South African Narratives

[Toyin Falola]

It is as depressing as that of Nigeria.
Should we, as scholars, begin to reimagine the African state?
In private conversations, I have been unsuccessful in not recommending migrations as an exit option.
Leadership failure and institutional decay are everywhere.
Where do we go from here?
TF

Sent from my iPhone

[Dr. Oohay]

Apparently, what ails us lies not just in a chronic failure of leadership but a cross-cultural “mindset” (aka ethos) immersed in wells of “corruption” in every sense of the word. We worship corruption: we valorize the corrupt and their I’ll-gotten products. Cross-sectionally in Naija, we pray night and day NOT for the wheel of corruption to stop but for the wheel of fortune (via corruption) to come our way very  soon. No wonder as Professor PLO Lumimba so aptly puts it, Africans produce what they don’t consume and they consume what they don’t produce. Apparently, every nation more or less experiences corruption, but in Naija, corruption is a DAILY way of life. We laugh at those who manage to avoid corruption abs dismiss them as BIG fools. 

We need a change in our ethos, not just in our leadership — after all, the leaders and the led drink from the same well. Let’s (from this day on) drink no more from any well of corruption; let’s from today on drink ONLY from a wholesome wells.  ONLY a wholesome well can make us well NOW. Only a well with a new “chemical” (ETHOS). We need a new “ethos,” one we develop EXEMPLARILY ( NOT  a new “theory” — or if a “theory,” one through LIVED experiences. 

A “PhD Coda”:  “Oga, why you de worrie about koruption … Na your papa money??? Na govment money.”

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[Dr. Oohay]

Edited Version 

Apparently, what ails us lies not just in a chronic failure of leadership but a cross-cultural “mindset” (aka ethos) immersed in wells of “corruption” in every sense of the word. We worship corruption: we valorize the corrupt and their ill-gotten products. Cross-sectionally in Naija, we pray night and day NOT for the wheel of corruption to stop but for the wheel of fortune (via corruption) to come our way very  soon. No wonder as Professor PLO Lumimba so aptly puts it, Africans produce what they don’t consume and consume what they don’t produce. Apparently, every nation more or less experiences corruption, but in Naija, corruption is a DAILY way of life. We laugh at those who manage to avoid corruption and summarily dismiss them as BIG fools. 

We need a change in our ethos, not just in our leadership — after all, the leaders and the led drink from the same well. Let’s (from this day on) drink no more from any well of corruption; let’s from today on drink ONLY from wholesome wells.  ONLY a wholesome well can make us well NOW. Only a well with a new “chemical” (ETHOS). We need a new “ethos,” one we develop EXEMPLARILY ( NOT  a new “theory” — or if a “theory,” one through LIVED experiences). 

A “PhD Coda”:  “Oga, why you de worrie about koruption … Na your papa money??? Na govment money.”

To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com

Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
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