Dictators cause the world’s worst problems: all the collapsed states, and all the devastated economies. All the vapid cases of corruption, grand theft, and naked plunder of the treasury are caused by dictators, leaving in their wake trails of wanton destruction, horrendous carnage and human debris.

Back in the 1960s Africa not only fed itself, it also exported food. Not anymore.

African history is filled with experiences of people shooting their way to power and then splintering into factions, like in Somalia and Liberia.

Look at the history of peace accords in Africa. They have a terrible record. They are shredded even before the ink on them is dry.

Western-style multi-party democracy is possible but not suitable for Africa.

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

Across Africa there is what I call a colonialist mentality or orthodoxy. Orthodoxy in the sense that a lot of things have gone wrong in Africa in the post-colonial period. And time and time again, any time something went wrong, the leadership claims that it was never their fault.