John Atangba

The Jinx of African Leaders John Atangba

Africa puzzles the best of minds. It is the richest of the seven continents in natural resources and yet her people are the poorest. Why? Could it be it is the jinx of our African Leader's policies, governance, or politics? The real asset of a nation is not its natural resources but people with right values. We haven't really understood that our challenge isn't to preserve the status quo but rather to adapt to, thrive in, and shape for the better a world of constant change. There cannot be small family values or large family values when there are no salaries, education, medication, accommodation, proper food and access to free water for the people. At independence for colonies became free nations, able to chart for themselves whatever course they had the ability and determination to follow. They could have, as some did, nationalized foreign owned corporations. They could have stopped primary commodity exports and ended import from the West. Of course, such radical policies would have consequences. But these were more likely to have involved the elites losing the benefits of foreign aid. If Cuba, only a few kilometers from the capitalist mega-power, the U. S, could pursue an independent economic agenda and survive, is there a reason why African nations could not have done the same? This book explores the many complex matters that African Leaders may have to grapple with.