Ethnicity and religion are two foremost
predicaments the African continent is facing which are both hampering her
orderly progress. Africans are sensitive to religion and their ethnic
affiliations because they believe it forms the basis of their identity. It is
momentous to note that this canker worms has eaten deeply into the African
society and is generating a lot of problems which I shall uncover briefly in
this article.
The first among the
problems motivated by ethnicity and religion is political instability and
unrest which has affected the peace of the African continent. It has further
abridged the political fragmentation of the African society. A good example of
this is the enduring crisis in Sudan which has left that country devoid of
peace for years.
Again Ethnicity and
Religious conflicts have led to conflicts that have retarded growth in the
African continent. Just as the saying goes that the major prerequisite to
development is lasting peace. Hence, ethnic and religious conflicts has idled
and impeded economic growth and development in the African continent and the
ensuing effect of this is the current slow pace of development the African
region is experiencing
In addition, ethnic and
religious conflict has sowed a seed of discord and disunity among Africans and
as a result this has made Africans to stop seeing themselves as one. It has
subjugated the notion of Panafricanism as enunciated by its founding fathers
such as Dubois and Garvery.
More so these mishaps
has encouraged the practice of favoritism among those with power or influence.
They tend to favor relatives or friends, especially by giving those jobs. This
act is popularly known as Nepotism. Indisputably, Nepotism has degenerate the
African society to one with a high unequal distribution of resources and thus
the ensuing effect of this is that in the contemporary African societies today,
there is a large gap between the rich and the poor.
What's more is that
ethnicity and religion has culminated to the greatest cataclysm of the twenty
first century which is terrorism. It is no news that most of the terrorist
activities today have religious and tribal undertones. Indeed these terrorist
activities have left Africa with grave consequences.
Finally religious and
ethnic conflicts have made Africa top on the chart in terms of Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs). It has forcefully made people migrate from one place
to the other in the quest for safety. It must be pointed out that some of this
people actually migrate to devoid lands where they are left to combat with
inadequacies that finally culminate to life threatening maladies.
Nevertheless, hope is not
lost for the African continent. There is a way out of this mayhem. I must
quickly point out here that singing the national anthem with passion and
enthusiasm would not bring an end to this scourge, neither would exhorting
tribalists and religious bigots put an end to it. The primus
interpers to the solution of this problem is constructivisim. Africans must
embrace the ideology of constructivism which provides a theoretical framework
to understanding what brought an end to the cold war. The basic teaching of the
constructivists is "Reconciliation" which is the timeliest therapy
for conflict resolution.
Again Africans must be re oriented about their cultural
inclinations and religious affiliations. They must understand that the unity of
their country underscores their religion and tribes.
Upon it all, Africans
must begin to take the concept and essence of History very serious both as a
discipline and a subject. It might sound ridiculous but the fact remains that
"It is impossible for Africans to solve the problem of religious and
communal clashes, riots, conflicts and violence in Africa today, without
understanding our primordial, religious, cultural and colonial past, what we
were before the arrival of Islam, the colonial masters and Christian missions,
and what we became during and after the Islamic, colonial and Christian, and
post-colonial eras".
Miracle Ifeanyi Eze is a graduate
from the Department of History and International Relations, Ebonyi State
University. He is also the chief editor, Global diplomats’ forum, Nigerian
chapter.
No comments:
Post a Comment