Very true Kejau. It is good to know the context of our current problems in order to effectively deal with them. Thanks for the encouragement. Baba Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:02:36 +0100 From: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [G_L] Africa’s Political Skeletons – Part One To: [log in to unmask] Thanks Dr. Baba for this very educative and interesting installment. I look forward to the next installment of our piece of history. For as Bob Marley sang, only if you know your history then you know where you coming from, and also where you are going if I may add. Thanks, Kejau > > No Kejau, Africans did join both before and during the conquest. European > traders and companies had a presence on the coast of Africa long before > the onset of colonialism and had developed close relations with local > traders and rulers willing to do business with them. From around the > middle of the 1400s when the Atlantic Slave Trade was started on a small > scale by the Portuguese, there was a constant European presence on the > coasts of Africa. Only a few European administrators, military officers > and commanders were on the ground throughout the colonial period. Once the > colonizing project was being contemplated, the Europeans started > recruiting and training Africans and developing their armies. It did not > take them long to recruit sizeable numbers of men with the help of local > chiefs and traders. One irony of European colonialism in Africa is that > the Europeans represented what has been called "a thin white line" on the > continent throughout the colonial period. Only a handful of Europeans > actually lived in Africa. The colonial administrative machinery was > largely manned by Africans - from chiefs, to clerks, interpreters, > secretaries and other minor officials. The exception was the setller > colonies - like Kenya, Rhodesia, South Africa - were large numbers of > Europeans settled and actually ran the colonial administration. And even > in settler colonies, the armies and police were largely composed of > African servicemen, with Europeans holding only a few senior positions. In > the case of South Africa, black South Africans represented the backbone of > the brutal military and police forces that enforced Apartheid throught its > existence. > > Baba > > > > > Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:22:23 +0100 > Subject: RE: [G_L] Africa’s Political Skeletons – Part One > From: [log in to unmask] > To: [log in to unmask] > > > interesting Dr. Baba that the European Armies were largely composed of > African soldiers. Do you mean after the initial conquest as they could not > have join before the conquest. This must be the same trend we see now > African and Arabs joining western armies en mass and looking down at > everyone else especially those who join the African armies. > Cheers, > Kejau >> >> Indeed Kejau. The single most important reason for Africa's failure to >> protect herself from colonialism is the fact that European armies had >> superior firepower. There was widespread resistance to colonial >> encroachment and the African armies far outnumbered the European armies >> which, by the way, were composed largely of African soldiers. Samori >> fought the French for almost eight years before he was tricked into >> laying >> down his arms and then captured and exiled. Thanks for the feedback. >> >> Baba >> >> >> >> >> Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:10:06 +0100 >> > From: [log in to unmask] >> Subject: Re: [G_L] Africa’s Political Skeletons – Part One >> To: [log in to unmask] >> >> >> Thanks for this installment, Dr. Maudo Baba. It seems that the only >> reason >> we were colonized was that we lacked superior weapons and it was not the >> armies that failed us, but our industries and our pacifism. For if we >> had >> the fire power invented decade before by the European scientist, Samori >> and his warriors would have fended the invaders off our shores and that >> would have taught them and ourselves that African is not for scrambling. >> Cheers. >> Kejau >>> >>> Africa’s Political Skeletons – Part One >>> By Baba Galleh Jallow >>> Perhaps the single most visible legacy of colonial rule in Africa is >>> the >>> nation-state. The end of the slave trade in the early to mid-1800s gave >>> way to the rise of legitimate trade, the trade in goods and commodities >>> Europeans needed for the growth and success of the Industrial >>> Revolution. >>> >> > From being commodities of trade themselves, Africans became producers of >>> commodities for sale to European traders. The more industries developed >>> in >>> Europe, the more Europe sought out sources of raw materials for their >>> factories. And the more goods the factories produced, the more >>> Europeans >>> saw the need for stable overseas markets to which they would export >>> their >>> finished products. A combination of these factors initiated a search >>> for >>> both sources of raw materials and markets for finished products in >>> Africa. >>> As the 1800s drew to a close, Europeans grew increasingly frantic in >>> their >>> search for raw materials and markets in Africa, which led to the >>> beginnings of a barely concealed rush for territories on the continent. >>> What has become known as the scramble for Africa was greatly >>> accelerated >>> after France’s humiliating defeat at the hands of the Germans during >>> the >>> Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. In order to salvage her battered >>> dignity, >>> France turned to the development of an overseas empire by annexing >>> territories in Africa and elsewhere. Soon afterwards, France’s >>> traditional >>> rival Britain joined the scramble for Empire, followed by Italy, >>> Germany >>> and Belgium. So frantic did the grab for African colonies grow that the >>> European countries were close to all-out war over parts of Africa by >>> 1883. >>> Seeing a chance to both manage the crisis and play a leading role in >>> international politics, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck of Germany >>> convened >>> the Berlin Conference of 1884 – 1885 at which the contending European >>> powers laid down ways and means of partitioning and colonizing the >>> continent without coming to blows among themselves. The conference >>> lasted >>> from November 1884 to January 1885, when the assembled European >>> countries >>> signed the Berlin Act laying down rules and procedures for the orderly >>> partitioning and colonization of Africa. >>> The Berlin Act set out four major rules for the partitioning of Africa. >>> One, any European country making claim to an African territory must >>> inform >>> the others to see if there was a counter claim. In case of a counter >>> claim, the matter was to be settled peacefully. Two, once a European >>> country claims a territory, it must proceed to effectively occupy that >>> territory. Three, all European countries were free to extend their >>> territory as much as they could without encroaching on another European >>> country’s territory. And four, the Congo and Niger rivers, which were >>> hotly contested in the early stages of the scramble, were open to free >>> navigation by all European countries. European countries proceeded to >>> either forcefully annex African territories or sign “treaties of >>> protection” with African rulers as a way of laying claim to their >>> territories. Those rulers that resisted encroachment were defeated or >>> otherwise “pacified” through superior European fire power. While there >>> were instances of fierce and protracted resistance by African rulers >>> like >>> Samori Toure, superior firepower meant that Europe was able to >>> effectively >>> subdue and colonize the entire African continent by the end of the >>> first >>> decade of the 20th century. >>> This meant that by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the >>> political map of Africa had been transformed into a series of colonial >>> territories that became the basis for the present day nation-state >>> system >>> on the continent. African colonies had most of the trappings of >>> European >>> nation states: they had clearly defined boundaries and institutions >>> such >>> as legislatures and judiciaries modeled on the European system. >>> However, >>> while the bare structure of the nation state system was in place, the >>> substance of national sovereignty was clearly absent. The rights and >>> freedoms enjoyed by European publics were not extended to the subject >>> peoples of colonial Africa. Indeed, in a lot of cases, colonial >>> administrators enforced laws in African colonies that had long been >>> extinct in their countries back in Europe. Moreover, even as late as >>> 1939 >>> when the Second World War broke out, no European country was seriously >>> contemplating the idea of independent African nation states. Indeed, it >>> was only after the end of the Second World War in 1945 that countries >>> like >>> Britain and France started seriously thinking about preparing their >>> African colonies for self-rule, a process they anticipated would take >>> at >>> least fifty years to complete. >>> As fate would have it, over 90% of African countries became independent >>> by >>> 1965, only twenty years after the end of the Second World War. The new >>> African nation states had all the trappings of European nation states, >>> from a national flag to a national anthem and legislative, judicial and >>> executive branches of government. However, like the colonies they >>> replaced, these new nation states lacked the substance of >>> nation-statehood. Their beautifully written constitutions looked just >>> like >>> European constitutions, with the rights, duties and responsibilities of >>> citizenship neatly laid out in black and white. It now fell to the new >>> governments to flesh out these skeletal nation states with the >>> substance >>> they needed to function effectively. Sadly, almost all of them failed >>> in >>> this very important task and for this reason, the great majority of >>> African countries remain mere political skeletons to this day. The >>> rights >>> and freedoms for which African independence was sought and attained >>> remain >>> elusive for the great majority of Africans as the new nation states >>> remain >>> mired in the aura of colonial authoritarianism. We will examine some of >>> the reasons for this failure and its consequences in our next >>> installment. >>> >>> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ >>> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the >>> Gambia-L >>> Web interface >>> at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html >>> >>> To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: >>> http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l >>> To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >>> [log in to unmask] >>> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ >> >> >> -- >> www.vollensolutions.com >> Tel: 66900249 >> Mob: 91255698 >> Email: >> [log in to unmask]¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ >> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the >> Gambia-L >> Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html >> To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: >> http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact >> the >> List Management, please send an e-mail to: >> [log in to unmask] >> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > > > -- > www.vollensolutions.com > Tel: 66900249 > Mob: 91255698 > Email: [log in to unmask] > > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L > Web interface > at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: > http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l > To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: > [log in to unmask] > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ -- www.vollensolutions.com Tel: 66900249 Mob: 91255698 Email: [log in to unmask]¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤