The history of mankind has been driven by traditions, culture, beliefs, laws and theories, some unnecessary and inappropriate in this current trend of globalization.
Until we lay off and discard some of the laws, theories, tradition and beliefs established in the past, we will never advance beyond where we are right now.
We have to wonder why the western world has advanced and is still advancing more than Africa. We were told that Africa was the “birthplace of civilization”, can Africa still proudly say that today, what happened to the “birthplace of civilization”? Why is the development gap between Africa and the western world so wide? Is it even possible for Africa to catch up. It is commonly believed in the west in the past and even up to today that Africa is about 200 years behind civilization, they believe Africa is far lagging behind. Lord Luggard was not far from the truth when he said “Africans are lovers of music, dance, culture and tradition, they clinge so tight to their culture and beliefs and they are short sighted, they have no plan for the future”.
I found the answer to all these countless questions, we Africans are too relaxed and we clinge so tight to our culture and beliefs laid down by our ancestors, we never care to know where, when and why such traditions were made. We need to wake up.
How can Africans still be charging and collecting bride price in the 21st century, to me it sounds like selling your daughter with a price, marriage and love is a thing of the heart and not a trading transaction, but Africans have turned marriage to a business, where the parents and relatives of the daughter or bride extort their In-Laws to be, marriage is now a business Enterprise. Where, why and when was The act of paying bride price formulated? This is the reason why most men see their wives as their properties.
In the 21st century, where the role of girls and women in the development of the society is considered very important, some Africans still treat women as unequal, this belief has truncated the future of many intelligent and bright young women and girls, many girls are deprived of education and instead they are reserved to the kitchen and sold off for marriage. Statistics have shown that women that are privileged to be educated usually perform better than their male counterparts in every facet of the society, we can even draw examples like Margaret Thatcher (The Iron Lady), Sirleaf Johnsn, Malala , a very young female Activist from Pakistan fighting for Girls and women rights all over the world. There are more and more women like that proving beyond reasonable doubts that the role of women in the development of the society cannot be over emphasized. We should discard that belief that see women as second class citizens and as the properties of their husbands, women are not properties.
Africa is still so lagging in civilization that we believe and relax because of what we told and taught that it was our colonial masters that caused our present predicaments, that it was Europe that under developed Africa, how true is that? It was not only Africa that was colonized, was USA not colonized?, India was also colonized, Britain that colonized Us were colonized by the Saxons, so why is Africa's case different? Most Europeans left Africa before the discovery of most of our resources and they even laid down good Institutions for Africa, in aspect of religion, education and health Institutions. So what convincing reason can we give?
Africans are the architects of their own present under development.
Albert Einstein had to discard Isaac Newton's law of nature and created His which is still in use today, Martin Luther had to lead a Reformation against the church to free Christianity from some old and baseless beliefs and traditions.
Though i am not discarding the importance of history to Man's development, but history should not hold us back or determine Our future advancement.
We Africans are generally lazy to study, understand and digest our history, culture, traditions, beliefs, laws and theories talk less of breaking them and creating new ones. Remember You have to study the rules very well so You can break them and create new ones.
We are too relax and satisfied with what was laid down for us by the past generations, we have to break the jinx and determine our own development, advancement and progress. Let the past be the past and let's work for future development, the only thing that is constant in life is change.
I stand to be corrected
Have a lovely week ahead.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"You cannot do the same thing and expect a different result"
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