Dr. Adade continues his explanation by describing how, "the colonizers of Africa employed several methods to conquer, control and rule Africa. Divide and rule was one." Good old divide and conquer. " The British were the most adept at this. They not only divided African countries along ethnic lines, they also created artificial schisms along religious lines. For example, in the then Gold Coast, now the nation of Ghana, the British turned the Moslem north into a labour trove for the Christian south. While southern Ghana was relatively developed, the north was largely ignored. The few social amenities and infrastructure, such as roads, schools, and hospitals, the British introduced in Ghana were set up almost exclusively in the south. The introduction of a cash crop economy in Ghana meant that the northern population was turned into hewers of wood and drawers of water for the southerners - a seasonal labor force, migrating southwards to work on the cocoa plantations. With time, the northerners acquired a sort of ethnic specialization; they came to be regarded as “labourers.” With ethnic specialization came stereotypes. The same pattern was repeated in Nigeria, Sudan, the Ivory Coast, and various other African nations."
The pattern created by British and other European colonizers did not end with the political independence of African countries. In Nigeria and Ghana for example, the colonial legacy led to a class of relatively well developed, well educated, more urbanized southerners, many of whom worked in the newly established bureaucracies, firms, and businesses. The northerners were mostly drawn into the military and police forces. It is not difficult to understand why in Nigeria, for example, almost all the military coups were plotted by northerners.
"The North-South religious divides in much of Africa is simply the offshoot of the Islamic-Christian antagonism that dates back to the period of the Crusades. Africa has been the staging ground for Arab-European rivalry for centuries. The religious map of Africa today is testimony to this fact, with northern Africa being largely “the spoils” of Arab conquest and Africa south of the Sahara populated largely by Christian “converts.” The introduction of Islam and Christianity into Africa has been described as the beginning of the “cultural genocide” of Africa. It is a well known fact, the best way to conquer a people is to control their “cultural mind.” "Thus Africa’s colonization, partition and neo-colonization were accomplished first through religious and cultural enslavement." Followed as we all know by physical enslavement and presently mental enslavement.
Belief in a higher being or beings, has always been a major factor of the lives of the people of the African continent. It was intertwined with our culture and was a part of the everyday decisions which we made in our lives. Religion has always represented the essence of our people. Adade continues by stating, "Even in the so-called advanced Western industrialized countries that claim to have separated the state from religion, religious beliefs are, in fact, the central fulcrum around which moral and legal laws revolve." , and evolved from. "... when a people’s religion is destroyed, their traditions die and culture falls apart." In his book, Africa and the World, Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois described the destruction of African culture in graphic terms: “...The old religion was held up for ridicule, the old culture and ethical standards degraded or disappeared, and gradually all over Africa spread the inferiority complex, the fear of color, the worship of white skin, the imitation of white ways of doing and thinking, whether good, bad, or indifferent.” “By the end of the nineteenth century,” Du Bois continued, “the degradation of Africa was as complete as organized human means could make it. Chieftains and Obas, representing a thousand years of thriving human culture, were decked out in second-hand London top-hats, all the while Europe snickered.” An action, which continues until this very day.
I remember during the holiday season this past year, an uncle of mine came to visit all of the family who lived in the states, an interesting fact in itself if one really thinks about it. He came from Ibadan, a city in Nigeria and brought with him a book that I must admit, I was blown away by. The title of this book: The Ijebu of Yorubaland. What drew me to the book were the words, "Ijebu" and "Yorubaland". Both of these words represent respectively, a subgroup of the greater Yoruba nation and the name of the land they inhabit. My attraction however, lies mainly in the fact that the group, is one of the two, from which my own bloodline originates. While reading the book, an abundant amount of information jumped out to me that relates greatly to the topic I am currently writing about. The book stated that, the people known as the Ijebu, were tremendously resistant to the inroads being made by European and Eurocentric minded African merchants into their main principalities, Remo and Ijebu-Ode. They guarded their provinces, customs, laws, as well as the trade and commerce which occurred within them strongly. How were these businessmen then to gain a foothold in the wealth of the kingdom, being gained by the Ijebu through their control of trade? Well surprisingly enough, through religion.
By playing on the religious nature of the Ijebu's, who worshipped Orisha's (Gods) in the form of Shango, Osun, Obatala and others, the Christian "missionaries" were able to draw in followers by depicting the worship of the Yoruba Orishas as a vile and barbaric way for the Ijebu to live their lives. Apparently, their religion was by far better than that of the Yoruba. According to the author, the Europeans, mainly the British, and their African agents played up the advanced nature of European society at the time. They stated to the natives of the kingdom, that it was because of the belief in their religion that this advancement had occured and only by belief in this new religion and the opening of trade routes through the kingdom, could they also achieve the same greatness that befell on Europe. Reading this, instantly returned me to the statement made by Adade, "... when a people’s religion is destroyed, their traditions die and the culture falls apart." Once both of these things are lost, a person is poised to lose the very essence of who they are and when this has occured, will crave for anything to fill it. In Africa's case, it was Islam and Christianity that were to fill this void. European and Arab "missionaries" were well aware of this. It has been stated that Europe and Arabia gave the Qu'ran and the Bible to Africa, yet took many of its sons and daughters, knowledge and wealth for this "gift". The result of these activities, continues to plague many African nations today and may be why Africa still leaves itself open to be a battlefield and dumping ground for Christianity and Islam, all the while many of its leaders and people ignore a host of serious issues which plague various nations on the continent.
To be continued...
Information for this article provided by Seun Joshua, Charles Adade, & W.E.B DuBois. All rights reserved.
"Life doesn't imitate art, it inspires it"
Southern Sudan burns in the name of religion and politics; inset: soldiers of the Janjaweed
