Africa is not a Country: Dipo Faloyin Lecture

In March, King’s hosted a talk from Dipo Faloyin, author of the book, ‘Africa is not a Country’. The event was organised by GlosGeog, Gloucestershire’s branch of the Geographical Association (GA).

The event was aimed at Key Stage 4 and 5 students and their teachers, plus other GlosGeog members.  More than 130 individuals gathered in situ to listen to Dipo’s inspiring and thought-provoking lecture, whilst 19 schools from across the UK accessed the accompanying live stream that the ICT staff at King’s School had set up, or the recording which was later circulated.

Dipo’s lecture focused upon dispelling myths of Africa. When asked to consider Africa, many individuals cite safaris and poverty. However, it is far more than that! Identity and diversity were two aspects that Dipo discussed in depth. He went back to his roots in Nigeria. Did you know that Nigeria has around 200 million people, Lagos having more than 20 million alone, and over 500 languages?  Just consider the different identities, communities, cultures, etc. that exist within a single country.  Dipo also referred to colonialism and the impact of the Berlin Conference; Africa was carved up from a distance to create the modern map of Africa with straight-line borders that we are familiar with today (a very different one to that which existed previously), the formation of new states, such as the Congo Free State, and subsequent rise of slavery. He talked honestly about the chaos, confusion, anger, strife and division that unfolded.

Later, Dipo emphasised how the images we see in the media tell a very different story to the one that prevails in Africa. He gave the example of Band Aid’s song from 1984, ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?‘, which was re-released more recently too. The lyrics have helped to create stereotypes, generalising an entire region. As this raised much money and other organisations and charities continue to use the same images to, hopefully, have similar financial gains, the myths keep on circulating. Dipo also mentioned Kony 2012. The film, centred upon Uganda, was the fastest growing viral video of all time. Yet, the film is largely inaccurate and portrays an unfair picture of Uganda.

So what were the takeaways from Dipo’s 45 minute interactive and fascinating talk? That knowledge is very powerful; the overlap between history and geography – the past is certainly an indication to the present and future; our views of a country are hugely shaped by what we see and hear in the media. It was evident that Dipo had made the audience think about this continent in another light.