The Redemption of Africa

By Kwaku Asare

Since the writing and distribution of my first book The Grooming of an African Monarch, I have received accolades and compliments in manner I have never experienced in my life. Even those who did not agree with the message of the book told me it was hard for them to put it down while they were reading. It feels as if I have won the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature in the same year. However I did receive some criticisms. Many found the book too self-focused. Some even called it: self-serving. One of the biggest criticisms was the word I was used too many times. My reward has been received by my first book which solidified my position as an African and indeed a world leader. So why not stop there and walk into the sunset? The African people have not received the full benefits of this new era which has dawned. The media and African leaders are not telling truth and are beating around the bush. We the people of Africa must understand whats happening if we are to use it to our advantage.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Africa
• Release date: Apr 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781482862522

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Kwaku Asare.

ISBN:      Softcover   978-1-4828-6253-9

                eBook        978-1-4828-6252-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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CONTENTS

Introduction: Why I am writing this book

Chapter 1: Africa and the World

Chapter 2: The World and Africa

Chapter 3: The African Renaissance

Chapter 4: Neo-Colonialism

Chapter 5: Spirituality

Chapter 6: Complacency

Chapter 7: A Call to Action

This book is dedicated to the people of Africa who must participate fully and receive the full benefits of this African renaissance which has come to pass.

INTRODUCTION

Why I am writing this book

S ince the writing and distribution of my first book The Grooming of an African Monarch , I have received accolades and compliments in manner I have never experienced in my life. Even those who did not agree with the message of the book told me it was hard for them to put it down while they were reading. It feels as if I have won the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature in the same year. However I did receive some criticisms. Many found the book too self-focused. Some even called it: self-serving. One of the biggest criticisms was the word I was used too many times. My reward has been received by my first book which solidified my position as an African and indeed a world leader. So why not stop there and walk into the sunset? The African people have not received the full benefits of this new era which has dawned. The media and African leaders are not telling the truth and are beating around the bush. We the people of Africa must understand what's happening if we are to use it to our advantage.

If Africans are really going to take advantage of the auspicious climate we must first recognize it. The western and even the African media are sticking their heads in the sand. So you ask why would Africans themselves not want to publicize, debate and discuss this new world climate in which they are the major beneficiaries? Firstly, many Africans are afraid of losing their careers, financial standing, and favor given to them by people in the west who benefit from Africa being in a subservient role. Their African agents loyal to their neocolonial beneficiaries don't want to rock the boat.

Secondly, a lot of Africans don't mentally and logically comprehend what is happening in the world. When something doesn't make sense to you, you want no part of it. A British man once said Africans know how to make money but money doesn't rule the world: ideas do. Africa's contribution to the world will be spiritual rather than financial or commercial. The British man understands something that most Africans don't. Later on in the book I will try to explain what is happening logically so people all over the world can decide whether it is positive or not and whether they want to be a part of it or not. Spirituality is a sticky subject, especially when it is not confined to a specific religion but there is definitely a spiritual element to what is occurring in Africa and the world. Later on I will delve into this and explain it scientifically. African spirituality is often looked at as heathenism and paganism. An idea brought by the Christian Missionary and Muslim Trader. Now people all over the world are starting to recognize the power inherent in our traditional beliefs. Our traditional leaders are starting to be accorded a respect only once had in the pre-colonial era. The power in Africa which made us withstand 100 years of colonialism and come out with our cultures intact cannot be denied.

However, many people including Africans themselves find this hard to accept. They point to things such as human sacrifice to prove how barbaric our traditional beliefs are. We could also point to things such as the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Holocaust to point to heinous elements of their culture as well.

Thirdly the reason why many Africans are not bringing this new African Renaissance to the forefront is they like things the way they are. They are not interested in change. I am not talking about just rich elites. Before I moved to Ghana I used to think the African elites were a pariah class fleecing the average poor African shamelessly. After living in Ghana three years I realize that a lot of ordinary Africans are happy with their positions in society. Not to say there are not a lot of people trying to improve their lot in life, but a lot of ordinary people are satisfied with their life. They don't want an economic revolution which will change Ghana, Nigeria, or any other African country into Malaysia or South Korea. This is a daring and serious statement to make so let me explain. A young Ghanaian teacher, manager, or civil servant will buy a brand new Honda Civic for about $30,000 dollars. Yet, you will go to his or her house and the paint will be peeling off the walls of the living room wall. It is not because he cannot spend the two hundred dollars to paint his living room. It is because he doesn't see it as a priority. It doesn't bother him. He is comfortable.

Let us take the example of Libya under Gadhafi. They had the highest standard of living of any country in Africa, North or South of the Sahara. They risked it all and are on the brink of civil war because they felt Gadhafi was a dictator and a despot. Sometimes what the elites want for their people is not what the people want for themselves. The key is African leaders must give their people opportunity not a lifestyle. Do not force people to live the way you think they should live, rather give them the opportunity to live the way they want to live. If a person wants to live in a mud hut, let him live there but also give him the opportunity to live in skyscraper in Accra if he chooses. Give your people opportunity not a lifestyle. When the horrific video of Gadhafi's assassination was shown on the world news, before he was shot, he was calling his would be murderers my sons. Gadhafi saw himself as an absolute monarch. I liked Gadhafi. He did a lot for his people and he did a lot for the entire African continent but he should have realized that his time had come and gone, organized elections and handed over power to a new leader of Libya freely chosen by the Libyan people. Warning: There is a caveat here. We Africans have to be very careful in our ideas of government. One of the biggest mistakes made during the independence era over 50 years ago in Africa is we took on western governmental models wholesale. Just because they worked in Britain, the U.S. and France, we copied our governmental systems almost identically from the west, then, we were surprised 10 years later when they didn't work. Basil Davidson, the famous British African Historian said I can understand you wanting to modernize. Very well, but why do you pick governmental models from those who oppressed and despised you? He was right because in 90 percent of African countries there were coups. In Ghana, there have been 4 republics. The first three have been ended by coups. We definitely should not revert to traditional African chieftaincy, but we have many brilliant political scientists and lawyers who can come up with systems which take the best of our traditional systems and the western systems to come up with semi-original governmental systems that suit us.

Africa is a large continent and as Wole Soyinka said there is no such thing as African culture. He also said, there are African cultures and you can have a synthesis of that. Yes, so one cannot paint Africa with a sweeping brush stroke or make generalizations about such a large and diverse continent; however in this book I will be discussing the entire African continent even North Africa. When dealing with the colossus we call Africa, it is clearly evident that the continent is by no means homogeneous. Even the European colonial powers who