A CRITIQUE OF KWAME NKRUMAH’S CONSCIENCISM

Abstract

One of the effects of colonialism in Africa is the erosion of some of Africa’s unique identities through acculturation. The problem has never been the issue of Africans' open-mindedness towards new and better ideas, but rather the inability of most Africans to truly and consciously pick up these new ideas for use without the brainwashing and forceful imposition of some of these ideas on Africans by the colonialists. Colonialism ended decades ago, but the confusion created by this conflicting way of life is what Africans have continued to grapple with. In the poem of Gabriel Okara, "Piano and Drum," one is made to see the average African man in the middle of two cultural systems. Needless to say, this has resulted in so many issues in Africa today, most notably mind colonialism and imperialism. In fact, Nkrumah alluded to the fact that Neocolonialism is the last stage of imperialism. In trying to address this issue, Nkrumah came up with a new ideology called Philosophical Consciencism. He believes that this ideology will help resolve the confusion of the average African man. However, this ideology did not really work in Africa due to some of its shortfalls. This paper attempts to look at the historical trajectory of Kwame Nkrumah as an African nationalist and the birth of Philosophical Consciencism. The paper examines some of the positive implications of philosophical consciousness if adopted in Africa. The paper concludes by carrying out an x-ray on why Nkrumah’s philosophy failed in Ghana and why it could not be adopted by other African countries that were being colonized and equally facing similar challenges.