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By Francis E. Ogbimi
Today, European nations, the United States of America, and some Asian nations enjoy high productivity, manufacture many products and have mechanized agriculture and they are rich. However, African nations only produce agricultural produce – farm products; African nations do not produce manufactured goods and they are poor. Why is that the situation?
History also revealed that the existing productive Western and Asian nations were poor artisan/craftsmen nations for about 2000-3000 years before they became industrialised, productive and rich nations. Most of the nations of modern Western Europe were harnessed into the Roman Empire in 55 B. C.; the western portion of the Empire broke up in 406 A. D. England was formed by the various kingdoms in the Island in the tenth century while England and Scotland formed Great Britain in 1625. Britain achieved the first modern Industrial Revolution(IR) in the period 1770-1850 (Carrington and Jackson, 1954; Brooke, 1968; and Gregg, 1971). Other European nations followed the British evolutionary experience and became industrialized later. Thus, European nations achieved the modern industrialization after toiling for about 2000 years.
Lasting English colonization of the New World (the Americas) began when a group of Englishmen applied for royal charters to authorize enterprise in America. King James issued a single charter to them as the Virginia company in 1606. Early Virginia was devoted to one crop, tobacco. Over the period of about one century later, a tide of emigration swept from various parts of the world, especially Europe to the New World (United States Information Agency, 1965). Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, Scots, Irishmen, Dutchmen, Swedes and Africans, willing and through force, took their habits and traditions to the New World. There were thirteen original colonies by 1774. The colonies revolted against the British Crown in 1775, declared Independence in 1776 and fought the War of Independence in the period 1775-1783 (Baldwin, 1969). The Americans wrote and adopted the popular American Constitution in 1789. They fought a civil war in the period 1861-1865. Over 90 per cent of America was made up of tiny villages which had no contact with each other in 1800.The United States of America achieved the modern IR in the period 1850-1900 (Bartlett, et al., 1969).
The Japanese claim that the existence of their nation dates back to 600 B. C.; more objective sources suggest 300 B. C. Japan, again, was an agricultural nation for thousands of years till it speeded up its process of achieving the modern industrialization in the period 1886-1905 (Hull, 1971; and Reischaur, 1970). The Chinese believe that the existence of their nation dates back to 4000 B. C. Again, archeological research suggests 1000 B. C., though there were separate local cultures each developing on its own as early as 2500 B. C. in the same region (Eberhard, 1950). Chinese rapid industrialization began in 1949 when Mao Zedung mobilized all the citizens for learning and industrialization. China is a 3000-year nation. The industrialised European nations, the United States of America and the industrialized Asian nations have not always been industrialized; they evolved from agricultural status and achieved industrialisation.
History teaches the wise people to avoid the things that delay progress and focus on things that promote rapid progress. History also teaches people to avoid the mistakes of others. Brace (1971), observed that culture is central to man’s evolutionary success. Some aspects of culture are perishable or intangible and therefore do not contribute much to the cumulative which goes to show how long a culture has existed. Brace’s postulate also includes the observation that non-perishables cultural elements have an antiquity of about two million years in Africa. The cultural tradition of which they are part continues without break, expanding to occupy the tropical and temperate parts of the Old World and ultimately developing into all the cultures in the world today. Brace and his team concluded that Africa is the original birthplace for all mankind.
How could the original birthplace of mankind become the most primitive place in the world? Before 1300 A. D., the level of scientific and technological development in many respects was lower in the Western world than in the Great Medieval Civilizations(GMCs). The GMCs were the Chinese, Indian and Islamic Cultures. In those civilizations, science had flourish during the Dark Ages of the West (Gottschalk, et al., 1969). Also, during the period African empires flourished, Africans were very generous; Africans willingly transferred their inventions and those of other GMCs to Europe (Cardwell, 1974).
During the period 1470s-1870s, Europeans, through warfare, trickery, banditry and kidnapping, forcefully shipped many millions of Africans to Europe, the Americas and the Atlantic Islands, where they lived and worked as the properties of Europeans and Americans (Walter Rodney, 1972). In the Berlin conference of 1884 and 1885, Europeans powers signed an agreement as to how to partition Africa. That was how Africa’s development experience moved from enslavement into colonization phase.
The period of foreign domination is one of cultural dislocation in terms of the rate of development and direction. Africans were traumatized by the Caucasians for centuries. Consequently, Africans have been planning based on the indoctrination of Caucasians. Latin Americans nations are aftermath of the trans-Atlantic slave-trade. Latin-Americans have been planning based on unexplained emphasis on foreign investments and small scale industries since they became independent in the 1820s. African nations have also been laying unexplained emphasis on foreign investment on foreign investment and small scale industries. Latin Americans have been operating Western education since the 16th century (Webber and Hussey, 1941). Africa will not make rapid progress with Europe and America thinking for Africa. Africa must do the thinking and acting to make progress. The time is now.
Our research showed that learning (education, training, employment and research) is the primary basis for achieving industrialisation. Western and Asian nations neglected learning for almost 2000-3000 years when kings were ruling. African nations would achieve rapid industrialization if they mobilize all their citizens for learning and industrialization like Japan did 1886-1905 and China did since 1949.
Mere capital investment, erecting complex infrastructure through jumbo loans, begging for foreign investments, keeping large foreign reserves and measuring mere growth without development (GDP) do not promote industrialization. The experience of many African nations especially Nigeria has demonstrated that Western thoughts about the development of a society lack a sense of history and lack understanding of the science of industrialization. They do not promote true economic growth and industrialization. A World Bank study, “Can Africa claim the 21st century?” showed that Africa was richer in 1970 than in year 2000. African nations have been moving backwards and accumulating huge debts.
African nations must acquire scientific knowledge and capabilities to become productive. An unwise nation with agricultural economy may borrow money to erect infrastructure but it cannot buy scientific knowledge and capabilities.
Prof. Ogbimi writes via [email protected]
