From Colonization to Globalization the Political and Intellectual Legacies of Kwame Nkrumah

Once again, Africa is the site of political ferment and external power interference. Recent events in the north of Africa, starting with Tunisia, then Egypt and leading to the so called Arab-Spring has reinforced the pivotal role this continent plays in world affairs. Yet with French troops facilitating the ousting of Laurent Gbagbo in the Ivory Coast, NATO's active role in overthrowing the Gadhafi government in Libya, the powerlessness of Africa to take its own destiny in its hands is poignantly clear. If we do not formulate plans for unity and take active steps to form political union, we will soon be fighting and warring among ourselves with the imperialists and colonialist standing behind the screen and pulling vicious wires, to make us cut each other's throats for the sake of their diabolical purposes in Nkrumah in his characteristic voyeurism warned his fellow African leaders more than 50 years ago. Sadly, 50 odd years after Nkrumah's warning, Africa remains as vulnerable to external interference and domination due to the lack of vision, bold leadership and concrete action on the part of its leaders. Yet Africa is full of promise. With much of its wealth still buried in the bowels of its earth and a growing number of young and enterprising youthful population, Africa is far from a basket case. Potentially the richest continent, all Africa needs is bold, visionary leaders of the caliber of Nkrumah to galvanize its people to take their own destiny it their own hands. From August 19 to 21, over 120 participants from four continents, gathered at the Richmond Campus of Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia, Canada to share ideas and knowledge about the political and intellectual legacies of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. The conference provided an intellectual forum to debate and discuss the legacies of Nkrumah's socio-political philosophy and geo-political paradigm in the context of contemporary African and world politics, and of global diplomacy. More specifically, speakers from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and North America debated and discussed the pros and cons of Nkrumah's pan-Africanist project, drawing parallels from different regions of the world, including Canada, Europe, the USA, and India. Speakers also addressed critical issues facing the African continent, running the gamut from conflict prevention, governance, international development, social justice, globalization and terrorism to human rights, gender equity and youth education and empowerment. The conference, which marked the centenary anniversary of the birth of Nkrumah, Africa's Man of the Millennium and perhaps the most famous pan-Africanist after Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois, was the most consistent was the culmination of events organized word-wide to celebrate his 100th birthday anniversary. In his opening remarks, Dr. Charles Quist-Adade co-organizer of the first biennial Kwame Nkrumah International Conference and contributing editor of this special edition, noted that scholars of all stripes agree that peace, security, democracy, good governance, human rights, and sound economic management are pre-conditions for ending the economic marginalization of Africa. But this is where the agreement ends. Scholarship on post-colonial Africa is riveted by several interconnected discursive debates on the historical, current, and future trajectories of the continent. He observed that the debates reflect two general politico-ideological positions: (1) the discourse of Afro-pessimism versus the discourse of Afro-optimism; and (2) the discourse of looking inward (internalist) versus the discourse of looking outward (externalist) (Bourenane, 1992). Briefly, Afropessimists insist that African underdevelopment is self-induced through inept, autocratic, and kleptocratic leadership, and that Western aid does more harm than good to the continent (Ayittey, 1992, 1998; Kaplan, 1994). …