Challenges of Integration and De-coloniality in Africa: The Nigerian Experience
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Date
2016
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Langaa Research and Publishing CIG, Mankon, Bamenda
Abstract
Nigeria, prior to its imperial mid-wifing, was a multi-national expanse of land with its plurality of states. In spite of the marriage of inconvenience and artificial imperial tinkering that coerced disparate ethnic nationalities together into a mega nation through the British administrative stance of miserliness, in the spirit of nationalism and optimism it was hoped that someday, they would either forget or understand their differences to the effect that they would accept themselves for what they really are and foster integration among the various heterogeneous groups. However, after a century of forced integration, following the 1914 amalgamation, and decades of experimented federalism, some have argued that Nigeria is still in the process of becoming or worse still, failing to become a nation. With all optimism, Nigeria is perhaps, at its best a tomorrow or futuristic nation. A century following stringent attempts at national integration, one great monster that has proved so impregnable to the problem of national integration in Nigeria is regionalism. What is more, Nigeria has become a terrorism-infested nation, having been enlisted by the U. S. A. as one of the 14 countries to be recognised as terrorist states world-wide. (Afinotan, 2010:302). Meanwhile, this same U.S. and its agencies, notably the CIA, and international banking organisations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, were set up and master-minded by the USA and its Western Allies to perpetrate all manners of malevolence against African and particularly Third World countries.
This chapter, therefore, delves into the challenges of de-coloniality and integration in Africa with particular reference to Nigeria in the light of the organised crimes, such as terrorism. The study reveals that this could not be unconnected with the activities of organisations known collectively as the 'corporatocracy' which are behind the new global empire. It is, therefore, necessary to state that until the battle against neo-colonialism in Africa is fought and won, the attainment of a laudable integration and de-coloniality is, at best, a fool’s paradise. The chapter, which adopts the historical, narrative and analytical approach, and which relies extensively on personal observation, published works and the media, attempts the trans-disciplinary approach to modern historical studies.
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Keywords
Decoloniality, Nigeria, Terrorism, Integration
Citation
Aboyeji, A. J. & Aboyeji, O. S. (2016). “Challenges of Integration and De-coloniality in Africa: The Nigerian Experience" in Artwell Nhemachena & Munyaradzi Mawere (Eds.) Theory, Knowledge, Development and Politics: What Role for the Academy in the Sustainability of Africa? Langaa Research and Publishing CIG, Mankon, Bamenda, pp. 207-229. (www.africanbookscollective.com )