Racism And The African Predicament: A Critical Interpretation and Deconstruction of Oguejiofor’s Externalist Argument

ABSTRACT
This article is a critical interpretation and deconstruction of Oguejiofor’s analysis
of the African predicament. That most African countries in the 21st century are
still suffering severe political and socioeconomic conditions is incontestable. The
point of contestation among scholars is on the remote and immediate cause(s) of
the political and socioeconomic predicaments in contemporary Africa. This article
is a clinical examination of the position of the Nigerian philosopher, Josephat Obi
Oguejiofor using the philosophical tools of critical analysis and argumentation.
After a careful study of the works of Oguejiofor on the African predicament, we
assert that Oguejiofor is an externalist in the sense that he tends to argue that the
major factor(s) responsible for the predicaments of post-colonial Africa is/are
external rather than internal. Our contention is that Oguejiofor’s externalist
argument is valid. However, we point out that his externalist argument did not
vividly explain “why” Africans are yet to liberate themselves from the heinous
heritage of slave trade and colonialism like other people have done and “how”
Africans can overcome their predicament and develop their continent. To wit, the
basic submission of the article is that the primary cause and fundamental factor
that have continued to vitiate Africans’ efforts toward overcoming their
predicament even in the contemporary world is racism; and that Africa’s
predicament can hardly be overcome until our institutions of learning begin to
produce a “thinking” public instead of a “nodding” public.