African union: Realising the dream

I am enormously pleased to be here today. I thank the All Africa Students Union, AASU, for giving me the honour to speak to this diverse and respectable audience, especially in this venue named after one of Africa’s greatest international civil servants, Kofi Annan.

When I received the invitation to speak here, I had no hesitation whatsoever in accepting. The reason is that the youths are my constituency. In my inaugural speech when I was sworn in as Governor of Imo state of Nigeria on 29 May 2007, I stated my passion for the youths in unequivocal terms. I vowed that I will never accept or regard our youths as "the wasted generation". To accept that axiom is to condemn our future. Rather, I prefer to always embrace them with love. That is why I am here today.

Moreover, the invitation came during one of the most monumental historical events of our time, the election of a Kenyan-American, Senator Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. I prefer to call him Kenyan-American in order to emphasize the fact that Obama’s father did not go to America in a slave ship. Barrack’s father bought his own ticket and went to America as a youth. He went to Harvard, obtained his doctorate and later went back to Kenya to serve his country. That the son of a Kenyan became the first African-American senator and in just a little over two years as a senator, has been elected into the most powerful office on earth, is the greatest challenge to the rest of us in Africa, leaders and the youths. Obama, as the leader of the world, not only restores some of our stolen legacies, but also shows how much you and I can achieve if only we have the courage to challenge seemingly impregnable frontiers. Obama demonstrates the power of dreams, big dreams. That is why I am happy to be speaking to you today.

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the theme of this event is State of the African Union: Living the Dream. But after a deep reflection on this theme, I have chosen to speak on a slightly altered topic; State of the African Union: Realizing the Dream. This is so because you have to realize a dream before you can live it. In the limited time available to me, I shall therefore examine the dream of the founding fathers of the African Union, the State of African Union, whether the dream has been realized, and if so, whether our living condition in Africa reflects the dream.

The African Union, as we all know, is the successor to the Organization of African Unity, OAU, through a declaration (the Sirte Declaration) issued on 9 September 1999 by the Heads of State and Government of OAU. One would ask, what is the difference between the OAU and the AU? On the surface it would look like a mere cosmetic change of nomenclature. At least on paper, it is not.

The OAU founded in 1963 had as its main objectives, to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonialism and apartheid; to promote unity and solidarity among the African States; to coordinate and intensify cooperation for development; to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and to promote international cooperation within the framework of the United Nations. These, as it were, were the dreams of the founding fathers of the OAU.

But, lofty as these dreams were, they were soon soured by the seemingly innocuous principle which sought to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member States. That principle became the fly in the OAU ointment. Given the colonial balkanization of Africa at the Berlin Conference of 1884, which did not take cognizance of cultural and linguistic boundaries, I would say that respecting the colonial boundaries has till today minimized territorial wars, but it has not completely eliminated them. On the other hand, it turned the OAU into a protectionist cabal for the founding Heads of States. As a result, African nations looked the other way while terrible violations of human rights took place in neighbouring countries. This indifference also gave room for neo-colonial interests to target those leaders who had a Pan Africanist vision and serially overthrew them through coups. Martin Meredith, in his book, The State of Africa, said: "In the first two decades of independence, there were some forty successful coups and countless attempted coups". The generals claimed that they would rid their countries of corruption, tribalism and other ineptitudes, but soon became the problems themselves. They became more corrupt than the civilian politicians they overthrew.

As a forum for effective fight for the liberation of Africa from colonialism and apartheid, the OAU worked and spoke with one voice. In deed, from the Lagos Plan of Action of 1980 to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) of 2001, African countries took various initiatives in their quest for unity, economic and social development and have made substantial progress. But it was realized that Africa needed more than preserving the territorial integrity of nations. The continuing enlargement of the European Union into a mega state and the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization demonstrated that miniscule territories held no chance against larger and more integrated regional groupings.

It is obvious that the AU is more audacious in pursuing the dreams of Pan-Africanists like Kwame Nkrumah and others. Although there are talks of economic integration, common African currency and African High Command, it is still a long way to achieving these. But at least the nursing of such dreams is no longer seditious. The economies of AU members south of Sahara are still in the doldrums, largely due to the political environment. Some years ago, the former President of the World Bank, Barber Conable observed that the development of many sub-Saharan African countries has been constrained quite unnecessarily by their political systems. The current global economic meltdown is going to pose further challenges to African development. Many nations whose economies depend of raw materials may suffer as substitutes are found by the West. Elections in many African countries are still causes of crisis that result in untold hardship on the citizens. Africa has not weaned itself off the Big Man syndrome.

Coups are less frequent in Africa but it still happens. We no longer have the Idi Amins, the Abachas, the Kamuzu Bandas and the Bokassas, but we still have the Omar Bongos and the Mugabes. Daffur and DR Congo are still reminders of what Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, called the "scar on the conscience of the world".

Yesterday was the era of our founding fathers. Today is the future they dreamed of. Tomorrow will be shaped by what we do today. Therefore, realizing the dream of the AU is our responsibility. Africa of the future, fully democratic with sound and competitive economy, is what we must work for today. It is said that the 21st century belongs to Africa. Africa is the only place on earth where the resources are yet to be fully exploited. The question is, can Africa claim the 21st century or will it let it pass it by? In answering that question I want to address both the leaders and the youths in Africa.

African leaders must take democracy seriously. Africa is replete with Big Men who did not respect the norms of democracy. What, indeed, can we say are the hallmarks of democracy in Africa? Do African leaders respect them? Of the 53 countries in Africa only 16 are fully democratic. Of this 16, only 10 enjoy political peace and stability. We cannot forever blame our backwardness on colonialism. African leaders have to take responsibility now! African leaders are the ones who must stop the wars that ravage Africa. Our leaders are the ones who must elevate the dignity of the African in the eyes of the world through good governance. Our leaders are the ones who must eschew corruption and deploy the resources of the continent for the economic emancipation of the people. Our leaders are the ones who must make Africa the continent of the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, one imperative course of action African leaders must take is to look inwards to solve our problems. It is an inexcusable irony that Africa is blessed with enormous resources, yet the continent lags behind in development. This is largely because trade among African state is minimal. Africa has the richest tourism in the world, yet every summer, Africans troop outside the continent. Our leaders go outside Africa to treat toothache. They send their children outside Africa even for primary education. Africa is today overwhelmed by the rapid advancement in technology and may lose the modest growth recorded in GDP in the past few years.

Africa must, therefore, rally round against all tendencies that militate against sustainable development. One of such tendencies is sit-tight leadership. Undemocratic methods, which violate human rights, are always used to manipulate tenure elongation and self-perpetuation. Issues of human rights are no longer contained within borders and leaders can no longer hide behind their "territorial integrity". So African leaders must keep step with the world. We cannot be different. The difference between us and the rest of the world is not due to our geographical location, but due to human vision and the determination to excel.

Luckily it has not been all bad news or hopelessness. Nelson Mandela, the global icon, has shown that a saintly leadership can come out Africa. Our brother, His Excellency, President John Kufour, stands tall among credible world leaders. President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is taking Nigeria through the redeeming path of Rule of Law.

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, for me, the issue is no longer what those before us have done or not done. The issue is what the youths, the fables leaders of tomorrow, can do. Youths of Africa must set for themselves a self-fulfilling agenda for promoting change in Africa. It is within the ability of the youths of Africa to help enthrone genuine democracy.

African youths of today are as good as their counterparts anywhere. They are well educated. They are more IT-compliant. All they need is for the leaders to listen to them. Those who did not give Obama any chance to win were not listening to the youths of America to know that change had become inevitable. The youths themselves must dream big dreams with supreme confidence. Only those who dare can win. Obama has vindicated the view of John H Johnson, late publisher of Ebony magazine, another African American who dared in his youth and succeeded against odds. Johnson said that "men and women are limited not by the place of their birth, not by the colour of their skin, but by the size of their hope".

Before Obama were other youths who broke barriers. Arthur Ashe was the first African-American to win Wimbledon and US Open; Venus Williams is the first African-American woman to win Wimbledon; Tiger Wood remains the greatest golfer in the world; Mohammed Ali remains the greatest boxer ever; Jesse Owen shamed Hitler and his Aryan superiority and won four Olympic gold medals in Berlin; Oprah Winfrey hosts the greatest talk show in the world; Lewis Hamilton of Britain became the world’s first black Formula One champion a few days before Obama’s victory.

Back home here, Africa has produced world beaters who exhibited indomitable spirit in their youth. I think of Dick Tiger and Hogan Bassey of Nigeria and Azumah Nelson of Ghana who were World boxing champions. Abedi Pele, Roger Milla, Nwankwo Kanu, Dedier Drogba, Michael Essien, Emmanuel Adebayour and Samuel Eto’o are global role models in Football. Africa has produced great athletes like Kip Keino, Mary Onyeali and Mutola. African scholars are all over the world excelling in science and technology.

These are people who did not allow any obstacle to hold them down. Therefore, if there is any lesson to be drawn from recent historical events, it is that African youths must never let anything stand between them and their dream. My message to the youths of Africa is, lift yourself above the morass and never let the problems of Africa overwhelm you. Africa looks up to you for redemption.

Thank you for listening.

.Being the excerpts of a key note address delivered by His Excellency, Ikedi Ohakim Governor of Imo State, at the African Leadership Award 2008 at Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence, Osu Accra Ghana, on Monday November 17, 2008.