Universalisation of development led by religion through "activism"

Mainland and His People

Much has been said and tested about development theorization, but less has been translated into development as understood by the people.

This does not necessarily correspond to the West or any other relatively developed region, but what matters is to make sure that the speech is in keeping with the lives of the people on the ground .

They did quite well from time to time and brought the hope of a better Africa if people chose to use it instrumental for meaningful development away from its manipulation.

Religion, as it was before, during and after colonization, remains a key aspect in the life of many African societies.

Given the experiences, it can be said that apart from the human quest for mercy and blessings, the majority of African societies embraced religion individually and collectively for nothing but as a status symbol of civilization

. This is especially true with the advent of foreign belief systems such as Christianity and Islam, which literally disintegrated pre-existing socio-political systems of Africa, including African religions. time, as a colonization weapon. In 1965, Jomo Kenyatta said that when Christian missionaries came, they brought us the Bible and asked us to close our eyes, but when we open our eyes, we have the Bible and they have the earth.

While evidence linking Islam to colonization may be rare and rare, its selective application during the pre-colonial era would have facilitated the famous slave trade that stole from Africa. its wealth and creative brain and abundant work force that could have been used to build the continent on the heights of other developed countries by modern standards.

Commenting on the levels of development that Africa had achieved at the time Howard Zinn, famed American history professor, was telling that the type of roads and urban planning that he had found in Benin With other testimonies attesting to the stage of tacit development to which Africa had arrived before colonization, one can reasonably assume that if she had had all the resources and was free from any form of manipulation and the exploitation, Africa could have been far now, maybe overtaking or tied with Europe or North America.

The foreign religious umbrella engulfed Africa even more than where it began, mainly because it penetrated and succeeded in sweeping the weak and yet unified religious possessions that existed in the regions where Christianity and Islam have been introduced all over the continent.

The volatility of Africa does not only manifest itself in religious affairs, it also affected other areas of crucial importance for its fate, preventing it from occurring. install and continue a known development program.

It can thus be said that Africa is a shifting continent whose unity, though well conceived, is subject to betrayal at any time if there is even few incentives to deflect a member of an already agreed program.

Up to now, religion continues to exert tight control over most African societies on several fronts, positively and negatively, a situation fueled by the enumeration of denominations in recent years, which has had an impact both deep and deep.

Various religious institutions are involved in the planning and delivery of services at the local and international levels in a number of African countries ranging from education, health, water, and water. sanitation, to the extent that rely on them to respond to citizens.

Developmental planning and service delivery by most religious institutions is, however, not very extensive, and they remain largely selective in focusing on the faith-subscribing or targeted population.

Speaking of the dominant religious followers, it would be revealed that Christians would largely listen to their fellow Christians and that Muslims would do it, with the totality of experience making the development and the implementation, in most cases.

This lack of a universal approach to development in the instrumentalization of religion could be bridged by using the older approaches used during liberation struggles in various countries, where the goal of uprooting the world of religion and religion is one of the most important. exploitation exceeded the differences that existed between the different subgroups. It is for these reasons that Tanzania's decolonization efforts took on the color of Islam, at least along the coastal strip, and then spread to other parts of the country. , welcoming faithful Christians like Julius Nyerere of the Catholic faith.

Other examples of the use of religious mobilization to combat injustices include the formation of African churches culminating in such movements as Kimbanguism, a Christian sect dedicated to decolonization, which dominated in neighboring regions of Zambia, Congo and Malawi

It should be emphasized that the use of religion for political organization and development has not started today. but since the earliest times of the kingdoms renowned under Sundiata Keita and Askia Mohamed, among others, between the 9th and 13th century when kingdoms like Ghana, Songhai and Mali existed.

Some communities remained true to their African convictions even as they organized for political causes, as evidenced by the Maji Maji resistance in 1905 in colonial Tanganyika where the leader, Kinjeketile Ngwale, increased the morale of his people by watering him with holy water, thus cultivating the belief that no bullet would harm them.

Adopting the activist approach to religious unification in achieving development goals could be an effective approach in African contexts that are largely dominated by religious beliefs that divide people rather than bring them closer together. .

The obscure approach of "divide and conquer" that most developing countries use for religious development efforts can further weaken the nations that make their people lose their jobs but become a miracle for things that require dedication and practicality.

This approach will require collaborative efforts by religious institutions, political decision-makers and civil society, and will also need these people to detach themselves from their religious belongings during the mission in order to avoid prejudices during the process.

* Francis Semwaza is a communication consultant for development based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. E-mail: [email protected]; Telephone: 0716466044.