I was born in one country, but I found my life in another. Nigeria, however, moulded my foundation, and America shaped it, the world fine-tuned and polished it. I am a renaissance man. A leader of self with an eye for beauty and a simple taste, easily satisfied with the best. And, I have a deep-rooted curiosity for knowledge, grounded by intellectual humility with absolute courage to act with confidence, no matter the complexity of the challenges.
Hence, I am very grateful for the opportunities, which put me in a unique position to analyze Africa’s issues intensely critically.
Colonialization was a highly planned undemocratic system imposed on the colonized. Unfortunately, Africa provided untold riches to the West to her detriment. Thus, the poverty of Africa is the gloat of some other civilizations.
In the dawn of regaining independence, Africa should have unequivocally and radically dismantled all the colonial instruments of governance, restructure new systems to reflect the new Africa, culturally, mentally, and physically. Instead, she continued the destructive colonial’s Africa project, designed to impede development to her detriment. Africa does not know nor enjoys good governance, visionary or transformational leaders in her post-independence history.
Regrettably, Africa is still insufficiently cognizant of the effects and the destruction of colonialism, mis-education, and materialism that corrupted and disrupted her psyche. Forlornly, colonialization arrested Africa’s conscience of culture, education, history, language, mental, religion, self, and space. Colonizers did not only colonized people, but they also colonized the interpretation of history itself and rewritten to favor them at the disadvantage of other people to justify their domination.
Sadly, Africa lost her wisdom of self by accepting the colonizer’s myths as facts while rejecting Africa’s facts as myths due to colonial indoctrination. A dichotomy of wisdom. However, it is time for Africa to ostracize itself from the inferiority complex syndrome.
Africa itinerated away from her pearls of wisdom by chasing others and vanished into the semi-darkness of religious salvation, surrendering her tomorrow to no one particular true religion, persistently drifting with a confused state of mind. Africa ignored the social issues that changed the dynamics of Africa’s affairs. Fortunately, the mind holds the key to every lock; therefore, Africa must abdicate the ghost of colonialism from her mentality, repent, and return to her original Gods for redemption on the world space.
We are the new echoes of conscience and change, the temple of knowledge. Consequently, it is our collective and shared intellectual responsibility to correct the errors, and the accidents of history, along with the sins of omission, by laying down the knowledge-based foundation to bridge the gap of knowledge for the succeeding generation to shape. While the following generation perfects the refined knowledge to explore the possibilities. And, eventually, the subsequent generations enjoy the bridged-knowledge to emancipate Africa from the enclosure of the mind syndrome.
And, History is always on the side of positive social change; therefore, we must take the leadership role to restore Africa’s dignity to change the course of her destiny for the 21st century and beyond; given current state of self-suppressing, self-defeating, and perpetual denial.
That is why I am a veteran advocate for Africa’s unity and development, both in Africa and in the diaspora, not because I was born in Africa, but because Africa runs in my veins. Moreover, Africa is the heart-beat of the world that keeps giving.
God Bless Africa! and God Bless America! America, the possibilities!
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Dr Bamidele Adeoye, DBA, is a research consultant based in the United States.