Africa Must Unite KWAME NKRUMAH (2025)

Beyond Collaboration and Resistance in Colonial Africa

How have historians explained the interactions between Europeans and Africans during the colonial period? Did European colonialists' initial success in conquering African territories and imposing their rule over African societies automatically translate into an ability to impose their will or have their way with the colonized peoples? This paper argues that while European colonialism was often aided and abetted by African collaborators, it was nonetheless faced with constant resistance and contestation by African peoples and traditions. However, relationships between Europeans and Africans during the colonial period cannot satisfactorily be explained by the binary categories of collaboration and resistance. The nature of the African universe born of the encounter and interpenetration between Europeans and Africansbetween their ideological, sociocultural, political, and economic belief systems and practicesis better conceptualized through "the vernacular of colonial rule." 1 European colonizers came to Africa with preconceived notions, age-old presumptions, and utterly inaccurate knowledge about the continent and its peoples upon which they attempted to build their hegemony. What Europeans saw as a dark, backward, "uncivilized", prehistoric continent was in fact a land of diverse, vibrant peoples and cultures engaged in complicated, historically situated, and dynamic socio-economic and political processes of evolution and change. Colonial regimes tried to impose themselves on societies that were already "engaged in struggles over power and the terms on which it was exercised." 2 They tried to construct alien structures of governance and control over complex and constantly shifting social realities. European "efforts to build colonialism on indigenous authority and tradition confronted processes of change and conflict" that led to significant compromises and the vernacularization of some colonial structures, traditions and processes in the interest of order and manageability. Modes of collaboration with, and resistance to colonial rule were both varied and ubiquitous in African societies. Europeans' preconceived notions of the docile and feminized colonial Other were soon displaced by the reality of strong challenges to their intelligence and authority, while their assumptions of cultural superiority were debunked by the specter of ethnic, cultural, and religious traditions inserting themselves into dominant colonial ideologies and discourses. Open and violent revolts against colonial rule occurred alongside subtle forms of resistance deployed behind façades of loyalty, compliance, and collaboration. Where Africans felt too weak to openly resist superior colonial firepower and/or that of their local collaborators, they either revolted with their feet through migration and desertion, incited defiance within the community, engaged in work stoppages and slowdowns, vandalized colonial property, feigned compliance, or composed satirical songs, poems, and proverbs as a way of expressing their discontent.

Africa Must Unite Revisited: Continuity and Change in the Case for Continental Unification

Africa Today, 2010

Kwame Nkrumah and the proposed African common government

African Journal of Political Science and …, 2011

Between 1957 and 1966, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana fought vigorously for the creation of a Union of African States with a Common African Government. His optimism for the unity and cohesion of Africa as a lever for continental development was unparalleled. However, his dream never became a reality due to stiff opposition from African leaders, most of whom feared the loss of their sovereignty, and the West, due to selfish interest. This notwithstanding, this paper posits that Nkrumah's mooted idea of unity government is still the best option if Africa will be able to overcome her precarious socioeconomic and political tragedies of intermittent wars and conflicts, poverty and exploitation of her natural resources by the West; even in the face of daunting challenges. The paper concludes that only a union government could enable Africa to compete favourably with other political and economic blocs in this age of globalization and continental integration process going on in various other continents of the world.

INTRODUCTION Colonialism was a major phenomenon in Africa for about a century

Africa Must Unite: Vindicating Kwame Nkrumah and Uniting Africa against Global Destruction;

Over fifty years ago the prophetic Kwame Nkrumah called for and wrote a book titled Africa Must Unite. Many self-seeking African leaders described him as a dreamer of impossibility. A few decades after his clarion call, some European countries created the European Union (EU) for their greater unity, collective benefit and for providing global leadership. Since then, American and Asian states have also come together, challenges notwithstanding. Africa is yet to make any meaningful progress towards a union government in spite of public acknowledgement of this need by some of its leaders. The foot-dragging approach in the unification of Africa has given rise to rapid westernisation in the guise of globalisation to 'squeeze the hell' out of the continent in virtually all domains of existence. In the midst of these aggressive efforts, Nkrumah's visionary appeal is more pertinent and imperative today in the face of a weak African socioeconomic and political base. The time to unite is now and there is excuse for continuous rhetoric. This paper examines the salience of Kwame Nkrumah's clarion call for a United Africa and why this should be embraced forthwith by the astute leadership and people of Africa, on the continent and in the Diaspora.

Colonialism and the African Experience

Colonialism and African Political Thought

Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies, 1991

A Reinterpretation of Colonialism in Africa: Settler and Non-Settler Colonies

2018

DOI: 10.21276/sjhss.2018.3.12.3 Abstract: This paper attempts a reinterpretation of European colonisation of Africa with particular reference to settler and non-settler colonies in Africa. Colonial system whether it is “indirect rule” practiced by the British, the French “assimilation” and “association”, German “paternalism”, Portuguese “Luso-tropicalism” etc have the same motives and tendencies aimed at exploitation, peripherialisation and pauperisation of the African people in all parameters for their material benefits. The methodological approach adopted in this research is “qualitative method”. Secondary source materials have been utilised, which comprised mainly published books that have been critically analysed. In the findings, why some colonies have been inhabited by white settlers while others not and why the settlers did not vacate after independence and the implications of this development in Africa. This paper also attributed most of the present conditions and situations...

THE LEGACY OF COLONIALISM IN THE CONTEMPORARY AFRICA: A CAUSE FOR INTRASTATE AND INTERSTATE CONFLICTS

……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Abstract: This study deals with the legacy of colonialism in Africa. Most importantly, it stresses on the contribution of colonial legacy in the contemporary African problems. Accordingly, the findings of the study show that the arbitrary colonial division of African borders contributed a lot for the contemporary African problems. The blind partition of African borders caused the disintegration of same ethnic groups into different countries and the merging together of different ethnic groups into same countries. This, in turn, resulted in several intrastate and interstate conflicts. Rwanda, Nigeria and Sudan can be taken as typical examples for the first case while Kenya-Somalia and Ethio-Somalia conflicts for the second case. At the top of that, the recent Arab Revolution that occurred in the North Africa, particularly in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt attributed, inter alia, to the brutal experience with their colonial masters. This study deals with the legacy of colonialism in the contemporary Africa. The central argument of this study is that colonialism has contributed a lot for different problems of the contemporary Africa. The objective of this paper is, therefore, analyzing the contribution of the legacy of colonialism in the contemporary African problems. To this end, secondary sources such as books, journal articles, reports, periodicals, and website source are utilized. For the sake of convenience, the study is organized in the following manner. Firstly, the study discuses about colonialism in Africa. Under this, it deals with the partition of Africa, the exploitative nature of colonialism, and the resistances to colonial powers in brief. Secondly, the study deals with the legacy of colonialism in the contemporary Africa, which is the major theme of the study. Accordingly, it examines intrastate and interstate conflicts which emanated from the colonial arbitrary division of the continent. Besides, the study also explains the North Africa " s Arab Revolution, particularly incidents in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, vis-à-vis the brutal colonial experiences. 2. Colonialism in Africa First of all, Europeans encroached into Africa as slave traders since the 15 th century until the era of colonialism. After the exploitation of Africa through slavery for roughly four thousand years it was replaced with exploitation through colonialism. Hence, though Europeans ended slave trade their interest in Africa remained intact. The Industrial Revolution which was emerged in Britain and subsequently in other parts of the world had played a pivotal role in the termination of slave trade and beginning of colonialism. Industrial revolution in Europe accelerated production so that needed more raw materials and markets. This, in turn, again turned the face of Europeans to Africa to supply both raw materials and new markets for their surplus products. Therefore, colonialism came out of the need of European countries to have direct political control over their colonies so as to ensure the protection of their economic interest. As the main objective of European countries was to satisfy their economic interest, each of them competed to get the biggest and the richest colonies. Consequently, to avoid intra European war colonialists held conference at Berlin in 1884-1885 for peaceful partitioning of Africa (Thomson, 2010:25). Accordingly, the continent was divided in the following manner save Ethiopia and Liberia. North, west and central Africa given to France ; great part of west, east, central and southern Africa also given to Britain; Portugal took the territories of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea

Colonialism in Africa and Matters Arising - Modern Interpretations, Implications and the Challenge for Socio-Political and Economic Development in Africa

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2014

In recent years, many socio-political and economic thinkers seem to blame colonialism as the major reason for Africa's backwardness in all spheres of her life. But against this backdrop, this paper attempts to suggest that there can be no valid or justifiable excuse of colonialism for Africa's underdevelopment, howsoever. This position is incontrovertibly strengthened by the fact that if other countries in different continents of the world who equally experienced colonialism could rise and become strategically important in the comity of nations, then it is time for Africa to look inward and rise from where she is by giving modern interpretations and implications to her experience of colonialism.