The invasion of Africa and the defeat of many African kingdoms and empires could not have happened if the Europeans did not have the power of guns and bullets. Asides the firepower, they had the motive to plunder, kill and destroy civilizations which didn’t harm them or poss any threat to them.
If not for the guns and the sheer wicked desires, they would not have had the capacity and capabilities to match the warriors of Africa in their numbers in face to face combat.
It would seem that the gods were neglected us when they first allowed the wicked, resource-hunting, and land grabbing Caucasians to discover how to make guns and kill humans in mass. But somehow the gods did not forget us. Africa had the knowledge and science to produce weapons of mass destruction, but we chose to focus on other endeavors.
We defended our lands and people and didn’t get greedy over the resources in other lands. We had enough resources to go round for thousands of years, so why take up guns and invade another man’s lands to covet his resources and lands.
In every account of the first wars between European invaders and Africans, the bravery and gallantry of African forces are told. There are empires that resisted the European and Arab invaders for hundreds of years. Even without equal firepower to the Europeans, African kings and Queens defended their territories and people.
Before colonization, European nations had not penetrated the
interiors of Africa so much. They had only succeeded in doing business
with many coastal cities and also raiding villages and stealing slaves.
They did not have authority over lands and kingdoms. But the Berlin conference of 1884-1885 would change all of that. At
the conference European nations laid down their plans and intentions to
invade Africa and tear her up by all means necessary. They came with
their guns and their flags – they came armed to kill and destroy.
It is a fact that by the time Europeans started the scramble for
Africa, certain African kingdoms possessed rifles, muskets,
cannons, maxim guns, and gatling guns. But these weapons were the few
that were sold to African kingdoms in exchange for cash crops and other
commodities. Although they were present in Africa, they were not enough
to halt the full fledged war declared by Europe on Africa.
Africa’s defeat took a long while, but it still came. And no other
factor contributed heavily to our surrenders like the “guns and
bullets”.Our Liberal Nature – Our Curse:
When one looks back at the way Europeans conquered Africa on two major fronts, one is left to wonder if a spell was cast on us. We lost the gun battle and someone also list the mind battle. We became too weak and liberal to allow the ideologies of the European religion and culture to penetrate us.
Today, many Africans are not bold enough to defend and uphold the culture, tradition, language, and spirituality which their ancestors handed down to them. We became too welcoming to those who killed us and stole our resources, thinking that our liberal nature might convince them to treat us more humanely. But we failed. Today, Africa is but a shadow of its past, because we chose to be subtle and weak about our collective consciousness as a people.
We owe it to ourselves, our ancestors who fought, and our future generation to stand up and reclaim our lost glory. We need a mental and spiritual revolution to awaken those of us who have fallen to sleep. Africa was defeated – Yes. But we have seen many times in human history where a people who were beaten to the ground eventually rise up and reclaim their destinies.
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