Learning how to swim in a deep swimming pool is both an interesting and dangerous experience for learners. When some learners get tired midway and are afraid of going down, they struggle frantically, swinging all arms, to stay afloat. Yet, the more they struggle to stay afloat, the more they go down, losing their energy till they drown. But if they calmly descend to the pool’s bottom, they get the energy and cool to shift and launch to the top for rescue. Similarly, without descending to local understanding, stability and growth, it may be difficult to attain a sustainable international altitude.
The struggle for international recognition by copying Western trends keeps Africans stranded between who they are and who they want to become. They do not accept who they are as Africans with specific cultural values, nor are they accepted as full-westerners. This continuous struggle to meet up and align with ‘global standards’ steadily drains African cultural identity, morale and socio-economic energy. In culture, politics and capitalist-individualism, Africans struggle to copy and become cheaper versions of the West. This energy expended in copying foreign cultures could have been used in understanding and developing the African society for progress.
People’s ways of lives (cultures) are shaped by their environmental influences and experiences from which they form their world-views. These worldviews are expressions of people’s beliefs at different times that form the basis of their social structures and productivity. These worldviews influence the people’s laws and policies, as people’s laws proceed from their worldview. When the laws truly reflect the people’s beliefs, they easily follow the laws and policies. In heterogeneous countries, constituent groups pass through four stages internal distinction, harmonization, alignment and agreement.[1]
Unfortunately, African nations and constitutions were not developed from harmonizing communities, cultures and values of the different peoples. Instead, African nations and constitutions were imposed by colonialists’ philosophies for alienation and exploitation. The distinctions, customs and values of the different African communities and kingdoms were ignored in the colonial formation. Instead, the colonialists cut up and joined several unconsented kingdoms and communities under westernized political structures. Since then, African nations, peoples and scholars keep fluctuating in a perpetual confusion between native and western cultures and values.
It may seem that Africans need to keep chasing western cultures since the West seem to be more technologically developed. This pursuit of foreign worldview may help Africans environmental, social and industrial growth. Since no nation grows in isolation, African societies may not develop properly without chasing with foreign worldviews. Also, the Universal declaration of human rights, which shows a high-standard of morality, derives mainly from western worldviews. Even the colonialists abolished some barbaric elements in African societies like human sacrifice, slavery and superstitions. So, it could be argued that Africans will gain more by chasing western trends, worldviews and cultures.
When infants see older people running around, they wish to run like other people. But if the infants do not take time to sit, crawl, stand and walk, they may never develop the required muscular firmness. Likewise, if African nations fail to boldly discover and build on the original elements of their cultural values for collaboration and productivity, they may never develop. Instead, they will continue to beg for the approval of their humanity and civility. Pretending to trend along foreigners by copying their cultures, without local distinction and stability makes us more confused beings than we understand.
The West has developed many wonderful trends in politics, education, industry, trade and lifestyle from their collective experiences. These trends have been globally shown as the best on media and real-life. Yet, these foreign trends may not substitute for the discovery and developmental processes required for developing progressive African trends. Africans may not need a continuation of foreign debates for recognition of African cultures. Instead, they need a recognition of the progressive values in their original African cultures and institutions that organized African societies before colonialism.
There has to be cultural interlink between Africa and the world for the growth of African societies. But before then, there must be a cultural anchor from which Africans evaluate what to accept or reject in their cultures. Pre-colonial African societies were anchored on communalism, which made Africans responsible for themselves in their community. The feeling of responsibility for one’s community, as opposed to capitalist-individualism, made it almost impossible to find beggars in pre-colonial African societies. People worked hard because they were part of a culture that rewarded hard-work and cared for community development.
As much as we avoid an extreme form of cultural relativism, losing touch with human-reality, we must discover who we are. By going down local before rising, we bring in an African-cultural flavour as a variety-contribution to the world. We will then rise as a people who are proud and rooted in a culture that yields modern collaboration and productivity. This is vital since originality distinguishes us as a people, and marks the uniqueness of our voice: each one of us must be original, and not some cheap copy of Hollywood, Europe, Asia or Americas.
[1] Chukwunwike Enekwechi, Principles of social structure