Sunny and fertile land, that`s what the Latin called Africa – a continent that was purely a reflection of what they saw. To the Greek philosophers, Africa then represented something ominous or dark as they knew less about these vast lands.

Well, in the book Kementic History of Afrika the late Dr Cheikh Anta Diop has it that the ancient name of Africa was Alkebu-lan, meaning Mother of Mankind or the Garden of Eden. He writes that this name was used by Nubians, Ethiopians and Moors among other indigenous people.

This theory has been confirmed in the Egyptian and Ethiopian religious texts and mythologies that Africa is the origin of life. 

Scientifically, Africa is considered home of modern man, the Homo sapiens. Fossils excavated in South Africa, Lucy, among hundreds of other archaeological sites show that close to 200,000 years ago, Africa was home to modern man. Based on the nuclear DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) of the African people show and proves beyond reasonable doubt that we are living off springs of Homo sapiens.

Whites on the other hand have a direct link to the Neanderthals man and we know it from the history book where the Neanderthals man falls in the evolution tree, which bugs me considering Africans are more evolved than the whites but we act and live like ancient humans.

As a matter of fact, it is on record that Africa had advanced civilisation before the rest of the world. Long before the European and the American Industrial Revolution, kingdoms like the Nubian also called Kush in Egypt had developed advanced architecture and engineering works that build one the greatest mysteries of all times – the pyramids of Giza which still stands and has become a great tourist destination.

History tells us that The Sudan had close to 200 pyramids in the Kush kingdom, which had its seat of power in northern Sudan, but slid into ruins because of constant war in region. The story gets better as ancient Egyptian engineers had electric-like technology. One historian hypothesises that, they had primitive batteries known as Baghdad batteries that were used to power and decorate tombs for deceased pharaohs.

 The Egyptians come up with one of the earth’s oldest forms of writing systems – the cuneiform. This form of writing was used to document the social, economic and political life of the people of Egypt. Top of the charts was religion history. It is documented that they curved their gods from stones and the seasonal calendar predicted when the Ethiopian highlands would be flooding for them to gather silt used for agriculture.

Africa boasted of a more developed and sophisticated system of governance in which kings wielded authority as confirmed in the Holy Scriptures – the Bible and the Q’uran – as captured by people inspired by God.

The Mali Empire that used to govern most parts of West Africa from 1235 was formed by a handful of the nations that took power in Sosso Kingdom. At its peak, the Mali Empire had dominion over 400 cities, which later splintered into present 11 West African counties.

“The fact that such a large and powerful polity has been left out of history book is rather shameful,” Sirio Canos-Donnay, an archaeologist at Spanish National Research Council, said.

Then there was the Zimbabwe Kingdom founded by Shona people in southern Africa. Ruins of the abandoned city built from stones and mortar were given the name Great Ruins of Zimbabwe, which is what is left of the great kingdom. Other great kingdoms in ancient Africa included the Aksum Kingdom, the Great Garamantes of Libya, the Zulu and the Benin Kingdom, but this are the few have been captured by history books and, of course, published by agents of colonial regimes.

Morocco, the home of the world`s oldest university. The University of Al-Qarawiyyin, romanticised as Jami ‘at al- Qarawiyin was founded in the year 859AD, as a Mosque by Fatima al-Fihri is still standing today. It was one of the major key players in the triumph of Islam during the Islamic golden age. This house of historical periods of Morocco was transformed into the country`s modern state university in 1963 and since them thousands of students gone through its doors.

The centre of knowledge and religion sprawls on 9.2 million square kilometres piece of land in the largest hot desert in the world – the Sahara. Studies show that it was once a vast green land with vegetation, lakes and wildlife, more like the Garden of Eden. Archaeologist David Wright hypothesis`s that humans with their goats may have catalysed what happened to the Sahara. After the cavemen ‘invented’ fire, they used it for hunting and this plus overgrazing may have contributed to the rapid desertification the Sahara.

Another study published in 2022 suggests that the inevitable collapse of the Sahara may have been derailed by 500 years due to great interference by man. May be Sahara is the lost Eden told to us by the Good News after all.

African metallurgy predates the white man`s methods. African kingdoms were using mined metals to fashion weapons that were used to expand their kingdoms through conquests and protection of the kingdom. Over and above that, kings used metals like gold to trade and make artefacts. At some point in history, Mansa Musa, the ruler of Mali Empire was the world`s richest men that during one of his trips to Cairo on his pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca he brought so much gold that he devalued the price of gold for almost two decades.

This technological advancement in melting iron to make tools inspired the fictional Wakanda Kingdom that uses vibranium – a strong, shiny mineral and has the ability to manipulate energy metal, to advance the kingdom and hide it from the rest of the world.

The name Africa was given to the continent by the Roman Empire after colonising the north, what is present day Tunisia. Later the white man spread the reference to diminish and devalue the Blacks and superimpose their culture on Africans. They used the altar of God and Jesus as the Trojan Horse.

So, what happened to Alkebu-lan? This question should be the ghost that keeps us all up at night.

How fortunes change! The industrial powerhouse has now turned into a beggar, living off the doles of colonial powers and at the mercy of others. Ever heard a missionary who tried to negotiate with a lion? He told the lion that he could have devoured him but he had to stop when he got to the head. That is what happened to Africa when African countries were being “given” independence.

Africans were duped into retaining relations with the former colonial powers but the truth is, the continent remain in servitude and subservience. We have embraced the white man`s culture and even believe his language is superior. We break bread with them but that doesn`t make us a family. 

“Africa does not need the world Bank, International Monetary Fund, Europe or America. We Africans have what it takes to grow our economies without any loans. We cannot continue to be financial slaves using loans.” Burkina Faso president, Ibrahim Traore.

• A Tell / KNA report / By Victor Ngugi.