AFRICA MUST REPAIR ITSELF
A house divided amongst itself cannot stand.
Following the abrupt withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan and the swift formation of the AUKUS (Australia, the UK, and the US) alliance with no consultation from the French who had an alliance with Australia in the Indo-Pacific region sent a strong message to the European Union that they have to decide their own future and form a stronger union.
European Council President Charles Michel said, “The AUKUS security partnership further demonstrates the need for a common EU approach in a region of strategic interest. A strong EU Indo-Pacific strategy is needed more than ever.”
This article focuses on the need for strong partnership among African countries and why African Unity is needed more than ever if Africa must sit at the dining table as diners.
As our elders say, “A house divided amongst itself cannot stand”. Africa was divided in 1874/75 during the Berlin Conference which is popularly known as the “Partition of Africa”. The Europeans knew the divisions amongst us and with a light speed, “conquered, divided and ruled”.
Fast forward to gaining independence, what lessons have we learnt from the division. Nothing. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel puts it well. He intimated, “What we learn from history is that we learn nothing.”
Nevertheless, Kwame Nkrumah saw the vision fifty years ahead of his time and he implored his fellow leaders during their summit on 24 May 1963 that “We can’t leave this meeting without deciding on the formation of a United Africa where we would have a common army, one capital, one currency”.
In front of thirty-one African Heads of States, Nkrumah vehemently told the leaders that “Africa Must Unite Now or Perish”. In his bid to achieve this dream, it’s said that Rome was not built in a day, so Africa will not have been united as of the time he said that, but it was supposed to be commitment, hard work and perseverance in achieving the dreams of the unity of all African countries.
Kwame Nkrumah realised that a thousand miles begin with a step, thus he proposed that the countries that had gained independence prior to the meeting in Addis Ababa in 1963 should come together to start the movement of the United States of Africa. This call was quashed and aborted at birth. Each individual country was comfortable where they were. At least, they could siphon and embezzle their country’s resources for their families.
During this meeting, what later became the Organisation of African Union (OAU) was formed which wasn’t the thought of Nkrumah. However, he went ahead to form Ghana, Mali and Guinea alliances. Thus, the first United States of Africa was Ghana, Guinea and Mali. He was so ahead of his time. Due to the formation of this unity and the threat that he posed to the West; he became their enemy. In one of his speeches, he echoed that “We don’t look to the West or East; we look forward”. Although he wanted to make his position clear on the direction and the side he was on, it didn’t resonate well with the West who thought he was tilting towards the East, thus an alliance with Russia, China and Cuba so they had to stop him because he would undermine the West’s interest in Africa.
Thus, on that fateful day on July 24, 1966, a coup occurred in his home country, Ghana, while he was on a mediation mission to Hanoi during the Vietnam war. It’s said that it was a smart move to send him out of the country so that the military could stage their coup.
His vision was cut short. He never returned to Ghana but spent his last years in Conakry, Guinea.
The torch he lighted to start United Africa has been dimmed. And the unity of Africa is far from becoming possible. President John Agyekum Kufour of Ghana and Muammar al-Gaddafi, of blessed memory played a pivotal role in resurrecting the aborted vision of Nkrumah on July 9, 2002, South Africa by replacing the Organisation of African Union (OAU) with African Union (AU). However, it has left much to be desired. There is no effort to achieve that dream in the last twenty years of its formation.
Final thoughts
Until we realise that the only people to solve African problems are Africans themselves, Africa will continue to be underdeveloped. This calls for unity and solidarity amongst us as Africans across the globe.
