The Internalists

George Ayittey recently stated "...there are two schools of thought on the causes of Africa's ills. There are the externalists who blame external factors (Western colonialism, the slave trade, imperialism, unjust international economy system, the World Bank, IMF, etc). For more than 40 years, this orthodoxy held sway in Africa and is subscribed to by African leaders (naturally, since it absolved them of any responsibility for the mess in Africa), the African Union (AU) and African intellectuals, such as Professor Ali Mazrui. This school of thought seeks external solutions --more Western aid for Africa, debt relief, incessant appeals to the international community to help solve Africa's problems.Then there is the internal school of thought, which maintains that, though external factors have had a role play, the internal factors are equally if not more important in causing the ruination of Africa. These internal factors include bad leadership, bad governance, corruption, capital flight, military vandalism, political repression, economic mismanagement, senseless civil wars, etc. As such, there is a need to search for INTERNAL solutions. Africa must put its own house in order and must seek African solutions for Africa's problems because the destiny of Africa lies in its own hands..."