"United States of Africa." Dream, or reality?

African Presidents joined together this week in Ghana for an Africa Union Accra Summit. On Monday Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi came out strongly in support for the “United States of Africa.” The idea is to create a unified government with one military for the ENTIRE Continent. Declaring that there is no future for single state nations in Africa he said development is possible only with the creation of a single state like European Union. He thinks it will help unify the continent, be a good economic move, and keep the youth in Africa who may want to migrate. There are suggestions of having one currency, one national language, and even redrawing the borders. He claims, "For 40 years all the summits have failed," he said. "Our micro-states have no future."

Sounds just perfect, doesn’t it???

Not exactly. Ideally, this would be great. All you would have to do is eliminate all of Africa’s history, thousands of languages, and nationalism! It is a logistical and political nightmare in my book. Outside agents have dealt with loans and assistance to countries on an individual basis, how would that change over? How would one political party benefit local needs? What would all the current presidents do? Become governors? Why would the wealthy countries want to combine their wealth with the poor countries?

I have so many questions, and I am sure the meetings covered many of these hesitations and more- with the result of only ONE other president agreeing with the proposition. Interesting…

What are your thoughts? I don’t know all there is to know about this idea, but if you do- please fill me in! And if you haven’t, what’s your opinion about this US of A????

What others think:

Africa's survival depends on one thing only. Good governance. How can we unite if we still haven't resolved the same issues that divide us. How can we unite if some people still think that taking arms and going into the bush is another form of gaining political power. We must first address these problems, then when we all begin to think along the same line, our unity will come naturally. Nicholas Boampong, Accra

We have been hearing the tune of many African saying and shouting Africa Unite. In my own word, we are far from it. It is not possible for Africa to unite.
To make this dream come true, we should first interpret love among the neighbouring countries. For example, i am in Senegal presently. On my way coming to Senegal, i face a lot of embarrassment by the officers due because i speak English, can you imagine this. You are there talking about the unite of Africa!
It is better for everyone to look after his or her home.FODAY SILLAH, Freetown- Sierra Leone

The idea of African unity is worth a try. Sure there are and there will always be problems but it is better to attempt to solve them even if a little at a time. So far, almost or oil-rich, and other natural-resource-rich countries have detrimental political and other issues which are no accidents. The corruption and fighting is encouraged by the powers that deposit money into private accounts of the leaders, the arms exporters, unaccountable corporations. Unfair trade and predatory contracts, the list goes on but we have to start somewhere. After all, the people who first conceived the idea of aeroplanes were considered criminals, but now even space travel has commercial passengers. "Throughout history it is the inaction of those who should have acted, and the silence of those who should have spoken, that has made evil to triumph" - Haille SelassieKwame, Ontario, Canada

I think that is the only way for Africa to pull all the blessed natural and human resources together for the benefit of all Africans as against greedy individuals. As I write this, my eyes are teary just thinking of the possibilities this has for Africa. Adam Abu, Philadelphia USA
The African micro-states have actually failed its people. This is mainly due to the way they were formed, by the Western powers who colonised the continent. It's like Africa was programmed to fail. Gaddafi's vision of a United States of Africa seems OK on paper. But with our diverse focuses, interests and multi-ethnicity, I do not see Africa uniting yet. At least not in our generation.Lamin Dumbuya, Freetown - Sierra Leone

Yes, united we stand divided we fall, Africa needs to form one government to help reduce the violence caused mainly by leaders.Musa Bah, Novi, USA