PLAN

I
NTRODUCTI
ON
_CONCEPToft
heWEI
SM
CONCEPTUALDI
SCOURSES
Af
ri
caandi
t'
slocat
ion
Whati
scul
tur
e?
Val
uesy
stem
Thepl
aceoft
radi
ti
onalAf
ri
cancul
tur
alv
alues
Exampl
e:
*Val
ueofpeopl
eofYor
ubaNi
ger
ia
*Fr
om Akanpeopl
eofGhana
I
FAl
i
ter
arycor
pusasReposi
tor
yofYor
ubacul
tur
aleducat
ion
Tr
adi
ti
onalAf
ri
cancul
tur
alv
aluesi
nmoder
nAf
ri
ca
Humani
tyandBr
other
hood
Communal
i
sm andI
ndi
vi
dual
i
sm
Mor
ali
ty
Thef
ami
l
y
Economi
cEt
hic
Chi
efshi
pandpol
i
tics
Humanr
ight
s
Knowl
edgeandwi
sdom
Aest
het
ics
Thecal
endarofev
ent
sofI
nter
nat
ionalcounci
lforI
far
eli
giont
hroughoutt
hey
ear
Chal
l
engesofpr
omot
ingAf
ri
cancul
tur
alv
alues
∆FOURAFRI
CANPSYCHOLOGI
ES
+Psy
chol
ogyi
nAf
ri
ca
+Cul
tur
alAf
ri
canpsy
chol
ogy
+Cr
it
icalAf
ri
canpsy
chol
ogy
+Psy
chol
ogi
calAf
ri
canst
udi
es
_Af
ri
canReal
i
tyi
ncont
extoft
her
apyAsampl
e
_Exami
ningt
het
her
apeut
icpr
ocesswi
thAf
ri
canEy
es:ARef
lect
ion
CONCLUSI
ON

1
 I
NTRODUCTI
ON
Manypeopl equi teoftenaskt hoseengagei nt hest udyofAf ri
cancul tural
her i
taget ot ellt hem t hebenef i
tsder ivedf rom suchst udy .Thebenef its
theyaskf ornotonl yf ort hest udentbutal sot othesoci etyort henat ionas
awhol e.Af ri
cancul turalher itagehasbeenmal i
gnedi nmanyway s.Many
ov erzeal ousChr i
st i
ansandI slami cent husi astshav ebrandedi tasbar bar i
c,
primi ti
v e,unpr ogr essiv e and unr evealed.Many moder n men who ar e
engr ossedi nt hei nfluenceofsci enceandt echnol ogybel ievedt hati tisa
deadandusel essr eligionwhi chshoul dbedi scardedandt hrownov er-
broad.I nt hesameway ,thef anat icandsomepar ochialmember soft heso-
calledmi ssionar yr eli
gions,especi al
lyChr i
st i
anityandI sl
am,al way sasser t
thatt hei rsi s,‘ the onl yr ev ealed r eli
gion’and whatobt ains i n Af r i
can
traditionalr el
igioni st hewor shipofnon- exi stentspi ri
tualbei ngsandi dols.
Theyof tenasser tthatt het raditi
onalAf ricadonothonourandwor shipt he
trueGod,t herefor ether eli
gionshoul dbewi pedoutoft hesur facedoft he
ear t
h,f or getti
ngt hatmostoft heirmember sgot oAf ri
canpr iestsand
diviner ssecr etlyi ntheni ghtt oseeksol ut i
ont ot heirprobl emswhent hey
aref acedwi tht her ealiti
esofl ife.Thepr act i
ceofmedi cine,ini tsv arious
forms,whi chisanaspectoft hisr el
igion,al socomesunderser iousat tack
by t he pr acti
tioner s oft he or thodox moder n medi cine ( Nabof a,M. Y
1988: 92- 93).Af ricancul turalher i
tageembr acesal laspectsofAf ricanl i
fe.
Itinv olv espeopl e’shistor y,phi l
osophy ,poet ry,psy chology ,medi cineand
heal thcar edel i
v ery,ecol ogy ,var i
ousar msoft het radit
ionalgov ernment ,
ethics,economi c and soci alact i
v i
ties,educat ion,mi l
itary st rategi es,
mat hemat i
cs( especi ally numer ology)ast rology ,artsini tsv ariousf orms
andev eni ncludingsci enceandt echnol ogy .

Iwi shtosubmi tthatt herearemanyAf ri

canswhoappeart obev ery
fanati
calaboutAfri
canculture.I
nviewoft hi
sdev el
opment,inthest udyof
Afri
can heri
tageoneshoul dnotsetoutt oglori
fythedeadpastofAf r
ican,
andt hisisat emptat
ionwhi chAf r
icanscholars,especi
all
ythef anat i
cal
ones,shouldguideagainst.Ther
efore,oneofthemaj orai
msoft hispaper
i
st ofindoutwhetherthereareanyv aluesbywhichtheAfricanforebearor
2
ancest orsl iv
edandbywhi chpr esentgener ationar eliving,andi ft herei s
anyher it
agef r
om t hepastwhi chi sspi ri
tual lyandmor allysui tablef or
today .Thesear et het hingswehav er esearchedi nto,refined, ifneedbeand
tobepr eserv edf orpost erity.I tisbot hspi rituallyandmor allywr ongt o
appr oacht het opicwi tht hemi ndt hatf orAf ricanswhat ev erhadorhas
beenAf rican,pr act i
cedt radi t
ional lybyAf r i
cans,cent uriesagoorr ecent ly,
mustbegoodenough.Oneneedst oav oidpr ejudice, andnotappr oacht he
topicwi tht oomuchsent i
ment .Inpar t,theessayai msatdi scov eringwhat
Africanact uallyknow,act ual l
ybel i
ev eandact ual l
yt hinkaboutGod,t he
otherspi ri
tualf orcesandt hesuper sensi blewor ld.Alsoi tf i
ndsouthow
Africanbel i
efshav ei nspiredt heirwor ldviewsandmoul dedt heircul ture
gener al l
y.Besi des, thiswor kgl eansonemphasi zingi ndigenousv aluesand
sust ainabl edev elopmentasan ov erallappr eci ati
on ofAf rican cul t
ur al
heritage.I tinformst hatschol arsandpeopl ecanbet tercompr ehendt he
phenomenonofr eligionandcul tur alheritagebyi ncludi ngt hesoci alforces
thatsuppor tsust ainabl edev elopment .Africans needt odev elopasense
ofont ologicalnat ur eofv alueandoft hecul turall i
neage.I nt hecont extof
thi
s paper ,Af ri
can v alues r equi ret he dev elopmentofnew r esear ch
modal iti
est oov ercomet hesi mpl ifi
edandr omant icassumpt ionsi nher ent
i
nmanypr eviousef f
ortst ounder standt heAf ri
canWor ld.I nterest i
ngl y,
Africant raditi
oni nt hisnewmi ll
enni um i snotaf inalpr oduct ,st er eotyped
andf i
xed;t herefore, itistober einv entedev er ydaybyAf ri
cans.I nor dert o
sett hebear ingr ight ,concept ualcl ari
ficationsoft hekey wor dssuchas:
Africaandi t
sl ocat i
on,t hemeani ngofcul tureandt het ermv aluesy stem
aredef ined.Thepl aceoft r
adi ti
onalAf ri
canv aluesandt hel inkwi thAf ri
can
values i n moder n Af ri
ca ar e expl i
cated,i ncl i
ning t owar ds sust ai
nabl e
dev elopment .

3
“
WEISM”,AN AFRI
CAN PSYCHO-
SOCI
OLOGI
CAL REALI
TY AND TRI
BAL
WARSINAFRI
CA

Theconceptofcol lectiveowner shipdef i

nedbycust om andt radi
ti
onexi sts
i
n al mostal lAf r
ican soci eti
eswi thv aryi
ng degr eesofi mpli
cati
on f or
member s.The concepti s expr essed di ff
erentl
yi n di ff
erentAf ri
can
societies and choosi ng one oft hese expr essions maygi vethe f alse
i
mpr essi ont hattheconceptor iginatedf r
om t hatsoci ety.Aspoi ntedon
thisconcept ,i
tcanbebestdef inedast hephi l
osophyofj ointownership.By
usingt het erm“WE”or“ OUR”t hespeakershowst hathei saj oi
ntownerof
thesoci al actconcerned.TheCol laborativeInter
national Dicti
onarycall
edi t
“Weism” .Thet ermi sf ormedf ollowingt hepat ter
noft hewor dWegot ism
\We" go* ti
sm\ ,[
From “ We” ,inimi tati
onof“ egoti
sm” .]andt hewordmeans
accor ding tot his dictionaryan excessi ve use oft he pr onoun “We”.
Accor ding t ot he Cent ury Di ctionary and Cy cl
opedi a,“ Weism”i st he
frequentuseoft hepr onoun“ We” .

Whent hisconcepti
sev okednosenseofsolidari
tyisi mpliedandt hepar t
play
edbyt heactorisnoti nsympathywithsomeot herpersonbutt he
acti
onisinitsownrightasoftheownerofthesoci alact.Somepeopl ear e
temptedtoconsiderthi
ssocialbehav
iorassoli
dari
t y.Theconceptof“ WE”
ont heotherhandasi tcanbeseen,i sthatonebehav esint hesoci al
becauseonef eel
sthathe/sheisanownerordirectlyaffectedbyt heevent
andsot heoneisnotbehav i
nginsympathywit
hsomeot herperson.

Accor di
ngt oKor siDogbe, theconceptof“ WE”i nAf ri
cai sv er
yphil
osophic,
embedded i nt he psy chology,mor aland per sonal ityoft he indiv
idual
African.Hef indst hat“ Weism”isr elatedtoaconceptofcommuni tyand
communi tysuppor t
ssy st
ems.Ont hecont rar
yt heconceptof“ We”under
discussionint hewei sti
ccosmol ogyofAf r
icanphi losophyandcul t
urehas
todowi thaper sonalidentityoftheindivi
dualasani n-memberofagr oup.
Inthemi ndoft heAf r
ican,he/shef i
ndsi ttobei dent i
fi
edbyt hecultur
e,
cust om andtraditi
on.Thi sgroupmember shipwhi chi sbot hprescr
ibedand
ascr i
bedatbirthandbybi rt
hcust om, tr
adit
ionandcul tureisthepermanent
andt hechil
di seducat edt ogrow inandwi thi t.Itsgr oupmember ship
4
becomespar
tandpar
cel
oft
hei
ndi
vi
dual
,hi
sdoct
ri
neandr
eli
gion.

Dogbef i
ndst hatunderAf ricanwei sm ont hecont rar yreactionsar ebl i
nd
andspont aneous;t hemember soft he“ we”gr oupf eelat t
achedt ot hem
and each r eact s di rectl
y wi thoutt hinking aboutt he benef i
ts ort he
consequencesf ort hei ndividual sbutf ort hegr oup.Whenoneoft hem is
praised,ev erybodyi shappyandi foneoft hem i sbl amedev er
y bodyi s
offendedandwi llharborhat redwi tht heaut hor .So,st rongi st hewei sti
c
feelingt hatnoobj ectivejudgmenti spassedwhena“ we”memberhas
mi sbehav ed.I fev eramemberput shi s/herper sonalitybef orethegr oupno
mat t
erhow di scretehe/ shemaybe,t hisi squi cklyunder stoodbyt he
memberoft hegr oup who boy cot t
shi m,t reat shi m assel fi
shand i s
decl areda“ per sonanongr at a” .Hedecl aredadi sgracet othegr oupand
themember s,ofhi s/hernucl earf ami lyareal sot r
eatedassuch.Ver yof ten,
thel it
eratet hinkt hemsel v
esf rom t hecl ansofwei sm.Theyqui cklyf eelthe
disrespectoft hegr oup,t hei solat i
onandt henonaccept anceoft heir
per son.Whenev ert heygot ot heirhomet owns,ev erybodyspeaksi llof
them,t heyl oosesel frespectandt heyf eell ikest ranger s,from t hev ery
groups,t owhi cht heyar eful lyconsci ouspsy chol ogicallyandmor ally
,that
theybel ongt of rom bi rt
h.

Inthet ownswher et heymaybel iving,thepeopl ear oundthem whof eel

thatnobodyf r
om thei r“we”gr oupv isitsthem wi llstartbecomingskept i
cal
aboutt hem.Theymayev enhav et hecour aget oaski ftheyhavenof ami l
y.
InAf ri
canWei sti
cphi l
osophyt hei ndi vi
duali sskept icalabouthi sorher
fri
endsandi sboundbyt hecul turet owel comet hemember soft hei n-
groupev enifonef eelsthatt heymaybedanger ousornotcompat i
blewi th
onesway sofbehav iour.Thisphi l
osophywhi chi sbasedpr i
marilyonbi rth
anddescenti ssowhathe/ shewant swi t
houtr eferencet ohisfami l
y.The
cosmol ogyofAf ri
canwei sm hasi t
sposi ti
veandi tsnegat i
veimpact son
themoder nsocietyofAf ri
ca.Thi sphi losophyi sf oundi nAfri
canl it
erature
andexpr essi
onsev er ywherei nthewi sesay ingsl i
ke“ Bl
oodi sthinkerthan
water”.Onesowndi rtycl
ot hisnev erwashedi npubl i
c”.Theonl ypalm nut
i
nf ireisneverlost”( ObiOkonkow)“ whenabr otherisi nbattl
ef ront.Itis
bettertodieinthebat tl
et hanathome–l ocalt radit
ionalsong.Amot her
5
neverhi
tsherchi
ld’
sst omachwhenthechil
dst
reet
sont
hel
ap,i
tis
washedrat
hert
hanscrapeofwi
tht
hekni
feet
c.

Afri
canwei sm i
sapsy chologi
calreal
it
yintowhichoneisbor n,inwhich
onelivesandwhi chonegr ows.Itisbothascr
ibedandprescr
ibedandt he
Afri
cani scompel l
edt olivewithit,initandbyi t
.Anyat t
emptoft he
i
ndivi
dualtodigressf rom itwil
lrendertheonedevi
antinthesociety
.This
phil
osophycanbei dentif
iedatthreelevel
s–t henucl
earfamil
y ,t
helineal
famil
yandt hesocietalfami l
y.Asweknow t henuclearfami
lybeginsby
marriage.I
nAf r
ica,mar ri
agei snotbetweentwopeopl ebutbetweent wo
famil
ies.

Former l
y,whoshoul dmar r
ywhoi sdecidedbyt hefami lyheadsoft het wo
famil
ies concer ned i nt he marri
age.The gr oom’ sf amily head sends
messenger st ot hebr i
de’
sf amilyheadt oaskt hehandofherdaught erin
marri
agef orhi sson.Thust henegot i
ationscont inuebet weent het wo
famil
iesunt ilt
hedowr yisgivenandt hebridei sbr oughtt othegr oom.The
boyandt hegi rlareonlyinformedoratt hebestconsul ted,butareboundby
ethi
cs,mor alsandt heculturenottorefuse; because, refusali
sani nsultto
bothfami l
i
es.Anyboyandgi rlwhodareddot hisiscur sedandper secut ed
bytheuncl esandt heauntsf ortherestofhi s/herlife.Thispr escribed
behaviorwasadher edt ountilnowinsomeci r
cleswher easinot herstoday
thi
ngshav ei mpr ovedal i
ttl
eundertheumbr ell
aofmoder nsociety.

I
nt hemoder nsocietyinmanyAf ri
cansocieti
es,theboywhof indsagi rlof
hisownchoi cei sobl i
gedbyt radi
tiontoinform hisf amil
ywhowi llsend
messenger st othegi rl
’
sf ami lyinthenameoft heboy ’
sf amil
yheadi .e.the
boy’sfamilyandt hegi r
l’
sf ami l
y,i
nt henameoft hef amilyheads.These
twonegot iateandev eryt
hinggoesonasi nthetraditi
onalsocietyunt i
lthe
dowryi sgivenandt hemar riageisconsummat ed.Thiscanbef oll
owedby
mar r
iageatcour t/mai r
ieandi nthechurch.Thei mportantthi
ngi sthatt he
negotiat
ionsandt hedowr yi sbetweent hetwof ami l
iesandnotbet ween
twoi ndivi
duals.Ev eni ft hemanpr ov
idesthet hingsandi sbehindt he
negotiat
ionsandt heor gani zat i
ons,thenameofhi sf amil
yisusedpubl i
cly.

Somet
imesi
nthemoder
nsoci
etyt
hegi
rlorherpar
ent
smayhel
pbygi
vi
ng
6
ahel pinghandi nthef orm ofmoneyormat erialforthedowr ybutt hi
smust
nev erbement ionedpubl icly.Al
lisdonebyt heman’ sfamilyandisgi vent o
thewoman’ sf amilypubl icl
y,thatisthet r
adition;iti sprescribed and
adher edtost r
ictl
y.Thusi nt heendonef ami l
yi smar ri
edt oanotherf ami l
y
andnotonemanmar ri
edt oonewoman?Thepr escr
ibedposi t
ionoft he
mar ri
edcoupl ei sclear:thewomani srefer
redt oasourwi f
eint heman’ s
fami l
yandt hemanasourhusbandi nt hewoman’ sf amil
y.Thi sisone
aspectoft heext endedf amily
.Al i
neageki nshipgr oupcant heoreticall
y
tracei tspastbackt othesameancest or,andt hesebondsofor i
ginbi nd
communi ti
estoget her.

Consequent ly,ancest orwor shipi satt hehear tofmanyAf ri

canspi ri
tualist
traditi
ons.I nreality,actualgeneal ogicall i
nksar esomet imest enuous,wi th
member shipoft hegr oupusual lybeingf l
exible.Out sidersmaybebr ought
i
nt ot hecl an,individualswi l
lmar ryintof ami l
i
esofdi ff
erentlineagesand
groupsasawhol ei nterl
inkanddi sperseov ertime( commonl yasar esult
ofmi grationorwar )
,Ev ent hemosti nstr
ument all ineageassoci ations,
howev er,const r
uctpower fulsoci albonds.Asamemberoft hegr oup,
i
ndi viduals wi ll obey l i
fe-determi ning cust oms r egarding mar riage,
i
nher itance,justi
ceandt heal locationofl and, Thisgi vest heleaderofacl an,
vill
ageor .
ethnicgr oupagr eatdealofpol it
icalpower .Lineagegr oups,i n
return,pr ovi
desol idarit
y,of feri
ngsecur ityand,wel faret otheirmember s.
Ther ei st husar eciprocalr el
ationshi pbet weent hosewhor espectt he
aut horit
yofet hnicl eader sandt hechi efswhoar eobl igedt olookaf t
ert heir
followers.Ev en,t odayt hisr esul t
si nAf ricansseei ngt hemsel vesmor eas
member sofacommuni ty,rathert hanadopt ingt hedegr eesofi ndividuality
wi despreadi ntheWest.

I
ttr
acest
hehi
stor
ical
traj
ect
oryoft
hesepr
e-col
oni
all
i
neages,
expl
ores

how t
hissenseofcommuni
tyi
nfl
uencedt
hest
atei
deol
ogi
esofpost
-
col
oni
alAf
ri
ca

(
not
abl
y'Af
ri
cansoci
ali
sm'
).Fol
l
owi
ngt
his,
iti
nvest
igat
esj
usthowt
hese

power
ful
ethni
cti
eshel
pedshapepol
i
tical
exchangei
nthemoder
ner
a.
7
Thisref erencecar rieswithitsr i
ghtsanddut iestoeachmemberoft he
famili
esi nt hemar ri
age.Thust hesecuri
tyandt heprotecti
onoft hewoman
i
st her esponsi bil
ityofal lmember soft heman’ sfami l
y.Her eiti snot
soli
daritybutar esponsibil
i
ty.Themani nt urnenjoysmut ualrespectinthe
woman’ sf ami l
y.Thi sdescribedi nter
msofsol i
darit
yi nt heEur opean
sense;int hat,i
tissupposedt ober eciprocat
ed.Thiswei st
icpersonalit
y
andexi stencei sal way sseenint hesocialactoft heAf ri
cansoci et
yand
explai
nsmanybehav iorpatternsthatthest rangerstot hesoci etyf i
nd
dif
fi
cultt ounder stand.

Themostf r
equentuseof“ we”isfoundi ntheexpr essionsofowner shipin
theAfricansocieties.Whent her ul
erofacount r
yi sanAkan,t heindivi
dual
alwayssay s:“ wear eruli
ng thecount ry
”,int hesamewaywhen t hat
governmenti soust ed,anyAkanwi llsay:“
wehav ebeenoust ed”.Alt
hough
thi
sisv erygener alandv ague,theonewhosay st hi
smeansi twithallthe
accompany ingemot i
onsofpr i
deandhat r
ed.Inaf ami l
y,ifanymember
ownsacar ,ahouseorani tem whi chisansi gnofweal th,everymember
usest hatit
em f orhisorherr eference;henceoneof tenhear s“ wehav ea
car;wehav eahouse”et c;whereasi ntheactualfacttheonespeaki nghas
noclaim ordirectconnectionwitht heowner shi
poft hei t
em.

Whenanybadt hi
nghappenst oamemberofaf amilythelossisexpr essed
i
nt erm ofreferencetoallmember softhegr oup.Thusonehear s“wear e
bereaved”,“
ourwi fedied”,“welostason” ,“ourl orr
yi sstolen”,“t
heman
kil
ledourgoat ”
,etc.Inthesesoci eti
es,whenonei spol i
ti
calf i
gure,the
whol egroupboast softhepr ominentpoli
ticalposi ti
oni thas.Inthesame
wayanyhar m donet othatintel
lect
ualorpol it
icianisr ecei
vedashar m or
i
njurydonet oal ltheindi
vidualmember soft hegr oupandeachmember
feelsal
mostt hesamebi t
ternessfortheinjury.Thiswei sti
cbehav iourisat
thebasisoft hegenocideinRwanda.TheHut uf eltoffendedthrough t he
deathofJuv enalHabyarimana.Theirreacti
oni st otrytokill
alltheTutsi.

I
nAfri
cathi
sweisti
cfeel
i
ngamongt hepeoplei
smanif
estedsocial
l
yand
t
hisbecomesasoci alr
eali
ty.Iwil
lusesomeexampl esto show the
mani
fest
ati
onsofsomeofthesesoci
alact
s.Someoft
heexampleswi l
lbe
8
specifi
candot herswil
lbegeneral
.Thisdependsonwhet herthesocialact
i
sf oundi nspecif
icgroupsorwhetheriti
sf oundtobegener aldur
ingt he
ti
meoft hi
speaceofwor k.Amongt heBar
ibaandDendit r
ibesinBeninand
Niger,achildcallshisorherfatherandbyt hei
rfir
stnamesbutont he
contrar
yt hechi l
d cal
lshisorherpat ernaluncles’babawhi chmeans
“f
ather”inBatonouandDendi l
anguages.

Thechildisnotallowedt odist
inguishbetweenthoseolderandy ounger
thanhisorherfather,asdoneinot herAf
ri
canlanguages.Theexplanation
givenisthatal
lpaternaluncl
espl ayexactl
ythesamer oleast hegeni tal
fatherf
orthechi
ldbyhi sfat
herisdonebyanyoft hef at
hers-
baba-andnot
necessari
lyt
hegenitalfat
her
.

Whatt henisthi
spr escri
bedwei sticbehaviour?Af ew exampl esf rom the
resear chwor kwil
lbeenought oshow asamemberoft hegr oup,the
i
ndi vi
dualishighl
yconcer nedwi thallmember sofhisf amily.Forexampl e
whensomeonei sacust omsof f
icer,hemustnotar resthisbr other-inlaw
whoi spassingbywi thstruggl
edgoods.Theexpl anationist hatar resti
ng
him amount edtoarresti
nghi sownwi feandt hiswil
lresultindiv orce.Even
i
fhef eelsmoral
lyst
r ongenought odoi tandhi swifesy mpathizeswi t
hhi m,
l
ov eshi m andtri
est ounder st
andhi m,thepr essur
ef rom thewi fef amil
y
willforcethewifetogoaway ,forast hesayinggoes“ Bloodist hickerthan
wat er”.

Anot herexampl eisthat ,i

nwel lwel dedt radi
tionf ami lies,whenabr other
hasapr oblem ori ncurreddebtandi sputi ntopr i
son,t hef amil
yhead,v ery
oftent he“ol destfather”int hef ami lycansel lthepr oper tyofanyoft he
brotherst opayof ft hedebtf ort her eleaseoft heper soninjail
.Thi sa
commonpr act i
ceamongt he“Aï zo”andt he“ Toffi
n”peopl einBenin.Ev en
theowneroft hepr oper t
ydoesnotl iket heideanori st hepersonsentt o
goali nnocentnobodycompl ai
ns;f oritisasi fev erybodyi nthefami l
yi s
personallyi nvolved int heinci dentand no j usti
fication i sneeded.The
popul arsayingis“ Dri
v eawayt heki tef i
rstandt heny ouwar nthechickens”.
Onal loccasi onsofhappyev ent sev erymemberoft hegr oupisinper sonal
feastf orexampl e,ift hereisanew bor nbaby ,ever ybodysay swehav ea
9
newbodyandever
ybodyisi
nvol
vedint
henami
ngcer
emonyasheorshei
s
thef
atherort
hemotheroft
hebaby.

The expendi t
ures and al lresponsi bi
lit
ies ar e equall
yshar ed.In some
famili
esinGhana, TogoandBeni n, thef ami l
yheadpr ov i
dethedr i
nkforthe
feastwhilethef athersprovi
demeatandf oodst affandt hemot her
sdot he
cooking.Theot hermember soft hef amilylikemat ernaluncles,paternal
auntsbr i
nggi f
tst othemot heroft hechi ld.Any bodywhor ef
usest otake
acti
vepar tisclassifi
edassomebodywhohat est hechil
dandt hereforean
enemyt ot hechild’sparent
s.Ever ymemberoft hegr oupmustt akehi mself
avail
ableand no excusesar et ol erated.Thepat ernalauntsar ej oi
ntly
responsibl
ef ort heritesandr i
tualsi nt hepat r
il
inealfamili
essuchast he
Ewes, Fons,Mahi setc.

Onoccasi onsofot herhappyev entslikethet r

av el l
ingofamemberabr oad
orhi s/herr eturnhomeev erybodygoest otheai r por tforthef arewellort he
welcomeandt hefeastt othatef f
ectispaidf orbyt hewhol ef amilythrough
thecont ri
but i
oni mposedbyt hef amilyheadorf rom t hecommoncof fers
oft hef ami l
y,i fther eisone.Anot hercommonf eatureoft hi
st heear l
y
festi
v alcal l
edt hest oolDay ,( Zikpuizâi nEweandMi na,Kpozani nFon,
AdjaandSahwe, Akonguaamongt heTwi ,andAkan) .Thisi sanear l
yf east
organi zedbyt hel ineageundert hefami l
yhead.Ont hef eastdayal lt he
descendant soft hel i
neagenearandf arcomef oraf ami l
ysacr if
icefort he
ancest or stopaci fyorst onef ort hebadt hingsoft hepastandaskf ort he
blessingsoft hef ol l
owingy ear .Theexpendi tur esf ort hesacr i
fi
cei spai d
forbyt hecont ri
but ioni mposedbyt hef amilyheadi nthenameoft he
fami l
ycounci loff at her
s.Ev ery bodypay swi ll
ingl yt oenj oyt hesuppor tof
theancest ralspi r
its–pagans,Chr i
sti
ans,ill
it
er at esandl it
eratesalikewi th
noexpendi tures.Ev enpeopl ewhoar eabr oadandcannotcomeandsend
moneyi nor dert oenj oythebl essi ngsoftheancest ral spir
it
s.

Wheneveradisasterst
ri
kesinafamil
y,t
hewholegroupi
saffectedandthe
groupactswithoneaccor d.Forexamplewhenamandi es,t hewhole
famil
ybereav
ed.Nomemberoft hegroupgoestowork,untiltheburi
al:
peopl
eareappoi ntedtostaywiththewidow andtheorphansunt i
lthe
10
buri
al.Aftert
hebur i
alceremony,thechil
drenaredist
ributedamongthe
l
ivi
ngf at
hers–unclesaccordi
ngt othei
rmeans.Whateverbe,thecaset
he
l
ivi
ngf at
hersorgani
zetheupbringingoftheorphansandt hewidowswas
remarri
edbyanylivi
ngfather
s.

Theexpl anati
ongi venist hat,thisisasoci alsystem soor ganizedt o
all
eviat
et heorphansoft heor phanageandt hewi dow oft hewidowhood.
Theyclaimt hatifthewomangoest omar ryfrom outside,thenewmanwi l
l
notlookatt heor phansashi sownchi l
drenandt hewomanwi llf
eelt he
bereavementv er ymuch.Thei mportanceoft hi
sar rangementbecomes
apparentwhenoner emember sthatmostoft hesef athersaref athers
withoutanysoci alsecuri
tyorinsurancesystem tocaterf ortheorphansnot
tochangeandt hewi dowsaf t
erthedeat hofthemen.

Peopl eremembert hatt hewi feis,refer r

edtoasourwi fehencet hechild
hasmanyf at
hers.Itisnotwondert hereforethatthesear rangementsar e
madet oassurethecont inuit
yoft hiswe- group.Myi ntentioni snottopass
amor aljudgmentont hesy stem butt oexposet hesy stem asi tiswithits
i
mpl icati
ons.ThisIhopewi l
lhelpout sider
st ounder st andt hatAfri
can
problemsmustbev iewedi ntheirrealcont extandappr opr iat
esoluti
ons
mustbesoughti nthatcont extr
at hert hanimpor t
ingsol uti
onsf rom other
societieswhoser eali
tiesar equit
edi fferentfr
om our s.

From abov edi scussion,itcouldcl earl

ybeseent hatwei sm isbasedon
groupdeci sionandaf fi
l
iati
on.Democr acyont heot herhandi sbasedon
i
ndividualdeci sion,based on f reechoi ceand i ndependentt hi
nking.In
poli
ticaldemocr acy,the indivi
dualwho i s highl
yi mmer sed in weisti
c
thi
nkingi st hef acedwitht hedilemmaofdeci si
onmaki ng.Shouldheor
shedeci dei ndependent l
yandmakeachoi ceorcompl ywi ththegr oup
decision?Dur i
ngt het i
meofv oti
ngi nmostt r
aditionalv il
lages,itisa
commonpr acticet oseepeopl easkingt heeldersofthei rpeer swhot ovote
for?Consequent lywhenanygr oupl eadergivesthedi rectionast owhot o
votef or
,thi
sdi recti
oniseasi l
yfoll
owedwi t
houtquest ion.

Mostpeopl
ejoi
nthepol
i
ticalpar
ti
esonbasi
softri
balaf
fi
li
ati
onrat
hert
han
par
typrogr
ams,whichtheymaynotunderstandanyway.
Ethni
cit
yisone
11
factorofpol it
icalmobi li
zationinAf r
ica.Et hicit
yi sthesent i
mentofloyalty
towar dsadi sti
nct i
vepopul ati
on, cult
ur algroup, ort erri
tori
alarea.Theterm
i
scompl exbecausei thasbot hr acialandcul turalov ertones.Themember s
ofet hni
cgr oupsar eof t
ensee,coor ect l
yori ncorrectlytohav edescended
from commonancest orsandt hegr oupsar ethust houghtofasext ended
kinshipgroups, uni
tedbybl ood.Peopl ether eforeadher et oparti
esbecause
thepar tybelongst othem assai dbyt hev i
ll
agechi eforbecauseoneof
theirsonsakeyf igure,oratt hewor stoneoft heirsonsori mportant
personalit
iessayso.I nor derwor dsi ti senought osayt hat“thi
sisour ’
party”forallmember soft hat“wegr oup”t obel ongt ot hatpartyandnot e
accor di
ngly.Ev enatthel it
eratelevelpeopl ear emor eathomet ovotefora
“we”membert hant ov otefor“anot herper son” .

Thepol it
iciansar econsci ousoft hisandt herefore,politi
calpartiesar e
createdont ri
balbasisalthought heyar eatt
empt stopr ohibitt
ri
balpar ties.
Thef actist hatpeopl ewhocr eatepar ti
esfi
ndpeopl eont heirownt ribal
l
inesanduset hem t ocreatepar t
ies.Thesealsof i
ndpeopl eont ri
ballines
anduset hem t ocr eat
eot hernewpar ti
es.Thesei nt urnfi
ndf r
iendsf rom
themi norit
yt r
ibetoj oi
nt hem.Thust hemov ementi sf r
om onewei stic
grouptoanot her.Theythenf rom t heelitepol
it
ici
ansoft hatpartyandeach
turntoit
set hni
cgr ouptosayt hisisourpar t
y.Assoonasanyoft heseel ite
fi
ndst hatheorshehassuf f
ici entstrongsocialrelations,heorshet hen
breaksof ft of or
m hi sorherownpar t
yandt hepr ocessbegi nsal lov er
again.

Now Iwi sht ol ookatot hermai nar easinwhi chthisconcepthasa

si
gnifi
canteffectont heAf ri
canbehav iorandpol i
ti
csnamel yintert
ribalwar
,
andabuseofpower .Ont hepoliti
calfield,t
heconceptcl ashesdi rectl
ywith
WesternDemocr acy .MostEur opeansmi sunderstoodt hisandconcl ude
wronglythatAf r
icansdonotunder standdemocr acyorcannotpr acti
ceit
.
Somegosof orast odescr i
bei tint ermsofi mmat urityforDemocr acy
Poli
ti
cs.Thisisunf ortunatebecauset hepr oblem israt
herphi losophicthan
maturi
ty.Accor ding t o me,t he mai n problem i sthatt he f eeli
ng of
bel
ongingnessshapest hechoi ceofcandi datesi nelectionsr atherthan
democraticfeeli
ng.
12
Asf arast hephi losophyofwei sm isconcer nedtheindi v
idualisnotas
i
mpor t
antas t he gr oup.I nt his wi se,itcan be compar ed t o social
Communi sm.Themosti mpor t
antel ementi nthi
sgr oupaf f
il
iati
oni sthe
honorandt hedigni t
yoft hegr oup.Asr esul
tnosacrif
iceoft heindividuali
s
toomucht ouphol danddest r
oyt hehonoroft hegr oup.Consequent ly
whent hegroupi shumi l
i
atedordi shonoredtheprideofev erymemberi sat
stake and communaldef ense becomes t he normaland aut omat i
c
responsetot heaggr essor.Forexampl ewhenamemberoft hegr oupis
attacked,
humi li
atedordi shonor ed,allmember softhegr oupf eelthesame
i
ntensityofgrief,andar iseforsel fdef enseisaut
omat i
candspont aneous
andnospeci almobi li
zationisnecessar y.

Allthatisnecessar yisthei nformationaboutt heappr opr i

atecodeof
behaviortoadopt .I
fitisf i
ghti
ngev ery
bodyisr eady.Becausei ti
st he
grouphonorthati stobedef ended.Thisexplai
nswhywhenev enifasingl
e
memberofat ribeisat t
acked,al lmember sthattri
bet akesi dewi t
hout
try
ingtoanalyzet hecauseandt heconsequences.I nthesamewaywhena
memberofat r
ibei saggressed,mal t
reatedorhumi l
iat
ed,al lmember sof
thattr
ibereadil
yt akearmsf orv engeanceespeciall
ywhent hesituat
ionis
assucht hatt
hel awi nt
otheirownhands.

Anotherf eatur
eoft histri
balweisti
cfeeli
ngist hesuperiori
tyandinferi
orit
y
ofraces.Tr aditi
onal
lysomet r
ibesfeelthattheysuperiorandt herefor
ebe
therulersoft heot hertribesashi st
orymi ghthav erevealed.Asar esul
t
whenbecauseofeducat ion,coloni
alinfl
uenceorhi stori
calaccident,the
rul
ed became t he ruler
sora memberoft he group,f rom the people
consideredt obet heinferi
ortri
be,becomesar ulerofthenextsoci ety
,the
member soft heso cal l
edsoci etyfeelhumi li
atedanddi shonoredand
harbors grievances againstt he new ruler
st hus waiti
ng fort he l
east
opportunitytotakear evenge.

Thisrevengeisneverdirect
edt otherulerortherul
i
nggr ouponlybutis
dir
ectedt oallmembersoft heweist
icgr ouptoanother
.Reacti
onsar e
ther
efore,popul
arspontaneousandv i
olentbecausepeopl
eareoftenf r
ee
tot hi
nk and anal
yze behaviorindi
vi
duallyand rat
ional
i
ze the causes,
13
eff
ectsandconsequencesofthem.Iwil
ltakeonet
ri
balwart
oil
l
ust
rat
e
thi
s;namel
ytheTusti
-wutuRwandawar
.

Whenoneconsi derstheTusti
-hutuki l
linginRwanda,onenot i
cesthateach
racefeelsthati
ti sthelegalruleroft hecount r
yandsoany bodyf r
om the
otherracebeingtheheadofst ateisunaccept abl
etohim.Thepol i
ti
calwar
ofthecount rywasnotbet weenpol i
tici
ansorpol i
ti
calgroupsbutr at
her
betweent he“hutuandTust i
”we- gr
oups.Vamar aKoneexplainsthatthe
“hutu-
tutsi
”we-groupsopposi t
ioni ssov ehementthattheHutut r
eatthei
r
we-groupmemberwhoget smar riedtoaTut si
womanasat r
aitor
:

EveryHutushouldknowt hataTut siwoman, whoeversheis,worksforthe

i
nterest
sofherTut siethni
cgr oup.Asar esultweshallconsiderat r
aitor
anyHutuwhomar ri
esaTut siwoman, befr
iendsaTutsiwoman, employ sa
Tutsiwomanasasecr etaryoraconcubi ne[…]theHutushouldstophav i
ng
mer cyontheTut si[
…]TheHut umustbef i
rm andv i
gil
antagainsttheir
commonTut sienemy .

Whent hePresi
dentahut uwasel ected,t
heot hersfeelthatt hehutuwer e
rul
inghencet heTustimustt oppl
et hem.Her eanymeansdi ct at
edbyt hei
r
l
eader stodefendtheirposit
ionandv i
ceversa.InthecaseofRwandat he
met hoddecideduponi skill
ing,apl antoext er
mi nat
eandanni hil
atethe
otherracethusnobodymi ndswhohei ski
ll
ingandwhoi skil
lingt heone.

Allthatisimport
antist hatt
heonet obeki l
ledisthememberoft heot
her
“we”gr oup,andthefightisforthepersonalvengeancewhereeachofthe
groupmember sfeel
st hathe/sheispersonall
yoffendedandsomusttake
revengeatanycost .

14
CONCEPTUALDI
SCOURSES
Af
ri
caandi
tsl
ocat
ion
Ogungbemi( 2007)r epor tsthatt oknowAf ri
caist ohav esomeknowl edge
ofitsgeogr aphyandaswel linteractwi t
hi tspeopl eandt heenv ir
onment .
Hei nti
mat esuswi t ht hegener algeogr aphicalv i
ew ofAf ri
ca,thatAf ri
ca
andi t
sIslands, hasal andar eaoft welvemi l
li
onsquar emi l
es.Andt hatt he
l
andar eacoul deasi lycont ainwi thini t
,andwi throom tospar ethewhol eof
Indi
a,Europe, Japan, theBr iti
shI sles,Scandi navianandNewZeal and.Al so,
headdst hatt heUni tedSt at eofAmer i
cacoul deasi l
ybef it
tedi ntot he
SaharaDeser t
.Af ri
cai sgeogr aphi call
ycompact ,andi nt ermsofnat ural
resources pot enti
allyt he r ichestcont inenti nt he wor l
d.( Ogungbemi
2007:28).Incol l
abor at i
ont ot heabov e,Ukanah( 2011)equal lyaf fi
rmed
thatAf ri
ca ist hesecond l ar gestoft hewor ld continentscov eri
ng 23
percentoft hewor ld’st otallandmassandcont ainingabout14percentof
thewor l
d’spopul ation.I tisboundedbyt heAt lanti
cOceanont heWest ,t
he
Indi
anOceanandt her edSeaont heeastandt heMedi terraneanSeaont he
North.Inthenor theast er ncor neroft hecont i
nentisconnect edwit hAsi aby
theSinaiPeni nsula.Pr esent l
y ,ther eareabout53count ri
escompr i
sing47
ont hemai nlandandsi xislandnat i
onscl oselysurroundingandwhi char e
partoft hecont i
nent( Ukanah2011: 2-
3). Afr
icai smost l
ydi v
idedbyt he
Sahara,thewor ldlar gestdeser t,whi chcut sahugeswat hhor i
zontal l
yin
themi ddleoft hecont inent.Thecount r
iesnor thoft heSahar amakeupt he
regi
onofNor thAf ri
ca, whilet her egionsout hoft hedeser tisknownassub-
SaharaAf ri
ca.

• Nort
hAfri
caregi
onconsi
stsofAl
ger
ia,Egy
pt,Li
bya,Mor
occo,Sudan
andTuni
sia.
• Sub-Sahar
aAf r
icaisgener
all
ydi
vi
dedi
ntot
heregi
onsofWestAf
ri
ca,
EastAfri
ca,Centr
alAfr
ica,
andSout
her
nAfr
ica.
• West Afri
ca incl
ude such countri
es as Beni n,Burkina Faso,
Cameroun,Chad,Coted’I
voi
re,Ghana,Guinea,
Gui
neaBissau,Li
beri
a,
Mali
,Mauritani
a,Niger
,Nigeri
a,Senegal,Sier
raLeone,t
heGambi a
15
 andTogo.
• EastAfr
icannat
ionsareBurundi
,Dj
ibouti
,Er i
trea,Et
hiopi
a,Keny
a,
Malawi
,Mozambique,
Rwanda,Somal
i
a, TanzaniaandUganda.
• Thecentr
alAfr
icacount
ri
esincl
udeAngola,Centr
alAfri
canRepubli
c,
Democrat
icRepubl
icofCongo,Equat
ori
alGuinea,Gabon,Republ
i
cof
theCongoandZambia.
• Sout
hernAfri
caconsi
stBot
swana,Lesot
ho,Nami
bia,Sout
hAf
ri
ca,
Swazi
landandZi
mbabwe.
• I
slandnati
onsont he coastofAfri
caareCapeVerde, SaoTomeand
Preci
peont heAtl
anti
cOceanandComor r
os,Malagascar,Mauri
ti
us
andSeychel
lesontheIndianOcean(Ukanah2011:3).Theland,wat
er,
ai
r,andsunaddt otheeconomi cwealthofAfri
ca.Apar tfrom t
he
natur
alr
esources,
humanr esour
cesaboundinal
lunit
sofl i
fe.

Whati
scul
tur
e?
Cul t
urei saconceptt hati sacknowl edgeduni versal ly.Itsphenomenal
rel
ev ancev ariesf rom soci et yt osoci ety .Whati saccept ableinonesoci et
y
mayl i
kel ybeanabomi nat ioni nt heot her .Thisv iewder i
vesf rom t hef act
thatcul tur ei sanal lembr aci ngconceptasf arasmani sconcer ned.I t
encompassesev erybi tofman’ sl if
eandexper ience.Thi si sper hapswhy
theconcepthasat t
r actedv ar i
ousdef initi
onsf rom di fferentschol ars,but
thesedef initionsr ev olver oundasi mi larmeani ng.Forourpur poseher e, we
tendt owar dsTy lor( 1958)andMal i
nowski( 1931)def initi
ons.Ty l
or( 1958)
explicatescul t
ureasacompl exwhol ewhi chincludesknowl edge, belief,art,
mor al,l
aw,cust om anyot hercapabi lit
iesandhabi tsacqui redbymanasa
memberofsoci ety( Ty lor,1958) .Fr om Mal i
nowski ’sper spective,cul t
urei s
af unctioni ng, active, efficient ,wel lor gani zeduni ty
, whichmustbeanal y zed
i
ntocomponenti nstitutionsi nr elati
onst ooneanot her ,inr elat
iont ot he
needsofhumanor gani sm,andi nr elationt ot heenv ironment ,man- made
aswel lasnat ural( Mal inowski ,1931ci tedbyAdegoke et .al.
,
) .Drawi ngan
i
nf erencef rom t heabov e,cul turei sanal lembr acingconcepthav i
nga
broad i nter pretation. Cul tur e embr aces r eli
gious bel i
efs,l anguages,
dresses, sty l
eofl i
v i
ng, pol iti
calor gani zat i
onandal lot heraspect sofl ife.In
16
thecont extofthispaper ,cultureisusedast hetotali
tyoft hewayofl ifeof
Afri
can peopl ei ncl
uding t heirt angible and int
angi bl
e pr oduct s,habi ts,
customs, thoughtsaswel last hear ts,technology,music, l
it
eratur e,theatre,
health,dramaandeducat i
on.Besi des,thef ol
lowingar ethechar acteristi
cs
oft heconceptofcul tureunderdi scussion.Cul tur
ei sbot hst ableand
dynami c,explici
tand i mpl icit,shar ed and learned,idealand mani fest,
covertandov ert
,organicandsupr a-organic,corr
upt i
bleandr efor ming.An
Afri
canper soninheri
tsacul turalher i
tagef r
om t hepr ecedinggener ation
whicht heyuse, addtoandpassont ot hesucceedi ngones( Adegboy eand
Olagunju,1996:236-238) .

Val
ueSy
stem
Accor dingt oLongmanDi ctionar yt hewor dv al ueisdef i
ned,‘ast hedegr ee
ofusef ulnessofsomet hing,qual ityinsomet hingwhi chmakesi thelpf ul
,
usef ulordesi rabl
e,ast andar dori deawhi chmostpeopl ehav eaboutt he
wor th ofgood qual it
ies’.Thi s not wi t
hstandi ng,t he meani ng is not
explanat or y enough.The wor dv alues r ef ert ot he at ti
tude,bel iefs,
behav iour sandact ionst hatar echer i
shedandaccept ablestandar dsof
behav iour swhi cheachsoci etyexpect st hatt hemember sshoul dabideby .
Although,v al
uesdi fferf rom per sont oper sonandf rom onesoci etyt o
anot her .Thi sisbecausesoci algr oupsorhumansoci et
ieshav ev ari
ous
beliefs, at ti
tudesandst andar dst hatf ormt heirv aluesy stem.I nviewoft his
dev elopment ,Faladeet .al .
,( 2009)i nt heirownper spectiveexpl i
catet he
termv al ueasacoher entsetofat titude, behav i
ourandact ionadopt edand,
orev olv edbyaper son,or gani zation,orsoci et yasast andardt oguidei ts
behav iourand pr eferences i n allsi tuations ( Falade,D.A.,Aki nde,O. O.
&Adej ubee. ,2009:482) .Theconcepti sher ebyusedandut ili
zedasa
coher entsetofAf rican at tit
ude,behav i
ourand act i
on adopt ed and/ or
evolv edbyAf r
icancommuni tyasast andar dt ogui det heirbehav ioursand
prefer ences.Al sothewor dv alueisusedasanendur ingbel i
efthatspeci fic
modeofconductofAf r
icanexi stencei ssoci allypref erabletoanopposi te
orconv er semodeofconduct .

17
 ThePl
aceofTr
adi
ti
onal
Afr
icanCul
tur
alVal
ues
The i nterpret
ive exposi t
ion and pr esent ati
on ofv alues gener at ed by
tradit
ional Afr
icansoci etiescov ersmanyaspect soft heAf r
icancul tur alli
fe.
Although,i tisimpor tantt onot et hatt alkingaboutAf r
icancul t
uralv alues
doesnoti mplyt hatbyanymeanst her ear eno cul t
ur aldisv aluesor
negat iv
ef eaturesoft heAf ricancul tur es.Ther ear e,ofcour semanyofi t.
Thisi sbecausesomecul t
ur albel iefs,pr acti
cesandi nst i
tutionst hatar e
regardedascul turalval uesmayber egar dedascul turaldi svaluesbyot hers.
Orev ensomeaspect sofwhatoner egar dsascul turalv aluesmayr equire
somer efinement .Nev ertheless,howev er,tradit
ionsneedt obeev aluated.
Themai nr easonf orf ocusi ngoncul turalv aluesher eist hatsomeoft hese
culturalv al
ues r equi re appr opriate and necessar y amendment and
refi
nementi nor dertober elev antt oAf ricanmoder nity(Gy eky e,2002: 171) .
Ther eisnocommuni t yornat ioni nexi stencet owhi chr eli
gionhasnot
formedt hebasi sofherl ife.Ther ehasal way sbeenasenseofbel ongi ngt o
Godi nAf ri
ca,aswel last hebasi cbel i
eft hatt hiswor l
di sGod’ swor l
d.In
Af r
ica,thebel i
efist hatGodcr eat edt hewor ldandt hewhol eaffairsoft he
wor ldareunderhi suni tarycont rol.Af ricanbel iefist hatsoci etyist husan
ordinanceofGod,andev eryi nstitutionwi t
hinsoci etyi sther eforebasi call
y
reli
gious.

Afri
canpeopl ehav ev ar
iousmor alandsoci etalvaluesmeantt or egulate
i
nterpersonalrelationshipandt operpetuat
et heent i
recommuni ty.Africans
havecer tai
n st andar dsornor mst o beobser ved.Thesest andar dsor
norms ar e meantf or socialcohesi on and smoot hr unning of t he
communi t
y.They ar et o preventmember s oft he communi tyf r
om
becomingr ebel l
iousandt herebyendangert hewel fareoft hesoci ety.In
Afri
cansoci et
y ,therear easetofv aluesthatgui det hebehav iorofev ery
member .Specificment i
oncoul dbemadeofv al
uessuchashospi talit
y,
chasti
tybef or
emar ri
age,truth,respectforoldage,cov enantkeepi ng,har d
workandgoodchar acter.I
nAf ri
cancommuni t
ytherear eprov erbs,maxi ms
used toi nculcat e socialand mor alvalues in or dertor egulatet heir
i
nterpersonalrelationships.Thef oll
owingar ei l
luminatingexampl esf r
om
theYorubaofNi ger i
aandAkanpeopl eofGhana.
18
S/N Val uesfost ered Exampl esofPr over bs/Maxi ms
1 Respectand honourf orA if iagbaf uneni kankoj ekiay eogun
elders (Fai
luret o giver egar ds to ot heri st he
fundament alcauseofsoci etalabnor mal it
y
2 Regar d and appr eciati
on A kiif iowo osij uwei lebabaeni( we
for one’ s f ami l
y andshoul dnotpoi ntatourf ather’
shomewi t
h
benef actors thelefthand)
3 Sel fcontrol andcour tesy Fal anagbot i
re,t araenil agbo( Falana-a
gener i
cname, mindy ourbusi ness)
4. Vi rtues of f orgiveness,Biakobagbagbeor oana, akonir ienikan
harmonyandpeacef ulco-abaser e( Unl ess we ov erl
ook t he past
existence misdeeds, wewi llnotbeabl et orelate
5 Di l
igenceandi ndustry Iseniooguni se(Har dwor kist hecur efor
pover t
y )
6 Tr uthandhonest y Ot i
tokiisi nai roni if iorigbogbe( Truth
does notmake mi stake,f alsehood l ead
astray).
7 Uni tyandcooper ation Ajejiowokankogber udeor i(Onehand
cannotl if
taheav yl oadt othehead
Sources: Fal
ade, D.Eet .al.,(
2009) .Pr overbsasTr adi t
ionalMeansofMor al
andSoci alLearni ngamongt heYor ubaofNi geria.Aj ay i
,A.andFabar ebo,
S.I(
Eds.)Or alTr aditi
onsi nBl ackandAf r
icanCul ture( CBAAC) ,485- 489.

Fr
om Akanpeopl
eofGhana
S/N ValuesFoster
ed ExamplesofProver
bs/Maxi
ms
1 Beauty Beautydoesnotpayoffadebt
.
2 Chiefshi
p,Peopl
ePol
i
tical I
tiswhenachi efhasgoodcounsel
ors
and thathi
srei
gnbecomespeaceful.
Aut
hori
ty
3 Chi
ldr
en Thereisno weal
thwher
ether
ear
eno
chi
l
dren
19
4 Communi
ty Ther easont wodeerwal ktoget heristhat
onehast ot aket hemot ef r
om t heot her
’s
eye.
5 God Goodnessi st heprimechar acter i
sti
csof
God.
6 Humanity Humani tyhasnoboundar y.
7 I
mmor al
i
ty Whenaper sondi es,heisnotr eallydead.
8 Indi
vi
duall
y Itis by i ndiv idualeffortt hatwe can
str
uggl eforourhead.
9. Knowl
edge Knowl edgei sl i
keagar den,ifi tis not
cult
ivated,itcannotbehar vested.
10 Mor al
it
y Li
feismut ual aid.
11 Parental Absencedoesnotbr ingupachi ld.
responsibi
l
ity
12 Personal Hewhoget sblister
sfrom thehoehandl
e
responsibi
l
ity wil
lnotdieofhunger .
13 Onlyhewhogoesi ntot hefor
estcomes
backwithfi
rewood.
14 Whatonecul t
ivatesiswhatonehar v
est.
15 Vi
rt
ues Goodcharacterisaper son’
sguards.
An unpl easant t rut
hi s bet
ter t
han a
pl
easantf alsehood
16 Weal th When weal th comes and passes by
nothi
ngcomesaf ter.
17 Wi sdom Thewi seper sonisspokent oinprover
bs,
notinwor ds.
18 Wi fe Thebeaut yofa woman i sduet o her
husband.
19 Wor k Treaty ourguestasaguestf ortwodays,
onthet hi
rddaygi vehim ahoe.
Therei snoot herthingsy ougetoutof
l
azinesst hanpov erty
.
Sour
ces:Gyeky
e( .Af
2002) ri
canCul t
uralVal ues:AnI ntroduct
ion,Ghana:
20
Sankof
aPubl
i
shi
ngCompany
,22-
104.

I
faLi
ter
aryCor
pusasReposi
tor
yofYor
ubaCul
tur
alEducat
ion
Ajay iandOj o( 2009)obser vet hatcul turaleducat ioni ssuchi nwhi ch
childr enandy oungi ndividual sar eeducat edaccor dingt ot henat ivecust om,
pract i
ces,bel i
efsandgener allifepat ternoft hesoci ety .I tsmai nconcer ns
are char acter ,mor al
s,phy si caland v ocationaldev elopment of t he
i
ndi v idual ,aswel last hei ncul cat ioni nthechi ldrenoft hesoci etyr ightt ype
ofv aluesast heyl ear ntoi dent i
fy ,under standandappr eci at ethe cul tur es,
nor msandv aluesoft hesoci et y( AjayiandOj o2009: 40) .I nmor especi fi
c
termsYor ubacul tur aleducat i
oni sconcer nedwi ththemannerofgr eet i
ngs,
dressi ng, housecl eani ng, takingone’ sj obser i
ousl y,goodbehav ior, r
espect
forel der samongot hers.Theessent ialmat eri
alwhi chanI faPr i
estusest o
det er mi net hepr obl emsofhi scl i
ent si sknownast heI faliteraryand
divinat orycor pus.( Abi mbol a,1973: 44ci t
edbyAj ay i&Oj o2009: 40) .The
cor pusi st hest or ehouseofYor ubacul ture.Ast her eposi toryforYor uba
tradi tionalbodyofknowl edgeembr acinghi story,phi losophy ,medi cineand
folkt ale,itser vesast hebasi cmeanst hroughwhi chYor ubacompr ehend
theirenv ironmentandhi st ori
calexper i
ences( Abimbol a,1975: 32ci tedby
Ajay iandOj o2009: 41).Ifal it
er arycor pusi sthebaseofYor ubat raditional
educat ionr ender edi nacodedf or m andt hemeani ngi sonl ydecodedbya
veter anI faPr i
est.Thi sist oshowanot heri l
l
umi nat ing t raditi
onalAf rican
cultur alv al uesi nt heYor ubasoci o-cul t
uralset ti
ng.Ther eservedabi lit
yof
theI faPr i
estt oint erprett hemessageofI f
aisapr oofoft heirknowl edge,
abilityand conf i
rmat ion oft hei rimpor tance si nce t her ei s har dlyany
probl em aboutwhi chYor ubawi llnotconsul tIfa.Thi sf acti scor robor ated
byI fapoem whi chst atest hat:

I
fal
oloni
I
fal
olol
a
I
fal
olot
unl
apel
ue;
Or
unmi
l
aloni
j
omer
eei
nOosaday
e

Tr
ansl
ati
on
21
 I
faownst
oday
I
faownst
omor
row;
I
faownst
hedayaf
tert
omor
row
ToIf
abel
ongsthefourday
scr
eat
ed
(Abi
mbol
a,1973:
44)
Thesubj ectmat terofI fal iterarycorpusi sa whol er angeofYor uba
thought
sandbel iefandt herei snosubj ectt
hatcannotf eatureinit.Among
thecommonl yfoundi nIfacor pusar ethemy t
hsandhi stori
esofYor uba
l
and,medi ci
ne,magi c,obser vationsandv ar
iousaspectsofnat uresuchas
plant
s,animals,river
sandl agoonsaswel lasabstractsubj ectswhi chare
highl
yphilosophicalandeducat i
ve( Abi
mbola1973:45).Abov eall,I
falays
emphasis on good char acterwhi ch i
s much cherished i nt he Yoruba
phil
osophiesas:

Obaal
owokoj
useker
elo,
I
war
eninnkan
(
Youmay
ber
ichert
hanar
att
le,
Goodchar
act
eri
smor
eimpor
tant
)
Also,iwalesi
n,goodconducti stheessenceofrel
igi
on(Abi mbola,2006:
85).
Goodchar actertaggedIwapelewhichincl
udesbeingseri
ouswi thone’sjob,
taki
ngr esponsibil
it
yasatwhendue,goodcompor tment.Thisi sbecause
such v i
cesast heft,l
aziness,covet
ousness,envy,slander,mur derare
regarded as bad char acter whi
ch Yoruba cultur
et eaches against.
(Abimbola1975: 392).
Olupona(2008)cor r
obor atesthati n1977,l
andmar kconfer
encet ookplace,
knownast heFest i
valofAr tsandCul tur
e( FESTAC)dur i
ngwhi chl arge
gatheri
ng oft heAf r
icanDi asporasassembl ed i
nLagosunderGener al
YakubuGowon.Her emar kst hattheconferencewassett oreaf f
irmt he
authenti
cit
yofAf r
icant raditi
onsandcul tur
e,t opromot ethev aluesi n
nati
onaldev el
opment ,andt oensur ethatnat i
onalgoalsandobj ect
ives
i
ncludedcul t
uraldimensi ons. Faf unwaci t
edbyOl upona(2008)equal ly
affi
rmedt hattradi
ti
onaleducat i
onandear l
ychi l
dhoodeducationinone’ s
mot her t
ongue pr ov i
de a bet ter,mor el asti
ng foundati
on t han an
22
educat ionalsy stem usi ngf oreignl anguageandcul t
ur e. I nasi mi l
arbut
differentper spect ive,Pr ofessorLambo,apsy chi atristandPr of essorof
medi cineal soest abl ishedt othef actt hatint hef ieldofmedi cinewi th
referencet ot r
aditionalpsy chiatry ,aspr act i
cedont heAf ri
cancont inent s,
prov idessi gnifi
cantr esul t
s.Si gni ficantly,Prof .Lambo nev ercondemns
west ernpsy chiatry,buthi swor katt heWor l
dHeal thOr ganizat i
on( WHO)
establ ishedt hatt het wosy stemsofheal ingcoul dcompl ementoneanot her
tobenef itt
hepat ient( Ol upona2008: 10-11).Apar tf rom t heabov e,anot her
emi nentexampl e ofAf ri
can cul t
ur alv al
ue i s on t he use ofsy mbol s.
Sy mbol sar eobj ects,act s,relationshi psorl i
ngui sticf ormat i
ont hatst ands
ambi guousf ormul tipli
cityofmeani ngs.I nt radi ti
onalAf rica,sy mbol ism
has f ound spont aneous expr essi ons i n sev er alr eli
gious and secul ar
processesamong manydi fferentpeopl e ofAf ri
ca.These expr essions
coul d be seen i nr eligious embl ems,i deogr ams,i cons,r itual
s,songs,
pray er s, my t
hs, i ncant ations, v ows, cust omar y behav i
our and
personi fi
cations ( Nabof a 1994: 4).Sy mbol s can be cl assified i ntot he
foll
owi nggr oups: nat ur al,artifi
cial,communi cativ e,ar t
isticandr i
tual i
stic.In
traditionalAf ri
ca,sy mbol sser vedsev eralvitalpur poses.Apar tf rom t he
obv iousf actt hatt heyev okei nhumanbei ngsdeepemot ionsand easi ly
spurandmot ivatet hem i ntot akingdef ini
teact ions.Besi des,sy mbol s
achi ev esev enmaj orbr oad- basedgoal s:tomai ntainor derandcoher ence
forcommuni cation,pr eserv i
ng knowl edge t o be t ransferred f rom one
gener ationt oot her ,f orexpr essi ngi nnerf eelingsandext ernalt ruths,f or
remember i
ngi mpor tantev ents,asai dsi nmedi tat i
onandf ort hepr omot ion
ofspi rit
ualdev elopment( Nabof a1994: 13).

Tr
adi
ti
onal
Afr
icanCul
tur
alVal
uesi
nModer
nAf
ri
ca
Manyoft hecul
turalval
uesandpr acti
cesoft r
adi
ti
onalAf r
icadi scussed,
howev er
,canbeconsi deredpositi
vefeaturesoft hecul
tur eandcanbe
accommodat edi ntheschemeofAf ricanmoder nit
y,eveni ft heymust
undergosomer efi
nementandpr uni
nginor dertobecomef ul
lyhar monious
withthespiri
tofmoder ncult
ureandtof uncti
onmostsat i
sf actori
lywithi
n
thatcult
ure(Gyekye2002:174).Thesearesomeoft hetraditi
onalAf ri
can
valuesthatareful
lyharmoniouswiththespi r
itofmoderncul turesandas
23
wel
lfuncti
onmostsat
isf
act
ori
l
yandbr
ingaboutsust
ainabl
edev
elopment
i
nmoder nAfr
ica.

Humani ty and Brotherhood:Tr aditi

onalAf rican cultures r
ecognize the
dignit
yandi ntegr
it
yoft hehumanbei ngasacr eatureofGod.Ourcommon
brotherhoodisintr
insicall
yli
nkedwi thourcommonhumani t
y.Thereisonly
oneuni ver
salfamily,towhi chal lhumanbei ngsbel ong.Thisf amil
yi s
fragment ed,howev er,into a multipli
cit
yofpeopl es and cult
ures.The
recogniti
onofal lhumanbei ngsasbr other
si nt helightofourcommon
member shipin one human speci es i sal of t
yi deal,thatis,ofgr eat
i
mpor tancet otheAf r
icanpeople.

Communal i
sm and I ndivi
dual i
sm:The v alue t hat tr
aditionalAf r
ican
societi
esplaceoncommunal ism isexpressedi nthesharingofacommon
socialli
fe,commi t
mentt othesoci alorcommongoodoft hecommuni ty
,
appreciati
onofmut ualobli
gations,cari
ngf orot hers,i
nterdependence,and
sol
idarity
.Att hesamet i
me,t heclaimsofi ndi
v i
dual
ityar er ecogni
zed.
Afr
icanet hi
c,however,ur
gest heav oi
danceofext remeindividual ism,which
i
s seen as pot enti
all
ydest r
uct i
ve ofhuman v alues and oft he whole
meani ngandessenceofahumansoci et
y .Attempt sarether efor emadet o
bal
ancecommunal ism andindividual
ism sot hattheycanco- exi st.

Morali
ty:Themor ali
tyespousedi nbot htr
aditi
onalandmoder ncultures,
andsocieti
esofAf ri
cai sasoci al
,nonindiv
iduali
sti
cmor al
it
y.Thiski ndof
morali
tyisheldasenj oi
nedbysoci all
if
eitsel
f.Thereisapr eoccupat i
on
wit
hhumanwel l
-being intheAf r
icanmor althoughtand pr act
ice.The
Afr
icanmor alsystem put stheet hicofresponsibil
i
tyabov etheet hicof
i
ndivi
dualri
ght,event hought helatterar
ealsogi venduerecognit
ion.The
i
mpor t
anceofchar acterastheengi neofmor al
li
feinpracti
ceisstr
essed.

TheFami l
y:Mar
riageisconsideredasav aluableinsti
tut
ion,forwithoutit
therewoul dbenof amily,t
hatis,thebasicuni tofsociallif
e.Wi t
houtthe
familytherewoul dbenoneoft heki nshipt iesthatar eessent i
altoa
compr ehensi
onsocialli
fe,wit
hani ntr
icatenet workofsoci alrel
ati
onships.
Valuesassociat
edwi ththefamilyincl
uder ecognizingtheresponsibil
it
yto
sharelif
ewi t
hawi f
eorhusbandandchi ldreni nthenuclearfamilyandwi t
h
24
member sf
rom anenti
reli
neageintheextendedfamil
y,recogni
zingthe
needtohaveandtocar
eforchi
ldr
en,
respect
ingpar
ents,t
akingcareofour
parent
sint
heirol
dageandsoon.

Economi cEthic:Af ri
cansseekandputahi ghv aluesonwealth,bot hpri
v at e
andf amily(clan).Ther ightt o,andt heimpor t
anceofpr i
vat
epr opertyar e
recognized int he t r
aditionalAf r
ican economi c sy
stem,wher e pri
v at e
owner shi
p existsi debysi dewi t
hpubl i
c( command,st ate)owner shi p.
Families(i
.e.li
neage, clans)oper at
ei ndependent l
yofthechi
ef s,who, thus,
donotcont r
olallt hedy nami csoft hetradit
ionaleconomy.Thet radi
ti
onal
Afri
can soci etyi s a wel fare st
ate,f uncti
oning on the et hic off air
dist
ri
but i
on.Ev eryone has access t othe resources and goods oft he
communi t
yorst ate,butt hissystem isnotsociali
stinanyMar xistsense.

Chi efship and Pol i

ti
cs:I nt he politi
calt houghts and pr act i
ce oft he
traditi
onalAf r i
cansoci etyconsul t
ationandconsensusar ehi ghlyv alued,
fort heyar eout standi
ngf eat uresofpol i
ti
caldecision-making.Thi spr acti
ce
allowsf orthei nvol
vementofal lthepeopl ei nthepol i
ticalpr ocess.The
chi efwhoi st hehi ghestpoliticalauthori
ty,ruleswiththeconsentofandi n
accor dancewi tht hewilloft hepeopl e.I
nt heact ualexerciseofpower ,t
he
peopl ei neffect ,arethesour cesofaut horit
y ,di
rectl
yori ndir
ect l
yt hrough
thei rrepresent ati
vesont hechi ef’
scounci l.Thepol i
ti
calaut horityoft he
Chi efisbasedonat rusteeshi ppri
nciplethatensur eshisaccount abili
tyof
thepeopl e.Fr eedom ofexpr ession,ofpol i
ticalopini
onisappr eciatedand
pract i
ced.Mi srulebyachi efi snott oler
atedandcanl eadt ohi sbei ng
disposed.

Human Ri ghts:Themosti mpor tantv aluesi n which human r i

ghtsare
rooted areputi nto practi
cesi nt het radit
ionalAf r
icancul t
ur es.These
i
ncludei ndivi
dual i
ty,personalr esponsibili
ty,thedignityandi ntegri
tyof
everyperson,t hei ntr
insicvaluesofev eryper son,considerat
ionofev er
y
personsasanendi nhi mselforher sel
fandwor thyofrespectandequi t
yof
themor alwor t
hofal lpeopl e.Ot herrightst hatareacknowl edgedand
protect
edi nclude:t her i
ghttot heuseofl i
neagel and,righttof oodand
protect
ionf r
om hunger ,theri
ghtt oaf airtri
alandt her i
ghttoownpr i
vat
e
25
propert
y.Theseri
ghtsaref undamentaltothesoci alst
ruct
ure,cust
oms
and ethic oft
he tr
adi
tionalAf ri
can soci
ety and do notneed t o be
vocif
erousl
ydemandedandbel l
iger
entl
yfoughtf
or .

KnowledgeandWi sdom:I nthet r

adit
ionalAfr
icancul t
ure,knowledgeis
highl
yv alued especial
l
ypr acti
calorempi ri
calknowl edge.Thist ypeof
knowledgei sbasedonobser v
ati
onandexper ience.Practi
calwisdom is
mostr elevanti nt he reconstr
ucti
on oft he African soci
ety and the
promotionofhumanwel l-
being.

Aestheti
cs:Ar tint r
adit
ionalAf r
ican cult
ures has bothf unct
ionaland
aesthet
icaldimension.Beaut yi
sseennotonl yinwor ksofar tandinthe
human f i
gurebutal so in human conduct ,in humani t
yitsel
fand ina
person’
schar act
er.Amongt hecri
teri
aofaestheticvalueandjudgmentare
appropri
atenessandf i
tt
ingness.Fori nst
ance,musi c,dancingandev en
cl
othingmustbeappr opr
iatetotheoccasion.(Gyeky
e2002: 171-178).

Dime ( 1993)asser tsthatt radit

ionalAf rican culturalvalues ar e now
gatheri
ngmoment um andsweepi ngasi deanyobst aclesuchasi ntoler
ance
and mi str
eatmenton i ts way s.An i ll
umi nati
ng exampl ei st he Orisa
Wor shi
ppersMov ementwi t
hitsHeadquar tersatIle-I
fe,OsunSt ate,Nigeria,
whichisnowbecomi ngglobal
,gainingadher entsnotonl yinAf r
icabutal so
i
nt heCar i
bbean,LatinAmer i
caandt heUnitedStatesofAmer ica.Eleri
iIpin:
TheMagazi neoft heInternat
ionalCounci lf orI
faRel igi
on( 2006)af fi
rms
theabov ebyr ev
eal i
ngtheCal endarofEv ent sforInternat
ionalCounci lfor
IfaReli
gionasstatedbelow:

TheCalendarofEvent
sforI
nter
nat
ionalCounci
lforI
fa Rel
i
gion
thr
oughoutt
heYear
S/
N EVENTS DATEOF VENUE
EVERYYEAR
1. Tr
adi
ti
onal
Fest
ival
Day 10th Januar
y Republi
c of
Benin
th
2. OkeI
badanday 20 Mar ch I badan, Oy
o
state
26
3. Car
niv
al Mar
ch Brazil
, Sout
h
Amer i
ca
4. OseMej
iIf
a Fest
ival 8th Mar
ch Ibadan, Oyo
state
5. El
aIwor
iIf
aFest
ival 15thMar
ch Iseyi
n, Oy
ostate
st
6. Yor
ubaTempl
eFestival 21 May Washi ngt
on DC
USA
7. Annual
Wor
ldI
fa Fest
ival 4thJune Il
e-I
fe, Osun
State
8. ADACI Ancest
ral10th June Washi ngt
on DC& Al
l
Communi
cat
ion USA
Braches
Wor ldwide
9. OdundeFest ival June Philadelphia,
USA
t
h
10. Annual Harvest,
Ij
oOr unmil
a 6 August Ebut e-
Met a,
Lagos
t
h
11. OsunOsogbo 8 August Osogbo, Osun
State
th
12. Iseseday 20 August Al lYorubaSt at
e
13. Or oFest i
val Sept ember I seyin,OyoSt ate
th
14. Ogi y
anDay 15 Eji
gbo Osun
Sept ember St ate
th
15. Ancest ralDay 11 Republ icofTogo
Nov ember
th
16 OgundaMej iI
fa Fest
ival 17 Ibadan, Oyo
Nov ember St ate
17. Ebedi Day December I seyin,OyoSt ate
ce:El
Sour eriIpin:TheMagazi neoftheI
nter nat
ionalCounci lofIfaReligi
on,
I
ssueNo2, 2006, 49.

27
CHALLENGESOFPROMOTI
NGAFRI
CANCULTURALVALUES

 Act
ivi
tiesofWesternexplor
ers,mi ssi
onari
es,tradersandcol oni
al
administ
rat
orshav
einsul
tedinthel ossofrespectforourt r
adi
ti
onal
obj
ects,symbol
sandri
tual
srelevanttocul
turali
dentif
icat
ion.
 Ourcol
l
ecti
veand,orinact
ionhavef
urt
herdampenedanyhopeofan
i
mmediaterev
ival
ofthelostgl
ory
.
 Hauntedbyher hi st
oryof colonialandneo- colonialexploitat
ion,
economicpil
lageaswel lasdeci
mat i
onofhert angibleandi ntangibl
e
heri
tagematerial
resources,
Afri
caissti
llatthevergeofmat chingher
cul
turalr
esourceendowmentwi thherdevelopmentpot ent
ial
.
 The cult
uraland art
ist
ic achievements oft he Afr
ican peopl ein
vari
ousfi
eldsofhumanendeav our ,
incl
udingsci enceandt echnology,
areatt
estedtobythewidespreadcultur
al si
teswhi chareincr easi
ngl
y
becomingobjectofsystematicplunder,destructi
on,andi ll
icittr
ade,
aidedbygreed,
ignor
anceandpr ol
ongednegl ect.
 Thet askbeforeAfr
icanschol
ars,part
icularl
yinthefieldofhistory
and cul t
ure, is t o commence t he sy st
ematic r ecor
ding,
documentati
on,preserv
ati
on and the use ofor altr
aditi
on int he
serv
ice oft he owner’
s ofthe tradi
tions and deploy t hem i n
addressi
ngissuesofcommonconcer ntoal l
(Babawal
e, 2011:8-
11) .

PROSPECTSOFAFRI
CANCULTURALVALUES
Inordertor ecl
aimt hehumanityofAf ri
cancommuni t
iesandassumet he
ri
ghtfulhei
rsofourf oundi
ngfathers,t
heremustbeaconsci ousef
for
tt o
assertAfri
canhi stor
icaltr
adi
ti
onsandconsci ousness.Wemustexpl ore
Afri
can oralt r
aditi
ons and i
ts prospectsforeconomi cli
bert
y,nat
ur al
i
ntegrati
on,andst abi
lit
y.

Afri
cansneedapsy chol
ogicalandphy si
ologicall
iber
ation.Indoingthis,
t
heymustdr aw l
essonf r
om Asiat owher enat ur
eandenv i
ronmentare
v
alued and celebrat
ed.The chal l
enge before Afri
cans as i ndi
vi
duals,
i
nsti
tuti
ons,governmentatl ocal
,stat
e,nat i
onalandt rans-nati
onali
st o
r
ededicatetot he appr
eciat
ion,developmentand pat ronage ofAf ri
can
28
cul
tur
alr
esour
cesandv
alues.

Iti
shi ghti
me, Af
ri
cansidenti
f i
edwi thoneanot herwit
hgoodknowl edgeof
rel
i
csoft heendowmentandv ersedint hehistoryofv ariouscult
uralsites.
Afr
icanscan onl ymakegai nsr atherl ossesbyi nvest i
ng r
esourcesi n
i
ndividual
swith powersofmanagementoft hecultur
alr esour
ces.African
pri
deascont i
nentli
esint hev al
uespl acedonhercul t
ur alendowment ,the
i
nherentsy st
em ofi deasaswel last hosev aluest hatdefinepecul iar
personalandgrouppercepti
onsandway sofl i
fe.

Placingpr emium onAf ri

cancul tur
alendowmentwoul dear nthepeople
respect ,gl
obalrecogni
tion,i
nternati
onalcooperat
ion,devel
opment,andaid
effectivedi ssemi
nati
onofAf ri
cancul tur
ebypr ojecti
ngt hebestofher
history.I twouldnaturall
yencour agethepreservati
onofAf ri
canheri
tage
forf uturegenerati
onsandf ort hedevelopmentofknowl edgeandcultural
under standingasbeingexperienceinotherareas(Babawale,2011:
5-8)
.

Af
ri
canpsy
chol
ogyaspsy
chol
ogyi
nAf
ri
ca
The fir
stor i
entati
on i s Afr
ican psy chol
ogy understood as (wester
n)
psy ogyi
chol n Afri
ca.Thi sist hepsy chol
ogyt hatdomi nat
esnear l
yal l
theor
eti
calexpl anations,fr
ames what i st aught,infl
uences what is
publi
shedandt her esearchapproachesandanal yses,andunderpi
nswhat
themajori
tyoftherapistsandcounsellorsappl
yintheirwork.

Thepsy chologyinAf ri
caor ientationi sfundament al
l
yi nf ormed byt he
beliefthatt hedisci
pli
neofpsy chologyi suni versal
.Andev ent hought here
i
saccept ancet hatpsychologywasbor ninEur ope,domi natedbyU. S.
i
nt erests,andhashi st
or i
cal
lysuppor tedthedehumani zationofAf r
icans,
thef iel
di sconsideredtobesci enti
fic.Psychol ogyfrom thisper specti
v eis
also consi dered to be object ive,v alue-
free,and apol i
tical.Itis al so
conser vativ
e—i nthesenseofconser vi
ngt he“ nature”ofpsy chol
ogy.Thi s
appr oacht oAf ri
canpsy chol
ogyent ailsaskingt hesamequest i
ons,asked
byot hersel sewhereinthewor l
d, inAf ri
ca.

TheadvantagesofAfr
icanpsychol
ogyaspsy ogyi
chol nAfri
caisthati
tfi
ts
i
nperfectl
ywi t
hpsychologyasunderst
oodinmainst
ream psychol
ogyin
29
theU.
S.,
Europe,
andotherpart
softheworl
d.Psychol
ogi
stswhosubscr
ibe
tothi
sview ofpsy
chologydonothavetor einv
entthewheel
.Theycan
simpl
ydowhatevery
bodyelseisdoi
ngwherevert
heymaybeintheworl
d.

Criti
cismsagai nstAfricanpsy chol ogyaspsy chologyinAf ri
caar et hatin
addi t
iontothedesi ref oruniversali
ty ,
replicatingf i
ndingsandt heoriesf r
om
aroundt hewor l
d,especi al
lywhencoupl edwi t
hcl aimsf orobj ectivi
sm,
value-neutr
alit
y ,andapol i
ti
calsci ence,t hisf or
m ofpsy chologycanbe
coloniali
standsuppor ti
veoft hest atusquo.Cooper( 2013)r eferst ot hi
s
form ofpsy chologywhenhecr iti
cizesi tas“ apat heticclone”ofhegemoni c
psy chol
ogyf rom theUni tedSt atesandWest ernEur ope.Thi sor i
entationto
psy chol
ogycannotbev i
ewedasAf r
ica(n) -
cent r
edpsy chologyasi tdoes
notcent reAfrica.Africaismer elyaset t
ingorbackdr opf orquest ionsand
theoriesgener atedelsewher e.

Thisorientati
oncanal waysbecomeanAf r
ica(n)-
centredpsy chologyi fit
start
stot akeseri
ousl yandsituatesitsel
fwit
hint heexistingsocial,
polit
ical
,
andeconomi crealit
iesi nAfri
ca.TobecomeAf ri
ca(n)-centr
edwoul dnot
meant weaki ngtheoriesandmet hodsofpsy chologyt oAf ri
ca,butinstead
refor
mul ati
ngpsy chologicalt
heor i
esandmet hodsf rom t hebot t
om up.I t
wouldinv ol
vedev el
opi nganewappr oachandconduct i
ngst udiesinfor
med
byexist
ingconditionsandconcr etepracti
cesofsubj ectsinAfrica.

Cul
tur
alAf
ri
canpsy
chol
ogy
Thesecondor ient
ati
onconcei vesofAf ri
canpsy chologyast hest udyof
personsasr elaypointsofmet aphy sical,spiri
tual,orcul turalphenomena.
Thisappear stobet heAf ri
canpsy chologyembeddedi nNwoy e’s( 2015)
conceptionofAf ri
canpsy chology.Cul tureandspi r
ituali
tyar ement ioned
severalti
mesi nhispaper .Forinstance, hest ates:“Oneaddi ti
onalthemei n
Afri
canPsy chologythatill
ustratesitsAf ri
canr ootsi st herecognitiongi ven
totheinfluenceofspi r
it
ualit
yint helifeofAf ricancl i
ent s”(2015,p.112) .A
cul
turalAf r
icanpsy chologyi stheor ientationfort hosewhor egardAf ri
can
psychology as concer ned wi t
h spi r
itual, cultural, or met aphy sical
phenomena,i ncludi
ngi nterestsi nel ement ssuchast hei mpor t
anceof
shared Af r
ican language,v alues,bel iefs,wor l
dviews,phi l
osophi es,and
30
knowl edge.Mkhi ze( 2004)hasasser tedt hatanAf r i
canpsy chol ogy“ shoul d
begi nwi thanexami nati
onoft hephi losophi es,languages,andwor ldv i
ews
throughwhi cht heyexper i
encet hewor ld”( p.4. 7) .Inef fect,t hen,t his
orient ati
on i swhatoccasi onswhatoughtt o be descr ibed ascul t
ur al
Africanpsy chol ogy .Cul t
uralAf ricanpsy chol ogyunder standspsy chol ogy
asav ehicl et hator ganizest hewaypeopl esee,speak,andunder standt he
subj ectsofpsy chologyasi nher ent l
ycul t uralsubj ect s.Psy chol ogyi spar t
ofcul tur e,i nt ensifies cult
ur alt raditions.I ti s notsomet hi
ng t hatsi ts
out sideofcul ture.Assuchcul tur alAf ri
canpsy chologyf r
eight sacul t
ur ally
cent red cr i
t i
que oft he disci pline.The pr obl em t hatconf r
ont s Af ri
can
psy chol ogi sts, thatpushest hem t omakecul turevisi ble,i
spr ecisel yhowt o
bepar toft hisdi scipli
narycul tur e,t obeabl etor egardt hemsel vesas
prof essional s equali n ev ery way t o psy chologi stsi nt he west ern
met r
opol es, wi thoutbecomi ngwest erni ndi rectpr opor ti
ont ot hei rmast er y
oft hedi sci pline.Tobeapsy chol ogi stist ot akeonacul tur eofi deas:t he
great ert hemast eryonehasov erwest ernpsy chologyasacul turalt ool ,the
ri
chert her ewar dsi nawor l
ddomi natedbywest er
ni deas.Obv iousl y, thi
si s
anel abor ationofFanon’ sobser vat i
ont hatt hebl ackper son“ willcome
closert obei ngar ealhumanbei ng—i ndi r
ectr ati
ot ohi smast eryoft he
French l anguage”( 1952/2008,p.8) .Cul turalAf ri
can psy chol ogyi san
attemptt or ejectcul tur
aldomi nat ioni nandv iapsy chologyasawayt o
reaf fi
rmt hehumannessoft hebl ackper son.

Coloniali
sm f i
gurespr ominent l
yi nAf ri
canpsy chologyascul turallycent red
psychology .Cooperav erst hat“ t
hecol oni
alnexusi snot iceableev erywher e
i
nSAandper meat essoci ocul turalexpression”(2013,p.212) .Col oniali
sm
ref
erst ot hest ructur eandpol i
ciesbywhi chaf oreigncount r yacqui res
controlov era count ry,somet imes occupy i
ng itwi t
h set tlers,al way s
exploit
ingiteconomi cal
ly,andi nthepr ocesssubj ugating,mi sr ecogni zing,
andpat hologizingt hecul turesoft hecolonized.Col onialism begi nsatt he
momentwher ebyapar t
ysuchasanat ionusesv iolence, coercion, orot her
mechani smst oi nvadeandsei zet helandandr esour cesofot hers,and
culminatesi nt hei nvadersest ablishi
ng pol i
ti
cal,economi c,soci al,and
cult
uralcont rolov ert heindi genouspeopl e.Colonialst ructures,andt heir

31
fur
therentr
enchmentandel abor
ati
onofr acial
l
yandethni
call
yoppr essi
ve
apart
heidschema,havemeantt hathegemoni cwest
erncult
uralt
raditi
ons
remainpreval
enti
nallspheresofpost-
aparthei
dSouthAfr
icansocietyand
psychol
ogy(Cooper,2013;Cooper&Nicholas,2012)
.

Afr
ican cul turalpsy chol
ogists arei nt er ested in allf orms ofcol onial
dominati
ont hathav eef f
ectsonpsy chol ogy .Howev er,perdef ini
tion,they
areespeci allyconcer nedwi thcoloni zat ionoft hecul t
uralwor ldoft he
i
ndigenouspeopl e.Thepr omi nenceofcol oni
ali
sm i ncul t urall
ycent red
Afr
icanpsy chol ogyar i
sesfrom theimpactofcol onialism oncul ture—what
Mkhize r eferst o as “culturalcol oni zat i
on” (2004,p.4. 2) .Cul tural
col
onizati
oni nt urnisseenashav ingi nfluenceoncogni ti
ons,af f
ect,and
behavi
ourt hatdeser v esongoingstudy .Af r i
canculturalpsy chol ogyist hus
al
sodi st
ingui shedf r
om culturalpsychol ogyi ntheUni t edSt atesandot her
pl
acespr eciselybyt hisemphasi soncul tur alcol
onization.

Afri
canpsy chologist
swhoor ientwor kwithi
nthisstancecontendthatthere
arepar t
icul
arit
iesaboutAf r
icaandi tspeoplethatneedt obetakeni nto
accounti n studies,t herapies,and communi ty engagement.Ther ei s
somet hi
ngr adicalaboutt hisf orm ofAf ri
canpsy chologyasitcr i
ti
cizes
European-andU. S.-centr
icpsy chologies.Afr
icanpsy chologyascul tural
psychologywi l
ll i
nkwi thot heri ndigenousandi ndigenizi
ngpsychologies
fr
om ar oundt hewor l
d.Bl ackpsy chology,Afr
icanAmer i
canpsychology ,
cul
turalpsy chology,andcr i
ticalpsy chologymayal sobeseenasal li
es
againstmainstream psy chology .

Therear emanywel l-
knownschol ars,writ
ers,andt eachersf rom whom
Afri
canpsy chol
ogistswor kingfrom t hi
sstancedr aw orcandr aw.Some
arefrom outsi
deAf r
icaandot hersar efrom theconti
nent.Af ewexampl es
ofinter
esti
ngAf ri
can-bornthinkersout si
deofpsy chologyincludeLeopold
Senghor,John Mbi ti
,Mamadou Di ouf,and Francis Nyamnj oh.Cul t
ural
st
udiesasespousedbyschol arsli
keEdwar dSai d,StuartHall,andHomi
Bhabhaalsof or
m acent r
al partofthecultur
al Af
ri
canpsy chologylibr
ary.

Acri
ti
cism agai
nstsuchafor
m ofAf
ricapsy
chol
ogyisthatitof
tenvi
ews
Af
ri
cansasexcept i
onal
.Iti
shamperedbyamet aphy
sicalsear
chforan
32
ahistori
calAfri
ca.Ittendst otreatAfricalikeav il
lage,whereevery
one
knows mostpeopl e and everybodyt ends toward consensus.Thatis,
conflictand contest
ati
ons are mi ni
mized.I tis notcrit
icalenough of
prevalentandinj
uri
ousAf r
icancult
uralpract
ices.

Asar esponse,Mkhi ze,whohasar guedf oranAf ri

canmet aphysics,has
saidthat“ tosayt hatther eisanAf ri
canwor ldview doesnotmeanev ery
memberofacul tureshoul dsubscr ibet oit,int hesamemannert hatnot
everyEur opeansubscr i
best oindivi
dualism asawayofl if
e(2004, p.4.12).
Att hesamet i
me,Mkhi zeal so regardsAf ricanpsy chologyaspar tof
cri
ti
cal psychology .
Therear esev eralstrengthsofAf ri
canpsy chologyasacul turalpsychology.
Cultur
alpar ti
cularit
yandway sofknowi ngar et akenser iously.Thecont ext
i
nwhi chpsy chologyi spr oducedanddi ssemi natedi sseenasi mportant.
Afri
cancul turalpsy chologyseekst ogr oundi t selfinpeopl e’swor l
dviews
i
nsteadoff avouringwest er
npr esuppositi
onsandv al
ues.Li vedexper i
ence
i
s a key not ion.I tseeks t oi ndigenize psy chology.And i tconsider s
personhoodorbot ho/bunt uasunder st
oodi n“ tr
aditional”Af r
icanthought
asimpor tantindoi ngpsy chologyint hecont extofAf r
ica( Mkhize,2004) .

Cr
it
icalAf
ri
canpsy
chol
ogy
Afri
canpsy chologyasmat eri
alist,poli
tical,orcri
ticalpsy chologystartsby
posingquest i
onsaboutt hewor kingsofpowerandknowl edgeandwhat
they—powerasknowl edgeaswel lasknowl edgeaspower —makepossi ble
i
nr elati
ont oAf ri
caandi t
speopl easwel laswi thinpsy chol
ogy .Questi
ons
of power , pr ivil
ege, oppression, and al i
enat i
on, i n t heirv ari
ous
mani festati
ons ( such as pol i
tical
, economi c, i ntell
ectual, gender,
professional ,aswel lascult
uralpower )woul dber egar dedascent ral(e.g.
,
Hook,2004) .Thewor kofAf r
icanf eministpsychol ogistswoul df i
tunder
cri
ti
cal Af r
icanpsy chology(e.
g.,Shef er,Boonzaier,&Ki guwa, 2006).

Whileitr ecognizes cul

tur
e( alongside pol
it
ics,economi cs,and other
confi
gur
at i
onsofpower )asanimpor tantel
ementi npsychol
ogicalt
heories,
methodologies,andexplanat
ions,itisdisti
nguishedfr
om Af ri
cancultural
psychol
ogyi nitsfocus on histor
icaland cont emporarycontestat
ions
33
around cul t
ure—contestati
ons bet ween t he west ern and Af r
ican
framewor ks,and amongstAf ricans.Af r
ican psychol
ogyas mat eri
ali
st,
poli
tical
,orcr i
ti
call
yorientedpsy chologyisalsoself-
cri
ticalinlightofthe
under st
andingt hatAf
r i
canpsy chologyof tenfai
lstoquest ion“ it
sstatus
as—anddesi retobe—psy chology ”and“ t
henot ionoft he‘ Afr
ican’it
self
”
(Painter
,Kiguwa, &Böhmke, 2013, p.856).

Afri
can psychol
ogyas cr iti
calpsy chologyhas an af f
init
ywi t
h Af ri
can
cult
uralpsychol
ogybyal sohav ingcol onizati
onasi mpor t
antelementi n
underst
andingcont empor aryAf r
ica.Af ocusoncol oniali
sm impliest hat
thi
sAf ri
canpsy chologyai mst odecol onizemai nstr
eam psy chologyand
radi
cali
zepostcolonialAfr
icansoci eties(Ratele,2014).Asacr i
ti
cal,radical
,
postcol
onial
,ordecol oni
alpsy chologyt hisAfri
canpsy chologyispolit
icalin
thesenseoft akingposi tions.Pai nteretal .(2013)mi ghthav ehadt his
ori
entati
oninmindwhent heyar guedt hatAfri
canpsy chology

i
scl earl
yaf orm ofcriticalpsy chol ogy:itcr i
ti
quesandr ej
ect s(muchof )t
he
ontologicalassumpt ionsandv al
uesy st emsi tperceiv
est obeatt hecor e
of“West er
n”psy chol ogy ,andseeksi nst eadt of oundi t
spsy chologyona
diff
erent,uni yAf
quel ricanmet aphy si
cs.AssuchAf ri
canpsy chologyisnot
onlyanal l
y ,butapot entialv ant agepoi ntfr om wher et he“ Eurocentr
ic”
tendenciesev i
dental soi ncr i
ti
calpsy chol ogy —whi chincludesnotonl yan
overrel
iance on West ern( orNor thern)t heor y
,butal so a t endencyt o
engageAf ricant heor i
stsonl yoncet heyhadbeenendor sedbyandr e-
i
mpor t
edf rom Nor thernuni v er
si t
ies—maybei nterr
ogated.( p.855)

Int
erest
ingl
y,the kind ofAf r
ican psychol
ogyforwhich Mkhi
ze (
2004)
str
ivesisalsocrit
icalpsychol
ogysi nceitopposest
hehegemonyoft he
val
uesofwest er
npsy chol
ogy.

I
ndeedMkhi
zesuggest
sthatanAf
ri
cancr
it
ical
psy
chol
ogy

should notonl y be concerned witht he way in which cul

turaland
i
nstituti
onalpracti
cesshape indi
vidualdevelopment:itshould produce
researchthatf ur
ther
stheneedsofdev el
opingsociet
ies.Thisincl udes
research i
nto povert
y,i
ll
it
eracyand alienat
ion caused byglobali
z ation,
34
amongot
hert
hings.(
2004,
p.4.
10)

Apoliti
cal,mat eri
ali
st,orcrit
icall
yorientedAf ri
canpsy chologyhasrel
iedon
orwillborrowf rom criti
calwest ernpsy chologists,cri
ticalwesternt
hought ,
andcr it
icalAf ri
cant hought.I nallcasest herear etoomanyaut horst o
enumer ate( seeHook,2004) ,butFanonwoul df eaturepr ominent
lyher e.
Anotherper sont oment ionisSt eveBi ko( 1996),theSout hAf r
icanpoli
tical
acti
vistwhousedpsy chologicalregistert odev elophi sthoughtonbl ack
consciousness.TheSout hAf r
icanpsy chologistNoelChabaniMangany i
(1973,1979,1981) i s anot her aut hor upon whom cr it
icalAf r
ican
psychologistswoul drely.

Thehur dlest oov ercomeher earesev er

al .Ultimatel
y,though,t heyboi l
down t ot he factt hatmuch wor kneedst o be done tot heorize and
undertakeempi ricalwor kfr
om anAf ri
ca(n)-centredcri
ti
calpsy chol ogi
cal
perspecti
vet hatr ecognizesthepervasi
venessandi mpactofquest ionsof
poli
ti
calandeconomi cpowerinAfr
icaonpsy chologi
calthoughtont heone
hand,and on t he ot her,ofthe powers,possi bi
li
ti
es,and ef f
ect s of
psychologicaldiscour seinpoli
ti
cal
andsoci o-economi cl
ifeinAfrica.

Psy
chol
ogi
calAf
ri
canSt
udi
es
Thef ourthwayt oconceptualizeAf ri
canpsy chol
ogyi saspsy chologicall
y
orpsy choanalyti
cal
lyincl
inedAf r
icanSt udies(referr
edtoaspsy chological
Afri
canSt udies).Afr
icanSt udi
esher esi mplymeanst hosestudieswhose
objectisAf r
ica;andAfri
canpsy chologyaspsy chologi
call
yori
entedst udies
ofAf r
icasuggest sapsy chologyandpsy choanalysi
saimedati ntegrating
thetheories,tool
s,andinsightsoft hefieldintostudiesofAfr
ica.

An appr eciati
on of the pot entialcont ri
bution and dev el
opment of
psychol
ogical and psy choanal yti
cal Af ri
can St udi
es begi ns wi th
underst
andingt hatpsychologyorpsy choanalysi
swasnev eroneoft he
core di
sciplines i
n Afri
can St udies.Col oni
al,mi ssionary anthropol
ogy
for
medat endenti
ousnucleusoft hef i
rstgenerationofAf ri
canSt udies
whichsoughtt obuil
danunder standi ngofAf r
icansandt heAf ri
canwor l
di n
anelaboratebutmi sgui
dedexer ci
seatseeki ngt oknowt he“native”Other
35
who was def i
ned from the outsetas bei
ng “t
ri
bal” and,ther
efor
e,
fundament
all
ydiff
erentandconsignedt
othelowerrungsoft hel
adderof
humanprogress.(
Olukoshi
,2012,
p.26)

Theant hropologicalst ereot y pesofAf ri

cansi near lyAf r
icanSt udieswer e
par toft hemot iv at
ionf orKwameNkr umah,t hef i
rstpresi dentofGhana,
whenheexhor t
edschol arsofAf ri
cawhometi nGhanai n1962t omov e
from ant hropologyt osoci ol ogy( Gar uba,2012) .Thus,af t
erWor l
dWarI I
,
when st ruggl
es t o end col onialdomi nat i
on gat hered moment um,i n
addi ti
on t oradi calant icoloni alAf rican and Af ricanistschol arsi nt he
disciplinesofant hr
opol ogyandsoci ology,schol ar sinhi story,economi cs,
pol i
ti
cs,cul ture,languages,andr eli
gi onbegant oquest ionandr ewr i
tet he
studyofAf ri
cat hathadbeent aughti nEur opeanandAmer icanuni v ersi
ties
(Olukoshi ,2012) .Thef actt hatpsy chologydi dnotf orm par tofAf ri
can
Studi esdoesnoti mpl ythatpsy chologywasnotpar tofthedi scipli
nest hat
regar ded Af ri
ca and Af r i
cans as backwar d and i n need ofEur opean
civil
izationor ,sincet heCol dWar ,U.S.assi stancet odev elop.Ital sodoes
notsuggestt hatpsy chol ogyhasmadest ridestowar dsdecol onizi
ngi t
self
so as t o under stand Af ricans f rom t hei rown per spect i
ves and t he
meani ngf ul
nessoft heirl iv es,i nstead ofunder standing Af ri
ca as“ the
Ot her”oft heWest .Psy chol ogywasdeepl yi mpl icatedi ncr eatingand
suppor ti
ngcol oni alandr aci stst ereot ypi
ngofbl ackpeopl eandAf r
icans.
Psy chol ogicalAf ri
canSt udi es, asanemer gentappr oachal ignedwi thbr oad
criti
calAf ri
canandnonAf ri
cant hought ,canbeusef ulasanappr oacht o
howpsy chologycanbeusef ul aspar tofst udiesofAf ri
caandAf ri
cans, and
howAf ri
canSt udi escanbei nf usedi npsy chol ogical studies.

Itisper hapsnecessar yt opoi ntoutt hat,incont rasttot he( western)

psychologyinAf r
icaorientati
onwhi chispr ev
alentinAf ri
ca,ther ei
sinf act
veryli
tt
leofwhati sref
erredtoaspsy chologicall
yincl
inedAf ri
canSt udies.
Andy etev enwhilepsy chologicalAfr
icanSt udiesdoesnoty etexistasa
coherententerpri
sewi thinAf ri
canpsy chology,itisapot entiall
yexciting
growthar eaforAfri
canpsy chologyaswel lasgl obalpsychology .Ofcourse,
therearepsychologistsinAf r
icaandel sewher ewhosewor krev ealsanon-

36
coloni zingi nterestinAf ricaasanobj ectofst udy( e.g.
,Cooper ,2013;
Nobl es,2015;Nsamenang,2007) ,whohav elaidsomegr oundworkf orthis
ent erprise.Ther ei sal so existi
ngwor kbynon- psychologiststhatuses
psy chol ogicalorpsy choanalyti
c concept s upon whi ch this could be
establ ished( e.g.,Bi
ko,1996;Fanon,1952/ 2008;Mbembe,2001) .Although
hismai nconcer nishow post coloni
althoughti nt hewor kofpeopl elike
Bikomaybeusedt otranscendt heorthodoxyofmuchofpsy chol
ogy ,Hook
(2005)gi v
esani ndi
cat i
onofhow psy chologist
sandnon- psychologists
mi ghtappr opr i
atear angeofexi sti
ngtheoreticalresourcesi npsychology
tost udypost coloni
alcondi t
ions,whi chincl
udescondi ti
onsi ntheAf ri
can
post col ony.

Afri
can psy chol ogyas par tofAf ri
can St udi es t her efore means usi ng
psychol ogicalandpsy choanal yt
icalmet hods,t heor ies,t ool s,andi nsi ght s
withinAf r
icanSt udi es.Psy chol ogi calAf ricanSt udiesput spsy chol ogi cal
processesatt hecent reofi t
senqui r i
es, andy etmaynotnecessar ilyputt he
i
ndiv i
duali nt hewayconcei vedofi nmuchofpsy chol ogyatt hecent reof
thewor l
d.Thi sf orm ofAf ri
canpsy chol ogybor rowsorwoul dbor rowf rom
thet heor i
esofpsy chologybutpr obabl y,i fiti sgoi ngt of eelathomei n
Afri
canSt udies,t akesser i
ousl ynon- psychol ogi calst udi esonsoci et i
es,
histori
es,pol itics,cul tures,languages,andr eligionsi nAf rica.Thi swoul d
havet oent ailAf ricanpsy chologist sengagi ngi nordeepeni ngdi aloguewi th
thewor ksofwr iterssuchasChi nuaAchebe,NgũgĩwaThi ong’ o,Al exLa
Guma,Wol eSoy i
nka,ZakesMda,andBessi eHead,whomi ghtf eat ure
promi nentlyi nt hewor kofsomeAf r i
canpsy chol ogist swor ki
ngf rom t his
stance.Addi t
ional l
y ,schol arsandt eacher si not herdi sciplinesl i
keAf ri
can
history,Af ricanpol i
tics,Af ri
canphi losophy ,Af ricanar t,andi ncr easi ngly
Afri
cangenderst udi es,wi l
lbeunav oi dablei nter locut ors.Thedev elopment
ofpsy chol ogicalAf ricanSt udi est her eforewi l
lbecomear ecogni zabl ebody
ofknowl edgewi thi nAf r
icanSt udiesi fpsy chol ogi stsr eadandi nt eractwi th
thosewr it
er s,schol ar s,andt eacher si ndi sciplineswhi chhav egonef ur ther
thanpsy chol ogyi ndev elopingabodyofknowl edgei nst udiesofAf rica.
Afri
canpsy chol ogi stsaspar tofAf ri
canSt udi eswoul dhav et oent eri n
dial
oguewi thAf ricanschol arly,li
ter ary,andot hercr eat i
vewor kout sideof

37
psy
chol
ogy
.

There ar e sev eralchal l

enges t o developing Af rican psy chology as
psychol ogicalstudi esofAf ri
ca,andherear et wo.Fi rst, t
hedev elopmentof
psychol ogicalAf r
icanSt udi
escanbehamper edbyandhast oov ercome
thef actt hatdiscipl nescomewi
i thandof enar
t et het heor i
esandt ools.
Thisappl iestoal lthehumani ti
esandsoci alsci ences:t hedi sci
pli
nest each
how t ounder st
andt hewor l
d.Muchofwest ernpsy chol ogyi npar ti
cular,
seest hewor ld ascompr i
sed ofessent iallysepar at ei ndivi
duals.Ev en
social psychologyi sf undament al
lydi
rect
edt owar dsst udy i
ngt heindivi
dual
i
nsoci ety.Isitpossi blethenf oradisci
pli
net hatisf oundedont heideaof
peopl easpr i
mar i
lyi ndivi
dualstoconceiveofsubj ectsaspr i
mar i
l
ypar tof
others,as some cul t
ures ar e wont t o? Ther efor e,t o enablet he
developmentofsi tuatedpsy chologi
calAfricanSt udies,t herewoul dbea
needt ounl earnsomeoft heway sinwhi cht hedi sci plineofpsy chology
under standspeopl e.

Afri
canpsy chol
ogyaspar tofAf ri
canSt udiescanf urt
herbei nhibitedby,as
suggest ed earli
er,t he per cepti
on t hatAf ri
can St udi es tends t o be
dominat edbyhi stori
cal ,poli
ti
cal,economi c,soci ological,culturalstudies,
and literar
yst udi
es’per specti
ves.The i mplicat
ion her eist hatAf ri
can
Studi
escanbeexper i
encedbypsy chologist
sasi nhospi t
ablet oi nsi
ghts
and t ools ofpsy choanal y
sts and psy chologists.And because such
scholarsar enotabundantatAf r
icanSt udiesf or
ums,i tmeanst hatthose
psychol ogi
stswhodar ewor kfrom t hi
sposi t
ionmayhav etowor khar dto
develop dialogues wi t
h ot herAf ricans and Af ri
canist s,on t he wayt o
makingt heclaimf ort hepl aceofpsy chologyi nt hest udyofAf ri
caand
Afri
cans.

Tr
avel
l
ingacr
osst
heboundar
iesoft
hef
ourAf
ri
canpsy
chol
ogi
es
There is not hing prohibi
ti
ng t eachers of psychology,r esearchers,
psychot
herapists, and counsel l
ors f r
om travel
li
ng acr oss di ffer
ent
ori
entat
ions,appr oaches,orstances.Forexample,thewor kofNhl anhla
Mkhizeexempl ifi
est hemov ementbet weenallt
heor ientat
ions( e.
g.,see
the di
ff
erences i n Mkhize,2004,2005) .The dif
ferenti
ati
on assistst o
38
strengt henthef oundati
onsuponwhi chAfri
canpsy chologyisbui
lt
,andt o
mor epr eci
selydelineat
etheaims,defini
ti
on,anddi sci
plinar
ycoordinates
ofAf r
icanpsy chology.Theboundari
esbetweent hef ourpsychol
ogiesar e
certainlypermeabl e.Itismoreli
kelythatindi
vidualpsy chol
ogi
stswi l
l,at
differentpointsi nt i
me,ori
ent
atethemselvesinmor ethanonewaywi th
regar dt oAfr
icansandpsy chol
ogy.

Themov ementbet weenor ientationsi snotonl ybecausewhenwor king

withot hersonei sr equired to compr omi seand st ep outsideofone’ s
preferredor i
entati
on.I ti salsodev elopment al
—becauseonei staughtby
teacher swhodef inepsy chologyi nthei rownway s, onemi ght,fori
nst ance,
beginher /hisjourneyf rom apsy chologyi nAf r
icaposi ti
onandonl ylater
fnd a cul
i tur
all
yor ient ed Af r
icanpsy chologyor ientat i
on mor esui t
abl e.
Furthermor e,i
tismor el i
kelythatatonepoi ntint i
meapsy chologistmi ght
appr oachat opicf rom an Af ricancul turalpsy chol ogicalst ance,y etat
anot herpoi ntuset oolsf rom Amer i
canorEur opean- centr
edpsy chology ,
meani ngappr oachherorhi st opicf rom apsy chol ogyi nAf ricaposi t
ion.
Manypsy chologistsar ei ndeednott otallyf ait
hfult oonesetofv aluesi n
thei
rwor k,onet heoreticalexpl anation,oroner esear chappr oacht ot hei r
topic.

39
 Concl
usi
on
Thisar t
icl
eengagedwi t
ht hecont ributionbyNwoy e( 2015)onAf rican
psychology.Inr esponset ohi squest ion:Whati sAf ricanpsy chologyt he
psychologyof ?Iposedacount er-quest iont ofocusmycont ri
but i
ont ot he
debate:Whyi sal lpsy chol ogyi nAf ricanotAf ricanpsy chology ?Whi leI
supportandwi sht or ei nforcet hecal lf oranAf r
ica( n)-cent r
edpsy chology ,
i
ncont rasttoNwoy e,IseeAf r
icanpsy chol ogyasahet erogeneoust errain.
Thus,thisar t
iclesoughtt oi l
l
umi nateandcr eatespacef ordi fferentway s
oflocatednessont hist errain.Fourdi ffer entpsy chol ogi eswer edel ineat ed.
Thef ourpsychol ogiesar eAf r
icanpsy chol ogyaspsy chol ogyi nAf ri
ca; asa
cul
turall
y,met aphy sically,orspi ri
tuallyi nclinedAf ricanpsy chol ogy( label l
ed
cul
turalAfri
canpsy chol ogy );asamat er i
al l
y,poli
tically,orcr iti
cal lyincli
ned
Afr
ican psy chology( crit
icalAf ri
can psy chology );and as psy chologi cal
Afr
icanSt udies.I ndemar cat i
ngt hedi f
fer entor i
ent ationswi thinAf rican
psychologyanddet ail
ingt hehi storicaldev el
opmentofAf rica( n)-centred
psychologywi thi
nSA, itishopedt hati tmakesi tpossi blef orpsy chologist s
and studentsi n Af ri
ca and bey ond t o gai n a bet t
erunder standing of
psychologyinAf rica, butal sot ohav esomecl ari
tyaboutt heirsi tuatedness
wit
hinori nrelati
ont opsy chologyandAf rica.

40