On my working desk, I got a cup of coffee! A cup of hot coffee, but not one made from coffee seed nor one brewed in a coffee house or brewed in an African pot! I got a coffee, but certainly not one bought from the coffee shop nor one that can be sipped or drunk! I got a coffee, not one that may taste so sour or feel hot in cold winter!

My coffee comes with knowledge not wisdom, a cocktail coffee brewed from an African and a European house! It's one blended with science and nationalism; research and a better society. I do not lack it, but I search for it more than wisdom! I search for it; I look for it deliberately and I chase for it!

For if I lack it, I may grow weak and become weary, I may perish, and many feeble souls will concomitantly and equally do perish! There's truth in it and if found it will liberate many and set many held in bondage free! In there lies the truth, for many shall know it and they will be set free! For its power, and it's mightier!

The power of the brain and knowledge economy can be employed to build economies and lift people out of poverty! For instance, if we can't have the cocoa, we will build a cocoa museum! If we can't have the money, we will build a money museum! If we can't have the minerals, we will build a mineralogy museum!

It's like a resource, in fact, it may arguably be the greatest of all resources! They are not, but they become! Just as it's likened to resources, they're hidden, and until one discovers it, he/she will live in abundance/plenty and yet remains hungry. Many live in freedom but may not be free! Many a society will live in abundance yet consequently linger in poverty!

I got a cup of coffee, it's not your usual winter coffee! Resources, they say, are not, they become! All resources are already created and hidden until man discovers and exploits it for the benefits of mankind, for it shall not be called a resource! We can liken this to scarcity of water. We can have what we may refer to as physical scarcity or economic scarcity of water.

A water resource (e.g., in this scenario) may be physically scarce - when it's not in reach or unavailable; or economically scarce - when it's available but society has not allocated financial strength to exploit its abstraction for the benefit of humankind and society!

Thus, you can have plenty of water, yet you will be a water-scarce country because you don't even have the sense of exploiting the water for the benefit of your citizens! When you relegate knowledge economy to the background, you will retrogress! You will be cheated because you're not applying knowledge! You will be looked down upon! And you will be poor amid plenty! I got a cup of coffee, it's not your usual morning coffee!

That's why we have a resource curse conundrum! A resource curse is a situation where societies that are very much rich in natural resources experience underdevelopment. Such curses are further deepened in societies and economies where there's central management.

Additionally, it exists in societies where resources exploited in the host communities and local communities go to the central government and where little of the resources and financial gains are rather sent to the very communities where the exploitation and production take place! In Ghana, for instance, the resource curse is more evident in gold mining communities. In Ghanaian gold mining dominant communities like Obuasi, Tarkwa, Prestea, Akwatia, Konongo, many southwestern regions, evidence of resource curse abounds!

These communities live in dilapidated structures, joblessness abound, they live in filth, highly polluted environments, degraded lands, they farm on highly contaminated and polluted soils, and they consume highly contaminated foods grown in such contaminated lands.

Moreover, they are subject to bad roads, there is an excessive generation of dust in those communities, many mine lands are left un-reclaimed and are abandoned, the health of women and children are consequently at risk, and many are exposed to many heinous diseases! More dangerously and worryingly, many of these diseases become genetic and are capable of being transferred to generations born in such communities! Interestingly, they don't see, and they have normalized poverty!

I have a coffee, it's one brewed in school, one brewed in books, brewed in written science not influenced by biases and manipulations! It is one brewed in findings generated by highly rigorous science! It is one brewed in simple engineering and application of scientific findings that work to solve societal problems!

And by commonly implementing scientific research findings and cogent recommendations to solve daily problems confronting the people and the society! It is one brewed in right leadership, mixed with good politics, blended in a good democracy, and sipped by good citizens purposely engineered to think right! I have a cup of coffee, it's not your usual coffee!

Thus, the piece talks about a newly published book by AK Mensah, titled, #I_Speak_of_A_Better_Society. The book talks about the realities in Africa and Ghana, in particular, highlights the deficits in current and past leadership and suggests alternative best alternatives for creating a better society fair and just for all citizens.

Political tribalism, these two societies, anthropogenic inequalities and consequent repercussions, corruption, Chinese loans to Africa and repayments, probational democracy, selfless leadership, research, and development for a better society, are some of the chapters of discussion captured in the book.

Full copy, both kindle and paperback, are available on amazon.