'Tear Down These Walls'
Today I am truly inspired and why should I not be? At 26 I am at my best and with no apologies. Yesterday I met my friend’s dad who reminded me of my importance in this world. In life, we either sell our souls or live up to our destiny. The rest of us walk on earth unaware of what brings us here and rest almost like rotten produce unworthy of neither sale nor purchase. The thought of the latter scares the hell out of me and sends chills down my spine. However, it is the thought of having my soul sold that scares me to the point that I would rather not think about but rather concentrate and strive to achieve that which I am to attain in this life.
I have made considerable progress on my thesis. Today I finished one of my chapters which examines the function of regionalism such as that advocated by the African Union, the European Union etc. In my last section, I observe that ‘a discussion of the function of regionalism by way of a historical synopsis invariably leads to the conclusion that the current international legal system is not only based on foundations of European origin but it is also largely dominated by western values advocated for, and attained during hegemonic struggles amongst powerful states.
Leopoldo Lovelace Jr observes that in the African context, ‘[t]he formation of the state system in Africa [was] primarily the result of a process of destruction of the native social and political systems and of the imposition of artificial constructs, concerning boundaries, population, and governmental institutions.’ Basically, the subject that I love to study and the way that the country of my birth operates is based on colonial concepts. What is disturbing is the compulsive acquiescence by Africans of the present territorial boundaries which ‘amount to a sanctioning, by Africa itself, of its own loss of identity.’
It is this colonial partitioning of Africa that has left it crippled with conflict. Wole Soyinka, Nigeria's Nobel-prize-winning writer and political satirist argues that ‘[we] should sit down with square-rule and compass and redesign the boundaries of African nations. If we thought we could get away without this redefinition of boundaries back when the Organization of African Unity was formed, surely the instance of Rwanda lets us know in a very brutal way that we cannot evade this historical challenge any longer.’
I respectfully disagree. Ali Mazrui says, before the advent of colonialism, we were all just Africans, there were no Tanzanians, Nigerians or Kenyans etc. The phrase ‘Tear down this wall’ has been described as the famous challenge from U. President Ronald Reagan to Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall that led to the end of the Cold War. In the African context, the artificial boarders imposed on the African continent by colonial savages are the ones that need to be torn down.
As Bob Marley sings...Africa, Unite'Cause we're moving right out of BabylonAnd we're going to our father's land
How good and how pleasant it would beBefore God and man, yeah
To see the unification of all Africans, yeah'
I have made considerable progress on my thesis. Today I finished one of my chapters which examines the function of regionalism such as that advocated by the African Union, the European Union etc. In my last section, I observe that ‘a discussion of the function of regionalism by way of a historical synopsis invariably leads to the conclusion that the current international legal system is not only based on foundations of European origin but it is also largely dominated by western values advocated for, and attained during hegemonic struggles amongst powerful states.
Leopoldo Lovelace Jr observes that in the African context, ‘[t]he formation of the state system in Africa [was] primarily the result of a process of destruction of the native social and political systems and of the imposition of artificial constructs, concerning boundaries, population, and governmental institutions.’ Basically, the subject that I love to study and the way that the country of my birth operates is based on colonial concepts. What is disturbing is the compulsive acquiescence by Africans of the present territorial boundaries which ‘amount to a sanctioning, by Africa itself, of its own loss of identity.’
It is this colonial partitioning of Africa that has left it crippled with conflict. Wole Soyinka, Nigeria's Nobel-prize-winning writer and political satirist argues that ‘[we] should sit down with square-rule and compass and redesign the boundaries of African nations. If we thought we could get away without this redefinition of boundaries back when the Organization of African Unity was formed, surely the instance of Rwanda lets us know in a very brutal way that we cannot evade this historical challenge any longer.’
I respectfully disagree. Ali Mazrui says, before the advent of colonialism, we were all just Africans, there were no Tanzanians, Nigerians or Kenyans etc. The phrase ‘Tear down this wall’ has been described as the famous challenge from U. President Ronald Reagan to Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall that led to the end of the Cold War. In the African context, the artificial boarders imposed on the African continent by colonial savages are the ones that need to be torn down.
As Bob Marley sings...Africa, Unite'Cause we're moving right out of BabylonAnd we're going to our father's land
How good and how pleasant it would beBefore God and man, yeah
To see the unification of all Africans, yeah'
posted by NG'ETHU STAR at 12:31 PM
