 And it's time for our second hot topic, and this second hot topic has to do with our culture and history as Africans. The pride and identity of our people is our culture, and culture is passed down if the people have a good and respectable sense of history. What then happens when culture is jettisoned for something alien and history is no longer taught to our children? Well, we'll be looking at the value of knowing our history as Africans, and we've been joined by Aidee Soji Iginla, author of Africa Illuminator. He's joining us from the UK. Good morning to you. Good morning, good morning. So let's start with why this is of great concern to you. Okay, contrary to the fact that most of our books have been authored by Europeans, it means the legacy of colonialism would be watered down to the point where we don't sort of get an inference. And I will give you the entry point for me. It's chapter 20 of The Great Book by Chino Achebe. The conversation between Oberica and Okonkoa where he says, does the white man understand our custom? And Okonkoa's answer was, how can he? He says our ways are bad, and our people are also saying now that our ways are bad. So how do we build community? So this book is an entry point to help Africa illuminated. It's an entry point to help re-accustom ourselves with what is the hidden facts about those various African countries. I mean, the problem being that, yes, they were created largely by Europeans, but we inhabit those countries. And so we should actually own what the legacy is and reframe the narrative about those countries. What have you observed in our young ones, especially? I understand the book you've written, Africa Illuminated. Yes. Yes, you're targeting the teenagers, if I understand correctly. Correctly. What are some of the concerns you have that you've observed in teenagers today that's making them the focus of your attention? I know one of the things I have noticed is that some of our teenagers no longer speak our mother tongues. They do not speak our languages, our local languages. Oftentimes they just speak English. So what are some of the concerns you have that's made you target them in this book? Yes, it's a story closer to home in the sense that I have an aunt here who has teenagers and I often go and pay visits. And on one of those visits, I was having a conversation with the kids. And so the question was, oh, your mom is speaking to you about what you are answering in English. And the answer is, we don't, we understand, but we can't quite speak it. And I said, OK, fine. So where are you from? So they said, yeah, we're from Nigeria. I said, how many countries around Nigeria can you mention? One said Egypt, another one said South Africa. I said, well, I'll give it to you. They're both in the continent of Africa, but they're not exactly around Nigeria. So to which the aunt will then say, you see what the problem is? You have an older generation, my generation, that came through a system where at least you had a modicum of what it is you speak in Yoruba, which is, you know, in Yoruba, which is you do not point home with your left hand. So invariably, you don't lose track with where you come from. And so I said, OK, I said about writing this book. And again, it is important. It is very, very important. In this book, something new points to the point that when you speak somebody else's language, what happens is your memories, your cultural memories get replaced by the new language you've acquired. So if I start quoting Shakespeare now, everything I deem of value would be in terms of looking through the prism of what Shakespeare considers to be great and not the likes of Wale Shoika, Ngukubi Wafiungo, Mesera Mutgo, Chinoachebe. I mean, the list is endless, Flora Unwapa, Aima, Aitai Ado, Aikui Aoma, the whole host of Nigerian, the whole host of African authors. I think if we just delve into them and read about them, they would actually open our gaze into the world that we call Africa. Talk to us about the impact of knowing African history on our mindset and our identity. OK, with regards to mindset and identity, if we pose the question to the general public that how many waterfalls are there in Africa, the mind immediately goes to Victoria Falls. But Victoria Falls is not the name, but it's not the name given to you by the local. That's a name given to you by David Livingston, who when he set his side upon him, he says, oh, it is only as great as Queen Victoria. So I named D, Queen Victoria. But actually the name of the place is called Mose Intunya, which is the smoke that thunders. Because when you are nearby for miles around, you can actually hear the roar of the water dropping down and the magnificent scene that around you. So when you speak and see, and you can't quite name what is yours, or in our case, growing up, we're told, the Mongol Park discovered River Niger. How can that be? Because obviously, people were living on the river. The river stretches from Mali, runs through Nigeria. And so how is it that one European will come along and says, yes, I discover something that is already there? All right. Efforts, I guess, must also be made towards freeing and mobilizing black minds. And when I ask this question, what comes to mind is Redemption Song by Bob Malley, the late Bob Malley. What are these efforts that should be made towards liberating freeing African minds, black minds all over the world? OK, cultural is a very important thing. There is a building sitting at Igomu, Festak, National Arts Theatre. That's a legacy of a program that was Festak 77. In fact, Festak Town is a legacy of that cultural festival. And that brought around people from all over Africa and the diaspora, bringing them together so that they can exchange value, experience, cultural practices, and rekindle all ties. So when Bob Malley played that song, Redemption Song, Redemption in the sense that, yes, we can buy back what is ours. We can claim back what is ours. There are the pyramids and not only in Egypt. There are also pyramids in Sudan, because at that time, the greater Egypt went from the top now to the bottom, not across, as it currently says. So again, it's important that we delve into our history so that we can not only reclaim this because our story needs to be told by us. There's an African proverb which says, as long as the story, as long as the lions do not have a historian, the story of the haunt will continue to glorify the haunter. Meaning, when Europeans write about themselves with encountering Africa, they will write Africa from their point of view. Not from our point of view. Well, before we go, just give us a one-minute summary of the book you've written, Africa Illuminated. It's a recovering, remarkable fact about Africa, an entry point for anyone who wants to delve deeper into what Africa is to us, to me, to everybody that lives within that continent. I mean, it is important that people speak their own truth as supposed to be written about. When I say written about, it is incumbent on us, the responsibility. Like Chinua Chebe says, every generation has the duty that history has bestowed on them. Our history is to keep our legacy, our culture, our language, and memories alive. Thank you. Yeah, the value of knowing our history as Africans is what we just discussed right now with Addis Oji Iginla, who has joined us from the UK. He's also authored a book titled Africa Illuminated. You probably want to grab a copy of that book. Is it on Amazon? It's on Amazon, it's on Kindle. All right. Plans are free to bring it to Nigeria, but at the moment, it's on Amazon. All right. Thanks for being a part of the show this morning. Thank you for having me. Thank you. OK. You're still watching the Breakfast and Plus TV Africa. We'll be back to give you sports. Do stay with us.