Motola Oyebanjo: Africa - Time for a New Narrative
“Namaste Sir Ji!” In 2012 I spent some time in India and I remember the first time I heard this greeting. I found it quite enthralling; a colloquial mix of the Indian and English welcome salutation for a respected person.
Imagine my amusement when I got back to Nigeria and heard some of my Indian clients refer to their CEO as ‘the MD Sir’. ‘The MD’ I understood or the ‘Sir’ but why the two together? These interesting occurrences that are part of the everyday life of many Indians are replicated in varying forms in many countries and languages.
An American wearing buba and sokoto and prostrating himself fully to the ground is funny at best, awkward at the worst. It’s the same experience when you watch the American depiction of Africans in some movies; truly amusing.
All these showcase a notable fact that people and cultures are distinctive and that uniqueness cannot be replicated by others no matter how hard they try or how good the intentions. You just can’t be more Catholic than the Pope!
Take it a little deeper and it raises the critical question of why we as Africans allow others define our African narrative. Think about it. Who is writing our history? Who is telling our stories? What are our children being taught is the chronicle of their nation? Did Mungo Park really discover the River Niger?
We cannot blame the British for their bent on history, it is the British narrative; what is the African one? There is a Yoruba proverb that says that “even a mad man, when given a hoe will naturally channel it to favour himself!”
We do ourselves a grave injustice by largely leaving others to tell our stories. Africans must be at the forefront of the African narrative. Anyway else is tantamount to a diminishing of the greatness of Africa; past, present and future.
You may wonder why this is so important. What is the big deal, are they not just tales? Why should we bother about this and what do we stand to benefit? Here are some to consider:
A Well-Preserved History and Heritage: The deliberate act of establishing and preserving our history is a principal trust. When we talk about heritage we often think of buildings and artifacts, but it’s so much more. New York Times bestselling author and founder of History Matters, Steve Berry, put it this way:
“…libraries serve to preserve our heritage. They are a record of who and what we are. Sadly, though, most times we lose these treasures not by fire, flood, or willful destruction but by simple neglect.”
To lose our heritage is to lose ourselves. A determined effort to preserve our heritage ensures we have a cultural and economic legacy we can refer to, build on and pass on to future generations.
Authentic Patriotism: A nation is only as strong as its citizens. The more patriotic they are the more the human capital can be harnessed for nation building and development. Patriotism, which is the citizens’ love and devotion to a country, is usually founded on a set of beliefs and principles.
This nationalistic sentiment can be cultivated when we develop and tell a strong and compelling national narrative in a way that inspires and engages the people’s imaginations such that it engenders the kind of emotive connotations that causes citizens both young and old to give their best to their beloved country.
Build a Positive Reputation: Both local and international media often focuses on the African stories of poverty, disease, corruption etc. Our success stories are not getting as much limelight and the result is an account biased towards the depiction of Africa as a largely dark, needy continent.
This negative portrayal affects us severely. Our citizens are treated as second class when they travel internationally, our youths imbibe a beggarly attitude and other nationals come into our nations, establish businesses and think it’s okay to treat us poorly even in our own country.
We need to turn the tide. The un-African narrative must fall and a better one introduced across countries. While it will not happen overnight, it requires a strong determination and a strategic plan to ensure it does over the next few years… Let’s get started.
Motola Oyebanjo is a Strategic Communications Consultant and trained Economist. She has served as Head of Corporate Communications for the British Council and Internal Communications Manager for Unilever among other appointments.
Motola is currently a Partner & Client Service Director of the award winning advertising firm AerialView Marketing Communications and Managing Editor for Study International Nigeria.
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