Supersize Africa?

I had written in the past about how the fractious geographical and political state of Africa paralyzes the continent and her people and puts them at obvious disadvantage in the world. Part of the reasons for this fractious state was the Berlin conference, and the other which led to the Berlin conference was the fractious state pre-colonialism that saw development of miniature states (and few empires that lasted). As a result, Africa is a variegated maps of many colors, tongues and tribes...yelling for unity. Unity for the sake of it (Nkrumah and Ghadaffi style) is however unrealistic. 


Any unity in Africa must be premised on the concrete distinctions between the rich cultural diversity that abound on the continent and must give a nod to this diversity. The resulting states must be drawn along the lines of ethno-religious commonalities and deep rooted cultural shared norms. States that result from this super-sized African phenomenon must also adopt political system that acknowledged the diversity of modern history (differing colonial masters and languages) as well as broad cultural swath that exists within the federations while adopting systems that unite her. To this end it makes sense to recommend these super states take on multiple capitals; it makes sense that they adopt unifying languages and encourage a truly multi-lingual society; it makes sense to practice lose federation where local and municipal governments wield greater influence than the center. It also makes sense that they acknowledge the traditional system of government in place prior to colonization while ensuring democratic ideals and development remains at the core of the new enterprise. 


However to ensure political unity, these states must move towards a system that disallow miniaturization of the political system. I am not sure the classical western systems that allow formation of multiple parties will suffice i.e. multi-party democracy. I think a society sponsored (constitutional mandated) binary structure is probably more realistic model to meet this goal sans the 1990-93 experiment in Nigeria: Africa's most populous nation (which worked ). 

I think this language map shows the "ideal" 6 nation states that should emerge from a less fractured Africa, divided into nation-states along common ethno-lingua lines that generally correlate with common cultural basis...it will involve breaking up present countries and being willing to see Africa as a cluster of language nations rather than a creation of Berlin conference with rigid boundaries determined by non-Africans with no recourse to realities of commonalities on ground..To make more states participate in these lose unions, the South African strategy of multiple capitals for each arm of government (Executive, Legislative, Judiciary can be adopted)

Of course this is a fantasy and my new fantasy nations read as:

• United Afro-Asiatic Confederations - Capitals: (Cairo, Addis Ababa, Tunis) Official Language : Arabic, Hausa  
• Federation of Niger-Area States - Capitals: (Abuja, Abidjan, Accra) Official Language: Pidgin English, French  
• Swahili Republics of Africa - Capitals: (Nairobi, Harare, Kinshasa)  Official Language: Swahili, English  
• Saharan Federation States of Africa- Capitals: (Tripoli, Maiduguri, Niamey) Official Language: Arabic
• Federation States of South Africa: Capitals (Pretoria, Luanda, Gaborone) Official Language: English & Portuguese
• Island Republics of Africa (Madagascar, Seychelles and Comoros Islands) : Capital (Antananarivo, Moroni , Victoria) Official Language: French 

May be the Niger Area states and States of South Africa will face some language problems, but pidgin English is fast spreading like wild fire in West Africa anyway! 

In 2010, I am doing the Screwing!

Yeah, you read that right. That statement came from lessons learned from 2009. Here it is...there are two categories of people in the world 1. Those being screwed 2. Those doing the screwing. A friend did ask me, does being screwed mean being poor? Well, it may well be. But poverty has many definitions...

The engineer with 3 million dollars in 401k and 40 years of service is not poor but he comes scared to work everyday, not knowing if he has a job in this period of economic uncertainty in the world. That is a different kind of poverty. It is poverty of job security! Poverty of freedom, poverty of time, poverty of money, poverty of ideas, poverty of relationships

there are different kinds of poverty. And make no mistake, it is the non-money kind of poverty that sticks to a majority of us in the educated class.

At the end of the day we all have to decide if we intend to escalate the kind of poverty we've been inflicted with to the next generation. Assuming you have the poverty of time, do you want your child to live with that liability? What of poverty of ideas? Is that all okay by you? 

This is especially true in the capitalist system (sorry, commies) where there is a requirement for stabilizers that allow a small cadre of poor people to escape poverty and expand the market for the capitalists (those doing the screwing!). Generally speaking, that stabilizer is called education matched with opportunity for the new capitalists (thank God!) and welfare for the continued impoverished (or those who plan to take it and never move on).

That is why I believe President B.H. Obama when he said in his state of the union  and I quote that.."In the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program is a world class education!". Well just before you sign off, the only poverty that education releases you from is a poverty of opportunity! No the question is...will you make use of that opportunity to exit the other kinds of poverty?

Make yours...

P.S: Had a helluva trip to West Africa. Accra, Abuja and Warri are gorgeous. Lagos as usual needs more work. Funny he is the only one actually working! Do they have a government in Ibadan? Here are my pics...

Is she not cute?

The Best Books I Read This Year...The Best Movies I watched..

Yeah as if you cared.


Best Books: It is hard to choose but the "Oligarchs" and "Are We Rome?" do figure highly. They were very different books, but were equally were researched about subjects that I had distant interests. If I were forced to choose base on interest, bets measured  by my inability to put a book down, then the Oligarchs with its 600 pages yet well read and quickly for that matter too, must be tops.


Best Movies? Okay perhaps I suffer a time gap bias. I think "Investus" just recently released movie starring Morgan Freeman was by far the best.


Still working very much on my Book List for 2010. I will be reading the Singapore Story on my way to Nigeria. Probably complete listening to 7 Habits of Effective People. Am on the last disc and it has been an enjoyable listening.


Musician of the year by far is Drake..I like is collection. Trey, my boy Wayne and Koko Master all did their thing. Baba Suwe here is a shout out for you from your youtube fans! Oh the graciousness of creativity!


P.S: Okay on these Iran-Iraq bound American hikers that Diane Sawyer wants us to feel pity for, do any one really believe their story? I mean save me. The media is just bought (hey, now majority owned by the banks), and the secret agencies must know one or two things about these lads. There stories make no sense. 


Hiking my feet. Of all places in the world, the place to Hike is Iran??? Very laughable! Water falls in the desert is even more laughable! CIA and NSA is written all over this.

It amazes me how Americans cry over these prisoners and no one checks out the prisons here at home that destroy the lives of our young men. About time, Dianne do something about those too.

Moreover, the fact is Iran is seeking nuclear weapons because of US stupidity in starting Iraq war. Iran took a cue, and knew the only way to prevent such global gangsterism from the neocons was to get nukes. Is anyone messing with North Korea? You bet no one will. Nukes are deterrence for global gangsters that the American public routinely elects to the White House. I really can't blame any country for wanting them.