The Century of Africa 2005

32 Pages·2015·3.62 MB·English

SGI
Buddhist Perspectives on Peace, Culture and Education
Quarterly
Soka Gakkai International Quarterly Magazine Number 39
ISSN 1341-6510
IN THIS ISSUE:
The Century of Africa
January
2005
SGI MEMBERS
Representatives from 65 countries at the Soka University campus in Tokyo
(November 11, 2004)
SGI
Buddhist Perspectives on Peace, Culture and Education
Quarterly
Soka Gakkai International Quarterly Magazine Number 39
C O N T E N T S
Feature:
The Century of Africa
Healing the Africa in Us by Ben Okri..................................3
Shaping a New Future for Africa
by H.E. Alpha Oumar Konare..............................................4
Women and Development in Africa by Ifi Amadiume.........8
Looking to Africa by Akio Nishiura...................................10
The African Renaissance....................................................11
MDG Success in Rural Mali
by Almahady Moustapha Cissé..........................................12
A time for hope (p. 2)
Building Technological Bridges in Africa
by Uwem Robert Otu.........................................................13
Africa 2005 by Henri Epessé..............................................15
Portraits of Global Citizens: ...................................................16
Dr. Kenneth D. Kaunda—First President of the Republic of
Zambia
People:...................................................................................18
Tackling HIV/AIDS by David Le Page
Unleashing the Power of Culture by Elise Mballa
Women’s contributions analyzed (p. 8)
Around the World: ..................................................................20
Building Peace in Côte d’Ivoire; Cultural Ties Celebrated in
Malaysia; Culture of Peace Activities; Education Seminars;
New Books; Films Awarded; International Symposiums in
China; “Why Religion?”; Art Exhibition in Dubai; East-West
Connections; Seeds of Change in Canada and Austria; Pacific
Basin Research Center Reopened; Emergency Relief in Japan
Arts and Education: ................................................................26
“Victor Hugo and the Romanticists” Exhibition
Buddhism in Daily Life: ...........................................................28
Many in Body, One in Mind
Children’s art in Dubai (p. 24)
The SGI Quarterly aims to provide information about the SGI’s
activities around the world and to highlight initiatives and perspec-
tives on peace, education and culture. The views expressed are not
necessarily those of the SGI. The editorial team (see inside back
cover) welcomes ideas and comments from readers.
Image courtesy of MODIS Rapid Response Project at NASA/GSFC
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ooff AAffrriiccaa wwiillll bbee rreevveeaalleedd aanndd ffuullffiilllleedd..
SGI Quarterly January 2005
Healing the Africa in Us
By Ben Okri
H
eart-shaped Africa is the feeling center of the discovery. It was an act of misperception. They saw,
world. Continents are metaphors as much as and bequeathed to future ages, an Africa based on
they are places. And a people are spiritual what they thought of as important. They did not see
states of humanity as distinguishable in what they repre- Africa. And this wrong seeing of Africa is part of the
sent as lilies and roses and daffodils. problems of today. Africa was seen from a point of
Have we forgotten what Africa is? Africa is our dream- view of greed, of what could be got from it. And what
land, is our spiritual homeland. There is a realm inside you see is what you make. What you see in a people is
every human being that is Africa. We all have what you eventually create in them. It is now time
aAAratthhonnffeseor r eA iiirwlsccelf.aanx orT ieioriachsnlu,asd eso,t , iswtfs dh iihidseineet e epheut xrroiisospn s qu ml ssiuubicibacaslaekknl.b ys etAl w ieisitnn n ypi utAd dshosy if fsrrcit oeilrnhcloc, eia wtcuwu.l yibWrilhto llhndeeesse neu hn,ss easet,t hh vutoinoeee-f Bride Rudo by Joseph Muzondo. Courtesy of Reece Galleries, N.Y. for at nhWeew dsesbe Taussertrhnei eklteellrhini ingawene hn gwslotcis.g,r eo Ilfth,dtror itlo i t dsssismhne. nbeo Aeot uihawtflserud i bt ctenyiarym.oi, eg Iwtesfho wto tbsnofeeee etcg sshl isieenet,ea s itrtos
to heal the Africa in us if we are going to it, it will be revealed. We only
be whole again. We have to heal the see what we see. Only what we
Africa outside us if the human race is see, what we see anew, is
going to be at peace again in a new revealed to us. Africa has been
dynamic way. There is a relationship waiting, for centuries, to be
between the troubles in a people and the discovered with eyes of love, the
troubles in the world, in the atmosphere. eyes of a lover. There is no true
The troubles of Africa contribute seeing without love. We have to
immensely to the sheer weight and size of learn to love the Africa in us if
world suffering. And this world suffering humanity is going to begin to know true
affects everyone on this planet, affects chil- happiness on this Earth.
dren and their health, affects our sleep, our We love the America in us. We love the
anxiety, our unknown suffering; for it is pos- Europe in us. The Asia in us we are
sible to suffer without knowing it. beginning to respect. Only the Africa in us is
And so we have to heal our Africa within. unloved, unseen, unappreciated. The first
We have to rediscover the true Africa, the step toward the regeneration of humanity is
Africa of laughter, of joy, of originality, of making whole again all these great
improvisation, the Africa of legend, of continents within us. We are the sum total of
storytelling, of playfulness, the Africa of brilliant humanity. Every individual is all of
colors, the Africa of generosity, of hospitality and humanity. It is Africa’s turn to smile. That will
kindness to strangers, the Africa of immense be the loveliest gift of the 21st century: to make Africa
compassion, the Africa of wisdom, of proverbs, of smile again.
divination, of paradox, the Africa of ingenuity and Then humanity can begin to think of the universe,
surprise, the Africa of a four-dimensional attitude to even the most remote stars, as its true home.(cid:1)
time, the Africa of magic, of faith, of patience, of (Copyrights: Ben Okri. All rights reserved)
endurance, of a profound knowledge of nature’s ways
and the secret cycles of destiny. Nigerian-born poet and novelist Ben Okri is vice-president
of the English Centre of International PEN. His novel The
We have to rediscover Africa. The first discovery of
Famished Roadwon the U.K.’s Booker Prize in 1991.
Africa by Europe was the wrong one. It was not a
SGI Quarterly January 2005 3
Shaping a New Future for Africa
By H.E. Alpha Oumar Konare
From the speech of His Excel- Pantheon of Heroes
lency Alpha Oumar Konare,
chairperson of the Commission Anne Zingha, Béhanzin,
of the African Union and former Moulay Ismaël, Aline Sito,
president of Mali, at the opening Lat Dior, Omar Mokhtar,
session of the Conference of Chief Manouma, Samory
Intellectuals from Africa and the Touré, Chaka, Toussaint
Diaspora (CIAD), Dakar, Sene- Louverture, Dessalines,
gal, October 7, 2004. but also the poets Césaire,
W e come from all Damas, Senghor and with
the regions of them Alioune Diop but
Africa, and from also Frantz Fanon, Amilcar
all the African Diaspora Cabral, Kwame Nkrumah,
communities in Europe, Cheikh Anta Diop and Bly-
America and Asia, but we den, Sylvester Williams,
are all imbued with the same Marcus Garvey, George
conviction: the conviction Padmore, William Du Bois;
that our Africa, the continent all occupy a high place in
which was the first to see this Pantheon which we
humankind walk upright— should erect, so that we
the cradle of humankind—deserves, rhage. It would be unpardonable to can say loud and clear to the whole
at the beginning of the new millenni- forget this crime against humanity. world and to future generations
um, all the attention of its sons and But beyond this tragedy, the Africa that, despite the flagrant insults of
daughters. The conviction that the which unites us is a continent whose our time, the ignominy of the slave
renaissance of our continent is within memory fabric is made of resistance to trade and the savagery of colonial-
the realm of the possible, within our oppression. ism, Africa is still standing firm on
reach. its feet like the imposing pyramids
The Africa which unites us is the of Giza, the enigmatic Sphinx,
one which patiently recaptures “Youths, women, entrepreneurs the ocher walls of Timbuktu,
its memory, a memory in and intellectuals of Africa are ready, the sacred hill of Mapun-
which the wounds inflicted gubwe and the stone walls
because they are aware that their destiny lies in
by painful experiences have of Monomotapa.
their own hands, and that nobody will
not completely healed. For, Above all, the Africa
build Africa in their place.”
since 1441, when Africans were which unites us is one which
captured along the West African has to conquer its future; an Africa
coast and taken away as slaves; since that must first use its rich past as a
1502, when the slave trade became It is this capacity to resist by using resource to face up to the difficulties
systematized, the history of Africa all possible weapons—weapons of of the present, and as a springboard
has become synonymous with political struggle, armed struggle, lit- for a leap into the future. It is a conti-
tragedy. erary and artistic expression—that nent for which “human” value will
Millions of young men and women, enabled us to succeed in defeating remain fundamental. This is the
in the prime of their youth, were colonialism and the abominable sys- Africa of the future that must be
snatched from their land and ferried tem of apartheid. It is this strong explored and built. The challenge is
away under the most horrible condi- determination to face adversity that not only “to block the holes in the per-
tions. Those who survived were sub- gave birth to Pan-Africanism, both an forated jar” but also, and above all, to
jected to the most atrocious exploita- ideology and a major movement. We mold a new Africa. A new Africa in
tion in the Americas, while the conti- need to celebrate this multifaceted which democracy, peace and institu-
nent was greatly weakened by this resistance of our peoples as an integral tional stability and effective citizen-
unprecedented demographic hemor- part of our heritage. ship will be the daily realities.
4 SGI Quarterly January 2005
An Africa which will no longer fear the industrialized
the divergent forces encompassed in countries, impacting
political pluralism, nor the multiplici- negatively on our
ty of identities associated with broad economies which are
cultural diversity, but will be in a posi- based essentially on
tion, rather, to recognize these identi- the export of raw
ties, cherish them and give them value. materials.
A new Africa in which religious and It is, therefore, in the
ethnic plurality would be revisited field of research and
and reinvented, rather than lead to the production of knowl-
tragedies that we deplore in many edge that the African
parts of the continent. identity should mani-
Who does not perceive behind this fest itself. For this rea-
outline of the new Africa the dreams son, the intellectuals of Children in Soweto, South Africa
and ambitions of African renaissance? Africa and of the Diaspora, you whose Such an intelligentsia will deserve
Tomorrow can certainly belong to profession is to think critically, you its name if it eschews complaints and,
Africa, in spite of HIV/AIDS and con- who confer legitimacy to issues and instead, helps find credible respons-
flicts resulting from bad governance. who question prevailing trends and es, genuine African responses, to the
But for the possible to become a reali- paradigms, you are called upon to issues that have been raised in con-
ty, it is absolutely necessary for the spearhead an African modernity nection with globalization that is
intellectuals of the continent and of which, today, is still to be invented. built on market fanaticism and unfair
the Diaspora to be mobilized. We hope to find appropriate ways trade.
and means to liberate the intellectual Such an intelligentsia will deserve
Leading Role of capital of the continent and of the Dias- its name if it asks questions about the
Intellectuals pora communities, mobilize this cre- financing of development in Africa,
ativity, open it up to modernity knowing that neither the total cancel-
The world of today to which Africa through ownership of the new infor- lation of debt, nor the doubling of
belongs is, more than ever before, mation and communication technolo- Official Development Assistance will
built on knowledge, as evidenced by gies and also lay the foundations for a be enough. Should it not look for new
the dematerialization of production in new contract between the intellectuals sources of financing? Should it not ask
and their peo- questions about the conditions for the
ples. It would be exploitation of our resources?
Nobel Laureate for Literature (1986)
Wole Soyinka addresses a solid contract Such an intelligentsia will deserve
the CIAD conference’s Gala Evening which should rel- its name because it will have devel-
egate into the oped our national languages, because
backwaters of it will have created new epistemolo-
history the mar- gies which integrate local knowledge
ginalization of systems, in recognition that “all lan-
our intellectuals. guages are beautiful, which makes it
A contract that possible to recognize dignity even in
will create the the slave . . . ,” to quote the Senegalese
conditions for the philosopher Moussa Ka.
emergence of a Such an intelligentsia will deserve
genuine African its name because it will have found
intelligentsia the ways and means to spread in soci-
capable of rising ety a critical rationality without deny-
to the current and ing the importance of values and the
future challenges place of the divine and of revelations
of the continent. in African societies.
SGI Quarterly January 2005 5
GCIS CC BY-ND
African flags at a NEPAD summit
African Identity harmonious blend of all its various nous or it will never come about. Is it
dimensions, an Africa which tran- also not appropriate for each and
It will be an intelligentsia which will scends its continental borders and every one of us, individually and col-
deserve its name because it will own integrates its diasporas. It is this lectively, in order to deserve the name
the struggle for integration, for a diverse and pluralistic Africa that we of intellectual, to analyze our disci-
modernity in which the Malinké per- have to build in order to have our plines in relation to their being in the
son will call the Bantu his brother, in voice heard loud and clear in the con- service of our continent Africa?
which the binary rhythm of Arab cert of nations and to assert our Such an intelligentsia will merit its
music will be captured by the Zulu renaissance. name because it will have contributed
dancer, a modernity in which men and to the work of the African Union and
women of Africa—from the its program, the New Partnership
foothills of the Atlas Moun- “Let us freely build a new for Africa’s Development
tains to Manenberg through (NEPAD)—based on good
sovereignty in place of the sovereignties
Kilimanjaro will recognize governance, liberation of
granted to us. Far from being
themselves and join voices initiative, respect for the
an incantation, our solidarity is
to extol genuine Africanness; rule of law, greater attention
a blueprint for action.”
an Africa that is first and fore- to the rural world, use of
most African before being Anglo- endogenous knowledge and exper-
phone, Francophone, Hispanophone tise and mobilization of internal
or Lusophone; an Africa that will have On this score, I would like to sug- resources to undertake major conti-
made Afro-Arab brotherhood a cata- gest that it is necessary for us to craft nent-wide programs, particularly in
lyst for its progress. a new nationalism founded on Pan- the areas of culture and infrastructure.
The Africa we are talking about, the Africanism.
Unity and Renaissance
Africa of tomorrow, is one and indi- It is necessary for us to devise a new
visible, from Tangiers to Cape Town, objective relationship with knowledge African union is, today, the condi-
from Dakar to Djibouti, both black and expertise in all its forms, includ- tion sine qua non for all decisive
and white, west and east, below and ing endogenous knowledge. For changes that will take place in Africa.
above the Sahara; an Africa which is a development in Africa will be endoge- It could be a stage toward a United
6 SGI Quarterly January 2005
AMISOM Photo / Mohamed Barut CC 0
It is more than desirable, today, to tute a solution to immigration.
seal an alliance between the politician They wish to move freely every-
and the intellectual. In so doing, we will where on the continent, to offer their
give politics its true meaning, which is, talents. To repeat the words of Joseph
to make possible what is desirable. Ki-Zerbo, we need to go beyond these
Youths, women, entrepreneurs and warmongering boundaries which
intellectuals of Africa are ready, made us strangers in Africa. Through
because they are aware that their des- integration and decentralization let us
tiny lies in their own hands, and that turn them into real frontier countries.
nobody will build Africa in their place. Let us freely build a new sovereignty in
They wish for a more open, interde- place of the sovereignties granted to us.
pendent world, for neither the unac- Far from being an incantation, our
ceptable charters nor the police mea- solidarity is a blueprint for action.
sures nor the unacceptable pressures Another Africa is possible for a more
exerted on African states can consti- interdependent and fairer world.(cid:1)
What Is the African Structure of the AU
Union?
The main decision-making body of
the AU is the Assembly, comprised of
The African Union (AU) was launched the heads of state of member countries.
in July 2002, but its original inspira- It meets once a year and its members
tion can be traced to a much earlier elect a chairperson to hold office for 12
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)
conducts a Medial Aid Program in Kismayo call for a “United States of Africa,” a months. The current chairperson is
vision that found its first incarnation Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
in the establishment of the Organiza- An Executive Councilof ministers of
States of Africa. The African Union, an tion of African Unity. The emergence member states advises the assembly
integration organization, is different of its successor organization marks a members.
from the Organization of African further step toward the realization of The Commissionis the AU’s admin-
Unity (OAU) which was an interna- the Pan-African ideal. istrative branch, which coordinates the
tional cooperation organization, one The broad objective of the AU is to AU’s meetings and activities. Its ten
which fully accomplished its historic encourage the political and economic commissioners hold individual portfo-
mission of liberating the continent and integration of its 53 member states in lios and elect a chairperson for a four-
combating apartheid. The African order to propel the continent toward year term. In March 2004, the AU inau-
Union is a union of states, for sure, but peace and prosperity. gurated the Pan-African Parliament,
particularly a union of the peoples Its aims are to eradicate poverty and which debates issues of the continent
with greater space for women, civil foster sustainable growth, halting and advises the AU heads of state.
society and the Diaspora, which it was Africa’s marginalization in the global- The AU’s Peace and Security Council
hoped would be the sixth region of the ization process and enhancing its inte- is responsible for monitoring and inter-
continent. gration into the global economy. vening in conflicts on the continent. It
If there is any word around which NEPAD, the New Partnership for can authorize troop deployments in cir-
we have to rally, it is, in my view, the Africa’s Development, is the AU’s eco- cumstances which include genocide
word “renaissance;” the widening of nomic development program which and crimes against humanity, and can
space for freedom: cultural freedom, provides the framework for the mandate peacekeeping missions.
academic freedom, freedom of achievement of these objectives. The Soon to be established are the
women from the grip of misogynous partnership encourages foreign invest- African Court of Human and Peoples’
patriarchy, freedom for entrepreneur- ment in Africa. It is a comprehensive Rights and the Economic, Social and
ship, freedom for workers, freedom sustainable development initiative Cultural Council. Future plans also
for youth to aspire to a better future. which promotes democracy and good include a court of justice, a central
More than ever, renaissance should governance as basic to the fulfillment bank, monetary fund and possibly an
remain high on our agenda, if this of its aims. One of its primary objec- African Economic Community with a
term indicates the deepening of the tives is to accelerate the empower- single currency.(cid:1)
ongoing democratization process in ment of women. Visit: www.africa-union.org
our societies.
SGI Quarterly January 2005 7
Women and Development
in Africa
and cultures as powerful vehicles for
By Ifi Amadiume national development, particularly
with regard to their capacity to mobi-
T he colonial experience that Spirituality, Literature and lize women.
introduced Western gender Development In women’s folk traditions and the
perceptions and practices literature of resistance produced by
affected the traditional involvement of When we look at women’s contri- African women we see that victims of
African women in the development of butions and approaches to develop- colonization and imperialism are still
their societies, leading to women’s ment in Africa, we see that generally able to invent alternative means of
marginalization and economic and women are guided by teachings subverting the desires of their oppres-
political disempowerment. A gender deriving from what I would call a sors in thought and action. I have
and development approach in post- “relational matriarchal principle” that called this creative production a rela-
colonial development discourse seeks sees us all as human beings and chil- tional matriarchal literature that
to reinstate the importance of women dren of one mother, umunne.I believe employs Africa’s own originality in
in development, while rec- constructing and reconstructing ideas
otdigivsnee iaezsfiefne gtco ttush coahft bpthooetvh ed wretsyot mraunecdn- Kayo Rautenb aownAdnf rcriiuccalhtn uh wreerosimt afgerone.m w rwitietrhs ihna ivtes
and men. ach not shied away from a gender
Even if women are made perspective on modernization,
visible and they increase bringing to light the tensions
their economic production between tradition and moder-
capacities, their labor and nity in marriage and family
efforts would only be practices and the manner in
exploited if there is no which women’s voices and
change in the unequal choices are often subdued by
structures of government. male biases. They have tackled
We need gender-partner- the question of patriarchal
ship and power-sharing to domination in economic and
move beyond the present political power and engaged
gender impasse in order to the controversial topics of fem-
Xhosa women at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development
find an alternative, inclu- inism, choice and sexuality.
sive and compassionate future. this to be a general and basic African They have raised questions about the
Many of us have seen education and ethic of kinship. It can further be a failed promises of education and
access to capital as the ultimate solu- non-racist and non-patriarchal basis social mobility given the persistence
tion to the discrimination against for an alternative global citizenship in of Eurocentric cultural imperialism
women that is found in all aspects of the struggle for human rights, social and the dictatorship of finance capi-
the postcolonial national construct in justice and an inclusive development. talism embodied in the World Bank,
Africa. However, more recent patterns It is an honor and an affirmation of the International Monetary Fund and
of gender participation in politics and Africa as the mother of humanity that their associated Structural Adjust-
political office in most nations of the an African woman in the person of ment conditionalities. They encourage
world point to more complex solu- Wangari Maathai won the 2004 Nobel more complicated ways of thinking
tions. It seems that culture must also Peace Prize for her environmental rather than easy moralizing.
be part of the equation. Culture and activism. Maathai and women in the Traditional African descent-based
knowledge systems are also related to Green Belt Movement that she found- societies used gender-flexibility to lib-
economics. As such, I find it necessary ed in 1977 have planted 30 million eralize where biological gender would
to examine women’s cultural tradi- trees across Africa. Their achieve- have been constraining to women in
tions and their creative contribution to ments make clear the importance of the occupation of economic and polit-
Africa’s development. recognizing women’s organizations ical positions. Such gender inclusive-
8 SGI Quarterly January 2005