UBIDHAISHAJI WA MAUMBILE YA BINADAMU: Toka Sarah Baartman mpaka Agnes “Masogange” Na Mwl. Sabatho Nyamsenda

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Picha ya Sarah Baartman 

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Tunaishi katika zama mpya. Zama za ubepari uliochukua sura ya uliberali mamboleo. Ipo tofauti kati ya ubepari halisi na uliberali-mamboleo. Ubepari halisi ulijikita katika kutengeneza faida kwa kuzalisha bidhaa viwandani. Uliberali mamboleo ni ubepari wa kikasino. Katika zama za uliberali-mamboleo uzalishaji bidhaa siyo tena msingi wa ubepari

Upepari wa kikasino ni ule wa kutengeneza faida na kulimbikiza mtaji bila kujihusisha katika uzalishaji-mali. Uzalishaji-mali hufanyika mashambani na viwandani. Katika ubepari wa kikasino na kiporaji, mtu hutengeneza pesa kwa biashara za udalali, ununuaji na uuzaji hisa, ukopeshaji, kamari, upaishaji wa bei za vitu, n.k.

Katika uliberali mamboleo, ambao ni awamu ya ubepari uliofilisika, kila kitu hugeuzwa bidhaa na kuuzwa au kununulika sokoni. Huduma za jamii (afya, elimu, makazi na maji) hugeuzwa bidhaa na kuuzwa sokoni kama itokeavyo kwa manukato, nguo au magari. Ubidhaishaji umevuka mipaka, kiasi kwamba hata viumbe vinabidhaishwa. Katika makala haya nitazungumzia ubidhaifishaji wa muoneko wa viungo vya binadamu, hususun akinamama ufanyikao katika mfumo wa uliberali mamboleo.

Agnes Masogange

Jina la Agnes Gerald “Masogange” sio geni katika masikio ya Watanzania. Ni mwanadada mrembo. Lakini warembo wapo wengi. Masogange ni maarufu. Akina dada warembo na maarufu wapo wengi pia. Lakini umaarufu wa Masogange ni tofauti. Umaarufu wake umepatikana kutokana na anavyoonekana katika video za wanamuziki, na sehemu ya mwili wake inayompatia umaarufu ni makalio yake.

Mara kadhaa amekwishahojiwa naye akajisifia kuwa anajisikia raha kuwa na makalio makubwa: “Hakuna sehemu ninayoipenda kama makalio, yamekaa vizuri, nayapenda, najidai kupitia sehemu hiyo niliyojaaliwa na Mwenyezi Mungu,” alisema Agnes katika moja ya mahojiano yake yaliyochapishwa Machi 29, 2014 katika blogu ya Global Publishers.

Ukiingia katika mtandao utaona picha na video za Masogange. Nyingi ya hizo zinaonyesha “sehemu hiyo aliyojaaliwa na Mwenyezi Mungu”. Ameenda mbali hata kuweka picha na video zinazoonyesha utupu wake. Huko mtandaoni kuna wanaomlaani. Lakini hawa ni wachache. Wengi, hasa vijana, wanamsifia.

Lakini ole wako ewe msomaji mwema. Kama ulidhani kuwa makala haya yamelenga kumlaani ama kumsifia Masogange basi umekosea. Makala haya hayamzungumzii Masongange kama mtu bali yanazungumzia mfumo katili wa uliberali mamboleo. Nitatumia pia mfano wa “Masogange wa Kenya” aitwaye Vera Sidika. Afrika nzima kuna “akina Verana Masogange” wanaoibuka na kujizolea umaarufu na pesa. Huko Ulaya na Marekani idadi ya mabinti wa aina hiyo imekithiri. Katika kona mbalimbali za dunia, wapo mabinti wanaotamani kuwa na umbile kama la Vera Sidika au Masogange ili wawe maarufu na kujizolea pesa. Je, ni nini chanzo cha wimbi hili la ubidhaishaji wa maumbile ya binadamu? Nani mwenye maslahi katika wimbi hili? Makala haya yamelenga kujibu maswali hayo.

Sarah Baartman

Kwa kuanzia, ningependa kujadili kisa cha Sarah Baartman, bintiwa kiafrikaaliyezaliwa nchini Afrika Kusini mwaka 1789. Alifariki mwaka 1815, jijini Paris, Ufaransa, akiwa na umri wa miaka 26. Je, alifikaje Paris?

Sarah alikuwa mtumwa huko Afrika Kusini. Mmiliki wake mwenye asili ya kikaburu aliamua kumuuza kwa daktari wa kiingereza aliyeitwa Alexander Dunlop. Dunlop alikuwa ameona ‘fursa za kiuchumi’ katika umbilela Sarah, na hasa makalio yake makubwa. Hivyo akamshawishi mmiliki wa Sarah amwuzie “bidhaa” hiyo adimu ili akaitumie kutengeneza pesa huko Ulaya.

Sarah alipelekwa katika nchi kadhaa za Ulaya, hasa Uingereza na Ufaransa. Huko alipelekwa katika kumbi za maonyesho akiwa uchi, na wazungu wakawa wanalipa viingilio kuja kushuhudia weusi wa ngozi yake na ukubwa wa makalio yake na sehemu zake za siri.

Ili kutengeneza pesa zaidi, mmiliki wa Sarah akawa akimuuza kwa wanaume wa kizungu waliotaka “kumvumbua” zaidi mwanadada huyowa Kiafrika. Sarah akafariki kwa ugonjwa wa zinaa. Hata baada ya kufariki viungo vya mwili wake vilikatwa na kuwekwa katika makumbusho huko Paris ili wazungu wakajionee. Sarah aliendelea kuwa bidhaa na kivutio cha utalii hata baada ya kufa.

Tofauti ya Sarah na “ma-modo” wa sasa

Je, kuna tofauti kati ya Sarah na“mamodo” wa sasa?

Sarah aliishi katika kipindi ambacho biashara ya utumwa ilikuwa imeshika hatamu. Waafrika waligeuzwa bidhaa, wakauzwa na kununuliwa sokoni, kama vile mtu anunuavyo nyanya, nguo au kuku. Wakapelekwa huko Amerika kuzalisha mashambani na migodini. Nguvu-jasho ya Waafrika hawa ndiyo iliyozijenga na kuzistawisha nchi za Ulaya na Marekani ambazo leo tunakwenda kuomba misaada ya hali na mali.

Kwa hiyo, kama ilivyokuwa kwa babu na bibi zetu wengine waliopelekwa utumwani, Sarah hakwenda Ulaya kwa hiari yake. Alilazimishwa. Alikuwa ni bidhaa.

Usipofanya uchambuzi wa kina, unaweza kusema kuwa “ma-modo” wetu wa leo wanaotumia maumbo yao kama vivutio hufanya hivyo kwa hiyari yao. Lakini ukweli ni kwamba kuna nguvu ya kimfumo inayowalazimisha kufanya hivyo wafanyavyo. Nitajadili.

Maumbile ya Sarah yalikuwa ni ya asili. Mwili wake ni ule aliojaaliwa na Muumba. Katika zama zetu, wapo mamodo wenye maumbile ya asili. Lakini wapo wengi pia ambao wamelazimika kubadili maumbile yao. Ukuzaji wa makalio na matiti, uchubuaji wa ngozi, na hata ubadilishaji wa jinsia yamekuwa ni mambo ya kawaida.

Kiini macho na nguvu ya soko

Ukiingia mtandaoni, utakuta kampuni kadhaa zikitangaza bidhaa za kukuza makalio na matiti. Kwa wanaume, zipo dawa za kunenepesha na kurefusha uume, kukuza misuli, n.k. Kampuni hizi za kibepari ndizo kiini hasa cha ubidhaishaji waviungo vya binadamu, na hasa makalio na matiti. Ili bidhaa zao zikubalike, kampuni hizi sharti zitengeneze soko za bidhaa zao.

Soko lenyewe hutengenezwa kwa kubadili mtazamo na fikra zawatu, na hasa vijana, juu ya dhana ya urembo, mapenzi na mahusiano ya kimwili. Kwa hiyo, kwa kushirikiana na kampuni za utengenezaji wa filamu za ngono, kampuni za kurekodi video za muziki, wamiliki wa vilabu na makasino, magazeti na televisheni za udaku, hospitali za binafsi za upasuaji wa plastiki, kampuni za uzalishaji wa dawa hizi zimewezesha kukubalika kwamba makalio na matiti makubwa ni urembo, lakini pia ni hazina murua kwa shughuli za ujasiriamali.

Kwa hiyo, katika zama zetu hizi binti mrembo anasemekana kuwa ni yule aliye na makalio makubwa, matiti makubwa, na ngozi nyeupe. Ikitokea hukuzaliwa na vitu hivi basi usikonde: utavipata kwa kutumia dawa au kwa kufanyiwa upasuaji wa plastiki. Binti mwenye sifa hizi anaaminishwa kuwa ana “rasilimali”ambayo anaweza kuitumia kutengeneza pesa iwe ni kwa kujiuza sokoni ama kwa kuwa na mpenzi mwenye pesa.

Hivyo basi, wapo wanenepeshao viungo vyao ili kuwaridhisha wapenzi wao. Wapo wafanyao hivyo ili “kwenda na wakati”. Lakini wengi pia hufanya hivyo ikiwa ni sehemu ya soko. Soko lenyewe sio lazima liwe la kujiuza kimwili. Ni soko la kuuza “makalio”, watu wakayaona iwe ni katika klabu za usiku, magazeti ya udaku au video za muziki, na mwenye nayo akatengeneza pesa.

Tarehe 10 Februari 2011, gazeti la MailOnline la nchini Uingereza liliripoti kifo cha Claudia Aderotimi, mwanafunzi wa nchini Uingereza, aliyefariki huko Marekani akiwa ameenda kufanyiwa upasuaji wa kuongeza makalio. Claudia, ambaye alikuwa na ndoto ya kuwa mnenguaji katika video za wanamuziki wakubwa, aliwahi kukosa tenda kwa kutokuwa na makalio makubwa. Aliambiwa kuwa ili afanikiwe ni lazima awe na makalio yaliyobinuka kama ya mwanamuziki Beyonce. Hivyo, mfumo tulio nao unawatengenezea mabinti kiini-macho (illusion) cha “kuwa na umbo kama la Beyonce ili ufanikiwe”.

Hapa Afrika, wapo akina-dada wachache ambao kutokana na maumbile yao, yawe ya asili ama “yaliyokarabatiwa” kwa dawa au upasuaji, waliofanikiwa kujipatia pesa, Maisha yao ni ghali: toka nguo wavaazo, manukato wajifukizayo, magari waendeshayo na kumbi za starehe waingiazo. Wengi wao huenda kufanya “shopping” Dubai au Afrika Kusini.

Vera Sidika: “Mwili wangu ni dili”

Katika kipindi cha The Trendkirushwacho na kituo cha NTV nchini Kenya, Vera Sidika,ambaye amejizolea umaarufu nchini Kenya kutokana na umbile la makalio yake, alisema kuwa huenda kufanya “shopping” ya kati ya dola 10,000 hadi 50,000 (yaani kati ya Tshs. milioni 16 hadi milioni 80). Viatu alivyokuwa amevaa siku hiyo vinaghatimu Tshs. milioni 5 na laki 6, na nywele zake za bandia ni Tshs. milioni 3 na laki 7.

Ngozi ya Vera sio ya asili. Ilichubuliwa kitaalamuna akawa mweupe. Vera anajitapa kuwa ubadilishaji wa rangi ya ngozi yake ulitumia zaidi ya shilingi milioni 15 za Kenya (takribani shilingi milioni 300 za Tanzania). Vera anasisitiza kuwa tangu apate ngozi nyeupe, kwake imekuwa “baraka”. Anatengeneza pesa zaidi, na anaalikwa nchi mbalimbali kwenda kusherehesha vilabu vya usiku (club hosting).

Vera anasema kwamba ukimwona klabu ujue amekwenda kutengeneza pesa. Hufanyaje hasa? “Huwa nasimama pale, na kutabasamu, na kupiga picha na mashabiki,” alifafanua. “Mwili wangu ni biashara yangu na ninautumia kutengeneza pesa,” Veera alijitapa.

Nyuma ya Vera, zipo kampuni za kurekodi video za muziki, wanamuziki, magazeti, redio, vituo vya televisheni, vilabu vya usiku, kampuni za kuzalisha kemikali za kubadili rangi ya ngozi, hospitali za binafsi zifanyazo uchubuaji wa ngozi, kampuni za vipodozi na mavazi ya kisasa, hoteli za kifahari, n.k. Wote hawa humtumia Vera kutengeneza faida.

Lakini tusisahau watu wa msingi wamfanyao binti huyu ajivune: hawa ni wale anaowaita “my fans”, yaani mashabiki wake. Kila siku Vera huweka picha za nusu uchi, zionyeshazo makalio yake, katika mtandao ili kukonga nyoyo za mashabiki wake. Aendapo Klabu hujiachia na kupiga nao picha za “ajabu” ili waendelee kumshabikia. Mashabiki hawa pia tayari wamekwishatekwa na mfumo, nao wakaamini juu ya urembo utokanao na kuwa na umbo kama la Vera.

Mtandao wa Kibiashara

Zipo nchi nyingi, mathalani Venezuela na Ufaransa, ambako ukuzaji-makalio na matiti vimetia fora kiasi cha wananchi kuzipigia serikali zao kelele ili zidhibiti vitendo hivyo. Lakini hii ni kazi bure kama tusipoelewa kiini cha tatizo lenyewe.

Gazeti la mtandaoni liitwalo “The Revolution” linalomilikiwa na cha Chama cha Kikomunisti cha Marekani liliwahi kufanya uchambuzi wa biashara ya upachikaji wa matiti ya bandia kwa wanawake. Nchini Uingereza pekee kati ya wanawake 20,000 hadi 30,000 hukuza matiti kwa njia hiyo kila mwaka, na biashara hiyo huingiza pato la zaidi ya dola milioni 150 (takribani shilingi bilioni 240 za kitanzania) kwa mwaka.

Kwa mujibu wa taarifa ya chama cha madaktari bingwa wa upasuaji wa plastiki nchini Marekani, idadi ya watu wanaojihusisha na upasuaji wa plastiki iwe ni katika kukuza au kupunguza makalio, matiti, nyusi, nywele, kubadili sura au ngozi, imeongezeka kutoka watu milioni 7.5 mwaka 2000 na kufikia watu milioni 14 mwaka 2011.

Jarida la “The Revolution” linaripoti kuwa kampuni za utengenezaji kemikali za ukuzaji matiti hutumia kemikali bandia ili kutengeneza faida zaidi. Moja ya kampuni hizo ni Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) ya nchini Ufaransa. Kutokana na madhara makubwa ya kiafya yasababishwayo na kemikali za PIP, baadhi ya nchi zimejaribu kuzipiga marufuku bidhaa za kampuni hizo bila mafanikio.

Maslahi ya kibiashara hayaishii katika kampuni tu. Ubidhaishaji wa huduma za afya umezifanya hospitali nyingi za binafsi zijiingize katika kazi ya upasuaji wa plastiki ili kukuza au kupunguza viungo vya mwili. Wateja waliopata madhara ya kiafya kutokana na kemikali za kukuza matiti na makalio wamekataliwa na hospitali zilizowapa huduma hizo. Wamiliki wa hospitali hizo, kwa mujibu wa jarida la The Revolution, “wanadai kuwa hawapashwi kuwajibishwa kutokana na kununua bidhaa zilizokuwa sokoni.”

Ubepari: toka uzalishaji hadi ubidhaishaji

Pengine cha kufikirisha ni kauli ya Vera kuwa “mwili wangu ni biashara yangu na ninautumia kutengeneza pesa”. Suala la kujiuliza ni kuwa, je, tangu lini mwili wa binadamu uligeuka kuwa bidhaa, hata ukatumika kutengeneza pesa?

Katika kitabu chake cha Das Kapital(Capitalau Mtaji) kilichochapishwa mwaka 1867, Karl Marx aliubainisha ubepari kama mfumo unaojitambulisha kupitia bidhaa. Lakini bidhaa hizo ni zile zinazozalishwa na nguvu ya binadamu na kupelekwa sokoni kwa ajili ya kuuzwa. Cha kushangaza ni kuwa watu hushikwa na wazimu wa bidhaa, wakazipenda na kuzithamini, lakini wasione kiini ndani ya bidhaa hizo. Kiini hicho ni nguvu-kazi ya binadamu iliyotumika kuzitengeneza. Marx alifariki mwaka 1883, yapata miongo saba baada ya Sarah kufariki. Kipindi alichoishi Marx kilikuwa ni kipindi cha ubepari wa uzalishaji bidhaa, viwandani na mashambani.

Takribani karne moja na nusu baada ya kuchapishwa kwa Das Kapital, Prof. Issa Shivji, mmoja wa wanazuoni wa Kimaksi, ameandika kuhusu ubepari wa karne ya 21, ambao umechukua sura ya uliberali mamboleo. Mfumo huu hautegemei tena uzalishaji, bali ubidhaishaji wa kila kitu.

Vitu ambavyo kwa asili yake haviwezi kuuzwa, hugeuzwa bidhaa na kuuzwa sokoni. “Utengenezaji wa bidhaa-sesere na zisizo za asili hauna mipaka katika mfumo wa uliberali-mamboleo,” anaandika Shivji katika kitabu chake kiitwacho Accumulation in an Afriacan Periphery. “Mazingira, ikolojia, na viumbe vingine wa asili (wanyama na mimea), viini vya kibaiolojia (ute wa mimea na viini-tete vya binadamu) hugeuzwa kuwa bidhaa, hali ambayo hutokea pia katika hisia na raha zihusishazo mahusiano ya kimwili. Juu ya vitu na mahusiano halisi hutengenezwa vitu-pepe na mahusiano-pepe, ambavyo pia hubidhaishwa. Katika ulimwengu wa mahusiano utaona mambo kama mabinti wa mtandaoni, vyumba vya faragha, na ufanyaji-mapenzi katika mtandao” (tafsiri yangu).

Kwa hiyo, tujifunzacho hapa ni kuwa mtandao wa watumiao miili ya vijana, na hasa wa kike, kutengeneza pesa ni mpana: vituo vya televisheni huwaalika katika mahojiano na kueneza udaku juu yao na kwa kufanya hivyo hutengeneza pesa, magazeti ya udaku hutengeneza pesa kwa kuchapisha picha na stori za mabinti hao, kampuni za utengenezaji wa kemikali za ukuzaji makalio/matiti na uchubuaji ngozi nazo hutengeza pesa, hospitali zijihusishazo na uchubuaji ngozi na upasuaji wa ukuzaji makalio hutengeneza pesa, na vilabu vya usiku viwaalikao mabinti hao navyo hutengeneza pesa, n.k. Huu ni mtandao mkubwa wa kutengeneza pesa katika zama hizi za utumwa mamboleo.

Kiini cha mtandao huuni mfumo wa uliberali mamboleo, ambao ni aina ya ubepari uliofilisika na uliochukua sura ya kikatili ya ubidhaishaji wa kila kitu, yakiwemo maumbile ya binadamu! Mfumo huu hauwezi kuwekewa viraka kwa kuhubiri juu ya maadili kwa vijana. Ni ama tuubomoe, au tuuache uendelee kutubomoa kwa kugeuza hata miili yetu kuwa bidhaa. Kama wapigania uhuru wa bara la Afrika walipambana dhidi ya ukoloni, sisi wajukuu wao hatupashwi kusalimu amri. Hatuna chaguo mbadala, ni jukumu letu sote kupambana dhidi ya uliberalimamboleo

Mwandishi wa makala haya ni mwalimu wa Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam, Idara ya Sayansi ya Siasa na Utawala wa Umma. Anapatikana kwa barua-pepe: sany7th@yahoo.

TUZO ZA WASOMI BORA TANZANIA - MASUPA STAA WA ELIMU!

SUPA STAA WA MUZIKI

Hivi karibuni, huko jijini Dar es Salaam, kulikuwa na shangwe za tuzo kwa wasanii bora wa music mwaka 2013 nchini Tanzania maarufu kwa jina la “Kilimanjaro Tanzania Music Awards”. Naambiwa (sikuwepo ukumbini) kuwa sherehe hizo zilifana hasa. Lengo la mjumuiko huo lilikuwa kuwatambua na kuwatuza wanamuziki wa kitanzania wa muziki anuwai ndani ya Jamhuri ya Muungano na pia wa nje ya nchi; kulikuwa na kipengele cha mwanamuziki bora Afrika Mashariki. Yalipangwa makundi mbalimbali ya aina kwa aina kwa kadri ilivyoonekana inafaa kuwapanga wasanii hao. Ama kwa hakika mtenda kazi anastahili ujira wake!

Kimsingi muziki nchini Tanzania kwa kiasi kikubwa unatazamwa kama ajira ama shughuli ya vijana; hivyo ni sherehe za kutambua mchango wa vijana katika tasnia na sanaa ya muziki Tanzania. Baadhi ya vipengele ilikuwa ni pamoja na “Hip hop”, Zuku, Muziki laini, Taarabu na kadhalika. Kulikuwa na nafasi pia ya kuwatambua waandaaji muziki nchini. Washindi walikuwa wengi;  kwa uchache tu: Naseeb …. Ama Diamond; ambaye alitia fora kwa kupata tuzo nyingi zaidi, wengine ni Faridi Kubanda ama Fid Q, Judith Wambura ama Lady Jay D, MzeeYusufu, na wengine lukuki. Tunawapongeza sana wote waliochangia kuboresha Tasnia ya Muziki Tanzania; waliopata tuzo na hata wasiopata, kwani zawadi lazima ziwekwe mipaka ili kuleta maana; kila msanii akipata tuzo basi tunakosa maana ya ushindani. Wanaitwa wengi ilihali wanachaguliwa wachache!

Hata hivyo, wito wangu kwa vijana wa sanaa mbalimbali Tanzania, hususani wale wa muziki, wajifunze kutawala ala za muziki; jifunzeni kupiga muziki wa vyombo. Muziki wa vyombo una uhai mkubwa zaidi kuliko muziki wa maabara. Hiyo inathibitishwa na kazi za siku  nyingi za kina MbarakaMwishehe soma maisha ya Mwinshehe hapa, Marijani Rajabu, Sikinde bendi, OTTU bendi, Vijana Jazz, Mwenge Jazz na bendi nyingine nyingi za kale (hata kama hawakupata pesa nyingi kama vijana wa leo). Kazi zao zina umri mkubwa lakini zina ubora kwa maana ya ujumbe na melodi nzuri kuliko kazi  nyingi za hivi karibuni (zenye maisha mafupi mno). Ni kweli kabisa kila kitabu na zama zake! Lakini kuna vitabu vingine vipo zama zote. Hata hivyo kwa mara nyingine nawapongeza sana wanatasnia ya burudani nchini Tanzania kwa kutambua vipaji na mchango wa vipaji hivyo kwa urithi wa nchi, nikisema hivyo nageukia tasnia zingine nchini Tanzania.

Makala hii/haya yanahusu hasa TUZO ZA WASOMI BORA TANZANIA. Nimesubiri kusikia kutuzwa kwa wasomi bora nchini Tanzania kwa muda sasa; leo nimeamua kutoa dukuduku langu. Nimekuwa nikijiuliza hivi nchini kuna wasomi wanaofanya mambo yenye mchango wa maisha ya kila siku ya mtanzania na hivi wasomi hao kustahili kupewa tuzo? Sijapata jibu na nadhani swali hili linahitaji hadhira kubwa zaidi kuliko kichwa kimoja;kwani naamini penye wengi haliharibiki jambo!

Mara nyingine ninapokutana na kero kadhaa nchini huhisi pengine kweli hakuna wasomi wanaostahili kutuzwa. Hebu fikiria mfano Tanzania kukutwa na uhaba wa chakula. Foleni kubwa jijini Dar na kwingineko (japokuwa magari hayo hatutengenezi wenyewe), rushwa katika nyanja na huduma mbalimbali nchini, upungufu maadili katika jamii, kushuka viwango na ubora wa elimu, kuongezeka ubinafsi, mauaji ya vikongwe, albino na madhira na maovu mengine lukuki litania hiyo ni ndefu hasa…Wakati shida na maovu haya yanalisonga taifa; tuna wasomi wengi wenye ujuzi husika kulingana na matatizo tajwa na hata yasiyosemwa hapa, tuna rasilimali nyingi zinazohitajika kutatua matatizo tuliyonayo; pamoja na hayo yote tunaendelea kudidimia, ama ndo kama wahenga walivyonena? Penye miti mingi hapana wajenzi? (enzi hizo nyumba nyingi/ zote zikijengwa kwa miti). 

Nafahamu fika kuwa kuna wasomi wanaojituma na wametoa mapendekezo kupata ufumbuzi wa matatizo yanayolisonga taifa. Hata hivyo ushauri na ujumbe wao umepuuzwa. Poleni wale mliokutwa na kukatishwa tamaa huko. Hata hivyo nadhani haitoshi kutoa ushauri ukikataliwa na wenye mamlaka kumfanya msomi makini  akae kimya. Kukaa kimya ni mbaya mno; watu wema wakikaa kimya uovu unaongezeka, na watu wema hapa tunamaanisha wasomi jadidi. Msomi silaha yake kuu ni maandishi. Ndugu wasomi andikeni suluhu za matatizo yanayolisonga taifa ili nchi iwe na kumbukumbu ya suluhu hizo pengine wenye mamlaka kesho watayatumia.

Suluhu hizo zinaweza kuandikwa kwenye magazeti yanayosomwa na wananchi wengi, ama likaanzishwa jarida mahususi kwaajili hiyo. Nani atafanya kazi hiyo? Pengine hili ndo swali tunalojiuliza watu wengi. Sifahamu, nani alianzisha tuzo za wanasanaa Tanzania... Nchini Tanzania hivi sasa kuna vyuo vikuu lukuki, hii ni dalili nzuri ya kupata wasomi wengi. Chombo kinachosimamia ubora wa vyuo hivyo bila shaka wanaendelea kufanya kazi yao vizuri; ili tupate wasomi wengi na bora. Chombo hicho kinaweza kuanzisha jarida ambalo suluhu za matatizo nchini zinaweza kuandikwa humo; suluhu hizo zinaweza kutoka vyuo vikuu vilivyopo nchini na hata nje ya nchi, zinaweza pia kutoka kwa mtu yeyote ila tu zitasimamiwa na chombo chenye mamlaka juu ya vyuo vikuu. Jukumu hili tunapendekeza liende kwa chombo hicho kwa kuwa kazi ya vyuo vikuu pamoja na mambo mengine, kama alivyosema Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere, ni kumsaidia binadamu aweze kuujenga ama kuuboresha zaidi uwezo wake wa kufikiria ili aweze kuleta suluhu kwa matatizo yanayomkabili binadamu (tafsiri isiyo rasmi na naweka maneno yangu zaidi). Kama msomi atatoa na ataandika suluhu ya kero iyao/zinazowakabili  binadamu wanaoishi Tanzania, na kweli suluhu hiyo ikafanya kazi, basi msomi huyu atastahili kutuzwa kama alivyotuzwa Diamond, Mzee Yusufu, Lady Jay D, Fid Q na wengine. Tanzania si kisiwa cha binadamu, na nd’o maana haitakuwa nchi ya kwanza kutoa zawadi kwa wanazuoni.

Tuzoza Nobel kwa magwiji wa Kemia, Fizia, Baiolojia ni maarufu duniani, kwa kuwa tupo duniani huenda suluhu zetu kwa matatizo yetu zikasaidia matatizo ya binadamu wengine hapa duniani. Naamini tuzo za wasomi nchini zitachochea kuibuka kwa ari mpya ya usomi, watu wakazunguka na kutambiana, bila majivuno, kwa kuwa wamesoma kitabu hiki na kitabu kile. Nilikuwa nikimsikia baba yangu anaongelea vitabu vya tamthilia ya Kiswahili maarufu kipindi hicho, Kikosi cha Kisasi, Kamlete akibisha mlipue, Simu ya Kifo, n.k. Nilimsikia baba yangu mzazi akitusimulia (watoto wake) hadithi za kusisimua toka kwenye Biblia Takatifu hadithi za kusisimua mfano simulizi ya kijiti kinachowaka bila kuteketea; bila shaka kuna wengine pia wamesimuliwa hadithi toka Kuruhani Tukufu na hiyo ikawajengea hamu ya kusoma Kuruhani ama Biblia ili kupata kujifunza mwenyewe na kukutana na simulizi nyingi zaidi mwenyewe. TUZO ZA WASOMI TANZANIA zitaamsha ari ya kupata "MASUPA STAA" wa elimu pia! Kwani kwa jinsi mambo yalivyo hivi sasa supa staa ni ama mwanamuzi, mwanafilamu, mrembo, mwingizaji na kadhalika, hukutani na masupa staa kwenye fizikia, kemia, baiolojia, geografia, uchumi, falsafa n.k inatakiwa tukutane na masupa staa wasomi pia! Wasalaaam!   

Vijana wa Kitanzania jijini Pretoria

Pretoria ni mji mkuu wa nchi ya Afrika Kusini. Ni mji wa shughuli muhimu nyingi za nchi hii iliyoendelea kwa kiasi kikubwa katika nyaja kadhaa za maisha ya mwanadamu. Mji huu una waAfrika Kusini weupe wengi zaidi kuliko weusi. Ndani ya mji huu ndo unakutana na balozi karibu zote zenye mahusiano na Afrika Kusini. Sina hakika sana, nimeambiwa kuna nchi zingine zina balozi zao kule Jo'berg, jambo hili haishangazi sana kila nchi hutazama maslahi yake. Kule Uganda nchi ya Misri ina ubalozi wake pale Jinja; bila shaka kwa lengo la kulinda maslahi yake kwa mto Nili, ambao ni uhai kwa Misri.

 Pretoria ni mji wenye mchanganyiko mkubwa wa watu toka mataifa mengi toka bara Afrika na kwingineko: kwa muda wa siku chache nimekutana na watu toka nchi kadhaa: Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, DRC, Ethiopia, Msumbiji, Pakstani, Uchina, Afrika Kusini wenyewe n.k. Wengi wa hawa niliokutana nao ni vijana; mji huu pia umejaa vyuo lukuki vinavyoufanya mji upambwe na vijana zaidi. Hivyo mji umejaa mitindo ya kila aina; toka mavazi, nywele, milo, lugha, n.k.Japokuwa kuna lugha kadhaa zinaoongelewa katika mji huo, Kiingereza, kwa wageni, ndio hasa lugha kuu ya mawasiliano.

Mji huu wa Pretoria ni mji wa kibepari hasa; ni biashara muda wote- ni kuuza na kununua tu. Kila kitongoji kina maduka makubwa ya kibiashara, mithili ya Mlimani City kwa Dar es Salaam, Tanzania ila majengo haya ya biashara makubwa kupindukia. Maeneo haya ya biashara yamenishangaza, ukiacha mbali wanaofanya biasha hapa (hiyo ndo kazi na wapo kazini ), kuna watu wengi karibu muda wote, unajiuliza ni muda upi watu hawa huenda kufanya kazi zao. Wengi wa watu unaokutana nao ni vijana wakienda na kurudi, wakinunua na kuuza, wakila na kunywa...

Ukiacha vijana wanafunzi waliofika mjini hapo kufuata masomo, wapo wengi zaidi ambao wamefika kutafuta maisha kwa kufanya kazi. Hapo nd'o napokutana na vijana waozungumza kiswahili fasaha na unapodadisi ni vijana toka Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi n.k. Vijana kadhaa ambao nimekutana nao wanaweza kuongea kiingereza cha msingi kile tu amabacho kinawawezesha kueleweka japo kwa taabu. Nimekutana na kijana mmoja maeneo ya Sunny Park moja kati ya maeneo yaliyojaa vijana weusi wa kiafrika toka kona nyingi za bara hili. Kijana huyu mtanzania, anafanya kazi kwenye moja ya maduka ya mjini hapa. Huyu ni mjuzi wa teknohama- anaweledi mkubwa kwenye mambo hayo na tena anaoengea lugha ya kiingereza kwa ufasaha mkubwa kabisa. Ananivutia na katika usaili nagundua kuwa alisomea nchi ya jirani ambapo alipata fursa ya kumudu lugha ya kiingereza.

Kijana huyu, ambaye ni muwazi na mjuzi wa masuala kadhaa, ananieleza 'Pretoria kuna kazi nyingi sana tu, na vijana wengi toka nchi zinazoongea kiingereza huko kwao ndio hasa huchukua  nafasi hizi za ajira'. Vijana wengi wa kitanzania ananiambia, hawawezi kumudu kiingereza na hivyo kushindwa kuaminika na kufanya kazi na wenye mitaji. Vijana wa kitanzania wenye kuimudu lugha wana shughuli zao hata wameajiri wengine pia. Wapo wenye migahawa ambapo huandaa vyakula vyenye radha ya Afrika Mashariki, wapo madereva wa taksi, wapo vinyozi n.k. Bahati mbaya sana kuna kundi la vijana wa kitanzania na sehemu zingine wanaojishughulisha na biashara haramu ya dawa za kulevya- kundi hili linahitaji msaada!

Siku nyingine panapo fursa tutaangalia usafiri na usafirishaji jiji Pretoria.

MAADHIMISHO YA SITA YA Mwl.JK NYERERE(1922-1999)

6^TH MWALIMU NYERERE INTELLECTUAL FESTIVAL: 9^TH -11^TH APRIL, 2014

THEME: LIBERATING THE MIND FOR AFRICA’S ADVANCEMENT

Liberating the Mind for Africa’s Transformation

BY

PROF. PLO LUMUMBA CPS (K), MKIM

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam, Prof. Rwekaza Mukandala, the MwalimuNyerere distinguished Professor,

Penina Mlama, fellow academics, ladies and gentlemen.  I am happy to join with you today on the occasion of the commemoration of Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere.

At the very outset, we must commence these proceedings by remembering the immortal words of Mwalimu Nyerere, spoken on the 25^th day of May, 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he said:

“…We did not come here to discover whether we all want a free Africa. Even the greatest enemies of African unity know that the one thing on which there can be no doubt that the whole of Africa speaks with one sincere voice, it is our desire to see an Africa completely freed from foreign domination and racialism. We came here to find out what we should all do now in order to bring about the final liberation of Africa.

We did not come here to discover whether we want Africa unity. Again, even our enemies know that we sincerely desire unity. It is their fear of the consequences to them of complete African unity, which makes them emphasize our differences and hope-wishfully- that these differences will make it impossible for Africa to unite. No, we did not come here to find out whether we desire unity. We came here to find out our common denominator in our approach to African unity…”[1]

Mwalimu and his contemporaries such asKwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Modibo Keita of Mali, Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Milton Obote of Uganda, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, SamNujoma of Namibia, Nelson Mandela and many others may be gone and it is equally true that their vision may have been blurred by the passage of time, but the truth is that Africa must remember them and go back to the basics which they had identified so ably, but which we have ignored so blatantly.

Fifty (50) years since most African countries attained political independence, Africa still remains ravaged by poverty, disease, famine, violence and death.

 These issues have been taken as the reflection of Africa’s identity and pickled into the conscious and sub-conscious minds of her people over the centuries. She has been diagnosed as suffering from what has been described as the African crises[2], which term in the political lexicon, refers to any of the problems faced by the African continent.

They call the Third World the lazy man’s purview; the sluggishly slothful and languorous prefecture. In this realm people are sleepy, dreamy, torpid, lethargic, and therefore indigent—totally penniless, needy, destitute, poverty-stricken, disfavored, and impoverished. In this demesne, as they call it, there are hardly any discoveries, inventions, and innovations. Africa is the trailblazer. Some still call it “the dark continent” for the light that flickers under the tunnel is not that of hope, but an approaching train. And because countless keep waiting in the way of the train, millions die and many more remain decapitated by the day.[3]

All these definitions of Africa have eroded her true identity to this day and even as Africa celebrates 50 years of the creation of the Organization of African Union (now the African Union), we must contend with this painful question about our identity. In the words of one of the great Ghanaians, Dr. JE Kwegyir Aggrey said:

My people of Africa, we are created in the image of God but men have made us think we are chickens, and we still think we are, but we are eagles.

In both the political and academic press, the so called ‘African crisis/problems’ are usually defined in the economic terms, ignoring the core problem from which all other problems stem; mind-set.

The role of the mindset in spurring or deterring Africa’s economic, social and cultural advancement has been ignored, despite the fact that it has been, and continues to be at the heart of Africa’s past, present and future experiences, particularly Pan-Africanism.

History of Africa and Early Shaping of the African mind

Against common belief, the history of Africa did not begin in slavery and despite the peculiarity, horror and duration of enslavement of Africans, slavery occupies a minor time-frame in the over 120,000 years of Africa’s history. The slave mentality therefore was a strategy used to psychologically conquer and subdue Africans.

Many people have this view of Africa sitting still and being imposed up from outside. They forget that Africa was an active trade partner with Arabia, and China. They forget because the forces that plotted against Africa knew that the only way to keep Africans subdued was by overcoming them in the mind. Indeed, in the words of Steve Biko, “the most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”

This age-old weapon has been used on Africa to drain her of her rich history and strip her of her identity, heritage and pride. The Eurocentric habit of "tribalizing" Africa and portraying it as a dark, pagan, licentious, unorganized continent that is basically emotive and the legacy of washing out Africa's historical record can be summed up by the racist words of the Scottish philosopher David Hume:

I am apt to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior to the Whites. There scarcely ever was a civilized nation of that complexion, nor even any individual, eminent either in action or in speculation. No ingenious manufacture among them, no arts, no sciences.

The western superiority complex was further captured in the words of the former South African president P.W. Botha who in a secret speech delivered in 1985 to his Cabinet said in part:

…[So] brothers and sisters, let us join hands to fight against this black devil. I appeal to all Afrikaners to come out with any creative means of fighting this war. Surely God cannot forsake his own people whom we are. By now everyone of us has seen it practically that the Blacks cannot rule themselves. Give them guns and they will kill each other. They are good in nothing else but making noise, dancing, marrying many wives and indulging in sex. Let us all accept that the Black man is the symbol of poverty, mental inferiority, laziness and emotional incompetence…

This mentality was imposed on Africans as slavery and colonialism set in and pain became the continent’s default position. From the 7^th Century, Arab trade within sub-Saharan Africa led to a gradual colonization of East Africa, around Zanzibar and other bases while early European expeditions concentrated on colonizing previously uninhabited islands such as the Cape Verde Islands and São Tomé Island, or establishing coastal forts as a base for trade.[4]

Established empires, notably Britain, Portugal and France, had already claimed for themselves vast areas of Africa and Asia, and emerging imperial powers like Italy and Germany had done likewise on a smaller scale.

With the dismissal of the aging Chancellor Bismarck by Kaiser Wilhelm II, the relatively orderly colonization became a frantic scramble. The 1885 Berlin Conference, initiated by Bismarck to establish international guidelines for the acquisition of African territory, formalized this "New Imperialism".

To this day, Africa remains the only continent whose Sovereign States are still referred to as Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone or Arabophone, in an effort to define her continued subservience to former colonial powers and other post-colonization powers like USA, Russia and China.

Inferiority complex and low self esteem were the products of these systems of definition, and Africans were made and indeed forced to believe that they would amount to nothing and could do nothing on their own. They were even denied the right to dream and were taught to hate themselves, no wonder negative ethnicity is the fastest growing ideology in Africa.

Negative ethnicity has been a mental weapon the colonizers used to divide and subdue Africans. Kenya’s KoigiwaWamwere captures this well in his book, ‘Towards Genocide in Kenya’as follows:

To each community negative ethnicity is glorified as savior and destroyer of enemies. But because it promises the destruction of all communities, negative ethnicity is the divider of all and a savior of none. Once all communities are isolated from one another, the propagators of negative ethnicity are free to promise each salvation-through the destruction of others.

As a result of colonialism and imperialism, Africa lost not only its sovereignty, but also control of its natural resources like gold and rubber. Europeans justified this using the concept of the White Man's Burden, an obligation to "civilize" the peoples of Africa, a mentality they gladly held and perpetuated.

Press for Freedom and Rise of Pan-Africanism

Africans however,begun to realize that the state of slavery and colonization was not a natural state as they had been brought to believe. The period after World War II in the 19^th Century saw the rise of Africans against colonialism andthe press for freedom begun with growing independence movements, indigenous political parties and trade unions.

By the 1930s, a small elite of leaders educated in Western universities and familiar with ideas such as self-determination, arose. These leaders, including leading nationalists such as Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana), Léopold Sédar Senghor (Senegal), and Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d'Ivoire), and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere who we celebrate today, came to lead the struggles for independence.

The mindset and posture of these trail-blazers was the reason why the colonialists could no longer hold fort in Africa. These nationalists were clear about the future of Africa and with them came the rise of Pan-Africanism, whose core stress was the need for ‘collective self-reliance’. The hegemony of these leaders is reflected in the words of Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah who in calling for urgent change said:

  “We cannot afford to pace our needs, our development, our security, to the gait of camels and donkeys. We cannot afford not to cut down the overgrown bush of outmoded attitudes that obstruct our path to the modern open road of the widest and earliest achievement of economic independence and the raising up of the lives of our people to the highest level.”[5]

Even in the absence of modern day communication technology like social media, there was connectivity of purpose with one message-freedom, from Ghana with Kwame Nkrumah to Mali with Modibo Keita and South Africa with Nelson Mandela, from Guinea with Ahmed SekouToure to Congo with Patrice Lumumba and Namibia with Sam Nujoma, and from Kenya with Jomo Kenyatta to Tanzania with Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

Aware of the long term post-independence colonization plan, he (Kwame Nkrumah) in May 24, 1963 in Addis Ababa continued to say:

…on this continent, it has taken us long to discover that the struggle against colonialism does not end with the attainment of national independence. Independence is the prelude to a new and more informed struggle for the right to conduct our own economic and social affairs;to construct our society according to our aspirations unhampered by crushing and humiliating neo-colonialist controls and interferences…

He called Africans to unite or perish but his contemporaries did not listen to him and because of that, today Somalia is struggling to regain its status as a sovereign state, Ethiopia is still emerging from the Dergue regime, South Sudan is again up in arms on ethnic lines as neo-colonialists siphon the oil away while Congo, Central African Republic and Libya and others are unstable.

Today, to avoid pain, our young Africans have died in the Mediterranean Sea while others camp in western embassies begging, wailing and kicking as they are thrown out in pursuit of the “almighty Green Card”, which in actual fact is nothing but uncertainty and neo-slavery.

This is in exact contrast to what happened a century ago when our young African men and women at a place called ‘the point of no return’, gave spirited fights, refusing to go to the west too be used as tools of labour to convert Europe and America to new industrial giants. This reflects how much the west have subdued Africa in the mind.

We ignored the Pan-African vision and now we are neo-colonized under the guise of education and trade but as usual we appear not to see because of the posture we have chosen to take is that of the proverbial ostrich.

In education, while many African countries have built many universities, there is no care given to what our markets need and to the future of the world and even the elite and African intelligentsia have no faith in their education system, preferring to send their children “oversees”, depending on who colonized them. This is what Carter G Woodson referred to as the ‘Mis-education of the Negro’.

In the national universities, the young Africans have adopted a cargo-cult mentality described by Chinua Achebe as:“The belief by backward people that the things they desire will come to their port of hope without any effort on their part”.

 The young people spend time on frivolities of social media, preferring to take the short cuts and cheat in exams, leading to a generation of professionals without professionalism and skill.

Contrary to the desire of the Pan-African founding fathers for self determination and right to construct our society according to our aspirations, the youth have been mentally subdued and there is no more emphasis on African aspirations and values being cultured in them while in school.

Instead they have become the zombies of the west through modern telecommunication and technology, incapable of managing real issues in their contexts.

In health, we have built hospitals but when we are sick those who can afford seek treatment in the land of the erstwhile colonizers, sending a clear message that we still consider them superior.

In sports, we still marvel and Europe and America and celebrate foreign victories while the potential in our young men and women lies fallow and eventually wastes away in parties and drug addiction.

In agriculture and industrialization, the words of the renown scholar Prof Ali Mazrui best captures Africa’s status. He says that: “Africa produces that which it does not consume and consumes that which it does not produce”.

Instead of subduing the land, the land has subdued us and as we complain of drought and famine in our arid regions, nations like Israel have turned their deserts into oases of food production.

Despite having the best climate and natural(soil) resource, Africa cannot even feed herself. We have become perennial beggars who in the words of the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, are “a scar on the conscience of the world”. We blindly consume what other civilizations have discarded and in the process kill our capacity to produce and our industries.

Africa is the richest continent in terms of natural resources with gold, uranium, cobalt, oil and with universities offering engineering courses but due to the “chicken mentality” we cannot exploit our resources. Instead, it is Tullow and British Petroleum and Shell, Elf and Shell, Exon, Chevron, Total and the Johny-come-lately Chinese companies that exploit the resources for us and pay themselves with more than half of the same.

In arts and literature and matters as mundane as fashion, we do not recognize our own, and it is not until the west recognizes us that we feel worthy. Our heroes are Tom Cruise instead of Olu Jacobs; Angelina Jolie instead of Ugezu J Ugezu and Kenya’s Lupita Nyong’o only acquires value when the American film industry recognizes her talent. Until the Nobel Peace Prize recognizes our Africans of repute, they remain uncelebrated.

In a world where information technology rules lives, Africa is denied the right to tell its own stories as the air is filled with western media and philosophies. Africa cannot even tell its stories except infantile gibberish of the political class. It used to be said that until the lions have their own historians, it is the exploits of the hunters that will forever be talked about and not the bravery of the lion.

We can go on and on wailing but there is no point in so doing as one thing is crystal clear, that Africans must have a monumental mental shift, failing which she will remain where she is-an underdog of the world.

It is this generation that must ask,“For how long will we behave like children of a lesser God?”

Now is the time to introspect, to go back to the drawing board from where our minds were corrupted and twisted. There is a sense of great urgency for us to act and change the way we think. In the words of Martin Luther King Jnr,

“…this is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism but a time to act with the fierce urgency of the now.”

Renewing the African Mind

The way to renewing the African mind is first by embracing our identity as exhorted by Charles Brandon Boynton who said: 

My advice then to the black man would be, be not ashamed of your race or colour. Dare to be a black man, and accept the position that God has assigned you and do not believe that it is an inferior or degrading one. Be a black man. It is honourable to be a black man as it is a white one. Aim to make yourself not a white man, but a perfect black man, have faith in your race, in its capability and in its future. Give your presence, your influence, your support to our own race and colour.

Once we internally reconcile with who we are come to a place of inner confluence, we are able to effect change on our external environment in terms of spurring Africa’s economic, social and cultural advancement.

We must then re-awaken the eagle nature that was buried in the “chicken mentality”, look up take a leap of faith and fly, never looking back as advised by Dr. Aggrey in his analogy.

We must adopt the same posture of mind as that of Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the President of the African Union Commission who sees a new Africa or rather has a new lense through which she sees Africa, not in the Eurocentric definition but as the next utopia.

        Speaking in Addis Ababa in January 30, 2014 Dr. Zuma in her imaginary letter to Kwame Nkrumah written in 2063 (African Union vision 2063), she foresees an Africa whose economy has grown to be the third largest in the world, whose politics has stabilized, whose infrastructure has greatly improved with high speed trains and electricity, Pan-African companies and industries and whose people are happy and have self-belief, having liberated themselves from the perpetual complaint mode.

However, while I embrace Dr. Zuma’s vision and enthusiasm, I am of the view that lofty declarations in and of themselves will not liberate Africa. She is allowed to dream but as I remember, even from Martin Luther King Jnr, after you dream you must wake up, otherwise the dream remains just that, a dream.

Effecting change in our education system to embrace, inculcate and reflect our African ambitions and values would ensure mentality change in our posterity and ensure no more poison of low self-esteem flows in the veins of our children.

The critical role of values-based education right from pre-school to post-graduate studies cannot be gainsaid. This encompasses the informal education at home where there must be a return of values back into the African households and homesteads. Parents must find time to breathe life into their children and children must find time to lend their ears to wisdom from their elders.

A change in mind and fortification of identity at this stage would cause massive national and ultimately the continent. As is said, if everyone sweeps their front porch, the street remains clean. Similarly if our children are taught to value themselves, and not take in and regurgitate all the western media feeds them, there will emerge a new Africa, one that the founders of Pan-Africanism saw from afar and proclaimed.

Change in our world view, strongly informed by a fortified internal confluence and confidence would automatically impact our economies as we would become more conscious in the kinds of agreements we enter into with neo-colonizers, questioning the reason and long term impact behind every deal.

An appreciation of our human resource and particularly the intelligentsia so that our government officials are chosen on the basis of merit and professionalism would go a long way in transforming Africa.

Further, our leaders should surround themselves with voices of reason that can analyze the heart of things and give the governments in Africa sound advice.

The highbrows of Africa, the stewards of intellectualism and progressiveness must no longer be satisfied with lofty cheques and frivolous quaffing in pubs at the end of every working day but reserve the evenings for brainstorming, as advised by Field Ruwe, a US-based Zambian media practitioner and author in his article, ‘You Lazy (Intellectual) African Scum! If You Consider Yourself Smart, Please Read This’.

Conclusion

Today, as we sit here under the symbolic shadow of Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, we must remember the issues that he stood for.

I remember on the occasion of Mwalimu’s 75^th Birthday, under the editorial guidance of Haroub Othman, essays were published in honour of Mwalimu under the title, ‘Reflections on Leadership in Africa Forty Years After Independence’.

The issues that emerged at that time included some of the following: Critical elements of a new democratic consensus in Africa, leadership and the dynamics of reform in Africa, Vision of Leaders in the 21^st Century: The Nyerere Legacy, Leadership, Nationalism and Forty Years of Ethnic Conflicts in Africa, Presidential Oratory for the Pan-African Cause: The Nyerere Harangues among others.

Today, the issues that pre-occupied the writers then, remain valid. Africa continues to bleed in South Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Somalia, Libya, Egypt and many others and sadly, a new specter perhaps more pernicious has emerged. This is the specter of terrorism, whose executors kill and maim indiscriminately.

Corruption has assumed cancerous proportions and its debilitating impact can be seen in many African countries.

I remember in 1995 when Mwalimu was asked by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi to speak at the delegates’ conference and to elect a presidential candidate, he said in Kiswahili to underline his disgust at corruption that:

“…Ikulu ni mahali patakatifu, sikuchaguliwa na watanzania kuligeuza pango la walanguzi…”

Those words of Mwalimu have even greater meaning today in Africa where we celebrate thieves and elect them into public offices.

During his lifetime, Mwalimu fought against ethnicity and was recognized the world over as the architect of a country where the cancer of ethnicity had been conquered, a legacy that has transcended his time and is alive among the people of Tanzania today.

He used to say and we must remember this fondly that,
“…umuhimu wa kabila katika karne ya ishirini na moja ni tambiko…”

Today, Africa is being torn apart by ethnicity and we are succumbing to it.

In the areas of education, health and agriculture, the great Mwalimu was equally eloquent and honest in his prescriptions. He recognized that early that the long term health of Africans not only required but demanded that Africa must be self-sufficient.

As we speak, Africa cannot feed herself, the quality of education in Africa is suspect and there is a sense in which Africa is in a crisis that demands urgent attention.

That is why we are gathered here at Dar es Salaam University at which Mwalimu held many a debate, not to philosophize, moralize and intellectualize but to seek solutions to the African plight.

I have no doubt in my mind that if Mwalimu were here today he would exhort us to remember that the mind is the standard of the man, that Africans must change their attitude; that Africans must recognize that they are not children of a lesser god, and know that self-esteem is the only avenue to self-realization and I have no doubt that he would have reminded us in Kiswahili that, “Mtaka cha mvunguni, sharti ainame.”

He would have continued in Kiswahili, if only to emphasize that, “Jishinde ushinde” and would not have stopped there, but would have gone on, half warning us half exhorting us with the Swahili proverb, “Mlilala handingwa handingwa muwe macho haambiwi tule.”

If I was speaking in Kenya, Uganda or Burundi, there would have been wisdom in translating the Swahili proverb but not here, the home of Kiswahili.

So as I conclude, permit me to say that Africa will only know her potential when her sons and daughters undergo a mental revolution that will make them realize that the battle today is the battle of the mind and that René Descartes was right, when he said; cogito ergo sum - I think therefore am I.

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS

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[1]Mwalimu Nyerere, 1963 Organization of African Union Summit of Heads of State in Addis Ababa.

[2]Moyo J.N, The Political Administration: Understanding Bureaucracy in African History, Harare (1992) p xviii.

[3] Field Ruwe, ‘Opinion: You Lazy (Intellectual) African Scum! If you consider yourself smart, please read this’.

[4] Wikipedia.

[5] Kwame Nkrumah

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