User talk:James Tugee

PROGRESSING, REGRESSING, OR DIGRESSING? THE CASE OF AFRICA, AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF WRITERS, AND THE WAY FORWARD:

When African nations attained independence, we (Africans) thought that we had finally been liberated. We entrusted the elite ‘freedom fighters’ with the noble duty of leading us into the greater future we all dreamt about, because we believed that these people had liberated us and would work towards the common good of society. Experience, however, shows that our geese were swans. These ‘great sons of Africa’ have done a great job at taking care of us and our common heritage; almost as well as a wolf that is put to tending the sheep protects the sheep… from the wolf!

Having successfully driven the common enemy (the White colonialist) away, these ‘liberators’ – most of who had had the ‘privilege’ of associating closely with the White man; and thus spoke the White man’s language, ate his food, aped his manners and secretly admired his position and ways – turned out to be worse than the White colonialist. Simply put, a pack of chicken would rather have a mongoose for a leader than have a cock with cannibalistic tendencies occupying the position. Africa’s case, unfortunately, is one in which a few cunning rats managed to bell the cat, with the help of the rest of the rats of course, only to turn into rat-eaters!

When we attained independence, we were supposedly liberated from imposed government and laws, indignity, forced labour, degrading and inhuman treatment and punishment, and all other forms of human rights abuses. We were supposedly ushered into a society where every man –even woman – was equal, enjoyed the same amount of rights to the same extent as others, had equal opportunities in the pursuit of happiness, and was free from discrimination of any nature on account of any distinguishing factor. In retrospect, however, the question, whose answer is necessarily in the negative, is whether this was achieved. Like the classical example of George  Orwell’s Animal Farm, one day we woke up to the sad realization that some animals had declared themselves more equal than others and were willing to go to any lengths to entrench this position not only in practice but even in our minds. This marked the birth of the Mzungu Mweusi and part of the aspect of neo-colonialism, both of which live with us to date.

Reading most of contemporary Africa’s literature texts, one notices three basic themes running through the entire corpus of this genre; the themes of pain, pessimism and disillusionment. Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People is a classic example in this regard. This indicates that although independence sought to ultimately liberate Africans, nothing tangible has happened to solve our problems. Contemporary African literature reflects the social and political realities of the post-independence era in which the liberator became the oppressor. Unfortunately, our independence leaders thought that the mere fact that they participated in the independence struggles entitled them to more rights than the others… to the extent that some of them thought they owned the nations they ruled. Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya is known for his question, ‘Tulipokuwa tukipigania uhuru, ulikuwa wapi?’ This was his way of asserting that he had unquestionable authority to do anything he willed because he happened to have participated in the independence struggle. Such a scenario is aptly captured in A Man of the People with reference to the character Chief Nanga.

In the past, African literature was a tool for celebrating the heroic exploits of the great people in the African society including great leaders and warriors. Later, together with African journalism, it was used in the anti-colonial struggle. Today, they are employed as veritable weapons for depicting the post colonial disillusionment in African countries, together with the pessimism that comes with it.

The three periods of Africa’s history as identified by Colin Legum in his book Africa Since Independence can help us better understand and analyse Africa’s political history. The three periods are the Romantic, Disillusionment and Realism periods.

The Romantic period is that part of Africa’s history that was characterized by high levels of optimism and confidence as the independence struggles bore fruit in the various African nations. This was an important milestone that created the possibility of and opportunity for African people to take charge of the management of their countries’ affairs. It was expected that this would lead to faster and more equitable and sustainable development of the continent.

The period of Disillusionment refers to the general despair and pessimism that defined the continent as a result of her failure to realize her visionary dreams, which were the major reasons for the bloodshed during the independence struggles. This failure can justifiably be attributed to the lack of focus and direction in the post-independence African leadership; and its failure to provide leadership and enhance democracy and economic growth, resorting rather to totalitarian rule and unsound economic policies.

The period of Realism refers to the harsh political realities that defined African history right after independence, and have subsequently continued to define African history to date. The sad and painful political truths marked by, inter alia, political betrayals, dictatorships, assassinations, detentions, violence, civil wars, high levels of corruption, tribalism, nepotism, regional and gender inequalities were a rude awakening to the continent and her people. Then, like today, as Chinua Achebe puts it in A Man of the People, it did not matter what you knew but who you knew. In summary, gross political mismanagement has ultimately led to abject poverty and low living standards of the majority. Favouritism and inequitable distribution of resources in the fashion of siasa mbaya maisha mbaya has led to animosity among the peoples of African nations as well as the glorifying of political power and the readiness of the people to do anything to gain political power for the benefit of themselves and their ‘people’ (read tribe or region).

Thus, it is imperative for us to pose this question not only to the political class, but also to ourselves, the ruled: How far, in terms of political shift, has the continent forged ahead with Legum’s postulations on African renaissance or rebirth? This is a crucially fundamental issue that should invite not only evaluative but also transformative discourse from every soul currently living in Africa, regardless of one’s social background or position, with the sole aim of assisting the continent come out of this sickening abyss. On their part, many African writers should be commended for their avowed and enduring propensity for social and political commitment. Their texts mostly reflect and refract the socio-political realities in their societies thus living up to literature’s role as the mirror of society. According to Ngugi wa Thiong’o in Barrel of a Pen, "Freedom of the Artist: People's Artists Versus People's Rulers";

The arts then act like a reflecting mirror. The artist is like the hand that holds and moves the mirror, this way and that way, to explore all corners of the universe. But what is reflected in the mirror depends on where the holder stands in relation to the object.

Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Petals Of Blood is a great example in this regard, and the author got himself detained on its account. Even where, according to some of the African writers, the barrel of the pen has proved insufficient at transforming political leadership, we have seen some of them dying in the battlefields. The Ken Saro Wiwas of Africa are not few. Ngugi wa Thiong’o says of the plight of a writer in a neocolonial state thus, ‘Write and risk damnation. Avoid damnation and cease to be a writer. That is the lot of the writer in a neocolonial state.’

Ben Okri in his poem Memories Break lamentably reminds us of what we have done to ourselves in the past while at the same time, and in a visionary tone, suggesting a possible solution to the sad situations, thus:

We celebrate our future deaths,

We cut out the tongues

Of our prophets

We hail our murderers

We gild our traitors

We poison our healers

And we walk with our eyes wide open

Into our own abyss.

Break this cycle

Break this madness

Let new fevers rise in this

Radiant act of faith

Destroy this temple of living hell

Let us join our angers together

Forge a new joy for the age

Create

New breaks.

This short poem shows Okri’s handling of Disillusionment and paints a virulent critique of the African past and present, and what I would call an optimistic-pessimistic view of future evolution. Okri’s poem does not fall short of capturing a disheartening picture of a continent warped in the ideals of neo-colonialism – disharmony, mediocrity and violence. As Taban Lo Liyong puts it, ‘[African] progress has gone full circle to regress.’ African mainstream media and literature has transformed the theme of disillusionment. Initially, the colonizer was the sole object of criticism, but now African technocrats, cadres and government officials are rightly depicted exploiting the poor majority. In such a state can it be rightly said that Africa has attained independence? My answer, like the title of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga’s novel is that Africa has ‘Not Yet [attained] Uhuru.’

Just like in Ken Saro Wiwa’s short story, Africa Kills Her Sun, Africa has killed and mercilessly continues, without rational thought, to kill her sons. This makes the African renaissance and idea stuck on her memory and seemingly far from attainable heights. The problem with Africa is the fact which the Philosopher identifies in Ecclesiastes 9:11; the fact that “…fast runners do not always win the race, and the brave do not always win the battle. The wise do not always earn a living, intelligent people do not always get rich and [above all] capable men do not […] rise to high positions.”

However, the question that we should really be asking – but which, unfortunately we always want to avoid – is if there’s anything we can do to remedy the situation. This is indeed not only a question, but also a challenge, whose answer is necessarily in the affirmative. Can we afford to despair and lose hope? I say NO, for as Ngugi wa Thiong’o puts it in Devil on the Cross, ‘Despair is the one sin that cannot be forgiven.’ But what is it exactly that we can do?

The great JF Kennedy once challenged the citizens of America to ask not what America could do for them, but to instead ask what they could do for America. This is the challenge I pose today to Africans in general, and Kenyans in particular, specifically the youth.

To most of us the answer to African problems lies in voting out the old guard – who we credit with being the cause of all our problems – and voting in fellow youths, who we expect to have a true vision for our nation(s). Unfortunately, it is not as simple as that. For there are known to me a lot of young people who would perform much worse than the old guard, and there are also known to me, albeit very few, current leaders and people who are not-so-young but have the interests of our people, our nation, and our continent at heart. The celebrated Madiba was just but an example…. a few others exist! The right answer to Africa’s problems is, in the words of Ben Okri, to create new breaks. And just how do we do that?

The first break would be to ensure that African nations have constitutions that ensure democratic governance and which recognizes that sovereign power belongs to the people. This would go a long way in enhancing good governance and ensuring equal treatment of all persons. The next break would be to elect capable leaders, regardless of their ethnicity, religious affiliations, sex, ejusdem generis.

Above all, we all have a duty at all times to oppose tyranny and fight it in all manners possible. As Wole Soyinka put it in The Man Died, ‘The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.’ If need be, and only when every other means has failed, we can resort to a revolution. We must, however, remember, as Wole Soyinka postulates in The Man Died, that;

A war, with its attendant human suffering, must, when that evil is unavoidable, be made to fragment more than buildings: it must shatter the foundations of thought and re-create. Only in this way does every individual share in the cataclysm and understand the purpose of sacrifice.

We owe these to the posterity who should not suffer the same problems we do today, who should inherit a better Kenya and a better Africa and who should, most importantly, never have to lament – as we do today – that, “the degenerate age of our parents has made us inferior to our grandparents” !!!

If we did these, we may start talking of the rebirth of Africa. But unless and until we do them, the African renaissance will remain a mirage; so close yet so far… Just a thought…