WHY THE UNITED STATES OF FRICA WILL REMAIN A MIRAGE
It all was
conceived by the Pan-African movement of 19thC with like minded individuals
outside Africa like Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, W. E B Dubois and George Padmore. The movement was later joined by African contingents’
led by Kwameh Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Haille Sellasie and many others. This
shows one thing, our brothers whom we sold to slavery, never forgot their
origins and if they tried to, they were reminded by racism, and other kinds of ‘–isms,’
where they belonged; in Africa.
Pan-Africanist movement aimed at uniting
Africans from Diaspora and those who remained. It showed that we were not only
united by the colour of our skins but by the suffering we underwent. Just like anything that begins in the West,
Pan-Africanism took ages to suffice or be conceptualized on the soils of
Africa. But all the same, the idea was launched in Africa in 1958 in Ghana.
This was followed by the birth of Organization
of African Unity (OAU) in 1960. OAU was seen as the only tool to materialize
the birth of a united Africa. OAU was to come up with strategies and policies
which will conceive the unity of African states. Half a century later the prospect is still a
mirage. Hopeless and vision less. It is whispered about in the media and laughed
at whenever. It has had its blows and still the dreams survives being taught in
school and just like traditional myth, it has been handed from generation to
generation.
The first true African warrior to
visualize a united Africa was, Kwameh Nkrumah born and bred on African soils,
seen the trials of Africa in colonial era and primarily set his goal towards
archiving Africa from slavery which begun by the Trans-Saharan trade and Trans-Atlantic
trade. This slavery had taken the form of colonialism and later was in the
making of a neo-colonialist Africa. He
started a Kwameh Nkrumah Ideological Institute. He believed in drumming
pan-africanism and the unification of Africa. Later Nkrumah was ousted from
office in 1966 while away, which led him to suffer in fear of the West and it’s
superior intelligence. He lived in exile in Conakry Guinea as the guest of
Ahmed Sekou Toure and later died in 1972 of skin Cancer, marking the end of one
of the founders of Pan-Africanism, OAU and a strong promoter and believer of
United States of Africa.
Haile Sellasie, with the birth of
OAU in Addis Ababa under his watch, marked a roadmap that gave passionate
leaders like Kwameh Nkrumah a glimmer of hope. The OAU was seen as the emblem
of hope to restore the African Independence and usher in a one Africa, one man,
united by the colour of the skin and common suffering on slavery.
Jomo Kenyatta in his frequent tours to
Europe, made contacts with African enthusiasts in Europe, he too shared the
same thought but not much passion as seen in the eyes of people like Nkrumah
and Muammar Ghadafi.
Talking about Muammar Ghadafi, the
last of the leaders who carried Marcus Garvey vision of a united Africa, I am
inclined to believe that his death marked an end to that dream of the merger of
Africa politically. Many viewed his attempts to unify Africa as his personal
ambition. Being christened as, ‘ the king of kings of Africa,’ Muammar was
isolated and his ideologies and suggestions scrutinized by his fellow African
leaders. He called for union of Africa in 2000, June 2007 and Feb. 2009. This
was not the first time Ghadafi failed, earlier he had called for the union of the
Arab world but his plans failed. He turned now with vigour on building USA.
This move can be viewed as tactical since the concept had been there and the
pain of Africans at the hands of the West was almost the same. Ghadafi equipped
with this, saw an opportunity to drum up the realization of what was stated by
those Africans in Diaspora. He saw himself as the carrier of the ideas shared
by the likes of W E B Dubois, Henry Sylvester Williams, Marcus Garvey, Kwameh
Nkrumah and many others. He saw the supremacy of Africa reigning supreme. But
just like his predecessors, Ghadafi was ousted out of power and died a shameful
death marking an end to another era of struggle towards the unity of Africa
Critics may view the Late Ghadafi as
an opportunist, someone who wanted too much and one who had been possessed by
the desire to rule a bigger world, but if you carefully look at his endeavours,
you will realize that he was just trying to make what future generations would
enjoy. His struggles were that of mapping up an Africa of Africans. He wanted
to see the joy, the pride and the patriotism of Africans to Africa and not to
the villages we are now mapping in the guise of making new nations: Eritrea,
Djibouti and presently South Sudan are just but examples.
The dream of a one Africa will forever
remain that, ached in our minds and forever running away as we draw closer. The
main reason: reading mischief in whatever efforts anyone tries to implant to
achieve it. In Nkrumah, he was accused of regarding international interests
over those of the nation and not paying attention to the well-being of the
people. Ghadafi was accused of self imposing himself to power and committing
crimes against humanity.
As we continue accusing our leaders
the West is laughing at us. Africa has forever remained a puppet to be played.
Her ideologies confer to those of the West as conditions dictate. She forever
curves her policies on dictation by the western powers.
In all the attempts made by Africans to
unify her, one thing has played a role in tolling them down; one by one the
leaders with the agenda of unification have suffered ridicule by their nations
with support from the West. The last attempt was by Muammar Ghadafi, his death
left a void so large that it could be felt reverberating on the few African
patriots. Therefore, as long as the west still has her strong grip on Africa
and Africa still clings on Western bourgeoisie the fate of Africa united lies
in the near distant, mirage that runs whenever the grip is about to. Thanks to
the ineptitude of africa’s leadership who have taken into being western stooges
and well sculpted individuals who spearhead the colonist idea, divide and rule.
In my view, as longer as Africa still
supports the western Ideologies, capitalism and inclined democracy so shall
Africa divide, if you think it’s a lie, ask the former SUDAN.
References
-www.panafricanperspective.com
-wikipedia
-and other internet sources
References
-www.panafricanperspective.com
-wikipedia
-and other internet sources
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