James Onen | FATBOY

a.k.a F-Bizzy 😎 Opinions expressed here are solely mine and do not reflect the views or beliefs of my affiliates, partners, clients, employers or employees.

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

Whenever we talk about Africa's developmental dilemma, we often hear that the problem is weak institutions. But this raises an important question.... how do strong institutions come into being in the first place?

What is lost on most people is that the Western liberal democracies that we desperately admire and are attempting to emulate did not start as full democracies. They conveniently want us to forget that until a few decades ago many of them were ruled by monarchs. Their state capacity was built through earlier periods of consolidation brought about by royal/imperial decree.

This is not a trivial issue.

Indeed, Europe's states were hammered into shape over centuries through monarchies and empires that centralized authority, imposed common laws, built taxation systems, and forged national identities through violence and coercion.

The same is true for East Asia. Japan's Meiji Restoration in the late 1800s concentrated authority in the hands of the Emperor who drove rapid institutional and economic reform before mass democracy took hold. Even China, after decades of fragmentation and war, achieved territorial and administrative reconsolidation under a strong centralized state. In their case they are yet to be fully democratic so maybe I shouldn't even bring them up.

But we could add Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore to the list. Malaysia and Singapore both started as parliamentary democracies post independence but realised it didn't work so they both became single party de facto dictatorships.

Mahathir Mohamad built a strong Malaysian state apparatus, a development bureaucracy, industrial policy, and planning bodies that did outlast him. Lee Kuan Yew and his government built a state that didn't depend on Lee personally. He left office, and the machinery kept running - with a capable civil service, strong agencies, and statutory boards.

South Korea was authoritarian for decades and only made a democratic turn in 1987. Today they more more democratic and have strong institutions.

As you can see, historically, concentrated power has almost always preceded the creation of the very institutions that later make stable democracy possible.

Africa skipped this stage completely.

Colonial borders created African states that contain many peoples of varying ethnicities, with distinct languages, histories, and loyalties. Independence delivered the States, but not Nations in the deeper political sense. African countries are being expected to democratise, build national identity, extend state authority, build institutions, and deliver development all at once. This is like asking a baby to run a marathon before it can even crawl!

Family, clan, and tribe have thus unfortunately remained the most reliable institutions of trust in Africa. Why? Because when the state feels fragile, distant, or incompetent, people will naturally gravitate towards those age-old networks. And once you introduce electoral politics under these conditions, patronage and nepotism become survival strategies that inevitably undermine the building of impartial national institutions that are necessary for a functional democracy.

Why didn't Africa have its Lee Kuan Yew?

Post independence Africa DID produce its own would-be nationbuilders. Leaders who sought to break with colonial legacies, and wished to rapidly transform their countries. But many of these revolutionary projects were built around that single leader's vision. And when that leader fell, whether through death, overthrow, or exit, there was no institutional foundation to carry forward and sustain what little progress was achieved under his rule. Our countries thus fell into a repeating pattern... each presidential successor, convinced that his vision alone is what will redeem the state, dismantles what came before. So the country hits reset, again and again, repeatedly rebuilding the machinery of state instead of accumulating institutional momentum.

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

@UmbraInfinite @MMandOscar

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂

[Omwamba 🇰🇪 @omwambaKE]

I really feel for this man. While he was busy working, his wife was busy being chewed Mercilessly!

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

We abuse colonialists but they did us a favor consolidating these ethnic domains into more manageable blocks

[Cogito, Ergo Sum @ItsMeGitau]

Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi shouldn't even be separate countries. Rwanda is practically a small town. Chairman Mao would have merged all three into one motherland. What is Museveni waiting for? 🤣

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

Protect the human rights of the gangs please 😢

[Amnesty International USA @amnestyusa]

The Prime Minister of Haiti, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, and the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, must ensure that all operations conducted by Salvadoran forces in Haiti comply with international human rights law.

https://t.co/kbr0SQdJ2J

[Put South Africa First @LvovoSA]

My mom fires better than these Uganda's soldiers

[Nayib Bukele @nayibbukele]

Nou kenbe pwomès nou…

Nou detwi kay Lanmò San Jou ak katye jeneral gang 400 Mawozo a.

Pifò ladan yo kouri ale san yo pa menm eseye goumen.

Ala lach yo lach! 🥲

[tvylxr @tvylxr9]

Something eerily disturbing about ai’s admittance of superiority over the human race in an ai job interview 😭

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🇨🇳🇺🇬 Bruh, China sent retired soldiers to Uganda to teach security personnel how to handle firearms.

Writer: Samuel

[Kelly McCarty @KellyLMcCarty]

Humans trolling these ridiculous AI job interview bots is the kind of entertainment I didn't know I needed. Pure perfection. 🤣

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

Amen

[The Hoe of WallStreet @amberlockhert]

Fast-growing Brazilian Pastor is going viral for having a 95% male attendance. In the words of Kellis, her milkshake brings all the boys to the church 😳

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

😂 😂 😂

[Ser Jet - The Drenicak @SerJetOfDrenica]

@nayibbukele “General Barbecue”

Bukele:

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

@nypost You know he's an amateur because he allows his side chick to post him lol

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

You know he's an amateur because he allows his side chick to post him lol

[New York Post @nypost]

Chinese 'spy' Alice Huang flooded social media with pics of Nvidia boss lover - and bragged about her access to him https://t.co/ysx0NBg5kX

[Inevitable West @Inevitablewest]

This is unreal: Haitians are sending Bukele the coordinates of local gang compounds on X and Bukele is taking them out

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

Be quiet

[FRANCE 24 @FRANCE24]

Amnesty urges El Salvador to disclose terms of Haiti troop deployment
➡️ https://t.co/724VRjpcRP

[BecksBe🇭🇹🤝🏽🇸🇻 @ItsBecksBe]

🇭🇹🫱🏾‍🫲🏼🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Listen to how corrupt politicians tried to convince President Bukele why it was a bad idea to get rid of the gangs. #Haiti #Bukele

[Andre Williams @andrewilliamsus]

A lot of Black folks talk about Charlie Kirk like he was Hitler. What he actually told people was to go to church and take care of their kids.

"If that's extreme, this civilization is cooked. We're cooked. It's over. Pack your bags."

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

💁🏿‍♂️

[Valuetainment @valuetainment]

JUST IN: Jensen Huang reportedly has no prenup, meaning a divorce could cost him $81 billion, the most expensive divorce ever.

[Uncle Ruckus @Emarged]

Good systems don’t fall from the sky; they are deliberately built by the people who inhabit a society. A society is ultimately a reflection of its people, their values, their collective choices, and their willingness to demand accountability. If a society consistently fails to build and sustain functional institutions, it must confront the uncomfortable reality of its own shortcomings.

[James Onen | FATBOY @jamesonen]

@Emarged You missed out perhaps the most important component