Western Education Has Fooled Me – Information the west don’t want you to know…
Greetings my African people.
This message is for independent thinking Africans. For Africans who can think for themselves. For Africans devoid of crowd mentality. This part contains revelations into why we the African people are gradually losing our languages, our culture, and who we are as a people. And also how western education control what we should and shouldn’t know. But, before I begin, let me tell you a little about crowd mentality or what Fela Anikulapo Kuti called “Follow Follow” mentality.
Fela Anikulapo Kuti
What is Follow-Follow?
Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates taught his students that the pursuit of truth can only begin once they start to question and analyze every belief that they ever held dear. If a certain belief passes the tests of evidence, deduction, and logic, it should be kept. If it doesn’t, the belief should not only be discarded, but the thinker must also then question why he was led to believe the erroneous information in the first place.
Not surprising, this type of teaching didn’t sit well with the ruling elite of Greece. Many political leaders throughout history has always not liked the independent thinking masses. No wonder Socrates was tried for subversion and for “corrupting the youth”. He was then forced to take his own life by drinking poison. It’s never easy being an independent thinker!.
Today, the powers that be may simply label such people as extremists, terrorist, or paranoid.
This article is no opinion piece. Rather, it is information opening up buried facts that when carefully read will show you the evil grip on Africa by western education and it’s attendant intellectual slavery of Africans.
Of course, there’re some of us Africans who have fallen under the hypnotic spell of western powers whom they worship as God. Because these group of Africans are unable to think for themselves, there’s no amount of truth that can sway them from their preconceived position. They may even deny something they see with their own eyes.
These group of people are victims of a psychological affliction known as the lemming effect, a product of western intellectual slavery.
Lemmings are small stupid animals that dart around in forests. This animal is known to be extremely stupid, such that they follow each other to their deaths and into dangers like fire or traps.
Lemming hood is an innate psychological phenomenon, present in common people, as well as the most sophisticated and educated elites. Its what Fela Anikulapo Kuti called “follow follow” mentality. Lemming hood effect is psychological. As such, no social class is immune to its evil effect. A university professor could be a lemming, just as much as a fashion obsessed teenager. One blindly follows the latest trendy hypothesis while the other blindly follows the latest trendy clothing style.
The power to fit in with one’s social class can be irresistible. To a human lemming, the logic behind an opinion doesn’t count as much as the power and popularity behind an opinion. Humans, like lemmings, behave the same way.
It is this lemming effect that makes the entire continent of Africa lose their sense of judgment, all at the same time. For lemmings, denial is a basic psychological defense mechanism used to not only shield themselves from unpleasant realities, but also to reassure themselves that they still fit within the acceptable range of opinion held by their peer group.
I will continue to try to open the closed minds of my fellow Africans to free us from our self-imposed blindness, but it’s not easy. The chains of ideological conformity have too strong a grip on my fellow Africans, and breaking them is a difficult task. With the limited resources at my disposal, it is next to impossible to compete with western lemming-masters (the same old slave masters ). Nevertheless, I will continue to speak in my little ways, at least lay the foundation upon which the truth might one day rise in future.
If you’re among the “follow follow” group described above, you’ll not like what you’re about to read, because it questions even your education. But, if you’re an independent thinking fellow, I invite you to come in with open mind and join me let’s explore the subject “intellectual slavery” something that holds a deadly grip on Africa. Its very deadly because intellectual slavery is the only way western powers ensure neo-colonialism never die.
There are those among us (like myself, Kwame Nkumah, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and few others) who do have the courage and intellectual capacity to break free of the shackles of lemming hood (western intellectual slavery) and accept the truth when it is presented.
Many years ago, people like Fela Anikulapo Kuti noticed the lemming hood syndrome in African leadership and society and has constantly warned Africans against the habit of “follow follow” or lemming hood. But, Africans has refused to heed to the warnings of those who’ve seen the light, and today the consequence of our action is producing bad fruits.
One of the bad fruit is my inability to find keyboard in our native languages.
My search for native keyboard
I have a project I want to execute, the project requires writing in native African languages like; Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Efik, Fulani, Bini, Zulu, Bantu, e.t.c. I cannot do the project without writing in native African languages. But, problem is the native keyboards are no way to be found. For 2 years the project has been suspended, because I couldn’t find the required native keyboards. As I speak, I’m still looking for an Igbo keyboard, Yoruba keyboard, Hausa keyboard, e.t.c to no avail. I’ve been to different shops and markets, but came back empty-handed. And nobody knows where I could buy them.
Surprisingly, I discovered I can easily buy Arabic keyboards, French keyboards, Spanish keyboards, Chinese keyboards, German keyboards, even Russian keyboards. I felt sad upon this realization, and like a scientist I began asking questions. Then, I came up with some hypothesis and I decided to research it, because I wanted to know “Why”.
Why is it easier to buy an Arabic keyboard in Africa?
Why is it easier to buy a French keyboard in Africa?
Why is it easier to buy an English keyboard in Africa?
Most important, why are Africans themselves not worried, even when a Chinese man coming to Africa for the first time bothers?
Why does a Korean man coming to Africa for the first time worry about the above questions, when Africans themselves do not bother?.
I will let you know the answer, if you keep reading.
Most Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese people visiting Africa for the first time are of the impression they will not be able to find keyboards or computers in other languages.
They assume because we Africans are a unique people, we will therefore have our own writing symbols, different than English, French, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. They get shocked when they get here for the first time only to discover we have nothing unique, technologically, intellectually.
They discover we’ve imported everything we use from them. At that point, they begin seeing us as simpletons and people without intellectual capabilities, because they can see for themselves why we were enslaved and colonized for too long. They then wish they were the ones that also colonized us, and that we all were speaking Chinese or Korean to avoid language barrier, since the British and French enjoy such privilege. Therefore, they look-down on us and start belittling us.
Below is a conversation between an Indian living in Africa and his brothers.
This conversation ensued when the expatriate told his brothers he wanted to come to India for holidays. For your information, this is generally the reason foreign experts into Africa do not respect Africans. They see us as people who do not have intellectual capabilities of our own. So, in case you’re one of those working in offices and complaining about how Indians, Koreans, Chinese, e.t.c disrespect you, the above is the real reason, though they’ll not say it.
They may still respect you though, but before they start respecting you, you must have personally proved to them over the months/years that you’re indeed an intelligent person. Once they know this, they will begin respecting you unreservedly.
Why native keyboards cannot be found in our shops
My findings reveal that Africa is in a new covert form of slavery called intellectual slavery.
Intellectual slavery is different than the slavery suffered by our ancestors centuries ago, but it is more dangerous. It is more dangerous because it turns us Africans into self-replicating robots creating more slaves by ourselves.
The slavery suffered by our ancestors in the past was mostly physical than mental. But that wasn’t the end. It was mostly physical because, if you were caught you’ll be the only person to suffer. But, in intellectual slavery, if you’re caught you’ll catch many other slaves.
There exist modern forms of slavery; such as technological slavery, economic slavery. But, intellectual slavery is the worst form of slavery.
What is intellectual slavery?
Intellectual slavery is the state of being bound to academic servitude by someone controlling the knowledge base of such academic pursuit.
If you still don’t understand how we are bound into academic servitude, let me make it simple by putting it in context.
If you studied Chemistry in school, it’s white man’s point of view about Chemistry.
If you studied Biology, it’s white man’s thoughts about Biology.
If you studied Economics, it’s white man’s knowledge of Economics.
If you studied Physics, it’s white man’s model of Physics. e.t.c, e.t.c.
So, no matter what you studied in school as an African, it’s always white man’s point of view about that branch of knowledge. In case you still don’t understand it, a white man who’s an educationist summarized it saying
“Everything around you. Your career, weather engineering, Social Sciences, Arts, Medicine, Your Car, House, Clothes, phone. Everything, I mean everything is a product of white man’s ingenuity. Your most intelligent black professor is a product of white man’s education. All the theories and formulas he will encounter as a student were all developed by a white man. So please, what can you do without us?”.
Intellectual slavery is targeted at academia in Africa and other third world countries. Its goal is to totally control what is knowable via satellite entities.
Intellectual slavery didn’t begin today; its just that its such a silent killer. It is so silent that nobody see it. Intellectual slavery was encoded in colonial model of education to limit what we Africans can know, and how to know it.
Western education was created to indoctrinate the minds of Africans to think in a particular way only beneficial to the same old colonial masters. Therefore, one of it’s resultant effect is to stop us from questioning the system of education itself!. It stops African scholars and students from questioning established western theories. It belittles our minds and stop us from challenging western scholarly views, ideals, values, e.t.c.
More than a slave not owning his/her body, intellectual slavery have a deadly grip on the mind of Africans, and other third world countries. Intellectual slavery is targeted at students, pupils, elites, scholars, educationists, intellectuals, from third world countries. This makes it very dangerous as it has the potential of doing more damage to a people in the long run.
Western powers through intellectual slavery have installed the wheel driving neo-colonialism before leaving our lands. And to keep this wheel turning, it is being oiled by African teachers, scholars, elites, educationists. That is, it literally have us expanding neo-colonialism forever, all by ourselves. Just in case you still don’t get it, let me give you an example of the fruits of intellectual slavery in simple practical terms.
Names of parts of the body in English
As you can see above, you can comfortably name parts of the body in English language, and those of us from Francophone countries would comfortably do same with ease in French. But, wait a minute!. Can you name the parts of the body in your native language?.
Name the parts of the body in your native language
When you try naming the parts of the body in your native dialect you would discover you suddenly find it hard to write, even to name.
My research shows 99% of “educated” Africans cannot name, and write parts of the body in their own native languages!. My people, that’s intellectual slavery at work!!!.
Western education have stripped you of your innate power to know your own self!. Another example I can give you is this. What do you call Click, Download, Upload , Database, Website, Homepage, in your native language?. I can bet these words have no native words in your language, because we don’t create knowledge in Africa. Rather, we just copy what whiteman say. And therefore, we call it what whiteman call it.
It happens in Anglophone and Francophone countries as well. Knowledge creation has been outsourced to western nations.
Therefore, they control what we should know and what we shouldn’t know. If this’s not intellectual slavery, I don’t know what is!. Yet, another example I can give is the scenarios below.
(i). You want to write a letter to your mother or father who lives in the village, but instead of writing him/her in your native language you still wrote in English. Why writing a letter to your mother or father in English?. Answer: intellectual slavery.
(ii). Why writing a letter to your mother in English?. Doesn’t your mother speak your own language?. If yes, why?. Answer: intellectual slavery.
(iii). Is there anybody in your village that doesn’t speak your native language?. If no, why speaking English and jotting down notes in English in your village meeting in Abuja?. Answer: intellectual slavery.
The above tests and scenarios are clear samples to prove the manifestation of intellectual slavery, but I’m not done yet. I will give more examples later, on how intellectual slavery affects even the so called highly educated people in Africa, like; Wole Soyinka.
And it bothers me so much that this’s happening all over Africa, in both Francophone and Anglophone countries. But, it’s not like that in Japan, it’s not like that in Russia, it’s not like that in China, it’s not like that in Korea.
In these countries every educated person can name parts of the body in their native language, they can also tell you the meaning of download, upload, website, homepage, database, in their various native languages.
I’ll tell you why it’s not like that in those countries, if you keep reading.
Back to my search for native keyboard
I went to the market the other day at Ikeja, and I asked a shop keeper about the native keyboard. He replied me saying‘’nobody buys it, that’s why we don’t sell it’’ . He then went on to ask me; ‘’what are you doing with it anyway’’?. I wish you were there to see the expression of disdain on his face, because I asked for a native keyboard. I was so annoyed by that question, and I just looked at him, shook my head and walked away.
But, this continues to worry me and I keep asking more questions. Why are we not aware we’re in a new form of slavery?. Why are we not aware we’re being gradually re-colonized?. At least our ancestors knew they were in slavery and they rebelled against slavery. Our fathers in the 50’s and 60’s also knew they were being colonized and they fought for their freedom. So, why are we not putting up a fight against intellectual slavery?. Is it because it seems harmless?. Well, it is just as harmless as the disease cancer in it’s early stage. It takes many years to mature to deadly sickness!.
Why intellectual slavery appears harmless
What is it about intellectual slavery that makes it apparently innocuous?. What makes intellectual slavery appear harmless?.
Intellectual slavery seems harmless because we begin acquiring it from school. It begins right from the first day little boy Kunle start learning “A” is for Apple, instead of “A” is for Akwa (Akwa is Igbo for egg). It begins right from the day little Kunle begins learning “B” is for Bell, instead of “B” is for Boli (roasted plantain).
Kunle goes to school
Two years later, little boy Kunle comes back from school and runs into the waiting arms of the happy mother and father, and the father asks little Kunle; what did you study in school today?. And little Kunle replies;
“Pussy cat, pussy cat where have you been.
I’ve been to London to look at the queen”.
You’ve been to London? To look at the queen?. Really?. This is not education!. Because, English is not the standard for learning!.
Why couldn’t little Kunle go to Ife ?.
Why couldn’t little Kunle go to look at the Ooni?.
Nobody ask questions because the western education we acquire makes us a classic case of “the more you look, the less you see”. Instead the happy mother and father, a product of same brainwashing colonial education inherited from Britain and France, claps their hands for little Kunle, beaming with joy because they assume little kunle is acquiring knowledge, when in reality little Kunle have just began the preliminary task of learning how to un-learn what makes him an African.
Three years later, little Kunle, if he’s smart would have established knowledge on how to recite the English alphabet, but without learning how to read the Yoruba alphabet. He doesn’t even have any idea its possible to recite in other African languages, like Igbo, Hausa, Efik, Bini, Ibibio, Igala, Zulu, Bantu, e.t.c.
As a matter of fact, these other languages are hidden from him by his teachers. Our scholars, elites, intellectuals, educationists, turn a blind eye, because they too are a product of same brainwashing colonial education inherited from Britain and France. They have no idea the same education little Kunle is receiving is also subliminally telling him that English language, views, ideals, value system, is superior to that of our native Africa.
What African educationists fail to understand is that by bombarding the minds of our little children with those sorts of words and images, they’re also subliminally teaching them western values, as well as imposing feelings of inferiority complex on them.
Example; that London and the queen are more valuable than Ife and the Ooni of Ife.
Therefore, right from kindergarten and primary school we start learning how to un-learn our African value system in exchange for western values. This happens no matter what subject you study in school.
We go to school in Africa to literally give up what makes us African, and then assume an inferior foreign identity. In the process, we abandon our native African language and ideals in pursuit of what, and who we’re not. Therefore, the same education we pursue, then becomes the same education that is eroding our native languages.
The same education we pursue, then becomes the same education that is silently destroying our cultures and who we’re as a people. This is the reason I could not find our native keyboard in the market!. We have destroyed our languages via western education. Therefore, keyboard in our native languages is completely useless. Why?. Because, you cannot eat your cake and have it!.
It is not like that in China!.
It is not like that in Korea!.
It is not like that in Japan!.
It is not like that in Russia!.
It is not like that in Iran!.
(Even Indonesians and Malaysians have grown up)
It is no longer like that in Indonesia!.
It is no longer like that in Malaysia!.
It is no longer like that in most countries of the world, except in African countries!.
Let me warn us Africans that education does not mean speaking English fluently. Let me warn us that education does not mean speaking French fluently. Because, if education means speaking English and French fluently, that would mean that Japanese people are not educated, that would mean Russians are not educated, that would mean Koreans are not educated, that would mean Chinese are not educated, that would mean Germans are not educated.
Let me warn us that education does not mean acquiring or holding bogus certificates, because I have none, and I can square up with any scholar/intellectual any place on earth!.
Education means the schooling of the mind (whatever the subject), but according to the value system of a given society. How and what to learn, or not to learn, will depend on the value system of a given society not upon a standard set in Europe or America. Otherwise, our scholars and educationists will keep doing this “copy and paste” in our schools. You do not copy and paste in education, rather you create knowledge, and you keep on discovering and refining what would be more valuable for the education of people in your own country.
African scholars, intellectuals, educationists should stop being like a car running on the engine of a different car. Like a Mercedes Benz running on Volkswagen beetles engines.
Let me explain what I mean here with this bitter leaf analogy.
Bitter leaf
Virtually every African knows what bitter leaf is called in their various native languages. Therefore, in a Botany class for example; there’s no need teaching an African child what British man or French man call bitter leaf, unless in pure English class.
That an English man calls bitter leaf scientific name “Vernonia Amygdalina” will not add anything meaningful to the child’s concept of bitter leaf. The best way to have a child understand and conceptualize the subject is call it and teach it with the name given to it by the society, and the education would be more meaningful to the child.
For example; when I checked the semantics of bitter leaf in my native Igbo language, I found out it is more intuitive in my native dialect than in English. Bitter leaf in my native language is called Olugbo and it literally interprets as Olu (that bitters) + gbo (from early) or just early.
The semantics includes the following:- (i). That bitters from early.
(ii). Bitter from creation.
(iii). Born to be bitter.
(iv). Bitter from the beginning.
(v). Always bitter.
That is how it should be!. Because, any knowledge acquired this way will naturally be with you, and you’ll not need to cram to answer questions on it in an exam. We can of course study the plant’s properties ourselves. That’s what true education is all about. You don’t need any white man’s opinion to study the plants and leaves in your village, unless you’re comparing your findings. Knowing the botanical name or what white man call it; is brainwashing fake education installed by Britain and France to control what Africans should know, what we shouldn’t know, how to know it, how not to know it, e.t.c. Thereby, they control the world of African scholarship millions of miles across the ocean, removing African view point, culture, history, intellectual contribution, e.t.c. This is intellectual slavery, and that’s why Africa is where we’re today.
If you’re not an independent thinker, you may not understand what I’m talking about. But, many years ago, Lord Kwame Nkrumah noticed the problem I’m talking about. Nkrumah knew there was a big problem with the model of education in Africa, and he knew exactly what needed to be done. He knew the model of education throughout Africa needed to be overhauled, but he didn’t have a lot of time to change education in Africa for good, before he was blackmailed out of office by western powers.
He just had enough time to win our political freedom, but not enough time to fight for other things.
Lord Kwame Nkrumah
Lord Kwame Nkrumah Nkrumah observed that colonial missionary schools curriculum was Euro-centric, and that it carefully excluded African religion, culture, and history. After noticing this, he said “under such a system of education the youth of Africa is not prepared to meet any definite situations of the changing community except those of the clerical activities and occupations for foreign commercial and mercantile concerns”.
And he concluded by saying ” any educational program which fails to furnish criteria for the judgment of social, political, economic, and technical progress of the people it purports to serve has completely failed in its purpose, and has become an educational fraud “.
Therefore, if our curriculum and system of education in Africa is giving priority to western value system and ideals, though it’s still education, but it’s no longer the education of an African mindset. This is why people like Wole Soyinka, even though he is educated, lacks the ability to contribute to the literary development of his own native Yoruba language. This is why people like Ms. Chimamanda Adichie is writing for the west, instead of writing in our native Igbo language.
Chimamanda Adichie (American author)
Western education has stripped her of her innate powers to contribute to the development of our own native Igbo language!. But, William Shakespeare, the great English writer invented more than 2,000 words and lots of phrases for his own English language.
I will make this point clearer later.
But, let me tell you something.
Wole Soyinka would have still been a great writer, if he wrote in Yoruba language!. If Soyinka wrote in Yoruba language he would still have been an outstanding writer, and he would have still won a nobel prize in literature!.
Chinua Achebe would have still been a great writer, if he wrote in Igbo language!.
Ms. Chimamanda would have still been a great writer, if she wrote in Igbo language!.
Can people win noble laureates writing in their native language?. The answer is “Yes”. I was able to make a chart of all nobel prize in literature winnings by country. See below.
List of nobel prize winners in Literature, Countries & Language.
The different countries and languages above proves there’s no level you can’t get to, even if you write in your native language. Hundreds of authors have won noble prize in literature writing in their native languages.
To be specific, books written in the following languages has won nobel prize in literature; German, Spanish, English, French, Swedish, Italian, Russian, Polish, Danish, Norwegian, Chinese, Greek, Japanese, Arabic, Bengali, Czech, Finnish, Hebrew, Persian, Hungarian, Icelandic, Occitan, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish, Yiddish.
Thousands of authors in world write in their native languages before translating and publishing in English or French or to other languages.
Writing in your native language naturally gives you more power. As a matter of fact, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda, would have been bigger and better writers, if they had studied Igbo and Yoruba respectively, and wrote in our native languages. Sadly, they could not do that because the monster called intellectual slavery stood on their way.
Please, take a second look at the chart above. There’s something I want you to know that the west don’t want third world countries to know. You may enlarge it by clicking on it. If you look closely at the chart, you’ll see there’s a correlation between education in native language and wealth.
Example; you can see that countries with authors writing in their native languages are wealthy nations with GDP more than that of African countries.
On the other hand, you can see clearly that there’s a correlation between western education and poverty. The nations with authors writing in languages other than their native languages, are all poor nations (I underlined them in red), they are also the same nations that suffered slavery or and colonialism.
Therefore, without mincing words, its safe to say; western education makes Africa and other third world countries poor.
What has language got to do with education?
From the beginning of mankind, people naturally had need to communicate themselves. Therefore, different societies naturally developed the language suitable for them to communicate themselves.
The name of any language that evolved in each society, also later became the name of that society or tribe. Example; people that spoke Igbo became known as Igbo, people that spoke Yoruba became known as Yoruba, people that spoke Hausa became known as Hausa, people that spoke Zulu became known as Zulu, people that spoke English became known as English, people that spoke Dutch became known as Dutch, people that spoke French became known as French, e.t.c.
Interchangeably, the name of each tribe or society that evolved, also became the name of their language. Example; a tribe from Japan became simply known as Japanese, and a tribe that evolved in Korea simply became known as Korean, a tribe that evolved in China became known as Chinese.
As you can see, you cannot separate language from a tribe or culture, neither will you separate a tribe or culture from a language. If you manage to separate a tribe from their language, you will destroy their culture in the long run. That’s why language is the center of any culture. That’s why language is the center of any civilization.
No language no culture!. No language no society!.
If you destroy the language of a people, you’ll destroy who they’re in the long run. This’s because the DNA of a culture is written in and with it’s language. Therefore, the easiest way I can get you to understand anything is to speak to you in the same native (natural) language you grew up speaking. In your mother’s tongue!.
Have you ever watched a TV program made in your native language ?. Have you ever listened to a radio program in your native language ?. Have you ever listened to news on TV in your native language ?. Have ever listened to news on radio in your native language ?.
Do you know that feeling of clarity?. Do you know that feeling of completeness of understanding?.
Do you know that feeling of being heart-to-heart with the newscaster?.
That’s what native language does!.
Whether it is listening to news or learning in school, native language naturally does the same thing for you. It helps you understand better!.
If you learn in school in your native language; you’ll get that same feeling of clarity from the teacher. This’s why kids in countries like Japan, Korea, China, learn faster. They learn faster because, most of their comprehension problem has already been solved to a large extent by their native language.
Speaking to you in your native language is the most natural way I could get you to conceptualize complicated ideas without leaving you confused, especially difficult scientific principles.
Native language is a natural capital, not just for easy communication but also for learning. If something is difficult to explain (like scientific concepts), the most natural way to get you understand it is to explain it to you in your native language.
Therefore, teaching you in school in your native language will boost your innate power to learn. Again, this is because, the DNA of any culture is written in and with it’s language. If you destroy the language of a people, that culture will collapse over time. That’s why if you live too long in a particular country, you will gradually and subconsciously develop and adopt their way of behavior. In fact, if you live too long in a country you will gradually start losing your own culture in favor of your host’s country, especially if you have no community in that country who speak your own language. This initially manifest as feeling of home sick for a new visitor, until he/she out-grow it and begin the gradual accumulation of the host’s culture.
Due to the fact we Africans place priority on English language and French in our schools, we also subconsciously adopt western ideals and value system and lifestyles in our own lands. Yes, that’s how powerful a language could be!. A friend of mine, who have lived in Togo republic for 20 years, speaks Ewe (their local language) very fluently and he believes Togo is the best place on earth to live. He’s married there and unable to leave Togo.
Another brother who have lived in the USA for 30 years believes that’s the best place to live on earth.
Yet, another friend has lived in Russia for 18 years. He now speak Russian very fluently, and he said he have no plans of leaving Russia, despite the extreme cold weather there. Anytime this friend of mine comes to Nigeria, he behaves like a foreigner. In fact, when he comes its like he will start learning how to behave like a Nigerian again. He can’t even stay in Nigeria for over a week, otherwise he’ll become home (Russia) sick.
All these are possible because the culture of those countries have sunk deep into them through their native languages that they speak. It would be easier for them to leave those countries, if they didn’t speak their language.
Language ties you to a land and makes you become part of that culture, that’s why some countries wouldn’t mind giving you citizenship, if you speak their language fluently. After all, you have become one of them!.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter whether you acquire the knowledge of speaking the language of others in your country or in their country. The moment you make a foreign language a priority in your life, it’s only a matter of time before you also start behaving like those who own the language.
Think of the powerful influence a language could have on an individual as the same as the influence a job could have on a person or group of people.
If you take up a police job, within weeks you’ll start behaving like a police man.
If you become a doctor you’ll start behaving like a doctor in a matter of time.
If you become a politician, you’ll start behaving like a politician pretty soon.
If you become a journalist, within months you’ll start behaving like a journalist. The list goes on. Language have the same effect on an individual or group of people over time.
Back to topic………
The effect of intellectual slavery is very adverse, and it looks at no faces. Everybody is a victim. Emir of Kano, HRH Muhammadu Sanusi II once said “Every African is a victim of colonialism”. That’s very true!.
Intellectual slavery is one of the tools of neo-colonialism. It is modern slavery and everybody is a victim. Its like the black-hole, nothing escapes it. From the lowest man in the streets of Africa to presidents, everybody is a victim.
Even Wole Soyinka is a big victim, because as I said, nobody escapes it.
Wole Soyinka
(Nobel prize in “English literature” winner) No award won in Yoruba language
Though, Wole Soyinka has won noble prize in “English literature” but he has not written a single book in his own native Yoruba language, neither will he ever be able to do so. Western education makes him incapacitated, powerless, and unable to contribute to the literary development of his own native Yoruba language, even if he wanted…
What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?.
Soyinka has been fully dispossessed like an unfeathered bird!!. The same power he ought to have to impact the Yoruba literature, is the same power he has lost to English literature. And this is because, over many years he has been schooled to lose the same power he would’ve naturally have had to impact the Yoruba language, if western education didn’t happen. Don’t worry, you’ll understand this better soon when you understand how William Shakespeare impacted his own native English language.
Like an unfeathered bird, like a de-Africanized African
Yoruba is also a language and therefore have Yoruba literature!. Igbo is also a language and have Igbo literature!!. Hausa is also a language and have Hausa Literature!!. Zulu is also a language and have Zulu literature!!!. All African languages have it’s literature wasting away while we develop English and French literature, just as we were commanded to do by the colonial masters!!.
We no longer remember English is not our language, because if you’re able to give drugs (education) to birds to make them not grow their feathers again, the subsequent generation of birds that would be born over many years of the drug would eventually grow up not knowing they were supposed to have feathers!. They would grow up not knowing they do have within them the innate ability to fly!!. They would grow up not knowing they’ve been totally dispossessed!!!. This is exactly what white people wanted to achieve by installing their languages and model of education across Africa and other colonies.
Educational indoctrination is worse than religion or other form of indoctrination because it happens gradually over the many years we spend in schools in Africa!.
Adolf Hitler was a mind controller and he knew this. This is why Hitler said ”let me control the textbooks and I’ll control the mind of the nation”.
The slave masters have done their job and left Africa many years ago, it is now up to us to free ourselves from the shackles of mental slavery!. It is now up to us to free ourselves from intellectual slavery!. Bob Marley said “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, cause none but ourselves can free our mind”.
As I said earlier, William Shakespeare invented lots of words for the English people CLICK HERE to view some of them. He also invented these phrases. CLICK HERE to view some of them. More words, phrases and their meaning courtesy of Shakespeare. CLICK HERE to view. Shakespeare clearly left an eternal mark on his own English language.
Unlike William Shakespeare, our African authors have no impact whatsoever on our native languages. Their contributions has been stolen via western education, and they don’t even know it!.
Western education was craftily created to do exactly that!. It was created to strip him of his intellectual powers to contribute to education in his village, since the British know most people in his village are not English speaking. That is, if you want to be like him, you must first un-learn your African language and learn the English literature!. This is why if Soyinka suddenly finds himself in the midst of villagers in his community, he suddenly becomes a dummy unable to transfer his knowledge to them.
Whereas, if Soyinka were to travel to the United Kingdom, there’s no village, town, city, or Island that he wouldn’t be able to communicate his knowledge to. This’s exactly, what Kwame Nkrumah meant by “education serving western mercantile interests”. Your education becomes only useful to serving western interests.
But, of what use is your education, when you lack the ability to transfer your knowledge to people in your village?.
What western education want is to have monopoly over all we’ve learnt in school. What they want is to make our knowledge only valuable to western concerns. What they want is to have our education stuck with us unable to use it to solve real life problems. What they want is; if you’re an African CHEMIST, you’ll be a chemist only on paper. What they want is; if you’re an African PHYSICIST you’ll be a physicist only on paper. The resultant effect of this, is that it creates elitism in Africa, which helps widen the gap between the rich and poor in Africa.
Western education was not created for our own good. Rather, it was created by colonial powers out of their selfish interest to raise few African elites who will act as conduits for further exploitation of Africa and it’s resources.
Western education was created at the early 1800 century when call for abolition of slavery was gaining momentum globally, and colonial powers were under pressure by the indigenous people to leave occupied lands. By the early 1800 century, rebellion had begun in all British colonies across the world. The indigenous people had begun demanding freedom from occupation and slavery. The signs were there in all the colonized nations and the slave masters knew their days were numbered. With this pressure emanating from rebellion, it dawned on the colonialists that they weren’t in position any longer to rule all their colonies by direct military occupation. Therefore, they became creative and began finding other ways of ruling their colonies across the world. Eventually, Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, figured out they needed to install puppet governments they would continue to control from Europe. In the case of Britain from Buckingham palace, London.
Before leaving, they figured out that if they left us without teaching us their languages they’ll not have any means of exploiting us in absentia. You cannot fool someone unless you’re able to communicate them fluently. Get it?.
Therefore, they began enrolling sons of African kings in schools to learn to speak fluent English- in the case of Britain. France also got sons of kings in their colonies to speak fluent French. Spain and Portugal did the same. These first batch of Africans were schooled in Europe to think like Europeans!. Because, the main goal of the colonialists wasn’t to give them education, but to have them help propagate their languages in their various colonies.
That’s why till the 1920’s an educated African in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Gambia, Zambia and other British colonies was someone who could speak fluent English. Those early victims also spoke in clean British accent.
Similarly, in Cameroon, Benin republic, Congo, Ivory Coast, Togo, and other French colonies, an educated African in the 1920’s was someone who could speak fluent French- in French accent of course.
There were no other criteria for judging an educated African at that time, other than the ability to speak the language of the master- no technical skills, no intellectuals capability, absolutely nothing. Its like a job opportunity advertising the only qualification as ability to speak English!.
By the way, converting them to christianity, baptizing them, and changing their first or middle name to English one was compulsory. That’s why you still have us today in former British colonies with names like; Emeka John, Adebayo Michael, Effiong Jones, Kwame Donald, e.t.c.
Of course, France and the other colonial forces did exactly the same, because the colonialists were always keeping abreast of what the other was doing. So, in former French colonies today you have names like; Kodjo Clement, Honsou Blanchard, Ayo Nicolas, Koffi Patrick, e.t.c.
In Sierra-Leone, in the 1920’s, an educated class emerged that were so brainwashed that they chose two English names instead of one. So, they’ll go with names like; Jackson Adama Steve, Paul Baru Philip, e.t.c. The British used to mock them by calling them ”black Scotman” which was a derogatory name suggesting they were black European.
After indoctrinating these first batch of Africans, they were pushed down to Africa to work with the religious missionaries to make sure they install their language, model of education, and religion all over Africa. This way, they forced the African people to learn their ways as they went further to make it compulsory for every African country to adopt English or French or Spanish or Portuguese as the language of instruction and also compulsory subject in our schools. That’s how we came about western education.
Note that Rome previously used this strategy in medieval Europe to destroy languages and cultures across Europe in their hay days. When Rome was in power their colonies spoke Latin (the language of Rome) and were also forced to convert to the religion of Rome.
So, you can see the colonialists simply learnt from Rome!. Even our first leaders, people like; Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, Francis Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, down to Nelson Mandela, Robert Mugabe, e.t.c also got that education. However, what saved us was that Nkrumah and Azikiwe later hooked up with the Marcus Garvey school of thought in America and began de-brainwashing themselves to the point they were later to challenge colonial rule. Before Nkrumah and Azikiwe, Marcus Garvey was the first black man that freed himself from mental slavery and he preached the freedom of black people worldwide.
As you can see above, Nkrumah’s education couldn’t get him ”conscious of our degradation”. His eduaction couldn’t liberate him mentally until he connected with the Marcus Garvey school of thought.
Is our problem Religious indoctrination or Educational indoctrination?
Let me share with you an analogy of how someone described our mental bondage in Africa today. He was talking about religious indoctrination though, and he said our situation is like where “a gang of ruthless and notorious armed robbers break into a family house, stealing, killing, and raping the entire family. And while they’re at it, they deleted the police emergency helpline/phone number from the household’s diary and replaced it with another phone number.
Let me ask you.. would the thieves have giver a genuine number or a fake number? Of course, the alternative phone number belongs to the robbery gang and have a member of the gang waiting to answer it at the other end. And as expected, the innocent household dialed to call the police for help, not knowing the phone conversation is meant to keep them busy and distracted while the robbery last.
Do you think the family would ever realize they have the wrong number? What do you think the family did? The household believed they were dialing the right number and that help would eventually come!!. They have no idea the real police number has been deleted and replaced!!.
He concluded that “I guess in the case of Africans, we dialed the number given to us by ruthless and notorious armed robbers (colonialists/slave masters) while they’re enslaving, stealing and raping our lands. And surprise! That FAKE number is religion/god!. Our lands were invaded, our ancestors stolen (some sold), millions killed, our lands raped by the same people that brought us these religions, while they looted and raped and enslaved, they kept us busy in churches and mosques praying for a miracle”.
If you understand the above analogy, you’ll understand how anybody could be indoctrinated, and you’ll also understand that religious indoctrination is exactly the same as educational indoctrination.
So, when the so called educated people in Africa talks about religion as our problem, it shows how deep western indoctrination has sank us, because they have no idea they’re also in the matrix!!. They don’t understand why the emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, said “every African is a victim of colonialism”. Whether you’re educated or not!!. Whether you’re an atheist or not!!. As long as you’re an African, you’re a victim of colonialism.
Both religion and education were brought to us by the same European missionaries at the same time!.
Religion is not ours!!. Education is not ours!!!. Unless, our native African religion a.k.a paganism.
Religion was to serve a purpose and education too was to serve its own purpose. That’s why they gave us both religion and education- the two most powerful tool to control people. The purpose of religion is to console us, to make us docile, patient, and without willingness to retaliate, since “vengeance is for the lord” and not for men. On the other hand, the purpose of education is to control what is knowable by us, to make us intellectual slaves always looking up to white people for knowledge, to make us educated fools unable to question anything white people say or know. The real indoctrination was happening and is still happening under the so called education!.
Why Educational indoctrination is worse than religious indoctrination
The worst attack on Africa by the colonialists was the destruction of our native languages, which then destroyed our original system of knowledge acquisition- Education. This is why………………………..Language is like a seed. Within a seed contains all what the seed needs to become a tree. For example; if you plant maize seed, it would grow and have every other thing it needs. It would have stem, branches, leaves, roots, fruits, e.t.c. That’s how language is!!. But, if you destroy a maize seed, you’ve also inadvertently destroyed a tree!. You’ve destroyed stems, branches, barks, leaves, roots, fruits, e.t.c.
Therefore, if you destroy a language you’ve destroyed everything about those who own the language!!. If you destroy the language of a people, you’ve also destroyed their culture, religion, ideals, heritage, point of view, tradition, e.t.c, e.t.c. That’s exactly what the slave masters and colonialists did. They made sure they destroyed our languages by banning it while putting their own languages as our official language and forcing us to acquire knowledge with it.
Acquiring knowledge in their language was the second worst disaster that ever happened to Africa. Because, that means we can no longer challenge their views, as over time we have grown to become accustomed to learning what they want us to learn, knowing what they want us to know, not knowing what they don’t want us to know. This has led to an unfortunate situation where Africans have outsourced knowledge creation to foreigners!. It has led to a situation where we concede expert knowledge to outsiders!!. African people have surrendered the right to academic self affirmation to foreigners!!!. We’ve grown to become ”educated fools”. Indeed, its because we were schooled to think like fools that’s why Europeans came back with religion and literally told us they were saints and we believed them!. That’s why Adolf Hitler said ”let me control the textbooks and I’ll control the mind of the nation” . Hitler was right!. Education is the most effective tool of mass indoctrination!!.
What we need do is uproot the brainwashing education we inherited from Britain and France, and return to learning in our natural (native) languages- Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Efik, Ibibio, Tiv, Ijaw, Zulu, Zona, Swahili, Nupe, e.t.c, e.t.c. Each African tribe should return to studying in their native languages. Knowledge you acquire in your own language is the true meaning on knowledge.
Africa cannot develop until we return to speaking and writing in our native languages in school. We must be masters of our various languages by using them in schools to acquire knowledge. Doing this would naturally re-wire us back to ourselves over time.
Religion that some of us blame for our backwardness is just like a branch of a tree, not the seed, not even the root. Because, knowledge about the bible and koran was acquired via brainwashing western education!. Its the so called education that we’re using to acquire knowledge about religion, not the other way round.
Don’t we have christian and islamic studies in our school curriculum in Africa today? Are those working in our ministries of education not educated? Of course, they’ve been indoctrinated by western education such that they believe religion should be a subject in school!. So, you see, religion is not our problem, because the religious knowledge itself is acquired via education!!.
It is not religion that makes them teach religion in school. It is education!!.
Worshiping of foreign gods is just one of the hundreds of symptoms of what’s wrong with the African mind. So, why cutting the branches? Why not uproot the brainwashing education itself?
It’s such a pity we no longer remember what we have today is not true education, but an indoctrination fed us by the British and French, just like the robbers giving a fake phone number to their victim.
Why even blame religion? Is religion the principal way white people control Africa? Of course, not!.
White people control us in all areas!. White people also control YOU African Atheists or Pagans.
Again, if you studied Chemistry in school, it’s white man’s point of view about Chemistry.
If you studied Biology, it’s white man’s thoughts about Biology.
If you studied Economics, it’s white man’s knowledge of Economics.
If you studied Physics, it’s white man’s view of Physics. e.t.c, e.t.c.
No matter what you studied in school as an African, it’s always the white man’s point of view about that branch of knowledge. So, stop hiding your heads in sand like the Ostrich. Remove the plank in your eyes before removing the speck in your brother’s eye. The intellectual superiority white people exert over us is so huge, that’s why a white man boasted to me saying “Everything around you. Your career, weather engineering, Social Sciences, Arts, Medicine, Your Car, House, Clothes, phone. Everything, I mean everything is a product of white man’s ingenuity. Your most intelligent black professor is a product of white man’s education. All the theories and formulas he will encounter as a student were all developed by a white man. So please, what can you do without us?”.
As you can see above, this white man understands you cannot be a truly educated African, even if you hold a PhD. He knows there’s no education going on in Africa. Its YOU that has been fully indoctrinated that consider yourself educated, but they know your educational indoctrination is exactly as strong as the religious indoctrination. Whether you are a religious person or educated person, its the same indoctrination by the same white people!.
They gave us both religion and education!!. He had the audacity to say such to me because he understands we’re being fooled with what they fed us as education during colonialism, but YOU don’t know!.
He understands that knowledge is only knowledge, if they say so.
He understands they create knowledge and that all we do in Africa is copy and paste.
Yet, the saddest part is that while white people understands the damage and how western education mess up our minds, the so called educated Africans don’t!.
Until African nations re-invent education and eschew from what Fela Anikulapokuti called ”follow follow” we’ll remain in this situation of looking up to white people as a standard for knowledge creation.
You all African atheists must swallow your prides and drop your egos, then, come to the realization the supposed education you have is no better than the white man’s religion, your education is also a product of the white man’s deceit, therefore, you’re also as brainwashed as any bible or koran believing African. A reason the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Muhammad II, said
“every African is a victim of colonialism”.
We all have been fooled!!. In fact, that’s why Lord Kwame Nkrumah, the father of African independence, after schooling in three universities in USA and Britain and earning lots of degrees, came back to Africa with all his degrees and he shed tears saying “western education is a fraud”.
Lord Nkrumah was lucky enough to be in America during the days of Marcus Garvey. He listened and adopted Garvey’s philosophy and was intelligent enough to notice something was wrong with education in Africa. He even feared education in Africa would eventually create what Bob Marley called ”educated fools” who would collaborate with white people to re-colonize Africa in future. He’s not far from the truth!. As I said previously, when the language of a people is destroyed, their culture will also be destroyed over some hundreds or thousands of years. Meaning, if we continue in western education, our native languages would go into extinction over a hundred or thousands years, and we’ll practically become foreigners in our land!!.
If we continue the way we’re going, in future we could actually become more British than the British.
In future our brothers and sisters in Francophone African countries could actually become more French than French people.
We would totally become a lost people without any recollection of ourselves. This way, we by ourselves will constantly create brainwashed Euro-Afro hybrid elites (neither European nor African in mindset) who acts as conduit for further exploitation of Africa. The colonialists would have succeeded in training puppies (dogs) to behave exactly how they wanted us to behave!.
Ultimately, what western education brings to people are;
first: destruction of language, second: destruction of culture,
third: intellectual slavery,
fourth: poverty.
The only way we can have true education and development in Africa is to discard western education and create our own model of education. Same way we abandoned Hollywood movies in the early 90’s and created our own movie industry (Nollywood). Yes, we can!!. As it stands today, though the white man is no longer in Africa to officially execute colonialism, but by pursuing western model of education in our schools, we now act as self-replicating robots, sustaining, nurturing, and expanding colonialism and intellectual slavery, all by ourselves.
Sadly, this was the original purpose the colonialists wiped out our traditional form of education and introduced their brand of education into Africa. Incredibly, education in Africa is still perfectly serving it’s original purpose, many years after the so called independence. It’s so sad. ………TO BE CONTINUED
Written by Africason.
Africason is a musician (You can find his songs on iTunes: Artiste name: Africason) and a die-hard believer in Africa.
You can connect with him on;
Twitter: @African_School
e-School: www.AfricanSchool.org Facebook: facebook.com/AfricanSchool…
