Abstract
In recent years, the conversation about Africa has largely centered on six issues: The idea that a new Africa is emerging due largely to positive economic data and the increase in western-style democracies. Also garnering attention is the Sino-Africa relations which seem to be confounding western capitals. And while globalization has been good in many respects, it has enabled corporations to dictate to, in some instances, usurp state power and sovereignty. Fourth, because of the nature of colonialism and the way independence was granted, neocolonialism seems to be the norm on the continent. The fifth observable phenomenon is the parade of weak leaders, a rapacious elite, and weak institutions – the combination of which have led to the asphyxiations of economic and political opportunities and the inability of states to deal with catastrophes, excesses, and conflicts. These have in turn have led to the sixth factor: the forced movement of Africans within and outside of the continent.
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Notes
- 1.
“Refugee Statistics.” USA for UNHCR. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Accessed February 9, 2020. https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/statistics/
- 2.
Ruth First. The Barrel of a Gun: Political Power in Africa and the Coup Détat. London: Penguin Press, 1970.
- 3.
Siso, Zedekia Oloo., Jan Bender. Shetler, and Peter Wanyande. Grasp the Shield Firmly, the Journey Is Hard: A History of Luo and Bantu Migrations to North Mara, (Tanzania), 1850–1950. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki Na Nyota Publishers, 2010.
- 4.
Fitzgerald, Patrick, and Brian Lambkin. Migration in Irish History, 1607–2007. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
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Brettell, Caroline B., and James Frank Hollifield. Migration Theory: Talking across Disciplines. New York: Routledge, 2000.
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Wilkerson, Isabel. Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of Americas Great Migration. London: Penguin Books, 2020.
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Charles Hirschman, Philip Kasinitz, and Josh DeWind. The Handbook of International Migration: The American Experience. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1999. See also Brettell, Caroline B., and James Frank Hollifield. Migration Theory: Talking across Disciplines. New York: Routledge, 2015.
- 8.
Abegunrin, Olayiwola, and Sabella Ogbobode Abidde. African Intellectuals and the State of the Continent: Essays in Honor of Professor Sulayman S. Nyang. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018.
- 9.
Salman Akhtar. Immigration and Acculturation: Mourning, Adaptation, and the next Generation. Lanham, MD: Jason Aronson, 2011.
- 10.
Abegunrin, Olayiwola, and Sabella Ogbobode Abidde. African Intellectuals and the State of the Continent: Essays in Honor of Professor Sulayman S. Nyang. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018.
- 11.
Ibid, Abegunrin and Abidde.
- 12.
Ibid, Abegunrin and Abidde.
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Michael Dimock. “Global Migration’s Rapid Rise.” Global Migration’s Rapid Rise. July 05, 2016. Accessed February 19, 2020. “Global Migration’s Rapid Rise.” The Pew Charitable Trusts. Accessed https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/trend/archive/summer-2016/global-migrations-rapid-rise#:~:text=Global Migration’s Rapid Rise, risen, their routes have changed.
- 14.
Ibid, Abegunrin and Abidde.
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Toyin Falola, and Adebayo Oyebade. The New African Diaspora in the United States. New York, NY: Routledge, 2016; Kane, Abdoulaye, and Todd H. Leedy. African Migrations: Patterns and Perspectives. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013; Konadu-Agyemang, Kwadwo, Baffour K. Takyi, and John A. Arthur. The New African Diaspora in North America: Trends, Community Building, and Adaptation. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2006.
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Though a Kenyan, Mazrui left Makerere University in Uganda and went into exile fearing that President Idi Amin would retaliate against him for refusing his (Amin’s) offer of political appointment. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o (Kenyan) was forced into exile, first in Britain (1982–1989) and later the United States (1989–2002) by the Arap Moi government primarily because of his intellectualism which were considered anti-government. As with Wa Thiong’o, Soyinka has been in exile twice: After his clandestine meeting with the then secessionist/Biafra leaders, Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, he was detained and jailed by the General Yakubu Gowon’s admiration for almost 2 year in 1967. Upon his release in 1969, he went into self-exile; in 1994, however, he was compelled to go into exile by General Sani Abacha due in part to his political activities with the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) – a broad coalition of Nigerian democrats that called on Abacha to step down in favor of the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 election, Chief M. K. O. Abiola.
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Mooney, E. “The Concept of Internal Displacement and the Case for Internally Displaced Persons as a Category of Concern.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 24, no. 3 (January 2005): 9–26.
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“Internal Displacement.” IDMC. International Displacement Monitoring Center. Accessed April 20, 2020. https://www.internal-displacement.org/internal-displacement
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Please see the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees.
- 20.
Leonce Ndikumana. “Institutional Failure and Ethnic Conflicts in Burundi.” African Studies Review 41, no. 1 (1998): 29–47.
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“World Development Report 1997: The State in a Changing World.” New York: Published for the World Bank, Oxford University Press, 1997.
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Juan Linz. Totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. Boulder, Colo.: Rienner, 1999.
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Chuka Onwumechili. African democratization and military coups. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998.
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Robert A. Dahl. Democracy and Its Critics. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989.
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Alex Thomson. An introduction to African politics. New York, NY: Routledge, 2010.
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Samuel Decalo. “The Process, Prospects and Constraints of Democratization in Africa.” African Affairs 91, no. 362 (1992): 7–35.
- 27.
President Bill Clinton was constantly encouraging African countries to forsake authoritarianism in favor of democracy. In addition, the gory and unfortunate events of September 11, 2001, made democracy an urgent global goal for the United States and her allies. It should also be noted that, increasingly, African intellectuals and the new breed of politicians clamored for change in the political system of their respective countries. And finally, it could also be said that the military in various African countries became weary and wary of coups.
- 28.
Alexis Okeowo. “The Best Thing Goodluck Jonathan Ever Did Was to Concede.” The New Yorker. April 1, 2015. Accessed August 11, 2017. https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-best-thing-goodluck-jonathan-ever-did-was-to-concede
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Craig Timberg. “Nigerian Senate Blocks Bid for 3rd Presidential Term.” The Washington Post. May 17, 2006. Accessed July 24, 2017. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/16/AR2006051600705.html
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Rodney, Walter. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Washington, DC: Howard Univ. Press, 1982.
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Ake, Claude. Democracy and Development in Africa. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1996.
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Milner, Helen V. 1997. Interests, Institutions, and Information. New Jersey: Princeton University Press; Omeje, Kenneth. 2004 “State Failure and the Growing Insecurity in the Nigerian Oil Industry.” African Renaissance 1 (1): 114–23; and Forrest, Joshua B. 2004. Subnationalism in Africa: Ethnicity, Alliances and Politics. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publisher.
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Rotberg, Robert I. “Strengthening African Leadership: There Is Another Way.” Foreign Affairs 83, no. 4 (2004): 14.
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Ibid, Ndikumana, Leonce. 1998.
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Quoted in: Boafo-Arthur, Kwame. “Tackling Africa’s Developmental Dilemmas: Is Globalization the Answer? Journal of Third World Studies, spring 2003, Vol. 20, No. 1.
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Kaplan, Robert D. The Ends of the Earth: from Togo to Turkmenistan, from Iran to Cambodia – a Journey at the Dawn of the 21st Century. New York: Vintage Books, 1997.
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Isbister, John. Promises Not Kept: Poverty and the Betrayal of Third World Development. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, Inc., 2014.
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Veen, Roel van der. What Went Wrong with Africa a Contemporary History. Amsterdam: KIT, 2004.
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Much of these suggestions have been made elsewhere at various times over the years. See, for instance: Abidde, Sabella. “Reclaiming Africa: What Must Africans Do?” The African Executive. The African Executive, July 22, 2008. https://africanexecutive.com/article/read/3358; See also Abidde, Sabella. “What Does the World Owe Africa?” iNigerian.com, June 24, 2008. https://www.inigerian.com/what-does-the-world-owe-africa/
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Abidde, S.O. (2021). Forced Migration and the Failure of Governance. In: Abegunrin, O., Abidde, S.O. (eds) African Migrants and the Refugee Crisis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56642-5_1
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