This book is a call on Africans and non-Africans to once more
believe in the possibility of a better future for Africa. In these
pages, Stan Chu Ilo writes of his experience and the experiences of
many young Africans like himself who are disturbed by the present
condition of Africa. He writes about the challenges facing most
Africans who are growing up in the African continent without any
hope of quality education, without any guarantee of adequate food,
water, housing, and clothing; without any hope of getting a job,
and without any prospect of living in peace with their neighbors.
He writes of the sad situation of millions of young Africans who
are dying of malaria and HIV/AIDS, and the African women whose fate
and fortune have been shackled by a male-dominated society. He
questions the bases of the existence of the failed states of
Africa, who are caught up in a cycle of violence and disorder and
who are not asking the right questions about the future of their
nations. He argues that corruption, excessive authoritarianism, a
stubborn hold on power, and lack of openness to consensus-building
among some African leaders insult the cultural value of Africans
with regard to a sense of community, love and solidarity. He also
writes of the pain of globalization, the debt burden, immigration
and trade restrictions on Africans and African countries,
exploitation of ordinary Africans by fellow Africans and Western
governments and business conglomerates. He wonders why many Western
nations should turn their backs on Africa, when they all share some
responsibility in bringing Africa to her knees. However, even
though many Africans have become exhausted in the battle for
national survival and fora living space to pursue their ordered
ends, this book proposes that Africans should not claim perpetual
victimhood, rather they should stand up once more and work for a
better tomorrow, which is possible, and within their reach. Ilo
insists that the imposing mountains of economic and social ruin;
the rising moans and groans of numberless Africans, should not
weaken the inner energy and ardent hopes of millions of Africans
struggling against the untested assumption, that the cracking
social, political, and economic foundations of present day Africa,
are incapable of supporting the structures of a new Africa. The
face of Africa today is ugly, but behind the ugly face is the
beauty that has been distorted by historical and cultural factors.
The present condition of Africa is only the sign of the urgent need
for the peoples of Africa to brace up for the long and hard journey
to reclaim their future. Ilo outlines how non-Africans who are
interested in the African condition can be involved with the
peoples of Africa. A proper understanding of the African continent
and her peoples, her history and cultural evolution is a necessary
first step for those who wish to be engaged with the Africans. His
total picture approach model as the key to interpreting the African
condition and in comprehensively addressing the challenges facing
Africa, offers a helpful and original tool in understanding Africa.
It helps to overcome the stereotypes, prejudices and paternalism
which non-Africans apply in their reading of African history and
their relation with the African reality. With masterly skills, a
keen sense of history, a balanced perspective and objectivity, Ilo
identifies the constraints to growth andinnovation in Africa in
terms of the low stocks in the human-capital and cultural
development. He introduces a new concept in the interpretation of
the African condition: homelessness in terms of cultural and
existential crises that confront Africans today. His conclusion is
that cultural and human development is the irreducible decimal in
any proposal for the transformation of the continent; that
grassroots village-based action should be preferred over bogus and
unworkable national approaches to African development.
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