The Arrows Of Colonialism: A Pan-African Response

Colonialism according to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy “is a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another”[1]. It is a “practice by which a powerful country directly controls less powerful countries and uses their resources to increase its own power and wealth”[2]. In other ways, it is a “system or policy by which a country maintains foreign colonies, especially in order to exploit them economically[3]” Through this system, indirect rule was instituted in parts of Africa.

The aim of indirect rule was to organize the native institutions. These were recognized and encouraged to serve the overall interest of the Imperial Colonial Government. The pattern of colonization was part of the “process of imperial expansion, a process which some have called the Scramble for Africa.”[4]

By its definition, it is clear that the motive, the aim and the objective of colonialism was inherently manipulative and chaotic to the fortunes of African countries. But still, some apologists of colonialism still maintain that it was necessary and important for the development of the African person. Thus, this brings to mind some fundamental questions to reflect upon: was colonialism necessary for Africa’s development?

Was it really in the interest of the African people or the metropoles? Was it a system that protects the spirit of equal economic opportunities from the French axiom of gagnant-gagnant? What was the response of Pan-Africanism towards this system? We shall analyze these conundrums for a proper conclusion.

Colonialism per se is not a modern phenomenon. It existed for centuries when some societies were gradually expanding by incorporating adjacent territory and settling their natives on the newly conquered nation. For example, the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Moors and Ottomans set up colonies in other states. But the sixteenth-century colonial expansions became famous because of its technological advancement, its geographical dispersion and its exploitative inventiveness.

Thus, the fundamental question: what are the positive impacts of this system on the fortunes of the African person? In reality, colonialism was not completely bad in its nature; it had some positive and advantageous effects on the life of the African person. For example, through colonialism, western education was introduced in Africa. Colonialism also brought about new technology and agricultural initiatives to Africa.

The metropoles provided the locals with tools for farming and introduced them to new crops like maize and cassava from the New World. They established plantations for the growing of cash crops like cocoa, coffee, tea, rubber and cotton and finally, they built more infrastructures like medical facilities, transport and communication network and schools. In short, they contributed in one way or another for the development of the African person and his continent.

However, if one makes a contrasting analysis of the positive and the negative impacts of colonialism on the fortunes of the African person, he might just name it as a sweet-bitter experience. It was a system that considered Africans as less-humans who don’t have the thinking capacity to transform and govern themselves, thus its importance and necessity. The Pan-African response will enrich us more about the immorality and barbarity of this system.

The barbarity of colonialism was not just condemned by Africans alone but also, some European thinkers like Kant, Smith and Diderot opposed this system because, it was a combination of slavery, a quasi-feudal forced labour and it is opposed to the universalistic ethic that recognizes the shared humanity of all people. It violated the notion of natural law and it planted the seeds of greed and brutality among the colonizers in Europe and the colonies in Africa.

According to Diderot, in his contribution to Raynal’s “Histoire des deux indes”, he affirmed that, “colonial empires frequently became the sites of extreme brutality because the colonies were far away from legal institutions and informal sanctions and this weakens the habits of restraint, exposing natural man’s instinct for violence[5]”.

Before the enlightenment thinkers could finish articulating their compelling critique and appraisal of colonialism, some prominent and respectable African figures like Leopold Senghor, Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara and Nelson Mandela stood up against this western manipulative mechanism called colonialism. But, before presenting their actions and policies, it is imperative to present the negatives impacts of colonialism on the fortunes of the African person.

Development theorists point out that colonial experience has had a significant impact on subsequent economic growth of Africa. They are fully aware of the fact that African poverty and economic under-development is partly the result of the oppressive activities of the metropoles. The imperial colonial powers were the bourgeoisie who controlled the global market economy that undermined both the local and national barriers to their own expansion. This worrisome situation gave rise to “many African leaders, scholars and experts on African-

economy...emerging with new theories and ideas on how to fight for economic freedom in Africa.”[6] Despite this search for better economy in Africa, the western dominance and exploitation still stands.

The socio-economic plan of the African states is tied to that of the advanced countries which exploit and impoverish Africa. In the same vein, Colonial domination and administration deprived the African person of active participation in shaping his own history and destiny in the world. Africans could only work within the range of possibilities predetermined by their colonizers.

This brought about a decline in the spirit of innovation, initiative and planning in the African person. The total subjugation of Africans by their colonial masters made them people with neither political voice nor economic foothold in the land entrusted to them by the “First Agent” (God). In this case, political liberation became the first step towards the actualization process of Africa as masters of themselves and controllers of their fate.

Another vital setback of this system on the African person according to Jack Woddis is that it enabled the imperialist power to rob the colonized people in a variety of ways. They were able to secure cheap land, cheap labour and cheap resources. They were also free to impose a system of low-priced payment to peasant producers of export crops to establish a monopoly-controlled market for the import of the manufactured goods of the colony-owning power.

The economies of the latter countries or colonies were almost catastrophic and most painfully, the newly independent States of Africa inherited not only barely undeveloped but a distorted economy. According to him, under colonialism a certain development took place but one which resulted in a completely unbalanced economy and in the impoverishment of the colonies. It was a system with two sided-sword that cuts the economic and political potentials and advancement of the African person.

It may interest you to know that this system has brain-washed most of the African leaders and citizens of that time and of today to behave, to think, and to talk the “white way”. For example, the British policy of association and the French policy of assimilation were the best methods to manipulate the African people in the French colonies, something that is evidenced until today in French-speaking African countries like Ivory Coast, Togo, Burkina Faso etc.

Therefore, colonialism has done a great psychological harm on the African person. It has affected his imaginative power to uphold his cultural values and appreciate them. “Having been condemned to passive roles, inferior jobs, poor schools and low social status, the colonized people suffered from lack of self-confidence, initiative, self-acceptance and self-appreciation.”[7] Therefore, anything African is seen as barbaric and ungodly by Africans themselves. The policy of assimilation which neglects the African way of life is a contributive factor. As a result of this, we reject our own culture and identity.

This made Nkrumah lament, “the social effects of colonialism are more insidious than the political and the economic ones. This is because they go deep into the minds of the people and therefore take longer to eradicate. The Europeans relegated us to the position of inferiors in everyday life. Many of our people came to accept the view that we were an inferior people.”[8]

Colonialism is, in a way, the cause of political disunity and tension in Africa. This system promoted greed and racial superiority among the existing groups. It created political tension and disunity by causing one group, small or big, to fight another. For example, “the small colonial forces, aided by their native allies, often burnt villages of those who resisted and seized their Cattle. Such raids were continued until the authority of the colonial government was recognized.”[9] Most of the African native leaders appointed by the colonial power to rule were illiterates, with little or no authority. Because of this, they were too ignorant to challenge this ugly situation.

The choice of these native leaders was to deceive and exploit, since the literate would revolt against this evil. In short, there was no opportunity for Africa to develop its economy, polity and human potentials in preparation for leadership, industrialization and development.

For this, Onaulogho lamented, “the colonization of Africa was a declaration of war against Africa and the enslavement of its people.”[10] These negative effects are just a drop in a river; we can count as many effects as possible. But in all these, the Pan-Africanists did not stay docile, they resisted. We shall now present the action, policies and the fighting spirit of these great leaders against the arrows of colonialism.

Different African societies responded differently towards colonial rule and control in their vicinities. However, some African leaders collaborated with the colonizers. They even assisted them to settle and establish colonies in Africa. For example, the Buganda people in Uganda, the Fante in Ghana, and the Creoles in Sierra Leone. Whilst, others like Samoure Toure of Mandika and Menelik II of Ethiopia resisted the colonial forces.

After a while, prominent African sons like Dr. Nkrumah and Nelson Mandela formed some political parties, the “Convention People’s Party” and “African National Congress” respectively with the aim of defeating colonialism. This spirit gave birth to the formation of liberation movements and African Independent Churches. The formation of Pan-Africanism by Dr. Marcus Garvey and W.E.B Dubois was an added advantage for the total liberation of the African child both in Africa and in the diaspora[11].

The struggle for African liberation and self-rule came through four essential phases: First came the struggle for independence; then followed the consolidation of Independence with the struggle to ensure that the foreign interest did not undermine the newly won freedom. Thirdly came the struggle for economic reconstruction, where the biggest challenge is faced. And lastly came the phase leading to Pan-African Unity[12]. Thus, the formation of “Organisation of African Unity” (African Union) was enforced.

This organization was entrusted with the responsibility of total decolonization of the continent. And that is why the sixth Pan-African Congress affirmed this with vigour, “Pan-Africanism must consider the most radical methods of putting an end to foreign domination, liquidating the foundations of imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, apartheid and Zionism, by the common actions of the people of Africa, people of African descent and all peoples of the world.

African development demands that Africa must be free from economic, political and cultural exploitation by foreign capitalist powers, in order to ensure its presence as a factor for the enrichment of mankind”[13]. These were the processes put in place by the great Pan-Africanists to liberate the continent from oppression called colonialism.

Finally, with all these evils: slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism perpetuated on the African person, the Pan-Africanists and the seekers of justice are calling for a total liberation of the continent from foreign rule. Dominations such as the French darling-sadist approach to the countries of French West Africa are thus condemned. At least for now, the seekers of justice are not calling for restitution or compensation; we crave only for total freedom and liberation of the continent from foreign powers.

Africans want to be owners of their fortune and fate. For this, we use these noble words of Nkrumah as our song for justice “For my part, I must say that as long as I live, and as long as any little vestige of colonialism and imperialism remains in Africa, I shall prosecute a ruthless war on these monsters, a war in which there shall be no truce. Colonialism and imperialism have no honour, no shame, no morals, and conscience”[14]. God bless Africa.

By Cyprian Chia: A seeker of justice, a patriot and citizen of the world, and finally, a student in search of God and of world peace ([email protected]).

[1] Cf. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/colonialism/ (1/11/2020).

[2] Cf. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/colonialism (31/10/2020).

[3] Ibid.

[4]Ebenezer Obiri Addo, Kwame Nkrumah:A Case Study of Religion and Politics in Ghana (Oxford: University Press of America, Inc), 1999, 130.

[5] Cf. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/colonialism/ (1/11/2020).

[6] Cf. Chukwudun B; Okolo, The Liberating Role of the Church in Africa Today (Nairobi: AMECEA Gaba

Publications,1991), 11-12.

[7]Chukwudun B; Okolo, The Liberating Role of the Church in Africa Today (Nairobi: AMECEA Gaba

Publications, 1991), 13.

[8] Ibid.

[9]Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore, Africa ``since 1800 (New York: Cambridge University Press), 1967, 128.

[10]Matthew Onaulogho, O.S.A, The Equality of Mankind according to John Locke (Roma: Dissertatio ad Doctoratum in Facultate Philosophiae Pontificiea Universitatis Gregorianae), 1997,226.

[11]Cf. https://elearning.reb.rw/course/view.php?id=260§ion=9 (1/11/2020)

[12]Chukwudun B; Okolo, The Liberating Role of the Church in Africa Today (Nairobi: AMECEA Gaba

Publications,1991), 9.

[13] Chukwudun B; Okolo, The Liberating Role of the Church in Africa Today (Nairobi: AMECEA Gaba

Publications, 1991), 18-19.

[14] Cf. https://theconversation.com/how-kwame-nkrumah-used-metaphor-as-a-political-weapon-against-colonialism-129379(1/11/2020)