| QUOTE
INDEX
|
JANUARY
2001 - NKRUMAH QUOTE
ED.
NOTE: In what had to be a tense gathering on 25 May 1963, Kwame Nkrumah
addressed the then Heads of State of African governments. This meeting
was a compromised result and an effort to slow down the momentum of the
Nkrumahists throughout the continent. Nkrumah’s government had brought
an entourage of a hundred persons with the mission of encouraging a program
for unity. Their proposals proved to be more than what the other
state governments were willing to endorse. What follows is an excerpt
of Nkrumah’s statement to that gathering. *A soundbite of another
portion of the presentation is available for you to hear. To hear
it, click this text. |
 In
independent Africa we are already re-experiencing the instability and frustration
which existed under colonial rule. We are fast learning that political
independence is not enough to rid us of the consequences of colonial rule.The
movement of the masses of the people of Africa for freedom from that kind
of rule was not only a revolt against the conditions which it imposed.
Our people supported us in our fight for independence because they believed that African Governments could cure the ills of the past in a way which could never be accomplished under colonial rule. If, therefore,
now that we are independent we allow the same conditions to exist that
existed in colonial days, all the resentment which overthrew colonialism
will be mobilized against us.The resources are there. It is for us
to marshal them in the active service of our people. Unless we do
this by our concerted efforts, within the framework of our combined planning,
we shall not progress at the tempo demanded by today’s events and the mood
of our people. The symptoms of our troubles will grow, and the troubles
themselves become chronic. It will then be too late even for Pan
African Unity to secure for us stability and tranquility in our labours
for a continent of social justice and material well-being. Unless
we establish African Unity now, we who are sitting here today shall tomorrow
be the victims and martyrs of neo-colonialism. [Emphasis added]
|