We missed a great opportunity by not organising a pan-African economic summit around the swearing-in of President Ramaphosa to address our plethora of socio-economic woes

Ayo Akinfe

[1] As we speak, Africa accounts for about 4% of world trade and 1% of global manufacturing despite having 18% of the planet’s population. Such an arrangement is simply not sustainable and has to be urgently addressed whether anyone likes it or not

[2] It falls to the presidents of Nigeria and South Africa to mobilise the continent and come up with solutions. Do you know that a Commonwealth summit was organised around the inauguration of King Charles III? We missed a trick but not following suit and arranging a pan-African summit around President Cyril Ramaphosa swearing-in this week

[3] Immediately after independence, we had pan-Africanist leaders like President Kwame Nkrumah who showed this regional vision in all he did. For instance, he built the Akosombo Dam on the River Volta to provide electricity to both Ghana and Upper Volta (Burkina Faso)

[4] In 1964, Nigeria’s Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa adopted a similar stance with Kainji Dam. He reached an agreement with Benin Republic and Niger Republic under which Kainji will provide them with electricity in exchange for them not building their own dams along the River Niger

[5] When I look back at the decolonisation era, I see people like Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Sekou Toure, Steve Biko, Abdul Nasser, Samora Machel, Kenneth Kaunda, Augustino Neto, Amilcar Cabral, Franz Fannon, etc. Today, Africa is no longer producing such pan-continental leaders. President Ramaphosa the liberation struggle activist should at least have given it a try

[6] Today, when confronted with problems, which defy a national solution, rather than look across their sub-region, my people tend to look inwards. Does anyone in their right mind really believe that there is an ethnic solution to power generation, economic diversification or attracting foreign direct investment?

[7] Only a madman, ready for admission into the lunatic asylum would call for the balkanisation of any African nation today when the primary problem is that the existing countries are too weak and not sustainable. You do not need to be a genius to realise that consolidation is the way forward

[8] No matter how many innocent people Fulani herdsmen kill, balkanising Nigeria into mini and weak statelets is a far worse course of action. Balkanisation will lead to problems 10 times far worse as these mini statelets will be picked off by the global powers at will, used as dumping grounds, military training camps and canon fodder for all sorts of nefarious agendas

[9] Unfortunately, in 2024, you cannot start marching your troops across borders. Were this 150 years ago, I would have just suggested we march the Nigerian Army across West Africa and create one giant mega state that the rest of the world will be forced to deal with as an equal. I would have done the same in Southern Africa with South Africa. What Africa needs more than ever today is two or three super powers that can fight its cause.

[10] When I look at Ancient Egypt, the old Kingdom of Ethiopia, the Mali Empire, Songhai and maybe Kanem-Borno, what I saw were African states the rest of the world regarded as equals. We need a return to that and the only way to do this is through consolidation. Thomas Sankara and Paul Kagame have shown us the limitations of good leadership of a small country. No matter you cut it, Nigeria simply has to merge with some of her neighbours to form an African giant to fight our corner. Sell this concept to the rest of the continent Presidents Bola Tinubu and Cyril Ramaphosa!