Papers by Nicholas O . Alumona
Journal Article , 2024
Developing Africa has continued to be an issue that requires attention of development scholars, b... more Developing Africa has continued to be an issue that requires attention of development scholars, both indigenous and western. Western scholars and development experts have accused
indigenous African development scholars of being very ethnocentric as they uncritically localize
issues of development, thus making development of Africa a heavy burden. These indigenous Africans are referred to as culture particularists while the western scholars in their acclaimed refined approach to development are called the culture Universalists. It is the finding of this
paper that both divides are laced with some forms of ethnocentrism and such orientations constitute the heavy burden of developing Africa; the former is not dynamic enough to accommodate values from other cultures while the latter assumes so much culture superiority to
the extent that the values of the so-called developing cultures are insignificant in the development agenda. Adopting the methods of hermeneutics and analysis, this work argues that development
agenda would be ineffective if African peculiarities are jettisoned in the name of one imagined and imposed global village. It concluded that lifting the burden of developing Africa lies in advancing development policies, programmes and strategies that are rooted in the pristine and
positive values of African cultures while accommodating the progressive ones from the West, not the reverse situation currently operational in development programmes and policies in Africa.
Key Words: African development, Africa's development, heavy burden, ethnocentrism,
syncretism, globalism
The idea of African time has become very ubiquitous among Africans to the extent that Africans th... more The idea of African time has become very ubiquitous among Africans to the extent that Africans themselves have come to accept it as a way of life. This phenomenon has become so destructive to Africans in their various life's activities; ranging from work places, social gatherings, religious activities to even keeping appointments with government functionaries. Time wasting and mismanagement has therefore been viewed as an African phenomenon that acts as a serious impediment to Africa's development. Adopting the philosophical methods of analysis and hermeneutics, this work argued that the concept of African time does not have African origin and that such an idea is a foreign imposition on Africans and it is a furtherance of colonialism in Africa and on Africans. This is because Africans in traditional metaphysical worldview are very religious and would always keep to time since they are conscious of the consequences of late coming in their appointments with the suprasensible beings in African ontology. We therefore concluded that we must reinvent Africa's originality on punctuality while conscientiously dropping the colonially imposed African time. That way, Africans would reenact their real identity and tackle any development challenges associated with time wasting.
Journal, 2023
The idea of African time has become very ubiquitous among Africans to the extent that Africans th... more The idea of African time has become very ubiquitous among Africans to the extent that Africans themselves have come to accept it as a way of life. This phenomenon has become so destructive to Africans in their various life's activities; ranging from work places, social gatherings, religious activities to even keeping appointments with government functionaries. Time wasting and mismanagement has therefore been viewed as an African phenomenon that acts as a serious impediment to Africa's development. Adopting the philosophical methods of analysis and hermeneutics, this work argued that the concept of African time does not have African origin and that such an idea is a foreign imposition on Africans and it is a furtherance of colonialism in Africa and on Africans. This is because Africans in traditional metaphysical worldview are very religious and would always keep to time since they are conscious of the consequences of late coming in their appointments with the suprasensible beings in African ontology. We therefore concluded that we must reinvent Africa's originality on punctuality while conscientiously dropping the colonially imposed African time. That way, Africans would reenact their real identity and tackle any development challenges associated with time wasting.
Journal, 2017
The question of Africa's development has continued to occupy the front burner from the social and... more The question of Africa's development has continued to occupy the front burner from the social and economic discussions by scholars of various divides. But Africa's development through foreign direct investment has become a recent challenge to the African continent. African social critics and commentators as well as Western scholars have attributed the seeming slow pace of development in Africa to several factors discouraging foreign direct investment. Suggestions and literature on how to overcome these factors abound; all calling on African states to provide the enabling environment for foreign investors under this arrangement to help in solving Africa's socioeconomic problems. In this essay, we adopt the method of analysis and argue that rather than blame African states for the underperformance of foreign direct investment, policy makers should be more humanistic in entering into economic agreement with the advanced countries of the world and ensure that such agreements accommodate certain positive values of the host continent. It therefore concludes that with interculturalism as the foundation of any economic solution to Africa's development problem, whether external or homegrown, Africans would appreciate and participate more in development activities that concern them.
The link between the concept of personhood and development has become contentious in philosophica... more The link between the concept of personhood and development has become contentious in philosophical discourse. The non-connectivists' perspective on the link is that personhood as a concept is too metaphysical to appropriately address social issues like development. However, there are two major and opposing positions, the western liberal view and African communitarian view, which constitute the connectivists' perspective establishing the nexus between personhood and development. Each of the connectivists' perspectives explains personhood and its attendant values from different cultural standpoints. The values of the human person hence contribute immensely to whatever kind of development that comes to a people. Using the method of analysis, we argued that while appreciating the relevance of cross-cultural values to development, the peculiarities of the values of the culture of a people emanating from their views of the human person are foundational to the successes of any development programme or policies. We therefore concluded that the values of the human person are fundamental in development and as such, there should not be any form of suppression or imposition of values alien to a people so that development activities can become more participatory.
The question of Africa’s development has continued to occupy the front burner from the social and... more The question of Africa’s development has continued to occupy the front burner from the social and economic discussions by scholars of various divides. But Africa’s development through foreign direct investment has become a recent challenge to the African continent. African social critics and commentators as well as Western scholars have attributed the seeming slow pace of development in Africa to several factors discouraging foreign direct investment. Suggestions and literature on how to overcome these factors abound; all calling on African states to provide the enabling environment for foreign investors under this arrangement to help in solving Africa’s socio-economic problems. In this essay, we adopt the method of analysis and argue that rather than blame African states for the underperformance of foreign direct investment, policy makers should be more humanistic in entering into economic agreement with the advanced countries of the world and ensure that such agreements accommodat...
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Papers by Nicholas O . Alumona
indigenous African development scholars of being very ethnocentric as they uncritically localize
issues of development, thus making development of Africa a heavy burden. These indigenous Africans are referred to as culture particularists while the western scholars in their acclaimed refined approach to development are called the culture Universalists. It is the finding of this
paper that both divides are laced with some forms of ethnocentrism and such orientations constitute the heavy burden of developing Africa; the former is not dynamic enough to accommodate values from other cultures while the latter assumes so much culture superiority to
the extent that the values of the so-called developing cultures are insignificant in the development agenda. Adopting the methods of hermeneutics and analysis, this work argues that development
agenda would be ineffective if African peculiarities are jettisoned in the name of one imagined and imposed global village. It concluded that lifting the burden of developing Africa lies in advancing development policies, programmes and strategies that are rooted in the pristine and
positive values of African cultures while accommodating the progressive ones from the West, not the reverse situation currently operational in development programmes and policies in Africa.
Key Words: African development, Africa's development, heavy burden, ethnocentrism,
syncretism, globalism
indigenous African development scholars of being very ethnocentric as they uncritically localize
issues of development, thus making development of Africa a heavy burden. These indigenous Africans are referred to as culture particularists while the western scholars in their acclaimed refined approach to development are called the culture Universalists. It is the finding of this
paper that both divides are laced with some forms of ethnocentrism and such orientations constitute the heavy burden of developing Africa; the former is not dynamic enough to accommodate values from other cultures while the latter assumes so much culture superiority to
the extent that the values of the so-called developing cultures are insignificant in the development agenda. Adopting the methods of hermeneutics and analysis, this work argues that development
agenda would be ineffective if African peculiarities are jettisoned in the name of one imagined and imposed global village. It concluded that lifting the burden of developing Africa lies in advancing development policies, programmes and strategies that are rooted in the pristine and
positive values of African cultures while accommodating the progressive ones from the West, not the reverse situation currently operational in development programmes and policies in Africa.
Key Words: African development, Africa's development, heavy burden, ethnocentrism,
syncretism, globalism