Africans aren't smart

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THE PILGRIM, Friday, December 3, 2021

Africans aren’t smart. This isn’t an opinion: it’s a complaint.

I’ll cut to the chase. But let me first provide context. 

There is a dull yet paradoxically fundamental question that we nurse when we meet other people for the first time, and it goes like this: where are they from?   

I have been asked this question for the umpteenth time by fellow Africans in the United States, and on virtually all occasions what amazes me is the response I get when I try to strike up a conversation.

Most of these Africans are Nigerians because our friends are dispersed abroad in prodigious numbers largely because of economic and political problems in their country, where military regimes reigned for the most part from 1966 to 1999.

The estimate I could find for Nigerian immigrants living in the US was of 2017 and it was a striking 348,000!

But while the sample underpinning my recent observations may not be typically diverse, it says a lot about what could be a pervasive problem on our cherished but beleaguered continent.

So when a Nigerian in America asks me where I am from, I tell them that I come from Zambia.

“Zambia?” is the response I got recently. “Where is that? Is it in East Africa?”

“No, it’s in the Southern Africa region,” I often state. “I can show you where it is if you’ve a map on your phone.”

Shortly after such a quick geography lesson, some will say, “so you’re from Zimbabwe,” in a ridiculous tone as if one had just remembered the name of an old friend.

At this point I’m struck with incredulity at their ignorance, and often won’t say more other than just smile, in fake fashion, of course.

I find this to be incredulous because of the sort of country we’re talking about—Zambia—and the fact that the Africans I meet weren’t born in America but they recently found themselves there as university students.

The question is, how can someone possibly be ignorant about Zambia, an oft-cited global model of democracy, replete with brilliant historical facts and associated with noble achievement?

I seriously don’t understand.

We’re not trying to disrespect anybody, but it’s not like we’re talking about Comoros or Lesotho. We’re talking about Zambia!

To begin with, the First World War itself ended in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) on the 12^th hour of the 25^th day of the 11^th month of 1918, not necessarily in France.

As the final act of surrender, the German forces marched to Lake Chila in Mbala (formerly Abercon) and got rid of their weapons by throwing them into the body of water. This is one staggering fact about Zambia that anybody can confirm by visiting Mbala to see some gun carriage that has since been preserved for tourism.

Relatively little-known in world football in 1988, Zambia came to earth-shattering global attention after our obviously underrated football team caned a star-studded Italy side 4-0 at the Seoul Olympics, with goals from the Bwalya brothers—Kalusha (hat-trick) and Johnson.

Given such an epic assault on Italian pride, it’s reported that people around the world, especially in the West, dashed to nearby stores to buy copies of atlases, with abandon, in order to familiarise themselves with Italy’s humiliator.

Such is the distinction Zambia boasts of in relation to other countries.

Any serious African, besides, should know that Zambia won the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in a tough encounter played near the storied site off the coast of Gabon where one of Zambia’s greatest national teams perished in a plane crash in 1993.

Of course, this isn’t enough to merit Zambia wide and easy continental and global recognition.

But Zambia has consistently made international headlines for its mature democracy as evidenced by peaceful transfer of power, the recent case involving former President Edgar Lungu after he lost to his arch-rival and now incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema.

Outside the above distinctions and historical facts, Zambia is home to Africa’s second-largest national park, the Kafue, and to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World—Victoria Falls.

Further, Zambia spearheaded the liberation struggle for multiple states in Southern Africa under the leadership of the late statesman Kenneth Kaunda, who continues to enjoy iconic fame.

Such facts about Zambia aren’t longwinded talk. They should be invoked in instances like these when an African, born and raised in Africa, suggests that they know little or nothing about our country.

We’re not a country merely rich in history, but we’re known for dignity in democracy, upsets in sport, prominence in African nationalism and, not to forget, an outstanding immigrant population leading developments in education, international law and medicine. For the final claim I have in mind names like Southern Illinois University Edwardsville academic Prof Musonda Kapatamoyo; international lawyers Prof Muna Ndulo and Prof Kenneth Mwenda; medical practitioners like Dr David Kazhila and covid-19 scientist Dr Joseph Nkolola;

All Africans need to be a little bit smarter. This doesn’t mean that we should have encyclopaedic knowledge about our continent. It means that we should have a vested interest that is ambitious enough to build our knowledge about our continent’s leading democracies like Zambia.

This isn’t just a logical need for being African, but it’s a geopolitical one: Africans living abroad are naturally ambassadors of the continent, so they should get their African history and geography decently updated before the rest of the world is misinformed, forcing us to take recourse to decolonisation rhetoric in future.

Surely this isn’t much to ask for, is it?

*This column is published every Friday in the Zambia's best-selling newspaper, the Zambia Daily Mail