The PANAFRICAN Review
and intrigue take over in private because healthy reciprocal relations for public discourse are yet to be nurtured , internalized , and institutionalized , as a means of self-governance around speech .
Africans self-censor because neither culture nor education is able to provide them a mechanism for self-governance so that they may process their thoughts and conscience into speech . Until culture and education coalesce – decolonizing education – to rescue Africans by framing the mind around a set of values held in common – a common denominator of knowledge – they will keep waiting for someone ( call him what you wish ) to guide them on what is acceptable in the public space .
It follows , therefore , that the failure of freedom of speech to take root in Africa has less to do with the dictator than with the collapse of education . However , the subsequent vacuum that is created by this failure constitutes a battlefront for the control of the African and anyone with power has the desire to fill it . Consequently , an African leader who surrenders it is considered a democrat and one who occupies it is considered a dictator . “ Enlightened ” Africans tend to prefer the former to the latter ; however , there is no saint ; it is about choosing the lesser of two devils .
This is space that belongs to liberated Africans to exercise their freedom of speech and conscience in line with their aspirations . However , the expectation that these freedoms will emerge outside of a decolonized education system is futile . But who wants to decolonize , really ?
From Mother Tongue to Teacher Tongue : Language Diversity in Africa ’ s Changing Nurturing Environment
Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu
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Traditionally , mothers are known to spend more time with their children , especially at the earliest ( 0-3 ) years . It is during this time that children build the emotional foundation and imbibe speech skills that will last them a lifetime . In many households today across Africa , especially among the middle- and high-income families , caregivers , nannies , and teachers have taken on the role of parents who are often engaged in some form of career or business . Psychologists have studied the social-emotional impact of the absence of parents in the lives of young children , and the research results indicate that children raised this way tend to grow into adults with deep-seated emotional challenges , who are , as a result , severely handicapped from contributing their best to societal advancement . In addition , the impact of a loose nurturing environment for young children is strongly felt in the formation of language skills , especially in Africa , where UNESCO estimates that many ( indigenous ) languages are on the brink of extinction .
When colonial authorities attached corporal punishment to the use of mother tongue within the school environment , it was thought that Independence would restore some respect for Africa ’ s indigenous languages . That was not so . Only in few cases were indigenous languages validated and vigorously promoted after Independence . In many cases , the language , forcefully bequeathed during colonialism , was welcomed as a unifying national language . Although some form of a national language is considered by many to be a centripetal force necessary for the advancement of any nation , it could become retrogressive when indigenous languages are stifled in the process of promoting one universal language for the larger population , especially when this is used to perpetuate linguistic imperialism .
If the battle against Africa ’ s languages was initiated by the co-
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