Pan-Africanism-A Sure Solution to Africa's problems.

Pan-Africanism is an ideology and movement that encourages the solidarity of Africans worldwide. It is based on the belief that unity is vital to economic, social and political progress and aims to 'unify and uplift' people of African descent.

The ideology asserts that the fate of all African people and countries are intertwined. At its core, Pan-Africanism is a belief that African people both on the continent and in the diaspora share not merely a common history but also a common destiny.

Many advocates of Pan-Africanism in the diaspora included Marcus Garvey, W.E.B Du Bois and George Padmore. Their inspiration and encouragement certainly paved the way for Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and others in Africa to take up the challenge to liberate not only their countries but also the entire continent of Africa.

Many Africans are afraid that the ideology of Pan-Africanism cannot be effectively realised in contemporary times considering the civil predicament that has rocked the continent over the years.

The thoughts of these people do not come as a surprise to me because the largest Pan-African Movement today, the African Unity(AU) has not been effective after the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and other advocates of this great ideology.

Contrary to the dreams of the Pan-Africanists to unite the African continent into one single Federal State, the AU has not achieved its core objectives of uniting Africa.

Critics also accuse the ideology of homogenizing the experiences of people of African descent. They also point the difficulties of reconciling current divisions within countries on the continent and within communities in the diaspora.

Many of such criticisms come from the United States and the European Union(EU). But interestingly, they were also not able to unite without encountering difficulties in one way or the other.

As we think about our critics who certainly know that the unity of African countries as one Federal State could make us stronger and give us the economic, political and social clout to act and compete on the world stage as do other large entities, Franklin D. Roosevelt, one famous US president has a message for us; 'the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.' By this, he means that we should do away with fear since it can prevent us from bringing into reality the unity of the continent that we all desire.

Who says Africa cannot unite into one Federal Republic? All we need to do is to see ourselves as one one people with a common destiny, come together, iron out our differences, ease the tension amongst us and pull our resources together to build our continent. You and I can make it happen.

As God is preparing some of us to take up the challenge of the Pan-Africanists, I just want to entreat our leaders to dare to tread on the path of unity for a positive advancement.

The question of what Africa has achieved over the years is not important here at all.

What is necessary is for us to learn from our past mistakes to enable us plan afresh for a better future.

The idea of Pan-Africanism must be used as a springboard to propel Africa onto a higher place of advancement from which all shall benefit.