DEFINITION OF NATIONALISM

It is impossible to define the concept nationalism without first mentioning and defining what
a nation is. Thus, nation could be defined as an imagined political community that is
sustained by actual judicial affiliation or constitutional patriotism. Nation is therefore,
an expression of a common nationality which possesses some material contents that
bind a particular group of people together in their common expression of certain
cultural and civic contents such as, an idea of a shared space, a spiritual/religion link, a
common history, ancestry, language and political system. All these contents bind a
group or sub-groups of people together to affirm nationhood.
From the above therefore, nationalism could be defined as a sense of collective identity in
which a particular group of people/persons perceive themselves as different from other
peoples. It also means a loyalty and attachment to a nation, above and beyond
individual differences. It is a projection of group identity aiming at political autonomy.
Nationalism is often expressed in the idiom of histories of origin and political development as
well as cultural ethnocentrism, that is, the peoples’ ideology of seeing themselves as different
from others. the utmost goal of nationalism, however, is usually the creation of an
autonomous state. This implies that nationalism is a modern political identity movement
formed by the African educated elites and indigenous people to control the government from
the colonial masters. These nationalists engaged in competition for sovereignty or at least,
more political inclusion in heterogeneous states. In the 21 st century and in modern age, it is
often expressed as resentment against perceived political marginalisation and over
centralisation of state power. In essence, nationalism is nothing more than opposition to
foreign rule and desire to eliminate colonialism. E,g of African nationalists include among
others, the following; Awolowo Obafemi, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Herbert Macaulay, Anthony
Enahoro, Ahmadu Bello (Nigerians), Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Kwame Nkruma of Ghana,
Mobutu Seseko of Zaire, Nelson Mandela of South Africa etc.
The emergence of African nationalism and African demands for national self determination
(independence) of individual colonies took a different pattern than what was witnessed in
European countries, centuries ago. The emergence of European nations generally preceded
and contributed to the creation of European states with good structures of governance. The
outcome of this was the creation of viable nation states that enjoyed the legitimacy of their
peoples. This process was reversed in Africa as the colonial state was created before any
sense of nation existed in most cases. Thus, the creation and strengthening of a nationalist
attachment to what constituted artificially created African states became one of the major

1
challenges of colonial administrators and the African leaders who replaced them after the
independence.
Another unique aspect of African nationalism was its inherently anti-colonial character.
African nationalists’ movements were sharply divided on political agendas, ideological
orientation and economic programmes. However, despite their differences, the leaders of
these movements did agree on one agenda ‘the necessity and desirability of independence
from foreign control’. Anti colonial sentiments served as the rallying point of African
nationalist movements to such a degree that African nationalism was equivalent to African
anti-colonialism.

TYPES/STAGES OF NATIONALISM
1. Traditional nationalism: This was the nationalism that took place in the 1870s when
the British masters came to West Africa with her economic consideration. The Nigerian
traditional rulers did not welcome their arrival and thus, their penetration to the localities met
strong opposition and resistance by our brave African leaders. Some of these leaders include,
king Jaja of Opobo, Oba Ovarenmi of Benin, Gelele of Dahomey and Kosoko of Lagos
among others. However, these local chiefs were over powered by the British masters and they
imposed indirect rule on them while sending them on exile.
2. Cultural nationalism: The culturalists agitated for Africanisation of the churches,
songs, poets etc to replace European ones. Advocates of this nationalism include Blyden,
Edward, John Payne and Jackson, all from Liberia
3. Secret nationalism: This is the form of tribal organisations which existed in the
urban centres, e.g, Lagos, Kano, Ibadan union.
4. Modern nationalism: This was aimed at self government. For the achievement of the
desired goal, self rule now or ever, the educated elites organised themselves through mass
mobilisation and formation of political parties and there was also the desire for national unity
among them. Immediately after the First World War, due to increasing awareness on the part
of the educated elites, the injustice of colonial rule became widespread. These prompted
African elites and educated people to demand for freedom and independence. They employed
legal and constitutional medium to challenge the foreign rulers.

2
Factors that promoted the development of nationalism before 1920
1. The encouragement and inspiration received from the activities of the National Congress of
British West Africa (NCBWA) enabled West Africans to demand for self rule/government
from foreign rule.
2. Establishment or formation of political parties like the National Youth Movement (NYM)
which criticised the slow pace of constitutional development in which African representatives
served in advisory capacities without executive responsibilities. They called for Africans to
be given full responsibilities as government functionaries.
3. The establishment of newspapers like the Lagos Daily News, the West African Pilot et
assisted in educating the masses and also fostered nationalist feelings.
4. Leading West African personalities such as Kwame Nkrumah, Herber Macaulay, Azikiwe
Nnamdi, Solanke, Casley Heyford, Obafemi Awolowo etc (all late) organised nationalist
movements effectively and won the admiration and support of the masses.
5. The activities of West Africa Students’ Unions in abroad promoted the growth of
nationalism. They advocated that African affairs must be run and managed by African
themselves.

Growth of Nationalism after the Second World War

Both external and internal factors affected the development of nationalist movement in
British West Africa after the Second World War. These include:
The external factors are:
1. There was loss of British prestige during the Second World War: The British was the
first super power nation to withdraw her troops from the continent during the war. In 1941,
Britain was heavily defeated and over powered by the Japanese, a non-European nation. This
was also said to cause psychological effects on the colonial people and their determination to
fight for freedom.
2. The signing of the Atlantic Charter: This was a political document signed by two world
leaders at the end of the Second World War. The leaders were the then British Prime
Minister, Wilson Churchill and American President, Roosevelt. The West African
nationalists wanted the principles of the Charter of self rule to apply to the colonial because
article three (3) spoke of the right of all people to choose the form of government under
which they will live. This was a good slogan advocating for the right of the people to self
government. However, Churchill did not support it, instead he declared inter alia; ‘I did not

3
become Prime Minister to sit over the liquidation of the British Empire’. This statement
angered the nationalists and they intensified their demand for self rule.
3. The impact of the American press: The American press was hostile to British colonial
policy and in its various editorials, called on the British government to grant to independence
to the colonial territories.
4. The political activities of the West African Students Union (WASU) in Africa and Britain
helped to promote the cause of the nationalists. They were active and highly educated and
they sent several memoranda to the secretary of state for the colonies agitating for responsible
democratic self government.
5. Influential American leaders severely criticised Britain policy to hold on to colonial
territories.
Thus, Britain started to yield to pressure and began to develop plans towards the eventual self
government of colonial territories.

Internal factors are:

1. The return of ex-service men after the two World Wars: The outbreak of the two
World Wars in Europe served as a factor that contributed to the growth of African demands
for independence from the colonial rule. Each of the colonial powers maintained standing
armies composed primarily of Africans recruits, several of which clashed during skirmishes
on the African continent during the wars. Besides, mostly during the World War II, African
conscripts played an increasingly important combat role in the European theatre, especially in
the case of France. The most decisive impact of African soldiers fighting in Europe was the
shattering of colonially inspired images of whites as invincible and all powerful. The pace of
Japanese victories was especially significant because Africans saw the European militaries
could in fact be defeated by non European armies. Indeed, many African soldiers concluded
that Africans were militarily superior to Europeans in terms of both courage and valour.
2. Increased in the number of educated Africans who could see through the contradictions in
what the colonial administration preached and practised in their home countries and what
they did in the colonies. These educated elites asked the white officers to treat Africans the
way they treated their people in the metropolitan countries. The educated elites used
European and philosophy to fight colonial practices.
3. The role of political parties: They fought for independence and self rule. For example,
the NCNC formed by Azikiwe in 1944, Action Group led by Awolowo in 1951 and the NPC
led by Sir Ahmadu Bello, the then Sardauna of Sokoto.

4
4. Economic boom during the war also led to the demands for West African raw materials.
Licenses to export and import were mainly issued to foreigners who monopolised trade
activities. This aggrieved the West Africans and they supported the cause of their
nationalities.
5. The role of the press like the Lagos standard (1903), the Nigerian Chronicle (1908), Lagos
weekend and the West African Pilot and Comet owned by Dr. Azikiwe were hostile to the
British government through their publications.

EFFECTS OF NATIONALISM AND THE PARADOXES OF POSTCOLONIAL

VIOLENCE
Nationalism as a system of ideas can be an ideology either distinct from or combined with
such other ideologies as socialism or liberalism. The focus is some kind of nation with
presumptive loyalties owed to it and presumed sovereignty inhering in the nation. As a
configuration of sentiments and emotions, nationalism is activated by inequalities in power or
competitive aspirations for more and more power. The unit of these collective emotions can
either be a territorial state (as in the case of Nigerian nationalism) or the unit may be on
ethnic group (e.g, Yoruba nationalism) or the unit may be a racial category (e.g, black
nationalism) or a continent as a whole (e.g, Pan-Africanism). It gets more complicated when
the unit of loyalty is a religion (e.g, Jewish nationalism, Hindu nationalism or Shiite
nationalism).

EFFECTS OF NATIONALISM
(1). The nationalist movements led to the formation of political parties and associations which later
gave the masses political education. This enabled people see and realise the importance of democracy
and the need for self government.
2. The introduction of the colonial and welfare Acts of 1940-45: As a result of nationalist agitation for
economic and social amenities, Britain introduced these Acts which made provision amongst other
things for;
a. Higher institutions of learning and the emergence of African leaders
b. Construction of better roads and railway lines.
3. Many educated Africans were prepared to take up responsible post in the different countries. The
belief was that, African affairs must be run by Africans. Thereafter, Africans were gainfully employed
and were duly rewarded according to their qualifications.

5
4. Colonial territories gained independence as a result of the nationalist agitations. Britain introduced
constitutional and political changes in the colonies. West African states began gaining independence
one after the other.
5. Change of attitude to French policy of assimilation to the policy of association. The polity of
Frenchification gave way to self rule of the African states in 1946.
6. The growth in economic development, urbanization, the emergence of new classes (commercial,
professional and salary earners) in West Africa owed much to national activities.
7. The emergence of a powerful press: nationalist flavour led to the growth of the press as instrument
of stimulating the masses with nationalist aspirations. Also, more Africans started taking active
participation in government.

ACHIEVMENTS OF NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS

1. The nationalist movements helped to bring an end to colonialism
2. It provided training groups for African leadership and post independence politicians
3. The nationalist organisations converted themselves into political parties and assumed power when
independence was achieved
4. The activities of the nationalists assisted in educating the masses about politics generally
5. The nationalist drew up plans for the development of their countries and therefore led to the general
improvement in the lives of the people.

6
THE PARADOXES OF POSTCOLONIAL VIOLENCE
Let us explore the subject of conflict in Africa in terms of a series of dialectical propositions-
sometimes ironies, sometimes paradoxes, sometimes outright contradictions and all in the
context of unequal power and variant forms of nationalism. These paradoxes include the
following:
(1). Unequal power and the paradox of racial deficit
From the second half of the 20th century, more people have died as a result of conflict
between Black and Black than because of conflict between Black and White. While anti-
colonial wars did cost a lot of lives (mostly in places like Algeria where more than a million
perished at the hands of the French), post colonial wars have been even more ruthless. These
have been forms of collective love in conflict and yet, the seeds of the post-colonial wars
themselves lie in the socio-logical mess which colonialism created in Africa by destroying
old methods of conflict resolution without creating effective substitute ones in their place. In
essence, tribal love endured but without inter-tribal conflict resolution.
(2). Unequal power and the paradoxes of fatal borders
While most African conflicts are partly caused by borders, those conflicts are not necessarily
about borders. The conflicts are partly caused by borders because those were created by
colonial powers to enclose groups with no traditions of shared authority or shared systems of
settling disputes. The human chemistry between those groups has not necessarily had time to
become congenial. On the other hand, African governments have tended to be lovingly
possessive about colonial borders and have discouraged challenging them. The borders
generate conflicts within them but have not been encouraged to generate conflict across them.
(3). Competitive religion and unequal ethnicity
While the worst conflicts in Arab Africa are religious, the worst conflicts in Black Africa are
ethnic (tribal). Algeria currently has the worst conflict in Arab Africa proper and the conflict
is between Islamists and military secularists. Egypt in Arab Africa also has a religious
conflict. The worst conflict in Black Africa in the 1990s has been between the Hutu and
Tutsi, especially with the genocides in Rwanda and Burundi in the 1990s. This conflict has
been ethnic. Besides, the war in the former Sudan was caught in-between: it was a conflict
between North-South, primarily based on ethnic and religion.
(4). Rival identities and scarce resources
While Black against White in Africa is a clash over resources, Black against Black is a clash
of identities. The thesis here is that racial conflicts in Africa are ultimately economic,
whereas tribal wars are ultimately cultural. White folks and Black folks fight and hate each

7
other about who owns what. Black folks and Black folks fight each other about who is who.
Apartheid was ultimately an economic war. But Hutu and against Tutsi was a culture-
conflict.
(5). Modern weapons and pre-modern armies
Both inter-state and ethnic conflicts are of course weaponised. While African wars are fought
with modern weapons, African armies are not yet modern armies. One of the destabilising
forces which colonialism bequeathed to independent Africa was a standing army with
Western weapons. One of the few African countries to consider whether to do without a
standing army was Tanzania. In 1964, Nyerere even had the opportunity to disband the
nation’s entire army and did not build an alternative one. He did disband the old one but he
did not follow Costa Rica’s example and do without. At independence, the weapons were less
modern but the armies more disciplined and professional; now the weapons are more modern
and the armies less disciplined and less professional.
(6). Between dual nationalities and plural societies
While there are many more plural societies than dual societies in Africa, dual societies may
be more dangerous per capital. This distinction is between a plural society and a dual society.
A plural society is one which has multiple groups defined ethnically, racially, religiously,
culturally or by other parameters. In other words, a dual society is one in which two groups or
nationalities account for over 80% of the population. For instance, the United States of
America is a plural society while Belgium is a dual society of Flemish and Francophone
identities. Dual societies run the following high risks:
a. Prolonged stalemate between the two groups, as in Cyprus between Greek and
Turkish Cypriots;
b. Prolonged culture of polarised ethnic distrust, as in the case of Belgium, Guyana and
perhaps Tinidad;
c. Prolonged period of tension and violence between the two groups as in the case of
Northern Ireland and potentially between Berbers and Arabs in Algeria;
d. Separatism and secessionism either accomplished or imminent as in Czechoslovakia
(now split between Czechs and Slovaks) or Sri Lanka (still torn by a Tamil bid to
secede from a Sinhalese-dominated polity).
e. Genocide and potential genocidal reprisal-Hutu and Tutsi confrontations in 1994 and
the fear of more genocidal eruptions in both Rwanda and Burundi.

8
(7). Between regional and ethnic dualism
While ethnic dual societies should indeed be watched, regional dual societies can be at least
as dangerous. Regional dual societies (as distinct from ethnic dual societies) have examples
which include the following: Northern Nigeria vs Southern Nigeria; Northern Uganda vs
Southern Uganda; Northern Ivory Coast vs Southern Ivory Coast; Northern Somalia vs
Southern Somalia; Ethiopia vs Eritrea (more than 30yrs war culminating in the secession of
Eritrea as a separate country; Northern Sudan vs Southern Sudan (several wars before
Southern Sudan seceded); Pre-Unification: North Korea vs South Korea. On the above
evidence, dualism in society and politics may conceivably be even more dangerous than
pluralism.
(8). Between civil and interstate wars
While Africa should indeed celebrate that it has relatively few conflicts between states today,
should Africa also lament that it did not have more such interstate wars in the past? In Africa
has the balance between external conflict and internal conflict too far on the side of internal?
These are levels of collective love in confrontation. And as human history has repeated time
and time again, civil wars often leave deeper scars, are often more indiscriminate and more
ruthless than are inter-state conflicts short of either a world war or a nuclear war. The United
States, for instance, lost more people in its own civil war in the 1860s than in any other single
war in its history of existence as a country, including Vietnam and the two world wars.
The history of the nation-state in Europe reveals a persistent tendency of the European state
to externalise conflict and thus help promote greater unity at home. A sense of nationhood
within each European country was partly fostered by a sense of rivalry and occasional
conflict with its neighbours. And the consolation of the European state as a sovereign state
was also partly forged in the fire of inter-European conflicts. The Peace of Westphalia of
1648 which has often been credited with being the original formal launching of the nation-
state system was signed after thirty years of yet further inter-state European conflicts. In
postcolonial Africa, the preponderance of civil wars instead of inter-state wars has given
entirely different meaning to the old concepts of primary and secondary conflicts.

9
FACTORS THAT LED TO THE RISE OF AFRICAN NATIONALISM AND
AFRICAN DEMANDS FOR DECOLONIZATION
Many factors led to the rise and development of nationalism in Africa in general and Nigeria
in particular. Some of these factors include:
(1). The rise of urbanisation: the creation of the colony itself, most notably the designation
of regional administrative centres and a capital city, played a vital role in providing the basis
for the emergence of nationalism. The urban areas served as magnets for Africans who were
seeking employment and education which led to migration from the rural areas to the urban
communities. The result was that the population of the major towns increased and people
started demanding for amenities like pipe borne water, electricity, good roads etc from the
colonial administration. Besides, the urban communities were seen as meeting places
(grounds) for the numerous ethnic groups that inhabited individual colonies. The towns
served as melting pots in the sense that diverse ethnic cultures were gradually overshadowed
by a sense of belonging to a larger political unit. It is important to state here that the
promotion of nationalist sentiment did not necessarily mean a weakening of ethnic identity or
the breaking of socio-economic and political ties between the urbanised migrants and their
villages of birth. It is precisely for this reason that the multicultural metaphor of a ‘mixed
salad’ is as relevant for most of Africa as it is for the United States at the beginning of the
twenty first century. Simply put, the colonial towns fostered the emergence of an overarching
national culture and language while individuals maintained their specific cultural
attachments, just as the separate ingredients of a mixed salad maintain their distinct flavours.
(2). Educational training and development: Colonial education served as one of the seeds
of nationalism that contributed to colonialism’s ultimate demise. Small numbers of secondary
schools for the most part located in the capital city meant that students selected by colonial
administrators would arrive from all regions of the colony. Thus, students who had most
likely never travelled outside their villages and who had rarely if ever met students of their
own ages from other ethnic groups suddenly found themselves in new surroundings with
students from all over the colony. As time went by, friendships were created that transcended
ethnic lines. Students began seeing themselves as part of a larger entity that was multiethnic.
In the British colony of Nigeria for instance, the vast majority of colonial civil servants were
trained in the capital city at King’s College, the standard name for such institutions
throughout the British colonies. The formative years spent at the institution prompted
students from various ethnic backgrounds such as Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa-Fulani to think of

10
themselves as belonging to a greater Nigerian nation that in turn, formed part of the greater
British Empire.
The sense of belonging to something larger than a particular ethnic group developed further
when students were sent further to study at regional colonial schools. For the first time in
their lives, students could interact with their counterparts from other colonies, realising that
they often shared much more with each other as colonised peoples than they did with their
colonial educators, who in any case rarely accepted them as either political or intellectual
equals. Besides, these institutions served as the training centres for individuals who often
emerged as the founding fathers of the newly independent African countries. African students
sent to Paris, London and the capitals of other colonising powers to pursue advanced
education and training perhaps impacted nationalist demands for independence most. The
sharing of ideas and the nurturing of lifelong friendships became possible not only with
students from colonies in other regions of the world, but with citizens from the host country.
African students once trained to serve as the colonial administrators of their respective
colonies, more often than not, returned home intent on doing everything in their power to
achieve independence for their people.
(3). Racial discrimination: there was a great racial discrimination between the Africans and
the British nation. This was witnessed mainly in Ghana and Nigeria. Thus, in 1897 for
instance, the few educated elites in the then Gold Coast (now Ghana) established the
Aboriginal Rights Protection society with the aim of opposing the colonial rule. They
opposed the acquisition of land by the colonial rulers. They strongly criticised the provision
of water and electricity supply for the white in special reserves in Ghana. In Nigeria, the
educated elites pointed out that Nigeria should not pay for social services which they did not
enjoy. Therefore, in 1908, these Nigerians opposed the water rate and electricity bill that
were imposed on them.
(4). Discrimination in the civil service: there were sharp inequalities between the Africans
and Europeans in the civil service. This was an intentional policy of the Europeans to reserve
the senior positions for the whites thereby making the youngest European officer earns more
than the most senior and even most qualified African clerk. African civil servants were
considered to be inferior to their injustice in the civil service. This action irritated the few
educated elites and this made them agitate for political freedom.
(5). Defects of British colonial policies: the system of indirect rule introduced into most
African nations infuriated and irritated the Africans who were mostly excluded from

11
participating actively in the daily activities and affairs of their own. Therefore, they
demanded for active participation in the government.
(6). Relegation of an African culture: the colonialist tried to give the notion that their
culture was better than those of the Africans. For example, African religion was considered to
be inferior, barbaric while theirs was superior and practicable. Some even claimed that
Africans have no history and no culture. Traditional laws, practices and religions were thus
replaced with foreign ones. The educated elites felt also, the theft of traditional African arts
and crafts which were taken away to Europe and kept in their museums.
(7). The monopoly of trade in African farm produce and their low pricing: this attitude
of the Europeans was disliked with all anger and bitterness by the African nationalists who
were not given the opportunity to participate in this lucrative trade as they could not compete
favourably with the big foreign farms.

12
ETHNICITY AND POLITICS IN AFRICA (Importance of ethnicity)
Ethnicity constitutes the foundations of the African society, for it shapes communities,
cultures, economies and the political structures of the peoples. More importantly, it shapes
the perceptions of the African, defines his universe, and provides him with meaning,
understanding and the power to interpret the world around him. It is therefore an integral part
of every African, despite the deepening influences of westernization and increasing cultural
adulteration, since colonial times.
Ethnicity is important to Africans in many ways. First, it provides security both to the group,
as a whole, as well as to the individuals constituting the group. The sense of belonging to an
ethnic group means the members are safe together as one people, and ready to defend
themselves against any external attacks on their existence and sovereignty. This notion of
security also provides the groups with a sense of direction in their lives. Second, ethnicity
provides each group with a common ancestry and history, which is an important aspect of the
African peoples: they desire to know who or what gave birth to their ancestors and where
they are destined, following their departure from this earth. This knowledge of a common
ancestry creates a strong bond within members of the group, for they realize that without the
ability to support each other the entire group is doomed to die off or conquered by other
groups around them. They are therefore ready to support their representatives in government
at any cost- including a civil war. Third, ethnicity also identifies each group by providing its
members with a common language. Language defines a people giving them the power to
think and reason logically based on their created world. Through language communication is
possible among members, making it easier to share ideas and make any necessary changes
required to benefit the people. It is through the distinct ethnic language that the knowledge,
skills, values, taboos and other cultural beliefs and customs are passed onto the succeeding
generations, in attempts to keep the group from dying off. Language also assists the groups in
keeping their secrets from each other, for it is through language that they derive their power
to rule and to exist.
Finally, ethnicity serves as an organizing force, which assists in bringing the people together
to fight or seek a common goal. This creates a sense of communalism, family, and
togetherness, which also deepens the sense of belonging. Thus an entire community could
belong to one major ethnic group, providing them with the opportunity to do things together
as one family. In short, without ethnicity life is meaningless to the African.
It is important to note that members of the same ethnic group not only have a lot in common
and share things that are unique to them, but they also live together in a specific region of the

13
country involved. Thus it is common to find that the Ashantis of Ghana, the Yoruba of
Nigeria, the Kpelle of Liberia are congregated in a specific region of those countries. They
claim to own that region hence fight to keep “intruders” from taking over their land. Thus
ethnicity has created the notion of regionalism, which is also counter to nation building in the
modern world. Regional boundaries also dictate ethnic cultural practices; shape their belief
systems and customs, and their perceptions of the world around them. For example, the
Kpelle ethnic group of Liberia occupies the coastal area of the country and, therefore, holds
sacred the ocean since it provides them with their sustenance. They also believe that the
ocean is the abode of supernatural entities, such as witchcraft and other harmful beings.
Based on this belief, it is therefore taboo for any member of the group to swim or bathe in the
rivers and the ocean at night, as it portends bad luck or may cause the death of a family
member. They also believe that the person swimming or taking a bath may be captured and
enslaved forever by one of the spirits. Ethnicity, therefore, has been extremely important in
the African’s life and affairs, as it provided the people with a way of life, until the arrival of
the European colonialists in the late 19 th century. Colonialism came to alter the African
society by undermining the ethnic groups in their ability to live together as one people - as it
occurred in Liberia - with the arrival of the freed slaves from America.

COLONIAL RULE, POLITICS, AND ETHNICITY IN AFRICA

At the Berlin Conference of 1884, Europeans divided the continent of Africa among them,
and adopted various methods of ruling to govern their new colonies. These methods included
the Direct, and Indirect rule. Inevitably, at independence, the legacies of these policies would
become impediments to nation building across the continent. The Direct Rule was mostly
practiced by France, Germany, Portugal and Belgium. Under this political philosophy,
colonies were ruled directly, meaning the colonizers brought in their respective colonial
administration, including the police, clerks, governors, and other staff personnel directly from
their respective countries in Europe and transplanted them in their colonies. Africans were
excluded from participating in the government and were required to report to their new rulers,
something they had never done before. This method of ruling also introduced the one-state
government in Africa, which destroyed the African traditional system of ethnic autonomy of
government and sovereignty.
For centuries, Africans lived and worked in communities ruled by their respective ethnic
leaders and councils of elders. Thus the one-state government forced Africans into
abandoning their indigenous political systems, by adopting the new European political

14
systems. Indirect rule, on the other hand, was practiced by the British. This policy allowed
them to rule their territories through the local ethnic leaders who, in turn, reported to the
British officials. Judging from the surface, one could argue that this method of government
was, perhaps, better than the Direct Rule, since it left Africa’s traditional systems of
government and cultures intact. However, this was not the case, for it compelled African
rulers to assist the European colonizers in exploiting their own peoples. The duties of the
African chiefs were to collect taxes on behalf of the British, as well as implementing other
policies, which greatly helped the colonizer to achieve his economic goals. Chiefs forcefully
collected taxes, such as the hut tax, from their people and those who could not afford to pay
were prosecuted. This led to divisions among the ethnic groups, for some of the leaders were
seen as collaborators of the colonizers, and would later be removed from office.
Colonialism was also based on ethnic favouritism, which caused askew development
strategies in the various colonies. The ethnic regions settled by the colonialists became the
“preferred” regions, which received European development projects such as hospitals,
schools, infrastructure, housing, road networks, and the creation of a modern sector economy,
which relegated the rural economy to the fringes of the new African state. The ethnic groups
in the areas settled by the colonizers, therefore, had access to public sector jobs, while their
children were given the opportunity of acquiring European education. These political and
economic policies created fragmentation and uneven development within the African society,
for many parts of the continent were left undeveloped. More importantly, it created animosity
between the ethnic groups, since the majority of the ethnic groups had no access to education
and jobs, and lived in poverty. The politicizing of ethnicity, by the Europeans, has been one
of the fundamental causes of many of the civil wars in post-independence Africa. The arrival
of the freed slaves from America illustrates this point in the Liberian case.

15