The quandary of effecting Eldorado developmental promises is a common dilemma
in most newly politically independently countries. Birthed from a collection of
peoples of different ethno-religious leanings, colonists tend not to respect
existent socio-political delineations; rather choosing to delineate territories
based on obnoxious treaties drafted on the colonist terms and thenceforth hobnobbing
an agglomeration of peoples of divergent ethno-religious leanings into one
political entity. These peoples then unite under a common cause of anti-colonial
movements to achieve political independence.
By the adoption of the ‘Atlantic Charter’ by foremost
colonials in the United Kingdom and its subsequent metamorphoses of the United
Nations Charter in 1945, colonial and occupied dominions were guaranteed self-determination
and independence and as such, colonial governance became non acceptable in the
international commune.
The end of the Second World War ushered in the emergence of new Nation
States albeit from the shackles of colonialism in Africa and Asia. These
nations were referred to as those from the backwaters
of development or 3rd World Countries.
Their paths to development was made more sinister by the sharp divergent
bipolarity of global powers in the USA and USSR, each garnering allies and
seeking new grounds to wield their socio-economic propaganda of Capitalism and
Communism in proselytizing client/satellite states. As such, most emergent
nation states foundered along these divergent economic paths whilst living up
the realities of internal political squabbles. Hence development in most newly
political emergent countries of the 20th century was torn between bipolar
allegiance and internal political coherence and concord.
Whilst most Nation States of Europe, the Americas and parts of Asia
emerged in their present forms no thanks to imperial ambitions, and internecine
ethno-religious conflicts especially between the 17th & 19th Centuries; causing
alignment of borders and wholesale population and territorial exchanges,
emergence of most African and Asian States had imperial and colonial ambitions
to thank for their present forms.
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| Source: http://aidnography.blogspot.com.ng/ |
Effecting development has been an intersection cataclysms and abysmal efforts in Africa as most countries are torn betwixt accepting their ascribed National identities gained from colonialism or carving new ones. Issues bothering on Governance and political administration structures are thorny and never settling as ethno-religious fears are rife and pierce the very soul of their Nationhood.
And whilst most Sub-Saharan Countries grapple with effecting the very fundamentals
of development in their domains, fellow development backwater Nations of
Eastern Asia have stridden, matched and now dictate developmental models
globally. Aside the emergence of Western Europe and Japan from the ruins of
World War Two thanks to American invented developmental models in the Marshall
plan, the developmental strides of South Eastern Asian Nation states now referred
to as Asian Tiger Nations present enviable models for Sub-Saharan African
Nations. For in defining and creating a new world order for themselves in the ‘Non-Aligned Movement’ they rose above
dereliction to developmental pace setters, never waiting for International
Developmental Models such as the MDGs
and SDGs to advance,
but rather sought to harness their human and natural resource capitals thus
becoming the manufacturing capital of the World. As such, India has dethroned
USA’s Silicon Valley and techy allied sectors as the Worlds tech capital; China,
Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand are now the World’s manufacturing capitals as
most companies would rather host their manufacturing bases in these Asiatics,
and Singapore known for its entreport activities stands as the financial
capital of the region. All these, while Sub-Saharan countries grapple in a
continual blame game of colonial decadence, Asian Tiger Nations have now begun
to carve economic hubs and niches on the African continent in series of aid
packages and economic interventionism summits such as the recent China-Africa Summit and India –
Africa Summit.
The political answer to the Asian revival has never until the last
decade of the 20th Century been clear cut in Western terms of Democracy. Aside
India which has remain a stellar beacon as the world’s most populous democracy
devoid Coup d’états, most Asian tiger nations have been riddled with military interventionism’s,
long periods of seeming civilian dictatorships as exemplified in the 31year
rule of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, and closed systems of political governance as
exemplified in China’s communist system. Asian Tiger Nations have been able to
adopt and modify suitable political systems to effect their development stratagem.
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| Ex-Singaporean Prime Minister and Architect of Singapore's development wonder Source:http://edunloaded.com/insights/remembering-lee-kuan-yew/ |
The Asian success stories whilst congenial with the start-up background experience of colonial repression and amorphous Nationhood amalgamation as with Africa has stood tall whilst Sub-Saharan African Countries continually trade the colonial blame game. More sinisterly is the African political experience which testifies of upheavals as most colonial liberators handed the reins of power upon independence, have proved extremely clueless in the face of global dynamism. Rather, such leaders have turned themselves to power despots seeking to entrench their political positions as family hegemonies. Pernicious still is the unabated syphon of National funds into personal foreign accounts in Western domains- such is never wanton in the Asian experience. Not that corruption does not exist there but draining National coffers to Western personal accounts is least existent.
Aside the common throes of colonialism which is common to Africa and
Asia, Southern African countries are emerging from Apartheid- an extreme form
of White colonial subjugation which has entrenched endemic social wounds which
even political independence is failing to heal. As such, whatever seems to have
been gained in developmental terms during periods of White Supremacist rule is
gradually falling apart in the face of black justice political movements.
Healing and reparation modalities of the apartheid effect in Southern Africa
remains a trillion-dollar question.
Sub-Saharan Africa like Asian tigers have colonial past to sneer at.
Nevertheless, Asian tiger Nations emerged from the doldrums of development to
entrench themselves as exemplary development stellars.
Going forward, the rhetorical question still reverberates; what are the
catalyst for development? Colonial/Political liberation struggles or good
governance typified by Western style democratic term limits? A combination of
both or an evolution and adoption of something else?
