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| On the 3rd of February
2004, the German Central Department of Political Education (Bundeszentrale
fuer politische Bildung) started a 3-year (2004-2006) program termed
Africome, which focuses on Africa. The program is intended to inform the
German society about Africa by means of discussion forums/podiums, arts
exhibitions, fashion shows, cultural, music and film events/festivals.
To mark the begin of the program, the organizers invited government
officials, media professionals, managers from industries, academics,
artists and organizations to discussion forum, cultural performance,
exchange of views and ideas, videos show and music concert. Among the
invited honorable speakers and guests are the Nigerian Nobel laureate
Prof. Wole Soyinka, the former German president Dr. Richard von Weizsaecker,
the Cameroonian philosopher and political scientist Dr.
Dr. Jacob Emmanuel Mabe and
Dr. Uschi Eid, MdB, who is the G8-Africa-Representative of the present
German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Afritopic was there and reports
below.
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The interest in the event was enormous. The
event's hall at the Kronprinzenpalais in Berlin was full to the brim. The
black community made a statement by showing up in comparatively large
numbers including members of Initiative Schwarze Deutsche (ISD), ADEFRA
and media professionals from Afroberlin TV, The African Courier and
cyberNormads. The event began at about 10:00 am with African music
delivered life by the daughter of the respectable South African singer Audrey Motaung, who could not appear herself due to
illness. The daughter and her background singers presented African
ballads at its finest. The entertainment was followed by the opening
speech of Thomas Krueger, the president of Bundeszentrale fuer politische
Bildung (bpb). He described the current perception/knowledge of Africa
by Germans as confirmed by the Africa re conducted by bpb in the
past 11/2 years, and the goals of the program, Africome. Referring to
the German past as a colonial master in Africa, Thomas Krueger explained
the need for Germany to accept her post-colonial responsibility and be
ready for open discussions on topics relating to the issue. Doing so
would be good for the Germans and especially the 300,000 Africans and
Afro-Germans living in Germany. He went on to explain the major results
of the Africa re as follow:
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| Within the German population, the knowledge of
Africa in all aspects is generally low. Little is known about the
history, geography, culture, politics or socio-economics. This result is
the same for people from different educational levels and age groups. In
general, the picture, image or knowledge of Africa is superficial and
stereotypical despite the mass tourism in Africa. The reasons for the
shallow knowledge of Africa, according to the findings of bpb are
two-fold. One of the reasons is the lack of topics on Africa in the
German schools. The second reason is the image of Africa presented by
the German mainstream media, which is determined by the commercial value
of the news. It follows that the media prefers sensational news with
negative and scandalous contents about Africa.
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| Another major result of the Africa re shows a
general pessimism about Africa. Generally speaking, Germans believe that
the situation in Africa is hopeless. The donations for Africa are
decreasing because people believe that money donated is going into the
pockets of corrupt government officials and the African elites.
According to Thomas Krueger, while these arguments might be true, it is
important to encourage and motivate more people to be involved in
changing the situation and promoting the right course. The important
role of the German politics cannot be overstressed. He commented on the
visit (January 2004) of chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to Africa as a
positive political move.
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| The third major result is encouraging. It reveals
that there are potentially many people who are interested in Africa and
are ready to participate in African events or ready to work for
non-government organizations, cultural centres, institutions and
foundations dealing with African issues. We would like to see the
interest and motivation of these people grow even stronger. This could
be achieved through the support of the government and the media,
Thomas Krueger said. He continued in his speech to describe the motives
behind Africome. The program is intended to promote Africa awareness and
place Africa on the political education agenda in Germany. |
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Weizsaecker,
Soyinka and Krueger
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It is
intended to create new impulse for ideas that would make Africa
interesting in its entire manifold. The program events should help
defeat the cliche opinions about Africa and present the colourful,
culturally rich Africa without denying the problems facing the
continent. Ending his speech, Thomas Krueger expressed the organizer's
hope that people in Germany would be ready to clear uncertainties and
mobilize fresh energy to pave the way for a sincere partnership with
Africa.
After his speech, Dr
Richard von Weizsaecker took the pulpit to welcome Prof. Wole Soyinka,
the august guest of the event as well as the audience. In his welcome
address, Dr. Weizsaecker commended the excellent works of Prof. Soyinka
in the literary field and his relentless efforts to bring Africa in the
limelight of globalisation. Dr. Weizsaecker went on to comment in
favourable tone of the hospitality he experienced during his visit to
Nigeria and the wonderful time he had discussing with Prof. Wole Soyinka,
who he has had the undeserved privilege to meet on several
occasions. He finally called upon Prof. Wole Soyinka to give his
lecture.
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Wole
Soyinka thanked Dr. Weizsaecker, organisers of the event and the
audience. He then started with his lecture titled African Perspectives for the 3rd
Millennium
what role, if any, for Germany?. In his
lecture, Wole Soyinka began with the problems and dilemma which Africa
faces and the interdependences with world organizations such as the
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization), UN (United Nations) and the World Bank/IMF (International
Monetary Fund). He cited the difficulties that Africa encounter in
implementing its development programs as one of the major problems. He
explained the long processes involved in getting the necessary mandate
from all or major African countries in order to pass a resolution.
Recalling his experience as a committee member of the task force formed
to resolve the Cameroon/Nigeria boarder issue, Wole Soyinka talked of
some government officials lobbying for war in order to achieve their own
financial interest without taking the welfare of both countries and the
inhabitants into consideration. Wole Soyinka moved on to suggest ways by
which improvements could be achieved, problems resolved and reduced.
According to Wole Soyinka, it is important for Africa, perhaps through
NEPAD (The New Partnership for Africa's Development), to start
programs that would motivate and mobilize Africans to take part in the
development programs. There should be programs that educate, integrate
and encourage women and programs that would prepare children for future
tasks. He called upon the African Development Bank to take up its
responsibility and play a major role in funding the programs alone or in
partnership with other international organizations. Wole Soyinka
digressed to give a snapshot of the historical Berlin Conference
(1884/5) that divided Africa, the post-colonial African issues including
tribal/civil wars which contribute enormously to the problems facing
Africa today. Coming back to the Millennium, Wole Soyinka warned against
the marginalization of Africa from the globalization process. Finally,
Wole Soyinka expressed his hope that with time Africa would be able to
resolve its problems. A long round of applause followed Wole Soyinka's
lecture. |
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| At
the Press Conference |
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| Next
on the event's agenda was a refreshments break. After the break,
accredited journalists were offered the opportunity to put questions
forward to a panel consisting of Prof. Wole Soyinka, Dr. Richard von
Weizsaecker, Thomas Krueger, Juergen Hoeren (Head of the Cultural
program SWR2) and Matthias Kleinert (advisor
to the chairman, DaimlerChrysler).
The contents of questions put forward to the panel included the
acceptance of Blacks/Afro-Germans in Germany, the introduction of
affirmation law in Germany, the impact of culture on politics in
relation to the present situation in Africa under the phrase political power of culture, reparation payments for the atrocities
committed against blacks during the Nazi regime, erecting a memorial as
a symbol for blacks who lost their lives due to inhuman tests conducted
on them by the German Nazis and the activities of German industries in
Africa in view of the continent's educational, health and economic
development. Dr. Weizsaecker acknowledged that the acceptance of
foreigners in general and people of African descent in particular within
the German society is still very low. We have to work on improving
our attitude towards people from other backgrounds, he said. He
appealed to the German population to be open and embrace the fact that
there are Germans with multicultural roots as enriching. However, he
does not think that the creation of an affirmation law as it is in the
USA is necessary in Germany. In connection with the issue of Blacks
subdued to inhuman laboratory tests by the Nazis, Dr. Weizsaecker is of
the opinion that the German government should do its duty and make sure
that a sign/memorial is erected. |
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| Audience
and Journalists |
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Answering
a question on the of reparation payments, Prof. Soyinka said that it
is imperative for the German government to make a symbolic reparation
payment to people of African descent. He also analyzed the phrase political power of culture within African context, using the
Yoruba culture as an example. According to him, the Yoruba culture is
accommodating and incorporates a liberal religion. If the culture is
made an integral part of politics and the basic characteristics of the
culture are practiced, the chances are high that we achieve long-lasting
peace in Africa. Matthias Kleinert, who is the advisor to the chairman
at DaimlerChrysler informed the press of the development activities of the
company in Africa. Mathias Kleinert said that DaimlerChrysler has
invested a lot in the training and education of its employees and
affirmed that the quality of the goods produced by the African employees
is as good as those produced in Germany. He said that the company has
started a project focused on children education in southern Africa and
he his willing to consider project proposals focusing on children
welfare/education from organizations or individuals. The questions and
answers session came to an end after about 45 minutes. |
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| Wole
Soyinka |
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| An African multicultural performance followed.
The ensemble consists of artists from different countries including Maisha
Eggers (Kenia), Aminatu Jalloh (Sierra Leone),
Ida Kassiekpo Ouhe (Elfenbeinkueste), Rita Zulu
(Sambia), Ives Bobito-Masanga (Ruanda), Hassan Jalloh (Sierra Leone),
Samuel Makinde (Nigeria), Patrick Mokomboso (D. R. Kongo, Zaire), Harry
Louiserre (Guadeloupe, Karibik), Louis Sitson (Kamerun) and Jubril
Suleimon (Nigeria). Eisi Gulp directed the performance called word-up for Africa. The artists from various backgrounds formed an
ensemble to depict African cultures in forms of dance, songs/chorus and
gestures whereby the audience is invited and encouraged to participate. |
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| The next program on the event's agenda was a
discussion podium with the topic African Perspectives: German
Support; Perspectives of the German African Politics presented by Dr.
Andreas Mehler (Director of the Institute for African Studies in
Hamburg). The discussion panel included Dr.
Uschi Eid, MdB (G8 Africa representative of the German chancellor),
Harro Adt (Africa representative of the German foreign office), Matthias
Kleinert (advisor to the chairman and responsible for the foreign
relation and politics of DaimlerChrysler), Dr. Dr. E. Mabe (lecturer at
the Technical University of Berlin) and Dr. rer. pol. Stefan Mair (
Foundation for Science and Politics). In the relatively heated
discussion, the pros and cons of the German political concepts
concerning development aids to Africa were argued. In the opinion of E.
Mabe, The development aids as practiced by the German government are
intended to serve the German interest and provide profitable business
opportunities for German firms. |
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| In counter argument, Matthias Kleinert said that it is
immensely important for the German firms to be profitable in Africa in
order to be able to provide the crucial financial help needed in the
development projects. Towards the end of the discussion podium, some
members of the audience criticized the program for omitting important
critical issue facing Africa such as exploited children, child soldiers
and women rights. The moderator, Dr. Andreas Mehler, apologized and
explained that the various issues could not be discussed in a single
program. There are other events ahead organized by bpb that would
deal with other African issues, he said. He thanked the panel as well
as the audience for their participating in the discussion and informed
them of the evening program commencing at 19 pm. |
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Event's
Photo Album |
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Soyinka,
Weizsaecker & other guests |
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Black
Community |
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Press
Conference |
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South
African Group |
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Performers'
Corner |
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Discussion
Podium |
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Kwaito
Music |
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| Kwaito
Music |
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| The
evening program took place at the Hebbel
Theater am Ufer (HAU 2) in Berlin. The program was a mixture of South
African music videos, disco and life-performance. A documental film
called Kwaito Generals was shown. The film tells the story of how
the first South African pop/Afro-house music, Kwaito, was created after
the apartheid regime in South Africa.
At about 21:00 pm, Bongo Maffin took the stage to perform
kwaito music life. Kwaito is coined from the Zulu word kwai, which
means rage and to, the first two letters of township.
The group rendered a fantastic symbiosis of Afro-house, hip hop,
Zulu-rap and Gospel, which kept the dancing floor swinging through into
late in the night. As a day devoted to Africa went to an end, one has a
feeling that with combine efforts problems could be resolved and life
could be better for all.
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| February
2004 |
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| Themes
- News> |
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