Become what you wish to see in your leaders.
Months ago, I shared that I no longer approach African development issues from the perspective of a civilian reading the news, but rather as if I were a leader of government responsible for addressing them. This mental shift is to train myself to think strategically in an all-encompassing yet practical way, to proactively participate in problem-solving, and to spearhead new solutions and possibilities. It also frees me from the incessant complaining and blaming that characterize many conversations about African leaders, instead galvanizing me to take firm charge in building Africa’s future.
For this reason, I am constantly brimming with visions and ideas about African nation-building, encompassing new directions across various sectors. Only a few of these are publicly shared. After law school and gaining more experience, I could serve as a consultant to African governments on nation-building. Naturally, with appropriate fees.
Today, let us consider Education in Africa—one of the most critical areas in need of revolutionary change. What Africa currently has is a system of “miseducation” or “undereducation.” While I have a more comprehensive proposal for the future of African Education, I will hint at one small aspect here:
African education, in part, should experientially equip citizens with the mastery of all local minerals and resources, using STEM as a means to empower them with the technical knowledge to harness and transform these natural endowments into finished goods for market. Thus, African education should, in part, enable citizens to become “knowledgeable producers and creators of goods and services from their resources and minerals.”
As a classroom aid, just as there is a “Periodic Table of Elements,” there should be a “Periodic Table of Resources & Minerals.” Their names, locations, characteristics, quantities, potential uses, combinations, etc., should be basic elementary knowledge. This knowledge should be experiential, with students learning how to use these minerals and resources to solve domestic issues and advance local development.
In a “Competitive Innovation & Disruption Course” at the secondary level of African educational institutions, an exercise could be called “Tracing Component Parts.” Here, students would trace all major technological developments, breaking their components down into basic minerals and resources that are linked to the corresponding African country (and others). They would examine the cost of these raw materials in the export market, the value addition process, the financial value of refinement, the entire supply chain, the final price as a finished good, the countries and companies involved, how much of that financial share African countries receive, the contracts and quantities involved, and the global policies, institutions, and laws influencing these outcomes.
Next, they would learn how to leverage knowledge and control of these natural minerals and resources to form and implement innovative ideas at every level of the supply-value chain, including but not limited to increasing or initiating domestic production and manufacturing. The aim would be to strategically strengthen African industries (while ensuring mutually beneficial arrangements) in order to maximize domestic revenue and competitively gain a much larger global market share of the technology for the African country.
This is just the tip of an iceberg in a whole ocean of ideas about African nation-building, encompassing new directions in various sectors.
Onward & Upward!
~Dr. Ikenna Ezealah
Nation Upbuilding 