Thursday, 15 June 2017

THE IMPACTS OF IMPERIALISM ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCINCES
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY
TOPIC:
THE IMPACTS OF IMPERIALISM ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
AN ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE COURSE, PHILOSOPHY OF DEVELOPMENT
BY
ODO, SOLOMON ANETOCHUKWU (2013/188496)
LECTURER: REV. FR. DR NNAMDI NWANKWO
Introduction:
          Africa as a matter of fact was colonized by Britain, Portugal, France and Germany. By extension, this so-called colonialism graduates to imperialism, in the sense that even as African states were declared independent, they were independent just only in speech and in writing but in actuality, they were in no way independent; their major economic and political decisions and policies are foreign motivated.
          Colonialism and imperialism reshaped and restructured African system of life, destroyed African core value system and introduced many positive as well as negative things into the lives of African man. Many authors have argued that the sole aim of the advent of the European into Africa was exploitation while others maintained that Europeans entered African in order to civilize and develop Africa.
          Human development as that which is holistic in approach and that which considers the sanctity and sacredness of human life needs a special place in the discourse of European imperialism in Africa. This is because talking about development without human being is like performing a drama in a stage without any audience watching you. Without audience, who are you presenting drama for? Similarly, without human being, who are the roads being constructed for? Who are the money being made for? So, any development that its end product is not for the progress, promotion and preservation of human life is incomplete or rather questionable.
Clarification of concepts
          Some concepts need to be defined before I continue my discussion, examples of such concepts are imperialism and human development.

Imperialism
          According to Walter Rodney, imperialism meant capitalist expansion. It meant that European (and North American and Japanese) capitalists were forced by the internal logic of their competitive system to seek abroad in less developed countries opportunities to control raw material supplies, to find markets and to find profitable fields of investment,1 It is the policy of forcefully extending a nation’s authority by territorial gain or by the establishment of economic and political dominance over other nations.
          Imperialism is essentially an economic phenomenon, and it does not necessarily lead to direct political control or colonization,2 While colonialism is the exercise of alien political power over a conquered territory, imperialism is a system of indirect control that continues even after the independence of African states. While colonialism involves imperialism, imperialism is an indirect form of colonialism.
          Imperialism is essentially about the establishment of dominion or rule, usually, but not necessarily by an alien power over peoples of another state, for the purposes of expanding the commerce and other economic interests of the imperial power; for the promotion of its political and strategic interests; or sometimes solely for the sake of prestige. Imperialism is thus generally exploitative and aggressive. In a nutshell, imperialism is the exercise of power by a state beyond its borders.
Human development
          Development cannot be limited to mere economic growth. In order to be authentic, it must be complete: integral, that is, it has to promote the good of every man and of the whole man,3 This shows that human development makes man the center of every other development, that is, before considering other developments, human being should take primacy. The basic talk about human development is that it is a process of enlarging the range of people’s choices, increasing their opportunities for education, health care, income and employment, and covering the full range of human choices from a sound physical environment to economic and political freedom,4 Human development is concerned at once with developing human capacities and with using them productively. The three major points for human development index as indicated by 1990 Human Development Report are life expectancy, educational attainment and income indicators.
          Any economic development that does not pay attention to human development will be a sheer propaganda. Human development is person-and -community-centered. Human development therefore encompasses all processes involves in developing, promoting and preserving human life. Sustainable human development is integral and pays attention to the various facts of human life.
Positive impacts of imperialism on human development in Africa
          Though imperialism in Africa has been faulted for its exploitative, dominating and dehumanizing tendencies on the part of Africa, it should not be denied that imperialism in the colonial phase was not entirely without some benefits. This is because every being has element of good and evil. Nothing is entirely good and as well nothing is entirely evil.
          Firstly, formal education in Africa is as a result of European contact. Prior to the coming of European in Africa, African people were illiterates. It was through colonialism that formal education was introduced in Africa. Today, African people are passing through rigorous educational processes. Many of them have reached highest level of education, many are professors in difference fields of study. All these were possible, thanks to European colonialism and imperialism. As educational attainment is one of the aspect of human development, imperialism has helped in human development in Africa to some extent.
          Again, the coming of the Europe to Africa has helped to improve health. Since the coming of the European to Africa, child mortality has reduced to a reasonable extent. Many health care institution, research centers, hospitals and so on have been established in difference part of Africa. Today, African people enjoy drugs like anti-biotics, paracetamol and other pharmaceutical products as against their traditional ways of medications. All these were possible due to their contact with Europeans.
          Finally, colonial rulers introduced many things in Africa; they introduced new crops, technologies and cash economies, they built roads, railroads, harbors, cities, they introduced telecommunication system, phones, computer and internet, they improved the transportation system, to mention but a few. All these have contributed immensely to human development in Africa.
Negative impacts of imperialism on human development in Africa
          Actually, the imperialists contributed in human development in Africa especially in the areas mentioned above. But the European did the above things for Africa not because of their love for Africa but rather, they (imperialists) have ulterior motive for doing them, without which they cannot actualize their egoistic and exploitative aims in Africa.
          Our colonial masters and imperialists succeeded in shattering and destroying our primordial communal system and supplanted it with their capitalistic, exploitative and individualistic system. Prior to the coming of the Europeans, Africa has been living in peace and with mature sense of respect for human life. There were absence of egoism, individualism, or exploitative tendencies in life of  African man but since the entry of the imperialists, the reverse is now the case; capitalism with all its concomitant variables are now the order of the day, people now have guts to kill their fellow man in order to make money, children kill parents for money rituals, leaders now embezzle what belongs to everybody, human being are being used here and there, now and then as means to an end not as ends in themselves.
          Again, the colonial masters did not only succeed in colonizing Africa but succeeded in colonizing their mind. They succeeded in distorting their mind psychologically to the extent that they lost their right sense of judgement. They made African people to believe that everything about Africa is inferior to its European counterparts. This made African people to disregard or neglect all that they can locally produce and embraced foreign product. The imperialists created conditions and structures that will make Africa perpetually depend on them.  The aftermaths of all these are that African people are dying of hunger because the imperialist have made them to be cultivating cash crops which will help make up for their (imperialists) industries. Africa therefore neglect their food crops thereby leading to famine in the continent; human lives waste, people suffer sickness of all kinds and so on.
          Human development is said to concern with developing the human capacities and with using them productively but I doubt if the imperialists really invested in this kind of development in Africa. It is true that the imperialist brought technologies, built roads, railroads, harbors and cities. But their motive of doing all those things is not because of their love for Africa but rather to make the colonies profitable by linking plantations and mines to ports. Exporting raw materials and cash crops from Africa. For the majority of Africans who were subsistence farmers, there was little benefit from these facilities.
          Again, the reward for all these sufferings is unequal exchange of products and commodities. The imperialists buy raw materials very cheap in Africa and sell their manufactured products very exorbitant. Africa continues to sweat and labor for others without receiving the equivalent pay back for their labor. This is man’s inhumanity to fellow man exemplified.
          Moreover, the education they provided for Africans is lopsided, they made it in a way that it should be theoretical and non-practicable. Africans have many to say but less to produce. They created structures that will make Africans’ loyalty and dependence on them to continue ad infinitum. It is not in their agenda to develop human resources in Africa so that they (Africa) will not realize their capabilities and utilize them. That is why there is no functioning refinery in Nigeria up till today. Again, no big industries that produces most of the newly emerging technologies used today in the world can be found in Africa. All these are ways of making Africa perpetually depend on them (the imperialists) and for them to continue their exploitation and marginalization of African people.
          Similarly, the type of health care services provided to African people is incomplete. The imperialists have made it that Africa cannot be self-reliant but will always depend on them. This is more reasons for flying abroad to receive medical care whenever some Africa rich people are sick. Hospitals and medical personnel in Africa are yet to realize their full potentials because they were denied such opportunities.
          Impacts of imperialism on human development cannot overstressed.
Conclusion:
          Having seen all these impacts of imperialism on Africa, African people need to rise and know the implications and dangers of being the imperialists stooges. Africa people should also realize that they have been cheated hence need to start devising a means of developing themselves in a way that is holistic in approach and in a way that welcomes all the intricacies that involves in human development.
End notes
1.Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Abuja, Nigeria, Panaf Publishing Inc, 1972), 162.
2.Walter, How Europe, 163
3.Pope Paul VI,PopulorumProgressio, 1964, no. 14

4.Human Development Report 1992 (Oxford University Press, 1992), 2.

No comments:

Post a Comment

THE IMPACTS OF IMPERIALISM ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCINCES DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY TOPIC: THE IMPACTS OF IMPERIALISM ON HUMAN DEVELOPM...