They start living off the hand outs of rich nations. The rest perish - giving credence to Malthusian population theory. Strange as it may seem, members of the leadership either flee the country or linger on by finding new nationalist lines to soothe the people. Such things happen in Africa in cyclical regularity. Every nation has its own heroes.
People cherish and honor their heroes.
In the Eritrean context, the visionaries that started the armed struggle for independence are heroes. Those who scarified their lives for the Eritrean cause are heroes. We have more heroes than we could ever think of. Celebrated as well as unsung heroes. Heroism is all encompassing when we come to think of it from a different dimension.