Upon reading Onyeani's piece and then Obioma Nnaemeka's reply I felt compelled to add my two cents worth. Yes there  are a lot of generalizations in Onyeani's piece, but at the same time there are arguably some nuggets of truth buried in his characterization of the African Elite.
 
A key issue that he raises is what are we actually doing in concrete terms to help Africa, to uplift this beleaguered continent, (that is in reality in dire need of upliftment). Why does Africa depend so much on other people, other than Africans, for its technological needs, in contrast to the situation of other continents, such as Asia and Europe?
 
A comparison between Asia and Africa is a useful one as these are both developing regions on the Globe. However what seems so alarmingly apparent is the higher extent of self sufficiency that exists in Asia in comparison to that of Africa. With this apparent situation how can we as African intellectuals afford to be complacent, (and I should add that I am using the term African Intellectual in the broader sense here, i.e. one that incorporates New World (Diaspora) Africans as well as Continental Africans).
 
We as African intellectuals really do need to think about engaging in such disciplines such as Physics and Engineering in addition to the popular Arts and Humanities based disciplines. In this way we could arguably effect real change, a positive forward shift in the development of the technological infra-structure of the African Continent in the very near future.