Incorporate cultural values into education curriculum—Pan-Africanist

Africans have been urged to appreciate their cultural values and incorporate them in their educational curriculum, Mr Albie Walls, a Pan-Africanist has said.

According to him, Africans had neglected their cultural values and resorted to foreign ones which were inimical to the African development.

Mr Walls made the call during the Du Bois-Padmore-Nkrumah Memorial Lecture held in Accra yesterday.

On the theme: “African liberation and the problem of identification: An issue of globalised Africa,” the yearly lecture series seeks to recognise the immense contributions and achievements of Dr William E.B Du Bois, Mr George Padmore and Dr Kwame Nkrumah towards Pan-Africanism.

Mr Walls, also a staunch member of All African People’s Revolutionary Party noted that even though not all Africans had lost their identity, most of them had been confused about their identity.

He urged Africans to teach their children to be proud of their culture and identity and not only about slavery and colonisation.

“Africans need to first discover that we are strong people, even to resist the 100 of years of oppression is not something easily to be done so when we do this we could become great people and be proud of that,” he added.

The Acting Director of the Dubois Centre, Rev. Reuben Kwadzofio said even though Africans had been liberated politically, there were some other areas which had not been completely liberated.

The areas he said included our way of dressing, minds, language among others which had hindered the African culture.

“African identity now is diffuse, you can’t see somebody now and identify that, the person is an African or not because they have taken to western culture of which the mass media is playing a critical role,” he stated.

Mr Kwadzofio called on Africans to revisit their identity and consciously inculcate it into the educational system to enable the young ones to identify their routes and also embrace the African culture.

“Our target is to set up pan-African clubs in schools and colleges such that the basic characters of an African can be taught in schools, and once this is done we know that our culture can be sustained,” he stated.

BY VIVIAN ARTHUR