WHY AFRICA NEEDS TO BUILD INDIGENOUS INSTITUTIONS
The biggest failure of Africa so far in the century is the failure of innovation, thought, invention, and self-emancipation. The inability to come up with an actual rebellion, to build indigenous institutions — to realize its exact problem and rise from its ashes is cumulative of all the above failures. But even more than the act of failing is the reluctance of the people at the heart of black elite struggles to point out these failures for what they are.
When one looks at the world today, and the way relations between races and people of different continent goes, as a black man, one feels a weight of oppression upon his consciousness. It is not difficult to get the conviction that in all the caste of humanity, the black man is being left behind on the rail of evolution. Black people are oppressed in the USA, Brazil, many countries in Europe — and in Africa where they have their roots and firm ground, where they are supposedly in charge, nothing of great repute has been built there as a way of succor to blacks all over the world. Many people do not want to talk about this, but it is one of the reasons racism is still rampant.
Africa Has Brilliant People
It is not that the African is not intelligent or that he is not capable of innovation. The problem is that the African people have not yet mastered the art of sailing the ship of their destiny masterfully. They have also not realized that the true measure of a people’s greatness is in building indigenous institutions and that collective success far trumps individual success.
Africans have their fair share of brilliant people. Nigeria, for example, has people graduating with the best results in the best universities all over the world. Apart from the exaggerated reports of crimes by Nigerians, which has earned even innocent people suspicion, there is a lot of news about the wonderful things Nigerians have done and continue to do overseas.
Some time ago, the American conservative commentator and political activist, Candace Owens tweeted about Nigerians being the most successful ethnic group in America. Here are the statistics which backed up her claim:
Stats from Rice University in Texas show that Nigerian-Americans are the most educated ethnic group in the United States. According to the Migrations Policy Institute, 29% of Nigerian-Americans have post-graduate degrees (M.Sc, Ph.D.). This almost triples the 11% of the general American population who do. At least, about 4% of Nigerian-Americans are also Ph.D. holders. This figure is said to be about three times the percentage of the American population with doctorate degrees. Nigerian-Americans are also known for their contributions to medicine, science, technology, and literature.
According to the 2017 immigration report, 11,710 Nigerian immigrants studied in the U.S. in the 2016–17 academic year, and about 4,239 of these (36%) are pursuing graduate degrees.
Young Nigerians Are Doing Wonders All Over The World, But What About At Home?
All the time on the Nigerian social media space, one person or the other is being celebrated for an academic milestone, achieved in the US, Australia, the UK and every other country in the world where the best education is offered. But back in Nigeria, these young people go to shabby universities where they are very likely to be preyed on sexually by their lecturers, amidst very difficult environmental conditions, and they emerge from school without any idea of what to do next.
I have written elsewhere that being young in Nigeria is mostly like purgatory — you realize after graduating from school, that there is in fact, long years of another phase of brutal struggle and relearning.
These same Nigerians who struggle to excel in school in the country go to school abroad, come out in flying colours, and go ahead to have rewarding careers in their respective fields of study. The individual talents of the black man is not in doubt. The question is how has his enormous pool of talent as is evidenced in a place like Nigeria been used to build great indigenous institutions from where precursors to growth will be sprung? In fact, it would not be inaccurate to say that Nigerians are doing wonderful things all over the world except Nigeria. It is not wrong that we attain great heights on an international level, but where is the place for indigenous talents in Nigeria. The environment which Nigeria currently harbors is one that suffocates and hinders the flourishing of young talents. Every day, young and talented people grow increasingly frustrated. The ones who are fortunate enough to save up, leave, and find elsewhere a suitable environment to project their talents
Yes, it is a global world, and there is a place for excellence in other climes. But the most spectacular success is one which is attained in the place of one’s origin. Such success is one that can genuinely be claimed by a person and his roots. And when a people have provided a good enough environment to harness their indigenous talents, real communal growth can be said to have been attained, because those same talents will contribute to indigenous collective growth. When I see African immigrants who have achieved great heights in the UK, US and other countries which provide these favourable environments for them, two emotions come over me: first, thankfulness on their part, that they were lucky enough to move to a place where the light has been shone on their gifts; second, a sense of loss, because there are many precious talents like theirs languishing back home for the lack of opportunities and a pleasant environment.
Africa has not gotten it right, not because she lacks what it takes to get it right, but because we have not realized among many other things that great people are those who make the best use of what they have. A fertile land is one which enables the germination of the seeds buried in it. Africa will begin to get it right when we insist on creating countries where our people can succeed right in their indigenous lands, where we will no longer need the patronage of the west to employ the best of our brains.
Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera is a writer, journalist, and teacher. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
References
1. https://www.chron.com/news/article/Data-show-Nigerians-the-most-educated-in-the-U-S-1600808.php
2. ^ [www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/RAD-Nigeria.pdf “The Nigerian Diaspora in the United States”] Check |url= value (help) (PDF). Migration Policy Institute. June 2015. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
