Jemaa Head
Hands washed together come cleaner than a single hand washed by itself-Sierra Leonean proverb.
The story of Africa is a journey through time. It is arguably the story of mankind because Africa is widely regarded as the origin of the human race. Over 170,000 years ago, Mitochondrial Eve, the direct ancestor of all modern humans, lived here.
Once upon a time, about 100,000 years ago, Homo Sapiens, modern man, evolved on the African continent. He was to undertake a journey over 50,000 years ago, that dispersed him around the Globe.
Several factors led to these mass migrations which have been dealt with and interpreted accordingly (We shall keep the story simple without the need to intellectualize it).
This out – of – Africa journey came with its monumental challenges of survival in often time’s hostile terrain, such as wintry conditions, and this impacted on the allocation/ storage of scarce resources.
On the African continent however, nature was bountiful, yet it still required the harnessing spirit of its occupants. This led to epochal milestones of survival, ranging from the discovery of fire, to smelting of iron, etc, and the domestication of animals, farming systems, amongst other discoveries.
These discoveries engendered a unique understanding and respect for the elements but above all, it led to the evolution of a cooperative spirit, a sense of community that ensured the survival of our early ancestors and successive generations.
This realization of community was embedded in a world view that recognized the place of the human being in the Cosmos, because early man saw and perceived it everywhere, in the Cycles of nature. Daily he was witness to the sun shine, rains, thunder, the ebb and flow of the tides, birth, life, death, amongst other phenomena.
His reverential perspective grew and he tried to interpret the forces he could not understand, whilst ascribing transcendental elements to the material world as he knew it.
He energized these elements symbolically because something awakened in him to the immanence of his environment. He had a sacramental vision of reality and realized the need to cooperate with his environment for his very survival. He became adept at this through a series of lasting paradigms, in the form of Myths, Oral Traditions, Customs, Ethos, Music, etc.
These were developed through a consensus which served as bedrock for the community, through the sands of time. It is noteworthy that our early ancestor’s interpretation of the material world also permeated his relationship with what he could not see as well. You saw it in his unique way of worship, in his totems; even in the hierarchy that defined his place and the Heavens.
The African evolved at an idyllic pace in harmony with nature. Of course conflicts existed and were inevitable as is usual with mass migrations of people into virgin territories, already occupied by indigenous settlers.
Yet the process of acculturation, assimilation or diffusion was fairly harmonious in most parts of the continent. The conquered became part of the new community and were protected to a large extent through marriage, land ownership, etc. In the true spirit of community, the belief was that there was enough for all.
Through the epochal phases (75,000 BCE – 100 AD) of being a hunter-gatherer, pastoralist to becoming a farmer, metal worker, AND THEN AN EMPIRE BUILDER, the African grew from strength to strength, at his own pace. Societies were organized, nation states and empires (Garamante, Nubia, Egypt, Ghana, Nok, etc) were built.
With the foregoing process, languages, arts and crafts, medicine, astrology, music and dance, customs developed like wild fire everywhere. Yet this did not suggest complexity, for interwoven in this fluid transitions were commonalities that could only have risen from an atavistic and shared heritage of survival.
Good organization had always been the key to survival. Political systems were built around age grades, elders, traditional diviners, and kings. And the laws governing these communities were such that they served as a system of checks and balances around the political institutions. It was the base for the socio-economic superstructure. No matter the size of the community, there were a set of rules which citizens adhered to, for banishment was an all too apparent option. An individual had the freedom to come and go…this essential democratic ideal was epitomized in the growth of several adjoining communities. Our oral traditions on the origins of several of our communities stand in evidence to the foregoing fact; this is why there are several offshoot branches in our languages, customs and traditions, as compared to the other continents.
A community spirit prevailed despite the intermittent shocks of frequent migration. This was essential for survival. It protected the individual in times of war, hunger, pestilence, etc. Social maladies like suicide were unknown in those days.
Our extended family system also strengthened us and grew the spirit of kith and kin. The extended system was a protective shield to the extent that the Western notion of “cousin” was unknown to our ancestors. If an individual was born to a community, everyone in there had a consanguineous relationship with the individual; they were related even if there were no blood ties…your neighbor was your brother, sister, father or mother.
This functional system energized the respective economies, be it in the cooperative efforts at hunting or farming amongst other endeavors. You all shared in the spoils. You rose together and sunk together.
We also note our ancestor’s methodical care in the preservation of nature, in his observance of designated days for farming, fishing, and markets; even in the separation of sacred grooves, rivers, bushes, etc. These efforts date well before the current efforts at eco-preservation in the Western world.
Of course life cannot be a seamless exercise. For our ancestors life came with its share of challenges. It is often said that “Change”, opens new doors or shuts them. This so-called change came at the African continent with the force of a mighty storm even though initially it seemed like a mere breeze. The storm had come in the shape of ignorance. It had accompanied our long-lost brothers who had earlier been lost to other continents. They had landed back on our shores without the requisite patience and understanding that those they met in the Motherland, had since developed, in their absence, sustainable systems, that had stood the test of time.
With the spirit of brotherliness which had always governed their communities, even in internal conquests on the continent, our ancestors had embraced the invaders… Surely these are human like me, they thought. The early invaders pretended to understand the essence of the African spirit of community. Yet a consistent strain of exploitation ran through their veins.
As time went by, they pretended to be students, and imbibed our teachings from our mystery schools, even stole our scrolls and labeled this skullduggery, Greco- Roman civilization. They grew bolder as our ancestors stared on in shock, simple and straight forward folk that they were. The invaders raped the land and enslaved them in faraway America. Not forgetting their earlier incursion across the Sahara desert that led to the enslavement of several of our brothers in Arab lands.
Ya Asentewa (Shèkèrè– March 2013), states it succinctly: “When these foreigners first landed on our shores, they were quite upset that we had all these resources and we were not making “ample” use of it. In other words we were not “exploiting it” enough. This is tantamount to when a poor man enters the house of a rich man and he is very upset when he sees that the rich man is only eating two small pieces of chicken. He dreams of how many pieces of whole chicken he will be eating, if only he had as much money. This is what happened to us. In trying to be like them, we have imbibed the true poverty mentality”.
Indeed, the words of the 18th century English Essayist, Samuel Johnson, cuts to the heart of the matter, to the fact of this poverty mentality. In his Tale – The history of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, Johnson states: “By what means are the Europeans thus powerful; or why, since they can so easily visit Asia and Africa for trade or conquest, cannot the Asiatics and Africans invade their coasts, plant colonies in their ports, and give laws to their natural princes? The same wind that carries them back would bring us thither?’’
It is the nature of man to be insecure…to live in fear of the future, especially of dwindling resources, but this does not justify the willful exploitation of a fellow human like you. For you unwittingly create conditions that would come back to perversely haunt you and generations after you. (Note the reverse invasion of Western shores by economic migrants from Africa).
The monumental collision of Africa and foreign invaders has clearly led to grave insecurities. In the process the African “Can-do” spirit of communalism has retreated, creating a huge psychological deficit, where there was once an institutional safety net. That Homo Sapiens that had once conquered the odds on the African continent is at a crossroad.
The commonalities that once defined the African rare example of sustainable existence and harmony with the Earth and the Cosmos is of the past.
How and where can we find this driving force…this African spirit of community that once existed? It is the absence of this communal vision that has affected other areas of our lives, be it in politics, finance, education, medicine and so forth.
How, if variants of this community vision are found, can we unify them and make them resonate as a platform towards a more unified Africa with a better future?
It is a search, but also an ongoing story of mankind, yet an end has to be in sight…someday, we hope.
Time would tell.
Arise… Mother Africa!
OBanya
SHÈKÈRÈ 
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