African unity a myth – History professor

A Professor of History at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Professor Ademola Ajayi, who is currently a visiting scholar at the University of Ghana, says the dream the likes of Ghana’s Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie had about a united Africa remains a myth. Professor Ajayi’s comment follows African countries marking Africa Union (AU) Day today, Thursday, May 25. Speaking exclusively with editors.3news.com, Professor Ademola Ajayi said that lack of trust among Africans greatly contributes to the inability to achieve the unity so desired. “The African don’t trust themselves; mutual suspicion and so on and so forth. They do not. Ideally, what Africans should operate is what we call unity in diversity…but there are individual economic and political interests. “Today, people talk of United States of Africa; that’s a myth. It can never happen. Why it cannot happen is are the leaders willing to relinquish [power]?” Professor Ademola Ajayi says that though fast-forwarding to recent history, the former leader of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, was committed to a United Africa, he did so because of external pressures. “Gaddafi initially was a pan-Arab nationalist. He made series of efforts to bring together the Arab countries in North Africa. When those attempts failed, he diverted his attention to the whole of Africa. At a time America branded Gaddafi a terrorist and he felt so much uncomfortable that he needed to rally round his fellow Africans.” Prof Ajayi says for Africa to achieve the dream of togetherness means the current crop of leaders must go beyond lip-service and walk the talk. The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation’. By Solomon Mensah|3FM|editors.3news.com|Ghana Follow @3Newsgh