Personally, I regard myself as an intellectual 'rebel,' kicking against the 'old colonialism-imperialism paradigm' which has landed Africa in a conundrum.

Hippos kill more people in Africa annually than any other wild animal.

There was free trade in Africa. There was free enterprise in Africa before the colonialists came.

In the West, the basic economic and social unit is the individual; in Africa, it is the extended family or the collective.

The election of Senator Barack Obama brought jubilation across Africa, where millions celebrated him as 'one of their own.'

In a banana republic, one might slip on a banana peel but things do work - now and then for the people, albeit inefficiently and unreliably.

Getting rid of the dictator is only a first step in establishing a free society. The dictatorship must also be disassembled.