Sir: Two events propelled foreign aid as an inevitable option available to most developing countries of the world. First was the great depression of 1929/30 which left many nations bankrupt and the economies devastated. Second was world war, 1939-1945 which its considerable upheavals that left only fewer nations as survivors. Four nations, USA, China, Britain, France, and USSR famously called Allied nations, were the survivors and were also the greatest beneficiaries of the war.
They were the founding fathers of the United Nations organisation and they retained the veto power till date for the control of the body. The recent stoppage by US of foreign aid is an eye opener that many developing nations should buckle up their belt for a vigorous internal development through partnership and direct foreign investments.
One of the nuisance values of the Nigerian Civil War (1967 – 1970) was that it opened the eyes of the military leaders under General Yakubu Gowon to see the negativity of foreign aid and the plausibility of direct partnership. The opening of relationship with USSR and China ipso facto helped the country to win the war.
Many developing countries have been short changed as a result of foreign aid which were given at the expense of their sovereignty. The French West African countries today have no love lost between them and their erstwhile French coloniser because they belatedly realized that their independence as nations were mere futility and happenstance as the French overlord continue to lord over their nations’ sovereignty.
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They neither developed nor earned the freedom of choice to govern themselves based on their resourcefulness and God-given gifts. Any aid that impugn on the freedom and sovereignty of nation constitute a ruse, and after more than six decades of independence, African nations should choose the path of equal partnerships with most of the developed world rather than aid benevolence or inequality of relationship based on the master/servant ethos.
Let government further strengthen the internal administration of sectors likely to be adversely affected by the recent stoppage of US aid with the hope of generating more monies for sustainability. Until developing countries learn to look inward for purpose of generating resources for their survival and using their resources judiciously and prudently, they will continue to be susceptible to funny aid tricks by the developed world that often left them bare and broken hearted.