(This article is published - on Tuesday 30th January 2007 - as part of the SDAc's Social Change Information and Education Service)

How To Read This Article - Using Quick Links

This article is long...VERY long. I had so many issues and perspectives I felt were important to cover, and I was determined to put them all up for consideration by the reader. As a result, not every part of it will be of interest to every person. To help you get to those parts that most interest you, I provide quick anchor links below. Use them to go straight to the section you want to read, and when done click the "Back to top" button located to the bottom right of each section's ending paragraph, to return here, so you can select another quick link to follow.

A WARNING ABOUT THIS ARTICLE!

1. Enough Talk About When Africa Supposedly "Ruled" The World!

2. Is It Not Ironic That Virtually ALL We Claim To Know About Our Past Was Discovered/Documented For Us By White People?

3. Yes, Whites Conspire Sometimes, BUT The Fact Remains That We Blacks Rarely Reward Intellectual Effort

4. Where Are Black African Webmasters, Software Developers & Writers/Publishers Hiding On The Internet?

5. Many Black Africans Do Not Love Themselves - And Complain Too Often Instead Of Taking Action!

6. Nobody Is Stopping Black Africans/Nigerians From Ruling The World - Except Themselves

7. Is It REALLY True That You Can Hide Something From A Black Man By Putting It In A Book?

8. Would You Let Your Zoologist Graduate Daughter Live/Work With Apes In The Jungle For 3 Decades?

Questions To Challenge Black Africans To Stop Whining & Start Acting So They Can Become Relevant

9. Why Can't We Work Together For The Long Term?

10. Why Do We Find It Difficult To Plan/Organise Effectively In A Way That Benefits The Majority?

11.Why Is It That Very Many Supposedly Successful Black Africans Like To Mystify Their Successes?

12. Why Do We Resist/Shoot-Down Younger People Who Have Better Value To Offer Us?

13. Why Are We NOT Using The Internet To Enrich Ourselves Despite Its Ready Accessibility?

14. Can A Non-Indigene Run For Public Office In Our Respective Societies And Win?

15. Why Is It Easier For Us To Achieve Financial Success In Developed Societies Than At Home?

16. Why I Know Fela Would Have Starved If He Had Not had Access To The White Man's Patronage

17. Who Read Wole Soyinka's Writings To Decide They Were Worth Awarding Him The Nobel Prize For Literature?

18. Why Does The Black African With More Money Think S/he MUST Be A Better Thinker Than The One With Less?

19. When Can We Expect Football Professionals From Italy, France, England etc To Begin Coming To Pursue Lucrative Careers In Black Africa?

20. Key Actions For Black Africans: Acquire Multiple Income Earning Skills & Be Positive Social Change Agents

21. Summary: We Don't Need "The Government" To Bring About Needed Change And Progress - REALLY!

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Enough Talk About When Africa Supposedly "Ruled" The World!

I am honestly sick and tired of reading and hearing about the old days before the white man came, when black Africa was supposedly far ahead of the rest of the world in terms of development. The first time I learnt about this was while listening to the lyrics of Fela Anikulapo Kuti's "Soldier Go, Soldier Come" album as a student in the University. Subsequently, a chance "meeting" with Philip Emeagwali's website (www.emeagwali.com) provided detailed insight into intellectual contributions by legendary Africans(like Imhotep) to the initial body of knowledge on which so much of what we know today has been built.

Then late last year(2006), I purchased a bumper edition - October 2006, No. 455 - of the New African magazine in which detailed narratives about the splendor of ancient African societies as seen/documented by WHITE explorers (capitalized emphasis mine) were elaborately recounted. It was quite moving to learn that black Africa had been so far ahead in virtually all areas of life as was then known, compared to other societies. I felt proud to know that I had descended from such great ancestral lineage.

However, in as much as I want to believe all the information provided about this period of our lives is true, the question that keeps coming at me is WHAT MADE US FALL?

In the rest of this article, I will be discussing some factors that I personally believe led us to where we are as a people, today, suggesting as is my normal practice, ways and means by which we can IMPROVE and PROGRESS to ultimately regain our lost status in the world.

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Now, with that out of the way, let's get started...:-))

Is It Not Ironic That Virtually ALL We Claim To Know About Our Past Was Discovered/Documented For Us By White People?

How many internationally recognized and accomplished archeologists who are full blooded black Africans or African Americans do YOU know? Why do we have so few people of our race in that field? If we have such a rich past, should we not be eager to have our own people involved in unearthing the truth, so we can tell OUR own story by ourselves? Is it possible for a black man to be regarded as an authority on European history ahead of a white counterpart? How many black African millionaires would gladly donate money - annually - to a foundation run by black African researchers dedicated to archeological research into the history of the black race? Is it not funny that virtually ALL funding for African projects today comes from institutions and organizations run predominantly by white people? What do black people do with THEIR money? How many "Ford Foundations" of our own do we have in African societies that sponsor NGOs in other parts of the world?

Why is it that most people out here find it easy to make a living by registering an NGO and then contacting McArthur foundation and others to give them grants? Why should these organizations love us more than our own? We have people in our societies who amass wealth daily to purchase latest automobiles, and live high consumption lifestyles. Yet they never feel a need to contribute towards developmental projects in their societies. And when they manage to do so ONCE, they scream out that fact on every roof top! Let the truth be said: black Africans in particular seldom want to build and nurture anything from the ground up. They are always looking for ready made solutions. That's why our footballers only get invited to the National team AFTER they become foreign based professionals. That's why a young black African can start a software development business and get no investor to put money in it UNTIL they notice that s/he has gotten - through rugged perseverance - to the point where s/he earns six figure income from doing a ten(10) working day project! Question is : Do you think s/he will need your money NOW when s/he's doing THAT well? Of course not!

Most of the archeological findings that we refer to in making our claims to greatness were made and reported by the same white people who we claim want to stop us from regaining our leadership status. Is it not funny that the white man who wants to stop us continues to write books, and offer us partnerships and other opportunities to learn from him about how to do what he has done? Of course, I acknowledge the fact that some of the white historians chose to "modify" the truth about what they saw to fit their biased perception of black people: sometimes to the extent that they left out crucial details or substituted white names for those of blacks in recording ground breaking achievements. The fact however remains that left to black Africans there would probably be no documented records WHATSOEVER of our history to refer to today! Why do I say this? Because black Africans have a legendary aversion for reading and writing in the sense that is being discussed here.

Take a look at our bookshops and libraries today, in most 21st century African societies, and you will find that books authored by white people dominate the shelves. Is it not funny that the most authoritative books about West African animals like birds and snakes were written by white people who worked during the colonial days in places like Nigeria and Ghana. I find it doubly embarrassing that it appears impossible to find any person of black African descent who can supply a recent/decent researched publication by him/herself on this subject despite the fact that many lecture on the subject in higher institutions!

But THAT is the reality of our society. Those who try to correct this trend - like I have been doing through my work, especially via the internet, in my chosen field - often get laughed at by older persons who are supposed to know better. These older, supposedly wiser persons keep blabbing away about how it is more important to feed the stomach than to write what no one will read. Yet they fail to see that it is the things I write, based on what I have achieved that can help others do MORE successfully that which I have learnt to do the hard way: so they can achieve the same thing FASTER and with LESS effort. The white man understands this need to TEACH others HOW TO catch fish instead of making them focus on being GIVEN fish to eat. The Asians do too. But, the black man's laziness keeps him from accepting this TRUTH. The result is that he continues to lag behind.

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Yes, Whites Conspire Sometimes, BUT The Fact Remains That We Blacks Rarely Reward Intellectual Effort

Oh by the way, for those who claim white people conspire to keep black people out of certain fields, I concede that it may be true, but in my opinion if you look at virtually all the black people who have succeeded in intellectually demanding fields, you will find that their success did NOT come as a result of patronage from people of their race!! Many people fail to get this: Take a good look at those successful intellectually creative black Africans(Wole Soyinka in Literature, Philip Emeagwali in Computer Science, Sade Adu and Seal in Music etc) you know about, and you will see that their fame and financial success came - quite often INITIALLY - as a result of overwhelming recognition and patronage from mainly white people, who have always shown appreciation for the potential of creative thinking to boost productivity and prosperity in their societies.

Let's be honest with ourselves here: Is it not TRUE that the average member of our black African societies who displays a passion for earning a living at home as a historian or archeologist, is more likely to literally "starve" to death compared to someone who chooses to become a trader in goods or work as a contractor? Intellectual work rates very low in our societies as a means of earning a living? Many black Africans will fall over themselves to pay to watch a beauty pageant, attend a music festival or other entertaining event. But few of us will readily contribute funds, for instance, to support a black African researcher who says s/he want to explore the truth about our evolution from Apes - or find a permanent cure for Sickle Cell Anaemia for instance. Yet, when we send our kids to learn medical science in school today, all the information used to teach them is provided in textbooks based on studies conducted 99.9% of the time by WHITE PERSONS. Imagine what studying and practicing medicine would have been like on earth TODAY, if the white man had been on a differnt planet. I say we would most likely have still been stuck with stone age medical knowledge, practices, and techniques!

So, let me ask this question: Can we challenge the accuracy of the information provided by the white man in the archeological research books he publishes? The answer is NO. Why? Because even when the physical sites explored to collect archeological artifacts are located in our own backyards, the typical black African thinks s/he would be considered childish if s/he goes around in brown shorts digging up soil and sifting through bits and pieces of supposedly ancient items recovered from ruins etc. There is a preoccupation in black African societies with creating "impressions" which often times are false. No one wants to be seen to be doing what others consider trivial - EVEN when the person KNOWS it is not trivial. Rather than stick with it, and prove to the doubting "Thomases" that s/he is right, the average black African adult would rather bow to social pressure and move on to "more acceptable" vocations.

So you see, many times the white man does not need to try and stop us from catching up with him. This is because we frequently do a pretty good job of it on ourselves without his help! And until we STOP this bad habit of impeding ourselves, we will not experience useful progress in our societies.

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Where Are Black African Webmasters, Software Developers & Writers/Publishers Hiding On The Internet?

Blacks claim to have been cheated, abused, marginalised etc. One would therefore expect that they would LOVE to have access to a medium that empowers them to reach out to themselves and fight to rejuvenate one another. The Internet has been described as the greatest leveler of all time. It allows individuals who run small businesses compete on the same level with large corporations. It enables virtually anyone who is willing to put in the needed effort to learn HOW to earn riches with little or no startup capital. It is the most powerful teaching and learning resource available to man today.

Yet, despite all these potential benefits offered by the Internet, black Africans in particular still lag behind in its use. Despite the comparative affordability of this resource, it remains difficult to find people of black African descent who have MASTERED it as well as they master the physical arts like basketball, football and sports in general. Unfortunately, as Samuel L. Jackson the famous African American movie star said when he appeared on MTV Base's "Trevor Meets" show, many young people need to be told the analogy that for every 100 millionaires in the NBA, there are 1000 in Microsoft. This implies they stand a better chance of becoming millionaires by going to work in Microsoft. But, to get a job in Microsoft they would have to do well in their studies i.e. intellectually. This implies, for instance in the case of Microsoft, that they will need to develop major interest in intellectually demanding vocations like software development!

But that's NOT what the average black African wants to hear. Every year out here, people finish various software development courses at NIIT and other IT schools, but most just take their certifications and chase jobs as IT personnel in companies(who often do nothing more than deploy/support use of other people's software!), with little interest in pursuing careers as true software developers. On the Internet, when you visit web forums for software developers of all types, the avatars and pictures you see tell the story: WHITE faces! Where are all our black software gurus hiding? This is one of the most lucrative vocations in the 21st century - VERY low capital requirement. We should be in the forefront of using PC and Internet Technology to earn income for developing ourselves and our societies. (It is pertinent to note here that with today's abundance of PC and CDROM based home learning resources, any adequately motivated person can acquire commercial software development competenceis WITHOUT attending ANY formal schools or classess. I should know because that's exactly what I did!)

Same problem mentioned above, applies to writers/authors and publishers. The Internet offers them limitless opportunities for success. (One such opportunity is the focus of an article I wrote sometime in mid 2005 about Print-On-Demand Publishingm titled "A Proven System That Can Produce Millionaire African Writers"). And if only black people would for instance patronize black authors online - the way whites do for their own - over time, the rest of the world might just begin to do the same. Sometimes I wonder: "What EXACTLY black do people in diaspora spend their money on?!" They afterall own and use credit cards. How do they react when they learn of a young black African selling his ebooks, and software of the Internet? Do they realise they can stimulate a huge interest amongst their brothers and sisters in African in starting low cost home/Internet businesses by buying from them if/when the price and quality is right? Has it ever occurred to them that they can provide needed guidance(by virtue of their exposure from living overseas) to those back at home about WHAT to focus on selling online and HOW so the latter can succeed faster and with less effort?

Do a search on the Internet RIGHT NOW using the string 'History of the black race" for instance and you are likely to find 95% of your search results leading to websites maintained by people with names suggesting that they are WHITE. On Ken Gaeblar's website - www.gaeblar.com - I recall reading(sometime in 2006) his reason for adding a section to his website providing information on entrepreneurial learning/development for African Americans. He said that despite the fact that the entrepreneurial revolution taking place in America at the time was being led by African Americans, he was surprised to find that there was a significant dearth of development and learning resources on entrepreneurship for persons of African American descent to use.

Isn't that funny? A white man(Oh yes, Gaeblar is as white as they come!), going out of his way to put together learning resources to help black people learn how to become successful like their fellow blacks who - in many cases - appear for some reason unable to find time to share their know-how to help others like themselves. Please do not misunderstand me. I know there are a number of Les Browns and other famous black people development professionals out there. My argument is that compared to the number who have the wherewithal to do it, the Les Browns are just too few! Why is it that black people seem averse to making long term commitments to helping other people around them develop competencies to succeed in their own right(especially when it has to do with writing/documenting tested and proven guiding principles, philosophies, strategies, techniques and concepts for use by others)?

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Many Black Africans Do Not Love Themselves - And Complain Too Often Instead Of Taking Action!

"The language of slaves is murmuring or complaining...Not all adversity is from the devil!" - Pastor Tunde Bakare during TV broadcast sermon on Sun 21st jan. 07

You see, I think there is something in us black Africans which make us NOT to really love ourselves enough. I could be wrong, but that's what I think. I very much doubt that anyone who wants to take over the white man's society will find it easy to convince a few white leaders to turn over the rest of their countrymen to become slaves for monetary or material rewards. Don't get me wrong here. They have greedy and evil people amongst them too, but one thing that I have noticed is that we tend to be more disposed as individuals to thinking more of ourselves than of the good of the larger majority. That's why pre-colonial era black African leaders found it easily to sell off many of our forefathers in exchange for the white man's presents. Today the same tendency still shows: Leaders who willfully steal money meant for the citizens which they lodge in overseas accounts that enrich the white man...AND followers who actively search for ways to get a piece of the action the leader is enjoying even as they - the followers - pretend to be fighting for the rights of other followers!

But that's just one side of it. The other side is that rather than sit up and(to paraphrase the late Tupac Shakur), "Take what is ours...since we know it's never going to be given to us", most of our people now spend time lamenting how the white man "supposedly" under-developed us, asking him to "pay" us for the damage he did to us! How absurd! I really think it is quite silly for us to continue moaning and whining in this manner if we truly desire to make progress in our societies. People like Nelson Mandela for South Africa - and Mahatma Gandhi for India - in my opinion have shown through their personal lives that we MUST be ready to sacrifice our freedom and even ourselves for whatever we want and believe. Mandela today is a living legend because he did that. His country's black population today enjoy freedom from apartheid in the raw form it previously existed as a result. Things are of course NOT perfect yet, but they are MUCH better than they used to be(which is why South Africa is now a holiday destination for many of us) and over time, we hope more lasting changes will result. If Black Africans want to return to leading/ruling the world, they will simply have to GET UP and TAKE ACTION to do just that. (I suggest possible ways as this write-up progresses, drawing from what I do for a living).

The problem unfortunately is that most black Africans today are too fickle minded and lack the self-knowledge that will enable them realize they have what it takes within themselves to command the recognition and respect of the white man. They are as a result, not prepared to commit themselves to a sustaind application of effort towards achieving this goal. The implication therefore is that their societies will remain UNDER-DEVELOPED for some time to come, regardless of how much aid comes from the white man(him AGAIN!) through the World Bank and other international agencies.

If black Africans are to be truly empowered, they MUST as a matter of necessity seek to become INDEPENDENT of the white man. They must instead work hard to learn from the white man and his Asian/other counterparts how to develop themselves. Then they MUST adapt the knowledge and skills they acquire to making their own socities grow.

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Nobody Is Stopping Black Africans/Nigerians From Ruling The World - Except Themselves

Let me make a very clear statement of fact here: Nobody - least of all the white man - can stop us Black Africans from becoming a force to reckon with in today's world, the way we "ruled" in those pre-colonial days. Like the Asians did/are doing, we can also do it. BUT do we want to? THAT is the question that we need to answer. Like I have said in many of my previous writings, people in our part of the world seem so preoccupied with material things, and very often want to pass responsibility for improvement of their circumstances to others - or some spiritual being(see my article titled "Nigerians And Their Fascination With Religion!(Perspectives Of A Troublemaker") - when many times it is they who need to get up and take control!

if we must be honest with ourselves, there is so much that we as black people can do by taking action as individuals, to make our lives and societies MUCH MUCH better than they currently are, which we FAIL to do EVERY SINGLE day. Instead we prefer to lean back and point accusing fingers at white colonialists and other "supposed" antagonists as being responsible for our lack of progress. The irony however is that others like the Asians who at some time in the past also shared a similar "developing countries" status with us, are today gradually emerging as world powers in their own right - having earned the recognition and respect of those who got there before them by taking control of their destinies through affirmative action.

WHAT DID THE ASIANS DO? A close look at the specific changes that the Asians made in their societies reveals a very distinct and interesting trend: they focused on development of the intellectual capital of their countries. That is the development of creative human potential. Or to put it another way, they made the ability to THINK CREATIVELY,and come up with USEFUL IDEAS that benefit the majority to be very financially and materially rewarding for those among them who chose to do it. By so doing, more people in their societies were encouraged to become more interested in applying their intellectual effort to thinking creatively. That's why today, we find that the leaders in development of latest software, and telecommunication/automobile technologies are mainly from the Asian continent. Some people could argue that piracy makes this vocation unprofitable out here. I hold the view that WE as individuals can play a major role in changing that by changing our INDIVIDUAL attitudes. For instance, copyright theft and piracy remain a reality in developed societies, but the truth is that people who create, innovate and invent still get rewarded well enough to make a decent living as authors/writers, song writers, actors, singers, artists, painters, inventors, innovators etc because an overwhelming majority of their fellow countrymen STILL RESPECT the need to purchase ONLY original copies of their books, inventions and other creations. We CAN do the same.

Additional proof is readily seen in the fact that most employees in the software/Internet technology industry(e.g America's Silicon Valley) are of Asian descent. I recall reading that India embarked on a program in which software experts were "imported" for a period from overseas to India to teach puipls software development from primary school upwards over a defined period. Afterwards, the first batches of "graduated" Indian software programmers were used to train others while the imported "experts" left. Simply put, the Indians borrowed the knowledge/skills of those they wished to copy from and then empowered their people to OWN the new knowledge and skills, so that they subsequently did not have to DEPEND on the foreign experts to develop their OWN software.

Today many of us know that India earns billions of dollars annually from software developed by her citizens which are sold worldwide. Nigeria's banking industry for instance is a huge consumer of Indian software products. Not only that, the banks also send their Nigerian personnel on training course visits to India to learn how to use Indian software they purchase. Most noteworthy , in my opinion, is the fact that the average Indian expatriate working in a place like Nigeria will almost ALWAYS choose to use a software developed from India in his workplace/office over any other. That's how passionate they are about promoting what is theirs!

Now, just imagine for a minute if Nigeria took the same decision and decided to start teaching primary school pupils how to develop software with a view to having them develop indigenous software that would be purchased by Nigerian banks and even foreign companies. Would YOU be willing to run your bank's operations on a software developed by a 10 year old boy from Anambra state(by the way, that's where my wife - Nkechi - is from, so "that 10 year old programmer" could just be MY own kid few years from now), if you knew it was just as good as those from India? And would you be prepared to pay him just as much as you would pay the vendor of the Indian software? Hmm, those are powerful questions for the black Afican/Nigerian adult to answer! I leave you to ponder over them...

Software development is one type of vocation that has extremely LOW capital investment requirements. This make it very viable for more or less ANY person so inclined to successfuy venture into, BUT ONLY IF s/he is willing to put in the needed effort and time. This singular feature of low capital requirement makes software development a VERY potent tool for poverty eradication in black African countries because it means a larger cross-section of their poplulations can go into it.

The sad reality however is that instead of people thinking along these lines, those who should know continue to promote interest in the more "visible" but capital intensive ventures which most people will often have to literally beg for capital to start, even as the unstable economic environments make its chances of success limited. For instance in Nigeria, production/factory operations continue to struggle to break even or even make progressive profits due to recurring problems of power supply outages and fuel supply shortages, sudden policy changes etc which cripple businesses over time. Even the large multinationals groan under the weight of these multiple negative economic factors, making the chances of the aspiring one-man business succeeding even slimmer.

Even Our Sports People Need To Be Better Rewarded: Then again, even in the not-so-intellectually demanding vocations - such as sports - the need for effort to be rewarded appropriately as an incentive that would boost development is obvious. In my country, I recall a TV presenter on a sports programme making the valid point that our professional leagues/clubs would become more financially viable and our local players better rewarded if the so-called fans would stop trying to get into the stadium to watch their "favorite teams" play WITHOUT PAYING THE GATE FEES! As he so accurately put it, the reason Arsenal and the other big clubs in England make so much money is - in part - because their fans show their love for the club and players by gladly paying premium rates to watch them live(and on TV) - making corporate business advertisers pay to buy into the clubs and partner with the league organisers). In the USA, I understand some fans pay up to $2,000 US Dollars to get certain seats to watch their favorite NBA teams and stars play. If we did the same in black African societies, it would make our players better rewarded, since their clubs would earn more, and then they would "feel" like playing EVEN better when next they have a match - rewarding the fans who pay those great gate fees with better entertainment.

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Is It REALLY True That You Can Hide Something From A Black Man By Putting It In A Book?

"18th Century banking ideas in a 21st century economy will not work...My collateral is my brain...The days of asking people to use their lands, houses and property to secure loans are gone!" - Ben Murray Bruce, President of Silverbird Entertainment in an interview about his proposal for the empowerment of the "silent majority" at President Obasanjo's special forum with entrepreneurs.

It was Victor, my elder brother, who first told me of this statement which according to him is sometimes made about blacks in developed societies: "If you want to hide something from a black man, put it in a book!" When I first heard it, I could not help laughing, but at the same time I was saddenned because I realied that it was, to a great extent, VERY TRUE.

In 99.95% of cases of black Africans I have interacted with, I would say this statement is VERY true. Asking a fellow black African to read a NON-FICTION book is not likely to endear you to him/her. And you can be sure s/he will not invest half as much as s/he does on material possessions(like a car, clothes and fashion) on self-development books/education. The only time I see most people out here interested in getting copies of a book is when they think the book is so popular that carrying around a personal copy of it would make them look good! One example: When the Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad. Poor Dad." fever caught on in Nigeria, I ran into quite a number of people who had taken pains to buy personal copies of the book. But (just like I found with those who bought Napoleon Hill's Think & Grow Rich), very few of them ever got past the first few pages of the book!! (I know this because I engaged them in discussions about what they had read/learnt. As a Self-Development & Performance Enhancement Specialist, I consider this an important aspect of my work).

Another GOOD way to test if this statement is true: When a Nigerian is celebrating a birthday anniversary for instance, you are likely find that giving him/her a Gold wrist watch or expensive jewelery for instance is likely to make him/her express MORE "excitement" compared to the subdued murmur of appreciation you would get for buying him/her a book/videos on learning French EVEN though s/he may have confided in you previously that s/he badly wanted to learn French to increase her chances of getting seconded to a French Speaking branch of his/her company! I am able to say this, because I have DONE it, and gotten that kind of reaction more than once.

I am BLACK, NIGERIAN and AFRICAN - and I am very proud of it. However, I have always been bothered by the fact that most people in my society, always seem so uncomfortable with reading for learning OUTSIDE the school environment. And even in school when they do read, they very rarely show interest in APPLYING what they learn from such reading to productive purposes. Instead they focus on how to quickly finish school and get the piece of paper(certificate) which would help them get a job and earn money etc.

Very rarely would you find any of them talking about coming up with his or her own ORIGINAL IDEAS or INVENTIONS that could add to the body of useful knowlegde already existing. In fact, conversing with some of them revealed they truly felt they could not possibly have anything useful to add! And they would go further to tell people like me that I was stupid to think I could have anything to add. But it was not entirely their fault: they were/are responding to their environment, where they saw/see that those who venture into intellectual fields tend to end up with the short end of the stick, especially in terms of achieving material and monetary rewards. The situation that existed then(and still exists today in most black African societies) is one that does not reward intellectual creativity.

That's why the words "patents" and "inventions" do not have much meaning here. As far back as the 1800s in developed societies, large corporations were buying rights to inventions, and partnering with inventors to come up with ideas to create new products that were subsequently marketed at a profit to the public. The TV is an example.

In developed societies if you develop a NEW and original way of doing something useful, you can easily set yourself up to reap significant financial rewards for that ONE good product idea by getting it patented(Robert Kiyosaki did that with his Cash Flow games). To illustrate further, I will refer to something Robert Kiyosaki said in his writings that while in school a well known saying they had went something like this: "What do you call a class mate who is a Nerd ten years from now?" The answer was always : "BOSS". And that's the truth. Anyone with creative intellect is most likely guaranteed financial success and leadership status in a developed society. This is because those societies prosper based on their ability to generate and productively apply NEW ideas. Therefore anyone with a proven ability to come up with such badly needed ideas will tend to be in great demand.

In Nigeria my dear country, before you could even find a place to register your product, replicas of it would already be on the streets selling like mad - and NONE of the money made from those sales would end up in your pockets. So, that's probably why the average guy out here does not think reading and/or creative thinking is that important. Then there is also the aspect of our need in this part of the world to be seen to be doing something. The black man seems to have a preference for physical as opposed to intellection exertion. Sadly this preference is what will continue to hold him back from developing his full potential and achieving development of his society at the same level as White people.(Read my white paper titled "The World's Future Prosperity Depends On The Creation And Evolution Of Digital Multipreneurs™").

Learning is a highly valued activity in developed societies, and that's why the ONE thing that sells the most out there is INFORMATION or IDEAS. A good example: The two young men who own Google.com had just an idea, and decided to try it out. The rest of their society saw what THAT IDEA could for them and decided to BUY into it. Few, if at all any people out there spent time checking whether they were small boys or if they had Godfathers or whether anyone else had done it before. Today those two guys are billionaires, and we are all grateful that Google.com is there for us all to use. A win-win situation isn't it? If only we in black Africa could learn to let our young people with great IDEAS who have no special connections, godfathers or capital do the same thing for our societies. The problem as I continue to say, is that too many of us allow our egos get in the way of our reasoning!

The ONLY thing the white man(and his Asian counterpart) have that makes them appear to be better than us is that they have LEARNT to focus on nurturing the CREATIVE INTELLECT of their society's members across all ages and social groups. But we CAN also decide to begin doing the same thing from TODAY - instead of perpetually waiting for them to come up with the new idea and then copying it BLINDLY for use in our societies, even when the social contexts of application are in conflict!

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Would You Let Your Zoologist Graduate Daughter Live/Work With Apes In The Jungle For 3 Decades?

Most Nigerian parents(this writer being a definite exception!) would not approve of their child who studied Zoology going to live in the West African jungles with Apes for 3 decades studying animals with funding from sponsors. This is what Jane Goodall did while in her early twenties as a young woman. Today she runs an international organisation dedicated to furthering her work. While working in Africa, she did find time to get married, so it was not that she missed out on socials. If the truth be said, without the Jane Goodalls of this world, who are willing to work in those isolated, lesser known areas, much of the knowledge we have today about our environment would not be there. If many scientists and researchers were not willing to stay long periods locked away from the spotlight, in their laboratories where no one notices flashy gold watches on your wrist, or your latest designer shoes/shirts, we would not be looking forward to new medical/scientific discoveries or indeed a cure for HIV/AIDS.

The truth is that virtually EVERY aspect of our lives is made more pleasurable and comfortable as a result of the work being done by those people engaged in most intellectually demanding tasks. They are the ones who toil night and day, away from the noise and excitement of our hustling and bustling, to discover better ways to make our societies work. If they stopped being willing to do this and decided to be like the rest of us, this planet would be in BIG trouble. Those who do intellectual work are very important for our survival. For them to continue doing what they do effectively, they need to read/learn constantly to augment their knowledge/skills. They HAD to read/learn HARD in order to become good enough to do what they do today. Which means if we want to be as good as they are we also MUST develop the habit of reading and learning continually. No matter the field of interest you have - even if it's sports, you still need to make performance enhancing reading/learning a habit if you want to perform at your best.

Yet, many black Africans/Nigerians abhor reading - a big mistake. One sad fallout of this mistake is that they never develop their own success system/philosophy that enables them achieve truly sustainable success. As a result, they go through life as mediocres. Look at the careers of Mohammed Ali and Michael Jordan for example and you will notice that one common trait they had is their ability to stay LONG at the top, and to bounce back from setbacks to win again and again. People who read/learn continually as a habit(especially from aiming to have many varied experiences) to improve themselves also tend to do a lot of thinking, and this leads them to eventually develop a system of beliefs which guides them to succeed in everything they do. It helps them DISOVER who they are,and how to make themselves achieve their important goals repeatedly. Reading, and the thinking that goes with it, makes them KNOW HOW TO SUCCEED at what they do. When you know how to succeed at what you do, you will NEVER be afraid of failure, because you will be confident of being able to succeed again, even if you failed. That's why Ali was able to come back and win the World title three times. That's why Michael Jordan was able to return from his initial retirement to Baseball, to overcome major obstacles and reproduce the magic needed to get himself and the Chicago Bulls back to the top of the NBA league. That's also why Henry Ford when asked what he would do if he lost his financial empire said "I'll have it all back in five years". He KNEW!...They all KNEW!

AND that's why I KNOW that I will ALWAYS achieve ANY goal I set for myself, as long as I continue working hard to achieve it, and NEVER give up. If Black Africans want to be able to bring about positive and lasting development in their societies, they will need to adopt healthy reading/thinking-based self-improvement habits like those described here.

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Questions To Challenge Black Africans To Stop Whining & Start Acting So They Can Become Relevant

1. Why Can't We Work Together For The Long Term?

What makes it so difficult for us to find black African individuals and groups willing to work together for the long term to pursue mutually beneficial goals? Think about it: How many musical bands do you know that started in Nigeria 10 years ago that are still together, the same way the Beatles, Commodores have been. Why does it seem that anytime a group of two or more start something and begin to enjoy success, some "forces" seem to find a way to make them split or fall apart within a few years?

Even destiny's child's Beyonce did not leave her group until ten years after the group had won multiple awards and recognition. In business, the same problem is seen. Many black Africans find it easier to accept to team up with (or to put it more correctly: "represent") foreign partners THAN to form alliances with local counterparts. Very often they prefer to attach themselves to established foreign partners than to work with others like themselves to create a new market for their own unique products.

And when they do partner with each other, the relationship is often plagued with mutual suspicion and intrigue/scheming, which prevents them from making significant headway. The irony is that in developed societies even competing companies and individuals who do the same kind of work often readily team up to take developments in their industry to the next level. They also work hard to make their products compatible, so that customers are able to buy from both parties an use the products together(The IT/Telecoms industry provides an excellent case in point). This greatly boosts development and advancement in the economies they operate because adoption of their products by customers increases as a result.

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2. Why Do We Find It Difficult To Plan/Organise Effectively In A Way That Benefits The Majority?

Are white people/Asians not human like us? Why can't we do it right like they do? Look at the chaos in Nigeria's football governing house - the NFA - that has virtually crippled our national teams, and messed up our leagues. What does it really take to do the things that people in developed countries do to make their own events so well organised? Isn't it because we know they always do things right that we purchase rights to broadcast EUFA competitions live? Do you think decision makers in developed countries would be as confident to purchase broadcast rights for any of our local/continental competitions? The same human beings with 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 ears, brains etc make things go like clockwork day in day out in these countries. Yet, we fail to do the same in ours. Instead we spend so much time scheming to cheat each other due to our greed. The white man is not holding us back : WE are holding us back!

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3. Why Is It That Very Many Supposedly Successful Black Africans Like To Mystify Their Successes?

Why do we as a people tend to be so reluctant to show others how to reproduce the authentic success we are able to achieve? When most black africans who have "supposedly" achieved success in their areas of chosen endeavor are asked to share the secrets of their success, VERY often(especially in Nigeria) they say things like: "Ah, it's God O! God has been so good to me. etc". To me that's talking without saying ANYTHING - and quite often it is only a person who has something to hide that speaks so evasively! Those who achieve success in developed societies often do the opposite. They typically answer the same question by articulating their personal success strategies and philosophies, acknowlegding "God" where appropriate(e.g. Philip Emeawgali has comprehensively documented on his website - www.emeagwali.com - elaborate details of the experiences he had, which "formed him", and the specific actions he took to achieve his successes). Some achievers learnt through experience. Others through studying what was documented by successful persons. The morale is that success, if authentic, will be reproducible and "teach-able" to others. Any individual who claims to have succeeded must therfore be prepared to pass the ultimate test by successfully TEACHING others (even if for a FEE) how to REPRODUCE similar success.

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4. Why Do We Resist/Shoot-Down Younger People Who Have Better Value To Offer Us?

Is there any particular reason that most people in African societies have a problem accepting that a person younger than them or one who is starting a venture AFTER them CAN DO BETTER than them? Look, when Mohammed Ali was still very young and screaming all over the place that he was the greatest, there were many boxers older than him who had been in the business BEFORE him. They did not spend time telling him he was a small boy. They all knew the ONLY true way to determine if Ali was right was to fight him on a LEVEL PLAYING field - before a FAIR and IMPARTIAL judge.

As history attests, Mohammed Ali is today regarded as the greatest heavy weight boxer in the history of the sport. The key to his success was that he was NOT "over-humble" or shy about saying what he believed he could achieve no matter who was affected - young, old or ancient! (I elaborate MORE on the need to avoid limiting your potential by being "over-humble" using Ali as a reference point, in my article titled "To Perpetually Achieve Noteworthy Success, You May Need To Be Moderate In Your Humility").

Why do people in black Africa always want to tell a potential Bill Gates at 24 years trying to develop his own Microsoft company-forming idea that s/he is a small boy and should "wait for his/her time"(whatever that means!)? If you are a black African you must know that if Gates had left the equivalent of Harvard in our society to start his company the way he did some decades ago, he would likely have had to contend with this social problem of people "thinking" he was too young/ambitious and trying to as they say "grow on top of his elders"(at IBM for example). These are the social realities that face the young innovators that want to emerge from black African societies. They have to fight the resistance to their ideas from mostly inept adults who insist on leading even when they've overstayed their welcome! I have lost count of the number of times, while marketing my services, that I have been called a "small boy" - sometimes to my face - especially during the first few years of starting my business.

This happened despite the fact that those who did so knew I was already over 30 years old and had a wife/kids of my own! How on earth could I then be a small boy? Now if this is the attitude some people had to me, an adult of over thirty years, think what they would say to the 18 year old who tries to do what his/her peer in the USA would take for granted by starting out in business. Look around black African societies and count how many (if at all ANY) teenage millionaires/business owners that you can find. THAT says it all doesn't it?

Let me say this: In the future, a good sign that a black African society has become developed will be seen in the ready reference we will be able to make to young persons - children especially - who earn profitable remuneration for their proven abilities in a particular vocation. So many examples abound in developed societies of this. And they are not made to feel they need to worship some so-called mentor or god-father as tends to happen out here, who will want them to credit him with making them successful! I am teaching my kids to understand the truths I state here, and to assert themselves appropriately as the need arises, if anyone tries to make them feel "grateful" when it is not warranted.

But then why should someone want to make another person feel THAT grateful? Should we not offer support or assistance because we want to(plus we know it is warranted) and NOT because we want the recipient to become indebted to us? Personally, if I help someone out, I do so because I want to, and NOT because I want the person to feel s/he owes me. That's why every time I do someone what could be termed a favour, I try very hard to impress upon him/her that I DO NOT want anything in return. Of course if I do decide I do NOT want to do something that another person asks of me, it will NOT matter how many times s/he asks or who s/he passes through to make the request: I WILL NOT DO IT and I will not care who subsequently dislikes me for it!

The ego plays such an important role out here, and a culture of patronage pervades in which those who think they are "up there" want you to remain forever subordinate and even subservient to them. These people will deliberately make your progress difficult if you choose to challenge the status quo, even though they know (or more likely because they are not happy) that you want to bring about what is obviously a NEW and BETTER order of things like Gates did in his time. This singular problem is slowing many black African societies down so greatly that eliminating it can turn our fortunes around with immediate benefits to our societies.

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5. Why Are We NOT Using The Internet To Enrich Ourselves Despite Its Ready Accessibility?

Who is stopping Nigerians and Africans from using Internet and PC technology to run their lives/businesses less expensively PLUS make more savings/profits? Who is stopping us from helping virtually anyone who so desires start a home business on the Internet? Businesses that don't require an arm and a leg to be sold in order for capital needed to run them to be obtained.

Businesses that make it possible for customers to stay in their homes and have a competent provider deliver products and services reliably to them no matter what part of the country or continent they reside in. Are these not the same things that make living in developed societies so cool? If we suddenly could shop using credit cards on 100% indigenous websites and not fear that the products we ordered would not be delivered even after our money has been taken, would our countries and continent not be a better place to live in?

One Example: I recently purchased, with the help of my brother-in-law, two books on advanced Microsoft Excel use on the Internet for approximately 30 British Pounds. Despite the fact that I did not know their office location or any employees in the online company I made the order with, I had no fears doing so, and waiting for the few days required for the books to arrive. And of course they did. But out here, even when you buy face to face, you STILL sometimes find yourself getting cheated! And to make matters worse, the power supply and effective communication resources needed to make using these affordable alternatives easy, remain ever so erratic in their availability.

Just think about it: In developed societies most people do not shut down their PCs because they often have need to log on to their systems from remote locations whenever they are on the road. That's why most of today's electronic devices come with various in-built features that allow them do so. But here in Nigeria for instance, if you do not have generator backup that you probably keep running at the location of your PC, you would not be able to do the same thing. That puts a limitation on your productivity that you could really do without.

So the question is: Just what will it take to have regular power supply that can be relied upon in Nigeria(Most of our African brothers have already overcome this hurdle I am deeply ashamed to admit)? I say nothing that we do not have already. Unfortunately, the greed of a few, and the timidity of the majority - who continue to think the solution is to PRAY for a saviour from heaven to come and fight their battle for emancipation for them - keeps us in a retarded state of development.

EACH of us has the power to change the situation by getting rid of those who make it persist: STOP giving up your voting power. Vote ONLY for those you know will do what they promise and make your society work better for YOUR benefit. To do this, you need to be confident that you can stand on your own - especially when it has to do with your financial independence. Empower yourself to earn income using personal skills that do not require you to beg some dictator to assist/support you. This website offers many ideas(articles, white papers etc) about how you can do this. Explore it.

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5. Can A Non-Indigene Run For Public Office In Our Respective Societies And Win?

In the USA, people who entered America as immigrants from places like Germany, Austria etc have gone on record for holding public offices as Secretary of State, Governor etc. I know from living in my country for over three decades that any foreigner, even if he is just as black/African as I am, will need a MIRACLE to win an election into office as Local Government Chairman talk less of getting elected as Governor(like Arnold Schwarzzennegger did by becoming Governor of California state in the US despite being an ex-immigrant).

This is true especially when you consider the fact that even amongst ourselves we argue that a certain individual cannot be governor because he was not born in the particular area of the country where he wishes to contest for office. How silly! Unfortunately for us, our ability to let "outsiders" who choose to make our societies their home, freely live/prosper and take up office so as to serve and improve our lives, will ultimately determine how DEVELOPED our societies become. The sooner we change our "thinking" in this regard therefore, the better off we will be.

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6. Why Is It Easier For Us To Achieve Financial Success In Developed Societies Than At Home?

The legendary Afro Beat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, sang about the need to fight corruption, oppression and most importantly break away from the white man's wrong teachings. Yet his major income was earned by going round the world to play before predominantly white audiences in developed societies, at premium rates that MOST people in his country would NOT pay even if they could afford it. This paradoxical situation continues even now, and is why his sons Femi and Seun Kuti do 95% of their shows in Europe/America etc. Everybody in Nigeria knows these guys cannot get paid enough to live as well as they currently do, if they choose to spend more time playing in Nigeria/Africa for instance.

I think that's really makes it potentially great food for thought though. Think about American artistes. Do you think 50 Cent will find it necessary to spend 95% of his time doing shows outside the US in order to make ENOUGH money to live the life he wants to live? Quite unlikely. American artistes get most of their income earning patronage right at home - because those who love their music show this love by PAYING to listen to it in live shows, and by buying the ORIGINAL CDs to play at home. Fela's music continues to sell in Nigeria/Africa, but most of the money being made from those sales are pocketed by pirates who mass produce his music on various media. His family can certainly not look forward to much royalties from inside Nigeria/Africa! In stark contrast to the aforementioned state of affairs, Elvis Presley's estate continues to generate income today decades after the musician himself "left the scene" as it were. The same thing can happen here in Nigeria if those involved will just DECIDE to do the right thing, whenever they have the opportunity. But, will they? Will YOU???

Why I Know Fela Would Have Starved If He Had Not had Access To The White Man's Patronage: Look, my son is named after Fela, and I know the number of times people have expressed serious disapproval that I chose to give him THAT name whenever the the boy is introduced to them. Frequently, they referred to the fact that Fela smoked weed and had many wives etc. The fact that Fela gave up a comfortable life guaranteed him by his birth into a very priviledged family of eilites, to use his music to fight the cause of the disadvantaged and oppressed in society NEVER seems to sway them. As a result, while Fela was alive most Nigerian parents would never let their kids go near his shows.

Yet, today, many years after his death, people all over the world still celebrate him. I have seen websites maintained by people in America, Germany and even Asia on Fela. The white man focusses on the GOOD part of a person that adds value to others and recognises him/her for it. The black Arican precoccupies himself with the MICROSCOPIC piece of imperfection that he has worked hard to find regarding his fellow country man in his perpetual bid to prove s/he is not special! This same black African when meeting a white-skinned person with worse "qualities" than Fela's, would choose not to see them and show off the Oyinbo(white person) to the admiration of his/her equally misguided peers and associates!

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7. Question: Who Read Wole Soyinka's Writings To Decide They Were Worth Awarding Him The Nobel Prize For Literature?

My Answer: THE WHITE MAN! There are more white people who have bought original copies of Wole Soyinka's books prior to(and probably since) his becoming a Nobel Laureate compared to black Africans. Do you think we can say the same thing for writers of even fiction books written by white authors like J.K Rowling Or Charles Dickens? Of course not. The white people celebrate their own - and then those of others. Black Africans yearly receive and show off awards given to them by white people in developed societies. Very often they rate the award given them at home LOWER, though they will naturally not admit it :-). I ask : when will we have people from developed societies cherishing awards given to them by people in black African societies as much as we cherish those they give us? If/when that begins to happen, it would be a SURE sign that we are gradually becoming a force to reckon with in the world.

Note: One reason why getting awards like the Nobel Prize is good is that it puts MORE money in the winner's pocket than s/he could have normally earned. I explain: As I understand it, as soon as a person is announced winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, virtually ALL his books and publications immediately become highly in demand by individuals, institutions and organisations - all over the world. They become recommended reference materials for teaching/leaning and even research. The implication is that the Nobel Laureate suddenly finds himself earning more in royalties from all those sales more or less for the rest of his/her life. Not a bad way to get rewarded for all that reading, thinking and writing!

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8. Why Does The Black African With More Money Think S/he MUST Be A Better Thinker Than The One With Less?

I will illustrate what I mean by quoting a common saying used in my langugae(Yoruba) to put down persons considered "poor" by those who feel they are better off financially than him/her: "Olowo nso oro, Talika ni ohun ni idea!". Translation: "Imagine the poor person/beggar saying he has an idea, when the rich person is talking!". That this kind of thinking could be commuted into a formal 'saying" in a social culture shows that the people believe it is not possible for good ideas to come from a person who lacks money or material wealth.

How VERY wrong! We all know that what happens daily in developed societies shows that a guy who lacks money but WANTS to have it, can successfully do so by selling his ideas to a RICH person. The latter knowing the idea could make him/her RICHER would be willing to reward the "ideas" person in line with agreed terms. Any African society that wishes to become truly developed will need to embrace the thinking that prevails in developed societies regarding BUYING and SELLING of ideas.

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9. When Can We Expect Football Professionals From Italy, France, England etc To Begin Coming To Pursue Lucrative Careers In Black Africa?

Okay, maybe I'm asking too much for starters. What about professionals from Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa? At least they are Africans like us. Why is it prestigious for a person to say he "travelled out" even if s/he went to an African country? Is it possible that sometime in the future, people from other parts of the world will feel exctied about planning to come on holdays to Nigeria instead of going to say France? The ridiculus games being played by people at the NFA(Nigerian Football Authority) make the prospect of achieving any attractiveness for our professional football very gloomy.

I do not see any white men amongst those causing problems at the NFA. All those involved in gradually bringing our football to its knees in Nigeria are just a black as I am, if not more! Yet we claim the white man does not want us to progress. If that is so, how come our footballers who can barely feed themselves while here suddenly strike it rich once they find their way into foreign leagues? How come we are always looking to hire white coaches at crazy fees for our national teams? How come our football administrators always run to FIFA, which is headed and run by mainly white people to resolve internal conflicts within our local football governing bodies like the NFA? Pant...Pant....Let me stop briefly here and catch my breath...before I continue to some more questions begging answers for years now...!

Why is it possible for a black African to earn better rewards financially and otherwise for doing what s/he does best OUTSIDE his/her country or continent?

Now here are some questions whose self-evident answers provide answers to the preceding questions: How many times have you heard that professionals in club sides or national teams of England, Brazil, Italy or France went on strike because allowances or bonuses promised them were not paid? How many times have you heard that any of these countries national teams - junior or senior - had to play with borrowed jerseys at the Olympics(like our female basket ball team had to during the last Olympics). How many times have you had that a junior national football team from any of these countries got stranded at the airport on arrival from the venue of an international competition(like our male Junior National Team did in 2006)?

BUT OUR FOREIGN PLAYERS SUFFER RACISM YOU SAY(?): Oh yes, I know they suffer attacks on their persons/pride as a result of racist tendencies of some white people out there, BUT the truth is that despite the problem of racism, it is STILL more profitable and fulfilling for our footballers to play professionally in Europe than it is for them to stay here where (thankfully??) there is no racism!!!

Do Didier Drogba and Michael Essien not look motivated whenever we watch them play? That is itself evidence that what I said above is correct. Now why is that so? One would have thought the racists would not let our players make profitable returns on their playing careers. Instead, our players find that it is when they come home to play for the national teams that they get cheated out of their earnings, and denied ideal conditions they need to give their best in matches!! How painfully ironic.

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Key Actions For Black Africans: Acquire Multiple Income Earning Skills & Be Positive Social Change Agents

1. Let every individual work hard to equip him/berself with multiple income generating skills that over time will make him/her financially independent to the extent that s/he can successfully resist attempts to intimidate him/her to do what s/he does not want to do. As Jimmy Agbaje the 2007 Lagos Governoship aspirant said, those people who are used by the powerful few to perpetuate bad practices in society are those who lack an independent income source, and who therefore feel they have no choice.

By acquiring personal income generating skills that enable you to control where and when/how you earn money you need, you will suddenly find you have a CHOICE about who you take orders from - and that is IF you accept to take them at all. Again I invite you to explore this site to learn how you can acquire such skills. Read the following articles:

a. How To Be A Jack Of Many Trades, And Why It Can Make You Succeed More Often?(Based On Real-Life Practice)

b. More Real-Life Proof that Being an Intelligent Jack of Many Trades, Can Make You Succeed More Often

c. If You Lack Capital, Intelligent Multipreneuring Can Help You Get It!

2. The next thing is for every person who successfully acquires this ability, to teach the person next to him/her HOW to do the same. We need to STOP wanting others to wait on us and beg for scraps falling from our tables in order for us to feel accomplished. Feeling that way is a sign that we have small minds. Small mindedness leads to mediocrity - which is one of the problems we need to overcome in black Africa! We must all think EMPOWERMENT of the other person as a first rule in our lives. So, the key is for us NOT to have to depend on inept leaders or powerful persons, but instead work hard to become CAPABLE of voting the right people in to replace them. (Read my article titled "Share Your Knowledge By Writing: You Will Improve People's Lives & Contribute To Social Development! ").

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Summary: We Don't Need "The Government" To Bring About Needed Change And Progress - REALLY!

I could go on, but I would not be saying anything new. Therefore I will end by saying that if black Africans really want to become a force to reckon with in today's world, ALL they need to do is change their ways as proposed in this write up. Specifically, we should all from today start acting with more Emotional Intelligence - being conscious of the impact of our actions and/or inactions on the lives of others. We need to be more willing to cooperate with ourselves to ensure that every member of our societies is able to live with dignity and fulfillment. No one should have to struggle needlessly to survive where others are flourishing. Life should not be a competition to the death. We CAN all do well together. (Read my article titled "Compete ONLY Against Yourself - And Enjoy The Rewards Of Being A Truly Liberated Mind!").

Our success as individuals MUST never be perceived as only achievable through the failure or lesser success of others. We must aim to achieve authentic successes, and share with others around us the secrets of how to do the same - EVEN if for a fee. One example: Brian Tracy was in some African counties last year (Nigeria, Ghana etc) to share the secrets of his success in a flagship seminar. I cannot say for sure if he got paid for these particular visits or how. What I do know is that Brian gets paid for sharing his ideas on how to reproduce the kind of results that made him a champion salesman, business person, coach etc. But he could, like some people I know, have simply achieved his success and chosen not to go around teaching anyone how to do what he did or does. There is certainly no law against that. Yet the developed societies are overflowing with examples of ACCOMPLISHED people like Brian who readily share what they know with others to help them succeed in the pursuit of their own goals. The Internet itself is today used for this purpose by many individuals, groups and organisations.

Once we can adopt the above attitude of sharing what we know with others who NEED to learn, it will be easy for us to KNOW the RIGHT actions to take in our daily activities to make ourselves a force to reckon with in the 21st century and beyond. I want you to note that ALL that I have proposed in this write up does NOT require any person to wait for "the government" to take any sort of action before it can be achieved. Everything that needs to be done CAN be done by individuals like me and YOU, from today - starting NOW - if we will only decide to do so.

Just think about the changes that could come about in black Africa as a result of EACH black African person's singular decision to make that change today. I have been doing my own bit since January 2002.(Read "Why I Do What I Do, The Way I Do It" to learn more about my adopted strategy). Part of it has to do with sharing my ideas with as many people as are willing to read them through this website, and through my articles syndicated on many websites across the Internet(Click here to read my vision and mission statements on the "About" page of my main website). Who says you cannot do the same?

I really think it's high time we black Africans stopped whining about our seeming misfortunes and started TAKING POSITIVE ACTIONS like those suggested all through this article to turn our societies' fortunes around. The next time I hear a black African "brother or sister" moaning about white people and how they stole all our riches, making us under-developed etc, I am going to SCREAM!!!

Related Articles:

1. I Am A Self-Development Educator And NOT A Motivational Speaker
2. Should You Quit Your Job or Start Your Business Part-time?
3. The World's Future Prosperity Depends On The Creation And Evolution Of Digital Multipreneurs
4. Avoid Taking Lessons On Entrepreneuring From The Wrong Person(s)
5. Practical Guiding Philosophies For Entrepreneurial Success

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