Africa benefited a lot both from the Euro-Asian and the Arab religious groups that came knocking at her door in different moments of her history. Her seemingly modern society is, as a matter of fact, due to their ingenuity. Her present-day education and worship systems were also influenced by their philosophies. Our modern African society could not have been possible without these religious groups.
However, these religious groups also stole an essential part of her identity. Almost all historians think that there is no African civilization. And the consequence of such is that it puts in doubt the “Africanness” of African society.Samuel P. Huntington, in his book “The Clash of Civilizations and The Remaking of World Order” puts it in these terms:
“𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝘄𝗻. 𝗘𝗹𝘀𝗲𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻…” (S. P. Huntington, 1996, 47).
What this means is that all we have so far as African civilizations are byproducts of Christianity or Islamic religion. Academic historians, however, continue to ransack libraries to prove their existence.
Unfortunately, these two major civilizations are actually having difficulties in their lands of origin. They now need fertile soils to survive the passage of time. Fortunately for them, but unfortunately for our culture, Nigeria seems ideal for their growth.
The problem, however, is not that those civilizations are evil, but that the survival of certain forms of their existence means the eternal death of our cultures. This might be a personal opinion, but a careful examination of Nigerian Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islamic religion might prove that Nigeria is not just a perfect breeding ground for this civilization but a modern dumping ground for their artifacts.
The problem, however, is not that those civilizations are evil, but that the survival of certain forms of their existence means the eternal death of our cultures. This might be a personal opinion, but a careful examination of Nigerian Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islamic religion might prove that Nigeria is not just a perfect breeding ground for this civilization but a modern dumping ground for their artifacts.
