The President of France, Nicholas Sarkozy on Africa's History

What is there to repair if Africa has no history as...? “The President of France, Nicholas Sarkozy made speech in Senegal. In his speech he said the following:

"The problem is that Africans have never really entered history…. 

Or is this the problem that we face because of European influence over the interpretation of a mighty nation? 

In an African Cultures class, Dr. Patrick Malloy, mentions in his writing that we are to discuss European influence and not African but I just want to take a moment to explain my interpretation of this comment in support of Africa being a mighty nation, “Africa was also seen as place of wealth, learning and power. To the Medieval Europeans and Arabs of the Golden Age of Islam, Africa was known as the Land of Gold”.

Before Europeans had yet penetrated the interior of western Africa and the Atlantic slave trade, a great civilization arose along the Niger River. It was established by the Songhai, a nation of black-skinned scholars, warriors, merchants, famers, and artisans, the empire that bore their name became well known thorough out North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Europe for its power and Wealth. 

The Songhai was the third and greatest of three black kingdoms that waxed and waned in this region between the 8^th and 16^th centuries; The empires founding ruler was Sunni Ali Ber; He began his conquest in 1468by taking Timbuktu, a mysterious and alluring place that still stands at the edge of the Sahara Desert, in the region called the Sahel. As Sunni Ali consolidated his new realm, based on Muslim or Islamic faith firmly established. He maintained peace for 27 years between rural folk and city dwellers. His city was strategically located where camel caravans made contact with boatman plying the Niger River with goods from the South, had grown wealthy from trade. 

But, his son and successor, Sunni Baru did not honor his father religion or beliefs that held the unity of the people together. Rebels took over and the new ruler was Muhammand ibn Abubakr Toure, also called Askia (translated as King) expanded the domains for another 35 years, but when he died the Songi Empire had an air of inevitability that that left it weakened and the empire proved to be easy pickers; The once strong empire faced a Moroccan army but was out matched with their new firearms, imported from England. Within months, there was nothing left except songs and stories that kept its memory alive. (Editors of Time-Life Books 1993).

Not only is the Myth of Africa a salvage land false. Africa had a professional army, layered forms of government and governors of the four regions was in turn divided into provinces run by provincial chiefs.  Griots- Storytellers preserved the people’s history by passing it orally from generation to generation.  Now, to be correct I do have to mention that Slaves occupied the lowest rung of society, but their servitude took an African form in which race was irrelevant and bondsmen were no less human than other workers. As compared to that of Europeans, within the African society a slave could rise on the basis of their service and had the security of knowing that their children wouldn’t be sold away from them; this was not the same as what was to apply to the Atlantic slave trade that supplied Europe and the New world. 

Timbuktu has 150 Koranic schools, where lesson were taught in Arabic, the language of the prophet Muhammad. The city had about a 50,000 population and of the 4,00 of them where boys that were students, (Editors of Time-Life Books 1993).

This great mighty nation was building not only on religion, but a nation on salt and gold.  Even the rural people, lived under a social organization far older and more complex than the stratified society developed by Askia Muhammad. They grouped themselves according to clan, village, ancestry, even craft or vocation. A person who was born in it tended to stay within that group and choose a mate from within it. 

So you see, President of France, Africa’s problem is not that it really never entered history but that it’s history has been erased or never mentioned due to colonization of this once mighty nation cause the people of the world outside of Africa moved forward without Africa’s history but think the continent had no meaning or significance till 1890’s when white colonial government began to take over.