African Personality in African Perspectives

· F .I. Ogunmodede

Introduction

One of the most important themes in African studies is African personality. Like African identity, African mentality, or Black

consciousness, this is a theme which has aroused the interest of both Africans and non-Africans alike, and has borne the fruits of a good deal of literature especially in the period before and immediately after the emergence of Indeperident African nations in international politics.1 .

As a concept, African personality is complex and has, m fact, different meanings for different people. LeVine observed that in African personality "we have what has usually been used to derogate or dehumaniz

2e the Afri~arr, as well as def~nd h~m and b~ost

his image as a person . Truly, m the past, studies of the African personality b:y non-Africans gen,~[ally tended to consi~er Af~i:ans as "psychologically homogenous. And when one examines critical­ ly the urge to rationalize colonialism by colonial adminis_tr~to~, the paternalism and "civilizing" mission of Western Christianity as claimed by early missionaries and the ideological undertone coloured most of the writings of classical anthropologiets.jt is clear why Paden and Soja submitted that much of the older Western literature on Africa, both professional and popular, appear to be a little more than "racial stereotype with window dressing."4

However, there is another way of understanding African per sonality. This is by analyzing it thr~ugh the_ spectra ~nd pe_rspec­ tives of Africans themselves. The aim of this paper is to give an analysis of what African Personality mea~s in these ~fri_can perspectives. Bearing in mind also t?at African Personality 1s a value laden idea in contemporary African thought, the paper goes on to make prescriptions for realizing its laudable politico-economic goals and objectives.

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l. Genesis and Historical Roots African personality should be seen as a reaction and a calculated

uttempt to change the experience and effect of slavery and coloniza­ tion which Africa and Africans have suffered in the last five cen­ turies. It was first coined as a term when Dr. Edward Blyden in his presidential address on the occasion of the opening of the Liberian College, Liberia, 1881, spoke of the need for

... the African ... to advance by methods of his own ... to find out his own place and his work, develop his peculiar gifts and powers; and for training of the Negro youth upon the basis of their own idiosyncrasies, with a sense of race individuality, self-respect and liberty ... 5

Th~ terms has been further defined by the Senegalist theorist and front-line nationalist, Alion Diop:

The African Personality which is the basis and foundation of our humanism, aspires ... to being freed from 'the Western grip. It requires that our people should speak through us ... Our peoples only mean to give expression to what they alone can show forth: how they see themselves in the context of the world situation and of the great problems of mankind ... 6 ..

It would seem that the term African personality still means much more today. It is the projection of all that is good and noble among the Black race in Africa and in the diaspora, namely, the awareness of all her achievements and contributions to world culture and civilization in the distant past; the motivation of the Black race to greater heights and achievements in the modern scienti_fic and technological world; and finally the development of self-pride and struggle for recognition, fair treatment and respect by the other races in the world. The projection of the African persona~ity has taken mul~iple

orientations and directions among the African people. The various ways of understanding African personality have also broug~t a1:>out n network of relationship with such concepts as Pan-Africanism,

Negritude, African Socialism, and Blackism. In fact one may claim that these concepts are what have given particular meanings and clarification- to the generic notion of African personality. The roles performed by Negritude, African Socialism and Blackism may be described as political, cultural and socio-economic. ·

According to Prof. Pa trick Akoi 7 the term, African personality was introduced into African politics by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, when as the President of Ghana and a leading politician in African, he was looking for a guidingjd.gology for African socialism. For Nkrumah, then, the term meant the rallying point of all African peoples and countries under one barrier and forum, and their speaking together in one concerted voice for the realization of Africa's political freedom and economic development8. Also, while preparing Ghana for the Conference oflndependent African States held in Accra on April 15, 1958, he further stated the ideological orientation he gives to African Personality:

For too long in our history, Africa has spoken through the voices of others. Now, what I have called an African Per­ sonality in international affairs will have a chance of making its proper impact and let the world know it through the voices of Africa's own sons. 9

At this stage, African personality put on the garb of Pan Africanism and a political militancy needed in promoting the cause of decolonization of African countries in the late fifties and early ' sixties. Now Negritude, introduced in the early forties by Aime Cesaire, and sustained later by President Leopold Sedar Senghor, gives a cultural orientation to African personality. In Negritude, Senghor tries to bring out to the African mind, his human dignity and thJ responsibility to accept the inevitable task of self-discovery within the framework of his history, his culture and his patrimony. The poet of Senegal makes the point that to disprove the contention

. of the colonialist that Africa had no inventions, no creative works, no writings no sculpures, no art and to music, we have to show that our patrimony is full of originality and that we are good not only at dancing, as they believe, but also capable of revolution that will disengage us from a borrowed and assimilated culture so as to asset

24

our own right to '~tin Negritude', a com~1~Ji reality that accounts for o~r ~~te ofbemg and will unravel our cultural values, our social ~atr1mom~ and the spirit of negro African culture.10 Here, Senghor is not alone William Abraham of Ghaha also refers to the silent

·fo~es of African culture, namely the spiritual members of the ~fr1~n _communit~, whos~ i_nfluence and help have always lent 1?SP11?l10n for African religious, industrial and social organiza­ tions. If _Negritude is ~~lated t? A~rican personality by emphasizing the

attainment of political unity m Africa through the cultural aware­ nes~, and t~e ~piritual and moral content of our cultural heritage, African _s~c1alism ~oes the samething through the introduction of the_tr~d1tional African economic system. The nexus between African soc~alism an~ African personality is highlighted above all by the soc~o-~con~m1c system called Ujamma. As the first model of African socialism m Contemporary Africa, it was started by President Nyerer~ of Tanzania.12 Ujamrna is a universal brotherhood and econom~c co-operation of man which proceeds from the village or cla~-umt, and extends indefinitely through the tribal unit of the nation and then the state and even to the continent.13 The humane we~farist_ and supportiv~ spi_rit in. the traditional African societ; wh~c~ _UJ~mma empha~1zes m their economic, social and political activities 1s the bas.is of its strength as an African alternative to the defficient system of Capitalism of the West and communism of the Ease.

Some other categories which portray "African personality" are "Blackism", the doctrine of Emancipation of the Blacks of America and So~t_h Africa, and "Black Power," a slogan used by ordinary Black citizens to seek social identity and economic justice in their multi-racial society.14 · So fa~ we have seen African personality in the hands of politicians

~nd o~·dmary folks. It remains to consider its treatment by scholars ' 1 n Afr1canoloITT'.. Here, the problem has been whether we can actually talk of a: generic concept like African personality. Also. it has been asked: What constitutes its basis and characteristics?

II. Theoretical Basis of "African Personality'' In the social sciences, in general and in social psychology in

particular, human personality is referred to as the organisation of the attitudes and values peculiar to an individual. The individual, as it were, is composed of two types of value structures, namely, the basic structure which comprises of deeper rand unconscious aspect of the personality generally called the "character structure."15

There is also the relatively more superficial structure built around specific value systems, and which is modifiable and changeable.16

According to Sigmund Freud, an individual develops and acquires his personality from the gradual-channeling and integration of his sexual drive and .energy m relationship to his other needs and requirements.17 This narrow libidonian view of man has since been criticized by other psychologists like Jung18 and Adler.19 But, it is the view-point of H.S. Sullivan that the individual develops his personality through inter-personal interaction with other human beings in social situations, starting from infancy through childhood and adolescence.T" According to this school, then, personality development may be defined as a gradual and balanced growth of all the aspects of a human person including the physical, mental and the social. The personality which emerges from th~se varied situations is undoubtedly a type of mirror of society. This-according to George Mead, is the judgement one makes about oneself as seen reflected in the attitude of others towards oneself.21

But must the individual conceive himself as a mirror of the value judgement of others about himself? Has tie !lot got so:me attributes which make him a distinctive and unique person, irrespective of what others think and say about him? In anthropology, the interest in personality has concerned itself

with that part of the personality that men share with other men of their own culture but which they do not share with all other men. The intention here is to introduce the role of culture in the develop­ ment of human personality and to state emphatically that one's individual identity and personality are determined a great deal by the culture one belongs to and grows within. Also, according to Sofola, "it is possible to distinguish a personality type or a national character common among peo~le having common culture or a com­ mon demoninator of culture . ..2 The fact is that the basic similarities

26

~mong a people stem_ from those experiences shared by other people m ot~ier cult~r~l en:71ronments. With these basic assumptions, it is possible_to diatinguish a personality type among the African people, the African Personality." The concept, African personality, may indeed be objected to and

even_ be regarded as monstrous and unreal in some quarters. But, ~o fail to _grapple with the reality of such common personality type 1s acco~dm~to Sofola to engage in "a low level type of abstraction or ~ea~onmg. . For Kluckhohn and Murray stated once, "every man 1s, m certam respect, like all men, like some other men and like th "24 Th' · ' o er men. 1s m _effect means that African personality like

every human personality has both universalist arid particularity features. For example, every African person is born· he learns to util~ze his or her body for movement, later explores his or her environment, learns to protect himself or herself. He experience ~unger, and sexual desires and learns to cope and live with others m ~oup_s. At the same time similarity in human pattern of be­ haviour 1s racially limited and divided by culture which mediates between his biological individuality and his daily life and thus produ~es _the African culture, in contrast to the European c~lture: the Asiatic culture or the American culture etc. . Bef~re we can speak meaningfully of"the African Personality", it 1s crucial to engage ourselves first with an enquiry about the nature of the concept "African". This task is in fact a pre- condition to· not just "African Personality" but also to many other discourses and researches about Africa and her people. Indeed in some areas of African studies like "African social thought, the analysis of the adjective "African" has featured prominently in the writings of eminent scholars like Blyden25 and Melvile Herzkovit26 But it is the article of Ali Mazrui, The concept of ''We are all African',27 that has gener~ted heat and interest and the need to define who the African truly is. One can talk of the Africanity of the African who dwells ~ithin Africa or who has root within Africa in "two ways',28. There is the sense of geographical identity or location of the land-area called Africa. There is also the- sense of racial and socio- cultural identity.

With regard to the geographical sense, we ask: Is the African to be identified as anyone who lives or originates from the land mass

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known as Africa only, or, is it also possible that he hails from other lands like Europe or Asia, as well? This sounds a simplistic way of making any people from any

where, African, irrespective of the circumstances of the legal condi­ tions for citizenship and naturalization process in the countries of Africa. But, the issue of the physical identity of the African goes beyond that of origin. According to Herskovits for instance, Africa is a mere geographical expression: its "is thought of as a separate entity and regarded as a unit to the degree that the map is invested with authority imposed on it by the map makers."29 If those who made map of Africa, however, decide to make Africa an extention of Europe through colonization as they actually did, in what sense can we still talk of ~n African Personality derived from a concrete and identifiable geographically area called Africa?

Although people like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah would deny that Africa is an extension of Europe or consider as immoral the specific colonial merging of France with Algeria or the integration of Por­ tugal with Angola and Mozambique which amounts to the negation of their political autonomy, we must say that the presence of Arabs in the north and Whites in the south and Indians in the east of Africa makes it hard to accept geographical land as a basis for determining the African.

Let us turn also to the ethical life pattern and style of the African with a view to discerning his identity and· personality. According to Blyden, Africans are co-operative, not egoistic or individualistic." ''We" and not "I", is the law of African life. The over-riding ethical ~ principle is not that "all yours are mine", but "all mine are yours". The self-seeking, self- asserting individual does not fit into the African scheme of things. This means, in effect that the African society is a system of mutually benefiting reciprocities. Society to the African exists for the good of all its members .... This involves myriad reciprocal moral elements and the principle of reciprocal relationship is vital to distinguishing what is African.

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It is supposed that the African can be considered from other angles as well. This is where the list of African characteristics of Kofi Autobam31 becomes relevant. It goes as follows:

1. Belief in the existence and power of hierarchy of spiritual beings headed by an omnipotent God;

2.

3.

Spontaneity and sincerity of expression;

Tende_n~y to cloth all his cherished ideas in verbal and . graphic symbols and generally to attach meaning to artistic forms;

Love of colour and capacity for long suffering;

Tendency to equate age with wisdom;

Habit of giving impersonal representation of persons in art;

Fi~all~, his possession and use of talking drums in his music "'.'h1ch 1s only largely featured with rich expression of varia- tions of rhythms.

By w~y of concluding, this section, let us quote Ndaba ligi Si thole. \•~_African personality ... "is the sum total of the basic ways the \fncan people feel, think, perceive, talk and behave ... African I 'orsona lity is synonymous with the concept African self ... that ln•r:n~n self which has its specific geographical, historical, cultural, p11~1tical'. and economic setting in Africa, and this is what distin- 1:111s hes it from other hum~n selves which have different settings in 1tl her parts of the world."3- ·

4.

5.

6.

Belief in life after death· '

Commu11:alistic custom of holding land and property in,

genera m common with relatives· ,

7.

8.

9.

' 111. Assessment of African Personality Today

.''~vidently the concrpt of African personality was introduced in to I nc~n tho~ght by African nationalists for practical purposes, most

' poc1_ally, 1_n order to provide a catalyst for pr9gress and develop- 11111nt m Africa. Let us assess then the extent of its success.

Hy far the greatest achievement that the use of the term "African ! '111~onalit.( has obt~ined is in the awareness of Blacks everywhere, 111 the African continent and in the diaspora, that they have a 11111~on cultur~l root and heritage. The credit goes however to

( he ikh Anta D10p who was honoured with W.E.B. Dubois as "the Yr iter wh~ had exerted the greatest influence on African people in lw twentieth century" at the World Black Festival of Arts and

t l

28

I

Culture held in Dakar, Senegal, in 1966. Through his scientific researches he has changed the views of scholars on Africa in world history and has particularly exposed the myth of Western eth­ nocentricism and false propaganda to the effect that the Blacks have no culture: i.e. no history, no literature, no philosophy, no science and technology. Nor do they have morals and knowledge of the supreme God. After thirty years of thorough investigation, and using the method of several disciplines such as linguistics, cultural and physical anthropology, history, chemistry, physics, that his research required, he wrote The African Origin of Civilization. 33 He contended that Egypt is not a part of Europe or Asia but distinct, and that the earliest human civilization otherwise known as Egyp­ tian Civilization was indeed a civilization of the Black race of Africa. I~i Civilization or Barbarism34 which is his magnum opus he went further to establish that Greek civilization which •is the cradle of western civilization is a derivation from the Black Egyptian civiliza­ tion. The palaeontological studies of the Leakeys have since cor­ roborated this position by establishing scientifically that Homo Sapiens has his cradle and emergence in the 0lduvai Gorge of East Africa.35 I · · · Studies in Pre-colonial Africa, which have developed in recent

times36, have also showed that Africans had a rational thought system, and their own system of government. This is manifested in the level of sophistification of government in the empires of Mali. Songhai, Ghana, Zimbabwe and the kingdoms of Oyo, Benin and Buganda for instance. And what is more, some bf these governments were democratic in nature. Even when colonialism interfered in Africa and slave trade started to exploit and consequently depleted the human resources of Africa, it was the case of transfer of the spiritual force, material energy and seat of young Black men and women from Africa to America, something which ~eveloped and built up what is now the most advanced western society. All this happened when no other race would dare to work in the agricultural plantations of the virgin land that Amerigo Vespucci disfovered in 1492.

. Has the awareness of Africa- cultural identity a~d past glory contributed to the desired development in Africa and consequently improved the image of Blacks in the world today?

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Obviously the knowledge of our past greatness has boosted the ego and morale of the African, but it has not yet propelled and launched him into greatness in contemporary times. No doubt there are isolated cases of Africans who have excelled and attained world

. recognition in their areas of competence. For instance, Nigeria's Teslim Elias was the President of the World Court based in The Hague in Holland, But, as a group of people and nations, African is farbehind the rest of the world today. She still has a long way to go before re-enacting the stuff that made her great in the past. Cir­ cumstantial facts give credence to this view- point. The first reason is internal. Truly the first generation of African

political leaders was an apology to the cause of progress and develop­ ment in Africa. Some of these leaders were mainly interested in ,( acquiring power in the new administrative set up with a view to personal encrichment and aggradizement. The likes of Willian Tub­ man, Kwame Nkrumah, Sese Seko, Hastings Banda, Omar Bongo, Jean Bokassa and Houphouet Biogney sowed the obnoxious seed of tenacity of power which has blossomed in corruption, electoral mal-practices, and outright dictatorship. As a vicious cycle that does no one any good, their poor administration has led in turn to even a worse political tragedy for Africa, namely in the forceful incursion of military officers into Africa's political life. With this second group of leaders, modern democracy now looks like a mirage or at best, a distant dream. Meanwhile the economic plunder of Africa continues. What makes one really sad is that the present plunderers are Africans own sons and daughters who are supposed to recoupe what foreigners had carted away to develop their own countries. In considering the slow process of economic growth and develop­

ment generally in Africa, one should think more deeply beyond the confines of Africa and look out for possible external factors. For one I hing, no foreign power relinquishes territories or abandons their xpheres of influence so quickly and, absolutely. This is something to hear in mind in the relationship between the former colonised LC'tTitories and the former rulers: What we have in Independent \f'rica today is the case of neo-colonialism. This can be seen in two ways. In the first instance, the colonial policy of divide and rule which was inherited by African leaders at Independence still ir Ilucnces African politics. This administrative booby trap has be,

the cause ofjuridico-political instability especially in multi- ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual African nations. For example when the British were ruling in Nigeria, they did not allow the different ethnic groups to co-habit in the city but had a policy of separate residential areas. Thus, in the Northern towns, we have southerners living outside and in separate residential areas called Sabongari. Even Tudun Wada existed for Northern non-Muslims! In the West, we had the Hausa-Fulanis living at Sabo quarters, and in the East, there existed Ogbe-Hausa for non-indigenes. Finally, the Hausa-Fulani group was favoured and so assisted by the British rulers, before they departed, to acquire political power at the federal level. Since then, this group has clinged tenaciously to political power inspite of the complaints of the other groups. There is no gainsaying the fact that this situation has continued to endanger the stability of the Federation of Nigeria. While the first form of neo-colonialism can be· considered as

rr.erely an administrative abnormality which can be corrected by constitutional re~7rms, the second, even though an influence ex territorialis, is mere subtle and more harmful to the overall interest of Africa today. Here, one has to grapple with the fact that interna­ tional politics and diplomacy actually means power struggle among all nations and races. In international organizations, the former colonial powers continue to hold away over their former colonies by securing the leadership of these international organizations and ensuring that they formulate policies and programmes which at any rate would be such that favour their interest. The point is that Western colonial powers have not fully handed over Africa and so their multi-national corporations still use Africa and other parts of the Third World as areas for providing cheap economic labour through their subsidiary companies which they set up in the name of bringing economic aid and investments to the poor nations. But such subsidiary companies are in actual fact means of providing labour and employment for the parent companies located in their own countries. As an illustration, foreign companies like G. B. Ollivant and Kings way Stores which have been set up as trade posts which sell the goods manufactured by their parent companies decided to fold up rather than change their policy when the Nigeria gove,;nment asked foreign owned companies to indigenize and

• - "--- >

produce from resources that are available l,~lly 1nst:ead of import­ ing ready- made or manufactured good, like furniture, cutlery,

~clothes, etc., into Nigeria. That would explain why the former colonial powers and their allies monitor and even sabo_tage dev~lop­ ment programme in Africa through the agency of the international organisation which African countries have joined on the recommen- dation and encouragement of their former colonial rulers. .

Nao-colonialism is further exemplified in the unfavourable condi­ tions given by the World Bank, I.M.F. and other internatiox:ial financial institutions owned or headed by the West and from which needy African states beg for economic assistance. As a cor~ollary to the foregoing analysis, the Western powers and ~merica have embarked on a mission of propagation and exportation of her cul­ tural values to the whole world especially through its media of mass communication such as the C.N.N. On the other hand, there is ne':s blackout in Western Europe and America of important events m Africa. If there is news at all, its reportage is usually negativ~ ~nd consists mainly of items like famine, economic poverty and political strife, followed by the. gory and awful picture~ of the dead or flies-infested and helpless looking women and children.

CONCLUSION Evidently, the destiny of Africa lies i!1 the hands of Africai:is

themselves, and not in those of non-Africans. In order to _attam prominence and respect in t?e worl~ ~oday, Africa must address herself to fulfilling the following conditions. . . There is need to evolve a system of selecting a crop of good political

leaders from amongst her peoples to steer the ship ?f state s~lely for the welfare of all. The realization of socio-economic w~l~-bemg can be enhanced only in the conductive atmosphere_ ~f civil r~le and democratic institutions and culture, and not by military regimenta­ l ion and dictatorship. Such men at the hel~ of affai~ shall be patriotic and shall strive at discipline~ financ~al spending and an economy that is industrialized produc~1on - oriented and based ~n modernized agriculture. No doubt this calls for a period of dis­ engagement from 'unnecessary' external in~oh ,'men~, and reflec­ Lion and synthesis of the totality of our previous ex~enences, so.me­ thing which should result in the evolution and adoption of an African

32

Ian · guage In each African countr a- h . and ins.truction in schools as w Yi ::; t tbof0cial medium of learning -Ftnatly, there is need " el _das ? us mess transaction.

. ror- so I anty and II . ~mong African nations at the ath .· . co ect1ve bargaining hke U.N.O., UNESCO, and w.Tu.o et~n~ o~ intern~ti0nal agencies and objectives. Prniecting th Af . . o1de1 to obtain desired goals

t b J e r1can Pet 1·t · no eat the expense of oth 'sona I y must, however the errol'S of other peopl ~r ~eoples. Africans should learn to avoicl the future. e m er seal'ch for greatness now, and in

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

NOTES AND REFERENCES Cf. Cal'othet·s, The African. M. d . (Geneva: World Health O. . in. in Health and Disease t1...,- iganisatwn 1953) F . ' ~. and other publications b ' , . or a review of

. Levine, ''African "1·n p I ly ~arothets, see Robert A , syc to no ogtc l A ti . proacJies to Culture and Personal"a n iropol?gy and Ap- O;Iome~\\' od lee· D01-se p tty ed. Francis L.K. Hsu

' · Y ress 1961)· Jc · persona ity a/the Urban Afri ' . · · • de Ridder, The 11:toutle ge and Keo-an p ,,ical19is in South Africa (London:

b • . b au , 61). For · . lpu licat io n see R ·\ Lev· "B I a review of this

· ' · 1 ne ec oud d Af · porary Psychology VIII U . . e ricans," Contem- See also, Leona1·d Doob "P nivehl'Sl1ty of ~hicago Press, 1962); A Survey~! s · l R ' syc O ogy", rn The African World· ocia esearcli ed L L d . Pregar, J /65). · · a. ysta (New York:

R. A L~Vine, 'Personality and Ch , . and Edward W Soia Tl A . ange in ed. John N. Paden

• J • ie fncan E · E Northwestern Unive1-sity Pr 1970)xpenence, ( vanston: ess, 'vol. II. P. 277.

J. N. Paden and E. w. Soia T . (Evanston: Northwestern U -~ ' . 'he African Experience P.147. ruversuy Press, 1970), vol. II.

Idem. p. 148

E.W. Blyden, "The Idea of an Afric p . " tial Address to the Liber-i C 11 an el'Sonahty Presiden­ Legum Pan A1i. . ran o ege, 1881. Taken from Colin

' - r1canism (New York· Freder1·ck A p · . raeger,

.34

1962), pp. 21-22. I

6. A. Diop, Opening Speech at the Second Congress of Negro Writers and Artists, Rome, 1960. · . · '

7. P. Akoi, Religion in African Social Heritage, (Rome 1970), p. 22.

8. K. Nkrumah, Hands off Africa, (London: Panaf Books Ltd., 1958), p. 23.

9. -, I Speak of Freedom, London: Heinemann, 1961) p. 125

10. L.S. Senghor, Cf. Negritude and Humanism, (Paris: Edition du Seul, 1964). ·

11.

12 .

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

W.Abrabam,Mindof Africa, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962). ·

J. Nyerere, Ujamma, (Dar es Salaam, 1962).

Cf. I. G. Shivji,. Class Struggle in Tanzania, (London: Heinemann Publishers, 1976); M. Van Freyhold, Ujamma Villages in Tanzania, (London: Heinemann Publishers, 1979); D. Bolton Nationalism,A Road to Socialism; The Case of Tanzania.

S. Biko, "Black You are on Your own". Third World First: A Review of Arts and Letters of Committed Africa, 1978; A. B. Cleage Jr. The Black Messiah, (New York: Search Book Edition, 1969); W. Osahon, Black Power, (Lagos: Di Nigro Press, 1976).

J. A. Sofola, African Culture and the African Personality. (Ibadan: African Resources Publishers, 1978), p. 1.

I ,.

Ibidem.

S. Freud, Totem and Taboo, (London: Image Publishing Company Ltd. 1968), p. 110; The general Freudian thesis of . personality development has been concisely stated by Ber­ redek as follows: "The integration of the sexualdrive from its pregenitial sources to the genital primacy and to function­ al maturity is the axis around which the organisation of the personality takes place. From the point of view of per-

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

sonality development, the process of interaction is the same in both sexes. Men and women alike reach their psyco-sexual maturity through the reconciliation of the sexual drive with the super-ego and through adjustment of sexuality to all other functions of the personality ... The sexuality drive is organised differently in men and women, in order to serve specific functions in pro- creation."

Cf. C.Jung, The Development of Personality, trans. byR.F.C. Hull, (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd., 1954).

Cf. A. Adler, The Study in Organ Inferiority and its Psychical Comoensation, (1907).

Quoted in Sofola, Op. cit., pp. 1-2.

Cf. G. Mead, Mind Self and Society, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1931).

J.A. Sofola, op. cit., P. 3, Ibidem. /

Quoted irf Sofola, Op. cit., Ibidem.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

-N. Si~h~le, "M-ican Personality" in Voice of =: 1961. . he Afirican Origin of Civilization: Myth or

C. A. D10p. T H·11 ndCompany,1974).The _,. (N York· Lawrence 1 a . . Reality, ew . bl. h d. French by Presence Africans original text was pu is e m ·. in 1954.

(New York: Lawrence Hill and Civilization or Barbarism, Company, 1991). N

" t . Handaxe Sequence," Beds 1- L.S.B. Leakey, Repor ·aon ·U iversity Press, 1951);"ANew Olduvai Gorge, (Can;!r1 ~e~N:ure 15 August, 1959; "New ~f~1~~~~~:~:mG~rg~:~~ture, 25 February, 1961.

f'Afri (NewYork·Praeger Cf.J.D.Clark, ThePre-Historyo rica, . Publishers, 1970).

25. E.W. Blyden, African Life and Customs, (London: 1908), Chapter VIII.

26. M.J. Herskovits, Does "Africa" Exists, Symposium on Africa, (Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass, 1960).

27. A. Mazrui, The Concept of "We are All Africans" in The American. Political Science Review. Vol. LVI, March 1963.

· 28. Onigu Otite discussed these two ways in his article "Intro­ duction: The study of Social Thought in Africa" in Themes in Africa Social Thought, (Enugu: fourth Dimension Publishers 1978), pp. 1-34.

29. M. J. Herskovit, Op. cit. p. 15. · 30. E.W. Blyden, Op. cit., pp. 29-53.

31. K. Autobam, Ghana's Heritage of Culture, (Accra: 1975), p. 23.

. d de Head, Department of , Rev. Dr. Fr~nc1s I. or:~:n~ P~ul, Ibadan, Nigeria. Philosophy, Seminary of Ss. e e

36 37