Looking back at the era of slavery and the continuing predicament of the Negro African, I have come to understand  why it was possible for the Negro, of all the races to be enslaved en masse. Slavery remains the most humiliating and inhuman act in all history. But the argument the European slave merchants  advanced to justify slavery remains relevant even today.
The slave merchants had argued that the Negro was subhuman, and was incapable of organising a normal society, or even co-exist peacefully with their African neighbours. To-date it is not uncommon to hear white racists insisting that Africans are inferior and cannot co-exist peacefully.

Truth is African nations have continued to validate an argument that  sought to justify slavery and eventually colonialism more than  three hundred years ago. The enslavery of Negro Africans  on  a large scale was possible in part because Africans then as now were greedy, and readily became middlemen that sustained the trade by kidnapping and supplying the Europeans with  African slaves. The level of greed that made it possible for Africans to sell their kinsfolk to strange unknown foreigners is still prevalent.

In drawing parallels with the situation that led to slavery, I  have often contemplated the Nigerian quagmire. Nigeria as the most populous Black nation easily mirrors the rest of the Black race.
If she succeeds the black race succeeds, if she fails the black race fails. However Nigeria has unfortunately remained a nation which just doesn’t seem to get it right. We seem to be pathologically bent on failure.
The image of the typical African today is that of a “sick, starving,  warring, begging, genocidal, lesser homo sapiens”  as is commonly seen on the screens of televisions. There is a total absence of dignity, even as Africans are regarded as the least in the ladder of the human race.

The greater tragedy, is that those African so called leaders are so shameless and so unconscionable, that they actually thrive on the misery of their subjects. (notice the same behaviour pattern with the erstwhile African slave traders).

As Nigeria come 2007 enters what can be called the final phase in the making or unmaking  of a “stillborn nation”. We must ask ourselves; What kind of a nation do we want? Do we need to stay together, or do we need to part ways peacefully?  Where did we get it wrong? Should we remain in the past, or should we move on? How can we use our own situation to change the negative perception of the African? 
These are all questions we need to ponder in our onerous search for an egalitarian, and mega-prosperous nation.

Nigerians  have been waiting for a messiah. Someone who will enthrone, justice, equality and fairplay. A leader who will wage a decisive and honest battle against the cancer of corruption.
A totally detribalised  pan-Nigerian  leader who will without fear or favour do justice to all and sundry, regardless of ethnic affiliation or religious leaning.
A humanist and realist who will convene a “Sovereign national conference”, end all the contradictions of present day Nigeria, restructure the nation along natural ethnic lines, devolve considerable power to the federating ethnic regions, give us a constitution truly enacted by the people, and usher in a  “mega and melting pot Nigeria”   where every tribe,culture,and religion is celebrated.    

Many countries have had their Messiah’s, notably Ghana, in the person of flight lt. Jerry Rawlings who executed  all the erstwhile  corrupt leaders and enthroned a new order in Ghana.
P.W.De Klerk, who against all odds dismantled Apartheid  and ushered in Black majority rule in South-Africa.
The greatest obstacle to Nigeria’s renaissance, is the continuing influence of the military and political class  who have held Nigeria hostage since 1970. This tiny self serving “oil block” cabal constitutes the greatest obstacle to a progressive Nigeria.

 As we continue to wait and hope for a Nigerian messiah, the Ghanaian example as exemplified by Flight lt. Jerry Rawlings surgical action against corrupt leaders, might be what Nigeria really needs. Time will tell.

Robot  Villager

# 1 Looking back at the era of slavery and the continuing predicament of the Negro African...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 15.06.2006 13:20

demonteufel  Villager

# 2 A humanist and realist who will convene a “Sovereign national conference�, end all the contradictions of present day Nigeria, restructure the nation along natural ethnic lines, devolve considerable power to the federating ethnic regions, give us a constitution truly enacted by the people, and usher in a “mega and melting pot Nigeria� where every tribe,culture,and religion is celebrated. chinedu, thank you, a well thought out statement, true in nature and there is nothing i can add to it...indeed! Posted by demonteufel| 15.06.2006 14:01

bennie  Villager

# 3 Chinedu, Another very interesting piece, at least devoid of tribal sentiments. Keep it up. Posted by bennie| 15.06.2006 16:06

Nnodi

# 4 According to Nwobu, "The enslavery of Negro Africans on a large scale was possible in part because Africans then as now were greedy, and readily became middlemen that sustained the trade by kidnapping and supplying the Europeans with African slaves. The level of greed that made it possible for Africans to sell their kinsfolk to strange unknown foreigners is still prevalent" Of course. Africans had comparable intelligence with Europeans then, as they still do today. Africans had the same FREEDOM AND RANGE of choices at that time to direct their affairs properly, but again like today, they willfully made the wrong choices. "The greatest obstacle to Nigeria’s renaissance, is the continuing influence of the military and political class who have held Nigeria hostage since 1970. This tiny self serving “oil block� cabal constitutes the greatest obstacle to a progressive Nigeria." It is wrong to think that oil has corrupted the Nigerian political class. If Nigeria hadn't oil, corruption may well manifest itself in the context of any other available resources. If oil wells were to dry up, and if agriculture or any other form of industry were unviable, the political class would promptly resume extreme exploitation of the human resource. The societal culture that allowed the engendered the slave trade is still very much alive today. Posted by Nnodi| 15.06.2006 16:33

Nnodi

# 5 According to Nwobu, "The enslavery of Negro Africans on a large scale was possible in part because Africans then as now were greedy, and readily became middlemen that sustained the trade by kidnapping and supplying the Europeans with African slaves. The level of greed that made it possible for Africans to sell their kinsfolk to strange unknown foreigners is still prevalent" Of course. Africans had comparable intelligence with Europeans then, as they still do today. Africans had the same FREEDOM AND RANGE of choices at that time to direct their affairs properly, but again like today, they willfully made the wrong choices. "The greatest obstacle to Nigeria’s renaissance, is the continuing influence of the military and political class who have held Nigeria hostage since 1970. This tiny self serving “oil block� cabal constitutes the greatest obstacle to a progressive Nigeria." It is wrong to think that oil has corrupted the Nigerian political class. If Nigeria hadn't oil, corruption may well manifest itself in the context of any other available resources. If oil wells were to dry up, and if agriculture or any other form of industry were unviable, the political class would promptly resume extreme exploitation of the human resource. The societal culture that engendered the slave trade is still very much alive today. Posted by Nnodi| 15.06.2006 16:34

Palamedes  Villager

# 6 You have taken a perspective and a point of reference, both of which are Western. Try an African perspective and you would see the extent of the lies written by the Europeans to justify slavery. The slave merchants had argued that the Negro was subhuman In history, branding a people or race "subhuman" is a prerequisite for committing crime against them; it is used to first demean and then to justify subsequent crime perpetrated against them. In colonial times, the British called us subhumans but in Roman times, the British were themselves called barbarians and subhumans; Jews and Russians were called subhumans by Nazi Germany and we know what happened to them subsequently. "Terrorist", "Evil Empire", and "axis of evil" are variants of the word "subhumans" used by Western leaders; it is a methodology. Two main faults that contributed to slavery were our ignorance and hospitability: It would have been an African version of history if our ancestors had sharpened their arrows and knives and chopped off the heads of the early Europeans who arrived at our shores, instead we welcomed them and they abused our hospitality. In spite of this bitter history, we still show our great hospitality to outsiders, just as our ancestors did to our detriment. We have learnt nothing from our history. It disturbs me greatly that our enlightened generation of Africans are still caught in the web of colonial mentality and diction; still referring to themselves as blacks and negroes. What do you mean by a "Black race"? Is a race ever defined by its attributes, such as height or "Tall race", colour or "Brown race", eye or "Green eyes race" et cetera. What is wrong with being called Africans? Nigeria is not a "Black nation" but an African country and it would be too simplistic to say that it mirrors the rest of the African race. Some Boers might agree with you on De Klerk messianic effort to save them in the face of their final downfall. Jerry Rawlings executed a few people and he qualifies for messiahship? A more befitting name would be Jerry the executioner. What Nigerian needs is not an executioner, but an African Napoleon; a prodigal, a loner; one who is indifferent to his/her own interest; one with a vision and burning passion; one with intellectual and moral conscience; a master philosopher; atribal, areligious; a human psychologist; one who get his/her fix and high in solving problems; one who can see, feel, and smell the destiny of Africa. This messiah may well be among us but is the soil fertile enough for a good harvest? Posted by Palamedes| 15.06.2006 20:19

Nnodi

# 7 According to Palamedes, "Two main faults that contributed to slavery were our ignorance and hospitability: It would have been an African version of history if our ancestors had sharpened their arrows and knives and chopped off the heads of the early Europeans who arrived at our shores, instead we welcomed them and they abused our hospitality. In spite of this bitter history, we still show our great hospitality to outsiders, just as our ancestors did to our detriment. We have learnt nothing from our history." The reason why we tend to think Africans were ignorant few centuries ago is that most of us lack a detailed knowledge of African History. The claim that we must have been ignorant is a self-consolatory cop-out. Africans have never been ignorant at any time, and certainly we weren't hospitable - remember the british expedition which was ambushed because they went into the kingdom of Benin (against the advice of the Oba of Benin) during a festival that forbade foreigners within the territory. As far as slave trade goes, we just made the choice to sell one another for cash. I suspect that imported religion and westernisation has removed the depth and richness from what should have been a present day African worldview but that is another argument for another day. So in a sense we are probably even less AWARE as Africans today. In any case, we have the choice today to restructure the country to ensure long term political stability. But what have we chosen? We have the choice to pursue industrial and technological development with global competition in mind, but what do we do instead? We at least have the opportunity to have cars made in Nigeria by Nigerians, but what are we doing with that opportunity? Events are happening in Sudan which have implications for our children, what are we doing about it? Looking the other way. If we wanted to improve our agricultural industry to world standard, we could EASILY have sent our scientists and technicians to any industrialised country to observe the workings of the industry, but what did we choose to do in our mental laziness? We heartily invited racist settlers to farm for us. We could have gathered our best brains from within Nigeria and abroad to run the Ajaokuta steel mill, but WHAT did we do? We decided that indians knew better than us. So are we doing these things because we are ignorant today, or because we are willfully making the wrong choices? Posted by Nnodi| 16.06.2006 03:48