African liberation, for better or worse is still an enigma ready to be unleashed to surprise future generations. The consequence of struggles in an uncertain future propels people to cherish fantasies rather than realities. The riddles of destiny, if is to be told, cannot be understood in puzzles. History is a melody, having her own rhythms. She plays according to how she can dance. The strength in politics to be used in defeating the challenges in history must come with full velocity without distortions. The spirit of unity in philosophical contexts of diversity is an endless-haunting decoy that requires pacification. For that matter, Africans must be warned; at least for today and beyond. The pseudo-manifestations of freedom and the quasi-structures of unity being planted on poisonous soils of politics cannot be used to undermine the ammunitions of diversity.
If history was a woman, at least, she could have gotten raped countless times; giving birth to bastards like ignorant and numbness. And yet, history had not only been raped in abodes of Africans. It had also been defiled. Political freedom, which was a self-acclaimed achievement by the Pan-Africanists was a growing cancer; the rottings and spoils are seen today. Their governance, rooted in socialism didn’t have a future. And yet, that was the hope given to the generation. It’s a hope, which has turned into sorrow. Unity at that time was seen as a moral imperative towards progress and development. Kwame Nkrumah threw these bandwagons with a tensed velocity that swept all other alternative doctrines. Scientific socialism, with its own theories of unity, materialized his Pan-African agenda. Astonishingly, that became African dogma, so captivating within the Black people today.
Had history wanted to change the story of Africa? for once, it failed because of Pan-Africanism. The unity, in Pan-Africanism, is vague and everyone can see. The ambiguities are strong and generations still ponder. The achievements it stood to claim validity are dead. Africa is neither united nor developed. The independence won soon turned into nightmares. Political freedom turned into bloody civil wars, the defeat of capitalism even worsened poverty and hunger. Self-governance is now foreign governance. So, what then is left for Pan-Africanists to prove after having all her achievements trashed?
Ironically, the same Pan-Africanism is vehemently adhered today. Africans still believe that their path to unity still lies in it. And that is a total misconception. As if unity is the only benchmark for development. When brainstorming ideas, leaders, and thinkers in Africa first seek to unite Africa before laying down their frameworks. The founding fathers held the same delusions, it failed and failed again. and yet, for over seven decades, Africa still wants to unite before they develop. More than 3000 ethnic groups are speaking more than 2100 languages, and none of their histories has been systematically documented. Similar ethnic groups in different African countries have different ancestors and origins. The conflicting values in indigenous African societies caused by ethnic tensions and rivalries still remain unchecked.
Every African country has at least, two ethnic groups and none of the societies have stayed without conflicts. People are bind to their tribal norms and values more than national values. By default, African society was a scrambled one before Otto Von Bismark was born. As of today, it still remains scrambled. Each country has its own superior and inferior ethnic group. Tribes rise against tribes with huge tensions which sometimes end in political exploitations. Surprisingly, unity is still preached at the continental level. With highly segregated societies, which move from ethnicity, to tribalism, to clanship, and into dialect, Africa is divided deeply down to the least one can think of. The youth do not often ask about these, and when they ask. Parents tell them the myths and realities of the conflicts between tribes. Others induced their children to swear to them in keeping the conflict and hatred alive. It continued and still continues.
If there is any other method to unite rather than unity itself, then Africans must say. In diasporas, the situations aren’t different. Blacks are defined by their countries in terms of communities and mindsets. As the unity campaigns continue, no one wishes them bad luck. But as to how that can be possible, we live to see.