To A Free and Enlightened Africa

In as much as there has been a lot of intellectual dialogue and various postulations from different school of thought and ideological centers i would therefore try as much as possible to make this write-up devoid of previously affirmed dichotomy and tautological semantics that revolve around the above subject, whence we would not bother to delve into history or whatever medieval or archeological references. I would approach the context from a head-on practical perspective for the purpose of conveying a hands-on tangible meaning and an understanding which would do more good as regards self-thought resolution and scholastic clarity. The plight of the African at home and in the diaspora is one that can be characterized by the vicissitude and undulations of sociological upheavals, That of bland and of color, subjugation and dominion and with this in mind, in order not to tilt or polarize to whatever perspective or bias, it would be safe to see the travails of the African through the lenses of metrics that govern and determine the modern day context of civilization: which of course are sociological cohesion, psychological leverage, scientific prowess, Industrial and technological advancement. Hence, global statistics of the most concise of the aforementioned markers would come into play and we can definitively tell how Africa is faring

Social Cohesion: The African continent has had more civil unrests, election re-runs and separatist movements more than any part of the globe since the start of the millennium. From the Sudan crisis to the Biafra unrest in Nigeria. Cultural diversity is of course not the problem but the mishaps of the western colonialists whose sole intention were selfish and capital gains merged incompatible tribes to form nations thereby laying the bedrock of a ripple effect of cultural dissension that has multiplied within the decades

Industrial And Technological advancement: No African country makes the list of the 20 most industrialized nations in the world. Even though Africa supplies 80-90% of the minerals and resources that global industrial superpowers utilize for processing and manufacturing, but yet the African continent constitute part or if not the lowest of global G.D.P

It’s obvious from these figures that Africa is behind in all respects by the metrics of what determines a civilized generation, I can obviously tell what is going through the mind of the pan-Africanist right now while reading this... of course angst and a queer countenance which in a way is borne out of a disgust and probably a discontinued interest in reading this because they doubt the intellectual authenticity of the curator, but I would quickly want to add for the sake of re-kindling the pan Africanist’s interest that i resolved to disregard whatever history or chronology that might be pointed to as reference for which we can highlight the African’s current predicament but see through the "lenses" of a much practical and holistic approach which would do us benefit of knowing how best to chart the path of the African to freedom and enlightenment rather than basking in the sugar thoughts of how glorious our history and yet we still are not able to afford ourselves a panacea from current day ills.. A history today that some skeptics and egotistic supremacists still dismiss as fairy tales?

Gullies and voids in cultural and historical chronology created by invasion and colonization from the westerners is really the bane of the African’s problem. We can easily deduce this from the close observation of the African’s modern day antecedents which is signified by a gross lack of identity and self-originality. The future is always a progression from the past, and if we ascribe this to the plight of the African it’s easy to see that a generation that does not know where it’s coming from usually wouldn't be in control of where they are going. The advent of mainstream media, pop culture, western philosophy and other sociological factors that were subconsciously imprinted into the African has induced a vacuum of tribal conditioning and ethnic intuition that was necessary for the continuity and the progression of an indigenously generic psyche requisite for self-actualization but what do we have today as a consequence of that vacuum? The African has become a wannabe, an unflinching and hopeless second fiddler in the race of outsmarting and undoing the westerner in his own game and rules, The average African of today is trying his best to speak the best of grammar, dress the savviest of formal, attain the pinnacle of scholastic education but yet no iota of their true individuality or whatever hope in the essence of understanding what it means to be African or still any hope for their children and the oncoming generation to toe the same path. The above statistics show that Africa is behind in social cohesion: Too many civil wars and ethnic unrest, Country borderlines and landmarks not cognizant or in whatever correlation with cultural gridlines, a vivid example is the dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon over the Bakassi peninsula, an issue that was supposed to be resolved on the premise of ethno-centric institutions and individualistic preference but what happened? both countries took their grouse to the international court of justice and by rote legality both countries rolled out land marks and borders that were imposed upon them and determined by their colonial powers, Britain for Nigeria and Germany for Cameroon, landmarks and borders that were outlined not in the ethno-cultural generic prototype or in the interest of the nationalistic essence of the African but in the greed, selfishness and follies of these colonial powers who in their naivety orchestrated what happens when you let the "bull into the china shop".

A budding civilization cut short by the desecration, desolation and plunder of the westerners of course led to a pruning of the African’s mental faculties. Whence the question: Did African tribes and factions not have a social structure of order and cohesion before the westerner’s invasion? Did they not have an alphabetical and numbering system for calculations and rations? Did they not possess ethics and virtues that endeared to their spirituality hence a philosophical foundation for the ideal psyche of the African individual? Of course not, African tribes and factions had all these before the advent of the white man’s desecration. By social structure Africans went by a monarchial system of government where the king presided over the clan as principal authority and a clan of chiefs and advisers and spiritual guardians who played latent roles in the decision making process of the state. An example is the Oyo Empire of the Yoruba clan of western Nigeria. On alphabetical and numbering system African tribes deduced communication and rationing from a divination perspective, an example is the ancient Nsibidi alphabetical and writing system which dates back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium, yet another reference is the Benin wall which Wikipedia cites as a mathematical marvel by the complexity of its spirals,. As regards ethics and virtues, an interesting voyage into history would do the trick this time, Its crystal pure and clear truth that when the white man visited Africa, mundane and vulgar concepts like destitution, prostitution etc. were alien to Africa, the Igbo nation as visited by emissaries of the queen noticed this, there were minimal social vices and derogation as compared to the united kingdom of that time where there were prostitutes, beggars, serial killers and psychopaths roaming the streets But instead, spiritual piety, a balanced and dutiful concept of patriarchy and a responsibility to kin and state were most profound virtues known to Africa before the unjust and despicable tampering of the white man. From these facts outlined, it’s safe to assume that Africa was fine, and doing fine but from modern day observation there is no existential premise to agree with that previous sentence, Africa is behind and its obvious, and with decades of playing all second fiddle and acting the wannabe has there been any significant progress in we catching up with the world’s leading countries as regards the aforementioned metrics?. Capital NO!!!!.... So then what happened to Africa? The start of the paragraph answers the question, gullies and voids in cultural and historical chronology created by invasion and colonization from the westerners. Then whence is the path to redemption? In my own opinion? If we highlight from assertions made earlier in this article about the modern day infirmity and pitfalls of the African we can ideologies a panacea by flipping the perspective the other way around in the analysis of these inconsistencies. The modern day African has an identity problem, how does he rid this? Of course by overcoming social and classical conditioning imprinted into his subconscious from western civilization and pop culture, how does he do this? By a genuine acceptance and veneration of ethno-indigenous ethics and morals, How? By back-pedaling to his spirituality and his notion of God. The African needs to let go of constructs which are the psycho-institutional pillars that govern his notion about God, in support of this notion I personally noticed that in the biblical account of God’s interaction with the Jews, through his laws and mandates he structured them to be a sovereign state, enslaving no one and not been slaves themselves, he never mandated them to conquer any city or nation or colonize and desecrate their history or culture, no it was never accounted anywhere in the holy book in that respect. God never sanctioned the interruption of a civilization, plunder of their artefacts and enslavement of the tribe through physical bondage and mind constructs. Africa suffers today mostly as a result of a psychological indoctrination of the white man’s God, an indoctrination that has over time compounded the confusion and delusion of the African: very mighty a statement and affirmation right? Yes, let us not get it wrong.. The concept of the white man’s God has an onus of spirituality to it and that spirituality is not my grouse but only with the administration of the white man’s God. Along with the indoctrination of the white man’s God came the scary concept of hell, judgmental biases of harmless schools of thought and reason as blasphemy and heresies, a justified position of slave master, colonialism and a gross subjugation of the African mind and its history. The African has to learn that engagement with God on a personal basis through inculcation of virtues and an aspiration of a union with the divine is the only true religion, some of which like practiced in some eastern religions, for only through this can he attain a sole sovereign of self in actualization and freedom. Without this, the African would still remain a wannabe and always play second fiddle to the west, for whence is his identity and originality of exploit? In what context and narrative does he thrive? That which the white man established? Where in his generic philosophy and sense of morality and ethics completely overhauled? These questions completely point to the fact that Africa really needs help. I cannot really rescind on this resolution even if the argument of Africans making exploits in various fields of scholastic study tries to hold because my resolution stills rest on the solid pillar of conviction that asks the question, How has the intelligentsia and intellectuals of scholastic study of African descent contributed to the mental emancipation of the everyday African?. A house divided against itself cannot stand, in one continent is so much religious division and strife coupled with bouts of egoism and class ramification rampant. These religions were never generic to the African but came from the no-virtue-in-intention invaders. For the African to be truly free, He has to start thinking beyond the context of colonial and religious programming, egoism and class ramification. Concepts that are alien to our DNA, but was introduced to us through colonialism, not delving into sentiment that generic African society was devoid of its own social ills but from history we can confidently posit that African monarchial concept of hierarchy and order did not employ vices as capitalism, desperation for wealth a notice-me lifestyle as western pop culture portrays. But instead, heroism and accomplishments were accorded to an individual per his contributory exploits to the community as a whole. A radical and abrupt shift from this spectrum of government and reality disconnected the African from his virtue and a repercussion of that is the dissension and class disconnect today in Africa, a further repercussion would be the gross delusion that plagues many Africans in power, an obnoxious sense of self exaltation and godliness over his fellow african, a construct inherited from the westerners where-in misinterpreted by his ignorance and this cycle over the decades has militated against the industrial and ethical growth of the continent even after independence of all its component countries. A return to generic spirituality of the African by the acceptance and upholding of virtues dear to the synchronization of generic African identity can we only be free. To A Free and Enlightened Africa

John Negro

11th of April 2020