Renascent, Stagnant or Degenerate Africa: Quo Vadis?

By Prof. Emeka Aniagolu

If we look at the long sweep of human history, it becomes all too clear that human progress — philosophically and materially; depended on human beings making a deliberate and concerted effort at taking its destiny into own hands. Every great epoch or revolution attained by humanity, has been the result of such deliberate and concerted effort at taking the subjects destinies into their own hands:

· The Revolution of Harnessing Fire;

· The Revolution of Political Organization;

· The Revolution of Eschatology — Religion;

· The Revolution of Agriculture;

· The Revolution of Writing — the invention of written scripts;

· The Revolution of the Invention of the Economic tool of Money;

· The Revolution of the ‘Arabic Numerals,’ which were actually Indian in origin;

· The Modern Industrial Revolution — the internal combustion engine and the generation of electricity — for mechanical power, locomotion and incandescent lighting, based on fossil fuels;

· The Revolution of Flight — a synergistic outcome of the Modern Industrial Revolution;

· The Revolution of the National-Security State;

· The Revolution in Modern Communications Technology: telegraphy, telephone, television, radio, motion film, cell phone, computers, etc;

· The Revolution of Atomic Power; and, of course,

· The Revolution of the Space Age;

All have been the result not just of human ingenuity, central though that has been and remains; but also the result of human initiative; the result of human scientific and technological “motions of destiny.” With specific reference to Africa, it is all too clear from her history, that Africa has tended to move forward whenever it has attended to its given condition(s) by means of deliberate and concerted efforts at ‘positive action.’

Conversely, whenever human societies, civilizations and/or groups of people (Africa included), fall into a state of inertia, into a leadership vacuum, into a state a paralysis of imagination and initiative; it lets go of its grip on deliberate and concerted effort at taking its destiny into its own hands. I fear that Nigeria, in particular, and Africa, in general, has currently fallen into such a trough, into the valley of the human historical equivalent of a business cycle.

Exactly eighty-four (84) years ago, in 1937, one of Africa’s greatest sons and mind, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, published a path-breaking book during the long night of European colonialism in Africa. He titled that book of his: Renascent Africa. In it, Azikiwe not only undertook a panoramic overview of African and world history, with a view towards dispelling bogus racist nostrums European colonialism artificially burdened African presence, personality and identity with; but asserted confidently and unambiguously Africa’s positive future. Azikiwe’s objective was to restore to Africans a renewed self-confidence and historical agency in the face of European colonial rule and racist relegation and objectification. He wanted to inspire or motivate Africans to once again become the ‘masters of their own destiny,’ through their deliberate and concerted effort.

Nnamdi Azikiwe succeeded supremely in inspiring a Pan-African ideology and ethos in the Mother continent, as well as in inspiring a whole generation of continental Pan-Africanists; of which Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana was an exemplar par excellence. Yet, sadly, over half a century later, we are nowhere as confident about Africa’s present, let alone Africa’s future, as Azikiwe and Nkrumah were that far back. Today, we are obliged to qualify the adjective of Renascent Africa with the looming possibility of stagnant if not degenerate Africa; hence, the title to this piece: Renascent, Stagnant or Degenerate Africa: Quo Vadis — Which Way?

At the end of every diagnosis, not matter how rigorous and brilliant, must follow an effective prognosis, or the diagnosis would have been an exercise in futility, and hence, sophistry. In plain English, an effective analysis must have two component questions answered: What went wrong? And what can be done to fix what went wrong? For as the great Pan-Africanist, Kwame Nkrumah, was fond of saying: “Action without thought is blind, but thought without action is empty.” There are FOUR broad syndromes I believe haunts contemporary African development: (1) The Magic Wand Syndrome; (2) The Cash-and-Carry Syndrome; (3) The Monkey-See-Monkey-Do Syndrome; and (4) The Crabs-in-a-Pit Syndrome. Let me briefly describe each one of those four syndromes.

The Magic Wand Syndrome

As its name implies, the Magic Wand Syndrome is the syndrome that expects, assumes, and even, demands a quick fix to virtually all of Africa’s numerous problems. That syndrome imagines that there exists a solution, plan, saviour or redeemer, which or whom, if applied or manages to find their way into political power, can magically solve most, if not all of Africa’s problems. The category of Africans who suffer from this particular syndrome, are surprising in their numbers and diversity. They range from the illiterate to the educated; from the rich to the poor, and from urban to rural dwellers. They especially include many religious adherents, who are convinced that with enough prayers, penance and piety, God, will send a saviour to Africans, able to save Africa from herself and from her current social, political and economic predicament.

The Cash-and-Carry Syndrome

The Cash-and-Carry Syndrome is one in which contemporary Africans have become habituated to the instant gratification of purchasing, and thus, consuming finished products from Western and/or Asian industrial economies. The greatest import of this particular syndrome is that it militates against, if not completely undermines African impetus for or drive towards productivity — defined in terms of inventiveness, innovation and/or manufacturing/entrepreneurial initiatives — that originate from innate African individual and/or collective creative capacity.

The Monkey-See-Monkey-Do Syndrome

The Monkey-See-Monkey-Do Syndrome, as the name connotes, is a syndrome in which Africans uncritically or unreflectively imitate or ape the behavior and practices of the Western World — socially, culturally, politically, economically and otherwise. Like the syndrome of Cash-and-Carry, the Monkey-See-Monkey-Do Syndrome militates against originality in thought and behaviour on the part of contemporary Africans; which, in turn, has an extremely negative effect on the ability of Africans to define their own problems and proffer solutions to them based on the concrete context of their own experiences and peculiar circumstances.

The Crabs-in-a-Pit Syndrome

The Crabs-in-a-Pit Syndrome gets its name from the observed behaviour of a bunch of crabs that find themselves in a pit. Anytime any one of the crabs in the pit attempt to climb out of the pit, or appears to be making its way out of the pit, the other crabs make a spirited effort at dragging down the crab that seems to be successfully making it out of the pit. It is as if the crabs have an unspoken agreement that if every one of them cannot make it out of the pit, none of them should make it out of the pit. They would not standby and allow anyone of them to succeed if they themselves do not seem able to succeed. That behavior of stopping anyone of them from successfully climbing out of the pit, ends up guaranteeing that none of them succeeds in making it out of the pit. And because none of them is able to make it out of the pit, because their fellows would not let them make it out of the pit, none of them is in a position to help the others to succeed — to make it out of the pit; from the vantage point of their own success! The end result is collective failure: all the crabs remain trapped in the pit.

I have provided an analytical outline of what I believe has gone wrong in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general, in the foregoing. In the remainder of this piece, I provide a brief analytical outline of what can be done to fix what has gone wrong. At least, some of what has gone wrong.

A Rough Hand Fix to Our Problem(s)

There are two critical things, the absence of which, virtually guarantees our continued failure: (1) Historical Knowledge and (2) Political Consciousness.

Historical knowledge:

We have a mistaken belief that history is an esoteric pastime for relatively comfortable academics, quibbling over and writing about a past that no longer has tangible material consequence for our contemporary world or times. As a result, we think studying, writing or teaching history is a waste of time; and if not altogether a waste of time; at the very least, is a luxury practical men and women of science and technology, political governance and commerce; can ill-afford. Nothing, of course, is farther from the truth!

Without a robust study of and appreciation for history, a national society’s development will be badly hobbled. There are a number of measurable benefits that accrue from the study of history: (1) the development of an understanding of the world, understanding not only how things came to be the way they are in the world, but where and how your own part of the world fits into the larger global picture; (2) Learning from past mistakes as well as great achievements. As the famous saying by George Santayana goes: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it;” (3) Becoming inspired or motivated by past accomplishments of individuals, groups or nations; and (4) Developing a civic culture and identity, based on a solid knowledge of who you are and whence you came.

Political Consciousness:

Solid historical knowledge produces political consciousness on a number of important levels. It gives rise to a sense of the possible in the light of historical knowledge of your national society. With a knowledge of what past individuals have contributed and/or endured in the “national interest,” you become aware or conscious of what you can potentially contribute to further the development of your country. For example, when young people are taught about past heroes and heroines, they are equipped with the psychic fuel with which to aspire to be like those heroes and heroines, to model their lives after them. The political consciousness that grows out of historical knowledge, can also educate the individual citizen about their civic duties.

A Nation without a solid knowledge of its history, and hence, of itself, is like a schizophrenic. Dictionary definition of schizophrenia states that it is: “A long term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion and behaviour, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation.”

A solid historical knowledge leads to political consciousness, which, in turn, leads to right policies in the national interest. For properly developed political consciousness, embodies patriotism and national pride, which would override reprobate behaviours that derail critical national infrastructure projects, designed to move the nation-state forward; the kind of raiding of the national treasury that sets the national economy in reverse direction; the kind of foolishness that makes people willing to sell their national patrimony for a miserable bowl of porridge!