Africans Urged To Remain United And Fight Imposition Of Western Culture

NEWS COMMENTARY RALLIES AFRICANS TO REMAIN UNITED AND FIGHT IMPOSITION OF WESTERN CULTURE AND PRACTICES

An iconic scholar in the field of development anthropology, Professor Tennysons after years of researching, working and living in the African continent noted that “Africa is innocent, beautiful and very pure like a child. Exploring the continent is like exploring God himself. Africa is strange yet familiar, aggressive but friendly, deep and at the same time shallow; Africa is inviting but also distant, it is a smile that cries and a shout that whispers”. He posited that there is always something to learn about this place and that the key fundamentals that make Africa, such as human behaviour, art, music, or philosophy have remained the same over the years. Beyond its poetic nature, this assertion offers a complete picturesque description of Africa. Talk of Africa and you will come to realise a continent saddled with numerous dehumanizing challenges. Mention Africa and you will appreciate a continent rich in natural resources. So proverbially, Africa lives at the bank of the river yet has little water to bath. At least, there is sufficient evidence in the literature to suggest that the development gap that exists between the developed and developing countries is not divine orchestration but artificially engineered. Consequently, Africa has been confined to stereotypical definitions that conflate time and space. We are often described as backward and primitive for the fact that we have struggled, fumbled and stumbled in our quest to catch up with the economic standards set out by the west.

We are described as backward because we tend to reject in absolute terms, practices and values that do not conform to ours. In the ensuing exchanges, never should we fall for what Paulo Freire terms as false generosity. And like how Freire pointed out, true generosity should consist precisely of fighting to destroy the causes which nourish false generosity. Instead, Africa continues to be subjugated and subdued because it has its hands always stretched in readiness to receive foreign aid. It should not be lost on us the conditionality attached to donor interventions. Accordingly, what comes to mind readily, is the controversial Comprehensive Sexuality Education which has dominated public conversations in recent times.

Well and truly, advocates of Lesbianism, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights are failing in their direct sale approach to have Africans buy into their agenda and thus exploring other avenues such as the education sector through curriculum development. Indeed, the uniformity of public protest that greeted the supposed introduction of the CSE curriculum, go further to confirm Professor Tennyson’s assertion that the true African values never change. From the onset, Ghanaians in the typical African fashion doubted the goodness of the CSE to the course of the younger generation. Most people, regardless of their political inclination have used both traditional and social media to rumble and mumble on the controversial topic. It is reciprocal therefore to praise all well-meaning persons who helped in hooting at and shooting down the CSE proposition. This vote of thanks must also be extended to the religious and traditional leaders for standing in unity to reject the controversial CSE subject and others that they have in times past found to be inimical and sacrilege to the soul of mother Ghana. We have already lost out as a continent and cannot afford to lose our children to foreign cultural indoctrination. Beyond the Comprehensive Sexuality Education, let Ghanaians remain conscious and discard any oppressive tendencies that seek to arrest our human dignity and ontological vocation.

Let us be constantly reminded by the Magna Carta that united we stand, divided we fall!!!

BY WILLIAM OWUSU BOATENG, A JOURNALIST.