There is no better time to write this than within the first few hours of my return from a 10-day trip to two Schengen countries. You know you are in ‘Mzansi fo sho’ (The South) and Ekaya (home) when several African languages are passionately spoken with no one looking at you like some idol or deity. See, the pursuit of ‘greener pastures’ can take you away from home but you know deep down inside of you (especially if you live alone) that something is missing in ‘Oyinboland’. There is that missing African umph!
Fair enough, you can admire the skyscrapers, canals and monuments in the heart of Amsterdam or perhaps enjoy the Portuguese culture across Barcelos/Porto/Lisbon and persistently question why our African leaders cannot replicate the infrastructure back home but, there is always that sense of ‘butness’, that out-of-place feeling/treatment you get outside Africa. I really can’t wait until tomorrow to get my dearly missed roasted corn from the heart of Berea in Durban. I am just unashamedly African.
The pride of Africa loses its worth when Africans don’t appreciate one another. Nevertheless, what we have in Africa is priceless. We might still be dealing with many teething problems, which seem to drive us apart and make us lose the sense of togetherness, nothing can change one's origin, regardless of conferred citizenship(s).
Deeply ingrained in human nature is an attachment to communal settings and comradeship, which also translates to the feeling you get at family-friendly restaurants. You are often asked: Table for 2? 3? or ... 6?, as the case be may. The question: Eat In or Takeaway? is usually not expected at such restaurants.
Restaurant layouts and employee rapport often suggest positioning strategy and value proposition, explicating the not so obvious 'Ubuntu threshold'. For example, an entity/organisation is as good as what it intrinsically stands for, regardless of what is otherwise stated/manipulated in annual reports or portrayed in ads and wider marketing strategy.
The term Ubuntu is derived from the following phrase in isiZulu: “Umuntu ngu muntu nga bantu” which means: “A person is a person through other people” I define Ubuntu threshold as the extent to which moral consciousness can outlast cosmetic social licensing - soliciting for social acceptance for illegitimate purposes. The opposite of Ubuntu in the Yoruba moral system is 'Eniyan-keniyan', the antonym of the concept of 'Omoluabi'. In its literary form, Omoluabi is 'the child born to the master of character.' This value system does not only emphasise the importance accrued to the family system but also of the responsibility of the family to raise socially responsible citizens. In Yorubaland, a person called Omoluabi explicates virtue; is courageous, humble, sensitively shuns undue attention and praise, hardworking and respects the rights of others.
The global culture, as paraded in socialisation platforms, is subtly resocialising many, leading to the ‘McDonalisation’ of indigenous cultures. While George Ritzer's notion of McDonalisation relates to societal fast-food mentality, the term McDonalisation is used here as the act of carelessly and rapidly absorbing societal cues, without iterative screening for values-based compatibility. While this resocialisation process is gaining momentum and has turned many would-be Ubuntu/Omoluabi patriots into 'radical individualists', I encourage us to appreciate Africa.
We should also take pride in welcoming our fellow Africans and non-African tourists warmly into our continent, this is what we have, let’s value our heritage.
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