Abubakar Shekau hits back; says he’s Still Boko Haram Leader

ABUBAKAR Shekau has released an audio message in which he denied ever being replaced as the Boko Haram leader.
This was contained in a report by BBC on Sunday.
In the message, addressed to the leader of the Islamic State militant group to whom Boko Haram had pledged allegiance, Shekau said he was still the leader of Boko Haram.
He had not featured in the group’s recent videos, prompting speculations he had been killed or incapacitated.
Last week the Chadian President, Idris Deby, said that Shekau had been replaced.
It was the same Deby that arranged the failed negotiations with the terrorists during the Goodluck Jonathan regime.
Shekau described as “blatant lies” reports that he was no longer in charge.
“I am alive,” he said, adding, “I will only die when the time appointed by Allah comes.”
The eight-minute-long recording mocked a recent statement by President Muhammadu Buhari that Boko Haram would be eliminated within three months.
Shekau took over as the group’s leader after its founder, Muhammad Yusuf, died in police custody in July 2009.
Under his leadership, Boko Haram has become more radical and has carried out more killings.
In numerous videos, Shekau had taunted the Nigerian authorities, celebrating the group’s violent acts including the abduction of the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014.
Last month, Buhari said he would be willing to negotiate with the Boko Haram leadership for the release of the Chibok girls – depending on the credibility of those saying they represented the group.
A previous prisoner-swap attempt ended in failure

Boko Haram Foreign Sponsors Exposed Using GPA

The Global Prolife Alliance (GPA) Council has identified American billionaire, Bill Gates as a major foreign sponsor of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria’s North East region. Speaking with journalists in Owerri, the chairman of the GPA, Dr. Philip Njemanze disclosed that Gates and Monsanto were sponsoring the insurgency in the region using their biotechnology companies.
According to him, the major aim of the insurgency was to capture the food security of Nigeria and control Africa’s largest nation by population and economy, adding that this could only be possible by fighting to displace the indigenous farmers in the country and replace them with Genetically Modified Organisms, GMOs corporate farms in the North East food basket region of Nigeria.
Njemanze, revealed that the name Boko Haram was only used as a cover-up in the terrorism attacks, saying that the actual perpetrators were hired assassins and mercenaries by the Blackwater (also called Xe-Service, and now Academi) private army owned by Gates and Mosanto. He disclosed that Blackwater which was purchased in 2009, “began the recruitment of former child soldiers from Liberia and Sierra-Leone of what remained of Charles Taylor’s army in Liberia” and trained them in Ougadougou in Burkina Faso despite the ban of the company by President Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia.
The GPA chief added that the Liberians and Sierra-Leoneans were brought to Nigeria as ECOMOG boys to fight as Boko Haram. He stated that the assignment of the insurgents was to displace the farmers in the North East and create fall in the agricultural production of the country as well as to compel the federal government to adopt large farms that grow Bill Gates /Monsanto GMOs crops to feed the nation. With this strategy, he said that such staple food as rice, cassava, maize, sorghum, millet would be replaced by Gates/Monsanto variants, thereby effectively surrendering the food security for the over 170 million Nigerians to them.
“The volume production of these GMOs crops will come at lower prices than that of theorganic food grown elsewhere in Nigeria and they will price out of the market the conventional organic foods, leaving the Bill Gates/Monsanto crops the dominant crops for food in Nigeria”.
Njemanze also raised an alarm about the high technology approaches used by Gates in executing the terrorism plan.
According to him, Gates’ recent interview in Daily Trust where he said he was quoted to have said “Bill Gates Foundation was carrying out satellite Remote Sensing of the North East area to study migration patterns of people” clearly supported the assertion of Global Prolife Alliance, adding that what that statement meant was that the Satellite images against the Nigerian law were being used as espionage in the state of emergency to identify military installations and how to evade and attack them.
He also attacked the electronic wallets (cell phones) given to farmers by Bill Gates through the federal ministry of agriculture to provide the farmers with agro-credits for fertilizer and GMO crops, describing it as wallets of death. According to him, the offer was made and accepted in total disregard of the evidence presented by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that GMOs does not increase crop yields, but rather may lead to decrease in overall crop production, damage to fertile grounds and dangerous health risks were still being uncovered including cancers and other debilitating diseases.
With the cell phones which have Global Positioning System (GPS) device, he continued, the position of every farmer would be known to the Boko Haram insurgents, who he said use satellite images to know the location of the Joint Task Force (JTF) and then using the cell phones to track down the farmers. The group called on the federal government of Nigeria to investigate Bill Gates activities in Nigeria and not to sweep the allegations under the carpets because according to Njemanze, the group had very strong evidence to support its claims.

SPIRITUAL WORLD OF AFRICAN RELIGION PART 1

The spiritual world, or world of spirits, is central in almost all African religions. Spirits (like Angels and demons in the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian traditions) directly communicate with and impact the lives of human beings, as individuals and as communities.
Good spirits provide protection against harm, misfortune, and disease, heal illness, provide children, rain for crops, fish, and wild game, and protection for livestock. The realization of these blessings are dependent on the appropriate behavior on the part of individuals. Good behavior, according African religious beliefs, includes following and practicing values and behavior established by society and culture, participation in religious rituals and practices, and proper respect for family, neighbors, and community. Failure to follow these behavioral guidelines often results in the good spirits withdrawing their blessing and protection. The result? Illness, death, draught, and other misfortune.
Good spirits can be divided into the following categories:

Human Spirits: Most African religions firmly believe that people continue to live, through their spirits, after death. These spirits are often referred to as ancestral spirits. It is believed that spirits of the ancestors remain very interested in what happens in their families and communities. Most African religions divide ancestral spirits into two groups:

• The Recent Dead Ancestors: After an elder dies her or his spirit remains actively interested and engaged in the life of their family and community for many years. The ancestral spirits are most concerned about the prosperity and security of their families and communities. They intercede with God on the behalf of their communities. However, if individual members of their families or communities as a group engage in inappropriate behavior, the ancestors show their displeasure by withdrawing their protection-their willingness to seek God's blessing on their descendants. Although this results in illness and misfortune, it is not the desire of the ancestors that their families and communities be destroyed. Rather, the ancestors hope that illness and misfortune will be seen as warning and result in people and communities stopping the inappropriate and offensive behaviors. Remember that African religions hold that following social and cultural norms and values is the only way to guarantee security and prosperity. No wonder the ancestral spirits want their descendents to behave appropriately!
• The Spirits of the Long Dead: As time passes, the spirits of the recently dead gradually withdraw from the lives of their descendents and communities. It is believed that these spirits live with God. However, some ancestral spirits remain actively engaged for many generations. This is particularly true of the spirits of important individuals. For example, it is believed that the spirits of great rulers or founders of nations maintain their interest and power for a long time, perhaps centuries after their deaths. These ancestors are most interested in promoting the longevity of their kingdoms, nations, and communities. As with the regular ancestral spirits, these spirits intervene to protect their communities. In Module Seven B: African History there are examples from Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe of ancestral spirits encouraging people to resist colonial rule that was perceived by the ancestors as destroying African nations, cultures, and societies.

Given the importance of spirits of the ancestors, most African religions taught great respect for the ancestors. In addition to living appropriately, special shrines were often built to commemorate the ancestors. These shrines, while different in style, have a similar function to grave-stones in the Christian and Jewish traditions.
In addition, respect is shown by giving libations to the ancestors. That is, at least once a day, symbolic drink and food is presented to the ancestors. When Europeans first encountered these practices, they wrongfully thought that the people were worshiping the ancestors. In African religions, ancestors are not gods and they are not worshiped, but just as living elders are given great respect, even more so the spirits of the ancestors are remembered and respected. Moreover, ancestral spirits are not feared. Although their blessings are important to personal and community well-being, appropriate behavior is all that is required to maintain social harmony, longevity, and the ancestral contentment.
Nature Spirits
All African religions believe in the existence and importance of human spirits, however, not all African religions believe in nature spirits. Nature spirits are spirits that inhabit or live in nature. For example, several African religions teach that there are spirits that live in the skies. These spirits are important since they are believed to control the rain that is so important to the raising of crops and animals.
Other African religions hold that spirits live in and control rivers, lakes and oceans. These water spirits are also very important since they are believed to control the fish that live in the waters. Still other religious traditions believe that important ancestral spirits inhabit rocks, mountains, and trees.
As is the case with ancestral spirits, nature sprits are held to be good since they help to protect people and to provide people with essential items like water and food. In order to guarantee the good will of these spirits, African religions practice rituals and ceremonies that honor these spirits.
Just as the early European missionaries misunderstood the role of ancestral spirits in African religions, so too they often misunderstood the beliefs regarding nature spirits. These outside observers thought that African religions held that God inhabits all of nature-trees, rocks, water, land-a religious system scholars call animism. African religions do not worship rocks, trees, the sky or rivers, as is the case in animism. Rather, important spirits who control the forces of nature are believed to live in the sky, rocks, trees and rivers.
Bad Spirits
African religious traditions, as with Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and other major world religions, hold that just as there is good in the world, there is also evil. Goodness is the result of the blessings of God and the spiritual world in response to good behavior on the part of individuals and communities. Suffering and misfortune to individuals and communities, in all of these traditions, are believed to be the result of either:

• Inappropriate behavior on the part of individuals or communities, OR
• The intervention of bad or disruptive spirits.

Just as there are good spirits these religious traditions hold that there are bad spirits (referred to as the devil or Satan in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism). In African religious traditions, bad spirits are responsible for causing much of the misfortune that individuals and communities suffer.
Most African societies have specially trained spiritual professionals who through special medicines and communication with the ancestral spirits can provide protection against the wiles of evil spirits.
Religious Leaders
Every religious tradition have individuals who perform specific religious tasks and duties. Each religious tradition has special titles for religious officials-rabbi, imman, minister, pastor or priest. In African religious traditions, there are different religious roles, these include priests, rain-makers, and healers (diviners, herbalists) In some African traditions, these various roles may be served by the same individual, in other traditions different persons may serve each position.
We should consider religious leaders to be professionals in that each position requires a long period of training. Moreover, these positions are often full-time leaving little time for activities beyond the fulfillment of their duties. We should also note that in most African religious traditions women and men serve as priests and healers.
Priests
The role of priests varies between religious traditions. One of the most important functions of priests in many traditions is to officiate at religious ceremonies and rituals. Religious ceremonies and rituals are very important to maintaining religious and cultural traditions. Ritual ceremonies celebrating birth, transition to adulthood, marriage, death, planting and harvest, or commemorating the life of a deceased ancestor are vital to maintaining a close-knit community. Such rituals also help to reinforce values and appropriate behavior within the community. Priests, who officiate at these rituals and ceremonies, play a central rule in promoting a strong and united community.
In some religious traditions, priests will be affiliated with a particular spirit or group of spirits. In this situation, priests will be in charge of a special shrine dedicated to the spirit, and she or he officiates at special ceremonies commemorating that spirit. For example in many African religious traditions, there are special shrines to commemorate the founding ancestor of the community. In addition to officiating at special ceremonies celebrating the ancestor, the shrine priest(s) serves as the voice of the ancestor spirit, communicating advice and admonition to the community.
How do the ancestral spirits communicate to their priests? As part of her or his religious practice, a priest will enter a trance-like condition during which time it is believed that the spirit of the ancestor enters or "possesses" the body of the priest. During the possession, the ancestor directly communicates with the priest, passing on information to the people. History gives an account how ancestral spirits in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe communicated through shrine priests their wish for the local community to resist European colonialism which was destroying local cultures, traditions, and communities.

Rain-Makers
With the exception of the area of tropical rain forests in West and Central Africa, much of Africa is either arid or semi-arid and suffers from fairly regular cycles of drought. In vast areas of East, West, Central, and Southern Africa, farmers are dependent on rain for their very survival. Throughout these regions, rain is an important focus of religious practice. As you learned, many religious traditions in Africa view misfortunes such as drought to be a result of inappropriate behavior on the part of community members, or of the disruptive influence of bad spirits. Rain-makers are special priests who are responsible for finding out the cause of a drought and to devise a remedy to the problem that has caused the drought.
Rain-makers through possession communicate with ancestral spirits to find the cause of the draught. Once the cause of the draught has been identified, the ancestral spirits will provide the rain-maker with a remedy. The remedy usually involves changing an inappropriate behavior that is believed to have caused the drought and offering special librations to the offended spirits.
Healers
Healers, often referred to as traditional doctors, are important in all African societies. Given what we know about African religious traditions, including healers as religious leaders should not be surprising. Good health is the believed to be the result of appropriate behavior, that is living in accordance to the values, norms of traditions of the society. One of the primary causes of illness, then, comes from inappropriate behavior. In addition, illness can be the result of the work of bad spirits.
In either case, illnesses have a spiritual basis, that in turn, requires a spiritual remedy. In most African religious traditions, there are two methods of healing. In some traditions, these two methods are practiced by the same healer; in other traditions, there are separate practitioners. To be a practitioner of either type of healing takes experience and great skill developed over many years of training. Training to be a healer in Africa takes time and effort just as does training to be medical doctor in North America.

• Herbalists: Extracts from plants-fruits, berries, roots, leaves, bark-provide the basis of the medicines used by traditional healers in Africa. Herbalist healers go through a rigorous training through which they learn about the healing properties of a wide variety of plants. When they finish their training, herbalist healers will be able to prescribe herbal remedies for many different illnesses. On occasion, a healer will be confronted with a new and strange disease. In these situations, the herbalist will seek assistance from the spiritual world. As described above, the healer will enter a trance in which she or he is possessed by a spirit. The spirit will lead the healer to an appropriate remedy.
• Spiritualists/Diviners: Diviners treat illness primarily through facilitating the direct intervention of the spiritual world. If an illness is believed to be caused by inappropriate behavior on the part of the patient, a remedy or cure for the illness can only come through spiritual intervention. While a herbal healer uses plants to treat diseases, a diviner seeks input from the spiritual world to understand the cause of the illness and prescribe a cure. Usually a diviner is possessed by the same ancestral spirit with whom she or he has developed a special relationship.

In addition to treating specific illnesses, African healers-herbalist and diviners- also practice preventative medicine. Patients may come to the healer seeking protection from misfortune. Or a person undertaking a long journey may want a remedy that will provide safety on her trip. Another patient may want a remedy that will provide wisdom and clarity in making an important decision.
When Europeans were first observed African medicine and healing practices, they often had a negative reaction. They viewed these practices as being based on magic and not on science. These judgments were based on a misunderstanding of African views on disease and healing. Indeed, like "western" medicine, African healing is based on close observation of the patient and his or her disease and on the use of remedies-medicines-that have a track record for successfully treating a particular ailment.
During the past thirty years, Western trained doctors have gained a greater appreciation for African healing techniques and practices. Indeed, throughout Africa it is now fairly common to have Western trained doctors working with traditional healers in the treatment of patients.
Global Impact of African Religions
Indigenous African religions continue to be very important in many African societies. However, African religious beliefs and practices have not remained unchanged. The spread of Islam and Christianity has influenced the practice of indigenous religious practice. But just as importantly, as will be demonstrated in the next two sections, African religious belief and practice has influenced the way Islam and Christianity are practiced in Africa.
African religious belief and practice have also had an impact outside of Africa. Just as trade from Asia and Europe helped to facilitate the spread of Islam and Christianity in Africa, so too travel and trade facilitated the spread of African religious traditions into Europe and the Americas (See Module 15: Africa and the World). The Atlantic slave trade and more recently the new wave of immigration of African to Europe and North America assisted the transfer of religious practice to these areas.

Priest/Spirit Medium, rural Ethiopia

Women participating in religious ceremony: Ethiopia

Shrine to river spirit: Oshun River, Nigeria

Ritual masquerader dance celebrating Agbo Water Spirit, Nigeria

Two of the most important examples of African religious expression in the Americas are the religions of Santeria in Cuba, and Brazil, and Vodou in Haiti. Both of these religious traditions have a growing following in the United States.

Studying Africa through the Humanities Indigenous African Religions

First, it is important to remember that while there are similarities between African religions, there are also differences. Just as there are differences in religious practice in the United States-not just between Christians, Moslems, Jews, Hindus, and others, but even within Christianity (Roman Catholics and many Protestant groups), Islam (Sunni, Sh'ite, Nation of Islam) and Judaism (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform)-so too there are differences in religious belief and practice among African religions
 Secondly, although the supernatural-God and spirit world-are important in African religions (as you will learn in the next section), religious belief and practice are central to all aspects of life in Africa. That is, religious beliefs impact the way people live their everyday lives, from what they eat (or cannot eat), the way they farm, do everyday chores, hunt, make tools and clothes, arrange themselves in families, marry, divide work among family members, educate their children, treat illness, and bury the dead. Among indigenous African religions, religious belief and practice are not restricted to one holy day each week, be it Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but are present in the most common daily activities as well as in special ritual ceremonies.
 

 African religions provide people with what some scholars call a world-view. A world-view can be thought of as a system of values, attitudes, and beliefs, which provide people with a mechanism to understand the world in which they live and everyday events and occurrences. Maybe we can think of a world-view as being like a language. Can you imagine how hard it would be explain or understand everyday events and occurrences if we did not have language-words? Words are essential tools that help us explain and understand events and occurrences. But words come with their own meanings, we cannot simply change the meanings of words when we use them to explain or to understand events or why we live the way we do. Words and their meanings help shape the way we see, and therefore how we explain, events. Similarly, the world-view (values, attitudes, beliefs) that an individual learns from the time s/he is a baby provides a mechanism that influences how s/he understands all that happens to her/him, her/his community and the world in which s/he lives.



 African indigenous religions provide a system of morality that establishes right from wrong, good and appropriate from bad or inappropriate behavior. Just as with Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, children growing up in African religions learn right from wrong, and what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior in every situation that they face.
 like all world religions, rituals are important to African indigenous religions. Rituals are cultural or religious ceremonies that celebrate or commemorate specific events that have deep religious significance. Rituals serve to reinforce important religious beliefs through meaningful activities that bring comfort or joy and thus strengthen the unity of the followers of the religious tradition. Rituals are often associated with important human events: birth, marriage, death, planting, and harvest.

The Supernatural in Indigenous African Religions

Scholars who study religion in Africa tell us that all African societies have a belief in God. Some African religions believe in one supreme God who created the world and all that is in the world. Other African religions believe that there is more than one God; however even in these religions, usually one of the Gods is claimed to be the supreme God who was responsible for creating the world. Since there are many different language groups in Africa, there are many different names for God.
 Whether or not a particular African religion believes in one or several Gods, the way God is viewed in most African religions is both similar and different than the way the monotheistic religions characterize God. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are the main monotheistic religions. These religions teach that there is only one God and that that God not only created the universe, God has complete control over that universe. Moreover throughout history, the one supreme God communicates directly with humans, and God is directly involved in the lives of humans.
 many African religions share the following concept of God. These concepts are quite similar to the way God is viewed in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, the three main monotheistic religions.

• God is creator of all things.
• God sustains creation
• God provides for and protects creation
• God rules over the universe
• God is all powerful (omnipotent)
• God is all-knowing (omniscient-knows everything that happens in the world)
• God is viewed as parent (sometimes as a father and sometimes as a mother)
• God supports justice
• Human-beings cannot directly know God.

Given these similarities it should not be surprising that Africans from all over the continent often accepted the introduction of Islam and Christianity into their communities.



In spite of these similarities there are important differences in the way God and the supernatural are viewed in African religions in comparison to Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. In most African religious systems, God (or the Gods) after creation was not directly involved in the human society or the individual lives of people. Remember how in the creation stories the Gods were engaged in the creation of people, but after creation, the Gods usually withdrew from direct contact with human-beings?
The idea of an isolated God does not make the supernatural un-important in Africa religions. Indeed, the supernatural, or spiritual realm, is most important to African religious belief. Between an all-powerful God and humans is a pantheon of spirits. These spirits are directly engaged in the lives of human beings, and can act as intermediaries between God and humans.
Spirits in African religious traditions share some of the same characteristics of angels in the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish traditions. Good spirits help to protect against illness and misfortune and assist humans by providing rain needed for crops, as well as, fish and game animals used for food. However, not all spirits are good, some spirits are viewed as evil and are believed to be responsible for illness, premature death, and other forms of suffering and misfortune.

JUST FIVE OF MANY PERILS IN THE WORLD TODAY

We can all agree, the world is in disarray. The planet is out of order with a lagging economic crisis, terror mayhem, police brutality, a frightening Ebola outbreak, suspicious Malaysian flight’s mischief, religious wars etc. Yes, our world is in peril. All we can do is ask why? Common sense tells us there is a reason for every action. To every effect there is a cause. So, the best we can do is to try and answer the – why. Right now, the conspiracy theorists have a huge pile of controversies to dissect. This is why, in this blog, I will not answer the why, what I will do is help you put the question in a clear perspective. This way, it will be up to you to decide the answer to – why.
 

Economic Crisis: After a disgraceful, wallet shrinking recession, we are breathing a little easier than we did when President Bush Jr. was in office. Firstly, the national deficit is not tripling as it was. Second, the labor market is much better than it was. Of course, these new jobs are not high paying jobs, many are still underemployed or unemployed, but you have to admit, at least the economy is not losing jobs in the hundreds of thousands every month, as it did before the Obama administration which hasn’t been awesome but alright.

American families do not leave the keys in their homes and flee to the valley as they were in 2009 and if Wall Street is still giving fat bonuses you and I will never know because it is not in the news anymore. At this point, it’s safe to say the recession is over. GM is not laying off or closing plants and the price of gas has not reached $10 a gallon. However, people in the middle class are still gnashing their teeth. People are still out. The bill of health care is still high, there is no job security and to be honest, there are millions out there who are still flat broke. Some say the recession is still here. Why?

 

Terror Indignation: Tell me you did not laugh when you heard there was a new terrorist group that has made Al Qaeda look like Girl Scouts. Well, you did not laugh because you wished there wasn’t a more difficult terrorist group out there, you did because you could not imagine an organization so vile that even Al Qaeda denounced them. The joke soon ended when we heard how serious these guys are. They copied their strategy of the West by using the media, social networking and advanced systems of public relations to increase their visibility. And it appears they came out of nowhere.

Before long, we heard they were not only willing to recruit Westerners but in fact, Westerners are willing to flock to their battlefields. Really? You mean guys are willing to give up their SUVs, townhouses and so called freedoms of the West to live, fight and die in some of the harshest terrines of the Middle East? Why? What have we done to make them even consider joining the enemy to fight against their own countries? This problem is so wild the West has put in place, measures to ensure that the youths can not be recruited into “terror” and if they were, they would struggle to return home to conduct attacks on the homeland. What is making them want to do that?

 

Police Brutality: Since the murder of Trayvon Martin, there have been several other police murders of unarmed civilians in America. In all respects, this is yet another challenge in our world today. In 2014, Americans have come to realize that even as the government seeks to deprive citizens of their rights to keep and bear arms, the same government is arming the police with military style weapons. In most cases, it is difficult to differentiate between the police and the army since the police have since copied the military by wearing their uniforms and deploying military-style equipment and weapons against the unarmed citizens of America.

The police are power crazed and desperate to incite fear. They stop at nothing, not even the murder of teenagers or young men or parents in the presence of their children. In America, the police have declared war on all citizens. The National Guard was deployed in Missouri this summer, but the government quickly aborted the deployment knowing that an attempt to control the police could lead to a fire fight with the National Guard, should they try to stop them. Would the police really fire on the National Guard? Why?

 

Ebola Outbreak: This same year, as if all the current troubles are not serious enough, there is the worst outbreak of Ebola in history. If you ask the Africans, they will tell you that they are well aware that the virus was released into West Africa, that under no circumstances was it an accident. The disease spread quickly because the first victims were convinced that they had been infected with the virus deliberately so, they fled treatment centers where they suspected a more sinister agenda took place. In the West, it is believed that the virus was ingested from eating infected wild animals.

Just like the aids virus which Africans are convinced was brought to Africa from the West to blame them for its existence, West Africans now claim they ate bush meat for centuries without ingesting any diseases. They are in disbelief how was it possible to suddenly ingest Ebola in 2014 from the same bush meat they had been eating all these generations? Shortly after the outbreak, the second flight of Malaysia was shot from the sky. Conspiracy theorists began to spread rumors on social networking sites that a doctor was en-route to Australia to reveal the true source of the outbreak when the flight was stopped from reaching Sydney.

 

Malaysia Flight: This brings us to the mysterious downing of two flights from Malaysia this year. The first one disappeared for hours before it was reported. A large ocean research was launched with several speculations told to analyze when, how or where the plane lost contact with air traffic control or what happened on board and where it could have crashed. After months of research and a very confused public dismay, we were reminded that our super powers are significantly limited especially when it comes to the ocean.

Ultimately the media have moved on to other stories and the audience is left to ask, why? As if the families from the first flight had not suffered enough, we heard of a Russian involvement in Ukraine that led to unrest in the region. During this agitation a second flight from Malaysia was blown out of the sky. The remains of the crew, passengers, goods and the plane were left unattended in a rebel held Ukrainian wilderness. No one has been held accountable, no explanation has been given, details of the incident are scarce and the world has done nothing. Why?

 

MARRIAGE IS THE NEW SINGLE

Many people seek marriage but many do not know what marriage really is. Most men simply want to lock down that special girl to keep her from slipping away and most women are simply eager to have that big day. This is not to say they are not in love but some guys actually think they’ll never find someone who would STAY with them? So when one comes along that seems to be continuously interested, the guy drops on his knees and pops the question. Many do not check for compatibility; if the woman he’s about to marry has the makings of a loyal wife or if he’s a wannabe Hollywood prince.

The woman may not care to know what the man really expects from her. As long as she gets a dream wedding and a huge ring she’s happy. The man may not even know what the original construct of marriage is. Many people were not brought up to know that marriage is not just about the wedding day. The guy may not understand his responsibility to her. All he knows, he wanted a beautiful crush to fall in his arms so he married the one that came along. He never expresses his true feelings because he is afraid she might turn on him. The essence of family is fragile from the very beginning due to the absence of fundamental truths.

For most, marriage is a fantasy. This means it is more of a built in mentality of what a husband should be. How he should act, how he should be with other women, what kinds of job he should have; anticipating a home and a family which she’s fantasized. Not once does the guy stop to ask will she be the same after she has children? Will she maintain the seduction? Will she honor his wishes? Will he follow her lead and trust in her judgment? To him, simply being with a beautiful woman is enough. And many women feel victimized in their traditional role so they seek role reversal. While she focuses on a wedding showoff with family and friends he can’t see beyond sex, money and control.

The problem is, most of the ideas of a perfect husband comes from revised new age relationship schemes shown in movies, TV Shows,  magazines or friends but the idea of a perfect wife comes from the traditional construct of marriage. No one told her that for her, marriage is a life where her goal is to prolong the survival of his genes. As wonderful as the big day sounds for most marriage hopefuls many women do not even know why they should take their husband’s last name? This man who she is about to say “I do” to; will she obey him knowing he is the ordained head of her family, above the children or the pets even? No. She’s new school while he’s old school. The whole thing is an explosion waiting to happen.

The mistake most couples make today is they never separate reality from fantasy. Many are not prepared for the turmoils of a relationship. One big argument and out they go! Getting married is a GOOD thing if it’s with the right person. But there are a few mistakes that could hinder a marriage. Baby mama drama with your partner’s ex, someone who blew their credit before they met you, criminal record, misrepresentation or even worst, bad karma. Now you can’t afford a proper home because of your partner’s credit, one of you cannot find a decent job. Unexplained health issues? Disagreement on what to spend money on etc. And as much as I respect the court system I strongly believe man made laws are not suitable to govern these issues.

Marriage should not be settled in court being that it is a spiritual pact between two people. It should involve a Priest, an Imam or a Rabbi… not a judge. Young people need to be taught this. Just think about it, the law outlawed polygamy and legalized homosexuality later. Who is to say which one is wrong or right? Women have become independent. Does this means more alimony and child support payments will go to men? Courts can decide who you love and who gets rewarded or punished for a breakup? Instead, shouldn’t people be taught their obligations within each relationship so they can work it out with their spiritual adviser? But then again, some may say the spiritual advisor also have explaining to do. In either case the point I’m making is marriage is more complicated than it seems.*

Please leave your comments below.

Welcome To Rufasca Blog (Universal Diametric): SHOULD WOMEN BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE?

Welcome To Rufasca Blog (Universal Diametric): SHOULD WOMEN BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE?: Everyone seems to know what a man should DO. A good man should never cheat, a good man should treat his woman with respect… good man this ...

SHOULD WOMEN BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE?

Everyone seems to know what a man should DO. A good man should never cheat, a good man should treat his woman with respect… good man this and good men that. Is it that there are no husband material left out there? The notion is all men are doing something wrong. So I ask you, are woman doing everything right? If the answer is no then what are they doing wrong? There are thousands of quotes about how a strong woman should never need a man and what a woman should and should not accept. But nothing seems to denote what a man should not tolerate. What’s wrong here?

OK ladies, let’s have an honest conversation. Don’t take this as an attack, rather, use it as an awakening. How is your ability to find a husband? How come every man you date already has a woman? Other women are happily married yet you can’t find a husband? If he’s not married, he has a girlfriend. If he’s single, the question of whether your potential relationship will end up in marriage is typically out of your hands. Correct me if I’m wrong but many women are giving up on love and settling to become single mothers. If you have to settle what will you settle for? A man with some flaws or being a single mother? Will you even settle? What can women do to fix this problem? Is there any responsibility on the woman’s part?

Many women have given up “trying” to find the right man but every week they turn down a potential husband. I’m going to focus my attention on North America, Europe and Australia since these are the main cultures that have deviated from the time immemorial tradition of how a husband finds a wife or what a wife should do or be like. These cultures also have the highest divorce rate as well as the highest number of unmarried single women with children.

 

Yes, this article is all about you. Ladies, we have already chastised the men for their shortcomings. In fact, we have resorted to the conclusion that “good men do not exist” or are very rare. So now it’s your turn to face the music. What is a good woman? Are there many wife material? Is a wife hard to find? Again, please do not take this as an attack. It is an attempt to address a topic that people avoid. In a world of liberated women, it is worth asking as men are, are women to be held accountable for their decisions and actions or is it truly the man’s fault? Is he a husband waiting for a wife to come by?

Take a look at the map below: The pink area shows countries where there are more women than men and the blue area shows countries where there are more men than women. Perhaps we will arrived at some interesting conclusions. This blog is not about women who are not looking, already have a man or are among those who can get and keep an exclusive boyfriend or husband whenever she wants for as long as she want. It is not about the lady who is not trying to find a husband. This blog is for the hopeless romantic, sensual, somewhat innocent woman who is ready and willing to do what it takes and has a lot of love to offer a husband; who is also emotionally strong knowing she deserves marriage and a family.

The lonely divorced, the heartbroken, the lover, young or mature who knows that she possess the skills to have and upkeep a HAPPY home. One without mental reservation against her future husband. This is for the woman who steps to the plate and take full responsibility for her decision and actions. But for one reason or another she cannot find a husband. According to the map above, women, no matter how cute, special or unique, seems to be in endless supply. The law of supply states, the higher the supply, the lower the price or the quantity demanded. If we were to apply this analogy to the sex ratio, it will be necessary for every single woman to note why husbands are far rarer to find than wives.

Ladies ask yourself; if you could have the man of your dreams with you right now what would he be like? Before I go further, I’d like to reiterate that this is not to cast blame or judge you. It is an educative article that discusses the topic of finding true love without mocking, agitating or belittling anyone. The goal here is to give each other ideas as to what could be improved in our behavior and perceptions or to take responsibility for our actions. Yes I know, it’s not fair that he can have ten good women whenever he wants when you can barely find one good man. It is important to note that while you may throw him out for deserving better, the chances of him finding another good woman are far greater than your chances of replacing him with a better man. This is assuming of cores that we both agree that domestic or psychological abuse are out of the question.

 

There is a high ratio of women compared to men in the world. You know you are beautiful, you feel sexy, you are proudly independent. You don’t want to be used. You seem sophisticated. You are a beautiful, smart and articulate woman. Yes, you are special! But these are NOT all the factors that determines how men choose a life mate? What makes you beautiful? It’s your outwards looks, your smarts and your positive behavior towards the one you attract? You can get 100 Likes and Comments on Facebook with one photo but that does not mean you are wife material?

It’s your voice, your body language, your style, your availability and your consciousness that makes you “wifeable.” These are the important points to remember especially if you get 100 phone numbers from different men but none of those 100 men end up being the one. Is it the 100 men’s fault or did you have a part to play? Say it’s men’s fault and hope to get lucky or accept some responsibility and become proactive and find your husband. The question becomes, if being smart, beautiful and unique is not enough then what else do you have to do or be to pull in the one to spend the rest of your life with? Responsible words and actions.

 

Ladies, let’s assume that love is not the issue. Sparks fly, romance and sex only gets better. You love him and he loves you. And yet life must be lived. Bills must be paid, food must go on the table while the necessities of life are provided. Back in the day it was the man’s responsibility to work and pay all the bills and then provide food, protection and security for his woman and children. In return the woman’s responsibility was to care for the home and raise the children. Before that even, cavemen went out to hunt and fend off hooligans while cave women stayed within the protection of the cave. That was then. Today, we live in a digital age where physical strength earns far less than technological know how.

Women are increasingly better at working with technology which then makes them breadwinners. Women have earned the right to be today’s hunters. Quite frankly women don’t even have to wait around for a man to show up because she can simply run to the grocery store and buy food. Women do not need men to protect them because they can call 911. So naturally if she does not need him to hunt for her or protect her from outlaws and bandits then why should she have to clean, cook, raise children and be a stay at home mom? This change in the equation of a family has altered the entire relationship system which then has to be rearranged. The problem is LOVE did not change. The way how one person loves another has remained the same as it were.

Imagine having to work your whole life to provide but instead of a thank you, you were told your efforts are no longer needed. She can fend for herself, she does not have to uphold anymore traditional obligations. Can you imagine the impact this has on the family structure? That has to change as well. The children respect and appreciate their mother more than their father for starters. This is apoplectic since more men are unqualified for jobs while women earn higher wages. Can the courts reverse alimony laws, reverse spousal support since more men stay at home while their women earn more? This is how complicated it is today.

Does this sound right with the traditional mindset in general? No, it shows the need for double income households. A man has to have something else to offer beside the usual food, protection, cloth and shelter and women have to offer more than cooking, cleaning and caring for babies. Give and take, some are still traditional, preferring old customs while others are new age thinkers who frown on old traditions. On the work site the woman becomes accountable for her quality of work ever bearing in mind that being female no longer exaggerates her. Some women are not ready for this.

 

Yes, he will always offer his support but he is no longer obligated to be responsible. Her desire to be relieved of traditional obligations also relieved him of his responsibilities. Relationships are about love but to make it work there has to be a negotiation. No matter how you spin it. One person furnishes this, the other addresses that …and both parties are content after receiving what the other had to offer. This is the foundation of a mature relationship. Love is the cement that holds it in place.

When you add love in this mix you’ll find that selfishness and greed or insecurities and distrust can no longer exist. Set aside traditional customs, cultural difference and baggage from past failed relationships. Now that women are capable of going out and doing it on their own, a traditional man is free to flounder away. Hence why the typical ‘good men’ are fading away. To have good men and good women in a none traditional setting simply means the definition of good should be revised to fit the requirements of this age. However, this will not change the need for love or the need to pay bills or provide the basic necessities of life.*

100 African Cities Destroyed By Europeans

When tourists visit sub-Saharan Africa, they often wonder “Why there are no historical buildings or monuments?”

The reason is simple. Europeans destroyed most of them. We only have a few drawings and descriptions by travelers who visited the places before their destruction. In some places, ruins are still visible. Many cities were abandoned when Europeans brought exotic diseases (smallpox and influenza) which started spreading and killing people. Most of those cities lie hidden. In fact the biggest part of Africa history is still under the ground.

(Please note – the research supporting this post is mostly derived from Robin Walker, a distinguished panafricanist and historian who has written the book ‘When We Ruled’, and by PD Lawton, another great panafricanist, who has an upcoming book titled “The Invisible Empire”. All quotes and excerpts below are from the books of Robin Walker and PD Lawton. I highly recommend you to read Walker’s book ‘When We Ruled’ to get a full account of the beauty of the continent before its destruction. You can get more info about PD Lawton work by visiting her blog: AfricanAgenda.net. Robin Walter and PD Lawton have quoted quite heavily another great panafricanist Walter Rodney who wrote the book ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa‘. Additional information came from YouTube channel ‘dogons2k12 : African Historical Ruins’, and The Ta Neter Foundation work. Most drawings are from the book African Cities and Towns Before the European Conquest by Richard W. Hull, published in 1976. That book alone dispels the stereotypical view of Africans living in simple, primitive, look-alike agglomerations, scattered without any appreciation for planning and design.)

We begin with Benin City.  At the end of the 13th century, a European traveler encountered the great metropolis in West Africa (present Nigeria, Edo State), writing:

“The town seems to be very great. When you enter into it, you go into a great broad street, not paved, which seems to be seven or eight times broader than the Warmoes street in Amsterdam…The Kings palace is a collection of buildings which occupy as much space as the town of Harlem, and which is enclosed with walls. There are numerous apartments for the Prince`s ministers and fine galleries, most of which are as big as those on the Exchange at Amsterdam. They are supported by wooden pillars encased with copper, where their victories are depicted, and which are carefully kept very clean. The town is composed of thirty main streets, very straight and 120 feet wide, apart from an infinity of small intersecting streets. The houses are close to one another, arranged in good order. These people are in no way inferior to the Dutch as regards cleanliness; they wash and scrub their houses so well that they are polished and shining like a looking glass.” (Source: Walter Rodney, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, pg. 69)

The mediaeval Nigerian city of Benin was built to “a scale comparable with the Great Wall of China”. There was a vast system of defensive walling totalling 10,000 miles in all. Even before the full extent of the city walling had become apparent the Guinness Book of Records carried an entry in the 1974 edition that described the city as: “The largest earthworks in the world carried out prior to the mechanical era.” – Excerpt from “The Invisible Empire”, PD Lawton, Source-YouTube, uploader-dogons2k12 `African Historical Ruins`
“Benin art of the Middle Ages was of the highest quality. An official of the Berlin Museum für Völkerkunde once stated that: “These works from Benin are equal to the very finest examples of European casting technique. Benvenuto Cellini could not have cast them better, nor could anyone else before or after him . . . Technically, these bronzes represent the very highest possible achievement.”

Sadly, in 1897, Benin City was destroyed by British forces under Admiral Harry Rawson. The city was looted, blown up and burnt to the ground. A collection of the famous Benin Bronzes are now in the British Museum in London. Part of the 700 stolen bronzes by the British troops were sold back to Nigeria in 1972.

Here is another account of the great Benin City regarding the city walls “They extend for some 16 000 kilometres in all, in a mosaic of more than 500 interconnected settlement boundaries. They cover 6500 square kilometres and were all dug by the Edo people. In all, they are four times longer than the Great Wall of China, and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops. They took an estimated 150 million hours of digging to construct, and are perhaps the largest single archaeological phenomenon on the planet.” Source: Wikipedia, Architecture of Africa.” Fred Pearce the New Scientist 11/09/99.

Here is a view of Benin city in 1891 before the British conquest. H. Ling Roth, Great Benin, Barnes and Noble reprint. 1968.

Did you know that in the 14th century the city of Timbuktu in West Africa was five times bigger than the city of London, and was the richest city in the world?

Today, Timbuktu is 236 times smaller than London. It has little to show of a modern city. Its population is two times less than 5 centuries ago, impoverished with beggars and dirty street sellers. The town itself is incapable of conserving its past ruined monuments and archives.

Back in the 14 century, the 3 richest places on earth was China, Iran/Irak, and the Mali empire in West Africa. From all 3 the only one which was still independent and prosperous was the Mali Empire. Eventually China and the whole of the Middle East were conquered by Genghis Kan Mongol troops which ravaged, pillaged, and raped the places. The Mali empire lived on under the rule of the richest man ever in the history of humanity, Mansa Musa,  emperor of the 14th century Mali Empire which covered modern day Mali, Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea.

At the time of his death in 1331, Mansa Musa was worth the equivalent of 400 billion dollars. At that time Mali Empire was producing more than half the world’s supply of salt and gold.

Here below are some depictions of emperor Mansa Musa.

When Mansa Musa went on a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, he carried so much gold, and spent them so lavishly that the price of gold fell for ten years. 60 000 people accompanied him.

He founded the library of Timbuktu, and the famous manuscripts of Timbuktu which cover all areas of world knowledge were written during his reign.

Witnesses of the greatness of the Mali empire came from all part of the world. “Sergio Domian, an Italian art and architecture scholar, wrote the following about this period: ‘Thus was laid the foundation of an urban civilisation. At the height of its power, Mali had at least 400 cities, and the interior of the Niger Delta was very densely populated.’

The Malian city of Timbuktu had a 14th century population of 115,000 – 5 times larger than mediaeval London.

National Geographic recently described Timbuktu as the Paris of the mediaeval world, on account of its intellectual culture. According to Professor Henry Louis Gates, 25,000 university students studied there.

“Many old West African families have private library collections that go back hundreds of years. The Mauritanian cities of Chinguetti and Oudane have a total of 3,450 hand written mediaeval books. There may be another 6,000 books still surviving in the other city of Walata. Some date back to the 8th century AD. There are 11,000 books in private collections in Niger.

In Timbuktu today, there are about 700,000 surviving books. They are written in Mande, Suqi, Fulani, Timbuctu, and Sudani. The contents of the manuscripts include math, medicine, poetry, law and astronomy. The world’s first encyclopedia was created in Mali in the 14th century, eons before the Europeans got the idea 4 centuries later.

A collection of one thousand six hundred books was considered a small library for a West African scholar of the 16th century. Professor Ahmed Baba of Timbuktu is recorded as saying that he had the smallest library of any of his friends – he had only 1600 volumes.

Concerning these old manuscripts, actor Michael Palin, in his TV series ‘Sahara’, said the imam of Timbuktu “has a collection of scientific texts that clearly show the planets circling the sun. They date back hundreds of years . . . Its convincing evidence that the scholars of Timbuktu knew a lot more than their counterparts in Europe. In the fifteenth century in Timbuktu the mathematicians knew about the rotation of the planets, knew about the details of the eclipse, they knew things which we had to wait for 150 almost 200 years to know in Europe when Galileo and Copernicus came up with these same calculations and were given a very hard time for it.”

The old Malian capital of Niani had a 14th century building called the Hall of Audience. It was an surmounted by a dome, adorned with arabesques of striking colours. The windows of an upper floor were plated with wood and framed in silver; those of a lower floor were plated with wood, framed in gold.

Malian sailors got to America in 1311 AD, 181 years before Columbus. An Egyptian scholar, Ibn Fadl Al-Umari, published on this sometime around 1342. In the tenth chapter of his book, there is an account of two large maritime voyages ordered by the predecessor of Mansa Musa, a king who inherited the Malian throne in 1312. This mariner king is not named by Al-Umari, but modern writers identify him as Mansa Abubakari II.” Excerpt from Robin Walker’s book, ‘WHEN WE RULED’

Those event were happening at the same period when Europe as a continent was plunged into the Dark Age, ravaged by plague and famine, its people killing one another for religious and ethnic reasons.

Here below are some depiction of the city of Timbuktu in the 19th century. 

“Kumasi was the capital of the Asante Kingdom, 10th century-20th century. Drawings of life in Kumasi show homes, often of 2 stories, square buildings with thatched roofs, with family compounds arranged around a courtyard. The Manhyia Palace complex drawn in another sketch was similar to a Norman castle, only more elegant in its architecture.

“These 2 story thatched homes of the Ashanti Kingdom were timber framed and the walls were of lath and plaster construction. A tree always stood in the courtyard which was the central point of a family compound. The Tree of Life was the altar for family offerings to God, Nyame. A brass pan sat in the branches of the tree into which offerings were placed. This was the same in every courtyard of every household, temple and palace. The King`s representatives, officials, worked in open-sided buildings. The purpose being that everyone was welcome to see what they were up to.

“The townhouses of Kumase had upstairs toilets in 1817.This city in the 1800s is documented in drawings and photographs. Promenades and public squares, cosmopolitan lives, exquisite architecture and everywhere spotless and ordered, a wealth of architecture, history, prosperity and extremely modern living” – PD Lawton, AfricanAgenda.net 

Winwood Reade described his visit to the Ashanti Royal Palace of Kumasi in 1874: “We went to the king’s palace, which consists of many courtyards, each surrounded with alcoves and verandahs, and having two gates or doors, so that each yard was a thoroughfare . . . But the part of the palace fronting the street was a stone house, Moorish in its style . . . with a flat roof and a parapet, and suites of apartments on the first floor. It was built by Fanti masons many years ago. The rooms upstairs remind me of Wardour Street. Each was a perfect Old Curiosity Shop. Books in many languages, Bohemian glass, clocks, silver plate, old furniture, Persian rugs, Kidderminster carpets, pictures and engravings, numberless chests and coffers. A sword bearing the inscription From Queen Victoria to the King of Ashantee. A copy of the Times, 17 October 1843. With these were many specimens of Moorish and Ashanti handicraft.” – Robin Walter

The beautiful city of Kumasi  was blown up, destroyed by fire, and looted by the British at the end of the 19th century.

Here below are few depictions of the city.

In 1331, Ibn Battouta, described the Tanzanian city of Kilwa, of the Zanj, Swahili speaking people, as follows ” one of the most beautiful and well-constructed cities in the world, the whole of it is elegantly built”. The ruins are complete with `gothic` arches and intricate stonework, examples of exquisite architecture. Kilwa dates back to the 9th century and was at its peak in the 13th and 14th centuries. This international African port minted its own currency in the 11th -14th centuries. Remains of artefacts link it to Spain, China, Arabia and India. The inhabitants, architects and founders of this city were not Arabs and the only influence the Europeans had in the form of the Portuguese was to mark the start of decline, most likely through smallpox and influenza.” – Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, excerpt from “The Invisible Empire” byPD Lawton

In 1505 Portuguese forces destroyed and burned down the Swahili cities of Kilwa and Mombasa.

The picture below shows an artist’s reconstruction of the sultan’s palace in Kilwa in the 1400’s, followed by other ruins photographs.

“A Moorish nobleman who lived in Spain by the name of Al-Bakri questioned merchants who visited the Ghana Empire in the 11th century and wrote this about the king: “He sits in audience or to hear grievances against officials in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses covered with gold-embroidered materials. Behind the king stand ten pages holding shields and swords decorated with gold, and on his right are the sons of the kings of his country wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold. The governor of the city sits on the ground before the king and around him are ministers seated likewise. At the door of the pavilion are dogs of excellent pedigree that hardly ever leave the place where the king is, guarding him. Around their necks they wear collars of gold and silver studded with a number of balls of the same metals.” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana_Empire#Government – the source of the quote is given on wikipedia as p.80 of Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West Africa by Nehemia Levtzion and John F.P. Hopkins)

Here below are few depictions of Ghana Empire.

In 15th when the Portuguese, the first Europeans to sail the Atlantic coasts of Africa “arrived in the coast of Guinea and landed at Vaida in West Africa, the captains were astonished to find streets well laid out, bordered on either side for several leagues by two rows of trees, for days they travelled through a country of magnificent fields, inhabited by men clad in richly coloured garments of their own weaving! Further south in the Kingdom of the Kongo(sic), a swarming crowd dressed in fine silks’ and velvet; great states well ordered, down to the most minute detail; powerful rulers, flourishing industries-civilised to the marrow of their bones. And the condition of the countries of the eastern coast-mozambique, for example-was quite the same.”

Another example is the Kingdom of Congo in the 15th Century was the epitome of political organization. It “was a flourishing state in the 15th century. It was situated in the region of Northern Angola and West Kongo. Its population was conservatively estimated at 2 or 3 million people. The country was fivided into 6 administrative provinces and a number of dependancies. The provinces were Mbamba, Mbata, Mpangu, Mpemba, Nsundi, and Soyo. The dependancies included Matari, Wamdo, Wembo and the province of Mbundu. All in turn were subject to the authority of The Mani Kongo (King). The capital of the country(Mbanza Kongo), was in the Mpemba province. From the province of Mbamba, the military stronghold. It was possible to put 400,000 in the field.” – Excerpt from “The Invisible Empire” by PD Lawton

Below is an depiction by Olfert Dapper, a Dutch physician and writer, of the 17th century city of Loango (present Congo/Angola) based on descriptions of the place by those who had actually seen it.

Depiction of the City of Mbanza in the Kongo Kingdom

King of Kongo Receiving Dutch Ambassadors, 1642 DO Dapper, Description de lAfrique  Traduite du Flamand (1686)

Portuguese Emissaries Received by the King of Kongo, late 16th cent Duarte Lopes, Regnum Congo hoc est warhaffte und eigentliche , Congo in Africa (Franckfort am Mayn, 1609)

Until the end of 16 century, Africa was far more advanced than Europe in term of political organization, science, technology, culture. That prosperity continued, despite the European slavery ravages, till the 17th and 18th century.

The continent was crowded with tens of great and prosperous cities, empires and kingdoms with King Askia Toure of Songhay, King Behanzin Hossu Bowelle of Benin, Emperor Menelik of Ethiopia, King Shaka ka Sezangakhona of South Africa, Queen Nzinga of Angola, Queen Yaa Asantewaa of Ghana, Queen Amina of Nigeria.

We are talking here about Empires, Kingdoms, Queendoms, Kings, emperors, the richest man in the history of humanity in Africa.

Were these Kings and Queens sleeping on banana trees in the bushes? Were they dressed with tree leaves, with no shoes?

If they were not sleeping in trees, covered with leaves, where are the remainder of their palaces, their art work?

In the mid-nineteenth century, William Clarke, an English visitor to Nigeria, remarked that: “As good an article of cloth can be woven by the Yoruba weavers as by any people . . . in durability, their cloths far excel the prints and home-spuns of Manchester.”

The recently discovered 9th century Nigerian city of Eredo was found to be surrounded by a wall that was 100 miles long and seventy feet high in places. The internal area was a staggering 400 square miles.” Robin Walter

Loango City in the Congo/Angola area is depicted in another drawing from the mid 1600`s. Yet again, a vast planned city of linear layout, stretching across several miles and entirely surrounded by city walls, bustling with trade. The king`s complex alone was a mile and a half enclosure with courtyards and gardens. The people of Loango had used maths not just for arithmetic purposes but for astrological calculations. They used advanced maths, linear algebra. The Ishango Bone from the Congo is a calculator that is 25 000 years old. “The so-called Ishango bone`s inscriptions consist of two columns of odd numbers that add up to 60,with the left column containing prime numbers between 10 and 20, and the right column containing both added and subtracted numbers.” Source: Ta Neter Foundation. It is on view in a museum in Belgium. – Excerpt from “The Invisible Empire” by PD Lawton

The beautiful city of Loango was destroyed by European fortune hunters, pseudo-missionaries and other kinds of free-booters.

“On the subject of cloth, Kongolese textiles were also distinguished. Various European writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries wrote of the delicate crafts of the peoples living in eastern Kongo and adjacent regions who manufactured damasks, sarcenets, satins, taffeta, cloth of tissue and velvet. Professor DeGraft-Johnson made the curious observation that: “Their brocades, both high and low, were far more valuable than the Italian.”

On Kongolese metallurgy of the Middle Ages, one modern scholar wrote that: “There is no doubting . . . the existence of an expert metallurgical art in the ancient Kongo . . . The Bakongo were aware of the toxicity of lead vapours. They devised preventative and curative methods, both pharmacological (massive doses of pawpaw and palm oil) and mechanical (exerting of pressure to free the digestive tract), for combating lead poisoning.”

In Nigeria, the royal palace in the city of Kano dates back to the fifteenth century. Begun by Muhammad Rumfa (ruled 1463-99) it has gradually evolved over generations into a very imposing complex. A colonial report of the city from 1902, described it as “a network of buildings covering an area of 33 acres and surrounded by a wall 20 to 30 feet high outside and 15 feet inside . . . in itself no mean citadel”.

A sixteenth century traveller visited the central African civilisation of Kanem-Borno and commented that the emperor’s cavalry had golden “stirrups, spurs, bits and buckles.” Even the ruler’s dogs had “chains of the finest gold”.

One of the government positions in mediaeval Kanem-Borno was Astronomer Royal.

Ngazargamu, the capital city of Kanem-Borno, became one of the largest cities in the seventeenth century world. By 1658 AD, the metropolis, according to an architectural scholar housed “about quarter of a million people”. It had 660 streets. Many were wide and unbending, reflective of town planning.

The Nigerian city of Surame flourished in the sixteenth century. Even in ruin it was an impressive sight, built on a horizontal vertical grid. A modern scholar describes it thus: “The walls of Surame are about 10 miles in circumference and include many large bastions or walled suburbs running out at right angles to the main wall. The large compound at Kanta is still visible in the centre, with ruins of many buildings, one of which is said to have been two-storied. The striking feature of the walls and whole ruins is the extensive use of stone and tsokuwa (laterite gravel) or very hard red building mud, evidently brought from a distance. There is a big mound of this near the north gate about 8 feet in height. The walls show regular courses of masonry to a height of 20 feet and more in several places. The best preserved portion is that known as sirati (the bridge) a little north of the eastern gate . . . The main city walls here appear to have provided a very strongly guarded entrance about 30 feet wide.”

The Nigerian city of Kano in 1851 produced an estimated 10 million pairs of sandals and 5 million hides each year for export.

In 1246 AD Dunama II of Kanem-Borno exchanged embassies with Al-Mustansir, the king of Tunis. He sent the North African court a costly present, which apparently included a giraffe. An old chronicle noted that the rare animal “created a sensation in Tunis”.

In Southern Africa, there are at least 600 stone built ruins in the regions of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. These ruins are called Mazimbabwe in Shona, the Bantu language of the builders, and means great revered house and “signifies court”.

The Great Zimbabwe was the largest of these ruins. It consists of 12 clusters of buildings, spread over 3 square miles. Its outer walls were made from 100,000 tons of granite bricks. In the fourteenth century, the city housed 18,000 people, comparable in size to that of London of the same period.

Bling culture existed in this region. At the time of our last visit, the Horniman Museum in London had exhibits of headrests with the caption: “Headrests have been used in Africa since the time of the Egyptian pharaohs. Remains of some headrests, once covered in gold foil, have been found in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe and burial sites like Mapungubwe dating to the twelfth century after Christ.”

On bling culture, one seventeenth century visitor to southern African empire of Monomotapa, that ruled over this vast region, wrote that: “The people dress in various ways: at court of the Kings their grandees wear cloths of rich silk, damask, satin, gold and silk cloth; these are three widths of satin, each width four covados [2.64m], each sewn to the next, sometimes with gold lace in between, trimmed on two sides, like a carpet, with a gold and silk fringe, sewn in place with a two fingers’ wide ribbon, woven with gold roses on silk.”

Apparently the Monomotapan royal palace at Mount Fura had chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. An eighteenth century geography book provided the following data: “The inside consists of a great variety of sumptuous apartments, spacious and lofty halls, all adorned with a magnificent cotton tapestry, the manufacture of the country. The floors, cielings [sic], beams and rafters are all either gilt or plated with gold curiously wrought, as are also the chairs of state, tables, benches &c. The candle-sticks and branches are made of ivory inlaid with gold, and hang from the cieling by chains of the same metal, or of silver gilt.”

Monomotapa had a social welfare system. Antonio Bocarro, a Portuguese contemporary, informs us that the Emperor: “shows great charity to the blind and maimed, for these are called the king’s poor, and have land and revenues for their subsistence, and when they wish to pass through the kingdoms, wherever they come food and drinks are given to them at the public cost as long as they remain there, and when they leave that place to go to another they are provided with what is necessary for their journey, and a guide, and some one to carry their wallet to the next village. In every place where they come there is the same obligation.”

In, 1571 Portuguese forces invade Munhumutapa, and started the destruction of the place. In 1629, Emperor Mavhura becomes puppet ruler of Munhumutapa on behalf of the Portuguese.

Chinese records of the fifteenth century AD note that Mogadishu had houses of “four or five stories high”.

“Gedi, near the coast of Kenya, is one of the East African ghost towns. Its ruins, dating from the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries, include the city walls, the palace, private houses, the Great Mosque, seven smaller mosques, and three pillar tombs.

The ruined mosque in the Kenyan city of Gedi had a water purifier made of limestone for recycling water.

The palace in the Kenyan city of Gedi contains evidence of piped water controlled by taps. In addition it had bathrooms and indoor toilets.

A visitor in 1331 AD considered the Tanzanian city of Kilwa to be of world class. He wrote that it was the “principal city on the coast the greater part of whose inhabitants are Zanj of very black complexion.” Later on he says that: “Kilwa is one of the most beautiful and well-constructed cities in the world. The whole of it is elegantly built.”

Bling culture existed in early Tanzania. A Portuguese chronicler of the sixteenth century wrote that: “[T]hey are finely clad in many rich garments of gold and silk and cotton, and the women as well; also with much gold and silver chains and bracelets, which they wear on their legs and arms, and many jewelled earrings in their ears”.

In 1961 a British archaeologist, found the ruins of Husuni Kubwa, the royal palace of the Tanzanian city of Kilwa. It had over a hundred rooms, including a reception hall, galleries, courtyards, terraces and an octagonal swimming pool.

The Bamilike structures of the Cameroon are of mind-blowing architectural delicateness and beauty. The Bamum and Shomum scripts of the Cameroon are similar to those of Ethiopia. There are over 7000 ancient Bamum manuscripts and the Bamum Palace is still perfectly preserved.” Robin Walter

As historical sources described above the continent was full of monuments. Where are they?

The sad truth is that Europeans invaders have destroyed most of them either as punitive actions or under the scramble for Africa ‘Terra Nullius’ law.

During the scramble for Africa by Europeans, the main way to prove that a land was qualified for colonization or take over was ‘Terra Nullius”, a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning “land belonging to no one”, which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished sovereignty. Sovereignty over territory which is terra nullius may be acquired through occupation” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_nullius

Many islands were acquired that way when it was possible to slaughter the small population and easily prove that the land was empty before the arrival of colonial powers.

But very soon, the colonial powers were in difficulty to find “land belonging to no one”. Africa was not a Terra Nullius. Consequently,  the terra nullius law was altered to include land inhabited by savages and uncivilized people.

Again, very quickly the colonial power found it difficult to prove that Africa was a land of savages and uncivilized people. Instead they found, as demonstrated above, queendoms and kingdoms with great palaces and highly developed political and social norms.

At this stage, the colonial power have to destroy any sign of civilization.

From then on, the colonial power spent a lot of energy to destroy and burn African historical buildings and monuments, slaughtered the African elite of engineers, scientists, craftsmen, writers, philosophers, etc.

There is a museum in Paris with 18 000 human heads of people killed by the French colonial troops and missionaries. It’s called “Musée d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris”.

Among the heads are the ones of African kings, kings’ families, african engineers, writers, army officers, spiritual leaders, but also ordinary men, women, children that the french found unusual, exotic enough or interesting to kill to enrich their Museum of natural history where they display mainly animals skulls to represent bio-diversity and evolution.

France was not alone in the european competition to behead the maximum of variety of exotic people. The skulls and heads of many Africans still could be  found in museums and unusual places around Europe.

Another consequence of the Terra Nullius law defined as a land inhabited by savages, lead to the capture of Africans to display in zoos and public events around Europe, in primitive conditions, to demonstrate the inferiority and barbarism of the African people.

From that moment till now, most Europeans still think Africans are savages, inferior, grotesque, unintelligent people. They more an african would display features that would fit that stigma, the more he or she would be liked by them.

Sadly, little is left of our ancestors. When Europeans invaded Africa they applied the 4 basic principles of any occupant forces:

1. First, Kill the strong and loot the place

2. Second, Breed the weak

3. Third, Kill, Deport or Exile the smartest and the skilled ones

4. Fourth, Impose the golden colonial rule “My way or the Highway”.

The Kings and their descendants were all killed. Additionally, 3 centuries of transatlantic slavery exported over 12 millions of the finest men and women from Africa to America, tens of millions have died in the process.

Imagine what would happen to any country or civilization when almost all writers, storytellers, engineers, craftsmen, artists, leaders are killed or exiled? And, Any sign of heir past glory and ingenuity destroyed or burned? Their books and records of knowledge stolen or destroyed.

Who will transmit the century accumulated knowledge to the ordinary men and women?

It’s that broken link to knowledge and leadership for the last 3 centuries which has plunged the whole continent into a dark age, its people left without guidance.

Our fearless warriors and civilization builders are gone. Our global traders, pyramid, Kingdom and Empire builders are extinct.

Unsurprisingly none of these generations have being nurtured in creating empire, and waging wars, defending their territory, protecting their children and women.

Reason why we don’t have anymore the modern version of the fearless African Warriors and Civilization builders.

When some people ask why are they so poor, we answer they are not poor, they have been made poor.

Today, if you want to see the glory of Africa, you have to go to Europe, where thousands and thousands of stolen arts objects, civilization artifacts are in public museums and private collection (in UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Germany, etc.). If you want to see the wealth of Africa, you have also to go to Europe where they are stored in private and public accounts. 5 centuries of plundering and destruction brought the continent to its knees.

As PD Lawton put it “From Egypt to the Sudan, from Mali to Tanzania, from Zimbabwe to Mozambique, Africa is full of the testimony to her past. In many cases the complete destruction of structures has not been through natural elements but deliberate acts, most notably of the British Empire. The museums of Britain and Europe are full of the results of` pillage and plunder`. There are numerous ancient structures that are in a state of good preservation but in the case of many of Africa`s cities, palaces, temples and trading ports of old we are left with nothing other than the written reports and drawings of traders and travellers from medieval times to the final days of complete destruction in the late 1800s.In terms of beauty and even on occasion scale the architecture of Egypt`s pyramids pale in comparison to other African historical structures. The diversity of architecture from this continent is staggering. The use traditionally of what is termed fractal scaling in building highlights a religious tradition practiced throughout the continent. Fractal scaling is the `Mandelbrot` idea of architecture where the smallest parts of a structure resemble the largest parts. This cultural/religious tradition was/is practised in all aspects of life from weaving, to grinding cereals to the building of homes and palaces and is the incorporation of `history` and explanation of the Universe and our place within it, into everyday lives, lest we forget.” – “Africa Before The 20Th Century” in “Invisible Empire”.

We need to invest time and resources to unearth ourselves the ruins of our old cities to strengthen the faith of a young generation in our ability to rebound.

It’s time we revive in the mind of a new generation of Africans the true nature of their ancestors, the past glory of their empires, the pride of its warriors, conquerors and civilization builders, and clearly make them understand that the 5 “Centuries of Shame” under European occupation shall end with a new generation of Leaders and Builders!

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Source:
by Mawuna Remarque KOUTONIN (paraphrased) via Silicon Africa.