It is time to think of what position the education in Afrika is placing Afrikans and Afrika among the people and Nations of the world. In the 20th century, Zik, Nkrumah etc schooled abroad and returned with one desire in their heart: to liberate Afrika.
But today, we have corruption, dictatorship, unemployment, ethnicism, colonial issues etc how many people trained in our schools have the capacity to solve these problems?
How is the school system in Afrika geared towards being aware of, and addressing these issues?
Infact what is education to Afrika:
The accumulation of theories?
Graduating top of the class?
Being good at speaking English and French?
Or being excellent memorizers?
If Afrika's education system is okay then why do we value those who are trained abroad than those trained in Afrika?
Why do we send our "best brains" to foreign nations rather than train them in Afrika?
Why is it that people leave Afrika for better education while foreigners never come into Afrika from overseas for better education?
Also, why is that education has not made us to know ourselves, whereas the slogan of Ancient Afrikan scholars was "know yourself"?
Why is it we still do not largely know the meaning of "Afrika", or "Afrikan";
The significance and advantages of being black?
Why is it that we Afrikans still largely do not know our history?
Why is it we still do not know that in the middle ages Afrikans were in Europe civilising that part of the world?
Why do we still believe in white supremacy?
Still don't know that Afrika is the cradle of civilization,
therefore believing that Afrikans have contributed nothing while we contributed all?
Why do we still need the colonial languages as lingua franca and still see no wrong in that?
Still accept whatever the Caucasians teach us or model for us without objections or simple reasoning?
Still need Chinese companies to do our construction work?
Still continue to export our raw materials and import finished goods made from our own raw materials?
Why do we so still so much disbelieve in ourselves and so believe others, still do no have the right mentality even after decades of schooling if our education is okay?
Why do we still have rulers who owe civil servants their salaries for months even years,
Presidents who use the military against their own people,
Politicians who loot all that belong to the Afrikan people
Yet the people go about celebrating them and voting for them ?
Why do we fight each other in the name of "tribalism" instead of rooting for Ethnic harmony
While we so much tolerate and worship our Oppressors when Frederick Douglass said that "education makes a person unfit to be a slave"?
And ultimately, why do we still not rally around the Afrikan Vision?
Whereas it is written in simple proverbial expressions that a people without a vision perish.
And why do we not know about the concept, necessity and power of Afrikan Unity?
That divided we are weak. But Unity can turn our weaknesses into great strength because even the weak become strong when they become United?
What is education to Afrika?
What is our definition of education?
Is it the same education that Afrika taught themselves and the world which caused global civilization that we are seeing today or is it really "the Western education" that we are told it is, that is made to make the west be ever on top and the rest below?
Is our education born out of wisdom of the heart or a just a continuation of the dangerous philosophy contained in Rudyard Kipling's "white man burden"?
Can we stand proud today and say that our education system is the best in the world?
Or can we be humble enough to admit it isn't, and be sagacious enough to make a positive change?
The decision is ours to make, and I assert that we must align our educational content to our Afrikan background and vision and therefore make the full use of it.
Eze Chimere Nwauzo
Leader of OAF
(One Afrika Family Organization)
Eze Afrika
