Introduction
One thing is common among Africans- the confusion to tell the difference between colonialism, civilization and modernization. This epic pitfall has generated quite a number of misleading judgements as regards to our value as a people. The mindset of the outside world, particularly the Westerners, touching our identity, is rather a derailed one. This is the scenerio- a helpless archaic waiting hopelessly to be fed by illumination. And whether this is a sad reality or not, the world does not care more than the need for us to shut up and pick the ranks of the inferior.
Years have passed, and we yet have failed to answer to the question of who has the right to tell our story. As a people – where do we come from? Who were we before we became who we now are? Only us can do justice to this enquiry.
While speaking about the African identity, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, in his work “I speak of Freedom, 1961” connoted thus; “Africa is one continent, one people, and one nation”¹. This opens up the conversation properly. The ancient assertion of our origin as a people. The Continent is a Country. A people of same progeny.
To support this idea, Okot p’Bitek of Uganda published a work in 1970 titled “African Religions in Western Scholarship”. In this beautiful body of work, he asserted; “The African identity is not just about our cultural heritage; it is also about our contemporary experiences and struggles.” And then he added; “We must move beyond the romanticization of our past and engage with the complexities of our present”² This truth is in fact the burden that this paper seeks to address.
Colonial narratives:
There is a question that most people do not know how to answer. The question is; “Who are you?”. Many people when asked who they are will mention first their names, then maybe what they do. But our names or what we do are not who we are. And the best person to tell us who we are is first our creator, the secondly, we by ourselves. For no one can tell us who we are better than the way we tell who we are. However, this right– of telling your story by yourself — has been raped, denied and trodden upon.
Go to Western schools and ask who the Africans are, it will sadden you the answer you get. To most of them, Africans are underdeveloped set of humans, living in an underdeveloped country that has been saddled with hunger, plight and wars. A deadzone you may say. A civilization of prehistoric kingdoms and castles of primitive adventures.
Little wonder why Carl Jung, a Swiss Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst of the 1800s, while presenting his thesis in what he calls “The integration of the Personality”- he claims that “The negro represents the unconscious… The negro is… a symbol of the dark, unconscious side of human nature.”
Works like this fails to capture the true identity of Africa and the African. To save time, I will oblige that every African that can read should study the works of David Hume, a Scottish Philosopher and Historian and his works on “Essays, Moral, Political and Literary”. Then Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a German Philosopher, and his works on “Lectures on the Philosophy of History”. And Herbert Spencer, an English Philosopher and Sociologist and his works on “The Principles of Sociology”. To add to this terrible list, Charles Darwin, an English naturalist and his works on “The Descent of man”- and you will pierce your heart with their unworthy description of who they think we are.
Chinua and Thiong’o
A vast body of research has shown evidently that Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic, widely regarded as a central figure in modern African literature. Born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe on November 16, 1930, in Ogidi, Colonial Nigeria, his childhood was influenced by both Igbo traditional culture and postcolonial Christianity.³ This is a testament to show that he grew up in the time when the fusion between regilion and colonialism was at its peak. It was the civilization of the day. Hence, it is safe to say that this man watched the deterioration of the African narrative left at the mercies of Western illumination. As such, the African technology was labelled as rudimentary and aboriginal.
This stimulated in him the birth of a story teller. The drive to tell the world what really the African story is. With originality and depth.
Undoubtedly, Achebe strongly made the use of English as a means to reach a broader audience, especially readers of Colonial origin or nations, there by promoting the African literature. Apparently, he made sure that throughout his career, he escaped the colonial perspective that framed African literature at that time.
Some of his iconic works that travailed through time and stroke marveling chords in pivotal places include; “No longer at Ease”, “Arrow of God”, “A man of the People”, “Anthills of the Savannah” and his 1958 super novel, “Things Fall Apart”.
Let’s talk about Thiong’o. This erudite on the other hand is a renowned Kenyan writer, educator, and playwright, born on January 5, 1938, in Kamiriithu village, Kenya.⁴ His birth name was James Thiong’o Ngugi, but he later adopted the name Ngugi wa Thiong’o, which reflects his Gikuyu heritage.
His first novel, “Weep Not, Child” came out in 1964, which was followed by “The River Between” in 1965 and “A Grain of Wheat” in 1967.
Now what makes him special? Ngugi has been one of the earliest vocal advocates for the use of African languages in literature. He did not just stop there, he has written extensively on the importance of decolonizing the mind. His essays and lectures have been collected in several volumes, including “Homecoming” (1969), “Writers in Politics” (1981), and “Decolonising the Mind” (1986). These influential essays and lectures have paved unclosed ways for the African narrative to thrive, thereby giving justice to the question of identity.
The ideal response of African writers:
Seeing from these passages, we can learn as African writers to be very conscious whenever we are writing to the outside world. Or even to our own people. Our use of words must be deliberate. It is wrong to talk about the past and only recall slavery. This paper stands vehemently to say, that there is a past before the past we were told. And that past is of glory and honor. As Cheikh Anta Diop of Senegal will put it; “The African in the face of colonialism and racism, must be proud of his past, and confident in himself, his color, and his future”.
I remember when I wrote an international short story about Southern Kaduna. It was titled MY SCREAM MY WHISPER. I recounted the evils of the Fulani herdsman. But today, I regret writing that story. I had the one opportunity to sell my people to the world. And what did I do? I told them it is a danger zone. Browse about Southern Kaduna and see, it is not a good story that the internet holds.
Conclusion
Maybe it is time to use our pen in shaping our own world. The ills of the society. To tell the world, a story of hope and of purpose.
Elisha Bala, writes from Kano State, Nigeria.
