Introduction: On the wrong bus -- The farmer of Yaoundé -- A legacy of woes -- Pillars of good governance: the three-legged stool -- Aid and the dependency syndrome -- Deficits: indebtedness and unfair trade -- Leadership -- Moving the social machine -- Culture: the missing link? -- The crisis of national identity -- Embracing the micro-nations -- Land ownership: whose land is it, anyway? -- Environment and development -- Saving the Congo forests -- The African family.