Book starts sarcastically (but sadly reflecting the zeitgeist) with this statement on the first page that sets the tone and clues you in as to what is ahead:
[Insert generic African proverb here. Ideally an allegory about a wise monkey and his interaction with a tree, or the relationship between the donkey and the ant that surprisingly speaks to the grand gestures of valor.
Sign it off: Ancient African Proverb]
Since the author is originally from Nigeria, Part 1 talks about that country and particularly about the City of Lagos, vibrant & chaotic, smelling like fresh fruit and diesel, its hustle culture, maddening traffic, people eating suya (a kind of grilled meat), and how it doesn't look/feel like many other parts of Africa. It points out that if you go on a safari tour of Lagos, it will probably involve finding the shrewdest car mechanic on the planet and large bountiful markets but not the five big game animals. Parts 2 & 3 discuss in good detail, how African countries were created by Europeans drawing lines on the map, often sitting in Europe, that ended up carving nations that didn't make much practical sense from language, people, culture points of view, that later also helped sow a lot of hatred leading to decades of wars & conflicts. It also gets into the how Africa is always portrayed as a bunch of poverty-stricken people with sick children that are accompanied by flies buzzing around, that had to be saved by white savior imagery. There is an apt Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (famous writer) quote saying, "If all I knew about Africa were from popular images, I too would think that Africa was a place of beautiful landscapes, beautiful animals and incomprehensible people, fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty and AIDS, unable to speak for themselves."
While the continent has 54 countries, 2000 dialects, 3000 ethnic groups and more than a billion people, next part does delve into the reasons Africa is often seen as hopeless. Author touches upon seven different dictatorships some of which have lasted multiple decades even though the big man on top is not even being seen anywhere, as they are too old and medically unfit. These countries do struggle with corruption, violence, tribal warfare, including famines that paints them in miserable light. Dictatorship stories get into enough detail about European and American support and interest that had often led to these deplorable situations. Part five that delves into Hollywood's portrayal of Africa that has contributed to so much of negative perception (even when it is supposedly well intentioned) and often being the reason that the continent is perceived as one single country (since movies portray some generic version of Africa without distinguishing countries and cultures) is very valid, but felt a bit stretched to make the point. Sections on African stolen artifacts that fill the museums in several cities of Europe and the US and how these countries & museums dance around in floral language to avoid giving back the stolen goods is vivid and valid. Consider watching this LWT segment by John Oliver dissecting this topic.
One of my Intel team members named Oluseyi Adejuwon, is originally from Nigeria. When I was invited to attend one of their family functions few years ago (see attached pix), ate Jollof Rice for the first time and learned about its cultural significance. So, thoroughly enjoyed the way one of the last parts dealing with Jollof Rice is written. Nice prose while being funny. Book ends with the question "what is next?" and answers that question, as you'd expect, with "African people need to decide". I always felt I don't know as much about Africa as I do about Asia, Europe or NA. Since I remain curious, I do plan to travel to Africa in the forthcoming years. Would also love to visit universities there, give lectures, talk to faculty & students. So far, my attempts to reach out to universities there to develop connections to offer free voluntary tech lectures haven't yielded any meaningful results. If you have contacts, LMK. If not, consider giving this book a read or at least catch a movie or two made in Nollywood (as the Nigerian movie industry is called), South Africa or even Egypt. Saying that since they are all low budget movies, set in contemporary times, and not big budget productions that tries to transport you to another period or place. Thus, they tend to give little insights into how those societies currently function. I have seen many shows and movies, on Netflix, during plane rides and so on, and found them interesting.
