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By John Nkenchor (08057714385)
To him therefore who knoweth to do good and doth it not, to him, it is sin. James 4: 17.
My friends and I were engrossed in a discussion on how mankind can improve and implement ideas that will promote peace, advancement and the wellbeing of humanity, instead of producing weapons of mass destruction.
However, our discussions soon spilled over to the continents of the world. Africa, the only remaining continent still in the doldrums, captured our interest. Professor Okokoko was the first to speak. The advanced nations of the world are quietly watching dormant and developing economies struggle to free themselves from crippling negative roadblocks and harmful influences. Our ways of doing things are crude, and people have accepted them as the norm. They will be quick to tell you that we are growing at our own pace. Which pace?
We need a man brimming with ideas on how to do things, not someone wholly dependent on visionless advisers who are petrified of revolutionary change. A man knowledgeable and bold in the art of governance. A man who says now. Africa, it is now. Do not push it into the future or keep crawling forever. Doctor Ojoewu, deeply incensed by the professor’s speech, began talking immediately he stopped.
I do not accept all these excuses and foolish ideas being circulated by visionless leaders. They do not set targets for what they intend to achieve to build a strong and stable economy and pursue industrialisation independently, free from the influence of economic hawks. Instead, they go about begging for the transfer of technology. Who will give that to you? Asians have proved that you must acquire it yourself. Do not deceive yourself that your country must be a thousand years old before it begins scientific research. Colonial structures imposed on the people cannot be amended or retooled to meet the current aspirations of the continent.
Consider the Congo Pygmies who hate to leave the cover of the forest canopies. It seems they abhor meddlesomeness and modernity. Sometimes they wander into towns or cities and stop to purchase whatever catches their fancy. The town youths will be wearing colourful clothes and watching television, while the Pygmies are barely covered with what looks like rags. Their youths begin to ask questions. Why are we in the forest? Why are we not like these people? So a silent revolution is brewing.
We all laughed at Doctor Ojoewu’s words because they are applicable to the continent. The youths will ask, why are we not like these people? Doctor April Goldberg, an astrophysicist and the only female in our midst, spoke next. She is a black American. I do not refer to them as African American because it sounds to me as if I am pulling them backwards. Once you asked me, she began, pointing at me, why the late astronomer Doctor Carl Sagan suggested to NASA that they turn the camera back toward Earth from outer space. He wanted us to know how we looked from a distance. You must know how people perceive you. Africa appears unperturbed by criticism and the dehumanising treatment of others because the continent has refused to move forward and show the world what it is capable of achieving.
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Professor Thomas Park and I were once invited to speak in an Asian country. After speaking, I received a call from my husband. He was at my grandmother’s house, so it took a while before I could extricate myself from their long chat. When I returned to the venue, Professor Thomas Park, a white man who had travelled with me from the States, and a Japanese gentleman he introduced as Dr Ono, approached me. In your absence, a gentleman from Africa spoke, Professor Park said, and he brought down the roof.
Did he? I asked, concealing my excitement. He was brimming with ideas and filled his speech with workable, innovative concepts that could catapult the third world into the first. He possessed the right dose of uncommon wisdom, said Dr Ono. The uncommon degree of courage he displayed unsettles old, entrenched systems. He was endorsed by every respectable scholar present today, the Japanese gentleman concluded.
His nation will be proud to have produced giants like him, I said smiling. Professor Park said that is where the contention lies. Doctor Ono and I do not agree that he is from Africa. Doctor Ono laughed. He is from Asia. His ideas found fertile ground in this hemisphere. They cannot take root in a systematically corrupt region because they would disrupt the entrenched and wasteful status quo.
What is the name of the gentleman in question? I asked. Professor Patrick Utomi, Professor Park replied. It sounds African, Asian like I said. I have heard of him before. He was introduced to me as an African. Doctor Ono, speaking with a Japanese accent, told us more about Professor Pat Utomi. His ideas are revolutionary in essence. They carry fire, urgency and new ways of solving intractable modern Gordian knot issues. He proposes scientifically researched, workable solutions for industry and accountable governance. If he had been in Japan during the Second World War, he could have persuaded the emperor to consider alternatives. This man is Asian.
Who will believe you, Doctor Ono? Professor Park replied. This man is African, a quintessential scholar of the first order. Lost to an unappreciative continent. A pioneer of modern political retooling, engineering and new social order capable of transforming the political landscape. A friend once told me that Professor Utomi was asked why the continent is not enthusiastic about the brilliant ideas he and others propose. He replied, to listen is the first step, to accept is the second and it comes with a price.
I had to intervene. Gentlemen, I said, both of you agree that Professor Utomi has business ventures on the African continent. You also agree that by his looks he can pass as African or Asian. We shall find out where he is really from.
We all laughed at the amusing misconception. Ode to Professor Patrick Utomi.
For further comment, please contact: Osondu Anyalechi: 0909 041 9057; [email protected]
