African Unfreedom: An Escapist Excuse for Underdevelopment

Abstract

The African continent has played host to various colonizers from the western world. Most of the countries have negative tales of the activities of the colonizers before independence as well as their neo-colonizing activities after independence. On this basis, it is common for most African scholars to impute the guilt of African woes, particularly underdevelopment, to the activities of the colonizers. They consider the whole gamut of colonial legacies in Africa as a doom and a problem to the African continent. Some of the scholars compared the relationship between the Africans and their colonizers in terms of fatherson relationship where a father, rather than give the son fish, gives him poison. This paper, employing a descriptive method of research accepts the fact that the colonizers were involved and are still involved in some activities that are detrimental to African development but rejects the position that the colonizers are entirely the problem. Its main aim is to stress the point that the greater militating factors against the proper development of the African continent are self inflicted. It gives a verdict that Africans as human beings like the colonizers, have the freedom to take control of their events and take the responsibility for their actions that have in various ways affected her development instead of imputing blame to others.