FEATURE ARTICLE

Onochie A. OnuorahFriday, August 26, 2005
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t the dawn of the twentieth century, the philosophy of natural science made a slow but steady revival that exuded very promising signs of the potential for expediency. Towards the later half of the century the wealth of knowledge generated thus far was substantial enough to cause the break down of a hand full of disciplines into multiple sub-disciplines and branches of systematic knowledge. Western civilization is credited today for propelling man kind into a new age of industry, technology and modernity which began five centuries ago with simple mechanical devices such as the wheel, the telescope, navigational tools e.t.c.


As a matter of fact, history professes that the then sophisticated level of science in western society was comparatively more advanced than virtually all other nations on earth at that time….but this is not to say however that science was nor is solely an European philosophy though. Historical monuments, artifact and numerous archeological excavations conducted at several sacred sites located in all continents bear testament to the fact that science as a natural philosophy predates western civilization all the way to a time at around five thousand b.c when most of what is today called Europe was occupied by barbarians as defined by our dictionaries while Africa entertained a number of highly civilized societies in each and every continent..

Moreover, it is some what surprising how the European renascence emerged; European society literally under-went a drastic and dramatic transformation from barbaric to sophisticated (technology wise), from paying obeisance and receiving counseling and tutorials from black Africans to colonizing and pillaging black Africa. That sudden and totally unexpected shift is definitely a subject of heated controversy among keen observers; some of whose conspiracy theory allege that such changes are actually the proceeds of a negotiated but thwarted deal concluded during secretive and classified alien contacts which is believed is still maintained to this very day.

Much credibility is given to the possible existence of these large eyed extra terrestrials (as witnesses describe them) originating from the zeta recticuli star system and commonly called the 'Greys', when the folk tales, believed to be as old as human existence on Earth, of a number of indigenous groups all bear living testimony to extra-terrestrial landings in their respective territories at relatively the same time frame. These groups include: the Hopis of south America, the Sumerians(the original inhabitants of Iraq whom are described as small statured and black), the Chinese who speak of Fuxi, Hindus and their symbolic mark of Vishnu, philistines speak of Dagon, Babylonians spoke of Oannes, the Dogon people of Mali talk of Nommo and the list goes on. The Dogon people credit their very spectacular and precise astronomical knowledge which contemporary astronomers are just beginning to unravel, phenomenon's such as the recent discovery of Sirius c; a small star orbiting Sirius A and B both of which revolve around each other, to these E.T's whom they call Nommo as mentioned above and although these groups have varied descriptions and names for these E.T's they all have three fundamental similarities: 'That the E.T's were amphibious, they were great teachers and creators and that There shall be a return.

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The conspiracy theorists believe that E.T's are already here and are controlling global affairs behind the scenes with the aim of establishing a new world order wherein they shall dominate and it is suspected that current world powers traded in humans, whose biological fluids, organs and tissue are exploited by the E.T's for survival purposes, for technological know how and that about four subterranean bases several thousand feet underground located in Australia, new Mexico and some where in south America were constructed specifically for the E.T's to carry out their scientific experiments i.e. cloning.

They are said to be responsible for the numerous human abductions world wide executed in connivance with the governments of world powers. They are also liable for the rapid increase of Crop circles which investigative experts, upon analysis of the techniques used to create such intricate designs, have concluded that they are indeed alien. Theorists also claim that they control today's global politics hence global economy and that current political constructs were so orchestrated to keep humans confused and at each others throat so as to hasten depopulation and ease control behind the scenes. Again, as part of this grand overt deal and deception, it is believed that western governments are used as tools to implement this agenda. If this theory bears any amount of truth then we need to fear science more than religion.

Other conspiracy theorists allege that the large volumes of stolen archival ancient philosophical materials containing fundamental universal truths and the key principles of the natural sciences that were housed in the temple library of Waset was subsequently cultivated and used to manifest the inordinately insidious dreams of the Caucasian nation. Among the accomplice's in this invasion that occurred around 342 b.c were some notable Greek personalities such as Aristotle and it is suspected that the Hellenistic philosophies were actual Egyptian philosophical manuscripts that the Greeks falsified to be theirs hence the sudden surge and revival of Greek philosophy in that era. The invasion of Egypt by the Greeks and then subsequently by the Arabs, Romans and British all of whom left a trail of destruction and distortion of the black antiquities and what ever African heritage there may be is a historical fact and its also definitely true that not only western civilization but the world as we know it owes it very existence to black Africa and Africans. But that all Hellenistic philosophy and innovations came about through plagiarism remains inconclusive, although it is very plausible when we analyze recent history very carefully.

As of the fifteenth century when the Maafa or black holocaust (slave trade) was becoming big business in concurrency with the fall of the Songhai empire of west Africa, Europeans and Arabs went to great extents to maintain and warrant this trade, one major means they (Europeans in particular) went about doing this was to control information about world history particularly black history and the same tactics was used during the colonial era and even now in this neocolonial era. One obvious example of this manipulative technique can be seen in the tenacious and contemptuous attempts of western Egyptologists, the media, archeologists and anthropologists to discredit the fact that the greatest civilization ever known to man, ancient Egypt was modeled by and for black Africans. They have done this by preposterously claming that Egypt is not part of Africa and that ancient Egyptians were an indo-Caucasoid group called Phoenicians irrespective of the Afriod features of Egyptian wall paintings, sculptures, philosophies and antiquities most of which have been defaced like the sphinx's Afroiod nose which was shot of by the barbaric commander of the French army, napoleon, or made over - at some point between excavation and the subsequent display in their museums - to appear more Caucasoid.

Such Criminal and conspiring acts like these only give one the impression that Europeans are concealing some very important information about Black Africans which they consider a threat to their supposed imperial status.

Nonetheless, given that there are no substantively tangible evidence hence their status as theory, this writer neither accepts nor rejects completely these intriguing yet disturbing theoretical arguments but believes that either or both theories probably do have some under lying truth of which only time could grant certainty.

Furthermore, during the European renascence, as a reaction to the apparent gap in scientific innovations and modernity between their societies and other non-western societies, Europeans considered them selves superior to all other nations of people; thus, instead of attributing such differences to environmental conditions or to the circumstances in which these nations live; such as historical, cultural and sociological factors, it was considered a result of biological inefficiencies and as a result race became a social construct elicited, elaborated and propagated by sciences such as anthropology and evolution. Race as an ideology was sustained by religion in conjunction with a series of pseudo-scientific experiments conducted in the seventeenth through to the late first quarter of the twentieth century; sciences such as craniometry wherein the brain size of different groups where measured in other to determine the differential intellectual capacity between existing groups or "races".

Not surprisingly, the Caucasian race was said to have, on average, the largest brain size which was wrongfully assumed to directly correlate with intellect. Also at that time biologist Charles Darwin attempted to extrapolate from his theory of evolution which race(s) would be able to out compete all others to the point of extinction due to specific cultural adaptations that incurs and assures the survival of groups or "races" and quite expectedly he concludes in his book titled "the descent of man" that: "At some future period, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace the savage races through out the world". Darwin even went as far as to think that other non-western groups were a continuum of beast, citing as evidence the comparison he makes between the sound of their speech to those of dogs and chickens. Darwin's bigoted and racist philosophies of evolution that, in part, served as a moral justification for the black holocaust (inappropriately called the slave trade) is now euphemistically termed "social darwism". Time alone has discredited the teachings of social darwism given that the groups or "races" categorized as savage and destined for extinction are today proliferating while those categorized as civilized and culturally superior by possessing capabilities and technological devices that make them the fittest thereby guaranteeing their survival are having the serious issue of sterility confronting them.

Early European explorers, engulfed in bias and ethnocentrisms, sought to interpret and judge other groups based on their own standards, and in the final analyses of their classifications they refer to groups that up hold different norms and values as barbaric or savage. By their subjective standards they relayed absurd tales back to their country men, and notable personalities in academia and religious institutions such anthropologists and clergies respectfully would proceed to construct a racial hierarchy that places the Caucasian race at the top of human civilization and the "negro" (derived from the Greek word necro; meaning dead) at the bottom. It can be said that this established racial hierarchy became engraved in the psyche of individuals of European descent as it is evident today in their arrogance, their institutionalized racism and socio-economic relations towards other groups, particularly Africans.

Some may and do argue that the economy and political systems of all contemporary African societies appear to corroborate this racial hierarchical construct given that no black African nation on earth in recent history has proven capable of establishing and maintaining a stable and developed economic and political structures. Those making such arguments are obviously ignorant about African history and apparently regard western civilization as universal; the standard of which all other societies are measured. They also appear to focus on and consider only intellectual achievements that only border around scientific and technological innovations that are derived through empirical studies and the scientific method while ignoring all other important factors that allow cultural vibrancy and dynamism such as rhythm, of which all sentient beings resonate to, and spirituality, which keeps a people connected to the life forces that sustains all things.

Modernity and technology are not an integral part of a civilized society and, if any thing, can be destabilizing if not applied with caution. Being civilized has more to do with values, moral and cultural ethos; it is about living in honour of the land and with fellow citizens. Contrary to western perspective, primitiveness does not imply incivility and it is really difficult if not near impossible to analyze a foreign culture objectively because all cognitive observations we make of the world around us is guaranteed to be tainted by and filtered through our own believes and societal conditioning.

Nonetheless, it is possible to judge cultures based on universal truths which includes, among other things: the repudiation of incest , the destructiveness of over consumption, rapprochement of unrestrained violence, prohibition of same sex marriage e.t.c and when we commence comparison of western and indigenous cultures based on universal truths we find that western civilization is indeed not only a misnomer but an oxymoron because never in the recent recorded history of man kind has any one culture caused so much pervasive pain and suffering and this perverse legacy of theirs is theoretically and practically irreconcilable with the true definition of civility.

I must say, however, that slavery was not solely a western, Jewish or Arabic practice since almost all groups at some time in history were involved in this degrading act but we should also note that the scale, method, motives and level of brutality was way different than the westerners and Arabians approach. The most distinctive feature being the acknowledgement of the slaves humanity which was unlike the Jews, Arabs and Europeans who regarded their slaves as sub-human and for that reason they treated their slaves very inhumanely i.e. like commodities. The tenacious and aggressive movement of white supremacy as seen currently in the form of globalization has proven to be any thing but civil considering the fact that all basic principles that give the word civility its meaning has been violated to a certain degree. Western civilization is known to be domineering, over consuming, war mongering, arrogant, impatient…now how is it that modern humans now term these obvious aforementioned characteristics civilized? Even western civilizations claims of pioneering human rights, democracy and freedom are completely false (if not a joke) because one need only observe their historical exploits of and dubious foreign policies towards less defensive indigenous groups around the world and besides a number of nations, like the Igbo of Nigeria, had already established and fortified democratic rule way before the west conceived of it.

Unfortunately, it is obvious that white supremacy is growing stronger each day as world cultures become more homogeneous at an alarming rate, with so called third world countries busy clamoring for loans, aid and foreign investment in a effort to attain the levels of industrial and technological growth of their first world counterparts which is totally unrealistic since the productive capacity of mother earth cannot keep up with such demands. In candor, it is a sad sight to see black African nations join this pathetic chorus in support of globalization which in turn explicitly suggests that we either have sheepishly abandoned the dreams and struggles of our ancestors for true independence and autonomy or most of us have been brain washed to believe that the resistance and struggles of our ancestors were mere acts of ignorance induced by their primitive conditions.

At this point in history, it is imperative that we realize that we do not have to abandon our culture and ancient philosophies in other to be deemed progressive, that is, we black Africans have to collectively contrive a harmonious blend of our traditions with certain beneficial aspects of modernity that will not pose a treat to the preservation of our cultures. Let us not perceive our lag in scientific and technological innovations as a total set back because in many ways this seeming liability is actually a blessing in the sense that some technologies cause more harm than good, for example space exploration, genetically engineered foods, nuclear energy, radiation therapy, electronics, mechanized farming in synergy with the use of herbicides, pesticides and insecticides e.t.c It is our obligation to reject all kinds of technology that threaten our well-being and that of our posterities as well as the sustainability of our natural environment.

In Nigeria for instance, few people have the resources to purchase new vehicles that are more environmentally friendly than second hand cars which the majority can afford and as a direct result of this and poor waste management the air quality in a city like Lagos is filthier than that of Detroit; the world's largest producer of these machines. Perhaps another contributing factor could be the green house gases in the northern hemisphere that is carried downward to the southern hemisphere by strong winds. Which ever way, we have to be mindful of the aggression we have unleashed on the biosphere otherwise an apocalypse is not only a guarantee but it will be deserved.

It is of the opinion of this writer that freedom is good and very welcome but we should be careful not to let one mans freedom be another mans health problems. An economics calls this irresponsible use of power and freedom: "externalities". In a country like Canada, the public are not informed about which produce are genetically modified and all potential long term effects on the health of the citizens of Canada are dismissed by the economist as "externalities"….well, these externalities, if not paid attention to due to expediency, could cause the demise of that very economy they are trying to expand by any means. To put it in simple terms, economics determines history. Economics is the most important aspect of sociology; a culture cannot be complete without a firm economy and only through wise and democratic economic laws can lasting peace, through justice, be manifested.

The economies of the black nation has been hijack for centuries and it is unconscionable how the imf and world bank officials patronizingly lecture black African governments on liberalizing their economies, mean while our African leaders are busy parading western shores and sky lines for aid and foreign investment. Are they so mentally enslaved that they lack the capacity to see that African economies have always been the most liberal economy? In fact African economies have always been profusely liberal to a fault if you ask me. Which Caucasian nation on earth or any other place in this our galaxy has had an economy so liberal as to allow a black minority of less than five percent of it's demographic population to control over eighty percent of the productive out put of their ancestral land? The possibility of such a situation is hard enough to imagine, not even for a second let alone five hundred years and going but for some reason this is not only normal but generally palatable in many black African nations. Our extreme hospitality and infinite capacity to forgive is indeed a maladaptive trait. This trait has allowed the world to betray the African time and time again.

Need I name names? The African market has been wide open to every Eurocentric garbage for five centuries and going, what we now call colonies were nothing but direct foreign investments and for these policy officials of the new world order to have the arrogance and audacity to accuse Africans of entertaining an illiberal economy says a lot about what we black Africans are currently up against. Why haven't most of us realized that it is the west that has always depended on Africa for human and material resources and not the other way round? For instance, anyone that has been to the west knows that white folks love sugar and chocolate but guess what, most of their sugar and cocoa imports are from black nations and it is often produced through child labour. Being aware of this and the fact that black Africa has some of the largest reserves of oil, silicon, coltan, uranium, gold, diamond, copper, tin, titanium and even medicinal plants, all of which are the basic materials that western technology and industry is built on; be it silicon for making micro chips, coltan is the most important material used to make cell phones, uranium for making weapons of mass destruction, titanium for making steel and paint, medicinal plants for their multinational pharmaceutical companies, gold for their banks, diamonds to please their women and for drilling fossil fuel which powers their glutted economy that is a sink for approximately seventy percent of the global energy output; hence, with these facts in mind we should be able to realize that we have simply handed out our rights to leverage foreign trade policies and to properly manage and control our resources.

Do our black leaders know that if their ancestral land produces such vital resources it is then required of them to exercise some autonomy and independence in the way they managed these treasures? Why don't they have any vision or courage to develop and sustain their local economies through local investment and socialism as noble Julius Nyerere did? Why is it that for all these years, none of our African(black) leaders of any African(black) nation that is currently in debt could not simply refuse to be coerced into paying a thousand times the money they borrowed from imf, the world bank or any other party i.e. Paris club? And not only should they refused to pay but they should sue the imf, world bank and other consortiums involved for genocide because some of these nation accused of owing dubious debts actually budget more for debt servicing than they do for health care and education

Imagine this, in 1982 so called sub Saharan Africa, according to O.E.C.D, paid back $950 million (almost a billion), on average, every month for 120 months between 1982-1991 but still was 123 percent more in debt than they were at the beginning of that decade. A country like Nigeria budgets more money for dept servicing than for health care and to say the least, it is baffling to know that every Continental Nigerian pays about ten dollars per capita per day towards servicing their foreign debt. Today black African leaders are soliciting debt relief and foreign aid when by now they should be receiving reparations from western (Jews included) and Arabic nations that have taken excessively from the continent but gave literally nothing but war, famine, disease and pandemonium in return. Why isn't President Mugabe's dream a collective one that should be supported aggressively? Is it not time for us black Africans to boldly present our own sense of justice to a world that deals with us as if we are invisible hence insignificant? We are busy bickering over inconsequential issues like nationalism (which the west disparagingly calls tribalism) when our greatest problem is economics and although Africans are the most diverse group of people - talk about genetic variability - we are much more similar than we are different and our diversity should not be a liability for economic development rather it should be our strength.

Since an incomprehensive understanding of and a tepid attitude towards social science can be considered a maladaptive trait for any given group of people then it is definitely past due time for black Africans to come together with all hands on deck to seriously discuss and elaborate on this disciple with an Afrocentric perspective. Among other issues that should be addressed is: why is capitalism not working for Africans? If this very cogent question were directed to a contemporary scholar in economics he or she would probably prescribe a couple of economic theories about liberal system and how black African governments can promote and establish private-sector led, market oriented economic growth while emphasizing on transparency and accountability in economic decision making. While their generic solutions are modeled on historical western values hence it's efficacy in the west, it is by no means a logical solution to black African nations because for much of the Africans existence on earth, which is over hundred thousand years before all other groups, evolutionary mechanisms have selected communal living as the primary social behaviour of the black African, in other words capitalism is and has never been an African philosophy and thus the solutions to our economic predicaments cannot stem from the very source of these problems.

But most importantly however, the position of conventional economists on this issue is completely flawed because the economics being taught to our youth in the higher institutions is very disturbing to me quite sincerely I should say given that the dire subject of externalities is dealt with in a lukewarm fashion. The corpus of conventional economics deals with perpetual growth that is expected to improve the livelihood of the majority and the economy is treated as an isolated closed system that can dispense with input of matter and energy and therefore is capable of unlimited expansion. Thus, nature is regarded as a sub-sector of a totally isolated system which is the economy. The flow charts in our text books that describe how exchange value circulates from businesses to residences utterly neglects the very life force that can sustain such motion and that is: "NATURE!". Developing economies around the world aspire to attain western levels of production and glut when in reality such aspirations would require three earths because the earth, as it is, simply does not have the regenerative capacity to espouse that level of growth and consumption

At the dawn of the capitalist age, natural capital was abundant and the labour force marginal. But today the reverse is the case; an explosion of human resources in tandem with a rapidly diminishing natural capital. The environmental cost of unrestrained economic growth far out weighs the benefits and indeed one can ferret-out the following deduction: Capitalism and or globalization makes no kind of ecological sense since the capitalist regards the costs that does not affect his establishment directly, i.e. pollution, as externalities and is more focused on growth than on development and long term sustainability. Our hubris and uncontrolled thirst for more goods and services, most of which are unnecessary, have resulted in the extinction of other species of living organism (including humans) at a pace that exceeds the rate at which they are being discovered; species extinction is estimated at a rate of 50000 a year (ignoring the effects of pollution and introduced alien species). Albeit the global inclusiveness of this very dire situation being sustained by capitalism, this writer's primary concern is the future of black African nations.

For years black Africa has witnessed the intractable, rapaciously destructive capability of capitalism brought about and implemented by multinational cooperation's, the imf, world bank and to a large extent by the coerced adoption of these foreign philosophies by black Africans. It should be understood first and foremost that solutions to black Africa's economic instabilities must -and will- stem from black African values and philosophies and not from without. Thus this writer recommends that our leaders make all possible effort to understand fully the problems that encroach their respective polities and a good way to go about it is for them to be constantly surrounded by advisers each of whom are Afrocentric technocrats specialized in a particular field that pertains to history, economics, politics or philosophy because "a problem fully understood is a problem half solved".

Furthermore, African leaders (and people) whom are under the fallacy that a liberal economy coupled with substantial foreign investments would effectuate meaningful economic growth need serious counseling if not schooling. At this point we all need to keep our eyes and minds on our local economies, going trans-national and then subsequently international only when the necessary goods and services in question cannot, by all means, be produced from within our local market. It is no secret that all black African governments are being run externally and what is needed is absolute autonomy over our lands and everything contained therein. It is truly disquieting that white minorities in countries like Namibia, Tanzania, South Africa, control about 70 percent on average of virtually the most arable and fertile lands and for that reason control the economy, despite the fact that these lands were procured illegally. Also the fact that these minorities are relatively recent settlers in these regions where they demographically make up less than 5 percent of the population is sheer cause for embarrassment.

How do we black Africans begin to dialect on the subject pertaining to autonomy, liberation of self and economic development when our economies have been hijacked and derailed for centuries? Black nations do not need foreign aid, loans or structural adjustment programs, what we do need and should demand is absolute autonomy, reparations and an Afrocentric perspective. Now, most people hear the word reparations and assume that is just about financial restitution…well, financial restitution is part of the scheme but it hardly qualifies as an important component because there are things money just cannot compensate for. We expect our reparations to be delivered to all traditional African institutions that were affected by the black holocaust, colonization, foreign trade policies and foreign debt. Reparations will not be a one time monetary transfer from the west to the treasuries of black nations rather it will involve relevant trade laws and long term programs that should include, but not limited to: an acknowledgement of and apology for all the atrocities perpetrated; material and financial aid for the refurbishment of our academic and economic institutions; the return of all artifacts, monuments, sacred objects and artistic creations that were expropriated from the continent, the endorsement of black media wherein our innate beauty can be seen and voices heard, cancellation of foreign debt while simultaneously paying back the monies received from the outlandish interest charged, and off course returning land and property back to the black majority. Note also that it is not only the west that owes African nations reparations; Arab nations too will be held accountable for their role as middle men in the Atlantic slave trade and the black holocaust in North Africa which began in the seventh century a.d and still persists today in Mauritania and Sudan.

Let us now take a sorry look at Nigeria, a country that is a microcosm of Africa. This is a nation that is truly blessed with both human and material resources and it is luckily the biggest blackest nation. It is truly a miracle that Nigeria remains a nation comprised of 250 ethnic groups with different languages, diverse credos and three or more groups that are a majority all of whom are governed under a central government. This nation, as a European construct, was borne out of expediency and hence destined for disintegration sooner than later. Already many groups are demanding autonomy, if not secession, which is not only reasonable but natural since the central government which is comprised of and supported by the no good elites is only interested in looting the treasury, money laundering and extracting resources where available without showing an ounce of respect or regard for the custodians of the resources in question which is reminiscent of colonial rule the only difference being that the perpetrators are black.

This paradigm of profanity and dishonour that perpetuates from post colonial era without respite has resulted in numerous casualties both in human and environmental terms. In environmental terms, Nigeria's once lustrous rain forest has currently shrunk to 10 percent of its initial size and while the repercussions - which include, but not limited to: erosion, gullies, poor air quality, land slides, floods and loss of myriad species and hence biodiversity are considered "externalities" by economists, these ecological disasters have adversely affected the well-being of not only the indigenes but the nation in more ways that can be comprehended. It finally dawned on this writer why the ancestors of the Igbo nation in Nigeria, through folktale, maintained reference to the rainforest as "Ajo ofia" meaning "evil forest", they instituted this noble lie in an effort to keep the rain forest and all life forms within it sacred hence revered. It was kind of a novel and effective means of conserving a national treasure which proved successful for centuries until the intrusion of the white man and his bigoted philosophies.

Nigeria's oil reserves are estimated to be 25 billion barrels and natural gas reserves are well over 100 trillion cubic ft. In mid 2001 its crude oil production was averaging around 2.2 million barrels per day. Oil and gas exports account for 83 percent of the federal government revenue. The size of these oil reserves might seem large but note that it is also estimated that most oil fields on earth would run out by the year 2030 and the longer it takes for Nigerians and other black African oil producing nations to properly manage their oil reserves and associated revenue while curbing ecological damage, the more destitute we should expect our posterities to be.

By blindly stashing billions of oil money in foreign accounts, by allowing foreign and government owned oil companies to pollute without cleaning up, by recklessly endangering our rain forests and by neglecting the agricultural sector for years, the Nigerian elite have unconsciously mapped out the death of their nation; same goes for other black African oil producing countries. Soon enough, Nigeria's over dependence on oil will come to a halt when there is no more fossil fuel for her oil pumps to draw and this scenario is expected to be synchronistic with a global oil shut down. Those nations that have invested wisely on alternative energy sources will begin exploiting that avenue and if by then black African nations have not come up with an alternative energy source or have failed to maintain their oil reserves and agricultural sector in a sustainable way then we are in for some serious problems.

Non- western groups are currently fighting a cultural war-fare with the west and obviously black nations are losing battle after battle as we fail to consolidate our traditions, language, credo, clothes, music and every other distinctive facet of black culture in its entirety. On an individual basis, black people have attained success and prestigious positions around the world but the fact remains that we have been unable to establish an exemplary civilization due to certain cultural pathologies that were acquired during the period of the black holocaust and through to this neocolonial era. These cultural pathologies (in addition to those mentioned earlier) this writer speaks of are also responsible for our ignorance of the truth that speaks of strength in diversity. This ignorance has caused us a disservice in governmental abilities. A number of us have lost confidence in themselves and their nation as can be seen in the level of desperation of continental Africans to gain passage to so called first world countries with the hope of making hard currency by any means possible and that is why, for example, a certified doctor from Nigeria can be found driving a taxi in the first world countries.

This can be likened to self imposed slavery. Black African nations are also loosing a substantial amount of intellectual capital that is needed in the local communities. Over a third of our graduates end up in western societies wherein they languish their skills and expertise and when you did think they have made enough money to compel their return to the continent they are already resolute on their decision to settle permanently in a foreign land. The problems confronting the black nation is much more than bad government, it borders more on our mental conditioning and those of us who are under the fallacy that only a good government can change the situation have to wake up to the fact that it is our collective personal decisions that will ignite a wave of change that is guaranteed to last.

Our Afrocentric philosophies summons for a simple way of life and to be our brother's keeper. Times have changed and we most definitely change with the times in a cautious manner by not being quick to integrate and discard our traditions in the name of globalization. Can we for once be truly black and proud of our selves, cultures and achievements and show it by endorsing our local market, teaching our children their native tongue and history, wearing our own clothing anywhere and everywhere like the white folks do and putting away and sanctioning all fancy, unnecessary stuff from foreign lands. Unnecessary items like cell phones, pagers, foreign food and clothing, jewelries, various industrial chemicals e.t.c that asphyxiates the potential inherent in our local economy should be left alone and other fairly necessary but environmentally unfriendly items like vehicles should be restricted to one per family; notwithstanding the sheer size of the family and it must be in good condition.

Is it logical for a family of three to own ten vehicles? And should we be quick to copy foreign trends when ours is not even recognized let alone adopted? We can no longer afford the pursuit of a dream that is not ours needless to say that our acceptance of western and Arabic religion have spiritual implication which include the transfer of the sovereignty of our ancestral spirits - who preside over the affairs of the land - to western and Arabic gods. We have largely failed to maintain communion with our ancestors and as a direct result we have lost all abilities to govern ourselves and our lands have become more barren. We the children of the pharaohs need to invest in the development of our land through agricultural science and forest conservation while engaging in simple local industry that make local products like homeopathic medicine.

Our current political structures can be reformulated to allow sovereignty to every ethnic group since we are nationalist or tribalist as some choose to call it and a country like Nigeria can be reduced to a confederacy where representatives from the 250 ethnic groups can assist each other in business and social terms and every member of this league of nations should have equal right to veto. This confederacy should then extend to every other black African nation on Earth; forming one big web of economically interconnected league of Black nations.

Might does not mean right; thus, being a majority does not mean you have the right to rule totalitarian style for decades with nothing to show for it. The funny thing is that our politicians do not know that they do not really have much power as they have fooled the public to believe. For example, what if all ethnic groups in Nigeria just voluntarily disintegrate and return to their respective native lands without having to wait for the politicians to conclude their conferencing? From an Afrocentric perspective I think the people are the government and if the people are really ready for change and want that change now then I do not see why not. This writer does not day dream of a day when Africa will attain western standards because it is not going to happen, such a dream is not ours and therefore cannot be manifested. Nations like Angola, Congo and Nigeria can alleviate their over dependence on oil by concentrating more on agriculture. Unemployment rates have sky rocketed in most black nations but things could easily be different if only the respective governments begin to expand its agricultural sector and in the process create more jobs for the jobless youth who are capable of farming the land with little mechanical support and this way our societies will not only be healthier in every sense but very productive organically and sooner or later other nations, being feed up of the short comings of genetically engineered food, would want a piece. Besides, a lot of joy can be found in farming.

Not forgetting our health sector which needs an undivided attention, it is recommended that African governments fund research on real herbal products that have been proven to work. This form of treatment is commonly called homeopathic therapy and our ancestors used herbal medicine which is historically acknowledged to be effective, for this reason one can only wonder why western synthetic drugs are preferred over these traditional healing methods. Black African technocrats in the diaspora specializing in meaningful sciences like agriculture, biochemistry, environmental study, forest conservation, botany, organic chemistry, physiology, microbiology and biology, can aid in the research for herbal plants and the development of our biosphere. This writer understands the valid reasons why most black African technocrats chose not to return to the continent; concerns like: low wages and poor security, however running away from responsibility cannot be condoned because it is in itself injustice and hence a bad example for the children.

This century is a critical point in the history of man kind. It is this century that the fate of the human race shall be unfolded and there are only two possibilities: extinction (brought about by natural disasters or nuclear fall out) or a great and disastrous economic war at the end of which democratic, just and social economic laws will be established and instituted globally, these quintessential economic laws will be the foundation of lasting global peace that shall be ushered in. Most former colonies have gained political independence but remain enslaved economically, so it is only logical to deduce that the next liberation movement will be economic based and global. This latter event has been predicted by all religious texts and indigenous believes.

These and much more are the great challenges that confront the black nation. It is a challenge to establish original political and economic structures that are civil, social and traditional but the fact that black Africans are still around today suggests that we can meet these challenges and also that we will be here for ever!