The Enemies Of African Unity

By Bernard Fonlon (An Extract from "Task Of Today", March, 1966)

The idea that African unity is unrealistic, impossible, a pipe dream; that those who call for an all-African, continental government are crying for the moon, is European-inspired.

For, since the white man has kept black men under, by keeping them divided, it is the most natural thing in the world that he should become the sworn enemy of African unity, since such unity constitutes a formidable threat to his hegemony.

By Bernard Fonlon (An Extract from "Task Of Today", March, 1966)

The idea that African unity is unrealistic, impossible, a pipe dream; that those who call for an all-African, continental government are crying for the moon, is European-inspired.

For, since the white man has kept black men under, by keeping them divided, it is the most natural thing in the world that he should become the sworn enemy of African unity, since such unity constitutes a formidable threat to his hegemony.

It is important to mark how divided the whites are among themselves, but how united they become, when they face the black. Witness the hesitant and ambiguous behaviour of Western powers towards Portugal and South Africa, whereas what the situation calls for is firm and stern action against these states.

As I am writing this, the radio announces that talks between Mr. Harold Wilson and Ian Smith over the future of Rhodesia have just broken down. The British Government has warned the Rhodesians of the cataclysmic consequences that would follow a unilateral declaration of independence. Britain would take economic sanctions against Rhodesians.

But the British Government, backed by the opposition and the population, hastens to assure the Rhodesians that there is no question, whatsoever, of using force against them for this rebellion.

Of course, it is unthinkable that a white government should use force against a totalitarian white minority to establish democracy in favour of black men. And yet, notice that the British socialists, whom Wilson leads, are supposed to be the most liberal and the most nigger-loving of them all! Mark this, too, that, in Aden, the Adenis are clamouring for independence and have resorted to terrorism to wring it from the British; but have Labour contented themselves with economic sanction? By no means, there are British troops in Aden.

There was trouble also in Guiana, where Gheddi Jagan led a majority government; yet the British didn't hesitate to crack down on him and strip him of power. But, Ian Smith, no; his is a special case!

Is there any guarantee that, when it comes to a showdown, the British Government will honour their pledge and carry the imposition of economic sanctions to the bitter, total end, that is, until the Rhodesians are brought to their knees? Will the Americans and their Western allies remain steadfast in their resolve to see justice prevail and democracy installed?

Only subsequent events will tell. But the chances are that, after a brief of firmness, the British and their friends will profess their helplessness against the fait accompli; and their Rhodesian kith and kin will get away with it, through some subtle subterfuge, or even with swaggering arrogance.

The fact that two hundred thousand whites can lord it with such overweening insolence over four million blacks, the fact that South Africa is there waxing stronger, the fact that such an anachronism as "Portuguese" Africa still exists on this continent, the fact that white men can claim a parcel of African soil as their own, right in our faces and we can do nothing about it (while the British are taking measures to limit coloured people coming into their country) - these are frightening testimonies of the emasculation and the powerlessness of the African peoples. They emphasise the extreme urgency of our need for unity.

Let us hope that this situation will give the African leaders a jolt and make them sit up and think. For, paradoxically, these leaders themselves are the second towering hurdle barring the way to the attainment of African unity. Some constitute themselves an obstacle to unity by the animosity, the antagonism and the distrust that their behaviour arouses in their colleagues; others by their ambition which makes them reluctant to surrender sovereignty, however slightly, preferring to be first even in puny, helpless states than to be drowned in a powerful continental ensemble.

The personal contribution of President Ahidjo and Vice President Foncha to the success and the consolidation of the Cameroon experiment is an eloquent testimony of the primordial role that African leaders have to play in the achievement of the continent's oneness.

Another factor, which retards our onward march towards unity is the fact that, today, the African peoples are, by and large, inarticulate spectators in so far as the conception, the formulation and the execution of policy are concerned; thus, even if the masses believed fervently in unity, they would have no way of making their voice heard on the matter; they are completely despoiled of any means to put pressure on their hesitant leaders and make them toe the line.

Furthermore, it must be acknowledged that the leanness of our means, and the meagreness of efficiency and skill in organisation and management among the present generation of Africans, make the attainment of all-African unity a very Herculean task, a task whose accomplishment will require time and abundant effort and sacrifice.

Yet, as I have striven to show, it is a work of most supreme and urgent necessity for the independence, the development, the modernisation, the invigoration and even the survival of the African people that shirk it or to shilly-shally before it should be completely out of the question; that would be the betrayal of a whole continent, of a whole race.

Today, we are painfully powerless to impose our will even on our own continent. But this is due to no fault of ours; for the emasculation of centuries cannot be remedied in a year, in a decade or even in a lifetime.

However, if we of this generation apply ourselves, if we lay a solid foundation for the Africa of tomorrow, by the achievement and the consolidation of an unshakable continental unity, in our time, we will therefore by enable generations coming after to build, upon it, a solid tower of strength whereby to impose their will, on this continent and make Africa completely African, from the Cairo to the Cape, by force of arms, if necessary.

It is important to mark how divided the whites are among themselves, but how united they become, when they face the black. Witness the hesitant and ambiguous behaviour of Western powers towards Portugal and South Africa, whereas what the situation calls for is firm and stern action against these states.

As I am writing this, the radio announces that talks between Mr. Harold Wilson and Ian Smith over the future of Rhodesia have just broken down. The British Government has warned the Rhodesians of the cataclysmic consequences that would follow a unilateral declaration of independence. Britain would take economic sanctions against Rhodesians.

But the British Government, backed by the opposition and the population, hastens to assure the Rhodesians that there is no question, whatsoever, of using force against them for this rebellion.

Of course, it is unthinkable that a white government should use force against a totalitarian white minority to establish democracy in favour of black men. And yet, notice that the British socialists, whom Wilson leads, are supposed to be the most liberal and the most nigger-loving of them all! Mark this, too, that, in Aden, the Adenis are clamouring for independence and have resorted to terrorism to wring it from the British; but have Labour contented themselves with economic sanction? By no means, there are British troops in Aden.

There was trouble also in Guiana, where Gheddi Jagan led a majority government; yet the British didn't hesitate to crack down on him and strip him of power. But, Ian Smith, no; his is a special case!

Is there any guarantee that, when it comes to a showdown, the British Government will honour their pledge and carry the imposition of economic sanctions to the bitter, total end, that is, until the Rhodesians are brought to their knees? Will the Americans and their Western allies remain steadfast in their resolve to see justice prevail and democracy installed?

Only subsequent events will tell. But the chances are that, after a brief of firmness, the British and their friends will profess their helplessness against the fait accompli; and their Rhodesian kith and kin will get away with it, through some subtle subterfuge, or even with swaggering arrogance.

The fact that two hundred thousand whites can lord it with such overweening insolence over four million blacks, the fact that South Africa is there waxing stronger, the fact that such an anachronism as "Portuguese" Africa still exists on this continent, the fact that white men can claim a parcel of African soil as their own, right in our faces and we can do nothing about it (while the British are taking measures to limit coloured people coming into their country) - these are frightening testimonies of the emasculation and the powerlessness of the African peoples. They emphasise the extreme urgency of our need for unity.

Let us hope that this situation will give the African leaders a jolt and make them sit up and think. For, paradoxically, these leaders themselves are the second towering hurdle barring the way to the attainment of African unity. Some constitute themselves an obstacle to unity by the animosity, the antagonism and the distrust that their behaviour arouses in their colleagues; others by their ambition which makes them reluctant to surrender sovereignty, however slightly, preferring to be first even in puny, helpless states than to be drowned in a powerful continental ensemble.

The personal contribution of President Ahidjo and Vice President Foncha to the success and the consolidation of the Cameroon experiment is an eloquent testimony of the primordial role that African leaders have to play in the achievement of the continent's oneness.

Another factor, which retards our onward march towards unity is the fact that, today, the African peoples are, by and large, inarticulate spectators in so far as the conception, the formulation and the execution of policy are concerned; thus, even if the masses believed fervently in unity, they would have no way of making their voice heard on the matter; they are completely despoiled of any means to put pressure on their hesitant leaders and make them toe the line.

Furthermore, it must be acknowledged that the leanness of our means, and the meagreness of efficiency and skill in organisation and management among the present generation of Africans, make the attainment of all-African unity a very Herculean task, a task whose accomplishment will require time and abundant effort and sacrifice.

Yet, as I have striven to show, it is a work of most supreme and urgent necessity for the independence, the development, the modernisation, the invigoration and even the survival of the African people that shirk it or to shilly-shally before it should be completely out of the question; that would be the betrayal of a whole continent, of a whole race.

Today, we are painfully powerless to impose our will even on our own continent. But this is due to no fault of ours; for the emasculation of centuries cannot be remedied in a year, in a decade or even in a lifetime.

However, if we of this generation apply ourselves, if we lay a solid foundation for the Africa of tomorrow, by the achievement and the consolidation of an unshakable continental unity, in our time, we will therefore by enable generations coming after to build, upon it, a solid tower of strength whereby to impose their will, on this continent and make Africa completely African, from the Cairo to the Cape, by force of arms, if necessary.

Comments

[dzemo romuald]

Fonlon thought and write definitely at the wake of African Independance. Way back, surely before I was born. i wonder how much has changed after the talk on African Unity was opened. Time has rolled by, and a lot has happened, and many african countries has become independant. Fonlon wasn't naif of the what he was talking about and he surely lived a lot of the reality that brought about the misery of the African soul from inside; he didn't just see but felt and touched it.

I think Fonlon was developing his ideas at a time that Africa was wriggling and breasting blood-filled paths. We have many sad pictures and images before our gaze, images I would content to leave aside. But the question i could not help asking is what is best for Africa?

We could not neglect cetain points when talking of African Unity. The idea of a single nation for Africa was was illusory: it was idealistic. I greatly salute Fonlon for his ideas, but they represented the vast universe of the soul that was his.

The Balcanization of Africa in itself constituted an ailment that had gone on for ages, the cicatrices are there, and the wound is deeper than we thought. The diversity in the cultures we have in Africa today, could be explained, to a certain degree, by the fact that it was it witnessed the evil of colonisation in its diverse forms, lived it differently in the different niches of the vast continent. It is different to conciliate this diversity which in itself is a treasure for Africa..

I think what african needs today is not dream of unity. Africa needs something beyond that. Africa needs a conscience that is hers. That could explain a lot. By having a conscience that is african, i mean taking responsibility. The African needs to affirm his freedom, neither with arms nor with arrogance, but with the consciousness that he has a vocation to create, to grow, to enhance his own developement.

It is time that African takes to lead to responsibly manage her own resources, to runs her politics with a conscience that places the human value above all things else ever.

We have learnt from our colonizers a lot of the evils that threaten us today: we learnt egoism from them; we were not thought to love our own country. we have been repeatedly and decisively instigated to take arms against our fellow brothers. This is a sad reality. And how much have we learnt from it?

We have learnt treachery and corruption. we have learnt to lie and to swindle. We have learnt egoism of the deepest gore.

I think we need to wring ourselves from the complacent attitude in which we had lain for many years and rigorously embrace those values that enhance constructive work. This could not be possibly without the awakening of the African conscience, that means responsibilty and hard work. And I believe that we can realise that.