No Unity Without Emancipation

Interview with Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Open Society Justice Initiative.

Chidi Anselm Odinkalu is the Senior Legal Officer for Africa Open Society Justice Initiative. He is based in Abuja, Nigeria. In March 2007, Emily Mghanga interviewed Odinkalu in his personal capacity as an African citizen on the proposal to form an African Continental Government. While this interview took place before the Accra Grand Debate at the AU summit in July, many of the issues are still relevant. This interview is part of the Peoples’ Voices series of interviews with African citizens and CSO leaders on the AU proposal for Continental Government. Ivy Maina of Pan Africa Programme Oxfam edited this interview.

Emily Mghanga: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current proposal?

Chidi Anselm Odinkalu: The major problem with this proposal is that the ordinary African citizen will worry whether our primary priority should be establishing a United States of Africa rather than solving the fundamental problems that face Africans citizens across the continent, including; access to healthcare, access to basic education and skills, developing infrastructure that works, the extraction and plunder of our resources, public safety and security, the legitimacy and integrity of our institutions of governance etc.

Why do we keep talking about grand projects and grand designs rather than set in place those little building blocks on which people can build? We need to focus on projects that develop the well being of Africa’s people, which are healthcare, education, transactional mobility, the elimination of war and strife and hunger.

Research done in 1996 revealed that there are about 600 regional organizations in Africa alone. How can we talk about continental integration when we cannot muster basic consensus on what the major foundation of regional intergovernmental relationships is? When the African Summit was held in Beijing, 50 African Heads of State attended. When the Franco-African Summit happened in Paris, there was nearly every African leader at the Summit. When we have the African Union Summit, we struggle to get half of all 53-member states attending. Are we serious?

Emily Mghanga: Should it be adopted in Accra in July 2007, what would you like to see the African Union Commission achieve within the first phase (2007-2009)?

Chidi Anselm Odinkalu: The fact that African people cannot move freely within the continent is an issue that needs to be addressed. For example I, unlike a British passport holder, cannot travel to Tanzania without requesting for a visa, which costs time and money to process. Francophone African countries like Mauritania that do not have a mission or consulate in a foreign country allow their interests to be looked after by France and not by an African country. Kenya’s interests in foreign countries where it does not have a consulate are looked after by the United Kingdom. With this scenario, how can we talk about uniting Africa?

As the African Union stands today, five countries namely Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria and South Africa provide 75% of the budget of the AU. If we remove Nigeria and South Africa from the big-five group, Egypt, Algeria and Libya alone provide 45% of the running costs of the AU. If we include contributions from Tunisia and Sudan to this group, their cumulative contributions amount to over 50% of the AU budget. In other words, five member states from one African region and who are all members of the Arab league provide over 50% of the budget of the AU. We will not advance on Union Government without consistent flows of revenue from the rest of Africa.

Emily Mghanga: How could states and non-states ensure that continental union efforts are transparent, participatory and driven by an appreciation of political and economic rights?

Chidi Anselm Odinkalu: Civil society must utilize every opportunity to engage with our leaders whether or not we agree with them. Civil society can contribute to framing the debates on Union Governance around human rights and development issues.

Emily Mghanga: What obstacles must the AU overcome for the continental union to be successful?

Chidi Anselm Odinkalu: Bob Marley identified the key obstacle many years ago in his song titled Redemption Song where he sings, “emancipate yourself from mental slavery”. Our governments are not yet able to see the average African as a factor of production capable of moving across territories, transacting business and adding value to society. Most view the average African as a burden of disease, as a thief, a rogue and a fraudster that therefore needs to be excluded from the territory of Africa. It impossible for us to construct this idea of a Union Government without a change in this elite “mental slavery”, We need to first construct effective foundations for faster mobility within Africa. An African businessman or woman should not suffer unfair restrictions to effectively compete with their French counterparts to invest in another African country.

The views expressed here are the perspectives of the interviewee. Chidi Odinkalu can be reached at Email; chidiao at hotmail.com

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