On Richard Smith and an Intentional Approach to African Identity – Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu

Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, is a trustee of Society of Igbo Professionals (SIP) https://societyofigboprofessionals.org/ .
The Article he talked about is below

On ‘Richard Smith’, the British Guitarist
I had seen and thus far successfully ignored this post because lengthy, anonymous posts in social media are usually flotsam, litter bobbing annoyingly on the water rather than sinking, but thankfully pushed away from one’s path by the natural ebb and flow of information exchange. This floater has defied all flushing so permit me to address it forcefully.

On WhatsApp in particular, stuff published  with pseudonyms or anonymously,  is a weaponised opinion the writer is unable to stand by. With the rare exception of a superb piece of comedic art and jokes, an informed article or public notice (both by an acknowledged expert or commentator), I rarely read forwards too and have little time for such. I also feel that those who forward such also have little time too because they obviously do not reflect on what they forward.

Without meaning to personally offend, only the intellectually disenfranchised or lazy would forward Mr. Smith’s write-up. It is a regurgitation of the better written Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness which every teenager in Africa must have read as a first year undergrad as part of General Studies 101. In Nigeria particularly where History was only just restored to the curriculum of Basic Education after decades, one does need to extend an amnesty to those who came of voting age of recent since they are hapless victims of a policy now orphaned by all Education regulators.

I use the terms, disenfranchised and lazy because that is the only way to explain a person’s not having the perspective to see through a thesis that is centuries old viz. the the black (African) race is inferior to the white (Caucasian). It doesn’t need to be debated except as an intellectual exercise; and can only be canvassed from the anecdotal position of a Mr. Smith. Surely, the great white race with all its resources and capability should have advanced scientific proof of its superior gene pool after nearly a 1000 years of propagating this thesis?

Edward Blyden wrote in 1869 that: “the conclusions to which study and research are conducting philosophers, none is clearer than this that each of the races of mankind has a specific character and a specific work. The science of Sociology is the science of race. In the midst of these discussions. Africa is forcing its claims for consideration upon the attention of the world, and science and philanthropy are bringing all their resources to bear upon its exploration and amelioration.” ( Edward Wilmot Blyden,
The Origin and Purpose of African Colonization)

It was elegantly stated in the History of the Gold Coast and Asante in 1889 (with a revised English edition in 1895), by Rev.Carl Christian Reindorf that: “If a nation’s history is the nation’s speculum and measure-tape, then it brings the past of that nation to its own view, so that the past may be compared with the present to see whether progress or retrogression is in operation; and also as a means of judging our nation by others, so that we may gather instruction for our future guidance. When such is not the case with a nation, no hope can be entertained for better prospects.” The intellectual does not shirk from an honest introspection, but he/she does not wantonly embrace a statement of opinion as truth.

Chinua Achebe speaks to the 21st century African as he does to the rest if the world when he says, “[But] you cannot compromise my humanity in order that you explore your own ambiguity.” Unfortunately, we are all in search of a usable identity with which to take our perspectives and navigate the world around us. Adopting, rather than self-defining through thoughtful consideration is the approach of the commons hence the Mr. Smiths are legion. And in these instances, regretfully but firmly as we do for random visitors to our homes during the Covid-19 pandemic, one must consider the principles of social distancing as necessary to prevent community spread of virulent opinions by WhatsApp.

The staccato of social media is not the place or space for an intellectual engagement. Its mostly tactical rapid-fire noise with no strategy. The fastest and most persistent fingers win WhatsApp wars, not the most agile, precise, analytical or open minds. In closing this long post, let me offer a suggestion to those who would engage the Mr. Smiths amongst us:  ask them to go read a book. The gunfire will stop.
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Reading List (please add yours and repost – yes we, too can forward)
1. Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
2. Leopold Sedar Senghor, On Negritude
3. Edward Wilmot Blyden,
The Origin and Purpose of African Colonization
4. Frantz Fanon, Wretched of the Earth
5. Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
6. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Renascent Africa
7. Chinweizu, The West and the Rest of Us.