Culture experts have urged African countries to leverage on their shared values of language and communalism to unite the continent.
The experts stated this at the Annual Pan-African Intercultural Dialogue organised by the Centre for Black, African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The advice comes post Professor Mudasiru Ilupeju Akanbi’s keynote address which rooted Africa’s disunity to European countries division of Africa in 1835 – which resulted in the continent’s division along (3) language lines and their accompanying ideologies. Consequently, Africans only acknowledge their brotherhood when they are outside the continent, but resort back to hate and strife once they set foot on African soil.
The Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, compares the above to the scenario to Nigeria – where Nigerians think of the country in terms of states than a united people, so also do african countries think of Africa. In fact, he added that several lighter-skinned Africans do not view themselves as Africans, considering themselves more superior than the darker skinned ones.
While he persists that there is no way forward barring Europe exiting African nations, Africa must take the alternative of negotiating affairs with Europe and the rest of the world to their own benefit.
“Europe will never leave Africa. Do you want the person milking you to die? We can’t fix the situation. We can only ameliorate it. And that starts with cohabitation and negotiation. Now that we have discovered the truth, and they know that we know what they do, that they come to steal from us, and instigate strife, conflict to do so, we can invite them to come negotiate and trade what we have that they need for a price. We tell them the price. Not them telling us what to sell or who to sell to.
“It also means speaking the same language, by which I do not mean linguistically, rather it is about reasoning the same way. The way an African Yoruba mother’s facial expression without words is perfectly understood by her child,” said Akanbi.
On the other hand, Mr Tunde Babawale said there exists language similarities amongst African countries that can be leveraged on, in addition to a shared communalism to a help unite Africa to greater development and advantage at the global stage.
While the tempo of Africa’s unity established with FESTAC ‘77 had diminished to an all time low since the festival, owing to western influences on African culture and neocolonialism, a return to her cultures and shared cultural values, he said, can reset the festival’s objectives – which is uniting Africa via the promotion of understanding of African cultures.
