It was the dream of many to see Africa united under one flag or government. Prominent amongst the lot were Marcus Garvey, George Padmore and Kwame Nkrumah. They were of the view that Africa would be stronger and better off if united and that staying divided in small unviable states will only spell our doom. These Pan-Africanists however died without realizing their dream.
Many years afterwards, many African scholars have acknowledged some wisdom in the fight the early Pan-Africanists put up to see Africa united but only scores of present-day African leaders have shown some sort of commitment to making United Africa a reality.
Weighing the merits of such a union against the demerits shows that it will be a panacea for most of Africa’s problems that is if one should consider how the shadow union of Europe (European Union) blesses its members economically and socially.
The 2010 World Cup in South Africa (the first of its kind in Africa) has shown considerably that the African masses would love a United States of Africa. It is marvelous how Africans of different nationalities support enthusiastically any African team that plays another team from outside Africa. In the media, both print and electronic, African opinion resounds in unison, ‘WE WANT AN AFRICAN TEAM TO WIN!’(sounds good to hear right?). Now, imagine all of Europe wishing an European teams wins the Cup, (that will sound weird right?) Of course, this shows how unique Africa is and how right it will be to come together as one.
Do Africans support other Africans because they are blacks?
Will others be right if they called us racist?
If all of Africa presented and supported only one team, will our support be regarded nationalistic or racist?
Does this World Cup re-echo the strain of Garvey,Padmore, Nkrumah and others?
Is it our time to unite?
To me, it is long overdue that Africa united under one flag. All our actions and words make this evident.
"No independent African State today by itself has a chance to follow an INDEPENDENT course of economic development, and many of us who have tried to do this have been almost ruined or have had to return to the fold of the former colonial rulers. This position will not change unless we have unified POLICY working at the CONTINENTAL LEVEL. The first step towards our cohesive economy would be a unified monetary zone, with, initially, an agreed common parity for our currencies...When we find that the arrangement of a fixed common parity is working successfully, there would seem to be NO reason for not instituting one common currency and a single bank of issue." Address to the Conference of African Heads of State and Government, May 24, 63 can be found at page 242 of the book Revolutionary Path
