Abstract

This paper studies the Pan-Africanists in Africa. The main concern is to identify and draw the difference which exists between the Pan-Africanists of yesterday and those of today in the context of developing Africa. Through a socio-historical perspective, the study agrees that the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were radical and determined about the socio-economic and political progress of Africa because they needed both the liberation and unification of Africa whilst the Pan-Africanists of today are no longer determined about the immediate socio-economic and political progress of Africa, because they lack both the purpose and a revolutionary spirit in the struggle for Pan-Africanism. The paper recommends that Africa needs a new generation of Pan-African Revolutionaries who can have both a revolutionary spirit and a sense of solidarity and unity in the struggle for Pan-Africanism in Africa, as well as a new type of citizen, a dedicated, modest, honest, uncorrupted and informed man.

Key Words

Pan-Africanism, Pan-Africanist, Pan-African, Pan-African, Revolutionary

Introduction

Pan-Africanism is a concept, a doctrine, a movement, dating back at least a century, born in America and implemented in Africa fifty years later. It advocates the unity, solidarity, freedom and dignity of the peoples of Africa, wherever they are. It is said that since the arrival and implementation of Pan-Africanism in Africa until today, a great number of Africans have called themselves Pan-Africanists or Pan-Africans after having read the history of Africa and after understanding the injustices of the West in Africa. There are also a few people in Africa who can be identified as Revolutionaries. But, there is confusion on the specificity of being called a Pan-Africanist in Africa, because it is a bit difficult to recognize who is a real Pan-Africanist and who is not a Pan-Africanist in Africa today.   

In this respect, my Article is based on the study of Pan-Africanists in Africa. Therefore, my topic reads as follows: "Understanding The Pan-Africanists in Africa." The choice of this topic is linked to my objective of how to develop Africa today. So, my research question is: to what extent the Pan-Africanists of today can be considered as a break to the development of Africa? Then, my purpose is to identify and draw the difference which exists between the Pan-Africanists of yesterday and those of today in the context of developing the African continent. 

Concerning the review of literature, I have to confess that many people wrote on Pan-Africanism in post-colonial Africa. For instance, Kwame Nkrumah (1973) wrote on Revolutionary, Pan-Africanism and African Personalities. Ahmed Sékou Touré (1967) also wrote on Pan-Africanism in L’Afrique et la Révolution. Writers such as Foster Bankie and Kingo Jotham Mchombu (2008) have written on Pan-Africanism. Daryl Zizwe Poe (2003) wrote on Nkrumah's contribution to Pan-Africanism in Africa. Autumn Anne Lawson (2004) studied Kwame Nkrumah's quest for Pan-Africanism, especially from independence leader to deposed despot. But, none of these authors thought to differentiate the Pan-Africanists of yesterday and those of today in the context of developing African society. So, I focus on this last point in order to show the people we need for the development of Africa.      

As far as methodology is concerned, I resort to a historical approach not only in an exclusive way in the sense of the word but the relating of past events. I have also enriched my research with a sociological approach to learning how the Africans view the Pan-Africanists of yesterday and those of today. In so doing, the data collection methods included interviews, focus group discussions, documentary review and the use of open-ended questions. The study has a total of 17 respondents where the majority were young scholars making a total of 8. 3 contemporary historians, 2 secondary school teachers and 4 others were elders who were born in post-colonial Africa and they have good experience in the implementation of Pan-Africanism in Africa. So, this academic paper is organized into two main sections. In section one, I devote my attention to the study of Pan-Africanists. In section two, I focus on the kinds of people that Africa needs for its progress.   

I-Pan-Africanists

Today, everyone in Africa is called a Pan-Africanist after having read the history of Africa and after understanding the conspiracies or the injustices of the Western world. This situation is confusing the people of Africa because all the people cannot be called Pan-Africanists, this is not possible. The real problem is based on the fact of seeking to determine, who is really a Pan-Africanist. And who is not a Pan-Africanist in Africa today? In so doing, my purpose in this section is, first of all, to identify some categories of the people of Africa who were called Pan-Africanists in recent history and reveal what they did in Africa as works. Secondly, I identify and study the Pan-Africanists of today in Africa, their attitudes and behaviours as regards the growth of Pan-Africanism and the development of Africa in the 21st century. This will also help the people to understand, who is a real Pan-Africanist in Africa today and who is not. So, let us see first how the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were and how they were behaving all over Africa.

1-Pan-Africanists of Yesterday

When I speak of Pan-Africanists of yesterday in Africa, I refer to one generation in Africa. That is to say, the generation of Africans who attended both colonial and local education in Africa and later on studied in foreign countries such as the USA, Great Britain, France, Portugal, etc. and decided to return back home in order to further the education they have received abroad in their respective countries. This generation can be considered as the educated Pan-Africanists of yesterday. That is for instance, the case of Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, after graduating from Lincoln University with a B.A. degree in economics and sociology, and after receiving M.A. degrees in education and philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1942 and 1943 in the United States, decided to back to the Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1947. The same thing was with Dr. Benjamin Nanmdi Azikiwe of Nigeria, who decided to return to his country after studying in the USA, especially at Lincoln University, Chester Country, Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Political Science obtained in 1930 and a B.A. in Religion and Philosophy obtained in 1932, and a Master of Science degree in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1933. Also, with a Certificate in law from the Lassalle Extension University, Chicago, obtained earlier in 1927. He likewise obtained a certificate in journalism from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1930. He was also a lecturer of Political Sciences at Lincoln from 1933 to 1934. So, he left the USA for Africa. According to Azikiwe (1970: 160) himself: 

Then I made my decision to return to Africa. I was ready to continue suffering personal inconvenience, if need be, in order to do for Africa what that continued needed for a renaissance in thought and action (…) motivated by inner force to succeed thus far, I was resolute in my determination to press forward towards a new Africa.

Apart from the aforementioned Pan-Africans, we have also the case of Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya after studying in Great Britain returned to Kenya, Antonio Agostinho Neto of Angola after studying in Lisbon (Portugal), Obafemi Awolowo of Nigeria, Léopold Sédard Senghor of Senegal after studying in France returned in Senegal, and many others who composed this generation decided to come back home for many reasons. For instance, the awakening of the people's consciousness and the desire for freedom were among their first motivations. To means that the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were the educated people of Africa who came from abroad, adopted and borrowed the ideas, projects and attitudes of Pan-Africanists through the Pan-African Movement, especially in the United States of America and brought those ideas, projects and attitudes in Africa. In this respect, the aim of this subsection is to sort out some attitudes and behaviours of Pan-Africanists of yesterday in Africa.   

So, the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were uniting, mobilizing the militants and organizing the people into action for both reasons: the struggle for freedom and the unification of Africa. They were sensitizing as well as educating the people of Africa. I think, the “Ujamaa Education” provided by Julius Nyerere in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), cannot put in doubt how the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were able to educate and re-educate the miseducated people of Africa and train them for common action. This point can be better illustrated by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana (one of the great Pan-Africanists of yesterday) who was better equipped for the task of organizing, educating, sensitizing and mobilizing the people of Ghana and Africa all over the world into action against imperialism, colonialism, and neo-colonialism. For instance, Kwame Nkrumah contributed to the formation of nationalists, activists, and political parties in Ghana. The aim was to create a new generation of nationalist militants in order to further nationalism in Africa. This was done thanks to the contact that he had with the people through public meetings and conferences. According to Nkrumah (1973: 77), the first duty of Pan-Africanists of yesterday "was to ensure the unity of the nation and its tranquillity, in order to go forward with" the "tasks of development." 

Truly, the Pan-Africanists of yesterday preached unity and organization as the only means to achieve independence. For instance, Kwame Nkrumah (1973: 77), one of the pioneers of pan-Africanism in Africa, preached unity and organization in Ghana as the only means to achieve full self-government. In his own words: "We have every right to manage or mismanage our own affairs in this country. In order to restore self-government, we must unite, and in order to unite, we must organize. We must organize as never before, for organization decides everything." Nkrumah also advocated that "the strength of the organized masses is invincible." So, he succeeded in bringing unity and organization to Ghana during the struggle for the liberation of Ghana from 1948 to 1957 with his party, the Convention People's Party (CPP) which was a democratic organization. 

In the same way, the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were preaching unity, love, harmony, dignity, justice, peace, equality and the solidarity of African people all over the world. To support this last point, Emery Patrice Lumumba, as cited by Lierde (1972: 75) advocated that "African solidarity must take concrete form in facts and acts. We must form a bloc in order to demonstrate our brotherhood to the world." Lumumba believes that with unity "Africa will take a position, Africa will tell the West that the period of domination and colonization is over now" in Africa. Nkrumah (1963: XVII) also believes that "if we are to remain free if we are to enjoy the full benefits of Africa's rich resources, we must unite to plan for our total defence and the full exploitation of our material and human means, in the full interests of all our peoples." Nkrumah warned that salvation for Africa lies in unity, for unity lies strength, so African States must unite. According to Vilby (2007: 70), Nyerere also “spoke about unity and harmony about hard work and equality and about the “Ujamaa” the Kiswahili word for brotherhood and the extended family.”

In addition, some Pan-Africanists of yesterday were working together for one goal and one common interest for all the people of Africa. A classic example of this is the combination of some Pan-African politicians such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Tubman of Liberia and Sékou Touré of Guinea in Sanniquellie—a small Liberian village—in July 1959 when they discussed the whole question of African emancipation and the political unity of Africa. So, they wanted to form an organization which they called the "Community of Independent African States". Truly, the general policy of the community was to build up a free and prosperous African society for the benefit of its people, and the people of the world. Another striking example is always the bloc formed in December 1960 in Conakry by some Pan-African presidents like Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ahmed Sékou Touré of Guinea and Modibo Keita of Mali with the aim to formulate proposals for a Ghana-Guinea-Mali-Union (or the Union of African States). 

The joining of minds of Emery Patrice Lumumba, the former Prime Minister of Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana in August 1960 is also a tangible example of proving how some Pan-Africanists of yesterday were working together all over Africa. So, both Lumumba and Nkrumah signed a secret agreement between Ghana and the Congo, and they wanted to establish with the approval of the governments and people of their respective countries, among themselves a Union of African States. According to Nkrumah (1973: 150): 

The Union would have a Republican Constitution within a federal framework. The Federal Government would be responsible for:

a) Foreign Affairs

b) Defence

c) The Issue of a Common Currency

d) Economic Planning and Development

There would be no customs barriers between any parts of the Federation. There would be a Federal Parliament and a Federal Head of State. The Capital of the Union should be Leopoldville. Any State or Territory in Africa is free to join this Union. The above Union presupposes Ghana’s abandonment of the Commonwealth.

According to the information at my disposal, this secret agreement was never implemented, due to the breakdown of Lumumba’s government in September, and his subsequent tragic murder at the hands of the puppets of imperialism and neocolonialism. 

As I have already indicated, I would like to emphasize that the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were joining minds together and they were also organizing conferences here and there across Africa in order to discuss the African issues. What is relevant is that their summit conferences have been characterized by an identity of view on most of the problems examined and an atmosphere of perfect understanding. This is not the case among the Pan-Africanists of today.

Furthermore, the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were the gatherers (unifiers), because they were gathering people of African descent all over Africa and the world through meetings, peaks, and discussions (that is, discussing African matters from villages to villages, from towns to towns, from quarters to quarters, and from one country to another). I think all Pan-African conferences which have been held all over Africa cannot put in doubt how Pan-Africanists of yesterday were gathering the Africans. In other words, the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were considered as the guidelines of Africans, because they were guiding and leading the people of Africa to action against European domination and exploitation. This can be illustrated by Kwame Nkrumah—one of the great Pan-African-Revolutionary—who guided and financed independence and some political parties in Africa with his "Foreign Policy" which consisted of helping other African countries to attain independence. 

Apart from the aforementioned attitudes and qualities, the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were listened to by the African people in the media and other means of communication. The case of the "Zik Press”—a radio which spread awareness among the people of Africa, implemented in Nigeria—by Nanmdi Azikiwe, one of the great Pan-African politicians who contributed to the awakening of the people's consciousness in Nigeria and all over Africa on the media. The Pan-Africans of yesterday were likewise followed by the masses of Africa, because they could speak on behalf of the people, and the people could understand their speech. They could make things happen because they had a moral authority above everybody in Africa. So, they were contributing to the collective conscience, but this is not the case with Pan-Africanists of today. To buttress all these arguments, Kanud Vilby (2007: 74-75) explains how the people were following Julius Nyerere in Tanzania along these lines: 

“I was 16 years old at Uhuru and I remember how we listened to Nyerere on the radio and at public meetings and how, for all of us, he was the man that could make things happen," says Mwana Hatibu Lweno, who has been programme assistant at MS (Danish Association for International Cooperation) in Dar es Salaam. “We were ready to follow Nyerere without question. He had a moral authority above everybody else and the way we related to him was a bit of God worship. Maybe that is the wrong word. But he could make us understand what it was all about and get us to work for it. We understood that, all together, we had to go together in the same direction and to work for this (…) we had a leader who could speak on behalf of the people and people could understand what he said. 

Vilby warns that Nyerere was always able to explain to the Tanzanian people what was going to happen in Tanzania. He wrote about it. So, the guidelines were set out but only after meetings had been held and people learnt about the way things were going. It is not like that today. 

In other words, the Pan-Africanists of yesterday had a speech of freedom and they were revolutionizing for freedom all over Africa. I think Kwame Nkrumah's revolutionary spirit for freedom in Ghana and a book he entitled I Speak of Freedom cannot put in doubt how those Pan-Africanists were talking and revolutionizing for freedom across Africa. Léopold Sédar Senghor's books entitled Liberté I and Liberté II Nation et Voie Africaine du Socialisme are also another example of proving how the Pan-Africanists of yesterday had even a speech of freedom in their books. This point can also be illustrated by Emery Patrice Lumumba's words, as cited by Lierde (1972: 72): 

The West must free Africa as soon as possible. The West must examine its conscience today and recognize the right of each colonized territory to freedom and dignity. If the colonialist governments promptly understand our aspirations, we will negotiate with them, but if they stubbornly insist on considering Africa their possession, we will be obliged to consider the colonizers the enemies of our emancipation. 

Lumumba emphasizes that we do not intend to drive Europeans out of this continent seize their possessions or persecute them. We are not pirates. On the contrary, we respect individuals and the rights of others to well-being. For Lumumba, the one thing we must determine to do and we would like others to understand us is to root out colonialism and imperialism from Africa. We have long suffered and today we want to breathe the air of freedom. Africans, let us walk hand in hand with those who want to help us make this beautiful continent a continent of freedom and justice. It is our right to make Africa a continent of justice, law and peace. 

In a similar vein, the Pan-Africans were fighting for social, economic and political freedom. They were also engaged in actions, projects and ideas for the development of Africa. This can be illustrated by Kwame Nkrumah's projects for the entire liberation of Africa and his great vision for establishing a Union Government for African States (or the United States of Africa). To better illustrate this point, the Pan-Africans of yesterday were working for the abolition of borders in Africa and they wanted to link Africa with roads. In this connection, Nkrumah (1966: 30) noted that "communication between African states is quite inadequate. In many cases, it is still easier to travel from an airport in Africa to Europe or America than to go from one African State to another." For Nkrumah, roads, railways, waterways, and airlines must be made to serve Africa's needs, not the requirements of foreign interests. He also insisted that the African States must establish a Unified Military for the common defence, an African Common Market, a Common Currency, a Monetary Zone and a Central Bank of Issue, as well as an Atom Free Zone. 

Finally, the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were also revolutionaries. I use an example of Sékou Touré of Guinea, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Thomas Sankara of Upper Volta (now Burkina-Faso), Emery Patrice Lumumba of the Congo, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Nelson Mandela of South-Africa, to name but a few, who protested and revolted against the injustices of the West all over Africa. 

Truly, the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were considered as African Revolutionaries, because they were too radical—due to their revolutionary spirit—and they needed both the liberation of Africa and the immediate socio-economic and political progress of African countries. Those Pan-Africans were taking risks in Africa because, at that time, it was not easy to protest against the Europeans in Africa. In this regard, Thomas Sankara, quoted by Ntsatou and Mangalala (2021: 519), said: "We are here to dare, we are here to take the risks, it will certainly cost our lives but you are there to continue the fight." This is the message that those former Pan-Africanists left to us. But we, the people of Africa I mean the current generation of Pan-Africanists do not understand this living message. 

In other terms, the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were not afraid of being killed or put in jail. As Pan-African Revolutionaries, they did not care about death or prison. This idea is well expressed by Emery Patrice Lumumba (one of the great Pan-African revolutionaries) when he declared in his last letter to his wife before dying that: "whether dead, alive, free or in prison by the order of the colonialists, it is not my person that matters (…)" It is obvious that the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were ready to sacrifice their lives for African matters because they loved Africa. This is not the case today. 

In summing up, it is vital to point out that Pan-Africanists of yesterday were the educated people of Africa and African politicians because most of them were African elites, Prime Ministers, leaders or heads of State. They were called Pan-Africanists because of their ways of guiding the masses of Africa. They were also both Pan-Africanists and Revolutionaries. So, they were the guidelines of the African continent, because they played a significant role in Africa, from theory to action, and from action to practice. They had also the same goals and objectives for Africa. They wanted freedom, justice and equality, as well as the unification of Africa. This is why, the people were trustful in them, for they were not afraid to denounce the injustices of the West. So, they denounced slavery, imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism all over Africa and the world. 

As can be seen, in the coming subsection, I am going to identify and study the Pan-Africanists of today in Africa, their attitudes and behaviours as regards the growth of Pan-Africanism and the progress of African society in the 21st century.

2-Pan-Africanists of Today

Today, all the young people in Africa are being considered as Pan-Africanists. Sometimes, I wonder: is it a privilege to be called a Pan-Africanist today in Africa? I do not know! But what I try to understand in Africa today is that even uneducated teenagers are being considered as Pan-Africanists. This is why, we are in trouble identifying who is a real Pan-Africanist in Africa and who is not. This situation is also bringing confusion in the growth of Pan-Africanism today in Africa because there are some infiltrators, who pass themselves off as Pan-Africanists to sow confusion among the people of Africa. By the way, the people are confusing the Pan-African struggle. In this respect, my purpose in this subsection is to identify some categories of Pan-Africanists that we may find today in Africa and reveal their attitudes and behaviours as regards the evolution of Pan-Africanism and the development of Africa.

Pan-Africanists of today in Africa can be African politicians, leaders, novelists, poets, African philosophers, economists, etc. who have mastered the history and the problems confronted by the Africans from slavery to the present day. In other words, the Pan-Africanists of today's Africa can be both educated and uneducated people of Africa who adopt the attitudes and behaviours of the Pan-Africanists of yesterday. They can denounce the injustices of the West and the African present conditions and issues. They can also present their projects and ideas for the development of Africa through books and papers and during the Pan-African conferences but cannot implement those projects and ideas because of fear. According to Kwame Nkrumah (1967: 2), "The secret of life is to have no fear." For Nkrumah, as cited by Asamoah (2005: 71) “practice without thought is blind and thought without practice is empty.” It follows that to every theory there should be a corresponding praxis to ascertain its potency. Thus, it is by the interaction between thought and praxis that society goes through transformation. 

Next, the Pan-Africanists of today in Africa are not listened to by the people of Africa. They do not also contribute to the awakening of the people's consciousness on various kinds of media. In other words, they are no longer followed by the masses of Africa, because they lack both moral authority and close contact with the masses. So, the Pan-Africanists of today do not mobilize, unite, organize and train the people for the struggle against imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism in Africa. In reality, they lack the revolutionary spirit. They are likewise a bit afraid of being killed or put in jail. This is why, they always take the trouble to try to explain what is happening in Africa today. By the way, they say one thing today and another tomorrow. They do not stand for anything and that is hard to understand. For this reason, one can wonder, what is the aim of the struggle of Pan-Africanists of today in Africa? Many people say that they are struggling for the economic and political progress of Africa. Is that true? I do not know, because I have noticed that they lack the purpose in their struggle for Pan-Africanism.

In addition, the Pan-Africanists of today's Africa do not want neither to work together for one purpose and one common interest for all the people of Africa, nor join minds together. They lack the solidarity and unity in the struggle for Pan-Africanism. This can be illustrated in Africa today by the current generation of Pan-African Politicians and leaders who lack both unity and solidary in the struggle against the European and American injustices in Africa. So, the Pan-Africanists of today in Africa believe that by working alone they can develop Africa. According to Merlin (1996 : 440), "ils s’accaparent à des réflexions, projets et des réalisations au détriment des initiatives de la liberté.” The worst of this is that those Pan-African politicians are serving the interests of the West in Africa. They also represent the agents of imperialism in Africa. According to Nkrumah (1973: 80), "the pity is that our own people allow themselves to be used as imperialists agents to suppress, exploit and dominate us to the ruin of the whole" continent. Nkrumah insists that our serious setback is due to "the wicked and diabolical tactic of imperialists in getting our" Pan-African-leaders busy working for them" politically and spiritually. To better illustrate this point, Kayemb Uriel Nawej (2009: 387) is not wrong when he notes: 

Les traîtres chefs d’aujourd’hui sont des politiques Africains, placés aux responsabilités dans nos pays, en réalité, sont au service du néo-colonialisme par les liens des loges franc-maçonniques. Ce sont eux, ces chefs des temps modernes, qui vendent l’Afrique aux Maîtres de l’Occident.

It is clear that the Pan-African leaders of today are considered the agents of neo-colonialism in Africa because they have both political and spiritual relations with the West. 

In the same way, the Pan-Africanists of today in Africa are often corrupted by the West. For instance, in Africa, if you are a Pan-Africanist, the West will do its best to corrupt you with money. The aim is to impose total silence on you against their injustices in Africa. This system of corruption is taking shape in Africa with the so-called Pan-African leaders of today because the West works with one Pan-African leader in Africa in order to chase away another Pan-African leader in power. According to Ntsatou and Mangalala (2021: 521), "they do this because they want our" Pan-African leaders "to keep quiet against their injustices" in Africa. 

In other terms, the Pan-Africanists of today do not take risks for Africa. They need the solutions and they want to change Africa's current conditions, but they do not want to make sacrifices. According to Issa Shivji, as cited by Vilby (2007: 75), "It is not possible to develop a poor society without making sacrifices." This idea is also attested by Paul Ella (www.african-revival.org) when he asserts that:  

To prosper without doing anything is to become an accomplice. To be a Pan-African is to take risks, it is to have a strong sense of sacrifice. Another essential quality is that of a unifier. The true Pan-Africanist knows that, whatever his talent, he cannot do it alone.    

It is obvious that the Pan-Africanists of today are not the unifiers, because they do not go towards the masses, and they no longer guide the masses of Africa. They can also be considered as a break to the development of Africa, because of misunderstanding, contradiction and the division that we may notice today in their objective and struggle.   

Furthermore, three categories of Pan-Africanists of today in Africa have been identified by Paul Ella, the president of African Revival (a Pan-African Movement based in Cameroon). For Paul Ella (www.african-revival.org), the first category of Pan-Africanists that we may find in Africa today is called:  

The "House Negroes." As Malcolm X defined them. "They are the enemies of the interior, who assume to defend the interests of the oppressor who has invested them. They are Blacks or Africans, but they are not ours. They are assumed and displayed in the service of the camp opponent and against the emancipation of their coloured brothers. They fight the Pan-Africans ruthlessly, on orders from their Western mentors." Frantz Fanon called them the "Bounty". They feel valued by assimilating to their masters and finding all the virtues in them, at the same time as they reject their Africanness which they find degrading. They are suffering from Stockholm syndrome which consists in adulating his workman.

The second category of Pan-Africanists of today has been identified as the “Infiltrators”. According to Paul Ella (www.african-revival.org), the Pan-Africanists of today are:

The infiltrators, who pass themselves off as Pan-Africanists sow confusion in their ranks. Although they look like and adopt the speech and attitudes of Pan-Africanists, they are not Pan-Africanists. They are wolves in the sheepfold, at the service of the enemy to destabilize the real combatants, with the aim of countering the actions of the interior by discrediting the movement. They are the agents of France, the United States and Western imperialism in general.   

The third and last category is the "Opportunist-Pan-Africanists". They are really committed at the base, but their ego and their own interests take precedence over the Pan-African cause. They are ready to sacrifice a fighting brother or a Pan-African action to solve their personal problems. They damage the image of Pan-Africanism. They do not show any haughtiness and indulge in all kinds of baseness, as long as their ego commands them to. They yield easily to blackmail and the seduction of the enemy. Their rooting in Pan-Africanism is fragile. They generally opt for the minimum risk and are frustrated to see others act where they hesitate.

Paul Ella warns that the infiltrators and the opportunist Pan-Africanists are the two most pernicious categories because they are fused in the midst of Pan-Africanists. Always be aware of Pan-Africanists whose favourite pastime is the denigration of other Pan-Africanists.  They are either infiltrators or opportunists, but in both cases, they represent an enormous danger to Pan-Africanism of action, while the so-called Pan-Africanists—the "House Negroes"—are easily identifiable in Africa. According to Paul Ella (www.african-revival.org) : 

Etre panafricain ne se résume pas non plus à des attitudes ou comportements folkloriques tels que s’habiller africain, manger africain, citer le très vénérable Cheikh Anta Diop, scander des slogans pour dire combien on aime l’Afrique, et encore moins être un simple sympathisant qui se contente de commenter et d’encourager les panafricains au front (…) Etre panafricain, c’est un état d’esprit, c’est un mode de vie. On sait qu’on est panafricain quand on a compris le complot ourdi du monde capitaliste contre l’Afrique depuis au moins un millénaire, et qu’on s’engage résolument dans le combat de la restauration de la vérité historique, de réappropriation culturelle, de l’indépendance économique et de la liberté politique. 

It is then clear that to be a Pan-Africanist is a mode of life and state of mind. It is also to be engaged in the struggle. 

In summary, it is obvious that the Pan-Africanists of today are both educated and uneducated people of Africa who adopt the attitudes and behaviours of the Pan-Africanists of yesterday, but they are not determined by the immediate socio-economic and political progress of Africa, because they lack both a revolutionary spirit and the purpose in the struggle for Pan-Africanism in Africa. They are talkative for nothing. They have only good ideas and projects on paper, but they are unable to put them into action and practice their thoughts because they are afraid of being killed, assassinated or imprisoned by the West. They lack the solidarity and unity in the struggle for Pan-Africanism. They also lack the courage and determination. They are corrupted by the West. This is why, we often notice misunderstanding, contradiction and division in the objectives and the struggle for Pan-Africanism.  Some also stand as the agents of imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism in Africa, because they have both political and spiritual relations with the West. So, they can be considered as a break to the development of Africa, and they represent an enormous danger to Pan-Africanism of action. 

As it can be seen, in the next section I concentrate on the types of Pan-Africanists and citizens that Africa needs for its social, economic, political and spiritual progress in this era of the 21st century.  

II-Africa’s Need

The focus of this section is to show the kinds of people that Africa needs for its progress. In this respect, Africa needs a new generation of Pan-Africanists, not simple Pan-Africanists but Pan-African-Revolutionaries who will have both a revolutionary spirit and a sense of solidarity and unity in the struggle for Pan-Africanism in Africa. Because one person cannot develop Africa, a few Pan-African leaders cannot do it. If one Pan-African leader was able to develop Africa, I think, the Pan-African politicians or leaders like Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Muhamar Kadhaffi of Libya could do it. However, they failed because of the lack of support from other Pan-Africanists in Africa. To means that the development of Africa today depends above all on the people of Africa, especially the Pan-African-Revolutionaries who can join minds and work together, as well as decide and take courage in order to bring a second phase of revolution in all parts of Africa. Because according to Emery Patrice Lumumba, "sans la révolution, vous n’aurez rien.”  

Apart from that, Africa needs a new type of citizen who can accept living in prison like Nelson Mandela of South Africa or be assassinated or murdered like Emery Patrice Lumumba of the Congo-Belge (now DRC), Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, to quote but a few and even to live in poverty, because it is neither life nor properties or resources that matter today for the future of Africa but it is sustainable development that matters. According to Brel G. Mangalala (2022: 83), "There is no change or success in life or in society without the courage, motivation, and determination of the people." Only the courage and determination of the Pan-Africanists of today can give the way to development. Mangalala warns that talks, debates, divisions and oppositions among the Pan-Africanists of today are worthless because they will not help us to develop Africa. This is why, Sékou Touré (1967 : 267) believes that “la division ne peut que nous être fatale face au néo-colonialisme." It is my personal conviction that Africa needs not only the unity of Pan-Africanists of today in the struggle for Pan-Africanism but also the true Pan-Africanists who know that whatever their talents, abilities or assets, they cannot do it alone. 

In other words, Africa needs brave, capable and dedicated Pan-Africanists who will stay away from corruption. Because most of our Pan-African politicians and leaders are now on borrowed time. In reality, they are corrupted by the Western world. According to Nkrumah (1973: 82), "money can't buy us." A true Pan-Africanist and a son of Africa cannot be corrupted with money, but his faith and objective in the struggle must remain steadfast.   

According to Brel Grâce Mangalala (2022: 77), to develop Africa, the new generation of Pan-African-leaders "must have a new outlook and must also love our African people more than they do for whites, for wealth, for position and for power. They must then stay away from the wishful thinking mentality like the ones Emery P. Lumumba who always says "If Africans can do this, they will get this" and be better than China or the USA. For sure, we really need to aspire for leadership, because up to now most of our current Pan-African leaders continue to serve the West politically and spiritually. To support all these argumentations, Kwame Nkrumah (1967: 2) asserts:  

Africa needs a new type of citizen, a dedicated, modest, honest, and informed man. A man who submerges himself in service to the nation and mankind. A man who abhors greed and detests vanity. 

It is nevertheless clear that Africa needs dedicated, modest, honest and informed Pan-Africanists, as well as those who can be in the service of the nation. In short, Africa is still in need of Pan-Africanists who are not frustrated and who can opt for the risk as well as act where others hesitate. According to Kwame Nkrumah (1973: 83), "to sit mute and inarticulate when circumstances demand protest is sinful." It is my personal conviction that the Pan-Africanists in Africa have kept mute for too long over our miseries, they have been kept too long away from the truth and decision for the future of Africa. Today, we can no longer afford to toy with the destiny of our continent. So, we the current generation of Pan-Africanists, Revolutionaries, Nationalists, etc. shall not rest until we have achieved our hearts’ desire.

Taking into consideration all the facts preceded, it is obvious that Africa needs a new generation of Pan-African Revolutionaries who can have both a revolutionary spirit and a sense of solidarity and unity in the struggle for Pan-Africanism in Africa, as well as a new type of citizen, a dedicated, modest, honest and informed man who can opt for the risk as well as act where the others hesitate. Africa is still in need of uncorrupted Pan-African-leaders and Pan-Africanists who can join minds and work together for one common purpose and interest for the benefit of all the people of Africa. 

Conclusion

This Article studied the Pan-Africanists in Africa. My purpose was to identify and draw the difference which exists between the Pan-Africanists of yesterday and those of today in the context of developing the African continent. This resorted to the conclusion that the Pan-Africanists of yesterday were radical and determined about the socio-economic and political progress of Africa because they needed both the liberation and unification of Africa whilst the Pan-Africanists of today are no longer determined about the immediate socio-economic and political progress of Africa, because they lack both the revolutionary spirit and purpose in their struggle for Pan-Africanism in Africa.  

So, the research question that guided this study is: To what extent the Pan-Africanists of today can be considered as a break to the development of Africa? To answer this question, the respondents were asked to share their historical experiences and understandings of Pan-Africanists in Africa. The results from their responses differed from one respondent to another. But, in most cases, most respondents agreed that the Pan-Africanists of today are good for nothing. They have only good ideas and projects on paper, but they are unable to put them into action and practice their thoughts because they are afraid of being killed, assassinated or imprisoned by the West. They lack the solidarity and unity in the struggle for Pan-Africanism. They lack the courage and determination, as well as the commitment to the struggle. They also lack both moral authority above everybody and close contact with the masses. They are corrupted by the West. This is why, we often notice misunderstanding, contradiction and the division in the objectives and the struggle for Pan-Africanism in Africa. Some also stand as the agents of imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism in Africa, because they have both political and spiritual relations with the West. So, they can be considered as a break to the development of Africa, and they represent an enormous danger to Pan-Africanism of action. 

As a result, the paper recommends that Africa needs a new generation of Pan-African Revolutionaries who can have both a revolutionary spirit and a sense of solidarity and unity in the struggle for Pan-Africanism in Africa, as well as a new type of citizen, a dedicated, modest, honest and informed man. Africa is still in need of uncorrupted Pan-African-leaders and Pan-Africanists who can join minds and work together for one common goal and interest for the benefit of all the people of Africa. If not, we will continue to be worrying ourselves about the underdevelopment of Africa for centuries. 

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