Development for any environment is not just a singular process by a certain description or solution. It is a repetitive and communal activity that loops itself over time with a variety of infusions: It is a hydra of connected blood tissues, veins and arteries. What we have observed is that for a society to develop, there must be a connectivity factor from the proposed solution to reach the citizens and appeal to them to increase their capacities - from where they are to where they could be – either through community efforts, education, practice or want for a greater tomorrow. This is why we have things like Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing. A highly underrated but extremely relevant angle to development is the Media, popularly known as Mass Media in all its forms.

The media is a channel of information. There is a saying: “As a man thinketh, so is he.” This is very true in our world – in the present, historical or future terms. What we often times forget is that we are aided to think by what we hear, see, feel and experience. This thought process brings about the things we create. Many created things have been brought about by observation, either in nature or in artificiality: planes from birds, cars from animals or devices from movies. When we think of the media, we only focus on what we can identify as media per time, and we assume that we control the media and as such there is no influence on us and who we become. The truth is that the media controls us, and just like the food we eat, we are what we consume. What we see over and over again, we slowly become.

In ancient history, there are thousands and hundreds of thousands of records that show how writers created things that did not yet exist, only for it to surface into reality in the nearer future. Our closest example could be the work being done by the team at TESLA and other corporations, who have begun testing models for both electric and driverless cars. It is no longer news that very soon, some of us will move from place to place driven by an automated vehicle. Who would have thought of such?

I can tell you who! Members of the group known as Thinkers (The Brain of Society). Referring to my previous article on how society is divided, we can see the class of people who come from the brain are usually creating more and more things that did not exist in the time which they created them and they come either in the form of writers or inventors alike: Einstein’s theory of Relativity, Archimedes’ theory of the pulley system, J.K Rowling’s Monsters and Magic in her imaginative books, William Harvey and the discovery of the circulation of blood, countless imaginative writers who invented cars, bikes, weapons and other things which inspired many inventors to create a model from. The ability members of The Brain shares is to create things that they feel should be in a world where it is not. If you are to trace in history, you would see that there have been lots and lots of works such as flying cars, flying people and even a world where food is not grown but created by chemicals that have been proposed by these creators. When we read these researches and ideas proposed by these people, we wonder, and sometimes jeer about the possibility and thought that it ultimately brings to us. For many of the people in this ‘brain class’, it does not stop there. They keep working at their ideas until one day: Eureka! Something unique is born. It is not uncommon, therefore, to hear that many a great invention was sparked off by something the creator saw, read, heard or experienced somewhere. And this is where this great group comes in: The Media.

The Media is a channel, a process to sharing knowledge; and this can be used for great good or uncommon evil. Either for gain or loss is beside the point. The point is that what the media pushes out to the public it serves is what the public will consume, and return to the media as its output; they have a large input and impact on what productivity a society produces.

African Media, still in its infancy, has a long way to go in understanding the role that it plays in our societal developmental plans. Every day we see people think that the only members of the media team with developmental impact are the journalists, news casters and information agents: but they are wrong, extremely wrong. The African media are the writers, the movie makers, the documentary creators and the information distributors. It is not enough to know this as a fact, we need it to be practised. In life, you cannot claim to be one thing and believe in another; the only person you deceive will be yourself. The African rhetoric in almost all its avenues is one of poverty and reliance on others for survival and support for sustenance. When does Africa get to give? When do Africans get to Live? When do Africans get to Be? This has to change! For it to change, the African people need to believe in something greater than themselves, not just a religious call. They need to believe in a better circumstance. Africans need to see beyond the Nollywood and African Home Video productions, which replay the lives they already have until mediocre becomes the norm; not leaving much room for inventions, creations and beautifications; to do something simply because it is good to be done not just what they can benefit doing it.

African Media can help, and they need to more than step-up to the plate. They need to see themselves as much more than just a news, information, entertainment or social function player. They need to realise that the African Mind is waiting for an inspiration, and every negative or demeaning portrayal that they release, will only help to discourage the potential of the greatness of the African people. To the media members of Africa, we say: “Let your imaginations fly, create those innovations that you cannot yet create, postulate those theories that seem so impossible, imagine a world where Africa is king and, when you are done, send out that information so the African kings among us may rise, rule and lead us with grace to a greater tomorrow, today”

Kindly refer to the table below as a reminder of the Human Body to Society Reference.

Country Role	Body Part	Bodily Function
Leadership	The Face (The Identity)	Identity Creation and Presentation Management
Scientists/ Inventor/ Artist/ Creator/ Innovator/ Philosopher (Thinker)	The Brain (The System)	To Provide Solutions, Create Ideas and Structure for Societal Sustenance
Process Engagement/ End- User (Consumer)	The Stomach (Public Citizens)	Beneficiary of Solutions, services and products created by the System/ community. They need to be fed when hungry for something new
Executioners/ Skilled workers/ Labour workers	The Hands and Feet (Industry)	To build and ensure distribution to all required tasks as designed by the system
Activists and Humanitarian Services	The Heart (The Conscience)	They look out for the interests of the entire body, ensuring that every part gets its fair share of blood supply which means the resources built by the society
Historical Component (Library, City Halls, Records)	The Internal Organs, Lungs, Intestines, Liver, Kidney (Historical Data Site)	They serve as the evidence of existence of the society and milestones achieved during a set period in time
Motivational Speakers, Preachers, Media, Information Management & Processing	Nerves, Veins, Blood, Vessels (Communication Network)	They are in charge of information distribution, sending data to all parts as required, knowing the state of the body (Society/ Community)
Military, Police, Navy, Structural Organizations: Insurance, Banking, Legal, Organized Funding	Bones, Skeletal Structure, Joints, Muscles	They Ensure a strong stature and proper human or societal physique. It is important to note that they create the strength perception of the society or person by another individual or community

•Tanho, Social Innovator, is of E & TA Solution Consultants, Lagos. He can be reached via attahtanho@gmail.com

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