Young and Mature

-

 


Young, fragile, plagued by complex challenges and yet full of passion and energy. The African continent is often defined in similar terms than its large youth.

If history attests that the oldest known human skeleton was found in Eastern Africa, there seems to be a gap in data and historical research between the estimated living period of Lucy, 4.2 million years ago, and history of the continent as it unfolded thereafter. When it comes to Africa, there seems to be less interest about its past and long history than its future, expected growth and upcoming challenges. There seems to be so much more to be done than already achieved, so many needs and so little resources.

Needless to say that Africa holds huge proportion of natural resources. 30 per cent of the world’s mineral reserves, 8 per cent of the world’s natural gas, 12 per cent of the world’s oil reserves, 40 per cent of the world’s gold, up to 90 per cent of its chromium and platinum as well as the largest reserves of cobalt, diamonds, platinum and uranium in the world. Needless also to say that the youthful population, increasingly educated, aware of the continent’s challenges and ready to foster change, but also the most entrepreneurial and active women despite being the most endangered, are largely untapped human resources that can bring about the Africa we want.

More than we are aware of, we also have a history of brilliant scientists, enlightened thinkers, phenomenal artists, and outstanding politicians. These represent a wealth of experience, discovery, and knowledge that constitutes an important resource as we work towards harnessing the continent’s development.

Bernard de Chartres and later Isaac Newton coined the famous expression « If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants » highlighting that contemporary generations can see more and further than their predecessors, not because their vision is more powerful or their height is taller, but rather because they can leverage the understanding gained by major thinkers who have come before, in order to make progress.

If African youth wants to harness the potential of our beautiful continent, we need to seek to understand the principles, values, intellectual and practical findings made by older generations and ensure that their efforts, achievements and struggles do not go to waste. As George Santayana’s famous expression states, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." And hence if we do not intentionally seek to own Africa’s history, we risk repeating the same mistakes and processes.

In Africa, elders are traditionally highly regarded and for good reasons, as Chinua Abebe puts it, “when old people speak it is not because of the sweetness of words in our mouths; it is because we see something which you do not see.” And to those who would object that the traditional dichotomy between young and old (seemingly embedded in African cultures) is a problem in itself, I would propose the detailed representation of Igbo’s traditions in Abebe’s Things Fall Apart. “Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.” Age is not always a hamper as maturity, wisdom, expertise, and purpose can enable anyone, however young, to make a meaningful impact in their generation. 

Every generation has a journey to walk, a task to embrace, an impact to make and a path to lay for the next generations. By better understanding what brought us thus far, African can better position itself in the development trajectory of our beloved continent.


If you are looking to get educated and inspired by African figures, check out the various posts on the Africa History Month on social media! Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Snapchat , Tik Tok with the hashtag #AfricanHistoryMonth 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Palaver Tree

-
Image
Laid foot by the Ocean. After a quite shaky flight to the well-known home of luxurious seaside beach resorts. Beyond the humidity that welcomes the unaware visitor at the exit of the plane, something about the ambient air reminds me of what makes me both hopeful and desperate about Africa. A capital of natural resources that has been, in modern times at least, underserved, and utilized with too little attention to sustainability. Like a  c ow  (the animal of thousands symbols in Africa) which, instead of being nurtured and carefully milked, was slaughtered and sold, because it takes less effort and the expected direc t return puts corn on the dining table. A cow, yes. One that could support the farmer plough its land, tirelessly giving milk to nourish newborn and elderly. A cow. One that was revered as a symbol for prosperity and long-term wealth, but now is milked to blood. When will Africa become more than a cow left to the desires of those than never saw it grow, nor walked...
Read more

History and Stories

-
Image
  “The independence was barely two years old when the death knell for the African family” [1] Decottignies (1965). A few years ago, I remember being a young University student in Sociology in Paris, avid to understand my own continent and choosing, as naturally as it seemed to me, the “African family” as the subject of my assignment in my “Sociology of Family” class. Drawing by Linca Nikwigize   Check other arts pieces here  Natural. Or so did I believe. I thought I would be able to find ample and rich content on the “African family”, just like there is a rich body of work and analysis on other regions. Now, don’t get me wrong, I was (and still am) conscious that Africa is far from being a unique sociological entity. I was aware that what some would dare calling a country, Africa, was much more than the monolithic block that they envisioned. I understood that each region, each country and each Province holds a different arrangement of cultural, social, political and ec...
Read more

A PATH

-
Image
A path is a path. Even when it leads nowhere. Even when it circles back to where we started off, or at least the point at which we think we started off. In that context, both ends of the path coincide. A path knows no intentions, bad or good, no pretention beyond its shallow limits. Limits that can be blurred by the growing grass, the eroding soil, or the overflowing waters. A path can be wide or narrow, depending on the intention or the capacity of the one making the path. It is usually created by an external force that digs, with plow or wind or water, through the nature to make a specific corridor where strangers (to that nature) can penetrate the space, without ever merging with it. A path might remain visible for anyone to see among the green fields, and can sometimes get lost in the movement of high wheat fields, only allowing the walker to see few meters ahead and not preoccupied in advance of what the end of the path beholds. Image source : Picjumbo While a path will ...
Read more