Tajudeen's Thursday Post card

The African Union Is Happily Here At Last -- That we have come this far is a tribute to our collective will Tomorrow, May 25 is Africa Liberation Day. It is a day that honours the signing of the charter establishing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963. It also pledges solidarity for the liberation of Africa. The OAU is a butt of insults and criticisms for 'doing nothing' or being ineffective, in living up to the mandate of uniting Africa and responding to the various challenges facing Africa. Many of the criticisms are understandable even if not all of them are deserved. The OAU was set up for the twin purpose of finishing the anti-colonial struggle of the 1960s and also uniting Africa. It was very successful on the liberation agenda in its support for the liberation of southern Africa from racist settler regimes and the former Portuguese colonies of Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique. The OAU mobilised human and material resources across Africa in support of these struggles and also diplomatic and political support internationally. The weaknesses of the OAU that everybody harps on should not cloud some of its successes. The fact that it has survived for all these years must mean that it is or can still serve important purposes. There are many reasons why the OAU may has not lived up to the huge expectations at its inception. lThe charter signed in 1963, was necessarily a compromise between the radical Casablanca states led by Nkrumah of Ghana and Gamel Abdel Nasser of Egypt (who wanted immediate political Union) and the moderate and conservative alliance represented by the Monrovia and Libreville group of states who found a credible spokesperson in Mwalimu Nyerere. Though Nyerere was not a conservative, he was opposed to Nkrumah's fast train and instead argued for 'functional unity' (that is, economic unity before political union). In retrospect, the division was superfluous because the economic co-operation did not happen largely due to lack of political will. It need not have been an 'either or' argument but a complimentary process of concrete political and economic programmes to advance the shared goal of unity. lThe political compromise on the charter also included agreement that the colonial borders inherited from colonialism remain inviolate. This again was a necessary compromise because of the threat of inter-state conflicts and wars consequent to the arbitrary nature of the borders that cut across cultures and peoples. However, in reality, this limited conception of 'sovereignty and territorial integrity' added to the dogmatic application of the principle of 'non- interference' in the internal affairs of member states. This effectively tied the OAU's hands to become whatever the leaders wanted it to be. We became prisoners to our liberators (the Wabenzi elite of the Uhuru governments). It operated by the dubious understanding between the leaders that 'you leave my victims to me and I leave yours to you.' The OAU emerged as the most important trade union on the continent, a union of dictators backed by personal armies and militias. Consequently, the OAU was unable to sanction any of its members because oppression of African peoples by their governments became 'internal affairs' over which the dictators had 'sovereignty'! -The international environment of bitter cold war and the emergence of neo-colonialism in Africa also constrained the room for manoeuvre by the various states and the OAU itself. In that context, what mattered most was whether regimes were pro-East or pro-west not their Pan Africanist credentials. Indeed, most of the committed Pan Africanist governments were generally on the left and pro-East. The latter became victims of all kinds of economic and political conspiracies as evidenced in the fate of Lumumba, Nkrumah, Modibbo Keita, Nasser, Ben Bella and others. Today, we have reasons to look forward to the future with optimism. The world has changed and some of the internal and external constraints to our Unity Agenda are being addressed. On Saturday the new treaty on African Union that has now been ratified by more than the required two thirds of the member states will formally come into force. The OAU will cease to exist and give way to The African Union. It is not just a mere change of name. The new treaty has tried to overcome some of the historical problems of the OAU charter. It provides for an Executive Council, which would be more powerful than the current council of ministers, Committee of Ambassadors and also be effective in between summits. There is a provision for an elected Pan African Parliament that should move the organisation away from its historical leaders-centrism. More importantly, the new treaty provides for a Central Bank for Africa, Court of Justice, and an economic community. Not many people gave the idea any chance of success when the Libyan leader, Muamar Gaddafi, first muted it in 1999. That we have travelled this far is a tribute to our collective will and recognition of the simple truth that African Unity is an idea whose time has both come and is now. Happy Africa Day. Tajudeen28@hotmail.com Ends