The Future of Africa

Article contributed by: Femi Komolafe
Femi Komolafe is a Leadership Development Consultant, Conference Speaker, Author and Pastor

 

THE current population of Africa, according  to the United Nations, is 1.1 billion, which is about 16 per cent of the world’s population. This 16 per cent takes 40 per cent of the entire world resources and 60 per cent of the world’s arable lands (see Global Public Square).

There is crude oil in Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Angola and Egypt. There is Chromium in Congo. Sierra Leone, Angola and Botswana have Diamond Mines. Gabon has Manganese. Ghana and South Africa have Gold. Guinea has bauxite in great proportion (the 5th largest in the world).

The entire worth of World’s Gold is $2.6 trillion and Africa takes $1.3trillion of it. Moreover, Africa supplies 30 per cent of the world’s demand for bauxite, cobalt, gold, manganese, phosphate and uranium; 57 per cent of chromium and diamonds; and 12 per cent of oil.

 

Mercantilism is an economic theory that says ‘a nation’s wealth is determined by its natural resources that are traded. Going by the above analysis of resources in African nations, one can easily conclude that Africa is the richest continent in the world. Yet, Africa is the poorest inhabited continent in the world.

Of the 20 poorest nations in the world in 2013, Africa takes 17. In spite all the wealth that God has blessed Africa  with, its nations are still the poorest in the world. What is wrong? My answer: it is lack of management. Then, where and how did we get it wrong?
 

Dr. Myles Munroe once said “You can never fully understand a thing until you go to its root.” So, my love for Africa made me to begin to research into the roots of Africa’s problem and I discovered that what brought us to this point of mismanagement, disorder, misappropriation and underdevelopment is ignorance.

Many African nations fought for independence ignorantly. We wanted independence from the colonial masters by all means without first acquiring enough knowledge on how to manage our resources and lead like those British masters would lead. We were like the prodigal son in the Holy Bible that asked for his inheritance without first asking for the knowledge to manage the inheritance. So, we began to have ignorant personnel who knew nothing about what leadership is all about as leaders over us.

Nothing destroys a leader like lack of preparation. Nothing is more damaging like plunging those who don’t know how to manage into abundance. A former Head of State in Nigeria once said that “money was no longer the problem of Nigeria but how to spend it”. This undoubtedly set the stage for plundering of the treasury.
 

African nations failed woefully in this aspect of preparing for leadership through vast knowledge acquisition before fighting for independence. The way you prepare is the way you will appear. Truly we gained freedom but we were only freed physically we were never freed mentally. That is why we still depend on America and Britain for aid. What a shame!

What is the way out? A wise man in this nation said “There is no mountain before any man; everyone’s ignorance is his mountain”. The way out is for us all to begin to embrace knowledge through books, internet research and interaction with great minds. Knowledge is Power. Knowledge is light. Knowledge is freedom.

 

Knowledge is life. History has it that between 2900 B.C and 300 BC, Africa was leading in education as people came from all over the world to Egypt for education. So, education began in Africa. Again, civilization started in Africa. Thereafter, Athens in Greece took over as the second centre in the days of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, the great Greek Philosophers. From there to Britain and now to U.S.A.

Everywhere education went, civilization went too and development also went. Today, U.S.A is a world power not because of trade and commerce but because of intellectual property. Of the first 10 best universities in the world 8 are in USA; of the top 100, 48 are in U.S.A. That is why they are the most powerful nation. Knowledge is  power!
 

Japan was once very broke, in fact more broke than Nigeria. They called their children together and told them they were the only assets they had; sent them to America and Britain to go and learn and they came back with technology building. They are the 3rd strongest economy today.

Until we begin to embrace knowledge we may never see any drastic change. People are the greatest assets of any nation and a nation is weak when its people are weak. When the people are strong mentally the nation becomes strong eventually. If ignorance brought us to where we are, it will take knowledge to get us out.

Young people in Africa should begin to acquire knowledge by every means possible so as to become unusual managers, hyper-resourceful technocrats and expert thinkers. It is no longer enough to be a graduate, we need to become bookworms in and out of school. Every great thinker, reformer and revolutionary that I know living or dead is a bookworm. To mention a few Abraham  Lincoln, John. F. Kennedy, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King Jr, Myles Munroe, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Bill Gates among others. Every truly powerful man in the world is a book worm.

Your first pursuit in life should not be to be known but to know because when you know you will definitely be known. When you are loaded you will be needed. And it is what you take in that will take you out. Please, don’t run after leadership positions let positions run after your brain. It is your investment in research that will make you to be searched out. Dr. David Oyedepo said “School can only make you literate but it is your investment in Literature that will eventually create your future”.

I believe Africa has a great future and the future is in the hands of the youths. Let every African youth that loves his nation and continent begin to desperately seek knowledge. Read many books on Leadership, History, and Nation Building. The future of Africa is in knowledge. God bless Africa! God bless Nigeria!

If you have news-worthy articles to contribute to this publication, kindly forward same to: popularvoices@gmail.com.
Thank you.

NIGERIANS YEARN FOR LEADERS, NOT DEALERS.

Article contributed by: Femi Komolafe
Femi Komolafe is a Leadership Development Consultant, Conference Speaker, Author and Pastor

I heard a Governor say lately that whether he pays salary or not, whether a school is closed or opened, he still remains the constituted authority and I became angry. Why was I angry?

1. It is 100% against leadership principle. Such statement is anti-leadership.

2. It reveals the mentality of some or many of Nigerian Government officials.

3. Telling those who elected you into office that no matter what you do to them you are still the authority over them is a statement of a ruler/lord not a leader. I could not imagine how a leader will say that to the people he is leading. I felt a serious urge to write on this as a leadership specialist not only because of the statement but because of the leadership failure all over the nation.

My dear Mr Leader or Mrs Leader, being in a leadership position does not in anyway make you superior to the people you are leading, it only places you in front to care for them and it is a privilege. Don't you ever have a boss or lord mentality, it destroys any leader.

Secondly, immediately the welfare and the good of the people you are leading is no longer your number one priority, you are no more a LEADER you are now a DEALER. You are only in for what you can get, you have lost your 'Authority', what you have left is only the office.

Thirdly, true leaders don't demand respect, they command it. They command respect by influence, they command it by genuinely and sincerely loving the people they are leading. They command it by helping people to become their best.

Lastly, I think it's high time those who clearly understand what leadership is all about began to participate actively in politics and stop sitting on the fence watching the Dealers misleading this nation. Nigeria deserves a better governance than this.

I know it's biblical to pray for those in authority but I feel we need to do more than praying now because we cannot be praying for those who lack the knowledge of leadership to lead well. What a man does not know he does not know. You can only pray for the wisdom to correctly apply the knowledge you have not to gain knowledge. Knowledge can only be acquired by seeking it.

According to Abraham Lincoln, evil prevails when good men keep silent. We have to stand up and rescue our nation. And most importantly, let us lead well any where we are in any little position. We are LEADERS in Nigeria not DEALERS.

Nigeria will be great. You will be great! Shalom!

If you have news-worthy articles to contribute to this publication, kindly forward same to: popularvoices@gmail.com. 
Thank you.
The Publisher

OPEN LETTER TO NIGERIANS IN THE SOUTH

Letter by: Dr. Fidelis Chukwuma

Dear Southern Nigeria,
At what time will you wake up to reality. Did you see the North participating in the #IstandwithNigeria PROTEST? It's simple, There's a silent agricultural revolution going on in the North. Northerners are cashing in on their agriculture produce, Kebbi, Kano, Jigawa, Benue, Plateau, Kaduna etc. While we are here wailing and protesting with an "IMPORT" dependant mindset

The "illiterate" Northerner is exporting ginger, garlic, sesame seeds etc and earning forex at N500 to $1. WHO IS THE FOOL HERE? Why can't our people take advantage and concentrate on the finished products of these agricultural produce and industrialize our area? Didn't we see how they tested LAKE RICE( Lagos- Kebbi Race) as they call it? Are we not seeing Dangote, Bua & top companies moving northwards to establish processing mills, tomato factories etc.

That's how we will waste four years insulting and cursing Buhari while the North will gradually be feeding the whole of West Africa. My people, this is not the time to protest but a time to put your thinking cap. Nigeria imports more rice than the entire European Union! We are the 2nd largest importer of rice in the world and we want $1 to remain at N150 at a time when crude oil is $57? We have no business with the dollar if we consume what we produce. 

A word is enough for the wise.     

AFRICA AND 21ST CENTURY SLAVERY

Article contributed by: Femi Komolafe
Femi Komolafe is a Leadership Development Consultant, Conference Speaker, Author and Pastor

I observed that in the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations 2017 majority of the nations that participated came with foreign coaches and I asked myself that how many European nations have African coaches as their national team coaches? I could not think of any for now. Then, I asked the second question, why are we all going for foreign coaches at the same time? Is it because we don't have competent indigenous coaches? I was able to receive three reasons within me:

1. We go for foreign coaches, foreign help, foreign management, foreign products etc because we only gained independence from them physically but not mentally. We are like the Israelites that left Egypt but kept referring back to Egypt throughout their journey to the promised land because it was their bodies that left Egypt, their minds never left. The freedom of the body without the freedom of the mind is no freedom. It is an indirect slavery. That is why we hardly do without them almost in everything we do.

2. We go for everything foreign not because we cannot do some of these things by ourselves but we lack confidence in our own ability. My dear reader, please note this, nothing on earth can make you do what you believe in you that you cannot do. Lack of confidence in yourself has the capacity to kill the potentials in you and make you look as if you are empty. A black man once said he wants to rule America and because he believed he could, he has just led the most powerful nation in the world for 8 solid years. 'Yes We Can' was his slogan and it has become history today. Another black preacher from Nigeria visited Oral Roberts University many years ago and after going round the school he said to himself 'it can happen anywhere'. Today, he has succeeded in building a world class University in Nigeria. God said in the Holy book that He is not a respecter of persons but He loves all those who do the right thing. God is the God of all. Jesus also said that if you believe you can there is nothing you cannot do (paraphrased). We are where we are today as a continent because we don't believe in our own abilities.

3. We still go for everything foreign because we have not worked enough on ourselves. The difference between a black person and a white person is the level at which we engage our brains. God gave the same brain to the whites and the blacks but some engage their brains more than the others. There is no black brain. Being black does not mean you have less brain than any white. It is the level at which we engage the brain that makes the difference. While a white person will engage his brain in productive and creative thinking, a black person will be thinking of what to consume. While a white person is thinking of what to give to the world, a black person is thinking of what to get from the world. I have said above that God is not a respecter of persons but He seeks those who will do the right thing. Having a black skin does not make you inferior to any white any where in the world. Blacks and whites have sat together in the classroom and some blacks performed far higher than the whites. Until we begin to engage in creative and productive thinking, we will always be at the receiving end. Until we begin to think independently, we will continue to depend on the former colonial masters. It is not that we cannot hire foreigners at all but it should not be as if we are robots and we can achieve nothing without them. It's time to THINK AFRICAN, PRODUCE AFRICAN AND MAKE USE OF AFRICANS. GOD BLESS MY BELOVED AFRICA! GOD BLESS YOU!

If you have news-worthy articles to contribute to this publication, kindly forward same to: popularvoices@gmail.com.
Thank you.
The Publisher

IS NIGERIA TRULY THE 'ANIMAL FARM' THEY CALL IT?

Kindly watch this video edited by Sahara TV. Has the ruling APC-led government; particularly in Oyo State delivered on its promises to the electorates? Or do you identify with the Oyo State’s government’s deduced position that the current intractable recession and corrupt practices or failures of preceding governments are responsible for the way things have turned today?

Please voice your comment/opinion here.