A SPEECH AT THE OCCASION OF THE UNVEILING OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF "MKPESEISM" AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA. 23, MAY, 2017.

Introduction
On the celebration of my 30th birthday today, I wish to offer Africa/Africans a new indigenous philosophical ideology – which is an attempt to re-construct, re-articulate and re-affirm the distorted image of African Humanism. Though, African nationalist thinkers before us (me) had made an attempt to present to the world, African great historical past and they had championed a course to reclaiming it through their different philosophies. Their fight aided the de-colonialization of Africa by Africans, in the early 1960s.

A Distorted Africa
History has demonstrated what brought about the subjugation of Africa by the Occidental world as the philosophical discussions of the concept of ‘race’ by four of the most prominent modern occidental philosophers: Hume, Kant, Hegel and Jasper – each of whom, perhaps unwittingly, established a rationale for conquest and the subjugation of people of the black race till date. They portrayed the black race as being inferior and even sub-human, incapable of reasoning. This negative presentation of Africans, denied Africans any meaningful claim to socio-cultural, religious, political and intellectual development before the eve of colonialism. Thus, the advent of the successive historical trends of colonialism, apartheid and neo-colonialism, have been seen as factors eroding and distorting the primordial and authentic African identity/humanism.

Sequel to the above realities, it became clear to many African leaders after World War II that sustaining Western colonialism was seriously undermining, if not destroying the African socio-cultural infrastructure based on traditional humanistic values. It was thought by nationalist thinkers that capitalism was incompatible with African culture and that the colonial heritage was equated with capitalism. It was this nationalist agitation in search of their identity or independence which has been lost through the instrumentality of colonization that gave birth to nationalism. For most of these African nationalist leaders, the struggle meant a search for an all-together different type of a social system with its roots in the African soil.

Currently, the existential reality of globalization has added a greater challenge to the question of African identity. This reality has affected African history, culture, values etc in so many ways, and has made us to have a dual nature, such that Africans have black skin but dwell with a foreign mentality. This could be seen as a crime to nature and as an inhumane treatment by man to man. This reality has shattered the basic tenets of African mentality; and has made African children to perceive everything in Africa as uncivilized. Civilization for us means being like the West in approach to life. Thus, it is in an effort to attain civilization after the Western models that we tend to imbibe the Western culture at the expense of our civilization. At different epoch, attempt have been made to redirect us to embrace our civilization and to develop it to suit our present world but since the coming of globalization, we have instead aggravated it the more by identifying with the Occidental world. Hence, Africans are culturally, economically, religiously, and politically alienated. It is this claim that formed the thrust of this essay with a view to developing a philosophical ideology that will make Africa to resist any foreign influences and as well serve as a tool for development within Africa.

The Way Out
The truism is that our present society is different from the one nationalist thinkers lived in and fought for. First, it is different in the sense that hitherto African society was endowed with the feelings of African humanistic spirit as against the stark opposite of what we have today. Secondly, the nationalist struggle against Occidental imperialism was a fight from without even though the imperialists lived here with us (colonialism); while ours now is a fight from within (neo-colonialism and globalization). This is so because the imperialists now live far away from our shores, yet they draw out economic policies which do not have the imprint of African humanistic paradigms. The fact is, they succeed in implementing anti African economic policy by systematically manipulating our polity to install leaders who would later police their economic plans. This shows why our fight now is from ‘within’ and it could be more dangerous because it is a fight against fellow ‘brotherman’.

The Occidental economic model has been formalized for centuries in their societies. An examination of its development will show, however, that it has always being in stark opposite to those values embedded in the African socio-economic model. That is to say, Occidental economic policies on Africa are intended to relegate African humanistic spirit to the background. This statement of fact is not a mere say as its purpose is to induce inequality and individualistic feelings in the society; perhaps our today’s African society is faced with high rate of poverty and corruption as against the hitherto egalitarian African society where everyone had a fair share as there was no room for unhealthy competition and capitalism (unhealthy competition and capitalism bred corruption). The existential reality of these ills is as a result of the present socio-economic model on African soil – which is foreign to our indigenous socio-political values and there is no way out from this mess if we do not collectively reject it in totality.

Though, this conclusion may experience retardation/rejection by many Africans (basically those who have benefited from the present stagnated state of the continent) because of their continuous romance with Eurocentric ideologies. The truth is that the present socio-cultural changes in Africa are not as a result of development and modernization of our present world but what we should know is that there is always an idea of development and modernization in every epoch – which does not really affect the socio-cultural tenet of such given society so involved but they only build on them to enhance or maximize their development and achievement. But in our own epoch, it is a calculated and a deliberate attempt to change our values and to replace it using: globalization. I personally see globalization as a process by which one standard is set as a model for others to follow. It also involves the desire of developed countries to control other developing countries through the global economic system and also through cultural means such as; media, language, education and technology. It’s a wonderful idea but at the expense of Africa because our most cherished standards have been eroded or distorted. So what do we have to offer? And who sets the standards since we do not have something to offer?

Mostly, our leaders are the ones carrying out and implementing this biased and not-all inclusive ideology. The evidence of this accusation was seen in Nigeria in 1986 when the “Structural Adjustment Programme” (SAP) was introduced by the Nigerian Government on the recommendation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The programme was aimed at fixing things up and bringing them back to normal. After the implementation of the programme, the present Nigeria has been struggling to robust her economy back. This was a clear sign of neo-colonialism carried out by one of us but encouraged by those living thousands of miles away from us. This is just one example out of the many done elsewhere in Africa. It then affirms what I said before: that our fight now is from within and it could be more dangerous because it is a fight against fellow ‘brotherman’. Similarly, Islam and Christianity, (mostly, new generation churches), the kind of school curricula we articulate, the younger generation and African-eurocentric adherents, still project the Occidental pattern of life as a model to be followed in Africa. Thus, the essence of this essay – which should be seen as a deliberate attempt to effect a revolution in the society, but it must be a non-violent revolution.

It is now imperative, however, that if we must make a great deal of progress towards the realization of Africa’s developmental agenda dubbed: Agenda 2063: The Africa we Want, we must accept the reality of our present situation, and then work to changing it into something more in accordance with our socio-cultural realities. Africa needs to enter the global market, hence: Agenda 2063. Africa’s entry into the global market must not be based on the Oriental or Occidental world views, but in its own world views, by following its own cultural heritage.

Africa is a rich continent, yet her riches are controlled and shared by very few people who do not possess African humanistic instincts and most of them are heading the commissions for the actualization of agenda 2063. An African humanistic instinct is a spirit of community and brotherhood. What they possess is an instinct far from being humanistic because they have been de-Africanized. What we should to do is to stop these men at all cost the same way our nationalist leaders stopped and rejected colonialism because they are against our collective progress and development. It is the rejection through this new ideology that would show that we are ready to chart a new cause for the next generation.

Rejecting these anti African elements among us means that we have to also reconstruct or rearticulate our eroded values in a new system – which shall have at the centre an African man. The realization of this could only be found in authentic articulation of African humanism. This new model will not just be an intellectual interaction among scholars but it must be praxis in itself – that will not only encourage or foster social integration among Africans but it will also secure our common good – which is to create an authentic African society embedded with African humanistic principles. The success of this new philosophy would be as a result of our sense of commitment towards it. Does it occur to us why in the face of technological renovations, globalization, scientific progression, climate change, modernization of culture, etc in the world, USA, China, Japan, India, Britain, Arab countries, Israel, Russia, France and the rest still retains their socio-cultural values? They value it because all their institutions are founded on it.

It is, however, not only in relation to creating an African humanistic state that the new philosophy has a task to achieve. It must also encourage Africans to realize that they are not in any way inferior to a ‘Whiteman’. We have to reaffirm our beings by living out an African life to the fullest. It would be a gross misunderstanding for one to suggest that the new ideology should be designed to produce certain kinds of individuals who shall carry the banners of this ideology, no! It is designed to encourage us to join hands in building and inculcating African humanistic values for the society ahead of us.

Education, would help us transmit its knowledge and values from one generation to the next, since education, whether it is formal or informal, has a purpose – which is to transmit from one generation to the next the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of the society, and to prepare the young people for the service of their society. This is true, for all societies. Yet educational policies in different part of the world have been, and are, very different in organization and in content. They are different because the societies providing the education are different but the purpose is the same – to prepare young people to live in and to serve the society, and to transmit the knowledge, skills, and values and attitudes of the society to the next. The importance of education in actualizing this philosophy cannot be over emphasized. Hence, education shall facilitate the implementation of this new philosophy in all facets of African societies but first shall begin in Akwa Ibom state of Nigeria when the time is right and by extension, pushed to the rest of the continent of Africa.

The Good News
A philosophy has arisen today to make itself and to root itself firmly in African indigenous values, with a spirit of haunting and resisting any form of socio-cultural and economic standards and models that does not have the imprint of African humanistic paradigms. A paradigm shift is inevitable as it is contained in ‘Mkpese’ philosophy. The word Mkpese is derived from an Annang aphorism which means: “asangasanga inwuek ye odudu” (vital strength and force). Mkpese is a vital strength that interacts with other forces, and in doing this; it has a natural aura to withstand the strength of other forces by remaining itself. Mkpese could also be translated to mean a man’s vital strength. This strength is not mystical but it is an inborn or acquired immunity which does not make man susceptible to external forces – that tends to negate the strength of the man. Thus, Mkpese is an unimaginable way of doing/achieving results to enhance or maximize oneself. It could either be a metaphysical or physical way of being insusceptible to external influences.

On the other hand, the suffix ‘ism’ added to Mkpese to become ‘Mkpeseism’ is a philosophy that is geared towards an authentic representation of African humanism by first being insusceptible to any forms of Occidental influences in Africa. As a philosophy, it calls on Africa to be fully a sovereign state by being self reliant. Hence, Mkpeseism rejects hegemonic standards and models and project African socio-cultural values for Africa. African humanism embodies a distinctive world view of African egalitarian community – which places emphasis on the phrase: I am because you are. This notion of humanism characterizes the specific mode of Mkpeseism as it is a nostalgic philosophy with a view of bringing into being, a humanism which necessarily would lead to development in Africa.

Africa must be developed and as well needs to enter the global market; but Africa must not be susceptible by either Occidental or Oriental world in doing this. It has to follow its own cultural models. Culture is a distinctive feature of any given society. By this, any nation that enters into the global market does that with its own cultural values. Africa cannot be an exemption. Mkpeseism is not just a beautifully constructed conceptual weapon, designed to proffer solutions to the African predicaments linguistically, it is potent enough to resolve the innumerable problems of Africa, practically by asserting and harnessing the strength of man’s intellect towards the development of our society. The blueprint on how we are going to reach its tenet and philosophy shall be unveiled soon.

Conclusion
If I can dream it, I can achieve it!

Martins U S Udom

#share it if you love me!