Jackson, Let me say what stroke my mind after reading your piece.
Whereas I largely agree to your viewpoints, I always find it difficult to agree to the notion that we complain, blame and bicker too much and as a result, our situation has falled or will not change. I think we need to draw the lines clearly. There is no one in West Nile who is complaining and blaming government because he/she went to bed hungry, or the sun shine is too much and crops have failed as a result. But we have always complained of the fcat that there are no drugs in the hospitals and health centers, our children under UPE complete primary education and cannot spell the words "through" or "borrow" correctly. So when people complain or blame government for a poor UPE system, lack of drugs in the hospitals, surely this is not misplaced. The reason is simple and clear - government has a responsibility to offer these services to her citizens and citizens pay the taxes. True, its not the highly educated who can change the world, none has done it. The great thinkers and problem solvers in history are neither PhD holders nor professors. I don't know the education levels of Bill Gates and Ericson, I highly doubt whether they are PhD holders or professors. I at times think the highly educated get confused by their education. We hear of stories of a professor in makerere who leaves his home in Kololo for work in makerere in his car and comes back home walking because he does not remember where he last packed his car while holding the keys in his hands. Dr. Ronald Onzima is not far away from this professor in my opinion. True, we need effective enterprenuers and NGOs. James Nyakuni, the propreitor of Gaagaa bus services may be one effective enterpreuer in our region. For James to continue in business, he will need some people with some education, not PhD holders to do some of the works e.g. accountants, store keepers etc. Where the education system is UPE, USE, James will not stay long in this business becuase should his current accountants or storekeepers leave or become incapacitated, he will not find replacements. His books of accounts will not be proper, he will lose money and the business will collapse. I don't know when you were last in West Nile or Arua town. You will agree with me that people are working hard everyday. The physical changes happening in Arua, Koboko, Yumbe seen in the form of new buildings coming up to me is indicative of effective enterprenuership. Many think it would have been better, if the government was effective on its part of social service delivery. Thank you ________________________________ From: JohnAJackson <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, 2 February, 2011 22:40:03 Subject: [WestNileNet] Role, Value and responsibility of NGOs in Nation Building While NGOs' do not substitute the role and responsibility of Government, we should realize that NGOs have have been integral part of development in the world for many centuries. There are thousands of NGOs in the G8 countries performing various tasks in the nation building for instance: Red Crosss, Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis, World Vision, Churches, every sector of human endeavour. While the role of NGOs is simply emerging and maturing in Africa, G8 countries have thrived side by side with NGOs for many centuries. Does it mean that these governments are in effective? First of all, governments cannot provide every human need. NGOs and business people fill these un met gaps. What we need most is effective Enterprenuers and NGOs that are serious about their business. AS many of you have seen, Enterprenuers and NGOs come and go. Well managed businesses and NGO continue to thrive and survive despite the economic odds. If we simply continue with the blame game, our situation will never change or take a very long time to change. We should encourage ourselves, empower ourselves to be problem solvers rather than problem watchers. Let me give you one example. In USA, many African Americans have been trapped in blamming the Whites for enslaving them nearly two-three centuries ago. Many successful African Americans have taken up the challenge, they work as hard as the white folks, many are millionares or billionares. People who love blamming still remain where their great grand papas.mama's or parents where hundredes of years ago. They still live in santy towns known as ghetos. Ladies and gentlemen, negativity has no purpose in life. We may not have money, but we have lots of highly educated people. We have highly skilled human resources that we have never effectively used. We need to unite our efforts, focus our attention on changing things we can change. Let's lobby the government, HE, government Officials where they are leading to change what we cannot handle. It's ordinary people like you or me who can change the world and not necessarily PhD holder. Have you ever come across some PhD holders who cannot even teach when put infornt of a class? I am sure you have seen many when you were in college or universities? Even their TA were far better. How many African PhD holders have published two or three academic books? Very few? Does it mean that someone with PhD is a great problem solver? They may be very intelligent in their academic discipline but can they really solve every problem? -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.
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