Garrulous Ego Trip Gang: Tale of woe in African intellectualism

By Metuge Ekane

THE LACK of transfiguration in low-impact African academia with regards to cultivated and insensate academics is largely accountable for Africa’s incapacity to reinvent, transform, and redeem the material condition of the African people.
Although this project is essentially a tale of woe regarding the largely unresponsive African academia, it is also methodical in its orientation in a measure to divulge the sub rosa and hegemonic regimes which preclude objective rationality in African intellectualism.
Transfiguration is a prerequisite to transformation. The conceptual idea is that responsiveness and transformation are essentially about the pursuit of relative gains. In Africa, transformation can only be achieved when African people start observing Africa through African lenses.
This project is intended for researchers and students of Africa as they would be introduced to introspective intuition as a fundamental framework for societal remediation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Release date: Nov 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9789178515998

Metuge Ekane

Metuge Ekane is a political science researcher who is keenly passionate about the [comprehensive] remediation of politically embattled and sociologically shattered societies. He is also the author of Garrulous Ego Trip Gang.

Book preview

equivalent.

Project statement

This project is essentially a satirical repository that scrutinizes the subversion of allegorical regimes of objective rationality by schemes of political opportunism and intellectual posturing in African intellectualism.

Although the project may not necessarily be considered as a handbook, it is designed to provide academics and laymen in Africa south of the Sahara a grounding in self-evaluative soul-searching as a fundamental framework for innovative proficiency and societal remediation. The project throws light on the ways in which academics can contribute in generating reforms as it proposes a political pathway that would institute contextual rigor by introducing effective research attitudes which will reorient African academics towards a reflexive outlook. This outlook may assist in eliminating dependency on methodological dogma and vapid intellectual opportunism that propagates persuasive self-enslavement, and thereby impeding transformation.

By assuming the position as an unrepentant sociopolitical controversialist, it is intended that the reader will transcend the realities of his or her own subjective mental model like the sublime child. Political opportunism and intellectual posturing as indicated above are blatantly integral to the realities of subjective human rationality which often culminates in appalling sociological atrocity, self-absorption, and even self-consciousness. As a banal consequence, intellectual and emotional primitivism would appear as a recognition of existence (Fanon, 1967: 32). That notwithstanding, as long as self-evaluative soul searching is not about either comprehending emotional instability or predicting human conduct, it is simply presupposed that intrinsic cultural barriers would be challenged and diminished once vibrant introspective intuition becomes a norm for every piece of intellectual activity or industrial endeavor.

In other words, the idea is not necessarily about making a situational analysis through a gripping narrative that would be limited merely in a description of a series of incapacitating events regarding African intellectualism. Rather, it is about attempting a type of sociological leucotomy through a situational diagnosis that would enable an understanding as to why people behave in particularly disruptive ways in a given society. In this sense therefore, the intention is to foster an introspective school of thought by encouraging people to examine their own judgments with an exceptional emphasis on the composite interplay between intra-personal interactions, inter-personal relationships, intellectual interventionism, utility-maximization, and innovative ingenuity.

Therefore, the composite project synthesizes comprehensive rationality as propounded by Herbert Simon (Allison and Zelikow, 1999: 19-20); groundings on utilitarianism; and different doctrines of black liberation. While Rastafarai as a prophetic and liberating force could be seen as one such prominent aspects of this rather doctrinal approach, this project essentially espouses W.E.B Du Bois’ emotively poignant treatise on ‘double-consciousness’ as brilliantly expounded by Frantz Fanon with an invocation of vapid emotional primitivism. Moreover, the project is also inspired by concepts such as ‘metaphysical guilt’ and ‘cultural mummification’ as propounded by Frantz Fanon (1967: 18 and 34); concepts which preclude intellectual self-assurance among academics across Africa south of the Sahara.

According to Johnson-Hill; ‘The Rastafarai doctrine seems to entail ongoing stressful encounters with institutional authorities’ (Johnson-Hill, 1995: 45). Johnson-Hill further notes that Rastafarai literature is replete with calls for fundamental social change based on equal rights and justice that is articulated through a dynamic involving the evolving critique of the status quo, as grounded in the Biblical prophets’ denunciation of Babylon. Moreover, Johnson-Hill emphasizes that Rastafarai I and I concept concerns with such issues as exploitation by multinational corporations and the production of nuclear weapons indicating the extent to which they seek to express creatively a prophetic message in the contemporary age (Johnson-Hill, 1995: 332). In brief, the comprehensive synthesis is premised on harnessing the composite transformative potential of the complex interplay between introspection, utility-maximization and liberty as a source of potency, and the basis of an encompassing sociological order.

In this comprehensive and promising approach thus, the scientific relevance of intellectual responsiveness is considered to be inextricably interwoven with local societal exigencies. In this sense, a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of transformative change will be facilitated by emancipated sensibility and the transformative power of education as highlighted via dispassionate intellectualism. This would divulge the quintessential value of the potent robot-person as opposed to the rather vapid ineffectiveness that is enshrined in the notions of self-absorption and self-conscious intellectualism.

Moreover, a comprehensive understanding would imply that curiosity and intellectual rigor are employed in tandem as prefaces to inquiry and far-sighted innovations. These innovations will ultimately be facilitated by polities and policies that are based on encompassing and dispassionate institutional designs, as well as domestically-oriented sociopolitical regimes that are tailored for specific local communities. In brief, such comprehensive regimes and institutional designs would be established through aggregating local polities such as tribal polities in various societies in Africa south of the Sahara in a measure to achieve the orgasmic state of comprehensive remediation in those societies.

Finally, we must emphasize the interplay between observational curiosity and intellectual reorientation as a function of intellectual self-assurance and sharpened responsiveness.

The intellectual reorientation of African academics is essentially premised on the sociological admonition against the incapacitating core belief that fosters the treatment of the stupendously uprooted African academics as the nobility. If intellectual reorientation presupposes some level of transformation (in terms of cognitive rehabilitation, self-preservation and self-improvement) when perceived as the quintessence of awakening, then the political education that is engendered by this intellectual reorientation process would contribute in stimulating African academics to reinvent the stringency of their childlike curiosity through an introspective dialogue. The ‘Nchume’ bwel’ concept would constitute an essential part of this introspective impulse. Through a vein of satirical anger arising from introspection thus, the African academics would awaken in themselves the intelligence of their very own sublime child, as they become stimulated into repairing and redeeming their faltering cognition. This will be effectuated with the utmost grace amid the gradual reinstatement of regimes of objective rationality. This redemption will necessitate a combination of modern and traditional methods in knowledge production and transmission. In sum, ‘Nchume’ bwel’ would enable the transition from the nobility to communal humility. That is, from relative obscurity to clairvoyant labour by dealing with extremes on both ends of the spectrum in a rather symmetrical way.

SECTION I: TRANSFORMATIVE OUTLOOK

AFRICAN ACADEMIC CONUNDRUM AND THE

ENLIGHTENMENT TREATISE

‘Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, and fulfill it, or betray it’.

- Frantz Fanon

Academia is the axiomatic bastion of revolutionary thinking and it serves both as a seat of intellectual responsiveness and a vehicle of progress. In nations that have been harassed by unresolved problems, academia has contributed with the provision of useful mission-critical tools and interventionist ideas that have assisted in transforming those nations in innumerable ways. Without a doubt, the grand ideas, diligence, and attitudes of progressive academics have had a palpable effect in the institution of groundbreaking reforms in various innovative regions of the world, especially those that were once considered as rural backwater. I am referring to those erstwhile unsophisticated regions in the heartland of the Northern Hemisphere that were bedeviled by seemingly insurmountable impediments, and thereafter committed their course of action towards innovative change. Today, those regions are experiencing a post-industrial watershed wherein service industries such as the banking sector, empathetic health care and tourism have taken center stage.

The intellectual arena in an innovative society is composed of a triad of distinct hallmarks. These include: a domestically-oriented social institution; a structural arrangement based on the vertebrate order; an academic space of complex interactions where power is exercised and informed choice is made. These three features constitute the basis upon which strident insularity, intellectual alternatives and intellectual opportunism are examined with the objective of diminishing any effects that may contribute in the propagation of incapacitating disorderliness. For the fledgling and insensate but ambitious African researcher, a potent example to illustrate this intricate dynamics is the expansive and multi-dimensional Japoma Sports Complex in the sprawling metropolis of Douala. This multifaceted sports edifice is distinctly future-proofed and it includes an ingeniously innovative stadium with an elliptical framework that is currently under construction in Cameroon with a staggering capacity of fifty thousand seats.

The Japoma stadium itself is a unique architectural marvel whose unparalleled conception cannot be overstated. The localized conception process involved a team of hired cultural advisers who studied the work and inter-personal interactions of local craftspeople to produce a whirlwind-like outer-shape which reflect the creative process and creations of traders on the streets of Douala (Cladglobal.com). Thus, the stadium’s exquisite ergonomic structure; its delicate and artistic craftsmanship, and its impeccably conceptual innovation ultimately crowns the majestic structure with an unprecedented particularity. To paraphrase the lead architect, Luciano Di Domenico: ‘The stadium takes the form of a woven basket that is crafted by local tradespeople, and which is popularly found on the streets of Douala. Moreover, the stadium’s color system is based on the beads and fabric creations found on Douala’s many market stalls’ (Cladglobal.com). In brief, the triad of distinct hallmarks as mentioned above, and as typified by the magnificent Japoma stadium can be seen as an unsparing depiction of the sinews of a functional intellectual arena in a society that has embraced innovation.

We have to be mindful of the fact that grand ideas, avant-garde methods and progressive attitudes require a structurally sound and impressive organizational framework for groundbreaking reforms to be achieved. Such a methodically orchestrated framework is equipped to minimize and reverse even the most disruptive effects of oppression such as despondency, powerlessness, foolhardy recrimination, habituation, and egocentric opportunism. These effects constitute the basis of recreational hostility which Rasta scholar Barry Chevannes speaks of in terms of ‘ritualized aggression’ with regards to the notion of ‘screw face’ (Murrell et al., 1998: 51). Armed with this towering scientific understanding, intellectual schemes, political regimes, and oppressive frameworks that are designed to incapacitate people in the transitional process within a society will all be well-regulated to produce well-adjusted people. This will be effectuated through comprehensive institutional principles; the aggregation of societal norms, as well as the exercise of power amid consummate and encompassing intellectual bargaining.

It is important to emphasize that the distinctive triad of features that are characteristic of an innovative society as indicated above, are intended to emphasize the significance of methodically orchestrated orderliness. While the mechanisms of such orderliness have often been understated, I esteem it necessary to highlight the composite implications of proper organization in an economically and intellectually stagnating dystopia that harbors aspirations and a vivid imagination of transformational change. In such a dystopia, the vertebrate order would ensure that exceptional perspicacity undermines the ritualized pursuit of relative gains and the insular proclivities of academics. On its part, the institutional framework will ensure that complex interactions follow well-defined and tasteful arrangements, making it difficult for such interactions to serve as a preclusion to cooperation within the intellectual public sphere.

The relevance of methodically orchestrated orderliness to the prevailing state of affairs in countries with a dizzying pace of political change is striking. As a general rule, such orderliness is governed by a noble regime of objective rationality which remains the foundational basis of effectiveness and efficiency. In other words, building reason strictly upon factual observation as enshrined in the notion of situational awareness is an exceptionally reliable way through which the success rate of a particular operation can be maximized. Nevertheless, when regimes of objective rationality get subverted by lurid schemes of political opportunism and intellectual posturing; gross misconduct, graphic disobedience and disorderly proclivities ensue as a consequence. This could be said to be the case with the myriads of self-imposed leaders who act on the basis of grossly vapid institutional minimization. We must regard methodically orchestrated orderliness as a derivation of objective rationality which in turn is an offshoot of dispassionate intellectualism. In sum, methodically orchestrated orderliness is integral to reason and intellectual potency as Cameroon’s abortive preparation to host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations football tournament will instructively illustrate.

On the 30th of November 2018 the Confederation of African football, CAF announced that Cameroon had been disallowed from hosting the 2019 African Nations Cup. When the institution’s president, the Malagasy national Ahmad Ahmad publicized the decision, millions of inconsolable Cameroonians were uncontrollably gripped by extreme cynicism and compulsive lamentation over the withdrawal of the competition from Cameroon by CAF. While it may be comforting for Cameroonians to know that their country is proudly among the most successful football nations in the colorful list of fifty six member associations on CAF’s official website (Cafonline.com), the unsettling decision about the disqualification remained dismaying. Without having to exaggerate, disconsolate flagellation was pervasive in the football-loving country, and the prospect of having to start all over again filled hordes of people with consternation.

Nonetheless, with level-headed introspection, the entire nation would easily come to terms with the justifications of this rather anticipated disqualification which arose from an inexorable societal malfunction. One cannot overemphasize the fact that the lack of a potent organizational framework that operates under the auspices of the vertebrate order was largely accountable for several cases of institutionalized malpractice and malfeasance. In this sense, the prestigious project was deeply flawed by inadequate prioritization from the outset. The intellectual justification for the withdrawal of the competition from Cameroon can be summed up in the acerbic assertion of CAF’s second vice president, the Congolese civil engineer Constant Omari Selemani who stated in a rather conciliatory tone in an exclusive interview:

‘We have decided to valorize the competition… The reality is that there is a delay in the construction of infrastructure… and Cameroon will not be ready on the basis of the facts on the ground... We want this debate to leave the political sphere and remain strictly in the technical domain… Let us leave the emotional debate and face the practicalities’. (Afrique Media)

The explication offered by Constant Omari reflects the notion of dispassionate intellectualism which urges to depart from a prima facie conclusion of injustice that gripped a wide segment of the Cameroonian society. Dependence on rocket science is practically needless if one opts to liken that segment of the Cameroonian society to a firetrap. Inasmuch as perceptions of injustice will not extinguish the flames of uncertainty that have been sparked by the withdrawal of the hosting rights from Cameroon, only the most elaborate preparations would enable that uncertainty to play a decisive role in altering the course of events when it comes to the prospect of hosting the African Nations Cup in the future. Thus, the disqualification of Cameroon may be perceived as a critical juncture for the country’s progress, and Constant Omari’s dispassionate acerbity would serve a distinct causal role as a prime motivating force for transformation. The state of preparedness is inextricably interwoven with the virtues of dispassionate intellectualism as exemplified by Contant Omari’s unsparing evaluation which Cameroonians are largely unaccustomed to. While many Cameroonians may hastily disapprove of the depiction of incapacity, Constant Omari’s caustic assertion reflects a dysfunctional society in which self-conscious intellectualism continues to override dispassionate intellectualism as enshrined in the vertebrate organizational order.

To paraphrase Arjun Appadurai, the John Dewey Professor in the Social Sciences at the New School, where he is also Senior Adviser for Global Initiatives; ‘A vertebrate order is symbolized by its underlying assumption of an orderly framework that is guaranteed by a variety of norms, institutions, protocols, and written agreements which ensure that interaction is governed by symmetrical principles (Appadurai, 2006: 25). Although Appadurai’s compelling notion of a distinctive vertebrate world structure was established as part of an essay about his idea on the ‘geography of anger’, the overall balancing effect of the vertebrate system can simply not be frivolously reduced as an issue of peripheral significance in his biting vignette of globalization: a compact treatise of one hundred and fifty three pages that is titled ‘Fear of Small Numbers’. Based on the discourse of cooperation, we could hereby conclude that the vertebrate order fosters not just the perception, but also the actuality of the mutuality of benefits’ concept. The vertebrate order is both an institution and a regime into which protocols and symmetrical principles are subsumed.

Furthermore, the intellectual relevance of the vertebrate system cannot be overstated in discussions pertaining to the transitional process in the intellectual arena. Even as the vertebrate system was directed towards nation-states, in particular; and the world systems analysis generally, the analogy has particular pertinence in the intellectual arena with regards to adaptive preferences, owing to its undeniably expansive appeal in reconstituting perceptions and attitudes through symmetrical principles. Moreover, the vertebrate systems, of which the nation-states may be the largest and most extensive in scale, are not necessarily centralized or hierarchical (Appadurai, 2006: 25). Thus, one could argue that the intellectual arena constitutes a flexible framework, as well as an extremely regulated social space wherein ingenious lucidity, responsive strategies, and power are all nurtured and harnessed by cultivated academics and even insensate academics. Amid this rather compelling dynamics, informed choice, orderliness and symmetrical principles are undeniably enabled by the vertebrate organizational order.

We have to embrace a methodical approach in the application of Appadurai’s insightful treatise on vertebrate system which he distinguishes from cellular system in his brilliant analysis of world systems. Appadurai however admonishes people to take a step back and reflect on the processes that we have come to designate with the word globalization (2006: 21). Congruently, I am admonishing the reader to come to terms with the fact that incorporating the vertebrate system into the intellectual arena is a way of departing from the constraints of both intellectual and sociological insularity which may impinge gravely on intellectual self-assurance. In this sense, the vertebrate structure ensures that the exercise of power during intellectual interactions follows principles that contribute in defusing tensions by undermining the implications of the notion of status, as well as hierarchies in power. The vertebrate structure diffuses the preponderance of power in the intellectual arena to the extent that interactions are somewhat founded on principles of equity. Therefore, researchers and ordinary citizens who valiantly attempt any type of investigation that is premised on the vertebrate system are invited to be exceptionally rigorous about it.

The methodical analysis of the intellectual arena guides my observation that power is purely and simply a matter of reciprocity with regards to intellectual responsiveness. To paraphrase Hannah Arendt; ‘Power belongs to a group and remains in existence only so long as the group keeps together in spite of conflict of interests. Thus, members of a group acting in concert are exercising power (Lukes, 2005: 32-35). With regards to the transitional process in particular, and material transformation in general, we could argue that the exchange of interventionist ideas in the intellectual arena remains an invariable way of exercising power. For power to be exercised as such, interactions must be characterized by competing ideas and informed feedback, as opposed to a consensual basis which may involve the willing but rather stultifying agreement of academics. Summing up, reciprocity and intellectual responsiveness are inextricably interwoven with perceptions that are based on the mutuality of benefits when it comes to effective group dynamics and the exercise of power in the intellectual arena.

Emancipated academia is an intricately competitive social space despite being the vehicle of progress. Within the precincts of an emancipated academia, there is a plethora of academics whose meticulous opinion, innovative inspiration, and ambitious aspirations are considered as authoritative; just as there are scores of pettifogging academics with rather piffling influence. Interestingly however, the balancing nature of the vertebrate order tends to diminish dominant propensities in academic collaboration, even in situations where there is authoritative conflict of interests, as already postulated. While the ramifications of an emancipated academia might appear diffuse to some, I must state that it is through competing ideas and crucial intellectual bargaining that ingenuity, diligence, responsiveness, and groundbreaking reforms are derived.

In many social institutions, there is a good deal of latitude available to members (Haveman and Rao, 1997; Peters, 2012: 40). Even though the stultifying effects of underdevelopment in the heartland of Africa south of the Sahara are to a distinct extent attributable to government policy, the latitude within a tertiary educational social institution should permit extensive intellectual exploration which may in turn generate a variety of possibilities in terms of interventionist ideas. It simply implies that when it comes to such social institutions, there is generally a minimal amount of pressure as far as the imposition of standards of conformity is concerned even as intellectual bargaining remains a challenging process. This may foster a considerable level of stimulating interaction amid the growth of methodically orchestrated ideas. Such interaction would neither preclude purposeful expressiveness from generating the growth of feelings; nor will it prevent inexhaustible intellectual exchanges which may challenge beliefs that are deeply ingrained in particular societies as premised on specific frames of reference. The likelihood that stimulating interaction within an academic social institution would result in far-reaching benefits such as intellectual exploration cannot be seen as being of negligible significance.

Perhaps I need to expatiate upon the issue of government policy as mentioned above and somewhat expound on the role of potent leadership which is often misunderstood. In general, it is commonplace across academia in Africa south of the Sahara for people to erroneously harbor notional expectations that issues related to empowerment, job creation, bridge-building and collaboration are the preserve of government agents, most notably leaders of countries. Congruently, on the streets of various African countries, the overzealous laymen invariably get trapped in choking lamentation over the inability of leaders to motivate the citizenry through various forms of misconceived incentives. As a general rule however, it is the people’s mandate which empowers the leaders to devise instructive schemes that would in turn empower individuals to acquire the skills they require to effectively undertake various activities with the help of avant-garde ideas and methods. In this sense, I offer the following assertion:

The duty of such leaders is essentially to inspire individual citizens by eloquently charting the course of a nation through a potently expansive vision of society; and thereafter, actively coordinating the citizens’ collaborative efforts as a collectivity with regards to realizing that vision once it is wholeheartedly embraced by the citizens.

Leaders can inspire their followers through orchestrated vision, methodical reforms, missionary zeal and religious determination. Inspiration and coordination form the sinews of leadership but I am completely unapologetic in my emphasis on inspiration owing to its encompassing appeal with regards to the whole continuum of effectiveness in personal response or experience. Therefore, the stultifying effects of underdevelopment in the heartland of Africa south of the Sahara would be attributable to government policy mainly when vision, avant-garde ideas and methods, cutting-edged reforms, zeal and determination are not adequately subsumed into the general notion of inspiration.

Further, it must be emphasized that interactions within a social institution exhibit an authoritatively intricate dynamics which, even though governed by rules, is also shaped by resources, given that a social institution is also a well-defined social space. That notwithstanding, a social institution may be considered as a very dynamic and flexible social space wherein creative ideas, passionate enthusiasm, and ingenious lucidity reign supreme. However, a social institution could also be an inestimably constraining sociopolitical arena wherein sacrosanct standards of conformity are stringently propagated and enforced. This latter case is inescapably prevalent in sociologically impregnable regions wherein attitudes and procedures that may upset customary perceptions are inevitably confronted with abject stigmatization, compulsive ostracism, and systematic derision. This aspect shall be discussed in furtherance of the interplay between African scholars and intellectualism; and with regards to in vitro fertilization (IVF) involving a sixty two year old Cameroonian woman who was recently reported to have successfully delivered a baby in the country’s Gynecological Endoscopic Surgery and Human Reproductive Teaching Hospital in Yaounde.

With regards to the heated debates over the role of tertiary institutions in the process of transformative change, one cannot avoid addressing the relevance of diverse patterns of behavior and alternative ways of reasoning. The crucial point is that social institutions themselves such as universities are subject to change even though the change is more gradual and evolutionary than in another social institution like the military (Peters, 2012: 40). The transitional process involves many specific factors in this incremental continuum of transformative change, even though there are really no absolutely standardized pathways towards achieving full-blown transformation. In this sense, no matter how comprehensive and intense interactions are, there are often no guarantees that such interactions will generate ingenious lucidity and potently responsive strategies unless behavior and attitudes are duly inspired by the revolutionary notion of emancipated sensibility.

What is fundamentally noteworthy about social institutions is that they generate emancipated sensibility and responsiveness, with the vertebrate order serving as the pivotal lifeblood of these processes. In universities, for example, a very wide range of behavior is considered acceptable or even ‘normal’ (Peters, 2012: 40). However, for transformation to be achieved, interaction is bound by a special rule to involve emancipated sensibility. As a general principle, procedural interaction within an intellectual social space demonstrates a heightened sense of both commitment and conviction while ensuring that emancipated sensibilities encourage the liberating potential of education. Thus, whenever they manifested themselves in this world in which we live, such sensibilities usually contributed to an enhanced situational awareness which promoted purposeful labor and innovation. Summing up, universities are intended as social institutions whereby situational awareness is enhanced through a knowledge transmission process that is enabled by the concept of emancipated sensibility.

Later on, questions will be raised about whether situational awareness by itself is a fundamental necessity for the transformative outlook. It would be intellectually stimulating to find out if emancipated sensibility can still generate transformation without the notion of situational awareness as it is conceivably upheld by some cultivated academics. For now however, the interest is to address the interplay between knowledge acquisition and transmission, purposeful labor, and innovative change. Although these factors are not overly emphasized in academia across Africa south of the Sahara, in the Northern Hemisphere, purposeful labor and intellectual sacrifice duly and gradually enhanced responsiveness which helped in the remediation and refinement of precarious societies that encapsulated retrogression. Ingenious lucidity and responsive strategies have given rise to high-impact techno-societies with labor and innovation as the unquestionable lifeblood. In brief, with tertiary social institutions of learning, the process of change is a distinctly incremental one.

According to Herbert Marcuse: ‘The concept of labor is central to Karl Marx’s anthropology because it develops essential human potentialities and fulfills basic needs. Labor is thus an activity in which basic human powers are manifest: it develops one’s faculties of reason and intelligence, it exercises bodily capabilities, it is social and communal activity, and it exemplifies human creativity and freedom (Kellner and Pierce, 2014: 30). Innovation, purposeful labor, and responsiveness to local exigencies are monuments to intellectual ingenuity through manifestations of emancipated sensibility which enhance the liberating potential of education.

Returning to the notion of emancipated sensibility, it is noteworthy to mention that this important and revolutionary notion pertains exclusively to Marxian humanism, with an emphasis on the importance of human agency. To paraphrase Douglas Kellner and Clayton Pierce who captured how Herbert Marcuse expounded on Marx’s early vision of an emancipated sensibility;

‘Emancipated sensibility involved developing a revolutionary sensibility within a totally new society that would include new institutions, a new labor system, new human relationships, new human needs and powers which are all dedicated to the fulfillment and realization of many-sided human beings’. (2014: 33)

Given the myriad of coordinated effects such as total revolution, new institutional frameworks, and purposeful labor systems, one discovers that emancipated sensibility is akin to the term enlightened despotism which was an effectively progressive motive force during the Enlightenment. Based on this assertion, one can confidently state that it is inescapably through the effective management of progressive attitudes that grand ideas successfully contribute in delivering groundbreaking reforms. In Europe, coordination was a preserve of the wise despot.

Moreover, as I have already postulated, such attitudes must be expressed through competing ideas and crucial intellectual bargaining for tasteful ingenuity, diligence, responsiveness, and groundbreaking reforms to be derived in a manner that will be in congruence with both the good of the people and the state. Enlightened despotism involved identifying the good of the people with the good of the state and the government would educate the masses to their new task through schools subordinated to the regime (Wandycz, 1993: 107). In brief, it is an axiomatic fact that the coordinated effects of emancipated sensibility as indicated above are invariably interspersed with progressive attitudes, competing ideas, and crucial intellectual bargaining, all of which contribute in the achievement of consummate responsiveness, and groundbreaking reforms.

It could be argued that the insightful treatise on the realization and fulfillment of many-sided human beings, as postulated by Herbert Marcuse’s notion of emancipated sensibility is congruent with purposeful inclusiveness, introspective oversight, and pragmatic coordination. All of these incisive aspects are undeniably enhanced by the liberating potential of education which provides exclusive benefits for various communities. Thus, inclusive activities, involving community members in design, implementation and decision-making, play a valuable role in ensuring that all voices are heard (Mellbourn, 2006: 134). By and large, innovative ingenuity, emancipated sensibility, enlightened despotism and intellectual responsiveness require coordinated action and communal engagement in an organized society that is abound with methodical discipline, comprehensively orchestrated commitment, and introspective sacrifice.

Therefore, once we become interested in addressing the vicissitudes of education in Africa south of the Sahara, human agency and the reliance on emancipated sensibilities will prove to be a touch of genius in manifold ways. Karl Marx argues that human nature is essentially constitutive and historical; he stresses the primacy of human agency, the creative ability to produce objects, and to recognize one’s self and one’s humanity objectified in the human-social world (Kellner and Pierce, 2014: 30). These redemptive tools deserve to be accentuated when establishing a progressive core curriculum in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions across Africa south of the Sahara, and local academics are invited to get with the programme. Such a curriculum would promote and facilitate the generation of new ideas and attitudes within a society, and ramify the impact of responsiveness across several domains as we engage in the comprehensive pursuit of remediation.

Without needing to belabor the point much further, it is imperative to embrace emancipated sensibility and responsiveness purely and simply as factors that have contributed in addressing major historical accidents, and putting societies ahead of the curve in economic development. Moreover, emancipated sensibility would diminish the relevance of adaptive preferences which are largely accountable for the unsettling state of affairs in Africa south of the Sahara. According to Jon Elster;

‘The notion of adaptive preferences is premised on the non-autonomous shaping of agent’s desires and beliefs by factors external to those agents. Adaptive preferences are ‘shaped by the lack of alternatives’ (p.120), and result from a shift in desires supposedly caused by ‘habituation and resignation’ (p. 113), a non deliberate adjustment of desire to the limits of what is seen to be feasible (Lukes, 2005: 135).

The understanding of emancipated sensibility as indicated above must prevail in the modus operandi of social institutions that are charged with the transmission of knowledge such as educational outfits; starting from the elementary, and right up to the tertiary level. Inspired individuals must be at the center of this knowledge transmission process, armed with core competence that is founded on problem-solving, and self-evaluative soul-searching. The vicissitudes of education can certainly not be addressed by people with only a rudimentary grasp of the notion of emancipated sensibility and its ineluctable relevance in relation to revitalizing an educational institution. When it comes to the transitional process therefore, inspirational proficiency that is enshrined in deeply enthusiastic introspection must be the pivot on which responsiveness in a society revolves.

Moreover, if we must devour dependence on short term palliatives in our intellectual social institution in Africa south of the Sahara, then as a matter of necessity, we must discourage the reliance on individuals who only have a nodding acquaintance of the issues involved. The basic argument is that institutions identify and then adapt to changing circumstances in their environment through a process of learning (Peters, 2012: 36). If dependence on human agents could be considered as a matter of hypnotic conditioning and aversion, then it becomes all the more imperative and urgent to find ways to diminish its debilitating and generalizing effects before they become an intolerable existential threat to society.

Emancipated sensibility emphasizes the transformative power of education. Therefore, it heightens the need to get with the programme for the benefit of transformative knowledge transmission that will put Africa ahead of the curve in economic development. Self-regulating and flexible institutions diminish dependence on constraining and disruptive human agents. This provides an exciting and reassuring prospect of transformation for Africa south of the Sahara once emancipated sensibility becomes the norm for ever single piece of action.

Transformation has always been interwoven with transitional developments in various domains. Fredrik Uggla in his doctoral dissertation with regards to new democracies in post-transitional Chile and Uruguay, scrutinizes the dynamics connected with the process of transition to democracy. He states the following:

‘During the transition phase, the endpoint is clear and the forces in struggle are more or less well-defined according to one basic cleavage; or perhaps a few, taking into consideration the usual distinctions between revolutionaries and reformers. However, the sheer multiplicity of arenas, actors, characters, and interests that are not bound together by any particular current but move, rather, in a multitude of directions, is more or less analytically overwhelming’. (Uggla: 2000: 274)

The quotation above is a very precise representation of the distasteful transitional quagmire in general which can be characterized as a significant sociological problem with considerable ramifications. It depicts the tumultuous intricacies that warrants coordinated action and communal engagement in a society that is organized, and in which there must be methodical discipline, comprehensively orchestrated commitment, and introspective sacrifice. These factors have been elaborated already when parallels were drawn between emancipated sensibility and enlightened despotism whereby the government performed the duty of identifying the good of the people with the good of the state amid efforts that undermined peripheral details.

According to Norman Blaikie; ‘A sociological or social problem is a state of affairs that is judged by someone, for example a social scientist or a policy-maker, to be unsatisfactory and in need of some form of intervention. A sociological problem is a puzzle that a social scientist considers needs to be solved, that is, explained and understood (Blaikie, 2010: 45). The mere fact that it is almost an impossibility to flesh out precise details of the transitional process even when the endpoint is established with clarity remains a curious eventuality. It is somewhat like an established theory that is almost impossible to put to test in spite of the fact that a researcher might have selected the best case to scrutinize the theory to determine if it holds or not.

The same suggestion can be made with regards to the myriads of tertiary institutions, and the multiplicity of academics in Africa south of the Sahara. Yet, it is almost impossible to justify why this part of the world is still unable to experience full-blown transformation. This in itself is perhaps one of the most puzzling social realities that necessitates the intervention of sociologists and scholars of politics, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, developmental economics, and even the natural sciences. This befuddling situation in the heartland of perhaps the world’s most endowed continent is a curious paradox that must compel academics in the region to invest time and energy in undertaking research on the issue which must definitely not be regarded as peripheral. Thereafter, these academics must be required to provide both an understanding and an explanation; or even propose some tangible interventionist programs through what may be perceived by others as iconoclastic views. As long as academics in the region are unfettered by systematic derision and abject stigmatization, the chances of devising detailed and responsive programmes, as well as provocative iconoclasm will never be of derisory significance to society.

Typically nonetheless, insensate academics in Africa south of the Sahara have consistently underrated the material and spiritual value of their various majestic societies, just like clueless humans generally underrate the importance and scientific relevance of their aesthetic and functional anuses. To buttress this point, some very elemental experiments may be necessary as a way of highlighting the role of situational awareness in relation to the concept of emancipated sensibility as discussed severally earlier on. This may also enable our understanding about why experts in Africa south of the Sahara remain somewhat incapacitated amid the mounting challenges that are posed by the myriads of unresolved problems across the region. We wish to attempt some type of justification as to why a mechanical engineer in Africa south of the Sahara would struggle unsuccessfully to manufacture a two-wheeled vehicle that is as basic as a bicycle; or why a professor of chemical engineering is incapable of making a simple grenade.

In jocularity for instance, I conducted a minor survey years ago at a Swedish university campus in which I set out to investigate the interplay between situational awareness and the crudeness of the sense of self. I randomly selected twenty individuals that were basking in the sun across the yard and offered them a piece of paper to jot down one observable part of their bodies which they themselves considered as the most underrated. Firstly, I presented the question to the respondents without any guidelines; and later on I repeated the process by presenting the same question to the very respondents. This time however, I issued them pieces of papers on which I had indicated ten observable human body options that included the genitalia and anus. A comparison of all of the answers from the respondents indicated that none of the respondents mentioned the anus. The reasoning behind the inclusion of ‘intimate parts’ was twofold: firstly, to examine the extent of personal repulsion or embarrassment with regards to the constraining effects of perception, or the level of repulsion about something that you perceive as vulgar, loathsome, embarrassing or obnoxious; and secondly, to check if the daily routine of toilet usage presupposes an appreciable level of close observation of human nature.

Although it was unclear about the extent to which repulsion influenced the respondents, a considerable amount of latitude was expressed in relation to the genitalia and other parts like the ears, nose, breasts, eyes, fingers, lips, teeth, hands, buttocks, hair, feet, belly, fingernails, nostrils, toes, feet, legs, arms, as opposed to the anus which had no response from any of the respondents, as already stated. There was also no clarity about whether there was any revulsion against the anus; and if there was any such thing, it was difficult to determine whether or not it was attributable to the idea of a taboo subject. If it was the case of a taboo subject, which is really nonexistent scientifically, one wonders why the anus would be so significantly repulsive, as opposed to the genitalia, both of which perform normal excretory functions with respect to excrement and urine, respectively. In a fascinating way therefore, this finding actually surprised the respondents themselves amusingly when I revealed the results to them, and we could tentatively surmise that repulsion correlates negatively with the latitude to think imaginatively.

The conclusive lesson in this exercise is simply that a fundamental aspect of the digestive system is not given due and undivided scientific attention. This is pretty much the same neglectful manner in which academics in Africa south of the Sahara tend to undermine their sociological problems when they fail to draw attention to the harmful effects of misapprehension. Most academics in the region labor under a misapprehension that government is directly accountable for the low-impact status of tertiary institutions; meanwhile, these very academics evince vapid neglectfulness to their own majestic societies whose smooth functioning would only contribute in elevating the status, prestige, and overall well-being of the academics in question. In brief, unrestrained apportionment of culpability on the government does not preclude academics from discussing their ideas, raising incisive questions, and proposing interventionist solutions by way of expert advice and progressive instruction.

Just like an entity that suffers from inescapable societal malfunction, a severely malfunctioning anus would spell disaster for any human being. It is based on such a rather crude observation that the following categorical and axiomatic proclamation is being delivered:

The only research on humanity that is virtually worthless is one whose intrinsic value and scientific relevance we are unable to perceive, and which bears valuable information that we cannot possibly unscramble in graphic detail.

In cases that pertain to the category described above, it is practically impossible to establish a definition of the problem, let alone attempt to solve a problem whose nature we barely understand. Thus, misapprehension and unfamiliarity remain major causes of underdevelopment and instability because people cannot liberate themselves without actually being conversant with the intrinsic factual value of their society. Development is practically impossible to achieve when people are not conversant with the indispensable importance of the complex interplay between their own perceptions and their informed qualitative experiences. Therefore, attempting to labor under the misapprehension that we can address an indefinable problem is purely and simply an exercise in futility.

Perhaps if I had offered an explanation to the willing participants of my little experiment that the forbidden anus is simply the exit orifice of solid waste from the alimentary canal, the outcome would have been different in terms of the answers that I obtained. But it is a scientific travesty and a scandal of intellectualism to speak of the anus in terms of a circumlocution. It is one thing to claim that one cannot see that forbidden part, but to suggest that one cannot notice it is nothing but a travesty of justice against human nature. This goes a long way to indicate how unawareness of both the importance of surroundings and the general sense of self constitute a major part of the problem when it comes to issues pertaining to responsiveness. In sum, situational antipathy usually arises out of unfamiliarity and unawareness.

To maximize responsiveness therefore, and thereby answer the incisive question that had been raised with respect to the interplay between situational awareness and emancipated sensibility, I hereby propound that situational awareness must be inextricably interwoven with emancipated sensibility for consummate responsiveness to prevail. Observation has the remarkable potential of opening doors to the mind; tastefully unlocking imagination; unlocking the mysteries of unexplained phenomena, and thereby igniting self-evaluative soul-searching. All of these insightful aspects together contribute in heightening consciousness and promoting progressive attitudes. In brief, the power of introspective observation can never be minimized.

Observational curiosity and the transitional process

Just like situational antipathy, observational curiosity usually tends to arise out of unfamiliarity with issues. However, it is by virtue of sheer eagerness that the desire to learn is sparked in people. This is a general obligatory principle with all things in life; and the more curious we are about something, the greater our motivation to explore the situation for our benefit. The combination of intense curiosity with intellectual rigor is what nourishes every prospect of success when it comes to far-sighted, potent and time-saving innovation in a society.

In contrast, when the level of curiosity is minimal, the resultant is usually very half-baked outcomes that may be perceived essentially in terms of absolute contingency. Thus, curiosity makes a healthy, potent and remarkably agile mind; while an incurious mind breeds operational constraints such as imperfection, impotence, and stupefaction. An incurious mind also gives rise to what I refer to as intellectual fossilization; as well as another term that I describe as ossification which will be discussed further in a separate module. Both of these terms are in my estimation akin to what Frantz Fanon expounds as cultural mummification which leads to mummification of individual thinking (Fanon, 1967: 34). Summing up, interweaving curiosity and exploration remains the foundational premise of comprehensive innovation in a society.

The intricate interplay between observational curiosity and academic ingenuity deserves to be dissected with thoroughness if we aspire for an innovation that works a treat. We hope to address both correlation and causation between curiosity and academic ingenuity in this complex dynamics. Firstly, we shall consider the premise that curiosity is a preface to academic ingenuity. Thereafter, we wish to highlight a simple mechanism of knowledge transmission whereby curiosity breeds dispassionate inquiry; which in turn generates an urgent desire for self-evaluative soul-searching that would heighten the attainment of creatively authoritative outcomes. Just like the body is bound to decay when the mind is not healthy (Wang Metuge, 2015); without curiosity, there can hardly be academic ingenuity. This is because curiosity heightens the desire to broaden the knowledge base about a particular subject of interest such as establishing a creative environment that is enabling for business and research, as well as sociological scrutiny.

Moreover, it is necessary that societies and academic institutions in Africa south of the Sahara deliver public disclosures about the relevance of curiosity in relation to the maximization of the transformative potential of education. In this light, I hold with unfettered conviction that tertiary institutions must be centers of committed visionary thinking, whereupon assisting in both elucidating the virtues of observational curiosity and the understanding of incomprehensible circumstances. Today, as in the past, the weight of established society comes down hard on the visionary who attempts to practice, as well as merely preach (Toffler, 1970: 468). Nevertheless, this should not act as preclusion to academics being actively involved in various redemptive processes. In sum, meticulous public disclosures with regards to the relevance of observational curiosity remain a measure of incalculable intellectual value whose significance in the domain of societal clairvoyance must never be underestimated.

Therefore, visionary centers of knowledge transmission must be expected to put a premium on the value of observational curiosity in the discourse of societal transformation. Observational curiosity and academic ingenuity are inexorably interwoven in a myriad of inescapable and inestimable intricacies regarding knowledge acquisition and transmission as both are cosmic determinants of how individual and community remediation can be facilitated and sped up. While observational curiosity is the lifeblood of academic ingenuity, academic ingenuity could be described as a monument to observational curiosity. Put differently, there is an axiomatic connection between observational curiosity and academic ingenuity which may not necessarily be described in terms of proportional evaluations but on the grounds of a correlative relationship. This connection should not be diminished as inconsequential.

In North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and even Latin America to some extent, the academic ingenuity thematic has always been in the spotlight since novelty and technological innovation have undeniably been perceived as the lifeblood of progress. In these societies, the curiosity and dispassionately eloquent sacrifice of hard-boiled academics enabled the transformation of several mortifying jerkwater communities