also developed in Africa. Over
35,000 years ago, Ancient Egyptians
scripted textbooks about math that
included division and multiplication
of fractions and geometric formulas
to calculate the area and volume of
shapes.
Medicine: The earliest known
surgery was performed in Egypt
around 2750 B.C. Medical
procedures performed in ancient
Africa before they were performed
in Europe include vaccination,
autopsy, limb traction and broken
bone setting, bullet removal, brain
surgery, skin grafting, filling of
dental cavities, installation of
false teeth, what is now known as
Caesarean sections, anesthesia and
tissue cauterization.
Speech: Using estimates supported
by genetic, archaeological,
palaeontological and other evidence
suggests that language probably
emerged somewhere in sub-Saharan
Africa during the Middle Stone
Age, hence the first words by
humans were spoken by Africans.
‘‘ So can the African
Leadership curse
be attributed to the
fact that more than
in any other part of
the world, Africans
understood bondage
and have never been
able to fully break
out of it? Could this
be why a person can
be a thief but if he
can steal enough
money to become
wealthy, his people
will celebrate him
as a leader and it
will then become
dangerous to bring
such a person to
justice without
invoking the wrath of
his tribe? ’’
Architecture and Engineering: The
African Empire of Egypt developed
a vast array of diverse structures
and great architectural monuments
along the Nile, among the largest
and most famous of which are the
Great Pyramid of Giza and the
Great Sphinx of Giza. Later, in the
12th century, there were hundreds
of great cities in Zimbabwe and
Mozambique made of massive stone
complexes and huge castle-like
compounds. While the gold mines of Nubia
were among the largest and most
extensive in the world.
In the 13th century, the empire
of Mali boasted impressive cities,
including Timbuktu, with grand
palaces, mosques and universities.
Mining of Minerals: The oldest
known mine on archaeological
record is the “Lion Cave” in
Swaziland, which radiocarbon
dating shows to be about 43,000
years old. The ancient Egyptians
mined a mineral called malachite. Metallurgy and Tools: Many
advances in metallurgy and tool-
making were made across the
entirety of ancient Africa. These
include steam engines, metal chisels
and saws, copper and iron tools and
weapons, nails, glue, carbon steel and
bronze weapons and art. In places
like Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda,
the advances in metallurgy and tool-
making surpassed those in Europe.
52 MAL 19/17 ISSUE
Navigation: Evidence suggests that
ancient Africans sailed to South
America and Asia hundreds of years
before the Europeans, debunking the
propaganda that Europeans were the
first to sail to the Americas. Many
ancient societies in Africa built
different types of boats, from small
vessels to large ships that could carry
up to 80 tons.
International Trade: Evidence
shows that international tra de was
first developed between Africa and
Asia, and among these international
trade contacts were the exchange
of ideas and cultural practices that
laid the foundations of the earliest
civilizations of the ancient world.
Others are Astronomy, Philosophy
and Art. Let us now look at
inventions by people of African
descent. Some of the world’s best
known common and everyday
inventions are from people of
African descent some of which
include The Refrigerator, Traffic
lights, the Lawn mower, The Ironing
board, Automatic Elevator doors,
Gas Masks, Security Cameras,
Pacemakers, Automatic Gear
Transmission for cars, Peanut Butter,
Potato Chips and Ice Cream.
Losing The Honor: The origin
Of The Curse
Many years ago, I had the privilege
of participating in a research
conducted by the National Institute
for Policy and Strategic Studies
in Kuru Nigeria where I was a
research assistant. The research was
simply titled The Nigerian National
Character; and its purpose was to
identify how Nigerians behaved
before the advent of colonial rule.
The result was very intriguing. A
person traveling (obviously by foot)
from point A to point B in Yoruba
land could get to a place where
fruits were being sold and find that
the person selling the fruits was not
there because it was late in the day.