One Africa or not?
Many are the times when I have heard and read people stating that Africa is not homogeneous to mean that we cannot categorize Africa's peoples as the same and cannot expect similarity across the continent. The reasons put forward in support of this sentiment is the fact that culturally, there are many different tribes, kingdoms and chiefdoms on the continent. Politically, there are different systems of governance. Economically each country has a unique character with diverse resources. Physically, Africans do not look the same. These reasons, while valid to some extent, have been overstated. Africans themselves have begun to believe that they are not one. I quote African Times who wrote a piece stating that, "Time is long overdue that people awakened to the fact that Africans are not and have never been a homogeneous group. There is no one African."
Statements such as the above only serve to further divide a continent that should be drawing closer instead. Homogeneous as a term simply means having similar characteristics. The Queen's dictionary, Oxford, defines it as meaning "of the same kind; alike." While the popular message today is that Africa is NOT homogeneous, I believe Africans should consider themselves as becoming increasingly homogeneous and now more than ever seek to be unified instead of divided. Here is why.
Our shared experiences make us One
African nations have a shared socio-political and cultural history. Regardless of which African nation one comes from, the experiences of the slave trades, foreign invasion and subsequent racial profiling are close and relatable. This includes a country such as Ethiopia which was never successfully colonized but remained central in the Arab slave trade and was occupied by the Italian military between 1935-1940 forcing emperor Haile Selassie into exile. The slave trades and foreign invasions had a long-term, negative impact on the continent. Communities and families were torn apart losing their strong men and women to foreign masters within their territories and overseas. This destabilized existing socio-political structures and reprogrammed the African society.
Through the principals of divide and conquer, ancient kingdoms slowly disintegrated and died off as colonial powers replaced them and rewrote their history into a narrative that suited their point of view. A continent that once stood proud and tall had been subjugated, enslaved and reprogrammed. The African generations that were born during the time of slavery and colonization were born captive, unaware of the rich heritage that was theirs before. Their reality was no longer of African kings, queens, chiefs, warriors but of the white master and the black servant. It is within this oppressive environment that future freedom fighters and liberators would be born. An enslaved people rising to free their own.
Today's Africa is a free Africa. However the continent, being less than a century old in modern terms (post-colonization & post-slavery), is still plagued by mental slavery resulting from its dark history. African freedom fighters, military soldiers and freed prisoners who took hold of power after gaining independence adopted the governance principles of their oppressors because it is all they were accustomed to. What ensued was a continuation of the master-servant system where the new African presidents and their allies were the rulers and the citizens the subjugated.
Poor governance has been passed down from one regime to the next such that a majority of African heads of state are rulers instead of leaders. They exploit their citizens (subjects) selfishly creating modern day empires for themselves and their families while the rest of the society continues to struggle. This is a reality that is shared in all African nations once again making us more similar than different. Whether you are in Kenya, or Nigeria, South Africa or Egypt, the case is the same. While there are strides towards reforming politics and governance in African nations, poor leadership and oppression is still the overarching reality.
Through the principals of divide and conquer, ancient kingdoms slowly disintegrated and died off as colonial powers replaced them and rewrote their history into a narrative that suited their point of view. A continent that once stood proud and tall had been subjugated, enslaved and reprogrammed. The African generations that were born during the time of slavery and colonization were born captive, unaware of the rich heritage that was theirs before. Their reality was no longer of African kings, queens, chiefs, warriors but of the white master and the black servant. It is within this oppressive environment that future freedom fighters and liberators would be born. An enslaved people rising to free their own.
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| King Bell of Cameroon |
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| Ethiopian Army before battle with Italian military forces, 1935 |
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| Pure gold statues of Benin Kingdom Royalty |
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| Queen Ranavalona-III Merina Kingdom before French invasion |
Today's Africa is a free Africa. However the continent, being less than a century old in modern terms (post-colonization & post-slavery), is still plagued by mental slavery resulting from its dark history. African freedom fighters, military soldiers and freed prisoners who took hold of power after gaining independence adopted the governance principles of their oppressors because it is all they were accustomed to. What ensued was a continuation of the master-servant system where the new African presidents and their allies were the rulers and the citizens the subjugated.
Poor governance has been passed down from one regime to the next such that a majority of African heads of state are rulers instead of leaders. They exploit their citizens (subjects) selfishly creating modern day empires for themselves and their families while the rest of the society continues to struggle. This is a reality that is shared in all African nations once again making us more similar than different. Whether you are in Kenya, or Nigeria, South Africa or Egypt, the case is the same. While there are strides towards reforming politics and governance in African nations, poor leadership and oppression is still the overarching reality.
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| Man with chained hands protests the slavery of Africans in Libya, 2nd December 2017. Credits: Modified from Getty images |
Too soon to forget
Ghana was the first African country to gain independence in 1957 making it the oldest post colonial state in Africa. South Africa's apartheid system was officially abolished in 1994 making the country only 24 years old since full liberation. How old are prominent western nations? The internet is full of articles and videos telling Africans to move on and stop recounting the pains of colonization and forced slavery. In an ideal world where African people were treated with dignity in the nations they travel to, where former colonial powers had done full penance for war crimes against humanity, where Arab nations had regretted slavery and Saudi Arabia was no longer torturing domestic workers ...where all human beings were indeed seen and treated as equal...then Africans would be ready to forget and move on.
The neo-colonialism of today represents imperialism in its final and perhaps its most dangerous stage.
-Kwameh Nkrumah
The fresh wave of anti-immigrant sentiments across the Western world from the United States to Europe has served to expose the fact that the world has too quickly forgotten and an opinion piece published on Aljazeera referred to it as 'hypocrisy'. The western world has too quickly forgotten that not so long ago, their citizens were illegal occupants in Africa. They are yet to fully atone for the atrocities committed that destabilized the continent in the first place. Not only has the world forgotten, but is also in many ways retrogressing into oppressive systems aimed at maintaining the status quo.
Granted, Africans cannot blame all their problems on others. They have the responsibility to get their act together and turn the resource-rich-culture-rich continent into a global force. Only Africans can change Africa for the better and with the interests of Africans at heart. However, the exploitation of Africa's resources and its people by 'stronger' nations colluding with corrupt African leaders needs to be stopped. Africans should awaken and get ready to play hard ball in global politics or risk falling into a new form of oppression in this modern age.
By the penetration of multinational corporations, economic sanctions, partnerships, and the like, developed countries intentionally foster and enforce a culture within developing countries that is economically dependent on the former. The weaker nations are further impoverished to the benefit of the stronger nations due to the subsequent capitalist use of the weaker nations' resources and labour.
It is a central contention of dependency theory that poor states are impoverished and rich ones enriched by the way poor states are integrated into the "world system".
-Dependence theory, Marx