A Nigerian group is calling for Africa’s colonial borders to be redrawn to take into account the continent’s “complex political, cultural and ethnic landscape” that existed before it was partitioned.
The Fatherland Group said the boundaries forced on Africa were responsible for “consolidating approximately two thousand ethnic nations into colonial entities”.
“This geopolitical restructuring laid the groundwork for much of the modern continent’s
challenges, including struggles with identity, political instability and economic
imbalances,” the Group noted.
Although the Fatherland Group was established in Nigeria to deal with that country’s complex ethnic issues, it now wants the whole of Africa to have a re-think about the idea of the inviolability of post-independence borders that was agreed by the Organisation of African Unity in 1963.
The groundswell of such a call comes on the 140th anniversary of the Berlin Conference, held from November 15, 1884 to February 26,1885 and organised by German Chancellor Otto von
Bismarck.
The conference, attended by representatives from 14 nations, including the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Portugal, established territorial claims among European powers, marking the beginning of Africa’s colonial period.
No African nation or leader was represented at the conference.
The conference’s “General Act” authorised trade access, divided Africa into European-controlled territories and attempted to regulate the activities of the signatories within Africa, including the abolition of slavery among African and Arab traders.
Within two decades of the conference, most of Africa had been divided into the colonies that laid the groundwork for today’s national borders.
On Friday November 15, the Fatherland Group held a press conference at the 60-year-old Africa Centre in London to announce plans for a year of activities, culminating in an international conference at the University of Lagos, Nigeria in November 2025.
This conference will bring together thought leaders, policy-makers, activists and the public to discuss the far-reaching effects of the Berlin Conference, and envisions a resilient, cooperative and prosperous Africa.
Dele Ogun, the Convenor of Fatherland Group, said: “We are excited to be a partner in
this landmark educational conference which is intended to improve global
understanding of the decisions made at the Berlin Conference and their impact on the
development and current state of Africa.
“As well as looking back, the conference will also be looking ahead to consider the way forward for Africa and its peoples.”
Olu Alake, CEO of the Africa Centre, noted: “The Berlin Conference was a seminal moment in modern African history and needs to be properly understood now more than ever, as
Africa enters a new epoch where the continent will be of increasing importance to the
world.
“We are especially pleased to be a part of addressing this issue in our 60th anniversary, as it is very much in line with our mission to educate, connect and advocate for genuine African empowerment and political, social and economic emancipation.”
Nels Abbey, a Nigerian writer and activist in the UK, told the press conference that despite colonialism, coming after the “immorality of slavery”, Africans survived.
“Now we must bounce back.
That is the challenge,” he added.
Also, on November 15, pressure group Africans Rising added its voice to the call for the abolition of colonial borders and demanded free movement of peoples across Africa.
In a press statement, Hardi Yakubu, Africans Rising Movement Coordinator, said: “We cannot hold these borders sacred; they were imposed by European colonisers, not by us.
“It is a shame that African leaders continue to uphold colonial barriers.
“Our leaders can no longer afford to maintain borders that divide families, nations and peoples and are economically backward and poor,” he added.
The 140th anniversary of the Berlin Conference is being remembered in the wake of the Borderless Africa Campaign spearheaded by Africans Rising.
It aims to push for the free movement of African peoples and goods on the continent for better trade, job creation, solidarity and economic transformation.
The campaign is pressing for the ratification and implementation of the African Union Protocol on Free Movement of Persons in all African countries.
