments: “The Trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.” As it is true for Nigeria, so it is true for Africa. In 50 years’ time, I see an Africa whose political leaders would be made disciplined by the political setup of the time. This will happen because whether little or not, Nigerian political system is getting better. Electoral process seems to be counting now.
The economy of Africa will improve into the desired state when power is totally fix in Africa. I see an Africa that has shifted from Hydro-generated station of power to one that taps electrical energy from the sun, wind, etc. With this arrangement, erratic power supply of power becomes a thing of the past. Investors would come into our economy from every part of the world.
Education must be revived. We need an educated Africa for a sustainable prosperous Africa. I see the African society to be an educated one, 50 years from now. Proper education will surely check religious fundamentalism, and other social pick. Good education will help Africans to ably rationalise religion.
No doubt, Africa is that vista latent with unseen potentials. Africa is fast becoming the New World, a place of exceeding commerce.
