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1 Chapter One Imperialism and Postcolonial Africa in Perspective Africans, like other peoples around the world, “are innately no more violent, no more corrupt, no more greedy, and no more stupid…” (Thomson 2); in fact, they are generally speaking, simple, friendly, hospitable, trustworthy, and hardworking, even while still being human. These sterling qualities notwithstanding, this is not the picture of the continent being painted in the West; it is mostly one of sloth as hatchet men lambaste and ridicule the continent and the peoples of Africa, especially those south of the Sahara. As Paul Bohannan and Philip Curtin confirm, “Africa has for centuries been seen by Europeans and North Americans through webs of myth. The myths change from time to time and place to place, depending far more on the needs and prejudices, even ignorance, of the myth-makers than on the facts in Africa” (6). Bohannan and Curtin go on to add as a way of illustrating their point, that in the popular mind, Africa is still associated with lions, and lions with jungles, hence the primitiveness of the continent. Yet it is true that lions do not live in the rain forest, but in open grasslands, and only about 5 percent of the African landmass can be classified as “jungle”, if jungle means rain forests. The point that becomes obvious is how facts are distorted and everything done to present Africa in a demeaning manner. Yet when one looks back in time, while questioning oneself if any people, especially those of Africa, deserve this, the truth dawns on one that Africa is where she is today—tormented by socio-economic malaise—mainly because of her encounter with the West. This, of course, is not a new observation for as Alex Thomson points out, Indeed, imperialism or ‘neo-colonialism’ has been cited by many Africanists as the major governing force behind Africa’s poor economic and political performance in the post-colonial era. The ways in which foreign governments, international organisations and transnational companies have interacted with African states and civil society groups have certainly been influential.(5) This is the case in spite of those arguing today that Africa should now take full responsibility for her plight, as so much time, enough for Africans to have turned the tide of events, has gone by. This venture, however, is not an effort to present Africa as a victim, yet it is common knowledge that most of Africa is independent only in principle while being ridiculed for refusing to progress. Indeed, most African leaders are mere puppets and those daring enough to reject this role are dealt with differently. Remember Nkwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Sekou Touré of Guinea, Patrice Lumumba of today’s Democratic Republic of Congo, and Pascal Lissouba of Congo-Brazzaville to name a few? They were all betrayed by meddling imperialist regimes. For struggling to free the rest of Africa from other colonialists, beginning with Rhodesia, and for exposing too much about imperialist covert activities in Africa, Nkrumah was overthrown in a military coup which left fingers pointing at Britain, West Germany, and the CIA above 2 all; for choosing to be totally free at the time of his country’s independence instead of remaining a French puppet, the French stripped Sekou Touré’s country of everything they had installed there before totally abandoning Guinea; Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Congo, was assassinated, it is believed, with the connivance of the CIA for he was considered a communist; lastly, the struggle between the US and French imperialists for influence over the affairs of Congo-Brazzaville, led to the ousting of Pascal Lissouba. Yet Africa must forge on even while the architects of her woes continue to damn her as she struggles to survive. In the world today, especially in Africa, there are many countries that are presented as very poor nations, otherwise referred to as “developing nations”, and at times derogatorily as “underdeveloped nations” or the “third world”. It is not surprising then that people say and write whatever they want about these nations without giving them the respect they deserve, all else notwithstanding. It is this sense of frustration that drove Célestin Monga to declare along the same lines: When it comes to Africa, one can afford to indulge in approximations, generalizations, even illiteracy. Africa’s overall image is so negative that only the most pessimistic types of discourse conform to the logic that governs understanding of the continent. Publications as ‘prestigious...

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