The Power of Storytelling – “Africa is Not A Country”, a lecture delivered by Dipo Faloyin

Report by Binta Barrie, Y12, St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School.

Once upon a time, on an early autumn evening, sixth form students and teachers from far and wide settled in to listen to a story – not a fun story, not a particularly nice story, but a necessary story, a largely untold story that is essential to an understanding of the geography of modern Africa. Our storyteller was none other than Dipo Faloyin, author of the bestseller Africa is Not A Country and acclaimed journalist. And so, after an insightful talk on applying to study Geography at university by Dr Harry West (UWE), we prepared to explore the foundations of the geography of modern Africa via its history, especially colonial history.

Dipo Faloyin started by challenging our widely-held stereotypes of the continent of Africa. We learned that when people think of Africa, they think often of poverty, safari and very little else, especially those who are members of older generations. This view of Africa contrasts with Dipo’s (and that of many people who have family in Africa), who consider the continent to be incredibly diverse. There are over 250 languages in Nigeria alone, and over 3000 languages spoken across the entire continent. So, the thought-provoking question was posed, “Why can we only think of a handful of things to describe such a diverse continent?” The short answer: Colonialism.

We then dove straight into colonial geographies, touching on the Berlin Conference in 1884-85, when European powers met to carve up the continent of Africa between themselves. This is actually why the majority of African borders are straight lines, as they were – quite literally – drawn with a ruler. In fact, we heard that about 30% of the borders in Africa are straight lines. However, as Mr Faloyin touched upon, this created many issues for the people living on the continent, such as border disputes due to the tumultous nature of the borders, such as being based on the course of a river (that often changes). Another issue is the forced proximity of different, sometimes warring tribes, who had done well to stay away from each other, and the splitting up of other tribes between borders. This was intentional though, as Dipo Faloyin goes on to explain – it was part of the European strategy to ‘divide and rule’, by heightening tensions between groups and creating confusion so that the Africans of this new country have no chance of fighting back against brutal rule.

Even after countries in Africa gained their independence, the tribal divide exacerbated by the colonisers has led to many civil wars and even genocide in some African countries. An example Mr Faloyin used is Rwanda, with the tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi tribal groups leading to a genocide with one million ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutu killed in 1994, tensions that were initially propagated by the German and Belgian forces in the area during colonisation, when an an unfair class divide was set up between the two tribes. He touched on the current collective struggle for Africans to adopt a nationalist identity by saying, “My parents are older than the Nigeria that they call home.” This was a very deep and thought-provoking sentiment, and is a perfect summary of the long-lasting damage done to the people of Africa.

Looking at the present situation and into the future, Dipo Faloyin made us aware of the difficulties that the new countries had in the 1960s after the transition to independence, inheriting an economic system that was not set up to benefit them in any way, with people that they still see as ‘other’, in a country that isn’t really a country. He spoke about how the African countries have begun to pick up the pieces of colonialism, with varying levels of success, but instilled a level of hope for the future, with countries such as Botswana, for example, managing to avoid the resource curse with the discovery of diamonds. However, he also stressed the importance of dismantling harmful stereotypes that are still present today, such as the Eurocentric view that the whole of Africa is a ‘charity case’ (using the example of the Band Aid song, “Do They Know it’s Christmas”), leading to ignorance of the economic development of Africa.

I think I speak for everyone who attended when I say that we all learned a great deal that evening. For me, as someone with heritage from the previously colonised country of Kenya, it was enlightening to hear in an academic sense what I had previously only heard from family members, in what felt like the biggest open secret of my grandparents’ generation. Going back to Kenya, you can see the remnants of colonialism, but also the efforts of its people to make do with what they have and move forward in a system that was never set up to benefit them. For me, the story of modern Africa is a story of endurance and resilience against all the odds stacked up against its inhabitants.

For all the people who attended the lecture and learned something new, I recommend reading Africa is Not a Country for a more in-depth history of Africa and the horrors it endured over decades of brutal colonial rule. I urge everyone to become more educated on the subject in order to actively break down stereotypes entrenched in our society, and to see the continent of Africa, and other colonised countries in a different, more positive light.

I would like to thank Dipo Faloyin for his incredible storytelling, whilst managing to include every vital piece of information to educate us effectively. This was a history lesson we geographers needed. I would also like to thank the Bristol Branch of the Geographical Association for hosting such an event, and for all the teachers that took the time after school to support us at this event.