Stan Chu Ilo
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This book is a call on Africans and non-Africans to once more believe in the possibility of a better future for Africa. In these pages, Stan Chu Ilo writes of his experience and the experiences of many young Africans like himself who are disturbed by the present condition of Africa. He writes about the challenges facing most Africans who are growing up in the African continent without any hope of quality education, without any guarantee of adequate food, water, housing, and clothing; without any hope of getting a job, and without any prospect of living in peace with their neighbors. He writes of the sad situation of millions of young Africans who are dying of malaria and HIV/AIDS, and the African women whose fate and fortune have been shackled by a male-dominated society. He questions the bases of the existence of the failed states of Africa, who are caught up in a cycle of violence and disorder and who are not asking the right questions about the future of their nations. He argues that corruption, excessive authoritarianism, a stubborn hold on power, and lack of openness to consensus-building among some African leaders insult the cultural value of Africans with regard to a sense of community, love and solidarity. He also writes of the pain of globalization, the debt burden, immigration and trade restrictions on Africans and African countries, exploitation of ordinary Africans by fellow Africans and Western governments and business conglomerates. He wonders why many Western nations should turn their backs on Africa, when they all share some responsibility in bringing Africa to her knees. However, even though many Africans have become exhausted in the battle for national survival and for a living space to pursue their ordered ends, this book proposes that Africans should not claim perpetual victimhood, rather they should stand up once more and work for a better tomorrow, which is possible, and within their reach. Ilo insists that the imposing mountains of economic and social ruin; the rising moans and groans of numberless Africans, should not weaken the inner energy and ardent hopes of millions of Africans struggling against the untested assumption, that the cracking social, political, and economic foundations of present day Africa, are incapable of supporting the structures of a new Africa.
The face of Africa today is ugly, but behind the ugly face is the beauty that has been distorted by historical and cultural factors. The present condition of Africa is only the sign of the urgent need for the peoples of Africa to brace up for the long and hard journey to reclaim their future. Ilo outlines how non-Africans who are interested in the African condition can be involved with the peoples of Africa. A proper understanding of the African continent and her peoples, her history and cultural evolution is a necessary first step for those who wish to be engaged with the Africans. His total picture approach model as the key to interpreting the African condition and in comprehensively addressing the challenges facing Africa, offers a helpful and original tool in understanding Africa. It helps to overcome the stereotypes, prejudices and paternalism which non-Africans apply in their reading of African history and their relation with the African reality.
With masterly skills, a keen sense of history, a balanced perspective and objectivity, Ilo identifies the constraints to growth and innovation in Africa in terms of the low stocks in the human-capital and cultural development. He introduces a new concept in the interpretation of the African condition: homelessness in terms of cultural and existential crises that confront Africans today. His conclusion is that cultural and human development is the irreducible decimal in any proposal for the transformation of the continent; that grassroots village-based action should be preferred over bogus and unworkable national approaches to African development. He calls for a civilization of love in Africa and the whole world which will change the way we see others and the way we relate to persons, religion, cultures and civilization. The condition of the suffering person is the basis for acts of love and solidarity. This is why he calls for solidarity for Africa and not sympathy. This book is a rich mine house of various trajectories of discourse on the African condition: politics, racism, globalization, economics, religion, cultural identity, anthropology and philosophy. It presents an objective picture of the face of Africa: A face that mirrors the living condition and ardent dreams of Africans, especially the younger generation.
Stan Chu Ilo was born immediately after the Civil War in his native country, Nigeria. The sad tales of war told by few members of his family who survived the war, and the experience of growing up in a war-ravaged Igboland in Eastern Nigeria in the early 1970s, shaped his vision of life on the evils of war, poverty and injustice, and the need to build foundations of love and friendship for a better world. This vision is firmly rooted in his exposure to Christianity early in life and his rich formation on authentic African values of peace, love, community, hard work, integrity and support for the weak and poor. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1998. Between 1992-1994, he taught summer courses on African Religious and Political Thought, and Ecumenism and Religious Tolerance at the Institute of Ecumenical Education, Enugu. He was appointed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in 1999 as the National Coordinator for Jubilee 2000. During this period, he gained national recognition through his regular appearances on Nigerian Television (NTA), Lagos; African Independent Television (AIT), and MINAJ Cable Network’s program, Celebrating Jesus. His commentaries and homilies on social justice issues, good governance, human rights and religious tolerance have been broadcast on Nigeria’s national radio network (Radio Nigeria), and published in more than 10 African newsmagazines, newspapers and online networks.
He received a Millennium Plaque in June 2000 from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Lagos Mainland for his contribution to Jubilee 2000. He was the Associate Editor of the official magazine of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, CSN News (1999-2001) and Editor of the Rome-based Journal of African Philosophy and Life, The Encounter (2001-2003). He has studied in universities in Africa, Europe and North America and has degrees in philosophy, theology, educational and pastoral studies and post-graduate diplomas in educational and human rights studies. He is one of the emerging young clerics from Africa, who are articulating alternative paths to Africa’s future. His scholarly papers and articles have appeared in many national and international journals including Bigard Theological Studies, Nacaths Journal of African Theology, Federation of Female Lawyers Nigeria news magazine (Nigeria), The Encounter Journal of African Philosophy and Life (Rome), Vulgata Christian Journal (Canada), Thisday Newspaper (South Africa and Nigeria), The Guardian Newspaper (Nigeria), World Igbo Times (London), National Catholic Reporter (Kansas, USA), Catholic Register (Toronto), Toronto Star, The Catholic Herald, Peterborough Examiner (Ontario), among others. He edits the online journal of African life www.civilizationoflove.org. He has published three books in his country and co-edited a fourth, Walking in the Light of Christ. He is the founder and a director of the Peterborough based charitable organization, Canadian Samaritans for Africa, which is working in partnership with Engineers without Boarders USA to improve the water, sanitation and health needs of communities in Eastern Nigeria. He is both a member of the African Studies Association (ASA) and the American Academy of Religion (AAR). He ministers to God’s people at St Peter-in-Chains Cathedral, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
This is a book about hope, a witness to hope of a new Africa; hope of another face for Africa, hope of new structures for a new Africa after the structures of sin has been torn down. Amidst the despairing conditions of sad stories about Africa as a continent of “wars, diseases, misery, poverty and shame; of people constantly in need of food, water, shelter, unstable democracy, healthcare, and clothing etc.” presented mainly by international media, Stan is undaunted about hope for Africa. He confessed: “My unshakable hope in a better future for Africa inspired me to write this book.” Again he asserts: “The African condition is not inevitable nor is the future of Africa bleak.” While Africa may appear to be a continent left behind almost in everything in our globalized lifeworld Stan reminds the reader that “the face of Africa is not just about pain and sorrow but also the face of hope.”
The book traces the root cause of African condition to “African homelessness,” a situation that gives rise to crisis of identity; and manifests its ugly face in short term crisis reaction approach solutions to problems thus resulting to African underdevelopment. As an alternative he proposes what he calls “the total picture approach model” which while catering for the short term problems of African underdevelopment envisions a long term plan that integrally empowers Africans to take their destiny in their hands through a firm belief in their abilities.
Because Africans are incurably religious and very much aware of the inroads Christianity has made in the continent, Stan proposes an “Afro-Christian vision of hope” as tool for right of order. This tool presupposes Africanisation of the two major religions in Africa: Christianity and Islam.
The book is also a call on the international community not to give up on Africa in spite of massive corruption but also to rethink financial aid to Africa in such a way as to benefit people in the grassroots. Unlike other works on Africa, The Face of Africa rejects the “perpetual victimhood theory” that shifts the bulk of African condition to her colonial past. While it appeals to the consciences of Western nation that benefits in the wealth of Africa, it strongly urges Africans to rise to the challenges facing their continent today. In very strong terms Africans are reminded that: “The agents of the imperialists and the neo-capitalists will not remove the chain around the neck of Africans, because it helps to sustain the economies and political hegemony of many Western countries”
Stan’s proposal for the transformation of Africa is cultural; he also sees human development as the irreducible decimal in any agenda for Africa. His approach to interpreting the African condition is through the theological category of structures of injustice and sin which helps in understanding the African condition as found in the historical process.... Thus issues like HIV/AIDS, malaria, the condition of women, child abuse and neglect, civil wars, political instability, corruption etc are to be seen within the wider social ethical category of structures of sin and injustice. Hence, the need to eradicate them from the root.
Stan’s elegant style and commitment to detail as he wades through the heavy jungle of African history to recover the roots makes the presentation rich and engaging even though at the same time it makes some sections of the work imprecise. In spite of that, the book is one holistic authentic interpretation of the face of Africa; it’s a handbook on African history, philosophy, culture, religion, socio-political and economic life.
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Advance Praise for The Face of Africa: Looking Beyond the Shadows
In the process of globalization today Black Africa is completely forgotten by the international community. Furthermore, Africa is a despised continent, which is only known by its misery: economic recession, AIDS, wars of all kinds… However, Africa alone is not responsible for this catastrophic situation. The international community and capitalism are deeply involved in encouraging wars, dictatorship etc. in the name of a false democracy. In this perspective, the book of Stan Chu Ilo is a very precious contribution, which is showing clearly the pervasive mechanism hidden behind the so called African misery. Anyone who wishes to have helpful information about the socio-economic and political situation of the Black Continent should inescapably read the work of this young African researcher.
Prof. Dr. Bénézet Bujo, University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Author of Foundations of an African Ethic, Beyond the Universal Claims of Western Morality.
This book is a stirring manifesto for social reconstruction and interior transformation in Africa. It is a passionate and compelling cry of love from the heart of the young Nigerian scholar, Stan Chu Ilo. Afflicted with an identity crisis, with a stockpile of accumulated hate and wounded memories, Africa—a continent in search of a future—is a permanent, and too-often neglected, sore on the conscience of the world today. In our world of superabundance, Africa is stark evidence that compassion is in exile. Ilo makes the compelling argument that the only hope for Africa is not flight from, but engagement in and with Africa. In contrast to reactionary, episodic, and crisis-related approaches, Ilo proposes a “total picture approach model” emphasizing systemic, gradual, and proactive change. His diagnosis that Africa is not at peace today because of structural, social sins is as compelling as it is well-researched.
James H. Olthuis, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophical Theology, Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, Canada. Author of A Beautiful Risk.
This book is a welcome insight into the many problems facing Africa, which has led to what the author describes as the homelessness of Africans. This epic work is characterized by an art so grand, so sure, so powerful that we predict a perennial value and rank for it, not only in world cultural studies but also within the whole of international politics, which has here been given a distinctive and monumental shape. Stan Chu Ilo is indeed one of Africa's bright stars and provides a compass with which to navigate life for generations of Africans in the book by stating that "Africans who wish to claim perpetual victimhood are not responding adequately to the African condition. There are many other variables which Africans should address as central to their condition... The causes of these problems may be historical but the solution is not beyond the ability of Africans… From the heart of Africa comes the proverb that God provides food for every bird but He does not bring it to the bird's nest.”
Dr. Uche Lynn-Teresa Ugwueze, Professor of English and African Studies, California State University, Long Beach California. Author of Tears Without Cry.
This is a compelling work for our times. It creates hope, challenges despair, re-establishes authentic human and original African values, and invites the reader to consider civilizations and cultures as the product of hard working men and women who dare the tide and make history. The book is good news, namely, there is still goodness in the world. The author, Stan Chu Ilo, Nigerian born has made an invaluable contribution to the theme of globalization, placing African self-determination, qualitative leadership, responsibility, integrity, self respect, and optimism in the centre of discourse. The distorted face of Africa is only a facade. Africa is beauty and life, beyond the shadows.
Prof. Obiora F. Ike, Director of the Catholic Institute for Development Justice and Peace, Nigeria. Author of Globalization and African Self Determination: What is Our Future.
