Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, among many children of a late Akan paramount chief, sides with George Ayittey in this spirited and energizing debate. He is a technical consulting manager with a premier management consulting company. He has an MS degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
I have keenly been following the ongoing intellectual exchanges between Moses/Kissi and the distinguished Professor George Ayittey with respect to what we can learn from traditional African systems of governance. Quite honestly, I think Moses needs to grow up because his rejoinder seem to be very personal and unprofessional. I think he is trying too HARD to impress us with his brilliant and dextrous usage of the language which, unquestionably is quite impressive but lack the depth of a creative thinker. I'm not so sure Moses understands Professor Ayittey's point of view.
His obvious self-aggrandizement and to , a larger degree, well-thought out but shallow rationalizations remind me of the debates that we used to have in the secondary schools during the 70s. The last time I checked the list of Nobel Laureates, I don't remember recognizing any Moses on the list and therefore this self-exaggeration of "I'm better than you are", in my opinion, is laughable and childish . Maybe, I could be corrected. If Moses thinks he has something better to offer than what Professor Ayittey is postulating then I think we can all benefit from his infinite wisdom rather than waste our time with his boring and adulterated pontification. I think Professor George Ayittey has the set bar a little higher for creative minds who can think "outside the box" to come up with effective and innovative solutions that are laced with old-fashioned commonsensical African wisdom.
I'm very confident that there are quite a substantial number of Africans who understand the novel concept of "thinking outside the box" and therefore will pick up the intellectual gauntlet thrown down by Professor George Ayittey.
I'm exasperatingly straining every nerve in my body not to descend into the "gutter exchanges" but I have wittingly come to the conclusion that THIS MOSES and HIS brother Aaron can never take Africa to the proverbial "promised land". My cynicism is a derivative of Moses' adamant exposition of a highly contestable assertion that HE is RIGHT and more KNOWLEDGEABLE than Professor George Ayittey. Moses, you might not be using those exact same words but any reasonable "rat hunter" can smell your smoke which does not exude any threatening fire.
I'm not in any way suggesting that Moses and HIS brother Aaron are not making any meaningful intellectual contributions worthy of consideration. This is far from the truth. I'm rather advocating that Moses and HIS brother Aaron exert their creative energies to come up with alternative and credible solutions besides the inscrutable COMBO (foreign and local) solutions that they seem be proposing. At this point in our history, Africa needs scholars and intellectuals whose contributions can assist small businesses in our local communities become active participants in the highly competitive global marketplace, among many other needs. Yes, we need the Moseses and the Aarons but not at this stage of the economic struggle because the old slogan of "Aluta Continua" has significantly changed in meaning and content. Yes, eventually we will be gracious enough to accommodate scholars and intellectuals who will like their epitaphs to read " We were brilliant but contributed NOTHING". Metaphorically speaking, at this point of the struggle, we need more innovative thinkers and doers who can move Africa to the next level of economic development.
Coincidentally, I'm one among many children of a late Akan paramount chief and therefore can relate to the traditional institutional FACTS as stated by Professor George Ayittey. These are FACTS and not FICTION. Neither are they exaggerated "romanticizations" as Moses and HIS brother Aaron will like the rest of us to believe. Moses and his brother Aaron can read the volume Chinese Economic Policy by Bruce L. Reynolds and IIpyong J. Kim, Paragon House, 1988. They will probably understand better some of the main points that Professor George Ayittey is making with respect to drawing upon the strengths of indigenous institutions to accelerate economic development
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