I woke up on the morning of October 11 with a dream, a nightmare in fact. In that dream, I dreamt that one of my cherished mentors in Nigeria had died, stoned to death by a political mob. My mentor loves this country and has made tremendous sacrifices for it, yet it seems like this has not amounted to much. He is one of the few voices that has been consistent; he has remained unsoiled by the shenanigans of the political brigandry that is our lot.
I was really shaken, not just by the dream but by the real possibility of that event occurring and hence, this sudden realization of this critical need for us to begin to prophecy, to declare to the next generation what the dream of a prosperous and thriving Africa must look like.
Sadly, we might not live to see it; and it is quite possible that in this brave new world of ours, Africans might experience even worsening economic and leadership conditions even as her population continues to blossom. It is no longer unfathomable that, akin to the slave trade and colonization era, some strange disease could wipe out the bulk of our population and allow others to lay claim to the huge unprocessed blessings the good Lord had afforded our land.
Our land is rich, but our minds are poor, at least for most of us, particularly those that lead us. They have failed woefully, and we with them; they have failed to lead us to effectively engage our world in a profitable manner; they have failed because most of them do not have a clue what success should look like, and this is written because it is possible that you too, you young revolutionary to be, lack this understanding also.
Success, my dear, is simple—it is being able to engage the world, other countries, in such a manner that your people are positively relevant. It is ensuring that your people are relevant in this globalized world of ours, and it means understanding and employing every tool that you have been given.
Nobody can really stop you; when you have not first stopped yourself, you could be very much delayed but not stopped—not when what you speak is the truth, the truth that my mentor had spoken. Your journey is our journey; your victory is ours.
There are a few things you must remember—things about gold, wisdom, and institutions.
In the very beginning, it is about the gold in the ground, yes, the minerals under your feet. Apart from man, the only other thing in our world is nature, and nations are great when they are great at using the natural universe at their disposal. This, my dear, is our greatest failure: we have not mastered the simple art of negotiating ownership and management of these God-given resources; we have simply not maximized it. This, my dear, is why you are poor; you have traded, but you have traded just raw materials; you have farmed and not done much else. You have not even milked the cow to make cheese; my son, it is not done that way.
Yes, Africa woke up late, but it sometimes still acts like it is asleep. Look, your Uncle Dangote has just shown that it can be done; you just need a little bit more like that and to ensure you have a government that ensures the wealth is properly spread to build aggregate capacity. You do not need just a few billionaires; you need a multitude of millionaires. This too is particularly important.
Secondary, it is the quality of the thinking of the man that determines what can be made of nature, so, in all your getting, get understanding; get wisdom… My son, wisdom is directional. Let your wisdom be in developing what you have, not what you do not. If I must spell it out for you, you have oil, you have gas, you have agriculture; your wisdom in these, my son, is still very shallow; that is why you are poor. You also have all kinds of minerals, my son; negotiate for wisdom in the things you have and the capacity to manage them; there is no other way.
You see, it is by institutions that you will train the mind; it is by institutions that you govern. So, you see why it is that it is bad men that rule you, men that have sworn that your institutions must not work… These men are our brothers, some foolish, some wicked, some lazy, some wise. You, my son, must overcome these men, these men, your brothers. If not, my son, I fear that this dream of mine is yet to come; I fear that it is tomorrow, not today, that was stoned in my nightmare, your tomorrow.
Okwonna is the CEO, Octoville Development Company.
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