Prayer Not A Solution For Africa

It’s been said that religion is the opium of the masses. That it disconnects disenfranchised people from the here and now, dulling their engagement in revolutionary politics. This form of religion has been pushed by the West in Africa, advancing the narrative that Africans will enjoy land flowing with milk and honey in the afterlife.

Since missionaries first set foot in Africa, the continent has been rocked by an explosion of religious figures claiming to be the solution to the myriad of the problems that people on the continent face. Whether it is poor economic performance, conflict or unemployment, they claim to have the answer. The reality is colonisers have used religion to pacify Africans. The masses have been told not to focus on injustices, despite the doctrines of all the major Abrahamic religions imploring their followers to fight against wrongdoing and exploitation in this life.

However, Pan-African scholar Professor P.L.O. Lumumba, says Africa’s problems cannot be prayed away, but will only be resolved when Africans decide to take charge of their own destiny. Lumumba drew similarities with the Sahel, where people’s movements have played a decisive role in booting Western-controlled governments that have failed to address people’s concerns, including that of external actors’ exploitation of their mineral resources.

Let us know what you think of the professor’s remarks.