Native colonialism, Africa’s ferocious predator

Africa is one of the world’s richest continents in terms of natural resources endowments but unfortunately it is also regrettably the most politically destabilized and poorest continent when it comes to the security and wellbeing of its citizens.

This reality has been attributed to a number of various factors including slavery and colonialism which was perpetrated by European countries as detailed in the various historical accounts of the scramble for Africa.

According to these accounts, European countries looted Africa’s natural and human resources at such unprecedented and arinhuman levels that left the continent with a big economic and emotional scar that has taken long to heal.

These are the developments that are argued to have unduly benefited the colonisers at the expense of their fellow human beings who were supposedly enjoying themselves within the confines and comfort of wonderful Mother Nature in Africa.

However, regardless of all those atrocities, there has now been a considerable number of decades of political freedom and independence that most African leaders have openly and dismally failed to utilize because of their various individual and collective incapacities.

Yes indeed, that part of history negatively affected Africa’s development but it is now careless and irresponsible to keep reciting those moments and events as the only notable reason why Africa is still poor in this 21st century.

Many decades later while already back into self-rule, the economic reality of many African citizens is horrific as characterised by political instability, poverty, wars, corruption and poor governance which can no longer be attributed to foreign powers when Africa has leaders who are voted into power and as such mandated with its turnaround.

It will be therefore naïve for this current and future generations to continue being bombarded by the cheap talk and propaganda of slavery and colonialism that has been crafted and intensively been propagated by Africa’ sown shameless sons and daughters who occupy political space.

If the truth be told, Africa is now wreathing under the brutal and ferocious new form of colonialism which is being perpetrated by its own children unto their fellow brethren because of many factors including greedy and ignorance among others.

This in-house form of socio-political and economic manipulation of the nation’s collective resources on one’s own kith and kin is what we are referring to as Native Colonialism.

For the sake of clarity, we may need to look at the dictionary meaning of the word colonialism so that we can understand Africa’s contemporary reality in a better way.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Colonialism is a control by one power over a dependant area or people.

In this case the unsuspecting and vulnerable African child and his or her own village or community is quickly being taken over by his or her fellow countrymen who occupy political office.

Natural resources are no longer being extracted for the development of the communities that have been safely keeping these treasures at all but are now being rather vaguely merchandised at the expense of Africa’s own politically brainwashed citizenry.

The political leaders in most African countries are not at all interested in promoting socio-political and economic dialogue with families and communities because of the express and implied fact that this new form of colonialism can then be quickly identified and be resisted.

They therefore manipulate culture, tradition, education and religion in order to promote and widen the knowledge gap between the ordinary citizens and those that hold political power so that the status-quo can be prolonged.

Most African office bearers lack an understanding of real politics and they do not have confidence in the institutions that that they build as evidenced by their gravitation towards patronising health and educational facilities of their erstwhile colonizers. These so called politicians are so stubbornly reluctant to identify, develop and promote gifts and talents of their own citizenry because of the fear to nature what they assume to be their own competition rather than to regard others as a critical resource towards cooperation.

They then entrench their lordship upon the people by congesting communication and educational avenues with propaganda that reduces the masses into intellectual morons and reservoirs of ignorance.

This then brings us to a theory that I refer to as ‘The Iron Of Numbers’ which states that in most communities, there is always but just a few people in every multitude.

The reasoning behind this assertion is that people who have been brainwashed by political propaganda automatically cease to be their own unique selves but rather become an extension and a replica of the few who will be manipulating them.

Because of such an evil but subtle mechanism, Africa’s poverty stricken citizens have been moulded into becoming the most useful battalion against themselves because of their blind and uninformed glorification of their political leaders who unfortunately and unsuspectingly reaps them off.

It is important to understand that unfortunately the greatest poverty contributor to any society is its own ignorant population because they are easy to manipulate since they are unaware of the real prevailing opportunities and threats that they are subject to from time to time.

As such, an understanding of the fact that national economic reality is a result of the sum total of a population’s thoughts and actions shows us the danger of mentally colonizing your own citizens through propaganda since the nation will miss out on those individuals’ unique gifts and talents.

Regardless of this native form of colonialism and its ripple long lasting effects, it is important to still bear in mind and understand that Africa is not yet doomed and neither is it cursed

It can still be suddenly and be positively transformed by coming up with an open platform where human life is valued and respected and where dialogue is a social norm and the identification of gifts and talents is a societal mandate.

This will ensure that the people’s focus is shifted from looking at others as potential threats who must be trampled upon but rather as people whom we must reach out to with our gifts and talents in order to show forth the richness of Africa and the greatness of God.

When Africa remains so politically primitive to the extent of regarding and terming a different view as an opposing view and a political party with a different philosophy as an opposition party, it becomes difficult for it to utilize even half of its own capacity.

This is because it will be fundamentally incongruent for governments to try and build progressive societies by disintegrating families and promoting long term divisions among its citizenry through political patronage which is the operative arm of native colonialism.

So, just as in the same way that colonialism by foreigners was fought and won, native colonialism has to be undermined by firstly understanding that Africa’s wealth and space is not a preserve of the politically connected few but is rather a resource for all of its children.

Parents also need to be made to understand that it is not their mandate to be an efficient child bearing machinery that is meant to continually produce and deliver their children into the society as a mere desperate, ignorant and easy to manipulate electorate and labour force.

Native colonialism is unfortunately ignorantly financially funded by its own poor people through taxes as encouraged by propaganda disguised as pan-Africanism and nationalism which only benefits unscrupulous politicians at the expense of the masses.

Brian Kazungu is a Media Practitioner, Entrepreneur and an Opinion Leader.