YOU AND ME ARE ALL OF US.

by – AKUNNA JAMES-IBE

‘Engamba, he is all of us. Nothing can concern him alone. His sorrow, his joys’ – then looking over to Engamba’s wife – ‘his wife…belong to us all.’

Ferdinand Oyono (The Old Man and the Medal)

You will not find us lodged between the fingers of melanocytes or bathing in its brown substance; a shadow in our likeness may flit past, but it’s just a shadow; we are much more than the colour of our skin. You will not find us lounging in thick black tangles of curls; you may catch wisps of our scent in there, but that is just a tiny fraction of our entirety; we are much more than the texture of our hair. We don’t only harvest starving children from our fields or draw violence from our wells. We are not just a heap of failed governments and malformed ideals. If you watch closely, you will see us; if you listen, you will hear us in the laughing voices that call out to people, “Nwannem!” “Dan uwana!” “Ndugu yangu!” “My brother!” If you pay attention, nwannem, you’ll recognize the African spirit; the spirit of brotherhood.

Although the big feet of colonialism stamped out many African customs and kicked aside communal living to entrench Individualism, the humanistic foundations of African values have never been completely eroded. Even now, the Zulu phrase Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu is the cadence of the African heartbeat, pulsing steadily across the continent despite the multiplicity of diverse cultures, emphasizing the worth of every human as an essential part of a big family. It represents a “unified form of knowledge” rooted in the eternal acknowledgement of a common identity. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu; a person is a person through other people. This is the African identity; Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is the thread that weaves the ethics and cultural values of African societies; it once defined, largely, the socioeconomic and political structures there in. Ubuntu is an ethnophilosophical concept that is consistently reflected in the practices of Africans, forming the substance of their aphorisms and folktales. Ubuntu, as was elegantly put by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, is the “essence of being human.” Amongst the Congolese, this essence is ingrained in Bomoto. With the Shona of Zimbabwe, it goes by Munhu. And the people of Mozambique wrap the concept in Vumuntu. In Eastern Nigeria where the Igbos trail the rising sun, this ideology stands out in names like Maduka; a person is worth more than wealth. In Western Nigeria, the Yoruba have it encapsulated in their Iwa philosophy that emphasizes good character for the common good. Likewise, the Hausa populating Northern Nigeria capture this creed in the proverb, zumunci ya fi arziki; community and fellowship are worth more than wealth. Thus, regardless of the language in which this Philosophy is dressed, it permeates Africa through and through,  reflecting her unified values.

Everything that is good for the human community abounds in Ubuntu. Ubuntu places the community over the individual; hence appropriate conduct and morality are largely determined by their effects on human society. Acts that lubricate the wheels propelling community are revered, while those that considerably disrupt social relationships are labeled evil. An instance is seen in the traditional Igbo society portrayed in Chinua Achebe’s Things fall apart, where Okonkwo is temporarily exiled for inadvertently killing a clansman, a crime against the earth goddess (P. 87).

Martin H. Prozesky (2003) highlighted ten values embedded in the Ubuntu ideology: Humaness, Gentleness, Hospitality, Empathy, Deep kindness, Friendliness, Generosity, Vulnerability, Toughness and compassion. The philosophy extends even further to embrace values like integrity, respect, justice, interdependence, collectivity and reconciliation, and can be summed up in two core tenets: Humanism and community. These tenets are intertwined; one constantly springing from the other, crisscrossing like vines in a bramble bush.

African humanism is the doctrine that places premium on human welfare, interests, and dignity in social relations. It is aptly defined in the Akan Maxim: Onipa nua ne Onipa which translates to Man’s brother is man. In essence, Africans believe that every human ought to be treated like a relative. This belief is the basis for ageless African values like gentleness, hospitality, empathy, generosity and respect. Till today, offering to share your meal with those around you, no matter how small it is or how hungry one is, is often a litmus test for good upbringing. I have been in buses where a person about to eat a meal calls on fellow passengers, total strangers, to join in. Usually, the offer is respectfully declined, but the generous gesture is never lost on anyone. Once, I asked my roommate why I had to be as insincere as to ask someone to share my meal even when I didn’t feel like it, and she replied, “It’s just the proper thing.”

Empathy is another symbolical piece in African humanism. In the Igbo traditional setting, it is not unusual to see strangers weep uncontrollably at funerals, even more than the bereaved. To someone not attuned to the ways of traditional African life, this may seem a bit overboard, but to Africans, it is expected, even appropriate. A friend of mine who returned to Nigeria after staying for some years in Europe told me how awkward it was over there for one to say “sorry” for a misfortune one did not cause. But in Nigeria, saying sorry for any misfortune is normal. How else can a Nigerian express empathy with the full feeling it demanded?”

One cannot dig too deep into African humanism without being attracted by the shimmer of hospitality. Some quarters suggest that the extraordinary hospitable nature of Africans was one of the reasons colonial rule was able to take roots in the continent. Dugald Campbell (1922), a Briton who spent some decades in Africa during the late 19th century and early 20th century made the following observation:

Hospitality is one of the most sacred and ancient customs of Bantuland and is found everywhere. A native will give his best house and his evening meal to a guest without the slightest thought that he is doing anything extraordinary (Gyekye, 2010).

As it was in the Bantuland, so it was across many African societies. Today, most African families still try to maintain this culture, treating visitors even better than family members.

The second tenet hinged to the Ubuntu philosophy is Community. In traditional Africa societies,  one could only attain personhood through existence in a community and by performing obligations or engaging in activities that promoted the common good. The common good defined the legal, political and socioeconomic structures and was facilitated by values like interdependence, collective responsibility, reciprocity, integrity, justice and good character. The traditional African community is a large family. The Malawian proverb, Mwana wa mnzako ngwako yemwe ukachenjera manja udya naye, which translates to “Your neighbour’s child is your own” shows the depth of intimacy that characterizes African communal life. In certain farming communities of rural Ghana, when a farmer is unable to singlehandedly complete a farm work, he requests for the assistance of other farmers in the community. And the cycle of mutual reciprocity is perpetuated. Again, in Chinelo Okparanta’s “Under the Udala tree”, this communal spirit is reflected in the words of the woman who comforts Ijeoma’s mother when she returns to her dilapidated home in Aba during the Nigerian-Biafran civil war:

Not to worry. Your father’s land greets you. I tell you, don’t worry. All will be well again. Together we will fix up the place. One person alone cannot move an elephant, but an entire village, that is a different story (P. 68)

Communalism is still typical in many African societies. In my village, when a person dies, it is customary for the Umuada, kinswomen of the bereaved, to contribute firewood and participate in cooking for the funeral ceremony. Failure to do so often attracted penalties.

Can one deny that Ubuntu is Africa’s coat of many colours; the Northern star in our sky? Ubuntu is an identity we should not be quick to disregard. We have been called many things, and often, rightfully so. But those things are not our totality. We are more. It’s time we fixed our leaking roofs so we are comfortable within our own, so we can usher in the rest of humankind, calling out, “Nwannem!”

REFERENCES

1.) Achebe, C. (1958). Things Fall Apart. England. William Heinemann Ltd.

2) Gyekye, K. (2010). African Ethics. Standard Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/african-ethics/

3.) Mangena, F. Hunhu/Ubuntu in the Traditional thought of Southern Africa. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from https://iep.utm.edu/hunhu/

4.) Mugumbate, J & Nyanguru, A. (2013). Exploring African Philosophy: The value of Ubuntu in social work. African Journal of Social work 3(1). Retrieved from https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajsw/article/view/127543

5.) Okparanta, C. (2015). Under the Udala tree. Newyork. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing company.

6.) Omole, C.O. (2014). The Yoruba Philosophy of “Iwa” (moral character) as fulcrum of human personality and wellbeing. Psych discourse. Retrieved from http://psychdiscourse.com/2013-08-20-02-30-17/version-48-2014/winter-2014-v48-3?view=article&id=566:issue-article-3&catid=237

7.) Oyono, F. (1956). The Old Man and The Medal. London. Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.