Politics, ethnicity, and the man who can save us from ourselves.

Today, the politics and geography of Africa is a heritage of a period many Africans look back at and wonder “what could have been, had we been left alone?” Those who colonized Africa were more concerned about the self-serving economics of their politics than the difficulties their redrawing of boundaries inflicted on Africa. Where independent egalitarian societies co-existed with very loose inter-relations, the colonial powers, fixing their eyes only on the economies of scale and the administrative conveniences of amalgamations, created colonies by forcing together people of very different ethnicities.

Everywhere the colonialists went, they sought out the ruling elite, perpetuated the rule of those elites, in return for their loyalty. At other times, they introduced policies that deepened ethnic divides and inflamed tensions and insecurities of those who had been excluded from the patron politics of the ‘white masters’. An instance of such policy was the introduction of national identity cards in Rwanda, to separate the favoured Tutsi from the Hutus. The politics of colonization rewarded those who bent over, and pushed to the fringes those who would not yield so easily. Against all the persuasions of better judgment, colonial Africa was strewn together and then squeezed to yield its palm oil and cocoa. And the consequence has been the phenomenon of competitive ethnicity which has had such telling effect on the continent that one has only to look at Rwanda and Nigeria to understand. Prior to colonial rule, the Hutus and Tutsi co-existed within a Tutsi dominated structure. However, the colonial perpetuation of a pro-Tutsi rule by the introduction of among other things national identity cards led to the first Hutu revolt as early as 1959.

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The extents to which the spiky issue of ethnicity has framed Africa’s politics are broad. The 1996 Congo War dubbed the first Congo war, was remotely connected to the apprehensions of the Tutsi led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), that in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, the Hutu’s were mobilizing from their Zaire refugee camps to attack Rwanda and that then Congolese President , Mobutu Sese Seko was complicit. In order to arrest the possibility of a Hutu invasion, the Tutsi led RPF government began arming the Banyamulenge in eastern Zaire (a migrant tribe that is ethnically Tutsi). The Banyamulenge along with Rwandan forces supported rebel Lord, Laurent Kabila in overthrowing Mobutu Sese Seko. However, in order to consolidate his control of the Democratic Republic of Congo, subsequently Kabila expelled the Rwandan forces, a move which alarmed the Banyamulenge. And in 1998, the ethnically Tutsi Banyamulenge, supported by the Tutsi Rwandan Government mutinied against the Kabila regime and thus began the second Congo War. Interestingly, Kabila enlisted the support of the refugee Hutus to fight against the Banyamulenge and their kindred benefactors from Rwanda.

And there is Nigeria. A country which like other African countries, is a mosaic of irrepressible ethnic identities that are in steady conflict. A charged hotbed of ethnic tensions that have been simmering since 1914, occasionally erupting in pogroms and wanton bloodletting. As is to be expected, in Nigeria distrust characterises ethnic engagement, whether formally or informally. Whether proceeding from thrones as with Lagoon threats, or on the streets, in the seething disdain that meets “Emeka’s” haggling at Alaba, ethnic divisions in Nigeria run far and deep. Just as Nigeria’s national social culture has its foundations in the ethnic differences of the constituent ethnic nationalities, its political culture has also drawn from the ethnic colour of the country. For instance, appointments are constitutionally required to reflect the different ethnic groups in Nigeria, under the principle of federal character, pushing merit to the side-lines. 

But it is the politics of Africa not its “ethnicities” that is Africa’s greatest problem. As any observer or person interested in the Rwandan genocide would know, it was the political leaders that orchestrated the genocide regardless of the seething disdain the average Hutu felt for the Tutsi overlords. While it is no excuse for the tragic killings, there are accounts of Hutus who kept telling their victims that if they had the choice they would not kill the Tutsi.

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There is no way of looking at Africa that one does not see a continent that is yet to fulfill her promise. And there is no way of looking at it that one does not see a continent betrayed first by those who colonized it and then, her sons who now ‘blead’ it. The colonialists bequeathed our continent with forced unions, but it is our own fathers and brothers, who stepping into the shoes of the colonialists brought the daggers to the heart. For there is no doubt that Nigeria is an amalgamation of different ethnic groups but it was our leaders who stoked the flames of disunity, highlighted our differences and made certain to milk them. Since 1953 and every time after that, whenever it has been politically convenient, our leaders have reminded us that 1914 was “mistake that had come to light”, and that our Nation has no soul but is a mere geographic expression. Perhaps, 1914 was a mistake, but our leaders invested more energy, in highlighting and institutionalizing our differences.  And then, when idealism provoked youth, our leaders made sure we saw ethnicity all over it and then urged retaliation, and with retaliation set in the Khaki hegemony that crippled our Nation.

Also in Congo, 1965, Mobutu played the ethnic card, he handed power to the migrant minority Tutsi Banyamulenge tribe in the eastern Congo, in a bid to gain political leverage and supress the local ethnic groups who were the majority. Of course Mobutu’s action led to series of conflicts between the locals and the migrant Banyamulenge. Strangely in 1981, the same Banyamulenge would be stripped of all civil and political rights and ordered to leave Congo. The Banyamulenge now powerless became easy sport for the locals. Mobutu’s tactic was similar in every respect to the underhand patron politics of the colonial masters, moving about ethnic loyalties on the political chessboard to support hegemonic interests.

So Africa’s politics has been fractured by the inconveniences of her many forced unions. And the consequent ethnic competitions and drawn dagger politics has left the continent with many wars and scars. But, Africa has made giant strides towards democracy, however, the globally acclaimed Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index 2014 ranks 27 of Africa’s 54 countries as either autocratic or nominal democracy regimes. Meaning that 1 out of every 2 African countries is not ‘democratic.’

The struggles of Africa in the march towards post-cold war liberal democracy are well documented. For instance, sit-tight African leaders have transitioned into nominal democrats, giving autocracy the appearance of democracy, through sham elections and a stranglehold on civil society and the opposition. Cameroun and Zimbabwe know too well the disappointments of expecting elections to bring about change. 

However, in the same way that our political leaders have negatively impacted the political culture of our continent and have brought it to the brinks, “it is only political leadership that can change our political culture, and save it from itself;” borrowing the profound words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan. We have had an abundance of bad leadership on our continent, and for Nigeria there have been invitations that perhaps only a Jerry Rawlings style laundry would give this Nation a chance at a new beginning.

Politics has been the bane of Africa, but it is only politics that can save Africa from itself. True leaders have the capacity to guide a nation through the tempests of ethnic conflicts to stability and peace. Where leaders are honest and just, they can address the simple issue often at the root of most ethnic conflicts – political insecurity. A good leader can raise a nation from the rubbles of broken dreams into prosperity. Where leaders have personal integrity and empathy, the followers will trust them, stand by them and would be willing to fight for the ideals those leaders preach regardless of the slant of their tribal marks. Paul Kagame of Rwanda is enjoying international acclaim for the sustained prosperity Rwanda is enjoying. The hugely successful Gacaca courts set up to try accused perpetrators of the genocide and encourage reconciliation have become the subject of a lot of international interest and study. While Kagame’s RPF is led by the Tutsi, he enjoys the support of the majority of the Rwandan people. Nelson Mandela is not revered simply for leading the resistance to apartheid, perhaps Winnie might win that accolade, rather he is celebrated for his strength of character to forgive his prisoners and lead his country on the path of forgiveness and reconciliation and bring ‘healing’ to a deeply fractured country in a way no one thought imaginable. These men by the sheer force of their characters, altered the paths of their countries, pulled them back from the gaping labyrinths of civil strife and saved them from themselves.

One man can inspire change and save a country from itself. 

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