We now know that America elected for the first time in its history a President of African origin. To put this in context, the rise and success of President Obama is not an isolated streak of genius. My belief is that, it is the culmination of combined effort of so many other African and African American’s relentless fight for the basic freedom of all people. I would have been very happy to embrace every thing President Obama said if he had for one moment publicly admitted that America may be part to the fragility we see today in African countries. Many people will consider my position to be totally irrelevant to the problems facing Africa today. Unfortunately, the reality is that the past has much to do with the massive problems Africa is facing today. Problem number one is that the social cultural and political landscape divides into camps reflecting the dominance and influence of the former colonial powers. There is always interference, through lead organizations established by the colonial masters in order to retain influence in former colonies. The second problem is this nefarious belief that the only way Africa can develop is when most of its needs are funded by the rich nations. I happen to believe that rather than solving a problem, this approach simply compounds it. Africa needs a more equitable international economic system. The present one is designed to keep Africa very safely as a source of cheap raw materials, and labour. Very few Africans use things they make and of course, they are famous for making things they do not use. This manufacturing, technology and trading deficit makes Africa very much dependent on external forces. I am told the system works this way because Africa has no credible leaders and institutions normally do not work because of corrosive corruption. Assuming this was true, is it not better to find ways to create institutions that work and collaborate with leaders rather than isolate them thus increasing the chance of alienating the general population from their leaders? I am equally worried that Africa rarely gets an opportunity to pursue programmes it considers most appropriate to its situation. African countries have different histories and are at different levels of development. However, through ignorance and perhaps arrogance, these countries are treated as if they were homogeneous units that must all follow the same pattern of development. Yes, Obama is right when he says Africa owes it to itself to emulate other countries considered to be doing well. However, it is equally important that the holding of general elections regularly is not seen as an end in itself. I concede that a lot needs to be done to place Africa on an irreversible journey towards the full scale democratization. Some extensive deregulation, reform and reorganization of the state and its related systems is desperately needed and must happen first. This is the only way we can guarantee the release of human talent and deploy it to maximum benefit to the state and private sector in order to push development in these societies further. Dr Davison Todson Gomo is an Educationist and International Lawyer based in London. dtgomo@gmail.com
