As one would expect, this book has been controversial since
it was
first published decades ago. The author, Areoye Oyebola, is a
formidable long-standing Nigerian journalist, editor and intellectual.
He is generally perceived as a man of candour; a quality adumbrated in
this work as he earnestly, passionately and intellectually inveigles
the black race to avoid complacency, face some (painful) home truths,
and learn from the course of history, and hopefully somewhat forge
ahead. He goes down world history to argue that the black man has
always been backward, retrogressive, and there is no point in denying
this, or living in a fool's paradise. Yes (as he points out) some
scholars and historians wrote about some sort of greatness in old
African cities, but where are the (physical) vestiges of the same? Why
was Africa prey to such disastrous things like the trans-atlantic
slavery, colonisation, and under-development? Is it a fact that many
of our cultural practices further pull us backwards, and exacerbate
things like complacency and corruption? This is a well researched
book, almost scholarly...one gets the impression that the author has
made up his mind that the black (African) race can hardly move
forward, despite the hypothetical dilemma. The author marshals his
facts (including history, sociology, antecedents et al) well, and
despondency might well creep in for the reader. Now, considering the
passage of time over the decades, can the author be perceived to be
right or wrong? For example, who would have imagined a man with
African origins like Barack Obama holding sway over the most powerful
nation in the world? Do we not have tens of thousands of outstanding
Black professionals, scientists, intellectuals dotted around the
world? But the bottom line, the author might well state even now, is
that Africa still remains relatively generally under-developed, poor,
rudderless, with tawdry, suspect leadership across the board. And
quality of life for most individuals is plummeting. So do we ever
learn? New generations will certainly glean lots of knowledge and
truth from this work...
first published decades ago. The author, Areoye Oyebola, is a
formidable long-standing Nigerian journalist, editor and intellectual.
He is generally perceived as a man of candour; a quality adumbrated in
this work as he earnestly, passionately and intellectually inveigles
the black race to avoid complacency, face some (painful) home truths,
and learn from the course of history, and hopefully somewhat forge
ahead. He goes down world history to argue that the black man has
always been backward, retrogressive, and there is no point in denying
this, or living in a fool's paradise. Yes (as he points out) some
scholars and historians wrote about some sort of greatness in old
African cities, but where are the (physical) vestiges of the same? Why
was Africa prey to such disastrous things like the trans-atlantic
slavery, colonisation, and under-development? Is it a fact that many
of our cultural practices further pull us backwards, and exacerbate
things like complacency and corruption? This is a well researched
book, almost scholarly...one gets the impression that the author has
made up his mind that the black (African) race can hardly move
forward, despite the hypothetical dilemma. The author marshals his
facts (including history, sociology, antecedents et al) well, and
despondency might well creep in for the reader. Now, considering the
passage of time over the decades, can the author be perceived to be
right or wrong? For example, who would have imagined a man with
African origins like Barack Obama holding sway over the most powerful
nation in the world? Do we not have tens of thousands of outstanding
Black professionals, scientists, intellectuals dotted around the
world? But the bottom line, the author might well state even now, is
that Africa still remains relatively generally under-developed, poor,
rudderless, with tawdry, suspect leadership across the board. And
quality of life for most individuals is plummeting. So do we ever
learn? New generations will certainly glean lots of knowledge and
truth from this work...
Malome
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