December 2017, I had just recently returned to Lagos from Toronto, and the Spirit of the Motherland was burning ever so fervently in my members.
I’ll never forget driving down Ozumba Mbadiwe road in Victoria Island, blasting Fela Kuti; a ‘Classic Afrocentric’ Political Revolutionary Artiste’ I had recently been introduced to by a former colleague from school.
That Christmas, I did a lot of exploring in my adopted hometown; attending a Lady Donli show and a Burna Boy concert, amongst other activities.
But the most groundbreaking experience of that ‘Detty-December’ however, was when I accompanied my elder sister to one of her artshows in Lekki Phase 1.
I couldn’t help but notice a very peculiar and unique distinction between classical Afrocentric works of art and modern day art pieces like the ones made by my sister.
I met with a friend of hers that day, who happens to be based in New York, and we spoke about this extensively.
We talked about how there is currently an ongoing transformation taking place on the Afrikan continent; how Afrika is being ushered into a new dawn, a new era of some sorts! With Millennials and Gen-Zs being at the center of it all.
An Afrofuturist era, beyond the legacy of our ancestors and the pains of the past, inflicted on them by Slavery & Colonialism.
Also acknowledging the influence these two injustices have brought upon us and how it has transformed us into ‘New creatures’!
It wasn’t until 2021 that I formed a name for this phenomenon!
I call it Neo-Afrikanism!
Neo, a Greek word for new, and Afrika, of course, the land inhabited predominantly by the Blacks.
So basically, Neo-Afrikanism is an umbrella term used to describe individuals who identify more with the ‘New Afrikan Nations’ that were created as a result of Western Colonialism.
Those who feel a greater sense of connection to the way of life that has emerged by the fusion of some certain elements of European culture with Afrikan culture to form a ‘Neo’ or ‘New’ Afrikan culture.
This can be seen in the political system we practice; Democracy, which has its origins in Greco-Roman Civilization.
Religion; Christianity, though a World Religion today, it was first fully embraced by Europeans due to Apostle Paul’s several missions to Anatolia. The Religion on the continent, has however slowly metamorphosed into an Afrikan variant, enriched with high-tempo Afrikan beats and the Afrikan pizzazz to match.
Language; there is no better example than the ‘Creole English’ spoken all over West Afrika; Pidgin.
The influence is also seen in our traditional values & ethics, as well as in fashion, music, literature, the arts, and also in cuisine.
This ideology is best exemplified by the Alternative kids of Lagos, better known as ‘Alté’, a counterculture movement that is on its way to becoming mainstream amongst Nigerian Millennials and Gen-Zs, at home and in the diaspora.
This Neo-Afrikan Ideology acknowledges the fact that the 21st century Afrikans of the Post-Colonial period' are transcendent! An updated more advanced version of their predecessors from Pre-Colonial and Colonial Afrika.
It is a non-traditionalist ideology.
In contrast to those that are traditionalist; or conservative in nature and are more aligned with their tribal identities.
A propagator of Neo-Afrikanism embraces the Post-Colonial Afrikan Nations that where created by Europeans as his or her own because they have taken on a life and meaning of their own.
This is not to say that tribal identities do not matter, but that they are subordinate to that of Nationhood.
The DRCongos, the Kenyas, the Senegals, the Angolas, the Nigerias and so on; this is our reality now, our primary identity and we wholeheartedly accept it.
The Neo-Afrikan vantage point can be compared to that of the African-American Peoples of the United States, whose culture is heavily influenced by Afrikan, Indigenous Amerindian and European cultures. This diverse admixture, has led to the Black Man in America having a totally new and distinct identity outside that of their contemporaries back on the continent.
This can be seen through the lens of the genres of music they have gone on to create; for example, Jazz; originating from a city in the deep-south called Louisiana. It has strong roots in ragtime, a genre that evolved from Eurocentric Music styles. Jazz also absorbed an Afrocentric polyrhythmic sound, popular on our side of the continent.
The Black Man in America has undergone an evolutionary cycle that has given the African-American community one voice and one identity, as they stand in solidarity with one another in the face of systematic ‘race related’ oppressive structures that have been built up for several centuries.
In that same vein, we Afrikans too must take charge of our own destinies! To move forward we must begin to embrace our Post-Colonial realities. The atrocities our ancestors had to go through in the past should make us realize that, we are better off when we are a strong united force.
When we start to see ourselves as one people, we will be closer to the realization of the great Afrikan Hope!
Just like the 20th century formed and moulded the identity of the African-American, the 21st century is the time period for the beginning of the rebirth of what is means to be Afrikan.
There will still be individuals out there who might continue to view these nations on the continent as ‘Colonial Contraptions’ or ‘Mere Geographical Expressions’ but I see them as ‘Nations with Souls’ that are slowly taking shape and coming into their own!
So, though being a Man of both Yoruba & Igbo heritage, my ‘Nigerianness’ is essentially of paramount importance in how I choose to identify myself.
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