Minimalist 5-year task for the state in Africa: 28 August 2015 – 28 August 2020

Many would probably adjudge as “too modest” the following 12 tasks* that states in contemporary Africa are called upon to accomplish for their peoples in the next five years starting tomorrow, Friday 28 August 2015. Despite such reservation, the tasks are available here for the challenge. Can any of these states achieve the set goals? Which? Which cannot? Why not? Each of the current 54 so-called sovereign African states has the capacity to accomplish these tasks during the the set timeframe including, particularly, those disarticulated entities where regime cadres of genocidist and putschist sergeants and “generals” and privates and corporals are ritually recycled as immanent crucibles of statecraft.

Freedom vs Not-fit-for-purpose

If any of the states can’t, then such a state should be deemed dissolved – not fit for purpose. This is now the opportunity for constituent nations or peoples to seize the historic initiative of freedom, since February 1885, and march along focused with a sense of mission to embark on this reconstruction/redevelopment themselves, underscoring that lucid insight since proffered by Walter Rodney – “development means a capacity for self-sustaining growth” . In other words, the engine of societal development is located internally, in the peoples, themselves, not the prevailing and pervasive fraudulent developmentalism beamed to Africa whose mission has the etched signature of some external agency and the latter’s central interests.

Goals for states/new states

1. Cut by 50 per cent prevalence of communicable ailment in the population

2. One hundred quality primary health care centres with excellent facilities, equipment and medicine

3. One hundred quality primary and secondary schools with excellent world-standard 
curriculum content, equipment, staff and study environment

4. One university of worldwide standard, attracting staff and students from across the region and world

5. One thousand apprenticeship opportunities to study at excellent technical schools, producing skilled workforce of electricians, builders, welders, plumbers, mechanics

6. Fifty per cent of young people, 18-25, have access to small-scale loans to start business ventures

7. Fifty per cent of women have access to small-scale loans to start business ventures

8. Pave 1000 kilometres of well-constructed road linking towns and cities and country

9. Engage 1000 new farmers in agricultural work, providing technical and financial support 

10. Fifty per cent of population have access to clean pipe-borne water supply

11. Fifty per cent of population have access to power 24 hours a day, seven days a week

12. Fifty per cent of homes connected to the internet

(John Coltrane & Don Cherry, “Focus on sanity” [personnel: Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Cherry, cornet; Percy Heath, bass; Ed Blackwell, drums; recorded: Atlantic Studios, New York, 28 June/8 July 1960]) 

*I wish to thank Dr Okwuonicha Nzegwu for her contribution to this commentary

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