Days of Yore

To effectively colonize a people, the mindset of the target group has to be greatly altered. On the home front, the colonized people have to be portrayed as uncivilized savages that need salvation, to which end the media is effectively used to get their citizens to accept their narrative. As Basil Davidson pointed to in one of his series, the unconscionable European expansionist disregarded any existing systems and ways of life, holding firm unto their white supremacist beliefs that Africans are inferior beings. In fact in the diaries of one of those supposed "Christian soldiers", the following verses were found;

"Onward Christian soldiers  

Into heathen lands  

Prayer books in your pockets   Rifles in your hands  

Take the happy tidings  

Where trade can be done  

Spread the peaceful gospel  

With the Gatling gun" (Voyages of Discovery)

This was their "battlefield song" which clearly spelt their intentions under the guise of Christianity. Indeed Jomo Kenyatta hit the nail right on the head when he made his famous statement that; "When the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the Missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the bible." (Jomo Kenyatta).

We can point to a lot of evidence in Africa and around the world as to the level of progress in every sphere of African society. But if we take that progress out of context, it is very easy to see Africa as the backward continent it is being portrayed to be today. The centuries leading to the arrival of the first Europeans on the African continent, saw an Africa at par with other parts of the world in a lot of ways. There is evidence of the presence of people of African descent long before the arrival of Columbus in North America. The point being made here is; how did those Africans make it across the sea long before Columbus?

If conquering the seas was the greatest engineering feat of that era, Africans, not only developed sea worthy vessels, but also had navigational skills. Though crude it may be, Africans were able to mine and purify gold and other minerals. Mansa Musa, the king of the great Mandinka Empire and descendant of the great king Sundiata Keita, is famed for his wealth in gold. In fact he was recently named the world’s richest man ever (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2218025/Meet-14th-Century-African-king-richest-man-world-time-adjusted-inflation.html.) The technology needed to find, extract, and make gold products may have been crude, but it was there and the crudeness could be attributed to the time period. The fact is it was there.

When colonialism was no longer sustainable, due partly to the lies being uncovered and for economic reasons, a new tactic had to be devised. Thus came the institutions of language, education and governance. The so-called neo-colonialism is nothing short of an extension of the colonial system, only this time the people running things look like us, speak our language, worship alongside us, and share the same values and beliefs as we do, or do they? They get propped up and defended for one reason and one reason only; to grant unhindered access to whatever resources are needed.  These so called elite constitute the ‘democratic’ governments in their various countries and are champions of good governance.

In the name of promoting so-called human rights and democracy, Africa and people of African descent continue to be oppressed to the benefit of the multi-national corporations who reap exorbitant profits at great cost to human life and suffering, and the environment, more so in Africa than anywhere else. The Bible has been ditched to preach human rights and democracy. Instead of being seen as rejecting salvation through the acceptance of Christ, we reject progress through the rejection of democratic values. Thus labels like dictators, tyrants, and human rights violators have been coined to subdue leaders of countries that house their interest. But Africans do not need to be taught democratic values and governance issues, just take a look at the traditional institutions of chieftaincy.

Since it's no longer a war between East and West, or between communism and capitalism, new standards have to be set to dictate who you align yourself with; democratization, capitalism and western ideals are the new norms. Any deviation from those standards lands you in one of the labeled categories. But taking a closer look at these ideals, one can see how corporations prosper by increasing their bottom-line while at the same time dismantling traditional ideals and values.

Take Business 101 and in the section on expanding globally, it will highlight some of the barriers to international trade (global Corporatocracy) which are; the language of the host country (make European languages the language of instructions in the schools), culture (make a whole society embrace corporate culture or the culture of the country of origin to make future employees feel more at home), Infrastructure (IMF/World Bank structural adjustment programs, that focuses on road and communication infrastructure – to maintain real time communication and product information), political and governmental systems (make them so that they will not stand in the way of expanding corporations and hinder the bottom-line - democratization).

The goal is an unhindered access to resources and markets, period. This move however has created so much disruption in Africa and African societies that we are left to grapple in the dark for answers, which we falsely assume will come with civil strife. Unfortunately all that leads is the self-fulfilling prophecy that Africa needs the help and intervention of others. And so the cycle continues.

African societies are collectivist societies and the institutions that they form to govern them and manage their resources reflect this ideal; they have a socialist outlook. Democratic socialism, akin to the idea Bernie Sanders builds his campaign on where governments work of the collective good and not for the wealthy few.

The argument for individualism, which Western capitalist ideals promote, is the complete opposite to what African societal norms and values are. Western societies are individualistic societies, where individual goals are to be pursued above all else, which is fine; where everyone prospers, society prospers. But in a world of limited resources such ideals are unrealistic. Competition becomes fierce, unfair and more favorable to some than others. When every man is for himself and told all that matters is his individual goals, then such competition at some point yields problems – corruption and violence. These two are at the core of the challenges facing Africa today.

Those that are privileged with power get control over the resources and limit access to those with the money (wealthy foreigners and foreign governments) to pay them off. They better their lives and the lives of their friends and relatives (the few) leaving those not in power (the majority) to their own device; no access to the resources and no means, so they try to force their way to it the only way they know how; violence. And frankly the only option open to them since all doors to dialogue are shut because the few don’t want to hear the majority whine about the unfair advantage on display; a.k.a. the corruption.

The point being made here is that Africa needs no lectures on democracy or governance. Our great kingdoms and empires were not perfect in all aspect, but they were democratic in the true sense of the word and those in charge governed well. It is our responsibility and that of succeeding generations to revive the old ways and come up with improved models without compromising the core values of community and care for one another.

But to do that effectively, we need to take a closer look at the logic behind what was done in the context that it was done. Once that logic is established, through education and experience, better ways can be developed to ensure continuity and upholding those cherished values that defines who we are. But more often than not, we listen to outsiders, who know nothing about our ways or why things were done the way they were done, and we agree with their ‘expert’ observation that we should do away with our existing systems. This is where Africa’s intellectuals have failed woefully. They accept to be spoon-fed as to what is right or wrong for Africans.

Christianity, a good religion, was used to subjugate us and throw us into confusion as to the value of what we uphold. Human rights and democracy, a natural inclination of all peoples are hijacked once again as Western ideals, rebranded and sold to us with the intent of profit maximization and domination, while our leaders are in a collective coma.

To these leaders the message is simple; no lecture from any institution or foreign government is needed; All you need to do is serve the interest of the people you turn to for your votes by delivering the promises you made for those votes; no one needs to tell you how to do that. That is all good governance is about, coupled with respect for individual choices as it obtained in the days of yore.