The following article is derived from an open letter that I wrote to Prof Randall Robinson the renowned Afro-American teacher, activist and writer two years ago. I had known about him from his two "controversial" works THE DEBT - That America Owes Blacks, and QUITTING AMERICA, the later chronicling the odyssey, both mental and physical, culminating in his emigrating from his own country the US to the Caribbean island nation of St Kitts & Nevis. Prof Robinson has been quite busy as his literary output shows. Because of his unrelenting push on the matter of reparations, I had reminded him of the work of the late Chief M K O Abiola and also mildly cajoled him to join forces with the Nigerian intelligentsia in that effort.
That was almost two years ago in December 2013. Much as I had widely distributed my commentary, it was never published in the Nigerian press. I am therefore resurrecting the ideas in the firm belief that they are as relevant as ever.
Since reading THE DEBT, I had continued to look up to Prof Randall Robinson for incisive analysis of the black situation in the US and beyond. And I told him so. In addition, my reading of QUITTING AMERICA among other things helped formulate my own views about the punitive and absolutely unprofitable US foreign policy stance towards Cuba. History shows that Black Africa has not fared any better despite nice diplomatic noises to the contrary, as illustrated by events in the Congo/Zaire, Rwanda, Angola, Namibia and apartheid South Africa etc. On Cuba, we have apparently both been vindicated by the bold steps quietly pursued by the Obama administration and which have come to light in the last couple of months culminating in the reestablishing of diplomatic relationships.
THE DEBT THAT NIGERIA OWES BLACKS.
My thesis remains the following. While a new generation of activists led by Ta-Nehisi Coates are fighting for and waiting for the white man in America, to acknowledge and perhaps pay up his DEBT, others including this writer have pointed out that Black Africa (often meaning Nigeria) owes Africa, especially Africa in diaspora, a resounding success today at home, now. Success in getting our act together, against all odds, will be very good, nay uplifting, for black pride and psyche. And confidence too.
All the stories about Mansa Musa, Ashanti, Meroe, Timbuktu, Zimbabwe, Askia are validly in the past. We need new authentic Africa heroes and success stories for today.
Writers like W E DuBois, DeGraft-Johnson, Walter Rodney, Howard French and lately Tom Burgis (author of The Looting Machine), have rightly chronicled how Africa always ended up with the short end of the stick. The huge burden of underdevelopment with which Africa has been and continues to be shackled by deliberate policies and sheer brigandsge by the European world of which the US is an integral part is a fact of life. Unfortunately here in Nigeria the revelations by bleeding heart colonial-era civil servants like Harold Smith are dismissed and treated as non events. Can we ever learn?
In his writings, Prof Robinson briefly mentioned Dr Dudley, a long time Jamaican ambassador to Nigeria and doyen of the diplomatic corps. As a regular contributor to the Nigerian press in the 80's, Dudley's constant lament was the DEBT that Nigeria owed and still owes blacks.
Dr Dudley wrote long before the black US ambassador, Walter Carrington, in the 90's, took up what was obviously a very personal mandate, namely to shake Nigerians, especially the elite, out the lethargy of underdevelopment and poor governance in which they are complicit. Both men had stridenty maintained that unless Nigeria succeeds, and is seen to succeed, the rest of Africa and Africa in diaspora can hardly imagine pulling themselves up by the bootstrap as may be necessary.
In short, Nigeria owes its very success almost as a religious duty to the rest of the continent. Our black brothers in America can currently claim as alibi, "You guys were never enslaved, or dispossessed, or had your family structure blatantly destroyed, or had to face Jim Crow laws. You have been free. If you can't make progress, how does the world expect so much of us?"
As a graduate student almost forty years ago, I used to be quite dismissive towards the low achievement of the average black male in the US since I met almost none in my academic environment. Not anymore. I do not accept what I currently see, but I am a lot more understanding. So we owe them too. That was exactly what I tried to explain to Prof Robinson. I wanted him to keep up the demand on Nigerian by engaging them.
Without bothering to elaborate on the regular contribution to this discussion by our own Profs Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe, I want to draw our attention to a not so recent lecture by Prof Bolaji Akinyemi, a one time Foreign Minister of Nigeria. He dealt once again with the DEBT that Nigeria owes blacks: NIGERIA- The Blackman's Burden. I commend the learned professor's lecture once again to my dear countrymen and women.
As the whole world was falling over one other to align with the values attributed to Nelson Mandela, it is appropriate to remind ourselves again what The Madiba had to say about the DEBT that Nigeria owes blacks; what grieved him so much.
Dr DeGraft-Johnson and others like Basil Davidson (The Blackman's Burden) have had their say. Others like Prof Richard Joseph have more recently wept publicly for Nigeria. Nigerians must therefore continue from where these most eminent personalities stopped until victory is achieved.
When Nigeria cannot undertake simple operations like making petroleum products available for its population, in a world awash with oil, it says a lot about our discipline, commitment, and sheer resolve to engage in activities that are not only difficult but complex upon which our national survival and pride may depend. My disappointment would have been the same even if Nigeria produced no oil, like Mali. Black Africa and Africa in diaspora is watching Nigeria with bated breath.
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