Imperialism may be defined as the process of establishing colonial and neocolonial relationships. In a colonial relationship, the people and resources of one country called the colonized country are subjected to the power, authority and control of another of country called the colonial master. The relationship is essentially one between servants or slaves whose human and material resources primarily serve the interest of the master. A neocolonial relationship is not very different from a colonial relationship except that it is more subtle. In a neocolonial relationship, the people and resources of a country that has the outward appearance and trappings of an independent country but poor and relatively weak are subjected indirectly and informally to the power, authority and control of the rich and powerful states of the world. Thus, whereas the colonized country recognizes only one master but its resources may serve the interests of imperialism as a whole, the neocolonized country is compelled by its weak position and its very survival in the international arena to recognize several masters as its resources are exploited to serve the interests of the whole imperialist camp. Imperialism is nothing new or a unique character of the West. In ancient times the Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Huns, Turks and Mongols engaged in imperialism. However, in modern times, Western countries have been identified as the champions of imperialism although Soviet era imperialism including its Afghanistan experience cannot be denied.

African Blood For Imperialist Interests

The focus of this analysis is Chapter I: Discourse of Power and Knowledge of Otherness, in Mudimbe’s The Invention of Africa (TIOA). The aim is to provide an understanding of the elements Mudimbe borrows from his culture and tradition and how he is situated in that culture and tradition. Through this analysis I seek to locate the author making an Afrocentric assessment of this work based on the three paradigmatic approaches in the discipline of Africology: functional, categorical and etymological. Location theory will also be used as a basis of this assessment. Asante, as cited in Welsh-Asante (l993p.57), expounds on Considerations of Location Theory when he asserts: “Location theory is a branch of centric theory and reflects the same interest as centric theory on the question of place. It is essentially a process of explaining how human beings come to make decisions about the external world which takes into consideration all of the attitudes and behaviours which constitute psychological and cultural place.”

An Afrocentric Critque Of Mudimbe’s Book

Democracy has been defined in various ways by different people including government of the people, by the people and for the people, government with the consent of the governed, and a form of regime that derives from popular sovereignty in which ordinary citizens are endowed with the right and ability to govern themselves. It is my contention that concepts may have real, nominal and operational definitions and democracy is no exception. The real definition is concerned with the true, essential or philosophical nature of the concept. The nominal definition is concerned with what has been agreed upon by society, a particular community or by a researcher that helps to imagine and describe what the concept is. Although the nominal definition can lead to the description of the concept, it may not necessarily lead to its measurement. The operational definition specifies the indicators of the concept to enable its measurement directly or indirectly. Democracy has only one real or essential definition. Other definitions of it arise precisely because there is a difference between the real or essential meaning of democracy and the actual practice of democracy that leads to nominal and operational definitions. While the real, philosophical, ideal or essential meaning of democracy remains the same, the actual practice of democracy may be said to be in the eye of the beholder.

Democracy and its practice – A general theory of democratic relativity

The Ga people belong to the Ga-Dagbe group of Kwa people who inhabit the Greater Accra region of present day Ghana. The Kwa people of Africa include the Ga-Dagbe, Ewe, Akwapim, Fanti, Kwahu, and Akim and Ashanti. According to some legends Ga people migrated from Nigeria, others that they were part of Israel that migrated southward through present day Uganda, then along the CongoRiver, westward through Cameroons, Nigeria, Benin, Togo and finally to Greater Accra.

Ga People and Homowo Festival

Sierra Leone’s political problems which have degenerated into military confrontation may be explained within the larger context of its historical past through which its society became a delicate and sensitive mixture of African, European, North American, and West Indian cultures. The declaration of slavery as illegal in England in 1772 did not end the suffering of the freed slaves there. Most of the freed slaves could not find employment in England. They lived in a state of abject poverty and suffering which constituted the Black Poor problem of England. Granville Sharp and his supporters sought to alleviate the sufferings of the Black Poor by founding for them a self-governing Colony in Africa where they could live peacefully under a democratic constitution. The Sierra Leone peninsula was chosen as the venue where an initial number of about 400 of people of African descent and some few whites were settled. Between 1972 and 1800 the settlers were joined by freed slaves from Nova Scotia who fought for the British against the Americans, and freed slaves from the Maroon community of Jamaica.

Military square pegs in round political holes- The case of Sierra Leone

Given that some societies of the human race have been granted reparation, payment of reparation to the people of African descent (hereafter referred to as Africans or Diaspora), may be considered long overdue. Descendants of African slaves in the United States have raised their voices about reparation they are legally entitled to but which they have been denied for over a century 1 . Under the guidance of Dr. Robert Block, African Americans have gone further to demand exemption from “US taxes and racial discriminatory laws.” 2 The cry for reparation for continental Africans has been going on secretly among concerned members of the Diaspora for decades, but in recent years the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and concerned heads of States of Africa have raised their voices openly. In December 1990, an International Conference on reparations in Nigeria succeeded in setting up an International Committee for Reparation (ICR). The ICR convinced the OAU to regard the reparation issue as one of its most important items on its agenda.

The African Reparation Cry Rationale, Estimate, Prospects

Politics has been defined variously as organizing for human projects, struggle for power, or about who gets what, when, and how. Organizing for human projects gives politics a broader spectrum involving whatever humans do; the notion of struggle for power narrows the definition to the arena of authority in society; and the notion of who gets what, when, and how links politics to economics ( the production and distribution of wealth) as close allies. The politics of one-sided adjustment in Africa embraces all these three definitions. This writer expresses the view that structural adjustment in Africa does not conform to natural justice, is one-sided, and not primarily concerned with solution to economic problems in Africa, but about organizing for human projects in which decisions about who gets what, when, and how have become the source of power struggle between the Bretton Woods institutions and African leaders.This struggle may be conceived as an attempt by the Bretton Woods institutions to recolonize Africa on behalf of their allies while African leaders strive to resist that new form of colonialism. The allies of the Bretton Woods organizations are the Western governments, international business, the commercial banks of the West, and some neoliberal intellectuals.

The Politics Of One-Sided Adjustment In Africa

A recent discussion in a braiding salon turned to the lack of understanding between different cultures on certain concepts that have different meanings. As a multiculturalist who is also African centered, I responded to the discussion on cultural realities from a centered perspective. The scenario was this way: A black man is admitted to the psychiatric ward in a local hospital because he was talking out of his mind. The nurses on the floor who were white, assessed his case; when asked what he was doing which resulted in him being placed on the ward the man said, “I can’t understand it; I was just minding my business riding around on my hog; I was doing fine, and they say I’m crazy.” The nurse said, “what do you mean you were riding on your hog, that doesn’t seem right. The bewildered man repeated what he had said. The nurses decided that the man should be committed because he was “out of his head.” My hair technician, the one black nurse who worked on this ward, came to work the day after the decision to commit; she was briefed on the patient who was ‘not talking right’. After talking to the patient, she explained that he was not ‘out of his head.’ She explained that by riding on his hog, the patient had a cadillac that he rode around in, and he was therefore “living abundantly, or living high on the hog.”Her response closed a gap between white and black culture; her response proved that learning does not exist outside of culture. In black culture, a cadillac automobile is a sign of success—doing all right. Without the perspective of the black nurse the outcome for this patient could have been very different; this is the case in many situations, particularly for students of color. The relevance of culture, in situations at work, and particularly at schools demonstrates a need for cultural awareness; especially cultural competency for professionals who work primarily with other cultures .

Theories Of Cultural Centeredness

The contacts of West African people with people from Europe, North Africa and America have resulted in some changes in the conception of life of the inhabitants of West Africa. This study therefore investigates how the trans-Saharan and Atlantic influences prompted the nationalistic movements in the sub-region. The study employed historical and archival materials for investigation. Works of Africanists, historians, political scientists, anthropologists and literary scholars served as useful sources of information. The work covered West African Francophone and Anglophone countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Republic of Benin, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Gambia and Burkina-Faso. The study shows that the introduction of Christian and Islamic religions into West Africa brought about conflicts among the traditional and the two foreign religions. The study further reveals that through these two foreign religions, literacy spread among West African people. The University of Timbuktu enhanced human development where scholars, like Ahmad Baba, were trained and later became lecturers in the same university. He challenged the occupation of the Sudan by the Moroccans. The West African elite trained in the European way were not left out in the defence of the integrity of their culture, defence which later cumulated to the struggle for freedom. The work underscores the need for a natural marriage and development of cultures. It is therefore imperative to make adequate plans to encourage cross-cultural integrative skills useful in an interdependent world.

West African Nationalism rediscovered

The crazy events of September 11 won President George Bush the support of most rationally thinking and peace-loving people of the world, including myself, in his declaration of war against terrorism. It was considered a necessary Holy War to eradicate the craziness of fundamentalism irrespective of colour or creed from the human race.

From Holy War On Terrorism To A Second Devilish War Against Iraq

Africa is a bright continent with adequate material resources for potential autocentric development but after decades of independence, Africa remains the least developed continent in the world. It is even referred to as the dark continent and African peoples no matter their standard of education and achievements are looked down upon and ridiculed everywhere. Considering that scientifically Africa was the cradle of the human race and historically the cradle of civilization, certain questions come into mind. These questions include: what is Africa? How did Africa find itself in this dismal situation?; how can Africa get out of this situation?

What is Africa

Enthusiastic Pan-Africans – the whole body of Africans called Jaku – have demanded further explanations about who Mother Africa is and what is meant by imperialism or an imperialist. It is in response to this popular request that I have deemed it necessary to explain the two concepts.

Who is Mother Africa? What is Imperialism?

The theory driving the inspections in Iraq holds fundamentally that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Hans Blix knows very well that any empirical and scientific enterprise comprises three essential components. These are: theory, observation, and analysis. Theory is the product of reasoning which may be inductive or deductive but theory is never a truth in itself.

The Iraqi Crisis – Hans Blix as the Problem, not the Solution

The only way that an African Revolution will take place, in economic and cultural terms, is if a union of revolutionary African states is formed. We who subscribe to the objectives of the African Renaissance agree that revolution is required, and to some extent our ideology may be said to have been embraced by particular African nations. However, there are many African governments which cling to the opposite ideology of upward mobility (that is, into a Western ideal). This is an ideology which is antithetical to that of the African Revolution, and we cannot expect such governments to assist us in our missions. In fact, they will hinder us, because their policies, diplomatic activities and economic pursuits are geared at achieving upward mobility (they being individual elites). This is directly opposite to our own aim of uplifting the collective state of Africa. So, for example, when we are calling for just terms of global trade, they are sustaining the existing (unfair) terms of trade by aiding and abetting them, in so far as those terms of trade abet their own upward mobility.

The African Revolution

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. The first step in any discussion about role models is to answer the question: Who is a role model? Websters college dictionary defines a role model as a person whose behaviour in a particular social setting is imitated by others especially younger persons. Because a person’s behaviour may be good or bad there is a real danger of bad role models leading the younger generation astray. Parents therefore have to be concerned and careful about whom their children pick as their role models. The problem is complicated by the fact that what constitutes good or bad is itself relative, for one person’s meat is another persons poison. However, I dare penetrate through this relativity barrier by defining what is good as “what is acceptable simultaneously within the context of the logic of nature and the law”, and it is within this context that I differentiate between a good role model and a bad role model rejecting the latter and concentrating on the former.

Role Models

The most tolerant nation in Africa is Ghana where even a Scottish bastard can be allowed to be a President for well over twenty years! The first lesson Ghanaians should learn is that tolerance must have limits. Where did tolerance without limits lead President Limann? The second lesson Ghanaians must learn is that tolerance must be exercised on those who deserve it. Placing one’s neck tolerantly in the hands a murderer is no virtue.

Kuffour Please Be A Strong President

The only language that the RUF and Charles Taylor understand is the language of violence. Experience from World War II suggests that aggressors understand only the language of violence and are willing to negotiate peace only after they have been crippled militarily. Also, a sick person requires an appropriate medicine and not just any kind of medicine. Medicine that is appropriate for a swelling on the knee is not intended to cure a mental patient or to exorcise the devil out of a demoniac. I am of the contention that the British and the United Nations are doing the opposite and have tarnished their good names. However, it is not too late to speak to the RUF and Charles Taylor in their appropriate lingua franca – violence.

Bring Charles Taylor And The Ruf To Their Knees