ROSSIKE:

The first thing required to return Africa to its former state of glory - which of course you're too brainwashed, misedsucated and ignorant to appreciate, is to TRAIN poeple like you in TRUE African history. Something you know ZERO about.

A brief synopsis:

logic101: Ross ike I admire your. Would you recommend some books for me to read

ROSSIKE:

With all pleasure logic101



The Destruction of Black Civilization

By Dr Chancellor Williams

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Destruction-Black-Civilization-Issues-4500BC/dp/0883780305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336656017&sr=8-1


The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality?

By Cheikh Anta Diop

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-African-Origin-Civilization-Reality/dp/1556520727/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b


The Mis-education of the Negro

By Carter G. Woodson

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Mis-education-Negro-Carter-Woodson/dp/0913543705/ref=pd_sim_b_3


(I would especially recommend the last book for people like alienyouth and nduchuks)

alienYOUTH:
To cut short d long tale; i believe there's something about our black skin that bleeds thru & corrupts our hearts and minds. We r naturally diabolical, myopic, selfish & take no responsibility for our actions, whilst our lighter skinned fellows r d exact opposite...or how else will u explain how they built d Titanic in 1912, whilst 100yrs later d whole african nation is yet to come up with a bicycle built from scratch.

When Isaac Newton sat under d proverbial apple tree contemplating all wat not & d fruit dropped on his head, that very day gravity was discovered. i hate to think of how many coconuts fell on my fellow African man's head without more result than a slight concussion & percieved curse from d gods.

shymmex: [/s]

The slave trade is non of my business - and I don't care about it... I'm talking about the control, Brussels, and Washington exerts over the policies in Africa... Yes, our leaders are utterly corrupt - but they're stooges...

Africa as far as I'm concerned is still under indirect colonization... The coup in Mali, and Guinea Bissau should be enough to prove people like you wrong... When the Malian coup took place - everything after the coup was under the supervision of France... Decisions were taken in Paris!

The same for Guinea Bissau - Portugal acted as the surrogate dad..

ROSSIKE: One more thing. Can people please stop this nonsense about Africa being ''so far behind the world'' etc etc?

Fact is Africa IS catching up. Rapidly. The Africa of 2012 is far more developed than the Africa of the 1950s under colonialism. In terms of everything you care to mention, we have moved forward. Infrastructure, education, health, nutrition. Even politics. How many military dictatorships now exist in Africa? Almost none. 20 years ago probably half of Africa was ruled by military tyrants. So there is growing political sophistication on the continent. The result? Better governance. Today, 6 of the world's ten fastest growing economies are in Africa. The continent has become a beehive of investment and economic activity in the last decade, which has seen its middle class jump to 300 million, or 1/3rd the African population, from under 50 million in the 1980s.

The future is bright.

The future is African.

Instead of dreaming up stup.id theories of negativity, GET WITH THE PROGRAM, and use your time and brains to think of ways to contribute to the African Renaissance, like your peers across the continent.

Dyamante: It is the divide and rule method employed by the Europeans that set us on the destruction path that we are in today.The fact that the colonialists considered certain tribes to be superior to others has contributed immensely to the current state of affairs. But they are not solely to be blamed for this because we Africans have condemned ourselves to this kind of mentality and unless we change we are doomed.

Master_1: I hope that d author of d post could read all I will write. There are quite a lot of problems all which must be tackled sufficiently! I am not talking abt Africa, I am regarding only Nigeria. Even so, I can only speak for d south west, of which I am a proud citizen.
1. Culture: I shall disagree with d poster dat referred to 'respect' as an obstacle. I believe respect is serving a really important function in d society. What I stand against is dat aspect of d culture dat solidly opposes all scientific innovations nd reinforces d believe in d unknown and supposedly dangerous spiritual realm. Any innovation must stand against strong disaproval because it will b considered blasphemous! Dis can also be seen in European cultures as there are frquent examples of their barbaric origins(e.g witch burning, sentencing of many gr8 philosophers nd scientists to unwaranted death). What must be noted here is dat d Europeans overcame their fear of the unknown nd truly invented 'science' nd made It their leader. Nigerians r stuck in d past, we cannot overcome our morbid fear of d 'unknown' nature_nd govern nd explore it!

2. Religion: this is a mere continuation of my argument on culture. We need to stop letting d church nd oda religious entities dictate our daily life activities and a significant aspect of the society. We need to make science d leader,only den can we make improvements technology wise nd only then can we build a truely gr8 nation.

3. D last is just 'luck'. We just avnt been lucky enough to av good leaders who will guide d people with our interests at heart. Some might want to argue dat there are some deeply religious countries that r considered successful by today's standards. They are able to govern themselves because in such states abt 95 per cent of d nation would abide by d religion! Nigeria is unmistably diverse. A state ruled by religion can compound issues nd create unwanted frictions, dis can be seen in d form of religious riots, boko haram amng odas. Before goin too far, I believe dat is anoda strng point against religion nd its harmful tentacles wc it has spread throughout d nation.


I hope it will be better on day, hopefully in my lifetime.

Arosa:

This is what I wrote two years ago, maybe it's relevant here as well.

gegee: other people get sense pass africans simple and short

MsDarkSkin: @ neuronin

Generally speaking, Africans have always been well traveled. Keep in mind our ancestors for the most part were nomadic.
Africans were very much part of the Greek, Roman, Persian, Mesopotamian, Assyrian; etc empires despite that fact being voided out of textbooks (an effort to hide our contributions to western civilization and the world at large). Not to mention our ancestors built magnificent empires and kingdoms of their own. But the issue is black people are too trusting of others but hateful to one another!

While other people may have tribal or national conflicts, when it comes to outsiders they will form alliances within their race to aid each other in fending off foreign attack (although S. Korea is an exception to that rule!). This is notable when the Celtic and Gaul peoples (western European in origin) and Greeks, all former enemies BTW, banded together against the ancient tribes of the middle east (Phoenicians) who sought to invade and control many parts Europe. Yes many of these groups incorporated African and foreign men into their armies but those men had to abide by the laws of that society. There were boundaries when it came to foreigners.

Africans will invite foreigners to help annihilate other Africans just to be victorious. In the Congo for example, when the government hired white South African mercenaries to help fight Congolese rebels, they not only paid them but gave these men the right to do as they please within Congolese borders. This included terrorizing, extorting and abusing their power on the people they claimed to be helping. That is what makes us different. That is what makes us weak. We are a docile people to others but very hard on each other....since the beginning of time.

Even those of us in the west who are descendants of slaves took that same mentality with us. This "extreme" tribalistic and "better them than us" mentality. During the 70s and early 80s, Jamaicans killed each other based on political influence just so that their white or biracial candidates could get into office and fulfill their promises of "Americanizing the nation". Lives lost for what? Better cars, clothes, and means to brag. ('Greedy chief' syndrome) Smh. Don't get me started on African American issues.

Readers pls. don't get me wrong, I am not "putting Africans/black people down". I am just saying at what point do we realize that our M.O. is failing us and accept that WE ARE THE PROBLEM?

Master_1: I hope that d author of d post could read all I will write. There are quite a lot of problems all which must be tackled sufficiently! I am not talking abt Africa, I am regarding only Nigeria. Even so, I can only speak for d south west, of which I am a proud citizen.
1. Culture: I shall disagree with d poster dat referred to 'respect' as an obstacle. I believe respect is serving a really important function in d society. What I stand against is dat aspect of d culture dat solidly opposes all scientific innovations nd reinforces d believe in d unknown and supposedly dangerous spiritual realm. Any innovation must stand against strong disaproval because it will b considered blasphemous! Dis can also be seen in European cultures as there are frquent examples of their barbaric origins(e.g witch burning, sentencing of many gr8 philosophers nd scientists to unwaranted death). What must be noted here is dat d Europeans overcame their fear of the unknown nd truly invented 'science' nd made It their leader. Nigerians r stuck in d past, we cannot overcome our morbid fear of d 'unknown' nature_nd govern nd explore it!

2. Religion: this is a mere continuation of my argument on culture. We need to stop letting d church nd oda religious entities dictate our daily life activities and a significant aspect of the society. We need to make science d leader,only den can we make improvements technology wise nd only then can we build a truely gr8 nation.

3. D last is just 'luck'. We just avnt been lucky enough to av good leaders who will guide d people with our interests at heart. Some might want to argue dat there are some deeply religious countries that r considered successful by today's standards. They are able to govern themselves because in such states abt 95 per cent of d nation would abide by d religion! Nigeria is unmistably diverse. A state ruled by religion can compound issues nd create unwanted frictions, dis can be seen in d form of religious riots, boko haram amng odas. Before goin too far, I believe dat is anoda strng point against religion nd its harmful tentacles wc it has spread throughout d nation.


I hope it will be better on day, hopefully in my lifetime.

porka:

Sir, what about Somalia?

[center]“HOW AFRICANS UNDER DEVELOP AFRICA ”[/center]
CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.



Recalling our undergraduate days in the University of Jos , many of us in the department of Economics like others in Sociology, History, Political Science, Law etc were captivated by Walter Rodney’s book “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”. The title was as inviting to those with Marxist philosophy/leanings as much as the content of the book. Dr. Rodney’s book is a clarion call for us to regret colonialism and chat down neo-colonialism. Of course the West has exploited and still exploits Africa ; her land, resources and people, but have they always done this alone? Has the West whether as explorers or colonialists, as investors or neo-colonialists, as Aid providers or Creditors succeeded in exploiting Africa without the active collaboration of Africans?



Without confining Walter Rodney’s book or title of his book to the recess of history, rather in trying to juxtapose his work on the reality that has revealed itself over time we must seek to elucidate “How Africans under develop Africa”. It is inundating and heart breaking to x-ray why Africa is underdeveloped and how Africans are still under developing Africa .



[b]In pre-colonial Africa , it was Africans who raided villages and towns especially on the west coast, captured fellow Africans and sold them as slaves to the white slave drivers. Lagos thrived on this and king Kosoko was very comfortable with slave trade in his domain. No sooner had Spain pulled out of Western Sahara in 1976 than Morocco invaded and annexed the territory. In spite of all the international outcry and pressure, atrocities are still committed against the people of Western Sahara .



[b]The capitalists assisted Mobuto Sese Seko to kill Patrice Lumumba in Congo renamed Zaire and now DR Congo. His remains was burnt to ashes, put in a plane and scattered over the country to prevent even his ghost from resurrecting. Mobuto went on to become one of the worst despots of all times and was richer than his country until the rebel forces of Laurent Kabila pushed him out in May 1997. Today after nearly two decades of wars and conflicts, DR Congo is among the most dangerous countries in the word. Despites having the largest contingent of UN Peace keepers in the world; it has been dubbed the rape capital of the world because of the mass velocity of rapes especially in its eastern region by both government and rebel forces.



When Idi Amin Dada took over power in Uganda in 1971 he taught the world a hybrid of what illiteracy, cruelty and power drunkenness can do. He did not spare any one be it his wife, Central Bank Governor, Archbishop or judges. Before he was ousted by Tanzania forces in 1979 he had turned Uganda ’s currency into toilet money and littered the streets of Uganda with blood of 300,000 Ugandans and Asians. Yoweri Museveni came to office in 1986 as a soldier and shouted to the world that the problem of Africa were despotic leaders. He just won another presidential term to rule Uganda despite opposition’s claims of rigging the elections. Joseph Koni’s the lord resistance Army rebel forces have been fighting a war in northern Uganda with atrocities like rape and limb cutting spreading into South Sudan, Central African Republic .



Robert Gabriel Mugabe became the white man’s nemesis in the then Southern Rhodesia after he successfully fought both the British colonialists and Ian Smith who had declared unilateral independence from Britain . A charismatic leader took Zimbabwe to independence in 1980 and it became one of the best economies in Africa . Today Mugabe is gunning for another term in 2012, and has helped the West to wreck Zimbabwe ’s economy with sanctions. Zimbabwe had the sole privilege of achieving what was called “run-away inflation” hitting millions in percent of inflation at the height of its economies and printing single currency of billion Zimbabwean dollars. One third of Zimbabweans live in exile or are seeking economic/political asylum.[/b]



The United States and Apartheid South African backed rebel forces UNITA led by Jonas Savimbi fought one of the bitterest civil wars Africa had ever seen in Angola against the Marxist regime of Dos Santos. It took the killing of Savimbi in February 2002 for the war to end. Today Angola is trying to rebuild but decades of war and Jose’ Eduardo Dos Santos 36 years in power have not improved the lot of average Angolans.



Master Sergeant Samuel Doe who shot himself into power in 1981 took Liberia to the brink until the civil war led by Charles Taylor broke out in 1989. The war destabilised the region of West Africa with many lives lost both citizens and peace keepers; and scattered Liberian refugees across West Africa for about 20 years. The war also spread to Sierra Leone because of the urge to control its diamond as a financing tool. Many citizens were brutally murdered and many others who survived were left limbless. Ivory Coast which was the model of political and economic stability and it once housed the headquarters of the African Development Bank had its serenity shattered after the 1999 coup of General Guei. The world’s number one producer of Cocoa experienced a bitter civil war between 2000 and 2003. The last presidential election stand off between Laurent Gbagbo and Allasan Quattara almost took Ivory Coast back to the precipice.



Togo, Gabon and Guinea all had despots who ruled for over 30 years with Togo and Gabon having the sons succeeding their fathers. Equatorial Guinea with its oil wealth has less than a million people. Yet the oil wealth has not improved the lot of the populace but only the family and cronies of President Teodore Obiang Nguema Mbasago who has spent over thirty years in power. He is also the current chairman of the African Union which boasts of a good number of sit tight leaders. Little wonder the African Peer Review Mechanism cannot add much value to Africa .



The wars between North and South Sudan which ended with the Comprehensive Pease Agreement of 2005 led to the independence of the South in July 2011 after more than a million deaths in one of Africa ’s longest wars. Western Sudan has also seen enough carnage since 2002 where the government back supporter of APC have been attacking the people of Darfur creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Omar El Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of Genocide. Sudan was the first international headquarters of al qaeda which has seen the distribution of terrorism around Africa and the word. Somalia ’s case is seemingly hopeless, that country is the number one failed state in the world. After years of misrule by former leaders they have gone for twenty years without a functional government with tribal war lords, pirates and lately the Islamic extremist al shabash making the country lawless. About a million Somalis are now at the risk of death because of famine in the horn of Africa . Chad and Niger house the poorest regions of the world. The 2008 post election violence in Kenya left over a thousand people dead, closely replicated by the 2011 post election violence in Nigeria which killed over two hundred people. The story of Nigeria is a pathetic one. Once baptised the giant of Africa , a country with rich human and natural resources has been brought to the brink due to years of bad leadership. The mother of all carnages took place in Rwanda as the 1994 Rwandan genocide left an estimated one million people dead in 100 days. Sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch in the landlocked Swaziland only parades virgins on a yearly basis to choose a new wife from annually. He is mostly abroad and spends little or no time in his country.



The northern part of Africa which seemed to be better off economically was in the firm grip of despots. Revolutions in that part have left thousands dead, scattered the economies and disrupted tourism which was their mainstay. Libya ’s Gaddafi has given the west an excuse to seek to re-colonise that country.



From North to South, East to West except for a few countries and leaders, the story of Africa is the same. Economic woes, insecurity, civil wars, internal strives and conflicts, ethnic and religious cleansing, looting of public wealth, capital flight, lack of infrastructure and capacity development have become the hallmarks of Africa’s underdevelopment. With the vast presence of arable lands, ironically Africa is heavily dependent on food imports and food aids. With cheap and abundant labour, Africa cannot generate employment to transform her economy and empower her people.



The elasticity of corruption in Africa is like an unchained spirit. Trillions of dollars meant for the development of the continent have been stolen and stashed in foreign lands by African leaders both dead and living, past and present. The penchant for misuse of public goods and massive show of shamelessness are so high.



[b]Everything the developed West have ever done is first to secure the future of their citizens, but the reverse is the case in Africa . The military dictatorships in Latin America and Indonesia laid solid foundations for those regions economic success stories of today, where as the military juntas in Africa regrettably were the very ones who institutionalised corruption. The Greeks gave the world democracy, The Romans gave the world the Senate, the British gave the world a Parliament, and the United States gave the world the Presidency. In all these we see a commitment by both the leaders and the led to develop a system which will drive the transformation of their polity, economy and people. Democratic regimes have not done much to expedite the cause of Africa’s transformation; rather countries like Nigeria operate the most expensive yet wasteful democracies in the world. Africans have the highest impudence at breaking laws and over the years the rule of law does not hold any significance in the lives of the people especially those who have access to the tools of power. No African country is likely to the Millennium Development Goals by the target year of 2015, as basic as these goals are like poverty reduction, water and sanitation, reduction in infant and maternal mortality among the others. While people and leaders in other parts of the world are making progress to improve their nations and people, Africans are deliberately making efforts to under develop Africa . Africa has been underdeveloped with the blood of Africans on the streets of Africa more by fellow Africans than anyone else. Shame![/b]

Rossikk: ^^^This is the typical combination of blind Afro-pessimism, hopelessness and bare-faced self denigrating lies that we need to do away with in order to prosper. This conditioned wastrel of a human being cannot think rationally or intelligently, but rather, is inclined to start and end all analysis of Africa from the point of absolute negativity, despite the numerous strides made by the continent since independence, including such strides as led to his own modern education where the British would normally have ignored such 'unnecessary pursuits' (see our 7% literacy rate at independence compared to 74% today courtesy of African rule). These are the sort of people we need to start to IGNORE, as we move forward. They bring absolutely nothing to the table except self-loathing, depression, negativity and hopelessness.

thafanboy: Ok, quick history lesson so get comfortable...


The true reason why Africa is backwards is not IQ, but because firstly, Africans have never really been motivated socially to progress or advance. They're not technoligically inclined either. The generally nomadic lifestlye suited them, and they didn't have a reason to change.

Africans didn't start to be motivated to progress until they came into contact with other cultures--the first of which were the Arabs.

angela992:
Imperialism: The Bane of Africa’s Underdevelopment

Imperialism as could be seen is economic domination, subordination and exploitation of weak economies by the developed nations. Lenin V.1 made an interesting contribution of imperialism where he described imperialism as the highest stage in the development of capitalism.

http://www.scharticles.com/imperialism-the-bane-of-africas-underdevelopment/