Introduction
African Unity has been one of the struggles of the founding fathers of Africa and
Pan-Africanism. This unity is important in reshaping the way the African is perceived in the face
of the world as inferior, unintelligible, insignificant and so on. There was therefore, a need for
Africans in diaspora and in the continent of Africa to unite against the stereotypes, misjudgment,
slavery, misrepresentation, racism of the African in the face of the world. And this is what gives
birth to the ideology of Pan-Africanism. Which is a system of thought, a movement that
consistently through all generations continue in the fight for African unity following the examples
of our ancestors Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Aime Cesaire, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Edward
Blyden, Martin Delany, Patrice Lumumba just to mention a few and in order to foster Pan-African
solidarity, present generation Africans have to keep the fight, the struggles going without
relenting. This paper will discuss African Unity as a path to Pan-African solidarity, the first
section begins with a conceptual clarification of what Pan-Africanism is, and what is expected
when we talk about Pan-African solidarity, the second section goes further to discuss the
relationship African unity shares with Pan-Africanism and how it fosters African solidarity. This
paper will be significant in creating awareness of what Pan-African solidarity entails and will add
to the collection of materials one can consult when discussing issues regarding African unity,
Pan-Africanism or Pan-African solidarity.
Pan-Africanism
To understand Pan-African solidarity, it is pertinent that one must first of all understand what
Pan-Africanism is. Pan- Africanism is both a concept and a movement. As a concept, it had its
origin about the time the American declaration of Independence in 1776. It represented a
reaction against the mal-treatment of the blacks and the racial doctrines that marked the
abolitionism. The people of African descent suffered disabilities by which they were reduced to
inferior citizens. As Olisanwuche Esedebe puts it, the white settlers who had made the
American Revolution on the ground that ‘all men are created equal’ refused to apply this
self-evident truth to Negro slavery, the greatest of all human inequalities (Esedebe, 1982). The
main lines of the Pan-African idea include the following five theses or presuppositions:
- Africa is the homeland of Africans and persons of African descent. Thus Pan-Africanism aims
at the regeneration of Africa and the promotion of a feeling of oneness and solidarity among the
peoples of the African world. - African past including its culture and traditions must be recognized and rehabilitated. This
does not necessarily rule out openness to new ideas and new developments in the world
around Africa. - Pan-Africanism has the vision of a United and Glorious Africa that would hold its own in the
world. It would frown at any ideas that would create obstacles and artificial barriers to separate
Africa’s children from each other. - It operates on a central ingredient of solidarity among people of African extraction whether
they be at home in Africa or find themselves abroad in the diaspora. It considers them as
endowed with a distinct African Personality. - It glorifies the African past and inculcates pride in African values (Onyeocha, 2019)
All these sums up the idea of Pan-Africanism and the time for its actualization is now. On the
other hand, Pan-Africanism as a movement has to do with the efforts that have been made in
implementing and actualizing the Pan-African ideas. The main goal of these implementations is
to promote African unity and to foster a Pan-African solidarity. The closest our founding fathers
like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah and the other African elects got in
achieving this was the formation of the Organization of African Unity (Onyeocha, 2019).
However, further steps need to be taken in order to realize more unity in Africa like having one
currency, use in Africa, traveling to other African countries without need for visa, promoting
African games, African football leagues, having our own United African Army (UAA) like the
United Nations Army, that will fight terrorism, rebel groups, that threatens any African country.
This should be done in order to have a peaceful Africa, the Africa that our ancestors dreamed of
where our children can feel safe in their own country, where we can grow our own food, and no
longer be subject to abject poverty and hunger, an Africa where our children will be educated in
their own mother tongue and according to our own style of education, this is the Africa that we
should all fight for. And staying through in this fight, this struggle, is what constitutes a
Pan-African solidarity.
Pan-African Solidarity
Pan-African solidarity is Africans staying faithful in the fight to restore, reshape, recover what we
have lost through slavery, particularly, the trans-Atlantic slavery, colonialism, inculturation of
Western and European influences. Pan-African solidarity marks the struggles of blacks against
centuries of enslavement and colonization, this struggle may be traced back to the first
resistance on slave ships, rebellions and suicides, through the constant plantation and colonial
uprisings and the “Back to Africa” movement of the 19th century. Based on the belief that unity
is vital to economic, social, and political progress, it aims to unify and uplift people of African
ancestry (Janari, et al. 2006).
Pan-Africanism: A Path to Fostering African Unity and Solidarity
As a philosophy, pan-Africanism represents the aggregation of the historical, cultural, spiritual,
artistic, scientific, and philosophical legacies of Africans from past times to the present.
Pan-Africanism as an ethical system traces its origins from ancient times, and promotes values
that are the product of the African civilizations and the struggles against slavery, racism,
colonialism and neo-colonialism (Toyin & Kwame, 2013). Pan-Africanism aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry (David,
2007). At the core of the Pan-African belief, people of African descent will not only share a
common heritage or history but will also share a common destiny (Minkah, 2011).
In the spirit of unity and solidarity, the founding fathers of the Pan-African movement as
mentioned above fiercely resisted the exploitation and oppression of, and racism against,
Africans. Through unity, Pan-Africanism “can be forged into an economic, social, and political
destiny” (Kumssa, 2022). Through the Pan-African movement, Africans can once again be well
represented in the face of the world, their rights secured, their countries enjoying their
independence, however, the struggle still continues, until racism, stereotypes, mental slavery is
finally overcomed and all men, race are seen to be equal and given equal treatment.
Conclusion
This paper has briefly discussed the subject matter, which is on ‘African Unity, a path to
Pan-African solidarity’ it began with a conceptual clarifications of terms like Pan-Africanism, and
Pan-African solidarity and goes on to highlight how these two concepts contributes to African
unity. It stated also the key contributors to the Pan-African movement like Julius Nyerere,
Kwame Nkrumah, Aime Cesaire, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Edward Blyden, Martin Delany, Patrice
Lumumba and a few others through which efforts this unity was to some extent achieved with
the formation of African Union (AU) and Organization of African Unity (OAU). However, it is the
authors believe that more efforts can be made by present Pan-African leaders to promote unity
in Africa through collaboration and partnership within Africa and Africans in diaspora. And in the
spirit solidarity, the fight, the struggle to preserve and sustain the African continent will remain a
continuous one.
Odoemena Chrisanctus Ugochukwu
nickchrisanctus@gmail.com
Lagos, Nigeria
References
Austin, D. (2007). “All Roads Led to Montreal: Black Power, the Caribbean and the Black
Radical Tradition in Canada”. Journal of African American History 92 (4): 516–539.
Asfaw, K. (2022). The Genesis of Pan-Africanism: A Historical Perspective. American Journal of
Humanities and Social Sciences Research (AJHSSR)
e-ISSN : 2378-703X Volume-6, Issue-1, pp-298-308
