Fellow Nairalanders - the article below is one gleaned from the BBC News site.

I have to ask is it beyond the capabilities of the Black man (or woman - nod to equal opportunities etc  ) the African in particular to exercise good governance? What is it with the embezzling of public funds (funds meant for the betterment of our fellow citizen's living) that is so attractive?

Is it really beyond the capacity of our brain cells to actually use Govt money for its intended purpose?

SA sackings over township riots

The mayor and all of her senior officials in a riot-hit area of South Africa have been sacked.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) said the dismissals, after weeks of violent protests in Sakhile township, were a matter of principle.

Residents celebrated at the sackings as they blame corrupt officials for a lack of decent housing and basic supplies.

Meanwhile in Johannesburg police fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds protesting over similar issues.

The unrest is part of a wave of protests that has swept through the country in recent months.

Some of the worst violence has been seen in Sakhile, about 130km (80 miles) south-east of Johannesburg.

“ Where we feel that there has been a dereliction of duty, councillors will be recalled ”
Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula

The ANC announced the sacking of municipal mayor Juliette Radebe-Khumalo and her entire executive board after a high-level meeting.

ANC officials said the Lekwa municipality would come under the control of the Mpumalanga provincial government for a year to sort out the problems.

Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula, Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza and ANC Youth League President Julius Malema were among those making the decision.

Mr Malema's spokesperson told the BBC that the municipality was "dysfunctional".

"The officials, all of them ANC councillors, were given warnings previously but had shown no signs of improvement," Floyd Shivambu said.

'The final straw'

Mr Mbalula said the decision to dismiss the mayor and senior councillors was a matter of principle, reports the national broadcaster SABC.

"Where we feel that there has been a dereliction of duty, councillors will be recalled," he said.

The officials, who are all ANC members, were appointed in 2006 after the local government elections.

But the ANC had received numerous complaints about corruption and mismanagement at their offices, Mr Shivambu said.

He said the "final straw" came after "the rise of the people on the ground" in recent weeks.

An administrator will be appointed to manage the day-to-day running of the municipality until the next local elections due in 12 months.

Corruption allegations

The protests started on 25 September after a local government department released a report implicating the municipal officials in corruption and fraud.

Thousands of residents went on rampage torching a community hall, a library and two houses belonging to local councillors.

They were demanding that all councillors resign in light of the government's report.

They complained that they were without services like water, electricity and proper housing because officials were embezzling state funds.

President Jacob Zuma has promised to improve services in the townships to quell a wave of protests.

More than 150 people have been arrested in Mpumalanga for public violence and arson since the protests started last month.

South Africa's Times newspaper reported that 97 of the protesters were freed on bail on Thursday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8320231.stm

Another article talking specifically about Nigeria and its Federal roads is available here

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/10/22/hassan-lawal-failed-minister/

Again it's a case of the money being made available but someone decides to 'sit' on it and not use it to make things better for all.

I despair for the Black man particularly in Africa.

If we as Africans don't move beyond that mentality there's no hope for us

If you say so.

There is a passage in the Bible about the man who built his house on sand.
That is the case with africa. When the colonialists left most countries in Africa, they usually left their puppets in power so that they could continue to influence policies in these countries. In some cases, outside intervention came from powerful nations who were not initially colonialists. For instance, CIA involvement in Zaire, the death of Lumumba, and the rise of Mobutu. To think that the country that started the mess was Belgium, one tiny European nation. It is the same all over Africa, French and British governments would seek out some Army General and encourage him to take over if the puppets stopped dancing to their tunes. This was why the 1960s were rife coups all over Africa.

Now there is another school of thought that agrees with the above but maintain that Africa has had enough time to correct these issues. This may be true but it still ignores the fact that African countries went without good governance for years and this resulted in Africans developing a survival of the fittest mentality. Some argue that leaders are not born but made. The west have had many years of building structures that develop leaders. Such structures are not evident in Nigeria and this is why Africans seem to progress and develop well outside Africa. It is the same problem in SA. The black people there spent many years fighting for freedom but did not have the foresight to prepare for power; hence the situation in SA.

Another argument can be traced to a narrow and myopic mindset. The European nations are powerful because at different times in history, they fought many wars and conqured each other several times. They were not satisfied with being kings of tiny countries or communities. There are many European examples, the unification of Britain under the Vikings, the invasion of England by William the Conqueror, Napoleon, the Romans, etc If you look at Africa, there are not many examples, the most popular being the moore's conquests of southern Europe from the 10th century and perhaps more closer to home, the Oyo empire that stretched to Togo. But the underlying fact is that we had too many small kingdoms and rulers. Europeans had to become innovative so as to either conquer or to repel conquest. They imported gun powder from China and made guns, made cannons etc. Our leaders in the middle ages were content on being the kings of small communities of people. Because of this cosy arrangement, we were under-developed. If Southern Nigeria had one united king and army, it would have been difficult for the British to colonise us. Instead, they executed their strategy of defeating each tribe, village, etc one at a time. They did not have to engage us all at the same time.

This is the same myopic which our leaders still have today. They think of enriching their pockets rather than sizing the opportunity to write their names in history. While they continue to steal and loot, we wait as mugus for a saviour.

Duduknight:

This is the same myopic which our leaders still have today. They think of enriching their pockets rather than sizing the opportunity to write their names in history. While they continue to steal and loot, we wait as mugus for a saviour.

Granted that the Europeans did their bit to destabilize Africa etc but they're long gone now. They're not the ones currently blatantly looting the treasury.

To rub salt into the wound, we like to say we teach our people morals, respect for their elders etc yet it's these same people that develop an urge to scoop up public money as though there's no tomorrow. Some of these people have even been privileged to spend time studying/working abroad so that they have had exposure to see how things can be done BUT for some reason it does not register with them.

beefy23:

Granted that the Europeans did their bit to destabilize Africa etc but they're long gone now. They're not the ones currently blatantly looting the treasury.

To rub salt into the wound, we like to say we teach our people morals, respect for their elders etc yet it's these same people that develop an urge to scoop up public money as though there's no tomorrow. Some of these people have even been privileged to spend time studying/working abroad so that they have had exposure to see how things can be done BUT for some reason it does not register with them.

Beafy we are saying the same thing; I am just exploring other avenues so as to come up with a credible answer. You will notice that all three paragraphs are connected.

^ I do get your point.

There was an article in the news earlier on in the week about an award of the year that was to be presented to anyone in Africa showing exemplary leadership - they had to shelf it as there was no shining beacon that they could point out. Maybe Nelson Mandela might have been in the frame but was excluded because of age and the fact that he doesn't hold any current political office. But of all the rest (North, South, East or West) there was not a person found worthy!