ORIZU : EXIT OF AN AFRICAN IRREDENTIST

[Andy De_Silent]

Date of Article: 04/16/99
Topic: Orizu: Exit of An African Irredentist
Author:
Full Text of Article:

Staff writer BUCHY ENYINNAYA pays tribute to a great Pan-Africanist who
passed on last week.

BORN on July 11, 1920, Akwaeke Abyssinia Nwafor-Orizu was an accomplished
nationalist and statesman. His death no doubt, is a big loss to Nigeria and
Africa as a whole. There is no gain saying that he made worldwide
contribution to the political evolution of the continent.
Of particular interest is his contribution in the literary field through
which the nationalist propagated the idea of "African irredentism." To him,
it was a matter of cultural renaissance for the African continent and its
nationals. African cultural renaissance dates back to the writings and
activities of the late Edward Blyden and others in the 19th century. It
received an impetus with the intellectual activities of notable Africans of
whom Orizu was one.
He shared the Zikist philosophy and was in the same school of thought with
Kwame Nkrumah and Aime Cesaires' in their pursuit of the African
personality. Orizu's ideal was to elevate and affirm the existence of
African culture, and evaluating such culture with the intent to reveal the
internal motive forces of those cultures.
A foremost African nationalist, Orizu had as far back as 1944 in his book
Without Bitterness conceptualised what he called "African Irredentism" and
went further to call for the development of a new literature by Africans to
interpret African culture realistically to other peoples.
It is believed that the impact of this philosophy began to be felt from the
1950s when some African school curricula started reflecting the ideas
expounded in Without Bitterness.
Many believed that one other impact of the irredentist approach was that
African authors from then, commenced depicting and interpreting African
cultures as well as the effects of colonialism on Africa in their works. It
has been confirmed by literary scholars that Orizu's principles and ideas
concerning a reorientation, the writing and delivery of African literature,
brought about some of the greatest factors in the continent's cultural
renaissance.
"The vast output of this literature is fast replacing books by non-Africans
as approved texts in literature in institutions of learning in Africa. He
corroborated John Stuart Mill's idea that a general state education is a
mere contrivance for moulding people to be exactly like one another, and "as
the mould in which it casts them is that which pleases the predominant power
in authority... it established despotism over the mind, leading by natural
tendency to one over the body."
Orizu and his contemporaries had argued that the monopoly of education
whether by state, church or any other group, would surely produce pupils
moulded according to the monopolist's peculiar ideology, beliefs,
sensibilities, idiosyncrasies and perceptions of life and the universe. A
little wonder therefore, that asides evolving the above philosophy, he found
and became principal of Nigeria Secondary School, Nnewi, in 1950.
Analysts contend that it was to further carry forward the message of African
cultural renaissance that he was made patron of African Academy of
Arts/Research. A dogged African, the desire to have an African nation devoid
of much west cultural influence fired his mind to founding the African
council on African Education Incorporated of which he was also the
president.
As a true Nigerian nationalist, he made efforts towards interethnic harmony,
and is political adviser to the National Council of Nigerian Citizens
(NCNC), was instrumental to the launching of the freedom charter which
formed an opposition to the Richards' constitution. The charter suggested
among other things, the creation of ethnic-linguistic states in the country
as a means of allaying the fears of minority cultural linguistic groups.
One impact of this was evident in the series of states created which are
indispensable to the unity and good governance of the country. Hence,
analysts say it is now merely a question of deciding the appropriate number
of states as well as their relations to one another, and to the central
authority. The intention then, was ostensibly, the desire to ameliorate, if
not eliminate, inter-ethnic tension which analysts say undermines national
unity.
The loss of this gem is a loss of one of Africa's foremost voices of dissent
against colonialism, in the hey days of the struggle for political
independence.
History will record him as among others, member, Universal Negro Improvement
Association (Marcus Garrey Movement) New York, Associate Editor, Negro
Digest and co-founder African Interpreter, International organ of African
students in the United States of America.

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