I keep asking myself what has happened to the pan-African dreams of our founding fathers like Kwame Nkrumah

Ayo Akinfe

[1] On this day, November 12, in 1961, Queen Elizabeth visited Ghana for what was a hugely popular tour. She danced with President Kwame Nkrumah on the night and after event, all talk of Ghana leaving the Commonwealth just ended. I long for a return to the days when an African leader could force the British monarch to embark on a trip like this

[2] What makes Nkrumah exceptional was that he knew there were no national solutions to regional problems. On the day of Ghana’s independence in March 1957, as the clock struck midnight, he said: “Our independence is meaningless unless it leads to the total emancipation of the African continent.”

[3] President Nkrumah showed this regional vision in all he did as he built the Akosombo Dam on the River Volta to provide electricity to both Ghana and Upper Volta (Burkina Faso)

[4] In 1964, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa adopted a similar stance with Kainji Dam. He reached an agreement with Benin Republic and Niger Republic under which Kainji will provide them with electricity in exchange for them not building their own dams along the River Niger

[5] When I look back at the decolonisation era, I see people like Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Sekou Toure, Steve Biko, Abdul Nasser, Samora Machel, Kenneth Kaunda, Augustino Neto, Amilcar Cabral, Franz Fannon, etc and I ask why is Africa no longer producing such leaders

[6] Today, when confronted with problems, which defy a national solution, rather than look across their sub-region, my people tend to look inwards. Does anyone in their right mind really believe that there is an ethnic solution to power generation, economic diversification or attracting foreign direct investment?

[7] Only a madman, ready for admission into the lunatic asylum would call for the balkanisation of any African nation today when the primary problem is that the existing countries are too weak and not sustainable. You do not need to be a genius to realise that consolidation is the way forward

[8] No matter how many innocent people Fulani herdsmen kill, balkanising Nigeria into mini and weak statelets is a far worse course of action. Balkanisation will lead to problems 10 times far worse as these mini statelets will be picked off by the global powers at will, used as dumping grounds, military training camps and canon fodder for all sorts of nefarious agendas

[9] Unfortunately, in 2021, you cannot start marching your troops across borders. Were this 150 years ago, I would have just suggested we march the Nigerian Army across West Africa and create one giant mega state that the rest of the world will be forced to deal with as an equal. What Africa needs more than ever today is a super power that can fight its cause.

[10] When I look at Ancient Egypt, the old Kingdom of Ethiopia, the Mali Empire, Songhai and maybe Kanem-Borno, what I saw were African states the rest of the world regarded as equals. We need a return to that and the only way to do this is through consolidation. Thomas Sankara and Paul Kagame have shown us the limitations of good leadership of a small country. No matter you cut it, Nigeria simply has to merge with some of her neighbours to form an African giant to fight our corner