How to Save a Broken Nation: A Radical Blueprint for Change

Picture this: you wake up one day as the absolute leader of a sub-Saharan African country that’s been gutted by decades of failure. The colonizers left long ago, but instead of freedom, your people inherited chaos. The roads are crumbling, turning simple travel into an ordeal. Electricity flickers like a dying candle. Clean water? A luxury many can only dream of. The very basics of civilization, things that should be birthrights, are out of reach.

But the worst part? The rot runs deeper than infrastructure.

Your people don’t trust each other. They don’t trust the government, why would they? Every leader before you betrayed them. Contracts mean nothing because no one enforces them. Cheating your neighbor isn’t just common, it’s celebrated as street smarts. Why behave well when corruption pays and honesty gets you nowhere?

You could pour money into roads, power plants, and water systems but what’s the point if the people tear them apart? If no one believes these things are theirs? If the government is still seen as the enemy?

The Real Battle Is for the Soul of the Nation

This is not just a governance issue , it’s cultural. And culture, as Peter Drucker famously said, “eats strategy for breakfast.”

In my book: ‘creative thinking for dreamers and leaders’, I emphasized:

“Creative thinking is flexible, original, fluid and synthesizes opposites into one solution… Creative thinkers are able to see beyond the obvious to find solutions that are consistent with their purpose for action or thought.”

Infrastructure can be rebuilt. Laws can be rewritten. But none of it matters if the culture stays broken.

Human progress is built on trust and collaboration. Without them, society unravels. If your people see each other as threats instead of partners, progress is impossible. If they see the government as a predator rather than a servant, every policy will fail.

So Where Do You Start?

1. Restore Trust in Justice: People must believe that fairness exists. Punish corruption mercilessly, no matter who’s guilty. Let them see thieves in power dragged to court. Let them see honest judges rewarded. Rebuild the courts until they’re the last incorruptible fortress of the nation.
2. Lead by Ruthless Example: If you take a single bribe, if you let a single crony steal, you’ve lost. Your life must be a monument to integrity. No luxury palaces, no stolen wealth. Let them see you live as they do, only then will they believe you’re different.
3. Reward Good Behavior, Crush Bad Behavior: Right now, corruption pays and honesty is for fools. Flip that. Protect and celebrate the honest businessman. Publicly honor teachers, doctors, and civil servants who do their jobs well. But come down like a hammer on looters, vandals, and fraudsters. Make the cost of betrayal higher than the reward.
4. Give People Ownership: If a community builds a school, they’ll defend it. If they dig a well, they’ll protect it. Involve them in every project. Make them stakeholders, not bystanders.
5. Tell a New Story: A nation is held together by shared belief. Use every speech, every broadcast, every school lesson to preach a new ethic: “We rise together, or we fall apart.” Glorify the heroes who build, not the thieves who steal.

This Is a War- And You Must Win It

There’s no quick fix. You’re fighting generations of decay. But culture can change. Trust can be rebuilt.

Start with the small victories. Let people see one honest court ruling. One politician jailed. One village where the water runs clean. Let them taste what’s possible. And then watch as the hunger for something better spreads.