For us to identify the problems of Africa, we have to adopt a methodology because everything a person does, there is a method for it.
The reason for methodology is that we have to identify what Africa problem are, their background or root causes of problem of Africa. When we identify these problems that is when we can reappraise them.
For us to be able to study the problem of Africa in a way that we can find solutions, we have to do that ideologically.
Ideology: is a body of beliefs or principles, according to which a society is organized and administered for the optimum production of goods and services for human welfare. Examples of ideology are capitalism, socialism and communism.
Concept of Study Africa
Africa is a vast continent with different number of people such as Negroes, Arabs, etc. Africa is a large continent with different number of people. In Africa we have so many people. Africa have 54 countries recognized by AU and United Nations. Many countries in Africa are composite of different ethnic groups eg like Nigeria. Africa is made up of different languages. It is a composite of nations within nations.. The only exceptions are Algeria, Egypt, Morocco etc they are made up of one ethnic group. Africa is made up of diverse ecological/geographical features. Many of which are conducive for human living.
Four Historical Periods/ Import To Be Study
The period before contact with the white race from 7000BC to 1444AD.
The period contact with the white race 1444AD-1833AD.
The period of foreign rule and the colonization from 1833-1957.
The period of independence from 1957 onward.
Meaning of Problem
A problem may be defined as anything in which man, may or may not be conscious which affect or is likely to affect his well being adversely and or which hinder the attainment of its objective and the satisfaction of human needs.
Characteristics of Problem
Problems are like plans, they have root, if we could find and destroy those roots we would succeed both in solving and removing the causes of the problem and thus prevent the reappearance in your life but if we could cut off the stem or branch and leave the root untouched the problem will continues.
Therefore a problem is permanently solved when its root causes is find out and is effectively tackled and thereby destroying the root.
A problem is contained when its growth is arrested and a problem is temporarily solved when its stem or branches is cut or removed.
This definition of problem will help identify and understand the problems of Africa as we study four historical period. Having understand what problems are, let look at two kinds of problems:Latent Problem: The cause of such a problem exist but not to our knowledge, we are ignorant of the knowledge of the cause of the problem. Whether or not we are aware of such a situation, it exist all the same and in accordance with the law of nature, the problem it causes continue to grow until something is done to arrest it growth or exterminate it. The kind of problem Chief Awo called latent is that of Anopheles mosquito and malaria.
Patent Problem: we may become of problem without at the same time become aware of the causes. In other words, we are aware of the problem but ignorant of its causes.
For instance one may be having a running stomach without knowing the cause of the stomach ache.
Historical Phase 1, Period 1Period Before Contact The White Race From 7000BC-1444AD: (When the rest of the world are moving to fourth revolution of industry, we are still at first revolution).
Africa early man was conscious of his need for food, nature gave him hunger for food. The Africa early man have the ability to be hungry, in order to satisfy his hunger, he was a hunter of animals and he was also picking fruits gatherers, digging edible foods.
Africa early man live a migratory, ascending and unstable life. Nevertheless he was a social animal and then live in bind of families in order to raise his fragile young men with some measures of protection and affection. He needed shelter but that is not much of problem for him because he could use branches of trees, caves, holes of trees, rocks under which he could shelter himself. For clothing he use hides and skins of animals. He had no social or political problems because as the head of family, his word was law. His five senses of taste, eye, touch, nose were in good condition but he was untutored, uneducated and because of this he could not understand or interpret his environment in a systematic manner because of his lack of education and tuition.To the Africa early man all the phenomenon which he perceived around him like rain, thunder etc. He looked outcast on all these things. The events he could not understand are either unknown or unknowable. He was poor, undernourished and he was constantly in danger of starvation to death. ( fast forward to Nigeria, this is a true description of Nigeria. Our grate grand Fathers could not solve the problem before another one came upon them, according to Awo).
Africa early man's life was most unhealthy and terribly short which can be called a blink live. When he fall ill, he didn't know what to do to restore himself to healthy especially at the early stages but later they were guided by mere instincts to partake on certain herbs which have curative elements or properties. In search for food, he could go as far as his leg could carry him, he has no means of transportation and in the procurement of food, when he find it , he could only kill such animals as his power could him.
He was a fruit gatherer and root digger. However as time went on, he invented crude wooden, or bone and stone tools and implements with which he improves his efficiency in his hunting and fruit gathering. It is important to note that the use of stone tools were a technical revolution among the primitive people of old, middle and new stone age and that in this revolution, Africa was clearly in the lead.
Other revolution as time went on, were the era of farming, pastoration, iron working, house building for shelter, discovery of fires and its uses for cooking, for warmth and stable economic life.
How The Africa Man Form Settlements/Community and The Problem That Arouse
Settlements are known as community. The community are form with villages, clans families etc. Many families connected together to form a clan and many have one ruler, from town we can form a region. The process of forming a community by African started as far as 10000BC, it started as far as King Afolabi the grate around 10000BC-600BC. After the formation of the community, some other problem arouse. Some of them were latent problem while some were patent problem. With community, life came, division of labour and division of labour led to improve productivity. With productivity of goods and services; came trade by barter. However because of these improvements, the following problems were solved;
Most problem like storage of food, transportation from one sea to another were solved. Storing of goods from one season to another were also solved. At this point in time man no longer a food gatherer again. With this improve in condition of life of early man, the following follows:
Human beings develop the desire to accumulate goods, properties, they also develop the desire to eat better food. They also developed desire to own land for permanent occupation because production was depended on land, people now have desire to acquire more land.
Along the line they desire chief titles in order to dominate one another. They developed the appetite to become chief and dominates the weaker person, especially in the idea of goods and services.
Man also desire for leisure and if possible to exploit and enslave his fellow man, in order to have greater accumulation for wealth. Why more wealth? Because he want longer period of enjoyment. So because of this Africa early man became greedy in order to satisfy this greed, he had to dominate others by force of violence which is still happening today. Which is a problem of Africa. We engage in tribal violence. This violence on other people was meant to remove all obstacles on his way of acquiring more wealth. So Africa man trampled on the dignity and right of others.
Enslave others to promote his self interest and greed. There then appear a state of war in which one family obliged or saw another as an obstacle to be demolished at any cost as, in order to pave way for the ownership of more than land cultivation .
Chief Awo said after all these, this development led to emergence of social classes, two distinct of good people. Society is such that if people acquiring wealth, after getting that wealth, they will subdue others to poverty.
Emergence of Two Distinct People
The strong and the weak people emerged. The strong were in the minority but became dominant and therefore they became exploiting people. The weak people are in the majority. They became the exploited or enslaved people. The lesson from the history is like the dominant and the exploiting group in any society are always in the minority while the vast majority always belong to oppressed or exploited class. (Haves and the have-not).
The oppressed group started hating the oppressors because of exploitation. With passage of time this two now regarded the others has latent problem.
The view of the oppressors and the oppressed people were contradictory, whereas the oppressors saw the oppressed as the instrument that will work for their pleasures as servants and slaves to provide them with wealth and leasure.
The oppressed people saw the oppressors as enemies and as people who lives on the oppressed people and exploited the wealth they created. As a result of this they hated each others. The oppressors hated the oppressed because they believed one day they will revoke against them. In any case there was class of war, whereby each one want to gain over others.
As time went on, Agriculture was discovered and man can now settled in the community to harvest. With the discovery of Agriculture there came wars for grabbing land between community, town, villages because land was the main means to grab wealth. Such empires like Ghana, Mali, Zonga, Benin and Oyo empire rose and conquered people and took their possession including their land.
The empires were also conquered in turn by others. They were fighting for land, trade root, commerce, extraction of taxes from conquered people.The discovery of iron from which weapons were made led to more war and conquest between the existing community and existing empires and towns.
However this war and conquest were not allowed to go on for a long time. Why? The ruling class became very creative and find to reduced tension between the class of the exploiters and the exploited and with the reduction of tension they established peace and with peace and concord between the ruled and the ruler, they saw themselves as one people who unite for a common cause. In any case, the process of creating peace and concord didn't quite solved the social and political problems that arouse at that time eg problem of injustice.
In any case the problem associated with exploitation of many by the few were suppressed and contained rather than their being uprooted and removing the basic causes. Overall the dominant class maintained the life of leisure which it has achieved earlier on because of their life of leisure and comfort, the dominant class was able to engage in reflection (thinking).Reflection in turn leads to enlightenment; they became educated with enlightenment, the dominant class i n Africa created historical myths or stories which favour them. They also created the God, mode of worship, stories about gods and spirits. They also created mode of worshiping this Gods. In other words, they created religion. They created class of priests that communicate with gods. The historical myths also created king and other leaders (Ife creation myths is also one of them).
Meanwhile the exploited class obey their leaders, their king, their Queen. They consulted the priest of the God and worship the God in the way prescribed by the king and Queen. Some of this way were taboos which they use mainly to cover their eyes and mind of the exploited class.
Many problems of life were given religious explanations, which make people seek for religious solutions instead of practical and experimental solutions. Overall the people were kept in ignorance by their leaders about so many things of life. It is noteworthy that religion solutions to social and political problems do not solve them. They only palliate and suppressed them, ie social political problems.
In conclusion, the problem which beset our ancestor from the beginning of the old stone age rise up to the eve of Africa's contact with the white race are as follows:Ignorance
Technical Backwardness
Superstitious Belief
Poverty
Disease
Primitive cultivation of land
Poor maintenance of law and order
Inability to defend themselves against external aggression. These were real practical problems that cannot be solved by the kind of approach our ancestors adopted like creating gods in the sky, feeling the atmosphere with spirit and imposing despots on the community. This approach could not solve those problems.
Some other reasons why the problem of Africa remained unsolved are;
- At the beginning our ancestors were neither aware of the problem or their causes.
- They were ignorant and didn't realized that they were ignorant. As they have no means of revealing their ignorance.
- Tragically when they became aware of some of the problem; they applied wrong solutions to them. For example when they realized mosquitoes was killing people, they didn't know which leaf will cure the problem. They consulted IFA asked them to sacrifice to the deity, meanwhile malaria was going on.
- And when they find correct solution to some of the problem, they abuse the benefits of these solutions in a way that the solution created new problems.
That was the situation of Africa between the period of foreign rule and decolonization. The period of foreign rule and decolonization is the period Africans came in contact with white men around 15-16AD
The Problems of Africa Under Colonialism was Slave Trade
Negative Effect Of Slave Trade In Africa - The brutalization and dehumanization of black Africans on massive scale.
- As the dominant African class supply white slavers with their human cargo. The mind of the Africans became thoroughly warped, debased and in build with callousness and context with their fellow Africans.
- The mind of the dominated class were grieved by fear and hatred for the dominant class. Consequently Africans generally developed inferiority complex towards the white race because of superior knowledge, superior weapons and technology.
- Depopulation of Africa towns and villages and total disruption of family and community life.
- The neglect and destruction of Agriculture and pastoralism and the destruction of manufacturing interest and initiatives of the Africans.
- The inner self of Africa which was underdeveloped at the time of contact with the White race became depressed, darkened and worst underdeveloped than before.
- The terms of trade between Africans and the white race was wicked and unfair in return for slaves. Our ancestors received spirit (Ogogoro, dry gin, hot drinks and firearms) with which they degraded themselves and slaughtered one another.
- With the introduction of money, the Africans greed for money intensified. There was hardened social stratification or hierarchy which is a product of the development of social classes running parallel to each other.
All the problems of Africa during this period remained unsolved at the close of the age in 1833 and together with those which have remained unsolved in 1443 were carried forward to the third age among these are:
The Period of Foreign Rule and Decolonization
This period was in two phases:
To The White Race
A period of imperialism: imperialism is the process of invading and conquering another people by force of arms for the purpose of imposing colonial rule on them and exploiting their natural and human resources.
Imperialism is a period of subjugation in which the conquered people lose their right to self rule and administration ie submission to foreign power.
In 1884, the Berlin Conference met to settle their problems in farmland, Division of Africa, the colonial rule meant the following for the Europeans
- Impose colonial rule
- They maintain monarchy
- They appointed warrants chief.
- They found new market for their product, they took away the raw material to their countries then brought finished goods by to Africa. It was a period of prosperity for the Europeans but a period of subjugation and exploitation for the Africans and also provides market for them.
6.They rule by indirect rule in order to exploit our human and natural resources. Human resources were deployed in Europeans.
To The Black Race
What the colonial meant for Africans
- In 1444, when African made contact with the white race, Africans was already 2000 years behind the white race in all aspects of development.
- Thereafter, there was 389 years of colossal humiliation and retrogression on all front as we seen in the effect of race of slave rate and slave trade and their consequences.
- In 1833, Africans empires had all being disintegrated, so that there were
no visible nation state large enough to protect its people, so Africans were not equipped to resist colonization by the white race. - The relationship between Africans and the white race in 1833 and 1884 was simply on trade.
- In this trade, the white men were in charge and Africans were the beast of burden.
- Consequently the white men introduced cash crop economy which distorted indigenous African Agriculture and industrial creativity in the sense all efforts were directed at the producing the cash crops required by the whites for this industry in their own country.
- The Africans were highly exploited without being aware of it.
- Because of the ignorance of Africa he was unnecessarily explaining how the white men were unfair to them in trade practices.
- Instead, Africans were greatful to the white men for stopping the oppression, slave trading, and trade and other harsh treatments. The natives of Africa suffered in the hand of their indigenous strong men, leaders and despots.
- This gratitude to White man increased when White men provided roads, schools, hospitals to various community. The white men provided economic, educational and health related facility projects.
- The white man was also seen as good when they brought back black Africans. (Even though a few of them) who had been sold as slaves in Europeans countries. Eg late Samuel Ajayi Crowther.
- As time went on, rivalry developed among Europeans power over who should occupied parts of Africa and exploit it, so some of the Europeans powers started effective colonisation. This they did by making our ancestors sign spurious doubtful treaties for passing over their land to the European powers. Most of the treaties were signed by tricking our ancestors or force them to do so by force of arms which the Europeans called Expedition.
- In order to prevent war arising from the scramble of Africa, the German chancellor, Otto Von Bismarck summoned the Berlin Conference of 1884 at which they shared the continent of Africa without even consulting our ancestors, let alone seeking their consent.
- Each European powers thereafter assumed full colonial administration and exploitation of parcel of Africa allotted to it. Thereafter exploit the human and natural resources of its area to the fullest.
Enjoy reading this? To be continued. Stay Update on this blog.
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