MUYIWA FALAIYE’S PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURAL ADAPTATIONISM: A THEORETCAL FRAMEWORK FOR AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT By Sirajudeen Owosho Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos. owogrrh@yahoo.com / sowosho@unilag.edu.ng Abstract The failure of Africa to lead any meaningful social and political development has ignited the intellectual curiosity of many African socio political thinkers. This failure is more manifest in the areas of scientific and technological developments. So far, divergent reasons have been adduced as possible causes. While a section of thinkers known as the Externalists trace the problem to external factors particularly the European colonisation of Africa, another by the name Internalists, blame the failure of the African states on internal factors with particular emphasis on African leaders. Against the background of this argument, this paper proposes the adoption of Muyiwa Falaiye’s Philosophy of cultural Adaptationism as the socio political philosophy viable for fashioning out the much desired change. It argues that the surest and fastest way to bring about genuine development in Africa is through education and cultural adaptation. Keywords: Externalists; Internalists; Cultural Adaptationism; Change; Genuine Development. Introduction The problem of underdevelopment no doubt has dealt a devastating blow on Africa. It is difficult to understanding why most African countries after many years of political independence are still being ravaged by the problems of poverty, high level of mortality rate, economic crisis, political instability and social injustice. As the saying goes that problem identified is half solved. Concerted efforts have been made to understand the root cause of Africa’s problem of underdevelopment and how to solve the problem. This effort has occasioned the emergence of a serious intellectual debate between two groups of scholars namely the Externalists and the Internalists. The Externalists scholars traced the problem of underdevelopment in Africa to factors outside the African continent. They made reference to the impact of slave-trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism perpetrated by Europe on Africa. Championing the cause of the Extentialists is Walter Rodney, who after a rigorous examination of the problems of underdevelopment in Africa, using the Marxian dialectical approach insists that “Africa’s development is possible only on the basis of a radical break with the international capitalist system, which has been the principal agency of the underdevelopment of Africa over the last seven centuries.”[footnoteRef:1] [1: Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, (London: Africa Bogle – L’Ouverture, 1972), p.7.] The externalists argue that the west imposed the European System of Competing nation states onto the African continent through a process of conquest that was largely motivated by European strategic interest. The result was a political map that is economically irrational and dysfunctional. The colonial powers, they argue, developed modern export systems, infrastructure and education facilities that were necessary to make the whole colonization venture profitable to them at the expense of Africa’s development. Claude Ake reasoned that “The present conditions of the third world countries are not in the least analogous to the conditions of the industrialized countries in the earlier stages of their economic development. The present condition of the third world is the effect of the slave trade, pillage, colonialism and unequal exchange.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Claude Ake, Social Science as Imperialism (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1982), p.153.] The Internalists group of scholars holds a view, which is diametrically opposed to that of the externalists. The internalists hold that the problem of Africa’s underdevelopment is traceable to internal factors. They blamed the problem on the failure of African political leaders most especially those who took over the control of governance from the colonial interlopers. The prominent representative of this group of scholars is George Ayittey who remarked that venality and peculation have become so pervasive in Africa as to be legal iniquities. All too often, politicians and their intellect cohorts find themselves co-opted by an administrative system in which probity is a constant causality. Under such circumstances, the government or the state ceases to perform its function for the people.[footnoteRef:3] [3: George Ayittey, African in Chaos, (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998), p.141.] Ayittey and his internalists scholars insist that the reason for the underdevelopment of African countries is the failure of corrupt and incompetent leaders. African leaders must accept responsibility for the Africa’s backwardness in the field of development. The positions of both the externalists and internalists in the opinion of Falaiye offer no viable solutions to Africa’s problems. After all, of what use is an argument if its premises do not lead to a conclusion. The aim of this paper therefore is to make an expository analysis of the internalists and externalists arguments as examined by Falaiye and to show their inadequacies in their bid toward resolving Africa’s problem of underdevelopment. It is also to demonstrate the valuable contribution of Muyiwa Falaiye to the intellectual debate on Africa’s problem of underdevelopment and particularly his concern about the future of Africa. Given the contemporary reality in Africa’s socio political crises, it essentially aims at showing the significance of Muyiwa Falaiye’s Philosophy of Cultural Adaptationism as a socio political ideology capable of evolving a comprehensive social change that will adequately address the problem of Africa’s underdevelopment. Debate on Africa’s Underdevelopment The attempt at providing solutions for the perennial problem of underdevelopment in Africa has generated mix reactions among African scholars and indeed, schools of thought have emerged with views diametrically opposed to one another. In his book: Sparks of Resistance, Flames of Change: Black Communities and Activism, Muyiwa Falaiye makes a critical examination of the foundation of the externalists and internalists arguments on the subject matter of Africa’s underdevelopment. He based his examination on the submissions of Walter Rodney as expressed in his book: How Europe Underdeveloped Africa and George Ayittey’s Africa in Chaos. According to Falaiye, Rodney built his externalist position on four theoretical assumptions namely that Africa was developed prior to 15th Century; that the European slave trade is responsible for Africa’s underdevelopment and technical stagnation; that Africa contributed significantly to European capitalism during the period of colonialism; that Africa’s underdevelopment is as a result of colonialism perpetrated by the western world.[footnoteRef:4] [4: Muyiwa Falaiye, Sparks of Resistance, Flames of Change: Black Communities and Activism, (Lagos: Foresight Press, 2005), p.45.] George Ayittey’s internalists position is according to Falaiye a rebuttal of the externalists assumption about Africa’s underdevelopment.[footnoteRef:5] According to Falaiye, Ayittey is of the view that the problem of underdevelopment in the black world can be traced to the leaders that black people have had since independence. In Ayittey’s word “we cannot forever go on pretending black leaders are saints. White leaders fail their people too, so what is wrong with me saying that black leaders have failed their people.”[footnoteRef:6] In another expression, he says “… they (African leaders) looted Africa’s wealth for deposit in Swiss bank accounts, while their own people starved.”[footnoteRef:7] [5: Ibid, p.46.] [6: George Ayittey, African in Chaos quoted in Muyiwa Falaiye, Sparks Resistance, Flames of Change: Black Communities and Activvism, op.cit., p.4. ] [7: Ibid, p.23.] Falaiye observed that, Ayittey in a similar manner built his internalist position on three theoretical assumptions namely that, the Africa’s state of corruption, exploitations, defective political and economic systems can be traced to the door steps of ineffective leadership; that given the scenario, only Africans can solve African’s problems; and that the solutions entails returning to Africa’s roots and building upon its own indigenous institutions.[footnoteRef:8] [8: Muyiwa Falaiye, op.cit., p.46.] The externalists and externalists in their arguments, according to Falaiye, agree on the necessity for social change in Africa’s polity[footnoteRef:9] but defaulted in their inability to evolve one. This is because “their positions offer no viable solutions to Africa’s problem.”[footnoteRef:10] Herein lies the relevance and significance of Falaiye’s Philosophy of Cultural Adaptationism. [9: Ibid, p.43.] [10: Ibid, p.48.] Muyiwa Falaiye’s Philosophy of Cultural Adaptationism The Philosophy of cultural adaptation is a socio political philosophy which advocates that development should be measured by the ability to fuse the elements of other cultures with achievements of one’s own culture, channeling them towards one’s own specific development needs.[footnoteRef:11] This theory was propounded by Muyiwa Falaiye to provide enough canons for the flame of change necessary in the post colonial black world having realized that Africa’s underdevelopment can be traced to multiple factors beyond externalists and internalists sparks of resistance. It is a philosophy of social and ideological change aimed at the total liberation, survival and prosperity of the black world. The philosophy, as conceived by Falaiye, is not advocating for the adoption of everything from another culture hookline and sinker. To clarify this ambiguity, he makes a distinction between “adoption” and “adaptation”. Adoption in the sense used by Falaiye means accepting (or rejecting) everything from a culture while adaptation means what is useful from another culture.[footnoteRef:12] [11: Ibid, p.51.] [12: Ibid, Pp. 50 – 51.] Africa must consider the appropriateness of adapting elements of external cultures especially as they relate to its own existential needs. Benefit from development should be mutually reciprocal and should not only be measured in terms of science and technology.[footnoteRef:13] [13: Ibid, p.51.] The question of education also features in Falaiye’s Philosophy of Cultural Adaptationism. As a philosophy of liberation, it advocates education as the surest and fastest way of bringing about genuine development in the black world. “Education was the major key in the liberation of African states from the yoke of colonial rule.”[footnoteRef:14] According to him, the kind of education emphasized should be problem solving and targeted at the basic needs of the environment with which the people live.”[footnoteRef:15] This he believes is the effective approach which must be developed to resolve the new set of problems confronting black people all over the world. Even the problem of leadership identified by the internalists could also be resolved with education. Falaiye sees a strong affinity between education and leadership. In his words; [14: Muyiwa Falaiye, Analysis and Perception of Africa – Americans on Reparation, (Lagos and New Jersey: Obaroh and Ogbinaka Publishers Limited, 2001), p.29.] [15: Muyiwa Falaiye, Sparks of Resistance, Flames of Change: Black Communities and Activism, op.cit. p.50.] In order to equip the citizen for the performance of his civic duties, education is the key. Such an education will produce thinking human beings, men and women who will be objective debaters of public affairs.[footnoteRef:16] [16: Muyiwa Falaiye, “Democratic Values and Role of the Youth” in Temison Ebijuwa ed. Philosophy and Social Change, (Ibadan: Hope Publications, 2007), p.176. ] Many years after independence, Falaiye marvels at the incompetence of most African leaders to take decisions independent of Western and Eastern orchestrated theories and values. They lack the skill to properly analyse the problems confronting Africa and situate them within the context of African socio historical realities. According to Falaiye, ruling is a skill, just like any other skill, it requires training or tutelage to master. This is the practice in other advanced nations of the world, unfortunately, it is a different ball game in the black world, especially in Africa, people put themselves up for leadership positions without training, formal or informal. They simply wake up and contest for high offices, their qualifications – money, ethnic affiliation and/or religious affiliations and sometimes the gift of the garb.[footnoteRef:17] [17: Muyiwa Falaiye, A Philosopher Interrogates African Polis: How Can We Get It Right? An Inaugural lecture delivered at the University of Lagos, Main Auditorium, (Lagos: University of Lagos Press, 2012).] For Falaiye, nothing prepares a man for rulership in a democratic setting more than the acquisition of the relevant skills.[footnoteRef:18] A leader for him is one who has undergone training and has acquired competence in statecraft and international relations, and has imbibed the principles of justice and equity.[footnoteRef:19] [18: Muyiwa Falaiye, “Democratic Values and Role of the Youth”, op.cit., p.177.] [19: Ibid, p.177.] In pursuance of the above, Falaiye recommends the establishment of a Centre for Justice and Leadership Training as a panacea for redressing the obvious deficiency of leaders in Africa.[footnoteRef:20] In the same manner Falaiye sees an inseparable link between education and democracy: [20: Muyiwa Falaiye, Neo African Socialism: A Response to the Fallacies in African Socialism, Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, University of Lagos, 1995, p.252. ] Provision of adequate opportunity for the individual to develop himself is germane to democracy. Democracy demands from the common man, a certain level of ability and character; rational conduct and active participation in the government and the intelligent understanding of public affairs among other things.[footnoteRef:21] [21: Muyiwa Falaiye, “Democratic Values and Role of the Youth”, op.cit, p.176.] From the above one sees the relevance of the youth in the enthronement of genuine democracy. For Falaiye, a progressive acculturation of democratic values especially in Africa ought to begin from an early stage. This informs his suggestion that democratic values can be better imbibed by youths, thereby setting the stage for the construction of new democratic ethos on the continent.[footnoteRef:22] [22: Ibid, pp.173-174.] In the submission of Falaiye, democracy remains the best value of governance inspite of the theoretical and practical problems inherent in it. Democracy is a universal concept that speaks a universal language. As a value of governance, democracy provides the opportunity for political participation either directly or through representations periodically elected; it provides for political equality and the possibility of an alternative government.[footnoteRef:23] These provisions are universal and are indispensable in a truly democratic society. [23: Ibid, p.173.] It is against the background of these universal conditions that Falaiye rejects the idea of African Democracy or the attempt to create an African kind of democracy.[footnoteRef:24] A democracy that is purported to African suggests that these universal conditions may not have been met. Although it may be true that some of the values of democracy may exist in traditional African societies but what is obvious, Falaiye stated, is that African leaders have chosen only those traditional values which have the capacity to maintain them in power, rather than the values of consensus building which existed in most traditional African societies.[footnoteRef:25] The import of cultural Adaptationism on the issue of democracy is not whether democracy should be African or not but how much the pristine value of democracy have been accepted by the society in question. [24: Ibid, p.174.] [25: Muiywa Falaiye, A Philosopher Interrogates African Polis: How Can We Get There? Op.cit. ] Ontologico – Epistemic Basis of Falaiye’s Theory of Cultural Adaptationism Any philosophy that proposes to regulate economic and socio political activities in modern African societies must have an ontological and epistemological bases. Simply put, ontology is the study of being; the study of pure being. That is, the study of being precisely as being. “It is the study of what is or what it means to be at all.”[footnoteRef:26] As a branch of philosophy, ontology could be conceived as “the science of what is, of the kinds and structures of the objects properties and relations in every area of reality.”[footnoteRef:27] [26: Jim Unah, On – Being: Discourse on the Ontology of Man, (Lagos: Fadec Publishers, 2002), p.1. ] [27: L. Floridi, ed., Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Computing and Information, (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003), p.155.] The ontological basis of Falaiye’s Philosophy of Cultural Adaptationism could be traced to placid Tempel’s pioneer work on Bantu Philosophy. In this work, Placide Tempels uses the theory of forces to give a systematic grounding to Bantu ontology. According to Bantu ontology, everything that exists, both living things and non-living things are endowed with “life – force or vital force”.[footnoteRef:28] [28: Placid Tempels, Bantu Philosophy, (Paris: Presence Africaine, 1959), p.375.] Reality is an inseparable mixture of mind and matter; that all forces are in constant interaction. Quoting Falaiye, Anyanwu agrees with Tempels that the African world is permeated by life – force in constant motion. Life force in motion are constantly interacting and transmitting. Man for Falaiye is an important life – force endowed with soul. Because he has a soul, he is active and has intelligence, thought, idea, feeling and emotion. He understands the other forces in the universe and he interprets their movements in accordance with his needs.[footnoteRef:29] Falaiye posits that man is the essence of any socio political and economic arrangement. The African in his opinion does not make individual distinction. All things for him were similar though not identical. Falaiye therefore reasons that, if all existence was bound together in forces passing from one form to another, then it is only reasonable to conceive all existence as related.[footnoteRef:30] [29: Muyiwa Falaiye, “Socio Political Philosophy” in E.K. Ogundowole, ed. Philosophy and Logic, (Lagos: Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, 2002), p.182.q1] [30: Ibid, p.182.] The epistemological basis of Falaiye’s Philosophy of cultural adaptationism finds expression in Senghor’s African Theory of Knowledge. Senghor according to Falaiye makes no distinction between himself and the object, he does not hold it away from himself to be examined or analysed. The Negro African sympathizes, leaving his ego to identify with the other. The African could then safely say that I sense the other, I dance the other, I am.[footnoteRef:31] [31: Ibid, Pp. 182 – 183.] The epistemic implication of Senghor’s assertion according to Falaiye is that, knowledge comes from the cooperation of all human faculties and experience. The African does not see his experience in isolation from his culture. From the above, it can be discerned that Placide Tempel’s vital force and Leopold Senghor’s Theory of Knowledge provide the ontological and epistemological bases of Falaiye’s Philosophy of Cultural Adaptationism. The recipe for meaningful and sustainable development of Africa neither lies in the outright rejection of everything that is western nor in uncritical celebration of African cultural values but in appropriation by way of adaptation the positive values of other advanced nations of the world. This is essentially so, because for Falaiye, the African is more concerned with ways of ordering the world, of understanding it, of bettering it for human habitation. Explaining the spirit of practical motive underlying this philosophy, Falaiye describes the interest of the African in human institutions, relations and conduct thus: Concern for humanity is at the crux of his activities from birth to the point of death. The impulse to promote general good in every individual and community summarizes his philosophical endeavour.[footnoteRef:32] [32: Ibid, p.183.] Conclusion There can be no doubt that the prevailing unfavourable human conditions, pressing economic and socio political crises in Africa have been receiving attention from African scholars and great thinkers. Julius Nyerere’s “Ujamaa”, Leopold Sedar Senghor’s “Negritude”, Kwame Nkrumah’s Consciencism, Kolawole Ogundowle’s “Self Reliancism”, Messery Kebede’s “Creative Synthesis” among others, are efforts toward the liberation of Africa from the shakles of underdevelopment. Most of the views expressed by these great African scholars do not follow the same pattern with the views expressed by Walter Rodney and George Ayittey in their externalists and internalists submissions. One advocates for a total rejection of anything that is western; the other advocates for a total return to Africa’s past. These calls, in the opinion of this paper do not address the African socio historical predicament of the present millennium. Therefore, new human and socio historical conditions demand a new theoretical philosophical inquiry and suggestions. These are the imports of Cultural Adaptationism propounded by Muyiwa Falaiye as a philosophy of social change. The paper examined the externalists and internalists assumption about how Africa’s crises of underdevelopment could be resolved. Falaiye accused the internalists of clamouring for a total return to indigenous Africa’s past,[footnoteRef:33] as if everything about Africa’s past was glorious. He also accused the externalists of advocating for a total break-away from western civilization. Both submissions were dismissed by Falaiye as extreme forms of skepticism. [33: Ibid, Pp. 48 – 49. (See also Muyiwa Falaiye “The Reinvention of Africa” in Muyiwa Falaiye ed. Africa’ Political Stability: Ideas, Values and Questions, (Lagos: Panaf Publishing Inc. 1988), Pp vii – xi.] Philosophy according to Falaiye accepts skepticism as a test of validity, but it is hostile to naïve narrow mindedness and dogmatism. It encourages open mindedness. It is only by so doing that the serious problems of underdevelopment will not be trivialized into a mere academic debate as that of externalists and the internalists.[footnoteRef:34] Africa needs to evolve a new way of life that will galvanize a meaningful transformation. [34: Muyiwa Falaiye, Sparks of Resistance: Flames of Change: Black Communities and Activism, (Lagos: Foresight Press, 2005), p.51.] The transformation in the way of life of a people and their institutions become necessary when the old way of doing things can no longer meet the requirements, or satisfy newly evolved socio-historical needs of the society.[footnoteRef:35] Cultural Adaptationism is a socio political philosophy of transformation and social change. Its actualization in economic and socio political terms should be the paramount task of African nations in the twenty first century. The path to African glory lies in our readiness and determination to grasp the gamut of meanings imbedded in the philosophy of Cultural Adaptationism. [35: Kolawole Ogundowole, Echoes of Social Change, (Ikeja: John West Publications Limited, 1992), p.3.] Bibliography Ake Claude, Social Science as Imperialism, Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1982. Ayittey George, Africa In Chaos, New-York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998. Ebijuwa Temisan, ed. Philosophy and Social Change, Ibadan: Hope Publications, 2007. 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Unah Jim, On-Being: Discourse on the Ontology of Man, Lagos: Fadec Publishers,2002. 13