This very important colloquium was called to bring peoples of African descent together in the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to discuss the present state of knowledge about African history and culture, examine its curriculum, identify the problems confronting it and appreciate its relevance to contemporary developments in Africa and the Diaspora.
The conference was organized by the Center for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), Nigeria and the Special Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality (SEPPIR) Brazil in conjunction with such organizations as Pan African Strategic and Policy Research Group (PANAFSTRAG), Institute of Afro Brazilian Studies, Palmares Cultural Foundation, the State University of Rio de Janeiro and the Association of African Historians.
The Center for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC), Nigeria has a strategic mandate and plays a key role in making Nigeria the arrowhead in the preservation, promotion and propagation of African cultural heritage. Its vision is to be the foremost agency to encourage, initiate, facilitate and coordinate the retrieval and restoration of the natural and cultural heritage of the Black and African peoples for the purposes of protecting, preserving and projecting them for enhanced understanding and appreciation.
It is within this broad mandate that the conference set out to discuss the theme of the conference under five different sub themes:
• Historicizing Africa and the Diaspora
• African Values, Ethics, Religion and Spirituality
• Politics of Teaching African and Diaspora History, Curriculum Development and Implementation
• Challenges and Prospects of Developmental Relationship between Africa and the Diaspora; and
• Africa and Diaspora Music, Drama and Theatre.
After expansive and trenchant discussions of these sub - themes in about 100 papers the Conference observes the followings:
• That there is a need to understand the history of some specific localities, groups and communities to engender a more comprehensive understanding of African history and culture.
• That the phenomenon of globalization is skewed unfavourably against Africa .
• That the issue of reparation which is a global human rights issue has not been settled. It has attracted attention and despite its denial by African and non African apologists, the momentum is unquenchable. It was further observed that there is a lack of consensus on a number of central issues in the quest for reparation.
• That the Western media organizations have continued to portray Africa negatively, thereby distorting the image of a continent that has been so brutally assaulted by slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism. This has resulted in socio-psychological damages to the African psyche.
• That there is a disconnect between African ruling elites on one hand and the masses of the people on the other, which has created anti-development sentiments. It is observed that development is an eminently social and emancipatory project and that development goals amount to little except they underpin social solidarity and manifest in freedom from want, poverty and unemployment, valorization of key priorities such as feeding, clothing, housing, education and health, as well as the provision of the opportunity to make life changing choices.
• That the abandonment of the Lagos Plan of Action by the African Union is a disservice to holistic and human centered development in Africa .
• That there is a growing popularity of African history and culture in the Diaspora and the imperative to develop appropriate curriculum to meet the needs of this and future generations of Africans.
• That the relevance of African Spirituality cannot be overstated as African religion, philosophy and metaphysics are capable of building morally healthy, egalitarian and progressive African societies as opposed to the present material driven age of obsessive acquisition.
• That the major problems confronting Africa include despotic and corrupt leadership.
• That the problem of teaching African history and culture in the Diaspora is closely associated with inadequate manpower with sufficient knowledge of African history and culture.
• The marginalization of African communities in Argentina and the denial of their basic human rights.
• That music could play a pivotal role in identity construction and re-construction among Africans in the Diaspora.
• That Western writers have neither been able to capture the basic components of the African consciousness, nor understand the nuances of African culture especially language.
• That African tradition holds a promise in the clamour for development and that African languages including metaphorical properties such as poetry, music, proverbs are still under-developed, little appreciated and less consulted as sources of traditions, values and mores.
• That the new thrust of Pan-Africanism should go beyond political to economic and socio cultural independence.
• That the teaching of African history in the Diaspora is mere tokenism as appropriate curricula has not been developed for the studying of African history across the Atlantic .
• That Africa 's abundant literary resources have yet to be fully utilized o move the continent forward because of the lack of political will by African rulers.
• That Africans are highly religious people but that African traditional religion is subordinated to secondary religions of Islam and Christianity.
• That women have been the worst victims of bad leadership and violence in Africa .
• That indigenous languages and folklore are veritable tools for the propagation of global African culture.
• That though Africans were physically enslaved, they were never enslaved mentally.
• That combined forces of Slavery, Colonialism and Westernization resulted into the relegation of
African indigenous values.
• That not all African problems are externally derived but indeed some of them are internal to Africa- e.g. the suspension of history as a subject in some schools in Nigeria .
Flowing from these observations, the Conference makes the following recommendations:
• That the teaching and propagation of African history and culture be made compulsory for all Africans irrespective of their locations on the globe.
• That the African Union makes a strong representation to UNESCO and other World Organizations for the recognition of African Indigenous knowledge in the humanities science and technology.
• That the proposed revision of Africa UNESCO General History of Africa be carried out by African experts.
• That African development paradigms be set on basic conceptual foundations that are indigenous to Africa and which appreciate African history, culture and world view.
• That there must be an immediate massive re-mobilization of support for the payment of reparation in cash or through an acceptance of guilt or apology. African leaders and peoples should join forces to make a strong case for reparation and ensure its “payment” especially to non resident Africans. The Abuja declaration on reparation should be resuscitated and re-adopted for implementation.
• The need for Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora to close ranks in addressing common African problems. And that African countries should refrain from blaming African underdevelopment on colonialism without the recognition of the negative implications of despotic and corrupt leadership in Africa .
• That Africans within and outside the African continent need to work together to achieve the African renaissance, and use the knowledge and skills acquired to serve as compass in making our own contributions to our contemporary world. We need to cultivate and disseminate knowledge of our past and present to promote our values, contributions and potentialities for the development of our societies, nation-states, our continent and the world in general.
• That there must be a paradigm shift from values derivable from the secondary religions of Islam and Christianity to African traditional religion which is compatible with African world view and thought systems.
• That African values such as communal economy, collectivistic orientations and good leadership should be placed at the centre of social discourse and utilized for African development.
• The need to harness our distinctive identities drawing upon our cultural heritage to make contributions to the development and projects of humanity.
• The importance of fieldwork to research on Africa and Africa Diaspora History and Culture. African institutions should support research and fieldwork activities to continue to expand the frontiers of knowledge in African history and culture.
• That Africa and Diaspora history be re-written to produce a reflective curriculum.
• That African artistic productions must be a reflection of authentic African values as against Eurocentric portrayals and biases about African societies.
• That all symbols of African identity such as naming be encouraged and African children bear names that will reconnect them to their glorious past and ensure their emotional, social and psychological balance.
• That in Afro-Arab relations, there can be no peace in the borderlands, without a structural change such an adjustment must incorporate not only the admission of guilt but also atonement.
