The African continent is among the most diverse regions in the world. Many of our countries feature tens, in some cases even hundreds, of different tribes within our borders. This diversity has had its good attributes, however, it has also been a source of major conflict and division within the continent. There is a lot we in Africa can learn from Americans’ attitudes towards diversity within their borders in the United States.
It has often been said that the United States of America is a nation of immigrants. For centuries, people from all over the world have been arriving in the United States in search of a better life. It started off with European settlers arriving in North America, discovering and colonising the “new world.” Between the years 1492 and 1930, over 60 million Europeans immigrated to the American continent.
Over time, as the United States continued to grow into the global superpower that it is today, its attitude towards migrants hadn’t changed. Not only did migrants arrive from Europe but from all over the world. As a result, the United States today is one of the most diverse countries in the world. You can find people from literally anywhere in the globe in the United States. So much so, inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, there is a poem featured exalting America’s willingness to accept migrants from all over the world.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty
Despite the differences in race, culture and even religious beliefs, Americans have largely been able to live in relative harmony with one another. The American identity is not something built on the basis of racial or ethnic identity, anyone can become an American citizen, regardless of their race. While, yes, it is true that there have been many incidents throughout America’s existence of discrimination against groups on the basis of race. However, this sentiment still holds true that American in general have celebrated their diversity.
Unlike in the US, African countries’ borders had not been formed by Africans. They had been formed by European powers during the colonial era. This has meant that in our countries, different communities had been grouped together to form the African nations we have today. Often the grouping together of different ethnic groups by European powers didn’t account for religious, cultural, or linguistic differences between African communities.
In many instances, colonial governments intentionally grouped together communities with significant cultural differences, foreseeing potential conflicts arising from these differences. The colonial powers did this because they believed that they could exploit those differences to their advantage to hold onto power in their colonies.
When numerous African countries finally managed to gain independence, these tensions between ethnic communities had been brought to the fore. In many cases, the period following independence in many African nations, featured eras of political instability as these tensions reached a boiling point, as numerous separatist movements arose across the continent. In nearly each case, the newly independent African governments cracked down hard on separatist movements within their countries.
The severe crackdowns on separatist forces, often reaching levels that some argue constitute genocide against communities, have inflicted profound wounds among numerous African societies. Such is the case in Nigeria, where the death toll of the civil war is estimated to be between 500,000 to 3,000,000 people. Or in the Tigray war in Ethiopia, where it’s believed as many as half a million people died in the war between the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian military. Today, in many of our countries, these scars and divisions remain among many within our societies.
We have learned from the history of separatist movements that African governments are very much unwilling to relinquish control of the territories they govern. Regardless of how much a population may wish to be independent, African governments have shown they are willing to go to great lengths to maintain their sovereignty. Even at the cost of brutal and bloody wars, which have seen the deaths of millions around the continent.
The reality is that barring some miracle, this will likely not change anytime soon. In any case, regardless of if such separatist movements had managed to be successful, the newly formed nations would likely not be made of just one ethnic group. Throughout the continent, African tribes and communities typically reside in close proximity to each other. In contrast to European nations where larger ethnic groups have established substantial nations based on ethnic identity, African tribes are often concentrated within smaller geographic regions.
Therefore, if African tribes aimed to establish nation-states solely on tribal identities, the result would likely be an unmanageable proliferation of microstates across the continent. What would most likely be the case, if there were to be a great reimagining of Africa’s borders, is that different communities with shared characteristics would likely group together to establish nation states.
Therefore, regardless of whether we maintain our current borders as they are or we create new nation-states, we will still have to come to terms with our diversity. In the US, despite there being people of all different backgrounds, racial identities, and religious affiliations, their diversity is seen as something to be celebrated by Americans. Americans are able to come together, regardless of their backgrounds, because of their shared values of freedom. This yearning for freedom has been the uniting factor of millions of Americans.
What are the uniting factors in many of our countries here in Africa? In Nigeria, for example, it is difficult to think of any uniting factors that all of us could agree on. Even our national anthem, which would normally serve as a source of national unity, has become a topic of division after it had been unexpectedly changed by our President. Tribal and religious differences have left Nigeria incredibly divided. Similar divisions take place across Africa.
In many of our countries, politicians exploit ethnic and religious divisions as strategic tools to gain power. For example, in Southern Nigeria, Northerners are often vilified as seeking to seize governmental power to impose their culture and religion on the rest of the country. Likewise, similar tactics are employed in the North to demonise Southerners. These sorts of tactics often employed by politicians only serve to further exasperate the divisions already present in many of our societies.
What we need in our societies is rather than demonising each other because of our differences, we should be embracing our diversity. We must cultivate an understanding that individuals within our society may lead lives guided by values vastly different from our own, and foster acceptance of this diversity. The persistence of many of these divisions is typically fuelled by efforts from certain groups to enforce their own values onto others.
Although advocating for change in cultural values may be justified in cases where those values are discriminatory or involve practices that are deemed immoral or harmful to individuals’ well-being, such considerations should be carefully weighed and approached with sensitivity to diverse perspectives.
If the African continent is going to further develop, then we cannot allow our cultural differences to persist as a source of division. Those with malicious intentions often try to turn us against each other because they understand it serves their interests. In the past, it was colonial era governments, who sought to exploit these divisions to maintain their power over their colonies. Today, those same strategies are still being deployed to divide use. We must overcome these attempts if we are going to work towards a more prosperous Africa for all of us.