Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu

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Chido Onumah

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Apr 22, 2020, 2:35:19 AM4/22/20
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Humanity will survive this pandemic as it survived others before it. But the Left and all anti-capitalist forces should determine that global capitalism, together with its regional and national segments, will not be allowed to reconstitute its pre-pandemic political hegemony when all this is over.

http://www.chidoonumah.com/re-introducing-the-lugano-report-on-preserving-capitalism-in-the-21st-century/
By Edwin Madunagu Sometime in 1999, as both the 20th century and the second millennium were drawing to a close, the Pluto Press, London, released a book with the title: “The Lugano Report” and subtitl







Regards,
Chido Onumah

Coordinator, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL: www.africmil.org)

https://corruptionanonymous.org/

(www.chidoonumah.com) @conumah 

Julius Eto

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Apr 22, 2020, 3:28:01 PM4/22/20
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Individual African nations alone, in their present small sizes, cannot survive even if they all become communist/socialist because they will still be manipulable by the dominant global powers (Russia, USA, China, EU etc).

All communist/Marxist theories become practically limited when applied to Africa if the continent remains fragmented. All black intellectuals and some enlightened politicians know this truth, though it's bitter to some of the selfish ones and agents of capitalist and communist imperialism.

Recall how one of the fathers of Pan-Africanism and grand old men of Caribbean radicalism, George Padmore, was treated by the Communist International (CI). He was the head of the Negro Bureau of the CI but had to quit when he realised that white communists were also racist. And despite all that he did (risks and sacrifices) for the Algerian revolution/independence, the new nation's racist pan-Arab leaders refused to honour radical black activist intellectual Frantz Fanon.

That's why Pan-Africanism can never accept communism "hook, line and sinker."








On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 07:35:22 AM GMT+1, Chido Onumah <con...@hotmail.com> wrote:

























Humanity will survive this pandemic as it survived others before it. But the Left and all anti-capitalist forces should determine that global capitalism, together with its regional and national
segments, will not be allowed to reconstitute its pre-pandemic political hegemony when all this is over.



http://www.chidoonumah.com/re-introducing-the-lugano-report-on-preserving-capitalism-in-the-21st-century/












Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century”

By Edwin Madunagu Sometime in 1999, as both the 20th century and the second millennium were drawing to a close, the Pluto Press, London, released a book with the title: “The Lugano Report” and subtitl

www.chidoonumah.com









































Regards,

Chido Onumah








Coordinator, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL:
www.africmil.org)





https://corruptionanonymous.org/







(www.chidoonumah.com) @conumah
























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Julius Eto

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Apr 22, 2020, 4:55:03 PM4/22/20
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If China and Russia were fragmented and not giant entities, they would have been easily dealt with and even overrun by the West as East Germany, Yugoslavia, Poland and others learnt. Small Ukraine is facing imperialist Russian onslaught and pressure.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/704084953.746142.1587583612722%40mail.yahoo.com.

Harrow, Kenneth

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Apr 22, 2020, 5:27:50 PM4/22/20
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the challenge of today, julius, is to think how the core of leftist values can be made political objectives when the objective conditions of production, of capitalism of today, are no longer those of industrial capitalism with proletariat and bourgeoisie as classes.

sorry, the older references to marxism, fanon, padmore, etc, belong to another period, and for me are not guides when evoked within the context of yesterday....

so, yes, racism is a problem, but it not the same as in the past; exploitation is a problem, but we no longer have a bourgeois class of owners with factories; the relationship of the state to the ruling class is completely different from the past.
simultaneously we have demands based on gender, on age, on multiple identity factors.
even neoliberalist globalization refigures the world so that revolution is no longer a meaningful factor.
i remember derrida's book on marx, where he called for embracing the spirit of marxism, not the solutions and strategies of marx. i'd begin there. the spirit of marx, the spirit of fanon, the spirit of our african intellectuals from mandela or nyerere on, their embrace of justice and progressive values--not the capitalism of mandela or the socialism of nyerere, but the progressive calls of our own age--which we have plenty of, with ocasio cortez, ilhan omar, rashida tlaib, and their generation of young leftists.
ken


kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

From: 'Julius Eto' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 3:47 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu
 
If China and Russia were fragmented and not giant entities, they would have been easily dealt with and even overrun by the West as East Germany, Yugoslavia, Poland and others learnt. Small Ukraine is facing imperialist Russian onslaught and pressure.








 On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 08:28:03 PM GMT+1, 'Julius Eto' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:





 Individual African nations alone, in their present small sizes, cannot survive even if they all become communist/socialist because they will still be manipulable by the dominant global powers (Russia, USA, China, EU etc).

All communist/Marxist theories become practically limited when applied to Africa if the continent remains fragmented. All black intellectuals and some enlightened politicians know this truth, though it's bitter to some of the selfish ones and agents of capitalist and communist imperialism.

Recall how one of the fathers of Pan-Africanism and grand old men of Caribbean radicalism, George Padmore, was treated by the Communist International (CI). He was the head of the Negro Bureau of the CI but had to quit when he realised that white communists were also racist. And despite all that he did (risks and sacrifices) for the Algerian revolution/independence, the new nation's racist pan-Arab leaders refused to honour radical black activist intellectual Frantz Fanon.

That's why Pan-Africanism can never accept communism "hook, line and sinker."








 On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 07:35:22 AM GMT+1, Chido Onumah <con...@hotmail.com> wrote:

























Humanity will survive this pandemic as it survived others before it. But the Left and all anti-capitalist forces should determine that global capitalism, together with its regional and national
 segments, will not be allowed to reconstitute its pre-pandemic political hegemony when all this is over.















Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century”

By Edwin Madunagu Sometime in 1999, as both the 20th century and the second millennium were drawing to a close, the Pluto Press, London, released a book with the title: “The Lugano Report” and subtitl










































Regards,

Chido Onumah








Coordinator, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL:

























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Harrow, Kenneth

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Apr 22, 2020, 5:27:50 PM4/22/20
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if china and russia were fragmented, they would have no interest in reaching out to africa for its resources, or even world influence.
we live in a connected world: not a single country functions independent of multiple ties to other states and corporations. none.
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

From: 'Julius Eto' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 3:47 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu
 
If China and Russia were fragmented and not giant entities, they would have been easily dealt with and even overrun by the West as East Germany, Yugoslavia, Poland and others learnt. Small Ukraine is facing imperialist Russian onslaught and pressure.








 On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 08:28:03 PM GMT+1, 'Julius Eto' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:





 Individual African nations alone, in their present small sizes, cannot survive even if they all become communist/socialist because they will still be manipulable by the dominant global powers (Russia, USA, China, EU etc).

All communist/Marxist theories become practically limited when applied to Africa if the continent remains fragmented. All black intellectuals and some enlightened politicians know this truth, though it's bitter to some of the selfish ones and agents of capitalist and communist imperialism.

Recall how one of the fathers of Pan-Africanism and grand old men of Caribbean radicalism, George Padmore, was treated by the Communist International (CI). He was the head of the Negro Bureau of the CI but had to quit when he realised that white communists were also racist. And despite all that he did (risks and sacrifices) for the Algerian revolution/independence, the new nation's racist pan-Arab leaders refused to honour radical black activist intellectual Frantz Fanon.

That's why Pan-Africanism can never accept communism "hook, line and sinker."








 On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 07:35:22 AM GMT+1, Chido Onumah <con...@hotmail.com> wrote:

























Humanity will survive this pandemic as it survived others before it. But the Left and all anti-capitalist forces should determine that global capitalism, together with its regional and national
 segments, will not be allowed to reconstitute its pre-pandemic political hegemony when all this is over.















Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century”

By Edwin Madunagu Sometime in 1999, as both the 20th century and the second millennium were drawing to a close, the Pluto Press, London, released a book with the title: “The Lugano Report” and subtitl










































Regards,

Chido Onumah








Coordinator, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL:

























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Julius Eto

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Apr 23, 2020, 2:55:50 PM4/23/20
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Greetings Prof Ken Harrow.

Sir, my focus is not on racism which i care less about and don't see as a problem. My focus is on Pan-Africanism as an ideology for the unity, rapid development and collective security of our continent. If Africa were one country (like USA, Russia, Canada, China or even India) and developed, it would earn respect like the Chinese and Japanese, even from arch Caucasian racists.

If Trump calls you a Black or African American, you call him a German American. Same for Pence, Clinton, Biden etc who are not aboriginal/native Americans.

I said it sometime ago that if you call me a monkey because of my colour, I can call you a dog or pig because of your colour.

We are all (Africans, Caucasians, Asians etc) people of colour. There are no blacks or whites in the strict sense or meanings of these words.








On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 10:27:52 PM GMT+1, Harrow, Kenneth <har...@msu.edu> wrote:







the challenge of today, julius, is to think how the core of leftist values can be made political objectives when the objective conditions of production, of capitalism of today, are no longer those of industrial capitalism with proletariat and bourgeoisie as
classes.





sorry, the older references to marxism, fanon, padmore, etc, belong to another period, and for me are not guides when evoked within the context of yesterday....





so, yes, racism is a problem, but it not the same as in the past; exploitation is a problem, but we no longer have a bourgeois class of owners with factories; the relationship of the state to the ruling class is completely different from the past.




simultaneously we have demands based on gender, on age, on multiple identity factors.

even neoliberalist globalization refigures the world so that revolution is no longer a meaningful factor.

i remember derrida's book on marx, where he called for embracing the spirit of marxism, not the solutions and strategies of marx. i'd begin there. the spirit of marx, the spirit of fanon, the spirit of our african intellectuals from mandela or nyerere on, their
embrace of justice and progressive values--not the capitalism of mandela or the socialism of nyerere, but the progressive calls of our own age--which we have plenty of, with ocasio cortez, ilhan omar, rashida tlaib, and their generation of young leftists.

ken













kenneth harrow


professor emeritus


dept of english


michigan state university


517 803-8839


har...@msu.edu







Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue

Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html

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Harrow, Kenneth

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Apr 24, 2020, 1:16:05 PM4/24/20
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hi julius
i understand the history of pan-africanism, i believe, well enough. i see its virtues, to be sure. but not economic. perhaps you can explain to me the magic of how combining various states somehow augments their economic power. i don't get it.
india is enormous, but not an economic powerhouse. until china turned to development policies that exploited global development, it was enormous and dead poor.
what difference does size make? i could say, well, switzerland is small and rich, as is singapore.
anyway, explain to me how you see the policy would work. right now i see poverty in the sahel, wealth in botswana. go ahead and explain how we get from the one to the other.
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

From: 'Julius Eto' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2020 1:54 PM

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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Apr 24, 2020, 7:04:21 PM4/24/20
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Ken.

Im with you in questioning this overflogged idea that a unified Africa ( which is different from African unity meaning cooperation) on its own can lead to a rapid economic development.  

It will lead to more beauricratic bottlenecks and conflict in managing regional economic policies which is supposed to lead to economic integration as the ECOWAS  economic example has shown with the France zone.

A larger market does not easily translate to economic success of the members of that market.  It means more mouths to feed in the expanded market zone but fed with whose regional products and under which agreements on distributive justice regarded shared resources?  What is the acceptable basis of sharing such resources?  These are primary questions that need to be tackled first.  Otherwise we are just dealing with a pipe dream.

OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: "Harrow, Kenneth" <har...@msu.edu>
Date: 24/04/2020 18:18 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu

Boxbe This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (har...@msu.edu) Add cleanup rule | More info
hi julius
i understand the history of pan-africanism, i believe, well enough. i see its virtues, to be sure. but not economic. perhaps you can explain to me the magic of how combining various states somehow augments their economic power. i don't get it.
india is enormous, but not an economic powerhouse. until china turned to development policies that exploited global development, it was enormous and dead poor.
what difference does size make? i could say, well, switzerland is small and rich, as is singapore.
anyway, explain to me how you see the policy would work. right now i see poverty in the sahel, wealth in botswana. go ahead and explain how we get from the one to the other.
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

From: 'Julius Eto' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2020 1:54 PM

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Biko Agozino

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Apr 24, 2020, 10:15:27 PM4/24/20
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Brother Eto,

Your concerns are in order. What you identified is the weakness of national left groups in Africa. Comrade Madunagu is directing his challenge to the Nigerian Left but relatively left out the Pan African Left. Meanwhile, the Lugano Report was pitched at the global level and not at the micro-national level because capitalism is a global mode of production. I agree with you that we need to think of the problem at the level of the United Republic of African States because the colonizers did not think of us as atomized colonies - they still see us as Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone or Arab-speaking Africa whereas we have always been Afrophone. The problems you find in any African state can also be found in every other African state to indicate that they are common problems to be tackled together more effectively.

Ken is saying that little countries in Europe are rich but he forgot what made them rich - our rulers rob us blind and stash the loot in places like Switzerland, London, Paris, US. We also have small states in Africa and we have huge ones too but what you find problematic in the house of the rat is also problematic in the house of the lizard. Our problem is that the scramble for Africa was designed to divide and weaken us. By re-uniting, we can pool our resources together and stop having 55 ineffective military budgets, 55 embassies in every country with some too poor to pay their rents or phone bills, 55 or more internal borders holding up commerce and the movement of the people, allowing genocidal regimes to pounce on any group of Africans that they fancy without fear of being stopped by the Peoples Republic of Africa United Democratically. Pooling our resources will create a sizable budget for education, health, agriculture, infrastructure construction, industrialization, single currency, single passport, federal parliament but still allow states to have their own constitutions and manage local affairs. The African Diaspora will also find it easier to exercise the right to return instead of going to one small country and being boxed in by the ridiculous colonial boundaries that our people defy daily in their millions.

Foreign countries have nothing to fear from a united Africa. We have learned the lesson that war-making is wasteful and like the countries that have not fought any war in the past 50 years but concentrated on development, the 
United Republic of African States will not be interested in waging war against foreign countries. Instead, we will engage in soft diplomacy by inviting talented foreigners to apply for immigration with a path to citizenship. Foreign countries that wish to deal with Africa will find it easier because rather than negotiate with 55 inconsequential heads of state, they will be negotiating with a united powerful voice that will command respect. A untied Africa will be able to produce more for export and for internal needs and will also have more resources to import goods, not military weapons, for the benefit of all.

What is missing is the launch of the Africana Mass Party with branches in every state across Africa to lead the re-unification campaign. Forward Ever. Do not agonize. Organize!

Biko

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Apr 25, 2020, 5:02:59 AM4/25/20
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Biko.

There is no such thing as 'by re-uniting".  'Africa' was never unified pre- colonialism and the name Africa referred initially to the mediterranean region of northern Africa.  By the time it was coined the other parts of Africa was unknown to Europe.

OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: 25/04/2020 03:26 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu

Boxbe This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (usaafric...@googlegroups.com) Add cleanup rule | More info
Brother Eto,

Your concerns are in order. What you identified is the weakness of national left groups in Africa. Comrade Madunagu is directing his challenge to the Nigerian Left but relatively left out the Pan African Left. Meanwhile, the Lugano Report was pitched at the global level and not at the micro-national level because capitalism is a global mode of production. I agree with you that we need to think of the problem at the level of the United Republic of African States because the colonizers did not think of us as atomized colonies - they still see us as Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone or Arab-speaking Africa whereas we have always been Afrophone. The problems you find in any African state can also be found in every other African state to indicate that they are common problems to be tackled together more effectively.

Ken is saying that little countries in Europe are rich but he forgot what made them rich - our rulers rob us blind and stash the loot in places like Switzerland, London, Paris, US. We also have small states in Africa and we have huge ones too but what you find problematic in the house of the rat is also problematic in the house of the lizard. Our problem is that the scramble for Africa was designed to divide and weaken us. By re-uniting, we can pool our resources together and stop having 55 ineffective military budgets, 55 embassies in every country with some too poor to pay their rents or phone bills, 55 or more internal borders holding up commerce and the movement of the people, allowing genocidal regimes to pounce on any group of Africans that they fancy without fear of being stopped by the Peoples Republic of Africa United Democratically. Pooling our resources will create a sizable budget for education, health, agriculture, infrastructure construction, industrialization, single currency, single passport, federal parliament but still allow states to have their own constitutions and manage local affairs. The African Diaspora will also find it easier to exercise the right to return instead of going to one small country and being boxed in by the ridiculous colonial boundaries that our people defy daily in their millions.

Foreign countries have nothing to fear from a united Africa. We have learned the lesson that war-making is wasteful and like the countries that have not fought any war in the past 50 years but concentrated on development, the 
United Republic of African States will not be interested in waging war against foreign countries. Instead, we will engage in soft diplomacy by inviting talented foreigners to apply for immigration with a path to citizenship. Foreign countries that wish to deal with Africa will find it easier because rather than negotiate with 55 inconsequential heads of state, they will be negotiating with a united powerful voice that will command respect. A untied Africa will be able to produce more for export and for internal needs and will also have more resources to import goods, not military weapons, for the benefit of all.

What is missing is the launch of the Africana Mass Party with branches in every state across Africa to lead the re-unification campaign. Forward Ever. Do not agonize. Organize!

Biko

On Friday, 24 April 2020, 19:04:22 GMT-4, OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com> wrote:


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Biko Agozino

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Apr 25, 2020, 10:53:06 AM4/25/20
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O,

'Unity is neither unanimity nor uniformity. A Little goes a long way.' - Amilcar Cabral, Unity and Struggles.

Biko

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Apr 25, 2020, 11:37:34 AM4/25/20
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My point is there is relative unity without unanimity now.  In fact the fight against colonialism was the catalyst for a unity  (and union) that was not there before.  No union is needed for that unity;  in fact a union with its contradictions will undermine the unity.

OAA



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-------- Original message --------
From: 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: 25/04/2020 16:04 (GMT+00:00)
To: 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu

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O,

'Unity is neither unanimity nor uniformity. A Little goes a long way.' - Amilcar Cabral, Unity and Struggles.

Biko

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Harrow, Kenneth

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Apr 25, 2020, 1:52:57 PM4/25/20
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biko, you are arguing not simply for a unified africa, but an africa under a progressive, leftish govt.
what if it's under a thoroughly neoliberal govt? an authoritarian govt, like china, say?
and what if the 55 states still exist as states within a country, like the eu, each with its own regional interests, its own corruption? what of nigeria, vs togo. someone tell me why nigeria, which is the largest african state, doesn't represent the ideal because of its size? any outsider reading this list would find words like fulani yoruba igbo offered over and again as evil or corrupt or whatever, with the implication that the north should go off on its own.

actually i don't really see size as a benefit for the citizens, based on the comparison, say, between the ussr and what is now the exploded state around it.
for a while the eu was  a model, but not really, since germany messed up the economies of the south so badly.

i mostly fault nation states for the sad state of the world. i 'd need to be convinced why more variations of it are a good thing, as opposed to eliminating nation states in the ideal the eu once espoused.
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com>
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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Apr 25, 2020, 2:05:40 PM4/25/20
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Ken.  

It is that ideal which  EU once posed but could not actualise that Biko wants if I read him right.

If Europe which was once ruled by ancient Rome and Holy Roman Empire before the emergence of nation  states could no longer sustain the ideal how would Africa without such previous extensive supranational formation manage it?

Harrow, Kenneth

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Apr 25, 2020, 4:14:16 PM4/25/20
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come on olayinka, europe's failure have nothing to do with africa's. anyway, remember all those attempts to forge regional states after independence? you all guys include historians. there was an attempt at central africa; french west africa w mali and senegal, libya and tunisia and egypt with i forget who.
these all failed. i don't know why. the only contemporary model might be the ussr. it had some good, but mostly repressive sides. china is an amalgamation of states, now a very tight authoritarian state. tanganyika did manage to swallow zanzibar; ethiopia failed to swallow eritrea. s africa effectively swallowed everything within reach, from swaziland to its "bantustans."

i resist only one thing: not size, but the model of the nation state, which was the basis for 2 world wars, and enormous repressiveness of little states by the big. the eu had great ideals, but bad economic disparities so germany could impose on greece and spain, and germany and france could impose its economic advantages on the new members.
we need egalitarianism in the world, not larger nations. that's all that matters, giving equal power to everyone--economic and political power. and that will come when the borders go down.

i agree with one panafrican ideal that we are all one nation, i.e., all with equal access to each other state's economic opportunities. that comes when borders disappear. on independence we had that in africa, remember? no passports needed to cross african borders.
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2020 2:02 PM

Emeagwali, Gloria (History)

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Apr 25, 2020, 5:25:04 PM4/25/20
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African supranational formations existed although not in the context of a single unitary confederation across the continent.
We have the precedent of unification and unifying in empires such as the Songhai empire that was about 500,000 square miles,and
coming a bit closer to our era, the Sokoto and Tokolor empires, about 290,000 sq miles and
241,000 sq miles respectively.
In the Northeast we have the Aksumite at around 400,000 sq. miles,  and when Egypt and Nubia became a single nation under the Nubian Napata dynasty  in the 8th century BCE, this unit was
certainly more than 600,000 square miles.






Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association
Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2020 2:02 PM

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu
 

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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Apr 25, 2020, 6:43:23 PM4/25/20
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Well, why did the borders come up post independence?

Because member nations realised the ad hoc fraternity in the fight against colonialism was just that.  There were time honoured economic and cultural differences.

The phenomenon of larger european states gobbling up the weaker states is the logic of capitalism writ large.  We are familiar with that on company basis.  People expect economically stronger states to rescue weaker ones for nothing because european wealth is joint patrimony.  Its not that straight forward in reality.

Stronger states worked harder to establish strong economies.  Why should they throw their hard earned wealth at the feet of those who decided to take things easy.  That will result in what is called in pidgin ' monkey dey work, baboon dey chop'.  It does not encourage productivity because those who work hard for others to reap the benefits wont see the point in doing so.  So overall productivity falls in the long run and that was in part why the USSR failed.  The people saw the  showy products of western competitive edge against the non alluring equivalents of their own productivity and wanted western products at all costs not mindful of how they were produced.

You stated that the nation state was the basis of two world wars  but European empires had been fighting each other long before the 20th century.  Industrialisation and competition  to control third world resources through the construction of colonial empires were the basis of the two world wars. The Delian League, Alexander the Greats escapeds, Napoleon etc etc happened before the two world wars.

The attempts by Africans to construct large political units which you referred to as having failed were mere recent chapters in a pattern that began in antiquity: Shaka, Oyo Empire, Hausa States, Borgu, Songhai, Mali etc, etc.  

Each attempt had distinctive characters and features that differentiated them, pitched one against the other if they were contemporaneous and led to rise and fall of large states.  There was at no time a monolithic culture encompassing all of Africa on which Biko's dream could be erected.

OAA



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-------- Original message --------
From: "Harrow, Kenneth" <har...@msu.edu>
Date: 25/04/2020 21:23 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu

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come on olayinka, europe's failure have nothing to do with africa's. anyway, remember all those attempts to forge regional states after independence? you all guys include historians. there was an attempt at central africa; french west africa w mali and senegal, libya and tunisia and egypt with i forget who.
these all failed. i don't know why. the only contemporary model might be the ussr. it had some good, but mostly repressive sides. china is an amalgamation of states, now a very tight authoritarian state. tanganyika did manage to swallow zanzibar; ethiopia failed to swallow eritrea. s africa effectively swallowed everything within reach, from swaziland to its "bantustans."

i resist only one thing: not size, but the model of the nation state, which was the basis for 2 world wars, and enormous repressiveness of little states by the big. the eu had great ideals, but bad economic disparities so germany could impose on greece and spain, and germany and france could impose its economic advantages on the new members.
we need egalitarianism in the world, not larger nations. that's all that matters, giving equal power to everyone--economic and political power. and that will come when the borders go down.

i agree with one panafrican ideal that we are all one nation, i.e., all with equal access to each other state's economic opportunities. that comes when borders disappear. on independence we had that in africa, remember? no passports needed to cross african borders.
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2020 2:02 PM

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Harrow, Kenneth

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Apr 25, 2020, 10:01:22 PM4/25/20
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hi olayinka
you have a lot in here; not all of which i agree with. also, in response to gloria, you are equating all states w nations. there have been large states for a long time. nations in africa came almost entirely with the end of colonialism.
the fall of the ussr. it used up enormous resources in the cold war, which, w afghanistan, broke their lousy economy, and the pressures to open it, as in china, became too great. envy of the west for goods? maybe a part of it.
what troubles me is the conflating of large eu states with wealthy, and they are not.spain is big; only recently ceased being poor; the netherlands is small, like switzerland, and even denmark and belgium are small, but not poor, like the larger east european states.
the argument that wealthy germany didn't want to bail out spendthrift greece, and to a lesser degree italy and spain was only one side to the argument, right? others saw germany and france constructing the eu to their benefit, which was why sweden and switzerland didn't join.
competition to control colonial states was definitely not the cause of wwII. maybe it was in part WWI, but only a part, a small part. we can debate that.
gloria missed my point entirely; i know of the empires of the past; they were not nations. nations begin mostly in the 19th century, only. before that we had empires and kingdoms etc., not nation states. think italy and germany as late-comers.
but the question was, is africa ready to let go of its nation- state formations in favor of larger entities. nasser tried it; qaddafi tried it; even senghor tried. but the holders of national resources wouldn't let go. the CAR was another example. it was not the integrity of ethnic identity either; it was the national resources, developed during colonialism, that the new states wouldn't let go.
not even the papa of pan-africanism, nkrumah.
perhaps the older imperial systems had a positive side. not the colonialism of france or england, etc., but the ottoman empire, or the austro-hungarian.
or perhaps songhai, mali, etc, were also better examples of states than nation states?
i don't know, just asking
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2020 6:13 PM

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Apr 26, 2020, 8:36:12 AM4/26/20
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Empires by their every nature are multinational .'despotism" according to Montesquieu

I insist both first and second world wars were caused by resources control in the colonies more so in second world war in which Hitler stated so in Mein Kampf.  He said his own colonies were in Europe and that was why he was invading and annexing weaker neighbours.  

The little colonies Germany had in Africa were taken by the victors of the  first world war..

OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------
From: "Harrow, Kenneth" <har...@msu.edu>
Date: 26/04/2020 03:13 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu

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hi olayinka
you have a lot in here; not all of which i agree with. also, in response to gloria, you are equating all states w nations. there have been large states for a long time. nations in africa came almost entirely with the end of colonialism.
the fall of the ussr. it used up enormous resources in the cold war, which, w afghanistan, broke their lousy economy, and the pressures to open it, as in china, became too great. envy of the west for goods? maybe a part of it.
what troubles me is the conflating of large eu states with wealthy, and they are not.spain is big; only recently ceased being poor; the netherlands is small, like switzerland, and even denmark and belgium are small, but not poor, like the larger east european states.
the argument that wealthy germany didn't want to bail out spendthrift greece, and to a lesser degree italy and spain was only one side to the argument, right? others saw germany and france constructing the eu to their benefit, which was why sweden and switzerland didn't join.
competition to control colonial states was definitely not the cause of wwII. maybe it was in part WWI, but only a part, a small part. we can debate that.
gloria missed my point entirely; i know of the empires of the past; they were not nations. nations begin mostly in the 19th century, only. before that we had empires and kingdoms etc., not nation states. think italy and germany as late-comers.
but the question was, is africa ready to let go of its nation- state formations in favor of larger entities. nasser tried it; qaddafi tried it; even senghor tried. but the holders of national resources wouldn't let go. the CAR was another example. it was not the integrity of ethnic identity either; it was the national resources, developed during colonialism, that the new states wouldn't let go.
not even the papa of pan-africanism, nkrumah.
perhaps the older imperial systems had a positive side. not the colonialism of france or england, etc., but the ottoman empire, or the austro-hungarian.
or perhaps songhai, mali, etc, were also better examples of states than nation states?
i don't know, just asking
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2020 6:13 PM

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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Apr 26, 2020, 8:36:21 AM4/26/20
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GE.

All of these are true but they did not spread through ALL of Africa at once as individual units nor through all of the individual regions in which they were situated during their individual epochs e.g Songhai did not occupy the whole of West African sub- region neither did Oyo Empire nor Sokoto Caliphate.

The problems of administering cultural multinationality in part inevitably led to their unraveling.  Its an inevitable historical process of over extension as it happened in ancient Rome.

OAA



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-------- Original message --------
From: "Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emea...@ccsu.edu>
Date: 25/04/2020 22:39 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu

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African supranational formations existed although not in the context of a single unitary confederation across the continent.
We have the precedent of unification and unifying in empires such as the Songhai empire that was about 500,000 square miles,and
coming a bit closer to our era, the Sokoto and Tokolor empires, about 290,000 sq miles and
241,000 sq miles respectively.
In the Northeast we have the Aksumite at around 400,000 sq. miles,  and when Egypt and Nubia became a single nation under the Nubian Napata dynasty  in the 8th century BCE, this unit was
certainly more than 600,000 square miles.






Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association
Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2020 2:02 PM

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu
 

Please be cautious: **External Email**

Ken.  

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Harrow, Kenneth

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Apr 26, 2020, 12:20:20 PM4/26/20
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well, if you are including european states as "colonies" for hitler, that changes things. i was taking colonies in the usual sense.
hitler wanted to rule a lot, maybe the world. and he wanted lebensraum, starting with czechoslovakia and then all the rest of east europe.
k

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2020 5:39 AM

Julius Eto

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Apr 27, 2020, 2:08:47 PM4/27/20
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Dear Ken Harrow,

Biko's submission suffices for me sir.








On Sunday, April 26, 2020, 05:20:25 PM GMT+1, Harrow, Kenneth <har...@msu.edu> wrote:







well, if you are including european states as "colonies" for hitler, that changes things. i was taking colonies in the usual sense.

hitler wanted to rule a lot, maybe the world. and he wanted lebensraum, starting with czechoslovakia and then all the rest of east europe.

k











kenneth harrow


professor emeritus


dept of english


michigan state university


517 803-8839


har...@msu.edu







From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com>

Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2020 5:39 AM

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu




Empires by their every nature are multinational .'despotism" according to Montesquieu



I insist both first and second world wars were caused by resources control in the colonies more so in second world war in which Hitler stated so in Mein Kampf.  He said his own colonies were in Europe and that was why he was invading and annexing weaker
neighbours.



The little colonies Germany had in Africa were taken by the victors of the  first world war..



OAA










Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------
From: "Harrow, Kenneth" <har...@msu.edu>
Date: 26/04/2020 03:13 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu







From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com>

Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2020 6:13 PM

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu




Well, why did the borders come up post independence?



Because member nations realised the ad hoc fraternity in the fight against colonialism was just that.  There were time honoured economic and cultural differences.



The phenomenon of larger european states gobbling up the weaker states is the logic of capitalism writ large.  We are familiar with that on company basis.  People expect economically stronger states to rescue weaker ones for nothing because european wealth
is joint patrimony.  Its not that straight forward in reality.



Stronger states worked harder to establish strong economies.  Why should they throw their hard earned wealth at the feet of those who decided to take things easy.  That will result in what is called in pidgin ' monkey dey work, baboon dey chop'.  It does
not encourage productivity because those who work hard for others to reap the benefits wont see the point in doing so.  So overall productivity falls in the long run and that was in part why the USSR failed.  The people saw the  showy products of western competitive
edge against the non alluring equivalents of their own productivity and wanted western products at all costs not mindful of how they were produced.



You stated that the nation state was the basis of two world wars  but European empires had been fighting each other long before the 20th century.  Industrialisation and competition  to control third world resources through the construction of colonial
empires were the basis of the two world wars. The Delian League, Alexander the Greats escapeds, Napoleon etc etc happened before the two world wars.



The attempts by Africans to construct large political units which you referred to as having failed were mere recent chapters in a pattern that began in antiquity: Shaka, Oyo Empire, Hausa States, Borgu, Songhai, Mali etc, etc.



Each attempt had distinctive characters and features that differentiated them, pitched one against the other if they were contemporaneous and led to rise and fall of large states.  There was at no time a monolithic culture encompassing all of Africa on
which Biko's dream could be erected.



OAA










Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.







-------- Original message --------
From: "Harrow, Kenneth" <har...@msu.edu>
Date: 25/04/2020 21:23 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu







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come on olayinka, europe's failure have nothing to do with africa's. anyway, remember all those attempts to forge regional states after independence? you all guys include historians. there was an attempt at central africa; french west africa w mali and senegal,
libya and tunisia and egypt with i forget who.

these all failed. i don't know why. the only contemporary model might be the ussr. it had some good, but mostly repressive sides. china is an amalgamation of states, now a very tight authoritarian state. tanganyika did manage to swallow zanzibar; ethiopia failed
to swallow eritrea. s africa effectively swallowed everything within reach, from swaziland to its "bantustans."





i resist only one thing: not size, but the model of the nation state, which was the basis for 2 world wars, and enormous repressiveness of little states by the big. the eu had great ideals, but bad economic disparities so germany could impose on greece and
spain, and germany and france could impose its economic advantages on the new members.

we need egalitarianism in the world, not larger nations. that's all that matters, giving equal power to everyone--economic and political power. and that will come when the borders go down.





i agree with one panafrican ideal that we are all one nation, i.e., all with equal access to each other state's economic opportunities. that comes when borders disappear. on independence we had that in africa, remember? no passports needed to cross african
borders.

ken











kenneth harrow


professor emeritus


dept of english


michigan state university


517 803-8839


har...@msu.edu







From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com>

Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2020 11:35 AM

To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu



My point is there is relative unity without unanimity now.  In fact the fight against colonialism was the catalyst for a unity  (and union) that was not there before.  No union is needed for that unity;  in fact a union with its contradictions will undermine
the unity.



OAA










Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.







-------- Original message --------
From: 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>

Date: 25/04/2020 16:04 (GMT+00:00)
To: 'Biko Agozino' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu







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hi julius

i understand the history of pan-africanism, i believe, well enough. i see its virtues, to be sure. but not economic. perhaps you can explain to me the magic of how combining various states somehow augments their economic power. i don't get it.

india is enormous, but not an economic powerhouse. until china turned to development policies that exploited global development, it was enormous and dead poor.

what difference does size make? i could say, well, switzerland is small and rich, as is singapore.

anyway, explain to me how you see the policy would work. right now i see poverty in the sahel, wealth in botswana. go ahead and explain how we get from the one to the other.

ken











kenneth harrow


professor emeritus


dept of english


michigan state university


517 803-8839


har...@msu.edu







To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/DM5PR12MB2456DBC8E7128F0D2780ADFEDAAE0%40DM5PR12MB2456.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.

Julius Eto

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Apr 30, 2020, 3:07:34 PM4/30/20
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OAA,

You are a pessimist in matters of pan-African unification because you say you don't believe that size matters in development as some countries like Israel, Switzerland and others have shown.

Sir,remember that these countries benefited from slavery and colonialism and are profiting from the present global order. To at least catch up (not even to be ahead), Africa/Africans has/have to run where others walk and this requires garnering strength or pulling together.

Agbetuyi, if you don't believe that size avails much, why not support the separatist charlatan Kanu to urge your and Cornelius's Bro Buhari to dissolve 'giant' Nigeria? Will it not be safer for a family to unite against an external threat than confront the danger disunited?

In theory, it's possible for the United States to disintegrate but it will be difficult to do so because most of its citizens know the great advantage of being together. Even China etc.

JE.

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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May 1, 2020, 8:33:20 AM5/1/20
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J E.

Kennedy Emetulu has shared with us why it will be hard for Nigeria to be dissolved peacefully ( except in a gory deluge of war: majority of the overwise over optimistic natioalists refused to heed Awolowo's call for a secessionist clause ( which the UK wisely fought to the end to be included in the EU charter if any of the constituent parts feels enough is enough --hence their ability to withdraw.)  There is no such thing as indissoluble marriage in private human affairs how much more in corporate affairs.

Wise leaders like Awolowo being a trained economist (and British leaders)recognise the most important equivalent law for human association and relations to that of the laws of physics and the natural sciences is the ceteris paribus law (you can call Awolowo and British leaders pessimists like Agbetuyi)

The thing about ceteris paribus is that things are seldom guaranteed to be as projected along the way.  Only six months ago who would have predicted the devastation wrought by COVID-19 on humanity and the global economy!  Has everything been equal according to the vision of the global economic planners two years ago.? And the end is not yet in sight. 

In the Nigerian case some of the nationalist leaders thought initially that based on the composition of their own people they would always gain the upper hand, will always be able to dominate their others so there would never be a need to go it alone.  Things were not ' all  things being equal' (ceteris) as envisaged. Political meiosis kept being vitiated by political mitosis ever since

Human associations are always work in progress.  People may decide the amount of work to be put in is not justified with regards to the desired end at ANY TIME in the project.  

People see farther than each other.  Those who cant see as far as others do label others as pessimists because they cannot see fully the variegated complexities that make others decide it may not be worth all the efforts and pain. In short they may see life only through rose tinted glasses 

If you are asked to expend 10pence to gain 12 pence( including initial outlay) and another person asks you to spend 4 pence to gain 9 pence overall a sagacious person knows what option to pick.

The reason America would not break has been put to test on the battlefied: Its nothing to do with what the average American derives from a large market.  Its what the minority controllers of the economy derive from a large market.

It is far easier to put a corporate association of people into a polity.  It is far more difficult to pull it apart again due to vested interests which may be gaining at the expense of the majority, unless terms of dissolution are incorporated at the outset.

This in the end is the wisdom of Awolowo and the British leaders.

The first business to attend to before unifying  diverse polities like Africa is to establish the terms of dissolution in case it turns into an unbearable nightmare.

It takes a pessimist to be a realist ( this was one of the tags Wole Soyinka got in the early part of his career, in particular from Marxist critics)
It takes a realist to live in the real world.  It is better to live in the real world than a fictional world.


OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------
From: 'Julius Eto' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: 30/04/2020 20:18 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu

OAA,

You are a pessimist in matters of pan-African unification because you say you don't believe that size matters in development as some countries like Israel, Switzerland and others have shown.

Sir,remember that these countries benefited from slavery and colonialism and are profiting from the present global order. To at least catch up (not even to be ahead), Africa/Africans has/have to run where others walk and this requires garnering strength or pulling together.

Agbetuyi, if you don't believe that size avails much, why not support the separatist charlatan Kanu to urge your and Cornelius's Bro Buhari to dissolve 'giant' Nigeria? Will it not be safer for a family to unite against an external threat than confront the danger disunited?

In theory, it's possible for the United States to disintegrate but it will be difficult to do so because most of its citizens know the great advantage of being together. Even China etc.

JE.








 On Monday, April 27, 2020, 07:01:22 PM GMT+1, Julius Eto <juli...@yahoo.com> wrote:





Julius Eto

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May 3, 2020, 3:37:43 PM5/3/20
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Dear Agbetuyi, I largely agree with the following submission by you:"The reason America would not break has been put to test on the battlefied: Its nothing to do with what the average American derives from a large market. It's what the minority controllers of the economy derive from a large market. It is far easier to put a corporate association of people into a polity. It is far more difficult to pull it apart again due to vested interests which may be gaining at the expense of the majority, unless terms of dissolution are incorporated at the outset.…The first business to attend to before unifying diverse polities like Africa is to establish the terms of dissolution in case it turns into an unbearable nightmare."

This is precisely the reason (a large market) that the African ruling elite want a free trade zone for their self-interest. So it's not a fictional world or idea (utopia) they're pursuing but a realizable vision or goal. However, Pan-Africanists want the political aspect to be equally pursued to make it work and for collective security/survival as pointed out recently by Nkrumah's daughter (Samia), Julius Malema and Professor Patrick Lumumba
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/DB6PR04MB2982B879B25FDBFD540F916FA6AB0%40DB6PR04MB2982.eurprd04.prod.outlook.com.

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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May 4, 2020, 9:08:21 AM5/4/20
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Lets jointly hope the ruling elites pursue what is in the political interests of the majority.

Led by the Civil Societies let the masses of the people agree bench marks to be tested along the way to ensure the peoples mutually benefit and not just the ruling elites and how the peoples can trigger an exit mechanism if any of the peoples decide no more if and when it is clear they are no longer getting and there is no prospect of getting what they signed up for. 

 That must need be preceded by what Edwin Madunagu has called the Peoples' Manifesto but not necessarily in the Marxian sense.
Im done.

OAA



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.


-------- Original message --------
From: 'Julius Eto' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: 03/05/2020 20:44 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-introducing “The Lugano Report: On preserving capitalism in the 21st century” by Edwin Madunagu

Dear Agbetuyi, I largely agree with the following submission by you:"The reason America would not break has been put to test on the battlefied: Its nothing to do with what the average American derives from a large market. It's what the minority controllers of the economy derive from a large market. It is far easier to put a corporate association of people into a polity.  It is far more difficult to pull it apart again due to vested interests which may be gaining at the expense of the majority, unless terms of dissolution are incorporated at the outset.…The first business to attend to before unifying  diverse polities like Africa is to establish the terms of dissolution in case it turns into an unbearable nightmare."


This is precisely the reason (a large market) that the African ruling elite want a free trade zone for their self-interest. So it's not a fictional world or idea (utopia) they're pursuing but a realizable vision or goal. However, Pan-Africanists want the political aspect to be equally pursued to make it work and for collective security/survival as pointed out recently by Nkrumah's daughter (Samia), Julius Malema and Professor Patrick Lumumba











 On Friday, May 1, 2020, 01:33:22 PM GMT+1, OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com> wrote:















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