Notable African writers include Kenyan Ngugi WA Thiongo, Meje Mwangi, B.A. Ogot, Ugandan Okot P’ Bitek, Nigerian Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Christopher Okigaba and Camera Laye among others. These writers have used literature to expose the value of African culture in different ways examined below.

Wole Soyinka.
Soyinka was born in 1934, studied at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and Leeds. He returned to Nigeria 1960 after practicing as a play reader at the Royal Court in London.

In his writing Wole Soyinka emphasis Yoruba themes. In his play Dance of the forest (I960) Yoruba examines the tragedy of Africans after colonialism.

Soyinka in all his work is deeply entrenched in the Yoruba culture, which is strongly reflected in his writing. He compares Africans cultural values alongside the broad western education to which he had been exposed to and judge African culture as better than alien values.

In dance, which is a collection of poems Wole Soyinka wrote about riches of the Yoruba culture. He uses poetic language he praises in the lion and Jowls Wole Soyinka potrays African culture as being better than European culture. This he does through by putting the main character Baroka who represented African culture visa vis Lakunle who represent the western culture. As things turn out in this play Baroka is the winner as he is the one who takes side the Jewel as his wife.

In Kongos harvest Soyinka examines the political systems of post colonial Africa. In his examination of the political developments in Africa Wole Soyinka reveals that Africans were better off before the coming of Europeans. In the same play Wole Soyinka defends the traditional way of life by giving Danlola the most attractive character charms with whom he ridicules as a dictator who lacks political virtues

In his poem, A telephone conversation Wole Soyinka ridicules' racial segregation and discrimination as a mark of western cultural which surely is incompatible with the Africa extended family of brotherhood.
In his book The trails' of brother Jero he tries to re-examine modern religions and their leaders alongside the traditional religions in effect he- tried to renew the respect for Indigenous ways of worship. This In itself is not only respect but also promotion of African culture.

African life styles had little or no exploitation. However when colonialism set in exploitation emerged to the apex. Wole Soyinka later addressed it as bad through its Opera Wonyusi (1981). This is a powerful disregard for exploiters. In the way play he attacked western economic systems introduced in Africa.

Wole Soyinka didn't have kingdom in Africa feelings for corruption and dictatorship. Like any scholar he joined paper and ink and wrote a play the Kongs harvest (1967) In this play he portrayed dictatorship. Corruption and greed for power as an impact of westernization and alien to Africa in fact the political nature of his books forced him to go into exile when were used to attack dictatorial leaders like Sani Abacha of Nigeria.

In his book the death of the king’s Horseman in this book Soyinka makes a glorious evocation of traditional life. He attempts to reject the cultural contempt of African writers.

CHINUA ACHEBE

Chinua Achebe has written several books and poems. However in his novels he has shown pronouncements that his main intention of writing is to teach his people and help them regain confidence in African Cultural norms, values and practices.

Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe’s early works explore the effects of European influence on African cultures. In the early 1970s he turned his attention to the political strife in his country.

Similarly he argues that his earnest intension has been to repair the disaster done to his people and their culture by foreigners during the colonial era. As a student brought up in a pioneer Christian family in the family of Ogidid Eastern Nigeria, Achebe witnessed the dangers of foreign religions and education on the life style of the Africans; as student he was recognized as an outstanding student before he joined Ibadan university.

Achebe as a literature student at Ibadan University Nigeria began writing and began publishing short stories. He later drafted, a novel about Nigerians encounter with colonization this acted as the basis for his two best selling Novels No longer at Ease and things fall part before he came up with the Arrow of God. His books have been adopted at elementary and high levels of studying literature. Some have, been translated into local languages.

In Things fall apart, Achebe portrays a series of African values amongst the Ibo society, he praises the value of kingship ties in Africa through the extended family. In the same novel Chinua Achebe makes an attempt to illustrate the importance of social relations in Africa. In his writing Chinua Achebe portrays the heroic events in African society using fiction. For example Okwonko in things fall apart who suddenly rose from great poverty and misfortunate to be one of the lords of the clan. Achebe in here attempts to renew the seemingly lost respect for indigenous ways of life and institutions in Africa.

He uses Ibo themes, proverbs and idioms to illustrate the dangerous ways colonialism had on African society. He illustrates how African cultural values and rituals are in conflict with those of the intruding white man.

Chinua Achebe used African similes in his book Things fall apart. This choice to use African- words was aimed Africanising the English language. For instance he refers to a cat as Amalinze. In things fall apart Chinua Achebe writes about love and courtship, in an African setting before colonial rule. Mention is made about African politics as well. He also relates the co-existence of the Africans in the two worlds this is potrayed by his relationship between the living and the dead.

In things fall apart Chinua Achebe further explains the conflicting interests between Christianity and African belief or religion. However though he grew up in a Christian family Achebe uses Okwonko one of the characters in the play to defend traditional religion against Christianity.

Achebe in his books Things fall Apart tries to correct the mistakes made by the colonialist as they referred to Africans. Whites had referred to Africans as uncivilized, uncultured and backward. In his writing Chinua Achebe praised the Africans. Better he wrote at length disputing this allegation by whites. He argued that Africans had religious, political institutions, names dress before the whites came.

Besides his personal writing he has served as Editor of African Writers Series (AWS) in his capacity as the editor of Novels by African writers.
Chinua Achebe helped many up coming writers in Nigeria, Southern and Eastern Africa. To develop African values through writing cultural play, poems and songs.

Ngugi WA Thiongo.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o (1938- ), is a Kenyan novelist and playwright, many of whose works concern issues of Kenyan independence. Born James Thiong'o Ngugi in Kamiriithu, he changed his name in the late 1960s. He received a B.A. degree in 1963 from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, and another B.A. degree in 1964 from the University of Leeds in England.

Ngugi Wa Thiongo born in Kenya has significantly contributed to the development of African culture through writing poems, plays and political issues.

Ngugi Wa Thiongo in his novel The River Between portrays cultural Conflict between the African values to those values of the west. The Western Culture embodied in Joshua conflicts with the African culture embodied in Kabonyi. An attempt by Waiyaki to when that rejects him sides that is the traditionalist and the Christians.

In Petals of Blood Ngugi Wa Thiongo further ridicules the post colonial leaders in Africa. He condemns them to have formed an alliance with the former colonial master of Britain, France, Italy and Belgium to drain peoples wealth from the rural areas to the towns as well as from the whole Nation to foreign countries and foreign Banks.

Ngugi's first novel, Weep Not, Child (1964), was published while he was at school in England. Having returned to Kenya after finishing his studies, Ngugi's second novel The River Between (1965), had as its background the Mau Mau rebellion (1952-1956), in which a group of the Kikuyu people began a campaign of violence against the British, who controlled Kenya at the time. This subject reemerged in A Grain of Wheat (1967), a novel in which Mau Mau bloodshed is set against celebrations of Kenyan independence.

The impact of Ngugi's next novel, Petals of Blood (1977), a story discussing the poor quality of life in East Africa, particularly for Kenya's lower classes, even after independence from the United Kingdom in 1963, led to his detention in 1978 under Kenya's Public Security Act. He recounted his prison experience in Detained: A Writer's Prison Diary (1981). The play Ngaahika Ndeenda (1977; I Will Marry When I Want, 1982) held that those who had fought the hardest for independence had gained the least, a theme Ngugi returned to in the novel Matigari (1989).

Ngugi was chair of the Department of Literature at the University of Nairobi from 1972 to 1977. He left Kenya in 1982 and taught at various universities in the United States before he became professor of comparative literature and performance studies at New York University in 1992. Ngugi's works of criticism include Moving the Centre (1993).

Gabriel Okara

Gabriel Okara is another poet who has contributed to the development of African culture in his poem Piano and Drums compares African cultural values with the cultural values of the west. As the "conclusion is reached, the former proves better than the later. In this poem the piano is representative of the western culture while the drum is representing African culture.

In another poem The Snow flakes soil gently down. Okara express the nostalgic feelings about his home culture as opposed to the Western culture as a representative of death using images while the African one is real and true.

Nigerian chrisis Okigbo tries to illustrate the values of African Culture of through his full passionate assertion of African cultural values, ways of life and thinking.

Gambia's Lenrie Peters, in his satellites (1967) and Katekikaii (1971) vigorously criticizes colonialism as a big threat to African cultural values. He potrays African cultures as being rich when he begins to Africanlse English Language Through idioms, metaphors.

Assess the impact of the education system on the economic, political and social development of Uganda.

Approach:

Economically employment opportunities are generated. People are employed directly or indirectly in the education sector eg teachers, industries or shops selling stationery, builders, UNEB officials etc. Hence the employed are able to earn a living.

Industrial and agricultural development is being facilitated. The education system produces a class of skilled entrepreneurs, labourers, accountants, and managers etc who are engaged in production campaign especially in rural areas. Some peasants have therefore adopted better farming methods.

There is fairer income distribution. The educated have higher access to income generating activities, its anticipated that with more educated Ugandans in future, together with reforms in the system, income inequality will be minimized. The education system has bred to the women emancipation movement; thus women can also engage themselves in economic activities.

Politically, development of political consciousness is attributed to education. Ugandan elite were the very people who occupied vacant posts left behind by colonialists (Mutesa, Obote etc). The elite are more enlightened about politics, they stay mostly in towns, read newspapers and listen to the media. They participate easily in elections, in constitution review commission and criticizing neo" colonialism.

Uganda's international relationship has relatively been strengthened. This is through the inter-university exchange program between Tanzania and Uganda, Kenya and Uganda during and after the collapse of the EAC. Makerere University exchanges students with Sokoine and Dar-es-salaam universities, Makerere and Kenyatta universities. This ensures increased political understanding among these countries.

Education system has enabled the government to consolidate its power to some degree. The government has captured popular support through its UPE policy, the 1.5 point scheme for girls on entry into public universities, government sponsorship etc. This has partly ensured political stability and atmosphere conducive for economic and social development.

Socially, culture is being preserved. This is through formal education and through the role of Uganda elite who have written books in local languages on culture eg M.B. Nsimbi, B.K Mubangizi, etc. Local educative programmes on FM radio stations eg radio Simba, Greater African Radio, MDD in educational institutions eg at Makerere University, Namasagali College etc are emphasized.

Increased sensitivity to family planning is another impact. The educated are more aware about the danger of having too many children; that's why they have opted for nucleated families, use of contraceptives. Small families are more manageable than the traditional extended family.

Revival/ strengthening of religious conviction should be mentioned. This is to do with religious studies in education institutions eg divinity, Islam, catechistical lessons, Bible study, etc. This has impacted on the reduction in immorality.

Negative impact Economically, it has increased government expenditure. Government spends a lot of money to finance the education system eg on UPE, establishment of new structures and rehabilitation of old ones eg at Makerere University. Some state funds are at times embezzled.

Unemployment has resulted. The education system that was introduced by the Missionaries is still being relied on despite several reforms. It, on a large scale, still produces job seekers than job creator. For this matter, the elite are biased against manual labour, locally produced goods, and to a big extent, they like being identified by their Christian and Arabic names than local names. So, because of the search for greener pastures, the educated sons and daughters of Africa export themselves into slavery (Kyeyo) thus relieving the West of coming here to collect slaves.

Income inequality has been generated. In the short run, the education system has created inequalities; the elite have more access to better paying jobs than the uneducated. This explains why urban centres (the core) where most elite dwell are more developed than other parts in rural areas (the periphery).

Politically there is marginalisation of the illiterate by the elite. The elite have dominated Ugandan politics since independence; they only return to villages during elections to secure peasants' support, even those without the required qualifications have been thrown out. Thus the constitutional claim that power belongs to the people is insignificant; they are just used as stepping stones to fulfil the politicians' ambitious and selfish interests.

Socially, education has perpetuated neo- colonialism in Uganda. English is the medium of instruction in academic institutions; French, Germany and Greek have been introduced too. The Ugandan syllabus in most cases doesn't focus on local interests and this clearly suits Walter Rodney's assertion that "English and French, which are widely used in Africa, are for the purpose of African communicating with exploiters other than African with African.'

There is erosion of culture. The elite have changed "their attitude towards western styles. Some women like the one in the photograph below have gone to the extent of exposing her knicker to the public in the name of modern fashion and development.

How has colonial education undermined African culture?

Approach:

Colonial education is the kind of formal education introduced in Africa by missionaries. On the other hand, culture refers to the traditional values of society, or the way of life of a particular/ given society.

Colonial education has encouraged foreign religions. Such religions have undermined African traditional religions arid some religious men look at the non- religious as Kaffirs (infidels). Islam eg is taught in Islam institutions in Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, etc.

The use of foreign languages has been encouraged. Languages like French, English, German, etc are used for the benefit of the respective metropolitan countries. According to Walter Rodney (How Europe Underdeveloped Africa), the English and French currently in Africa is used for the purpose of African communicating with exploiters other than African with African- Some countries like Uganda and Kenya have made these languages official (English).

The ground for the current women emancipation movement in Africa has been laid by colonial education. The movement aims at empowering women in political and economic aspects to the effect that they can even usurp power from men. This has contravened their position in traditional Africa where women had specific roles and has caused marriage instabilities that are even on the increase.

Individualism has been encouraged by colonial education. Traditional Africans believed in communal development, a spirit of togetherness. But colonial education had made the elite feel proud to the extent of not wanting to identify themselves or associate with the illiterate.

People's attitude towards having children has changed contrary to cultural needs. The elite spend a lot of time in schools while many are more sensitive to family planning practices than the illiterate. Collapse of extended families has also brought difficulties in maintaining culture ie, when parents are busy at work, there are no relatives to guide the children save for the usually money- minded house-boys and girls.

There has been the introduction of modem medicine. The elite have been more involved in research on modem as against traditional medicine eg herbs. Worse still, some elite have lost trust in traditional medicine; those who "risk" going for local medicine plus dealers in it have been linked to witchcraft.

Increased sensitivity to pornography has also impacted on society. In traditional Africa, the youth used to sit around a fireplace to listen to words of wisdom from elders but today colonial education has exposed them to pornographic literature. The elite can surf on the Internet for pornographic films thus the increasing immorality eg in South Africa.

Colonial education has been an obstacle to the imparting of sex education to the youth by parents. This has especially been in the long run when the youth miss parents' care while others are given scholarship to go abroad. Thus this has contravened traditional norms where parents were always in close contact with children.

Colonial education has exposed the youth to urban life ie, it has facilitated rural urban migration in search for white collar jobs; but in towns some elites have been influenced to turn into immoral characters eg those who have failed to get jobs have turned into disco goers» prostitutes, etc.

The educated have become more inclined to monogamy other than polygamy

Some Africans have been influenced to dress in the Western style. In most African cultures, decency as regards dressing was essential, but the elite, today have copied Western attires eg miniskirts, tight jeans. For the students of Law Development Centre at Makerere (LDC) to enter there, they must be dressed in a suit - western attire. Its only a few countries that have emphasized African dressing style eg Nigeria, Ghana.

Colonial education has led to unemployment. To qualify for a job one must have been proved academically sound contrary to African culture where every body was entitled to work. More significantly, there was no unemployment in traditional Africa.

The nature of political leadership has changed. The hereditary system of leadership and kingdoms lost significance and has been replaced by unsurpation of power through coups, civil wars and constitutional means (elections). In Uganda Obote an elite opted to scrap- kingdoms in 1967, Amin over threw Obote in 1971; Museveni came through fighting and later elections.

Describe the steps that have been taken to preserve African cultural values.

Preamble:

Culture refers to the traditional values of a given society ie it is a way of behaviour of a given group of people of the same background.

African languages have been preserved. Kiswahili is a language of instruction in academic institutions in Tanzania. In Kenya, president Kenyatta appeared as a strong champion of Kiswahili and it was adopted as a language of parliamentary debate.

There has been control of the education curriculum, e.g in Egypt, Nasser changed the curriculum to suit Egyptian interests.

Africanizing the teaching profession ie use of local teaching staff e.g in Guinea, Sekou Toure expelled foreign teachers (mainly French) in 1969/70 for alleged interference with culture and recruited locals.

Revival of maintenance of traditional kingdoms should also be noted. President Museveni's NRM regime in Uganda has brought back traditional leaders of some kingdoms like Buganda, Bunyoro, and Toro.

Study of African History and culture has been emphasized e.g Nasser of Egypt established a library in Cairo for this purpose, Nkrumah opened the institute of African studies at Legion in 1963.

Culture has been enshrined in written plays, poems, novels e.g Song of Lawino, Betrayal in the city, Things Fall Apart, etc. Recorded music, dance and drama has displayed culture e.g in the faculty of MDD at Makerere university in Kampala, Uganda; classic Arabic drama was revived, modem

Arabic plays were encouraged and the famous Reda Folk dancing group revived entertainment in Egypt during Nasser's reign. Theatres, showing of films on African cultural values, cinemas etc have brought culture out of classrooms, libraries and bookshops, the media, different drama groups like Ndere Troupe in Uganda, use of local music instruments e.g xylophones, drums, etc have all kept African culture in motion.

There has been holding of or participation in cultural festivals, which bring people of diverse cultures together e.g OAU cultural festivals in 1964 in Congo Brazzaville. the Berlin theatre and Music Festival in 1964 and the film festival in Ouagadougou in 2000. All these were aimed at reminding the Africans of their cultural background.

Ministries to deal with cultural issues have been created e.g the ministry of community development and culture to which the Nyerere government in 1964 appointed a promoter of Kiswahili with the task of setting up Kiswahili groups in both rural and urban centers.

There has been the encouraging of visual arts in academic institutions eg moulded sculptures in Makerere’s arts gallery

Through legislation culture has been preserved. Most constitutions allow application of native laws in most African countries.

Government policies of traditionalisation i.e cultural revival e.g Tombalbaye's policy of Chaditude where he made the Yondo initiation rites compulsory, Mobutuism where Mobutu encouraged Zaireans to have local rather than European or Jewish names adopted at baptism.
Review Questions

Assess the impact of colonialism on African culture.

Approach:

Assess the role of theatres in the preservation African culture.

Approach: