ABSTRACT
After the Berlin Conference, which partitioned the continent into distinct portions and worked as guides for the colonial masters, most African countries were under the jurisdiction of foreign governments at one time or another. True sons of the soil, who also happened to be nationalists, like as Kwame Nkrumah, Obafemi Awolowo, Kenneth Kaunda, and others, battled valiantly for these countries’ independence, and so came self-governance.
Following independence and the departure of the colonial masters, these educated nationalists set out to create an ideology for Africa that would lead them to the Promised Land. One of these philosophies is Kwame Nkrumah’s ‘Consciencism,’ which aims to prepare the road for economic and political progress.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
According to African statesmen, even after handing independence to the colonies they governed, the whites left the concept of neo-colonialism as a parting present to the Africans. Neo-colonialism is a condition in which the black guy perceives himself to be inferior to Europeans and finds psychological fulfillment only by interacting with them. The vestiges of neocolonialism can still be seen today. Any product with an African origin is never valued by an African. He prefers products with “made in China” or “made in America” labels, as well as other foreign seals.
This situation prompted African philosophers such as Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Leopold Senghor, Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, and others to go on a quest for ‘African identity,’ which they conveyed in their writings.
One of Africa’s statesmen, Kwame Nkrumah, proposed the philosophy of ‘Consciencism.’ This philosophy is an anti-colonial exercise. It promoted a social revolution that would be fueled by an intellectual revolution. This was stated explicitly in the opening sentence of the book’s first chapter. “Practice without thought is blind; thought without practice is empty,” he observed1.
The central theme of this endeavor will be Kwame Nkrumah’s concept of “Consciencism.” It is important to note that Consciencism is a distillation of Nkrumah’s ideological worldview focused at African economic and political freedom. Consciencism had reached a point in its growth where the ferocious African yearning for freedom, unity, and identity needed to be addressed.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Kwame Nkrumah’s ideology, which he promoted for African development, is founded on materialism. The absolute and autonomous existence of matter3 is the bare minimum of materialism’s claims. Looking at it from this perspective, it becomes clear that Nkrumah’s ‘philosophical consciencism,’ as he calls it, cannot be reconciled with the religious realities of African civilization, because the importance of spirits and souls in African society cannot be overstated.
“Conciencism is erroneous in regarding any political system as interdependent with some specific metaphysical philosophy,” writes Paulin Houtondji.
4. If political theories need to be justified, “it must be political justification, belonging to the same level of speech,” according to him.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
One of the main goals of this initiative is to present Nkrumah’s solution to the African predicament caused by colonial occupation on African territory.
Another key goal of this project is to assess Nkrumah’s proposed solution in order to determine whether or not it will be effective in Africa’s quest for progress in every aspect
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study’s relevance is that it demonstrates that if ‘philosophical consciencism’ is treated in the way Kwame Nkrumah proposed, Africa’s growth and progress will be unstoppable.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study will be limited to a summary of Nkrumah’s decolonization ideas. Nonetheless, when examining his ideology, consideration will be given to his influences, the work “Consciencism” itself, and the circumstances surrounding the ideology’s formulation.
METHODOLOGY
We will use an analytical and critical approach to this project’s work. It will be analytical in nature, with each subject being broken down into simple language.
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