Quite a few people may see President George Bush as a leader who shoots first and apologizes latter, and he and his people are busy spreading ideas that have little to do with the way of life of other folks elsewhere. What do those elegant words penned by Thomas Jefferson in the American Declaration of Independence mean to a Hausa-Fulani weaned on a diet of Islamic aristocracy?

But we have to hand it to the Americans. Like or loathe them the American worldview rules the world. Maybe the raging wind of political Islam, as represented by Osama bin-Laden and Al-Quaeda, may yet succeed in dimming Uncle Sam’s sun, but I do not see that happening, at least for a while. However, while the clash of civilizations takes place on the global stage, the American empire remains supreme. It has been so ever since late Ronald Reagan and George Bush Snr. oversaw the death of Soviet Communism.

My concern here is what Pax-Americana has done to the African worldview. American popular culture rules the hearts and minds of Africans. Young and old, urban-dweller and parish pump champion, lettered or unlettered; for most Africans, the world is now seen through the American, nay, Western lens. This stance could be conscious or unconscious. In an era of globalization, where the click of a button has transformed the world from a global village to a global compound, Pax-Americana is the head of the household.

The subtle seizure of our minds by American civilization did not really begin with the Yankees. The Yankees were never really at the forefront of the socio-economic, political and cultural conquest of Africa. At least overtly. That was the business of the Europeans. With the three ultra powerful weapons of commerce, Christianity and colonialism they did a perfect job of, to paraphrase the great Chinua Achebe, putting ‘ a knife on the things that held us together and we fell apart’. It only got worse as the centuries swept by. Compelled by a combination of external factors and internal contradictions the Europeans withdrew from Africa. The void was filled by the Americans who, fresh from their glorious victory in World War II, were seeking for a place in the sun. Of course they had to contend with Communism but they had a cultural headstart in Africa. The reason was simple: Africa had lost her soul. We did not know who we were.

More than three centuries of forced and unplanned intercourse with a world we could not figure out had left us disfigured. Worsening matters is the kind of leadership we have been cursed with since independence.

I do not hate Uncle Sam, nay the West, for taking over our hearts and minds. Every empire must stamp its civilization on the human soil if it must survive. The ancient Romans did it, and for years Pax-Romana swept the ends of the earth, from the Mediterranean to the River Nile. Besides, despite the justified accusations of neocolonialism, exploitation, racism, and the superimposition of an alien way of life thus fostering societal disequilibrium, the Americans (and to a great extent, their British brethren), are doing a lot of good in Africa. The aid they give is inadequate and a political tool but it saves many lives. Maybe, Uncle Sam should not tell Ethiopia’s Menezenawi how to run his country’s democratic charade, but undoubtedly her stance will compel the Ethiopian strongman to think again before sending his forces into the streets with orders to grind the opposition into stockfish powder.

Maybe the best African brains look towards the U.S. for succour but without the wide embrace of the Statue of Liberty (who, it must be admitted, wants much more than it gives), how many people would be walking the streets of African cities, burning with the fire of unfulfilled aspirations? Maybe 50 cents and Snoop Dog spew rot in the name of rap and Toni Braxton and Janet Jackson strut sex as music but without them who would have influenced the rising, and often impoverished, generation of African musicians to fuse what our ancestors had with what the new world offers to create a uniquely African sound? Maybe Billy Graham and Oral Roberts are slick practitioners who somersault the Bible to back up a uniquely American brand of the gospel, but only the Lord knows how many folks here heard them and realized that that their words contained the rainbows they had been searching for all their lives.

The Americans are not saints. In fact, they are occasionally plain gold-plated devils. While it is true they are promoting and protecting their interests, including monetary ones – Microsoft is richer than Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt combined – Africa is yet to realize the challenge in front of her. We have not yet gotten back our identity which folks like Cecil Rhodes, Fredrick Lugard and Bishop Shanahan captured. We may have produced Achebe and Ngugi Wa Thiongo, even hosted FESTAC in 1977, but the matter is far more complex. Cultural idealism is only going to go so far. Africa’s political and economic capital is zero on the world map, and till we begin to build it up we will remain in the wilderness. The so-called traditional values will remain a cover for oppression, xenophobia and maltreatment of women. Till we start working for the capital Africa so badly needs, let Pax-Americana reign. Period.

Henry Chukwuemeka Onyeama is a teacher and writer.