In Skytrend News Amir Abdulazeez writes:
...Had Rodney not being assassinated by a walkie talkie bomb in 1980, I have every reason to believe that he would have lived to develop a different viewpoint about the underdevelopment of Africa. Probably, he would have written a new book with the title: 'How Africans Underdeveloped Africa'. Between the period of 1950-2010, the world witnessed some of the greatest transformations ever to have happened to this place called earth. However, Africa is not going along with the world and we should have no one to blame but ourselves. In the world of today, it is every man for himself; no one can develop you, no matter how much he wants to if you don't want to develop yourself.More here
Since Rodney was not opportune to witness the Africa of today, we must take it as a duty, to bring out the role of Africans in the massive underdevelopment of contemporary Africa. This is by no means an attempt to sweep under the carpet, the brutal, selfish, exploitative and inhumane roles played by the western imperialists in Africa's underdevelopment.
We must tell ourselves the bitter truth that what happened in the past belonged to the past and those who are still thinking of the past are wasting the present and would therefore have no future. Currently, Africans are the cause of Africa's underdevelopment. Slave trade and colonialism are things of the past and they did not occur only in Africa, they happened in Latin America, North America, Asia and other parts of the world. Can we compare those regions with Africa today? Are countries like India, Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil, Singapore and the likes still blaming the Europeans for their past misfortune or have they transformed themselves into powerful economic and political blocks. Brazil is now the 7th largest economy in the world, 37 places above their former colonial masters Portugal who are 44th.
In the history of the world, every civilization as well as every country has had its ups and downs. Europe bounced back from World Wars I and II, the U.S.A bounced back from civil war and racism, Asia and Latin America bounced back from colonialism, dictatorships and political turmoil, why will Africa not bounce back from salve trade and colonialism?