Slavery and Colonialism: The Consequence of Ignorance of The Elements of Life and Nature?

"High spirituality to the neglect of high intellect is a self-defeating sterile concept"

In this write up, I attempt to view the sad history of Africa's slavery and colonialism not through the prism of moral judgment but as simple issue of Africa's ignorance and lack of understanding of the elements of life and nature. The drive for knowledge and insight is the lifeblood of thriving and progressive societies and the lack of that kind of drive is exactly the condition that permits a group of people to be bought and sold. The lack of moral judgment by the slave masters, in my view, is not as important a determining factor of slave trade as the very low level of  understanding of the raided communities themselves. The shocking truth is that ignorance of Africa before slavery and colonialism and to a large extent today, goes far beyond the physical and the metaphysical world to include the spiritual. Far beyond the intellectual and logical reasoning that underlies the understanding of the concepts of how nature and life work. This is exemplified in the fact that missionaries of the Anglican Church who came to Africa ostensibly to convert lost African souls to Christ ended up incarcerating their mortal bodies in the dungeon and shackles of slavery. So they conquered in the logical, intellectual and the spiritual battles for supremacy before finally doing the simple act of using the being and lives of Africans as objects of gratification.   

"So why and how did Slavery and Colonialism end?"

I wish to submit that the brutal and cruel forms of slavery and colonialism ended not because the "MASTERS" yielded to the invading forces of high morality but rather a simple phase shift in two basic conditions in their own lives. This shift made slavery mostly needless and colonialism too expensive to maintain. It is often stated that survival is all about using all you have to obtain what you need but do not have. The "MASTERS" used their spiritual, logical and intellectual superiority to obtain their urgent needs in terms of natural resources and manpower. A careful analyses of the history and evolution of science and technology in the world will clearly demonstrate that slavery was a mechanism to meet the shortfall in the supply of social needs of the "MASTERS". The advances in science and technology in the homeland of the "MASTERS" therefore meant that the need for material and manpower was easier to obtain without the slavery and colonialism. This is how slavery and colonialism began to lose their strong appeal to the "MASTERS" and of course, the eventual dismantling was accelerated by the moral crusader and the second world war. France and England which were the prevailing slave and colonial "MASTERS" of the world then of course became too occupied with the war in Europe which  forcibly loosened their grip on their colonies at the time.

"Ghana's 54th Independence Celebration"

As we mark another year of independence in Ghana, I wish that a thought will be spared for the part that this continent played in its own enslavement and colonization. If we continue to celebrate the victory of gaining our freedom but fail to identify the root courses of the problem itself then we are preparing the current generation for an obvious future danger. The best form of freedom is that which shows and finds its form and expression in the requisite mindset and actions needed to forestall any future recurrence of the problem of oppression. Ghana and Africa must therefore defer all celebrations of independence and rather devote energy to the demolition of all the pre-existing structures and arrangements that brought this calamity upon Africa in the first place. The contribution of Africa to its own enslavement and colonization is far higher than any other entity associated with this rather sad history. The good book says that "you cannot raid a strongman's  house unless he is bound and immobilized" and so it is also true that you cannot deceive a brilliant and intelligent man unless his sense and intellect are completely exceeded by the schemes of their invaders.

"The Hope of the future"

Enduring freedom will mean that people of Africa will have to do everything possible to know and understand whatever anyone in any corner of the world knows. It will mean, being as skilled as anyone in any place on earth. This is vitally important because what you do not know will be used against you. If an enemy nation deplores missiles against another nation which is well equipped with its own far more

advances missiles and even missile intercepting system, will this nation panic??? The answer is a big NO!!!. Knowledge and understanding of the elements of life and nature which is science and technology is not only key to economic development and social progress but also a key to access enduring freedom.

Thank you

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Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD),
parthur14@gmail.com
http://pakar1-corner.blogspot.com/

Tema Port Also Sings "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana"?

Where is the Child that so proudly sang "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana".

Ghana is one of the few countries whose national anthem is a prayer to God and not just a song of virtue and pride. As school pupils, we proudly sang this song each morning before lessons and each time God was listening to our prayers and blessing our country with peace and steady progress. Now much older, many people have engaged in acts that is destroying this country. The people working at the Tema port must have quickly forgotten the song of prayer they sang for their country each school day and have even changed into undermining their country. The Tema port has been turned into a deal making centre where everyone is just not interest in doing the job they are paid to do.

Getting Away with Criminal Activities
It is easy to jump to the conclusion that the unfortunate situation at the Tema harbor are being perpetuated by criminals who have to be jailed but that will not be right. Many of the workers there might be fairly decent people who started work on a very good note until they were swept into this practice of stealing and extortion. The leadership of this country needs to be ashamed of this mediocre leadership standard, because it will not be too difficult to set up a system that will not permit such pervasive criminality. So many people have had their property either vandalized or stolen at the port and have made their issue public but leadership did not listen. The practice have gone on so long that anyone who went to the port just compiled and did not ask questions. It is true that no human institution will ever be perfect, but efforts should be made to minimize the occurrence of such criminalities.

Simple Solutions for Checks and Balances
Where are the shipments bound for Ghana originating from? With this kind of information, Government can liaise with counterpart governments oversees to obtain estimates of items bound for Ghana. On a monthly basis, a special unit at the presidency can be tasked to carryout comparative analysis of all shipments arriving in Ghana, in terms of their value and the corresponding revenue levels. The fact is that, the value of every shipment leaving Singapore or Japan is known to the port  authorities there, The problem is the under-declaration of the exact value to Ghana port authorities upon arrival, for the purposes of tax evasion. Frequent appraisals by this special presidential revenue unit will clearly indicate the margins of revenue which is being lost to the state and then corrective measures can institute  to halt the losses. Now, if this small unit selected by the President will also allow themselves to be compromised by criminals then the country Ghana is better off without any President or leaders at all.

Every National Activity Should be Closely Watched
While such sensational expose` by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has the power to draw attention and cause a major change, I don't think it is the most efficient way of monitoring and dealing with crime in this country. Creative ways are needed to look into national functions from many different and independent angles so as to ensure and maintain integrity. Evil thrive in the dark places and so its vital that national institutions are forced to be transparent. Citizens should be encouraged to submit reports of suspected criminal activities for investigations. If vitims of those port officials caught on the video had an avenue to report these criminal activities they suffer covertly, many of these cases will not happen. There is the need for concerted leadership in this country, where everyone is concerned and has integrity just like the President himself, with that we can make some progress and God will Bless our Nation.

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Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD),
parthur14@gmail.com
http://pakar1-corner.blogspot.com/

Can Africa Compete?

Can African Universities Compete?

NO CONTEST

16th September 2010

By Phil Baty

Africa’s universities barely feature in the rankings. Some think that for them to even attempt to join the rankings race is a waste of resources that should be focused on improving lives in the communities they serve. “African universities face enormous challenges,” says Goolam Mohamedbhai. As a former secretary general of the Association of African Universities, former president of the International Association of Universities and acknowledged expert on higher education across the continent, he is well placed to make the assessment. “Africa inherited a higher education system that was a carbon copy of [that of] the powers that colonised it. Right from the beginning, Africa started on a wrong footing – well behind the starting line, so to speak. “Despite all the political and economic turmoil it has gone through since independence – often of its own making – it is now expected to compete on a completely non-level playing field. Not only is this unfair, it is also inappropriate,” says Mohamedbhai, who has also served as vice-chancellor of the University of Mauritius. “One could argue that other regions that were also colonised – South Asia, Latin America – are doing reasonably well. However, none of these regions suffered from the sort of exploitation that Africa underwent and continues to experience.”

A Global Research Report on Africa produced by Thomson Reuters, Times Higher Education’s data supplier for the World University Rankings, sets the context in dramatic terms. Africa has more than 50 nations, hundreds of languages and a welter of ethnic cultural diversity, the report points out. It is a continent with abundant natural resources that is also plagued by the now-familiar litany of post-colonial woes: poverty, political instability, corruption, disease and armed conflicts frequently driven by ethnic and tribal divisions, the report says. Its educational outlook as a whole looks bleak. More than half the continent is off course to meet or is relinquishing advances made towards the goal of ensuring universal primary education by 2015, Thomson Reuters says, and Africa has “haemorrhaged talent” for too long. “Many of its best students take their higher degrees at universities in Europe, Asia and North America. Too few return. The African diaspora provides powerful intellectual input to the research achievements of other countries but returns less benefit to the countries of birth,” the report says.

“Science and technology are critical not only to the continent’s economic prosperity but also to such matters as food security, disease control, access to clean water and environmental sustainability…The volume of [research] activity remains small, much smaller than is desirable if the potential contribution of Africa’s researchers is to be realized for the benefit of its populations.” Chris Brink, vice-chancellor of Newcastle University in the UK and the former head of Stellenbosch University in South Africa, says that, with the exception of South Africa, “the trajectory of higher education in Africa, particularly sub-Sahara, is quite depressing, and the prognosis is not particularly good. Nor is the situation helped by the developed world mining Africa for human resources just as efficiently as it has been mining it for natural resources.”

Martin Hall, vice-chancellor of the UK’s University of Salford and a former deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town, says it is a “bitter irony” that “large numbers of talented academics from Africa have to pursue their careers in Europe and North America, where they make a significant contribution to the ranking and recognition of universities in these continents”. Across Africa in general, he says: “Universities have been chronically under-resourced for more than half a century, and they can often no longer afford books and journal subscriptions for their libraries. “Academics working in these conditions hardly enjoy a level playing field in a game where the conventions of research and mutual recognition count for so much.” South Africa is the exception, the continent’s one higher education bright spot. It has a system that can compete with the world’s best: the University of Cape Town is ranked joint 107th among the global top 200 institutions.

“South Africa has, arguably, the continent’s strongest higher education system, and it’s not surprising that the University of Cape Town is in the top 200 again,” Hall says. “But South Africa’s universities also serve a society that is now one of the most unequal in the world, and this means that other universities in the country have missions that are vitally important for social and political mobility, and [pursuing these aims] will not result in the specific forms of recognition that are measured by world ranking systems.” As Mohamedbhai sees it, however, not even South Africa’s current strength can be taken for granted. “Why are only some universities in South Africa getting globally ranked?” he asks. “The answer lies again in the colonial attitude adopted during the apartheid years, when education was the prerogative of only the minority affluent white people. “There is no doubt that South African higher education will soon be facing the same challenges that other African countries face. There is a serious shortage of PhDs and research output in Africa, with only a few universities producing high-level research while the others have no human and physical resources to do so.” In light of the continent’s urgent problems, Mohamedbhai thinks that African universities should absent themselves from the race to rise up the rankings and focus their efforts on immediate needs.

“Do African universities need to be ranked globally? I don’t think so. Their mission should be to produce the appropriate manpower required for Africa’s development, to undertake research that is of direct relevance to Africa – which may not be acceptable for publication in the best scientific journals – and to reach out to assist the communities in the many challenges they are facing, especially poverty reduction. “None of these fits the criteria used for global ranking. African universities have a duty to serve their countries and region first before seeking global glory. The tragedy is that many African governments, blinded by the prestige of global rankings, are challenging their universities to be ranked without understanding the consequences of the grossly inappropriate use of resources that that would entail. “At the end of the day, this brings us back to the very purpose of higher education in a country. Not all universities in the world can have the same mission. Priorities are different in different countries, and universities must not be forced to conform to a single model of a world-class university.

Source: THOMSON REUTERS - TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION, London, UK

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Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD),

parthur14@gmail.com

http://pakar1-corner.blogspot.com/