Think great and be great

Then, in a sort of old-fashioned ripple dissolve, a picture of the Zairean flag would slowly take on the image of billowing cumulus clouds in the sapphire sky. 
As the anthem rose to a crescendo, a face would slowly emerge from the clouds. 

Yes, you guessed right. 
The self-satisfied face of Mobutu Sese Seko wearing his famous leopard-skin cap would materialise from on high. 
Below his face the words “Suivez le Guide” (follow the guide) would appear on the screen in neon letters. 
Mobutu would then exhort Zaireans to love their country, presumably as much as he loved money and power. 

Then the music would climax as Mobutu’s face slowly returned to the smoke-esque clouds, vanishing in reverse motion of how it first appeared.
I found this odd. But then I recalled that even here in Uganda, we resort to similar mysticism to make our leaders seem more than human.
 
To be sure, our leaders are now supernatural persons continuing the work of the Bachwezi. 
But what was that work?
The legacy of great civilisations is characterised by their contributions to the arts, science, mathematics; literature, philosophy, and governance.
These contributions continue to have a bearing on modern thought and culture. 

The Bachwezi, on the other hand, bequeathed to the world the long horned cow. And because of that, we call them demigods. 
I hate to speak in silly generalities, but this is the problem with us Africans. 
We are so hung up on spiritualism that after the rule of a given African leader, very little is left behind. 
Yet perming Black people’s hair makes it straight and perming White people’s hair makes it curly.  

In other words, human beings are different versions of the same thing. So we cannot accept the lie that Africans are inherently inferior beings. 
That said, our superstructure or the ideas and systems that guide us are surely inferior. 
This infantile belief in mysticism may serve as a sedative to insurrectionary forces by convincing them that Mobutu is Le Guide (the guide) and the Bachwezi are immortal.

But what does such thinking (it is hardly thought) leave behind? Does it contribute to the sum of human rationality?  
I will let you answer that. 
It is time we started investing in solid thought. This means boosting the arts and sciences so that what our country leaves behind is more than just a series of cautionary tales. 
Actor Morgan Freeman’s character in the movie Lucy summed it up succinctly: 

“You know... If you think about the very nature of life-I mean, on the very beginning, the development of the first cell divided into two cells-the sole purpose of life has been to pass on what was learned. There was no higher purpose. So if you’re asking me what to do with all this knowledge you’re accumulating, I say... Pass it on...”
Is knowledge about the Bachwezi passing on anything of value? If it were, then we would not be in the fine mess we find ourselves in. 

To be great, we must think great. True, our efforts are often circumscribed by external actors. The scourge of imperialism cannot be gainsaid. 
We are hamstrung as a neocolony. This has been our fate, but does not have to be our destiny. 
It is our thinking that got us colonised, and it is our thought that will liberate us.

Mr Matogo is a professional copywriter  
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