sourced materials and resources . Achieving this demands much more than setting up institutes of research and development . The moral values of the people , for instance , will need to be strengthened through exemplary leadership and education .
On the part of its citizens , Africa ( ns ) must embark on a desperate period of self-education spanning intellectual expansion in subject-specific fields , social-emotional learning , community , national , regional and global history , the arts and social sciences , to mention but a few . Citizens will have to begin to respectfully demand and advocate the building of their community and national knowledge base and the development of the human person on a holistic education aimed at transforming the human mind . Additionally , every concerned African should be a voice speaking against continued borrowing ; we should work with the government to achieve this aim .
Infrastructural and technological advancement has rarely been a product of technology transfer nor of borrowing to build . Africa ’ s futile chase for advancement via the superimposed and debt-ridden infrastructure route can only result in ridicule for this generation of Africans , with untold hardship
❧ ❧ ❧ added to that for the coming generations . Africa ’ s sustainable advancement rests squarely on Africans building their own infrastructure , using mostly locally sourced physical and intellectual materials , as well as labour . Yet , that is the easiest thing to say , since building and maintaining infrastructure at the level envisaged can only be made possible where the human person has been developed on all fronts . The emphasis , therefore , should be on the social , emotional and intellectual training of the African to achieve accelerated advancement .
Covid-19 and the Return to Life ' s Essentials
Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu
A
Kenyan proverb says that a flea can cause a lion more trouble than a lion can cause a flea . The upheaval caused by Covid-19 is still unfolding . Already , certain jobs not previously considered with much regard , are becoming more prestigious , while certain careers that once went with glamour and pomp have been consigned to the periphery , at best . This period in time calls for careful reflections and soul-searching , and one area that warrants sufficient investment of mental deliberation is what should constitute essential businesses in one ’ s life and community , in a post-lockdown era . This piece attempts to offer some thinking points to readers .
Abraham Maslow ’ s Hierarchy of Needs theorized to the Western world some fundamental principles that had guided the traditional way of life on the continent of Africa since ancient times ; that at the basic foundation of a man ’ s needs are natural necessities for human survival , e . g . air , food , drink , shelter , clothing , warmth , sleep . In that regard , traditional African societies ensured that every member of the community had food – through the availability of ample farmland for cultivation for the largely agrarian societies .
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