Historically, African society existed without formal hierarchies, with equal access to land and river for all. During that era, life seemed simple compared to the prevalent complexities we face today. Although, in some cultures, some elements of this way of life persist till present days.
Communalism, for an average Africa, is a moral doctrine that values human dignity, rights, and responsibilities. It does not necessarily see a conflict between Community. It means people being mutually supportive, as well as people being required to have moral attitude of contributing to the community for their own well being. It is the attitude that creates the priority of duty, which is for the fundamental goal of creating a community in order to provide the material conditions for actualizing individual’s sustainable rights and wellbeing.
But it is sad to note, today, that due to changes in policies and governance, there have been challenges to this conception of Communalism. This may not be obvious to a lot of people because, it seem to them that it is a welcome development.
Nonetheless, removing the ancient landmark of what an ideal Communalism is in Africa is something for society builders to worry about. Get this right, society builders are not resistant to change, but, any change that makes one forgets his root is not worth dying for.
We must necessarily return back to our roots. We need to practice that which distinguish us from other societies. We need to make it IDEAL like it used to be. Let us strive to go back to those days when an African man will see the progress of his fellow African man as his own progress. Those days when, if an African man is in a position to help, he does that without looking back because, then, Communalism was our motto, and it was ideal, unlike what we have today where an African man now derives pleasure in pulling his own brother down. The question I ask myself consistently is, where did we get it wrong? Is it from the enculturation of a civilization that was alien to us, or should we still blame democracy for this evil?
The truth is, whoever we blame now is useless. This is a call for us to trace our way back to the root that we neglect. The ancient landmark that we removed needs to be returned and put in its rightful place. We must therefore, go back to the ideal Communalism which is where our solidarity lies and thrives.