It is needless to mention the ups and downs, twists and turns and all the events that have characterised African history from time immemorial. Ever since the human race came into existence, society has been subjected to changes in its structure and organization, gradual and rapid, in the course of time.
In their analysis of human society, Marx and Engels identified various phases that human beings have experienced in the course of history; communalism, slavery, feudalism, and capitalism. The next logical stage is socialism, and ultimately communism.
The African society, before the invasion and colonization by Europe, was majorly in the first phase of human progress. Most African communities lived under communalism, where all land and other means of production were commonly owned by the people, there was joint contribution of labour to the production process and the proceeds of production were distributed equally among the members of the community. The society was purely classless. Various reasons necessitated this classlessness; the forces of production, such as the tools, were not advanced and required cooperation from a number of people to be used in tilling the land effectively; cooperation was required to keep harmful creatures as well as hostile communities at bay. Some communities, however, were past this stage and already had a centralized form of government, where classes were established.
But with the coming of the Europeans, there was a sudden change. Europe was already full of bourgeoning capitalist states in the epoch of imperialism, whose capitalist class was forced to venture into underdeveloped areas in a bid to maximize their own profits, having exhausted their home markets. Africa, as well as other areas in Asia and the Americas experiencing colonial domination, was a seemingly peculiar place to these Europeans. There were no states; except the few kingdoms and chiefdoms and the coastal city states, and the reason was clear; there were no classes. Since, according to Lenin, the state is a product of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms, the African society never required the territorial division of its land into states due to its classless nature.
Europe, though, brought something different. The British, French, Portuguese, Germans, Italians, Spanish and Belgians all curved up chunks of territory in order to effectively exploit Africa's labour and resources. All of a sudden, Africans found themselves, against their will, bound into a strange system of 'states', with the European administrators and law enforcers as the ruling class and the mass African peasantry as the exploited class. The appalling violence of the ruling European class against the people, the Africans, was clearly evident. The division of Africa into colonies and protectorates was, thus, a product of the struggle between the African masses and the incoming European imperialists for the economic resources of the continent.
An uneven development as it might be, Africa's progress was bound to be uniquely different. Largely a continent of communities still living in the communal phase, certainly due to a number of factors, our contacts with a people way ahead in technological advancement was bound to have far reaching consequences. Capitalism is a system of exploitation, a mode of production in which the strong devours the weak, in which the rich dispossess the poor, and in which all possible means are used to spread its influence throughout the world. Africa's interaction with Europe would enforce a change in our social, economic and political superstructure, and Africans would pay dearly for this.
Expectedly, there was a change in African society during colonialism. It is the nature of capitalism to divide, and the African masses, living under this system, were not immune to this. The European colonial administration worked hard to produce an African elite, an educated and semi educated folk to work in the administrative bureaucracy. This new 'enlightened' class of Africans, brought from the natives but alienated from them, would be taught to 'see the light' of colonialism and embrace the new civilization. In no time, a group of Africans, who only yesterday constituted the farmers, the pastoralists and the fishermen, found themselves cut off from them, enjoying the status of 'civilized folk' visiting urban centers occasionally, owning a few small businesses here and there, and paying their taxes dutifully.
It is these very Africans who in fact agitated for the need of political independence. They constituted the intellectual vanguard and, perceiving a direct conflict in their economic interests vis a vis the interests of the European colonialists, mobilized and organized the masses in a bid to flush out the white men. This petty bourgeois class, expectedly, took the lead in the struggle for political emancipation due to the tools they had at their disposal in their adequate education and their ability to mobilize and organize the masses. However, this struggle that they spearheaded was not for the political, social and economic freedom of the masses, not for the ability of the African farmer, worker, fisherman or pastoralist to fully express themselves in their own land, nor for the end of exploitation in all its forms, but for their opportunity to occupy the pinnacles of power, control the state machinery and thus enforce their economic interests.
Hence, the struggle for African independence was a product of the development of classes in Africa, and the granting of independence a recognition of the presence of these classes.
The African petty bourgeoisie thus found itself at the apex of political power in post colonial Africa, and, having no need for the toiling masses who provided support in the struggle for independence, and in desperate desire to maintain the very mode of production which in fact brought about their existence, collaborated with the bourgeoisie proper based in the North in a bid to secure their economic interests and further exploit the toiling masses of Africa.
Thus, Africans in the post colonial era find themselves betrayed by the very folk they rallied behind in the struggle for political emancipation. This class of Africans, a tiny minority, in conjunction with the capitalist class of the North, constitute the principal enemies of the people of Africa today, and are responsible for the pitiful state of affairs in Africa today.
It is the responsibility of every African to understand the system and work for its overthrow. A conceptualization of this aspect of class is key for the emancipation of all Africa from its exploiters.
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ReplyDeleteTrue comrade..there existed several civilizations in Africa which were past the communalistic stage. In fact, kingdoms such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Nubia, Ghana, Mali, Songhai etc were more advanced than Europe ever knew. But their collapse was not followed by a rise in other similar civilizations. A regression in progress? Maybe? It's also true that left on their own, most African communities would have developed into kingdoms and taken human progress to a higher level. But various factors, majorly interference by foreigners, curtailed this development.
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