The erosion of my resolve has been met with one conclusion: “Africa could have been better.”

As I write this article, I am rigged with somewhat mixed sentiments of patriotism for the Africa I hoped and dreamed of. When we watched the final departure of our old Western rulers, and sang happily, telling tales of how they caged our dreams, and hope for Africa, we were filled with aspirations, and magnificent obsession to make Africa better.

By far we ascended to new idioms of grandeur, and a force to build a better future for our unborn generation. I am not satisfied with what Africa has become. I am disappointed. Africa deserved better.

The Swahilis have a proverb that says: "When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled." Simply put; Africa as a continent more often than not, tended to war and conflict as a solution to end most of its problems. War and conflict; a situation whose consequences we often neglected. With the rise of the Boko Harem insurgency, the United Nations has estimated damages to the tune of 9billion dollars.

They attribute their claims to the Nigerian government, and against the Christian community in Nigeria. Millions have been affected by this, and yet they claim they are fighting for a cause. What course exactly!? Lest I forget, the Al Shabab group in Somalia; another terrorist group in Somalia that has caused several devastating consequences to innocents. They have defeated the troops of the African Union mission in Somalia(AMISOM), increased its attacks on the African Union bases, Somali government facilities and targeted neighbouring Kenya.

Sadly, we slaughter ourselves and tie it to differences in ideology and beliefs. I am just but a person in a larger conundrum. Now tell me: what is left of a continent when it resorts to war as a quest to find solutions to its problems? The Central African Republic war has had its major cities and towns seized by rebels.Congo has been characterized by civil war, rebellions, presidential assassinations, foreign interventions, and invasions. One of the newest nations created- South Sudan- has had a bloody civil war between several factions.

It is worse than you could imagine. Africa has been at war with herself. Killing lives, destroying wealth and property.

 Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in his address at the founding of the Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU) in Addis Ababa in 1963 said, "We must unite now or perish. We must recognise that our economic independence resides in our African union and requires the same concentration upon the political achievement" More than half a century later, we have subjected ourselves to a deodorized version of colonization.

The Westerners still dictate terms.

Corruption, which is one manifestation of poor governance, remains rampant throughout Africa.

One of the rippling effects is the Corruption-Trickle-Down-Syndrome. Corrupt political leaders' lust to amass wealth to the detriment of Africans has been passed down like a folklore to other civil servants. They are like tales we tell our younger generation so that they can also be corrupt.

Majority of the civil servants are living piggy boxes- taking bribes from the very people they are to serve, and fattening their pockets. It must be emphasized that the continuous occurrence of bribery has undermined citizens’ security and the rule of law.

It's astonishing that these bribes are paid to facilitate the delivery of services which are already catered for in their taxes. The greed is impeccably alarming. Africa cannot tow this line if it expects to see any meaningful socio-economic developments.

Kumssa(2015) asserted that police corruption undermines public trust in the institution and impairs the effective enforcement of the law. Africa has failed in this department.

Development and standards are maintained when the responsible individuals who support in making them real and active, perform their functions properly. When those who are supposed to perform certain tasks on a particular project are retarding project prospects due to their high selfish interest and corruption, the project will not in anyway be achieved.

The police and courts -institutions which exist to safeguard citizens’ rights are seen as the most corrupt. There's a need for accountability.

"If there's nothing to give then there will be nothing to receive" Are we to continue wallowing in half-baked development due to selfish and corrupt political leaders?

A report by AU asserts that $148billion is embezzled by African Leaders. The malnutrition in governance by most African governments has brought about deficiencies in developments.Several Africans across the continent have been deprived of basic amenities and infrastructure to the greed of some African leaders.

In Liberia, 7 out of 10 people say they have had to pay bribes to access basic services like Healthcare and schools. In Equatorial Guinea, 60% of the people are living below the poverty rate, and they have to survive on $1 per day.

Transparency International estimates that about 75million people in Sub-Saharan Africa have paid a bribe in the past year with the poor having to make twice those payments.

As I descend to the closure of this article, I have noticed that Africa has become its greatest enemy.

Now my theory of the "blame game", my version of events has been as a result of the fact that Africa does not have an enabling environment for her younger generation. Government and the people are entangled in a sine qua non situation. Without one, the other cannot function. This ties development to a collective approach.

The government over the years has not shown commitment to improving the lives of its people. Africa has failed to provide a hub that grows opportunities for innovative ideas that lead to economic gains. This explains why Africa is rippled with high rates of youth unemployment.

Even with significant strides in democratic rule, some African leaders and their governments have failed to mitigate the needs of the people with sustainable solutions. The African people are more often than not given a band-aid to relieve them of present suffering, without any critical thought to economic empowerment.

Few African countries have been able to provide a growing environment to inspire entrepreneurship among the youth. Most young African ideas which will pave the way to alleviating some of the government’s problems by providing direct and indirect jobs have no means of growth, and conducive policies to make entrepreneurship attractive.

Most African governments are burdened with the sole mandate of creating public sector jobs to employ the masses. This has resulted in a high dependency on the local government, without any consideration on how young people can create jobs for themselves, and their colleagues by providing solutions to some of Africa’s problems.

The continent has witnessed multiple failures to sustain projects that have been jumpstarted with high praise for state-owned enterprises as a means of addressing the challenge of high unemployment.

This has also been a result of the antiquated greed mentality of Africans. We have become our own enemies, actively rigging the system to serve our personal gain. This has resulted in a blame game between the people and their governments.

Africa must empower her people, and break the cycle of poverty that has ridiculed the land of rich natural resources that feeds the desires of the rest of the world.

The Westerners still dictate terms. Africa has witnessed most of its infrastructure financed with foreign aid and loans with high interest rates. Ghana has seen massive funds invested in infrastructure, and yet, some considerate number of Ghanaians have not witnessed significant improvement in infrastructure.

Nigeria has been bombarded with cases of corruption, and the major financial crimes committed by state officials. Africa continues to experience massive financial crimes by her leaders.

In the larger scheme of Africa’s affairs, we have demonstrated potential. As one of the leading producers of Cocoa, Gold, Diamond, Timber, and other key natural resources, what Africa needs to do is to collaborate strategically and effectively with her member states to secure a better future for younger generations.

Africa needs dedicated leaders who remain committed to improving the lives of African and securing the future of the unborn generation.

State institutions have to ensure transparency, accountability to the people. Most importantly, Africa must hold herself accountable for the failures of her actions, and seek strategic ways to help and improve the lives of her people.

We have to do better, and to do that; we must first recognize that we are part of the problem and a key component of the solution. To become the Africa we deserve, we must first give up our selfish ideologies, and champion the course of development.

Africa deserves better from us, and we must be ready and willing to give her our best.