The Institutional Consequences of Domestic Politics on Africa's International Relations and Regional Cooperation.
The Institutional Consequences of Domestic Politics on Africa's International Relations and Regional Cooperation
The African States recently resolved to establish a relatively new regional body called the African Union and pursue its goals and objectives. Former members of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) constitute the Union. This composition is characterized by Varying social-cultural, economic, religious and political backgrounds-factors which could act as encumbrances to operational capacity of the new Union. Though this new Union might be a product of lessons from the successes and pitfalls of OAU and regional response to globalization process, the consequences on national decision making process of member states, their domestic sovereignty, structures and institutions could be worthy of subjects of analysis. Worthy of examination also are the impacts of domestic political environment characterized by various structures and processes, military capability, population and national wealth, and plural ethnic groups on the power play within and across the African Union.
At a general level, this paper examines the aims and objectives of the new African Union as against that of Organization of African Unity. The paper also examines prospects and challenges of the African Union.
In particular it looks at the impact of domestic environment, structures and institutions, economic and socio-cultural factors as well as ethnic composition and how they have impacted or capable of impacting on the operational capacity of African States at international level and within the framework of the African Union.
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The history of Africa is the history of colonialism and underdevelopment. It is the history of slavery, of wars, conflicts and hunger. It is also the history of the beginnings of man and civilization. However, while underdevelopment was as old as Africa itself, colonialism came about between 1885 and 1906. For most of Africa according to Akintoye (1976), colonialism lasted between six to eight years. At elementary level, colonialism is said to rule. This 'doctrine' manifested in Africa after the Berlin conference, during which African countries were balkanized and shared into areas of influence among European states in 1884. These areas of influence were tagged colonies and protectorates. Arguments have been generated as per whether colonialism was beneficial to Africa. But we are not into such argument since each side has its own merits. However, since we are constrained to examine the circumstances which led to formation of the Organization of African Unity, it becomes imperative to look at this phenomenon even though briefly since again it features prominently at any attempt to explain efforts at the birth of the continental organization. Briefly on the other side, colonialism was not completely a bad event because whether one likes it or not, it brought with it western civilization with all its attractions. However, the critics of colonialism started with its method and ended up with its consequences. Africa was shared and conquered in most cases under force of arms. The method of governance was strange. It alienated African culture and tradition and ostracized both traditional and political elite. It was what many Africans perceived as a total loss of freedom. The culture of French territories were completely destroyed and lost in French tradition. Africans had little or no hand in the exploitation and management of their economic resources. Africans complained of racial discrimination and colour bar in many areas of human endeavor. In most cases the western system of governance negated the traditional institutional system and ran into problems, which in some cases led to resistance and war. In some other cases these traditional institutions of governance were utilized as the case of Northern Nigeria. Perhaps, two major issues stand out clearly among others, which have generated more problems than others in the wake of colonialism. One is the creation of national and international boundaries for Africans from which African states emerged and secondly the imposition of western system of governance on these states. According to Akintoye, these states were given name, official language and capitals cities. In some cases the boundaries divides a people into two or three and each posted to different states. In as much as the creation of these boundaries had its side advantage, the disadvantages appear monumental. This is why many students on African had attributed the increasing incidence of conflict in African long after colonialism to the dastardly effect of European rule because by creating theses boundaries permanent seeds of conflict were sown. The artificiality of theses boundaries appear also to have created back-up zones for many guerilla groups harassing many legitimate African governments because they have their kits and kin across the border. These colonial generated boundaries also made it impossible for internal unity and common sense of identity to be generated among African States. This effect might however, not be the original intention of the colonizers, but the boundary wars in African are numerous.
On the issue of governance, the imposition of western system of governance has created more problems than they were designed to solve. The governance system deviated from the culture and traditions of Africa. It was strange and beats all that majority of Africans imagined. It has been my contention that the African culture is generally dictatorial. Starting from the family system, the man is the head of the family. His authorities are unquestionable. His view on family matter remains the final. The children are socialized into this authoritarian personality, which in most cases degenerate to tyranny. This particular personality is projected at various levels of personal and group interactions outside the family-clubs, organizations and even political parities. At the extreme, it is approximated to leadership level. Within this context, any opposition is perceived as a challenge to the constituted authority and must be dealt with absolutely. A great gap was created between the traditional system governance and the western model and no concrete efforts were made to seek for a blend. In effect, all efforts were towards replacing traditional system of governance which were considered as primitive and which were in line with a people's culture with the western system, which veered off from the culture and tradition of the people. This was the point where such ideas as democracy ran into a crossroad. The political institutions of governance have come to be outside the understanding of those entrusted with management of public affairs in Africa, even though they pretend to be purveyors of perfect knowledge of what governance system is supposed to be. No efforts have been made to blend the tradition with modernity. The European tradition was generally a democratic tradition with all the attendant institutions and values systems. That of Africa was authoritarian. These are two leadership models, which appear to run at parallel lines. The average European could define African traditional understanding of justice as jungle. A typical example might suffice. In Anambra State of Nigeria, there was an upsurge in armed robbery and crime. Armed robbers invaded residential buildings, raped and maimed their victims. In the evenings people would leave their houses and run to churches to pass their nights. Male children were made to rape their mothers and fathers were ordered to rape their daughters. The police was helpless as many of them either lost their lives or were even accomplices. The people lost complete confidence in the institution of regulation - the Police force. Armed robbers entered open markets places and raided traders at will. After an event where robbers attacked passenger buses killing about fifty passengers and robbed them, and some of the robbers were found to be members of the force, Anambra State Government in alliance with Market traders invited a traditional crime busting outfit called 'Bakassi Boys'. The Boys used the African Charm and magic. Machete was their major weapon. With Machete, they were able to dictate any vehicle carrying any armed robber or anybody who had shaded blood before. If a care-snatching incident had taken place, they will visit the venue and draw a circle. After some hours, the car snatcher will return the vehicle at the point where it was snatched. During their trial, they make the suspect confess all the evil things he had dome from childhood at the negation of modern institution of adjudication. After that, if the suspect was found guilty, the robber will be slashed with machete and set on fire. This sounded strange and fictitious but it was real and an account from personal experience. To the average European, this would appear barbaric, to the average African, instance justice is a tradition-the end justifies the means. The Bakassi Boys greet themselves with gunshots every morning before leaving for an assignment. If any one of them has soiled his hand in evil, the bullet would kill him but if ones hands were 'clean' when he is shot the bullet would fall off his body without hurting him. Through this method, the Anambra State became crime free and the State Governor recently won an award from the Federal government for eradicating violent crime in the state. This method was adopted because the institutions entrusted with system regulation and control proved ineffective and failed to match the traditional system of armed robbers. This development created a contradiction between tradition and modernity. This is because modern governance system and institutions would want criminals arrested, tried and punished if found guilty using the system of justice approved by western democracy. But since the regulatory institutions could not contain the wave of criminal activities, the traditional out-fit which could contain them adopted a method not approved by modern governance. The option for the police was then to turn blind eyes to the operations of this traditional outfit. Most aspects of the modern governance system and institutions in Africa are facing this kind of dilemma because of divorce of tradition from modernity. There are also many other problems areas, which require collective thought and action. This makes it imperative for Africans to rally together to forge a common front and tackle such common problems as bad effects of colonialism, disunity, cold war, inter ethnic and intra-ethnic and boundary wars. The problem of corruption has also made Africa ungovernable. Again, in as much modern literature would blame corruption on poverty, I blame it on the breach between tradition and modernity. Again, in as much poverty could be part of the causes of corruption, the jettisoning effect of tradition and their structures of governance in Africa, has been the major cause. The puzzle which this raises again would be where a man is the Chairman of a town union, he strives to be honest and accountable to the union because of traditional checks and balances are there even when they may not have emerged as visible structures, but the same man when given a government job, may be a governor, he will embezzle public fund and become corrupt. While he was the chairman of a town union, he was poorer and never touched the people's money but turns a rogue as a public office holder. The African tradition understands the concept of trust, good name and fairness.
The African States recently resolved to establish a relatively new regional body called the African Union and pursue its goals and objectives. Former members of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) constitute the Union. This composition is characterized by Varying social-cultural, economic, religious and political backgrounds-factors which could act as encumbrances to operational capacity of the new Union. Though this new Union might be a product of lessons from the successes and pitfalls of OAU and regional response to globalization process, the consequences on national decision making process of member states, their domestic sovereignty, structures and institutions could be worthy of subjects of analysis. Worthy of examination also are the impacts of domestic political environment characterized by various structures and processes, military capability, population and national wealth, and plural ethnic groups on the power play within and across the African Union.
At a general level, this paper examines the aims and objectives of the new African Union as against that of Organization of African Unity. The paper also examines prospects and challenges of the African Union.
In particular it looks at the impact of domestic environment, structures and institutions, economic and socio-cultural factors as well as ethnic composition and how they have impacted or capable of impacting on the operational capacity of African States at international level and within the framework of the African Union.
.
The history of Africa is the history of colonialism and underdevelopment. It is the history of slavery, of wars, conflicts and hunger. It is also the history of the beginnings of man and civilization. However, while underdevelopment was as old as Africa itself, colonialism came about between 1885 and 1906. For most of Africa according to Akintoye (1976), colonialism lasted between six to eight years. At elementary level, colonialism is said to rule. This 'doctrine' manifested in Africa after the Berlin conference, during which African countries were balkanized and shared into areas of influence among European states in 1884. These areas of influence were tagged colonies and protectorates. Arguments have been generated as per whether colonialism was beneficial to Africa. But we are not into such argument since each side has its own merits. However, since we are constrained to examine the circumstances which led to formation of the Organization of African Unity, it becomes imperative to look at this phenomenon even though briefly since again it features prominently at any attempt to explain efforts at the birth of the continental organization. Briefly on the other side, colonialism was not completely a bad event because whether one likes it or not, it brought with it western civilization with all its attractions. However, the critics of colonialism started with its method and ended up with its consequences. Africa was shared and conquered in most cases under force of arms. The method of governance was strange. It alienated African culture and tradition and ostracized both traditional and political elite. It was what many Africans perceived as a total loss of freedom. The culture of French territories were completely destroyed and lost in French tradition. Africans had little or no hand in the exploitation and management of their economic resources. Africans complained of racial discrimination and colour bar in many areas of human endeavor. In most cases the western system of governance negated the traditional institutional system and ran into problems, which in some cases led to resistance and war. In some other cases these traditional institutions of governance were utilized as the case of Northern Nigeria. Perhaps, two major issues stand out clearly among others, which have generated more problems than others in the wake of colonialism. One is the creation of national and international boundaries for Africans from which African states emerged and secondly the imposition of western system of governance on these states. According to Akintoye, these states were given name, official language and capitals cities. In some cases the boundaries divides a people into two or three and each posted to different states. In as much as the creation of these boundaries had its side advantage, the disadvantages appear monumental. This is why many students on African had attributed the increasing incidence of conflict in African long after colonialism to the dastardly effect of European rule because by creating theses boundaries permanent seeds of conflict were sown. The artificiality of theses boundaries appear also to have created back-up zones for many guerilla groups harassing many legitimate African governments because they have their kits and kin across the border. These colonial generated boundaries also made it impossible for internal unity and common sense of identity to be generated among African States. This effect might however, not be the original intention of the colonizers, but the boundary wars in African are numerous.
On the issue of governance, the imposition of western system of governance has created more problems than they were designed to solve. The governance system deviated from the culture and traditions of Africa. It was strange and beats all that majority of Africans imagined. It has been my contention that the African culture is generally dictatorial. Starting from the family system, the man is the head of the family. His authorities are unquestionable. His view on family matter remains the final. The children are socialized into this authoritarian personality, which in most cases degenerate to tyranny. This particular personality is projected at various levels of personal and group interactions outside the family-clubs, organizations and even political parities. At the extreme, it is approximated to leadership level. Within this context, any opposition is perceived as a challenge to the constituted authority and must be dealt with absolutely. A great gap was created between the traditional system governance and the western model and no concrete efforts were made to seek for a blend. In effect, all efforts were towards replacing traditional system of governance which were considered as primitive and which were in line with a people's culture with the western system, which veered off from the culture and tradition of the people. This was the point where such ideas as democracy ran into a crossroad. The political institutions of governance have come to be outside the understanding of those entrusted with management of public affairs in Africa, even though they pretend to be purveyors of perfect knowledge of what governance system is supposed to be. No efforts have been made to blend the tradition with modernity. The European tradition was generally a democratic tradition with all the attendant institutions and values systems. That of Africa was authoritarian. These are two leadership models, which appear to run at parallel lines. The average European could define African traditional understanding of justice as jungle. A typical example might suffice. In Anambra State of Nigeria, there was an upsurge in armed robbery and crime. Armed robbers invaded residential buildings, raped and maimed their victims. In the evenings people would leave their houses and run to churches to pass their nights. Male children were made to rape their mothers and fathers were ordered to rape their daughters. The police was helpless as many of them either lost their lives or were even accomplices. The people lost complete confidence in the institution of regulation - the Police force. Armed robbers entered open markets places and raided traders at will. After an event where robbers attacked passenger buses killing about fifty passengers and robbed them, and some of the robbers were found to be members of the force, Anambra State Government in alliance with Market traders invited a traditional crime busting outfit called 'Bakassi Boys'. The Boys used the African Charm and magic. Machete was their major weapon. With Machete, they were able to dictate any vehicle carrying any armed robber or anybody who had shaded blood before. If a care-snatching incident had taken place, they will visit the venue and draw a circle. After some hours, the car snatcher will return the vehicle at the point where it was snatched. During their trial, they make the suspect confess all the evil things he had dome from childhood at the negation of modern institution of adjudication. After that, if the suspect was found guilty, the robber will be slashed with machete and set on fire. This sounded strange and fictitious but it was real and an account from personal experience. To the average European, this would appear barbaric, to the average African, instance justice is a tradition-the end justifies the means. The Bakassi Boys greet themselves with gunshots every morning before leaving for an assignment. If any one of them has soiled his hand in evil, the bullet would kill him but if ones hands were 'clean' when he is shot the bullet would fall off his body without hurting him. Through this method, the Anambra State became crime free and the State Governor recently won an award from the Federal government for eradicating violent crime in the state. This method was adopted because the institutions entrusted with system regulation and control proved ineffective and failed to match the traditional system of armed robbers. This development created a contradiction between tradition and modernity. This is because modern governance system and institutions would want criminals arrested, tried and punished if found guilty using the system of justice approved by western democracy. But since the regulatory institutions could not contain the wave of criminal activities, the traditional out-fit which could contain them adopted a method not approved by modern governance. The option for the police was then to turn blind eyes to the operations of this traditional outfit. Most aspects of the modern governance system and institutions in Africa are facing this kind of dilemma because of divorce of tradition from modernity. There are also many other problems areas, which require collective thought and action. This makes it imperative for Africans to rally together to forge a common front and tackle such common problems as bad effects of colonialism, disunity, cold war, inter ethnic and intra-ethnic and boundary wars. The problem of corruption has also made Africa ungovernable. Again, in as much modern literature would blame corruption on poverty, I blame it on the breach between tradition and modernity. Again, in as much poverty could be part of the causes of corruption, the jettisoning effect of tradition and their structures of governance in Africa, has been the major cause. The puzzle which this raises again would be where a man is the Chairman of a town union, he strives to be honest and accountable to the union because of traditional checks and balances are there even when they may not have emerged as visible structures, but the same man when given a government job, may be a governor, he will embezzle public fund and become corrupt. While he was the chairman of a town union, he was poorer and never touched the people's money but turns a rogue as a public office holder. The African tradition understands the concept of trust, good name and fairness.
