|
Africa`s burden is the lack of self-confidence
2008-05-03 09:19:40
By Editor
There is the story of a woman who had been walking for miles towards a destination. She was carrying a heavy load on her head.
A lorry then stopped suddenly, and the driver, who pitied the hapless woman, gave her a lift.
The lady sat at the back of the truck, but although she was seated, continued to carry the load.
Unaware of what was going on behind, the driver continued driving. He then stopped at a trade centre to purchase an item.
When he got down, he noticed that the seated woman still had her luggage on her head.
``Madam, please put down the load. The truck is able to carry both you and your luggage. You don’t have to suffer the burden when you board a vehicle.``
The ignorant woman did as she was told, and immediately felt highly relieved.
She had a problem with her mindset because she believed that she was born to suffer and there was no way to make her life easier.
Luckily for her, the driver changed her mindset and she was freed from her low self-esteem.
The story of the hapless woman is similar to that of a great number of people in Africa.
Even the best of minds on the continent believe that African people cannot develop in any way without foreign assistance.
They also think that no idea is worth being considered or implemented without being blessed by foreign experts or major international institutions.
In other words, we have fallen into the danger of actually believing that we cannot be innovative or achieve anything significant on our own.
We have lost a very critical input for human development; self confidence.
Since independence, Africa has trained a lot of skilled manpower that can make a difference in the way its people are living.
It has skilled, tested and experienced engineers, analysts, think tanks, financial managers, economists, medical experts, geologists and agricultural experts, to mention just a few.
Sad to say, these experts, when in Africa, do not bear fruit as when they are brain-drained by developed countries of Europe and America.
If the issue is looked at from different angles, one discovers that the main problem that hinders the development of the African continent is the mindset of its elite population.
Our continent is blessed with abundant natural resources like oil, gold, diamonds, natural gas, arable land, rivers and lakes, forests and seashores.
If these resources are properly utilized under the guidance of committed local experts, we can make a difference and the standard of life will vastly improve.
We have to do away with the aid syndrome, which has incapacitated our innovative spirit and shattered our self confidence.
The future of Africa lies in a new breed of self-confident technocrats, industrialists, farmers and leaders. Africa has got to adopt excellence as its motto.
Let us no longer resemble the woman who boarded the truck but continued carrying the luggage on her head.
It can be done, let`s play our part.
|
