BREAKING THE PADLOCKS OF OUR DREAMS

Sailing along the coastline in San Diego and seeing great buildings afar off, I came to the conclusion that, one’s impact in life is a function of one’s insight. This cannot be attributed much in the continent of Africa except with very few nations trying to break the shell of mediocrity.

A vision of what to eat, a car to buy, a building to live in are usually the dreams of ‘Amateurs’.  A vision of what to add to society and make impact in their world are the dreams of ‘men of responsibility’. Let’s acknowledge this truth. We may not be remembered for the properties we possessed but the things we added to society.

This piece is to challenge you and I to break out the shells of the limitations in this continent.  We may be tempted to raise accusations on leadership, but the essential truth is understanding. Our colonial masters had an educational system that suited their economies. It has worked for them and they are experiencing continuous progress. Sadly enough, many African nations for whatever reason adopted the same and progress has been very slow. There are all manner of ‘try and error’ policies which has resulted in frustration among young ones.

With glimpses of various libraries and research centers, I have taken notice of tens of thousands of padlocked undergraduate project works, MPhil thesis, Call for Papers and other independent researches.

There is no linear relationship between our resourceful research work and the development of our economies.

Giving credits to the government for their roles in these institutions. We want to encourage them to do more with more sponsorships of some of these research works.

The dreams of bright youths have been padlocked for a very long time. They leave our countries and merchandise their research works to other ‘powerful’ nations who later exploit us.

The story of Africa will change, where we will take pride in our own creative ideas. We will celebrate our champions and love our continent.

Very shortly, the Centre of attraction in the world will be Africa.

Samuel Elijah Boateng

President, The Central Focus