I have been expresing this very sentiment...

Has the African hour arrived?

Wednesday, 15 February 2012 00:00

Lovemore Ranga Mataire The recent African Union summit in Ethiopia must be lauded for tackling pertinent problems afflicting the continent particularly those that threaten the security and the autonomous management of our resources. It is now clear to every conscientious African that last year's political developments in northern Africa have laid bare the need for Africans to forge a solid united voice strong enough to influence the course of world events particularly those that concern the survival of Africans. The unprecedented capture and murder of Osama Bin Laden, Col Muammar Gaddafi, the capture and sending to the Hague of Laurent Gbagbo and political upheavals that persist in North Africa and the Middle East have reignited a new impetus for real unity among Africans. It is sad to note that the African voice in all this was and still is either silent or totally obliterated by a systematic Western propaganda still steeped in its medieval historical baggage nonsense. President Mugabe, who is the only undisputed genuine revolutionary left on the continent, alluded to this silence at the recent African Union summit in Ethiopia. "We said absolutely nothing. Even if we could not raise a force, at least we could have protested. How did we fail to say even ‘no' to killings that included civilians in the NATO bombings?" lamented President Mugabe. It is sickening that as Africans, we continue being reduced to mere bystanders as foreigners remove and install their puppet regimes in our backyards, taking us back to the dark days when bombs and guns replaced diplomacy as the stuff of high politics. In my view, the challenge facing Africa today is to reverse the mental genocide inflicted upon the African during the horrendous years of slavery and colonialism. It is the lack of self-pride and dignity that has given birth to a disjointed and fragmented African voice strong enough to offer an alternative to counter the one way flow of information that has somehow resulted in the glorification of NATO even among Africans. It is now common place in bars and commuter omnibus to hear people jokingly threatening to unleash NATO on each other to settle personal disputes. The continued self-alienation that has become characteristic of many of the so-called born-frees who find it irrelevant and an unnecessary baggage to define and embrace themselves as Africans before being anything has become a constant nagging pain on the conscience of most conscientious Africans. It is even worse when a whole Prime Minister, in a vain attempt to present himself as morally upright, describes and situates himself as a social democrat before being an African. How does someone in Tsholotsho, Tamandai or Kamutsenzere understand what a social democrat is? How do you translate it to vernacular? Any fool can easily reason that such labels are alien and mean very little to the social, political and cultural dynamics prevailing in our African context. It is this kind of self-definition that clearly projects Mr Tsvangirai as not just alien to our experience as Africans but also poses serious questions about his attachment to Africa and the African struggle for fair treatment and justice on the global scale. Why does it seem like a lifetime pastime for some among us to collaborate in every act that aids the continued humiliation of Africa and its inhabitants? While Baffour Ankomah (New African magazine editor) called for Africans to come up with their own secret societies strong enough to influence the course of world events, most pan-Africanists are of the view that the most critical project at the present epoch is the one that seeks to gather inspiration reference from our rich historical and cultural experience. It is this inspirational reference that will once again restore our dignity as a proud race which has contributed immensely to world civilisation. But for any unity project to succeed Africans need to first re-affirm themselves first as Africans and seek to deconstruct most historical myths that present race as nothing but zombies. Inspirational reference is needed so as to make Africans have something they will refer to as their own scientific and historical heritage, instead of being mere robots that gullibly consume anything produced by other people. Thus in a paper titled, "Reclaiming and Reaffirming African Heritage," Paulo Wangoola, a Ugandan writer and philosopher writes: "Since Africa was the cradle of mankind, and the home of the earliest civilisations, and since Africa led the world in philosophy, science and technology, she was destined to lead the world once more, though in vastly different circumstances." Wangoola's assertions are not hallucination but are rooted in the firm belief and understanding that Africans can no longer forge ahead without inspirational reference, which once led the world in all fields of human excellence. If Europe had its Newtons, Fruads, Socrates and Darwins then where are African godfathers of inventions? It is a lie that has metamorphosised into the truth that Africans never invented anything. If the earliest man was found in Africa it therefore logically and naturally follows that Africans were the first architects of earliest civilisation. Where are those African philosophers and scientists who were the architects of the Egyptian civilisation including modern agriculture? The dilemma that Africa faces today is its identity as a continent without a tangible history and in the words of the late South African Black Consciousness Movement leader, Steve Bantu Biko, "A people without a positive history is like a car without an engine." It cannot move. It is through a corrected version of our African history that Africans can obtain the inspirational reference needed to instill confidence in harnessing our creative prowess and amassing the much needed vigour in re-asserting, re-constructing and resurrecting the rich African cultural heritage that was distorted, stolen and plundered during the nightmare years of slavery and colonialism. It is through that process that truth is affirmed and falsehood discarded. By discarding falsehoods, Africans would ultimately inherit a new perspective and start relating to themselves and others differently. What Africa needs according to Thabo Mbeki (former President of South Africa) is a re-birth from the horrendous existence under slavery and colonialism. But for the re-birth to take place we need to subvert the mental genocide inflicted upon the African mind during colonial conquest and rule by uprooting historical lies which brainwashed and indoctrinated Africans into thinking that Africa is incapable of progressing without the generosity of the West. It is not surprising that even after the demise of colonialism; some among us still believe that if it wasn't for the Europeans we will still be hanging from one tree to another. It is unfortunate that this mentality seems to be rooted even in some of the continent's intellectuals who should be leading the continent into resurrection. Instead, most of the continent's intellectuals live an arduous life of self-denial of the African in themselves. It is partly because of the skewed colonial education that demonised the African way of doing things that has shaped their way of thinking. The colonial education denigrated everything African. The black colour became a cursed colour. African knowledge gained over centuries suddenly became obsolete. African religion became pagan. In a nutshell the African ways of doing things became NO WAYS. The brutal existence under colonialism maimed the African mind. It deprived the African any sense of pride. Dehumanisation of the African occurred everywhere - in mines, on farms, and all other workplaces. But with now an independent Africa, all hope can not be lost. Before we establish what Ankomah called secret societies, we must first put the African legacy in its proper perspective with special emphasis on debunking historical myths and lies about us and reinforcing the following facts; Africa is the cradle of mankind and home of earliest civilisation, Africa is the home of the earliest and first literate people, Africa developed the concept of body and soul, Africa developed languages of sophisticated discourse and access to complex idea in philosophy, science, technology, literature and diplomacy. Africa was the first to master astronomy, medicine and engineering, Africa does not tolerate but celebrates diversity, Africa developed a social welfare system, health for all, food for all, support for widows and orphans through the egalitarian set-up. In the final analysis, Africa, the Arabic world and all progressive forces of the world must at all cost unite in preventing America from exercising its unfettered interventionist power. It is one thing to oppose African leaders, and their leadership. But it is another to condone their replacement with puppet regimes, whose stay in power can only be guaranteed by the inevitable use of violence, ultimately. Africa and all other progressive forces must proffer sober and humane answers to world problems through international dialogue and diplomacy. The era of bombs and guns must remain in the dustbins of history. The challenge confronting the African continent today is that of unity. Unless Africans both living on the continent and in the Diaspora begin to see themselves like the former South African President Thabo Mbeki, as an African first, the unity of all Africans may remain a mirage. We can not allow our different languages; practices and even religions stand in the way of constructing a consciousness of universality. In the words of Kwesi Kwa Prah, "Indians speak different languages, practice different religions, but these have not prevented them from overcoming their specific attributes and proclaiming an Indian national identity." Mbeki suggests that we acquire universality as Africans through our history of resistance and shared experiences under slavery, colonialism and imperialism and neo-colonialism. If we remain fragmented and rugged in our thinking, we will remain politically porous for powerful nations to obtrusively interfere and dictate how we will govern ourselves. Africa can not progress materially without properly developed conscious minds because all our endeavours would be doomed as petty and peripheral. It is my contention that a shared idea of an African as universality beyond all cosmetic differences must as a matter of survival be agreed upon and embraced. The challenge is upon every African to move towards a genuine common humanity, based on dignity and self-respect of others and ourselves. Such an achievement could finally result in an expression of self-confidence and self-consciousness.