UNDERSTANDING 21ST CENTURY CULTURAL CHANGES: A PANACEA FOR AFRICA's LEADERSHIP AND ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE. (1) by Obele Gospel
"Globalization offers incredible opportunities yet exclusion, grinding poverty and environmental damage, create
dangers. The one that suffer most are those who have least to start with –
indigenous people, women in developing countries, the rural poor, Africans and
their children.”
Robert
Zollick
President,
World Bank, 2007.
Africa is the second largest continent
covering about 15% of the total earth surface, making it the second most
populous continent in the world. But in all
8 spheres of life, she has been seen as having nothing to boast about.
It is a continent blessed with
unlimited resources and 70% of her population being youths. Unfortunately,
these individuals who glory in perpetual mediocrity are given away to either
entertainment or sports.
As we live our
lives daily, faced with us is a major challenge of globalization.
Mr. Frank Nweke (Jnr.) at
the Nigerian Economic Summit noted the challenges facing Third World Nations in the face of globalization as follows:
-
Political leadership - Economic policies
-
Food security - Governance
and institutions
-
Human capital
development - Dysfunctional
families and societies
-
Security and rule of
law - Poverty, unemployment, etc.
The
big question is “What are the chances for economic growth and development for
Africa at this modern age of globalization?” Well,
this has got me thinking and I would be running a series on this subject
subsequently.
First,
we must understand that only Africans can save Africa. All of our challenges
cannot be tackled if we don’t embrace the truth about life in the 21st
century and its cultural changes. That is, cultural changes on the 8 spheres of
life in order to see the change we want.
LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Every
generation that wakes up one morning (1st January) to witness the
beginning of a new century is a lucky generation.
The
21st century cultural changes which has occurred globally due to a
shift from the 20th century to the 21st century. Cultural
changes is society itself, developing interventions driven by our aspirations,
frustrations with status quo to create some movement (shift) that would be
beneficial to the entire economy.
Without an understanding of the realities
of this century, some of our current challenges as a continent cannot be placed
in proper perspective. If we can define the true perspective of a challenge, it
is much easier to take advantage of it.
It
has been observed that the last twenty years of a century gives us a glimpse of
what life would look like in the next century. I would share a couple of events
that occurred between 1980 – 2000, which gave a glimpse of events in this
century:
- The birth of the worldwide
web (internet) in 1984.
- The fall of the Berlin
Wall on 8th November 1989
- The release of Nelson
Mandela in south Africa on 11th February 1990.
I hope to go into more details about this subsequently. But the important questions to be answered are:
(1) What
is the hope for Africa as she thrives in her perpetual state of mediocrity?
(2) How ready are you to face the truth about this
century in order to maximize your purpose and add up productively for the
economic renaissance of the African economy.
Our
generation has been privileged to see the beginning of a century and I believe
you were born an African for a reason. Please ponder on these things.
Join
me next Monday as we explore more insights for advancement as individuals and
as a continent.
Gospel – Obele is the Chief Responsibility Officer (CRO), Project Change Initiative (A National Youth Transformation Agent). Reach him on 08130070991, gospel_obele@yahoo.com
