Edtorial,

Throughout human history, development has been the process of mankind taking control of his environment for survival.  In the primitive age, the organisational structure of society was simple and human beings employed crude techniques in the exploitation of nature for survival, with peasant agriculture the basis for development.

Today, however, the human society has evolved to a complicated stage. This, compounded with the tremendous success registered in the field of science and technology, has made the process of development a network of complex techniques that require the service of experts for its achievement. As Africans, we must not distort this simple truth in our collective endeavours to develop the continent.

The brain drain syndrome is becoming institutionalized in the continent. This partly explains our current level of underdevelopment after decades of independence. Brain drain is devastating our economy and crippling the very fabric of our development as our potentials are left lying raw and underutilized due to the absence of expertise. Africans should, therefore, realise that Africa belongs to Africans and it is we, the Africans, who should develop the continent.

We will remain at the mercy of poverty, disease, hunger and social unrest, if those who should build the pillars of the continent’s development are abandoning their moral obligation for so-called greener pastures.

After all, this ‘greener pastures’ we are running after did not just drop from the sky; they were created by the sacrifices of certain people. What about Africa?
The African masses are the people who struggled for independence; they sacrificed for a purpose and celebrated their victory for a reason. The African elite should therefore not at any cost betray the aspirations of the masses.

We should stand to build this continent and place it at par with the world. It is time that the house that our forefathers built became a home.