Why don’t we use our Army Corps of Engineers for Civil projects?

“The unpreparedness of the educated classes, the lack of practical links between them and the mass of the people, their laziness, and, let it be said, their cowardice at the decisive moment of the struggle will give rise to tragic mishaps.” - Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth

One of the tragedies of Africa is that our education system is not linked in any way to our development agenda. It is like we are interested only in giving paper credentials to Individuals, after filling their brains with useless facts that are totally unusable in contributing meaningfully to personal or, more importantly, national development!

Sadly, we continue to maintain the same curriculum the colonialists left behind which they designed to produce certificated flunkeys who were trained never to entertain original thoughts but are literate enough to serve the colonial interests of the Metropolitan Powers.

How did African leaders persuade themselves that systems designed by foreign conquerors and oppressors would serve as vehicles for sovereign national development?

Unfortunately, it is the same system that makes our so-called educated elite giddy with excitement, and makes them feel self-important and insanely pompous! One only needs to watch the graduation ceremonies of our tertiary institutions to realize how totally lost we are as a people.

Let the ever-perceptive Prophet Fanon speak to us again: The national bourgeoisie discovers its historical mission as intermediary. As we have seen, its vocation is not to transform the nation but prosaically serve as a conveyor belt for capitalism, forced to camouflage itself behind the mask of neocolonialism. The national bourgeoisie, with no misgivings and with great pride, revels in the role of agent in its dealings with the Western bourgeoisie. This lucrative role, this function as small-time racketeer, this narrow-mindedness and lack of ambition are symptomatic of the incapacity of the national bourgeoisie to fulfil its historic role as bourgeoisie. The dynamic, pioneering aspect, the inventive, discoverer-of-new-worlds aspect common to every national bourgeoisie is here lamentably absent. At the core of the national bourgeoisie of the colonial countries a hedonistic mentality prevails—because on a psychological level it identifies with the Western bourgeoisie from which it has slurped every lesson. It mimics the Western bourgeoisie in its negative and decadent aspects without having accomplished the initial phases of exploration and invention that are the assets of this Western bourgeoisie whatever the circumstances. In its early days the national bourgeoisie of the colonial countries identifies with the last stages of the Western bourgeoisie. Don’t believe it is taking short cuts. In fact it starts at the end. It is already senile, having experienced neither the exuberance nor the brazen determination of youth and adolescence.” – Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth.

A question any rationale being will ask is: what is the point of having an educational system that does not teach people how to feed, clothe, or house themselves?

Let’s not even mention catering to our defense and security needs which, given our twin tragedies of slavery and colonization, should top our priorities of priorities - not a silly cathedral in the middle of our capital city, whether with a Jerusalem cornerstone or not.

Almost seventy years after our ostensible independence, we are still unable to provide the most basic of life’s essentials for ourselves without foreign help or assistance, yet we are wont to roll out the big drums and dance ourselves silly in celebration of our sham independence!

It is beyond belief that today, the sight of our people feeding themselves on European and Asian junk arouses no sense of shame in us. We appear unconcerned as we close our textile industries and open all gates to foreign second-hand clothing including underwear to which our people appear to have reconciled themselves. Our well-renumerated officials mouth liberalization like a happy chihuahua well-trained by its master.

I recently experienced another of those infuriating things that made me wonder what exactly happened to make us normalize the abnormal in Africa!

Without a doubt, the Accra to Cape Coast road which passes through Kasoa, is the most important road in the Republic of Ghana.

Aside from linking the capital with the Central and the important Western Regions, the road is also part of the Trans-ECOWAS Highway.

What this means is that it is an international route for which every single vehicle that enters Ghana pays a surcharge.

Apart from that income, there were toll booths dotted on the road which generated additional income before they were cancelled.

With all these considerations in mind, one will expect the authorities to take good care of the road if only to ensure that the international image of the country is not tarnished.

Alas, no one cares!
A little rain and vast stretches of the road become inoperable as mudslides and whatnots block the road, as happened recently!

With all our education, it is quite shameful that we care so little about the society and environment in which we live.

As a farmer, I have observed that, unlike us, animals do their best to take care of their environment. I get very fascinated to watch birds labor all day to tidy their nests. My cats spend inordinate hourselves in grooming themselves. And for whatever insane reasons we consider ourselves Homo Sapiens or the thinking ones. And we are wont to insult the animals by insulting our errant fellow beings as “Aboa!”

Why does the sight of our unkempt environment agitate only so very few of us? Why do we think that it is normal to live in shoddy environments that will not be allowed to serve as pigsties in some countries? More importantly, why do those who get paid to keep things in top shape refuse to act, yet remain at post and no one sanctions them?

Many of us have traveled outside the country and we saw how our colleagues in other lands keep their countries’ infrastructures in top shape. We went to the same schools with these people. We still attend the same seminars and conferences with them.

Why do we refuse to learn anything from them apart from the silliest inanities (Halloween, Valentine, Father Christmas, etc)? Why do so many of us get excited by only the most frivolous things in life? Why are more of us not trying our best to voice our concerns about the rot that engulfs us?

Example: the United States of America undoubtedly has one of the best education facilities in the world and they produce large pools of highly trained manpower, the country also boasts of a large chunk of the world’s mega-corporations, yet the country still use its Army Corps of Engineers to build vitally important Civil projects.

Why can’t we do the same thing here? Why can’t the Ghana Army Corps of Engineers be drafted to maintain such an important and strategic National Asset like the Accra to Cape Coast road? These are highly and expensively-trained manpower that the nation should call upon to help with our development.

We also have to ask why, instead of concentrating too much on theories, our universities do not rise to the task of nation-building and development like their counterparts do in foreign countries. A good example is the Netherlands where the University of Agriculture in Wageningen helped to propel the tiny low-land country to become the world’s second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products. The Technical University in Delft does its best to keep the Netherlands among the world’s topmost technologically advanced countries.

It infuriates and saddens me greatly to watch as our universities gather and celebrate Graduation Days after they have successfully passed through more unfortunate graduates through their degree mills with the knowledge that most of their products were not equipped with the technical or entrepreneurial knowledge and skills to cope with real-life challenges.

Answers, anyone?
These are some of the US Army Corps of Engineers projects:

1. https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/

2. https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/Estuary-Restoration/Project-Information/

3. https://www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/Estuary-Restoration/Project-Information/

It’s not only the US that uses its Army for civilian projects, according to a Slavyangrad report: “Advanced technology and modern standards of treatment

Take a look at the new medical facilities of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency in Mariupol. One of the largest healthcare facilities in the new regions of Russia has been constructed by military builders.”