To some, foreign infiltrations, interests and manipulations explain all the leadership, governance, social, security and development crises in Africa. To some, Africa is still acutely underdeveloped because of these manipulations and exploitations, even till now. To some, corrupt and directionless African leaders were or are just reacting to these foreign exploitations and manipulations.

This, they explain, is the reason why these African leaders have no other option than to cooperate with the West in worsening Africa’s situation.

Fourthly, who could explain the reason why African states such as Nigeria could not develop economically after decades of Independence and with the presence of oil wealth? How has the West prevented Nigeria from developing? Unlike in other parts of the continent where lands were grabbed by the colonialists, like in Kenya and Zimbabwe, none was grabbed in Nigeria.

Stories of foreign infiltration or exploitation in Nigeria are very weak. Nigeria has been in-charge of her destiny since 1960 and still lacks basic elements of development. How did the West prevent Nigeria from diversifying away from oil? How did the West prevent Nigeria from industrialising?

Between 1960 and 2010, around $400 billion was stolen by corrupt Nigerian government officials. Did the West ask them to do this? Did the West ask Sani Abacha to execute the Ogoni nine? Currently Nigerians sleep in their cars just to buy fuel, all because the country still faces elementary challenges in domestically distributing common fuel. In what ways has the West caused this?

This work is not justifying the foreign exploitation and manipulations in Africa, neither is it denying that there were not these exploitation and manipulations (Pre and Post Independence). But this is mankind’s reality; and states accept whatever others did to them and strive for greatness.

Transfer pricing of MNCs that are into primary investments in Africa can never happen without the support of corrupt African leaders like Frederick Chiluba of Zambia. Nothing could they have done to prevent Africa from developing without the support African leaders. Africans should blame their literacy deficit leaders and their selfishness and greed and not any other person for their economic backwardness.

Fifthly, to some, one of the ways to perpetrate Africa’s dependence on the West, is or was through Foreign Aid. To some, Aid has ended up causing corruption, conflict in Africa and inhibiting social and foreign direct investments. To some, Aid has ended up making African leaders lazy and dependent. This is a very weak argument.

African leaders get Aid and embezzle the funds and some would start blaming the West or Aid itself. Aid has never been the problem but the usage. No country has ever lived in isolation, states need the help of others (monetary, economic ideas etc.) to develop and grow – this has been reinforced by globalisation.

Lee Kuan Yew with $50 million compensation in grants and loans from Japan, for their occupation of Singapore in the 1940s was able to lay the foundation of Singapore’s transformation. From the end of the WWII to the end of 1953, states have used Aid to stimulate development in their states.

Through the Marshall Plan, more than $13 billion (approximately $130 billion in current dollar value as of August 2015) was pumped into the devastated Europe and they recouped with the Aid. Within this period too, the US provided grants and credits amounting to $5.9 billion to Asian states, especially Japan ($2.44 billion), China/Taiwan ($1.051 billion), India ($255 million), Indonesia ($215 million), South Korea ($894 million), Pakistan ($98 million) and the Philippines ($803 million).

In addition, another $282 million went to Israel and $196 million to the rest of the Middle East. Some of these states made good use of these funds to develop.

In Africa, funds were mostly siphoned by African leaders. This has led to macroeconomic and financial imbalances and got most African states caught up with Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). The debate about the theoretical basis and the effects of SAPs is a debate for another day.

But for the meantime, what would have been the state of African economies if most African states did not implement liberalisation and key market economy principles that SAPs forced on them? And what would have been the state of African economies if they had been run still by the public sectors that were marred by weak institutions, exaggerated bureaucracies, inefficiencies and corruption in a changed, globalized world of New Economic Order?

And those looking at debt as a trap by the West to further throw Africa into the dungeons of underdevelopment should also remember that some African leaders have the wealth to pay off their states’ debt without blinking their eyes. And these wealth are stolen funds.

The blame game after decades of Independence is not working again. Africans should stop blaming the West but demand accountability, transparency and good governance from their leaders. The world has changed and despite the elements of Realism, very obvious in IR, Idealism is gaining prominence.

Idealism believes in international organisations, integration, interdependence, global cooperation, bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, disarmament, protection of the environment and international law. Idealism is, therefore, the only hope for Africa.

Sixthly, the same West being blamed are the ones funding most African Civil Society Organisations to deepen the continent’s democracy, advocate for human rights and improve governance. The same West being blamed are the ones funding most of the continent’s programs on combating terrible diseases.

The same West are the ones telling African governments that they should fight poverty, diseases, hunger and child mortality. They are the same ones emphasising why African governments should put girls in school. The same West gave scholarships to most African founding fathers and scholars. The same West give scholarships to Africans in this present day for studies abroad. They are the same ones asking Africa to stop series of abuses against their own women.

With corruption and leadership crises all over the continent, Africa might still be blaming the West, decades and decades to come, while other states continue to make tremendous progress. The story of Vietnam is a familiar one – how they suffered excruciatingly from a two-decade war, which was subsequently converted into a proxy war.

The Vietnamese ended their devastating war in 1975. As at 2013, their external trade is at $128.9 billion (2013 est.), Kenya that has enjoyed a form of political stability since its independence has the external trade of $5.942 billion (2012 est.) and Nigeria’s is at $93.01 billion (2014 est.).

The HDI of Vietnam is at 0.666(116th), Kenya’s is at 0.548 (145th) and Nigeria’s is at 0.514 (152nd). This was a country that suffered terrible suppression, oppression, intimidation, manipulations and incompatibility of foreign interests.

This was a country that witnessed 1.5 million military and civilian deaths, and the subsequent exodus of one million refugees, including tens of thousands of professionals, scholars, technicians and skilled workers. But Vietnam has stood up, reclaimed its destiny in its hands and is pursuing economic development rigorously.

Finally, the works of Mahathir in Malaysia, Lee in Singapore, Park in South Korea, Nguyễn in Vietnam, Suharto in Indonesia, Deng in China, Castro in Cuba etc would cement the debate that the greatest factor behind Africa’s development backwardness is Leadership Crisis.

Africa should increase intensity on pursuing economic development. Africa should look inwards. How do you have enormous resources and you are not developed? Whose fault is it that you cannot negotiate effectively in the trade of your primary exports?

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

Chambers Umezulike is a Nigerian novelist, revolutionary and youth Advocate. He can be reached via Email: chambers.umezulike@gmail.com and Twitter: @ClueXxxRdh