Harnessing the Potentials of African Aesthetics for National Development in the Era of Globalisation

In all significant ages of human development and progress, there has always been a close association of symbolic creative or artistic expressions to uncover the various principles which have institutionalized the notions of good and bad, right and wrong , beauty and ugly, truth and false, and patterns stability and shaved expectations. These creative or artistic expressions are symbolic designs, prescriptions, and responses, which are deliberately fashioned to guide all aspects of a people’s life. African aesthetics broadly described as the normative science of beauty in nature and art, in other objects, and in a living experience in line with African culture and traditions, emphasise that it is not enough to create or enjoy aesthetic objects but that it is necessitous to try to understand, explain, critically and morally evaluate them. This paper specifically examines the concept of African aesthetics and the general attitude of Africans towards it. With the help of available literature, the study discloses that African aesthetics can be harnessed for national development. It identifiably unravels that with regard to the human person, African aesthetics above all, intelligibly has a moral value undertone and is tied to that which is good. It maintains that this knowledge and the realisation of its relevance to man and the human community would help create lasting value, achieve satisfaction and serenity, and improve the quality of life generally in all spheres.