FORM FOUR HISTORY, TOPIC NO 2: NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION

 Introduction

Nationalism is the political will of African people to unite together as a nation and fight against the foreign rule, with the intention of ruling themselves Or Is an express of political unity with an aim of regaining independence. Or Are patriotic feelings or consciousness of people who regard themselves as one.

In African context Nationalism is a desire of African people to terminate all form of foreign rule. Nationalism in Africa gained its momentum immediately after the Second World War in 1945. It is the Second World War that influenced the African Nationalism.

The Origin of African Nationalism

The development of African nationalism can be expressed into three main phases, namely;

• 1^st PHASE (1880’s to 1900’s)

This phase was characterized by wars of resistance which intended to prevent the colonial invasion or an effort to regain their lost independence. Example, Hehe resistance under Mkwawa against German, Nama and Herero in Namibia against German and Nandi resistance in Kenya against British.

• 2^nd PHASE (1900’s to 1945)

This sometimes known as Pre-Nationalism interwar period, the struggle of this phase was wagged through various protest movement such as;

a.  Social and welfare

b.      Independent church movement

c.   Trade and cooperatives union

The aim of this struggle was mainly to make reforms in the colonial government instead of overthrowing it.

• 3^rd PHASE (after the second world war in 1945)

This was the period when the whole nation was mobilized to fight against colonialism. It was the period of Mass nationalism (Modern Nationalism) which finally led to independence in most states in Africa in the late 1960’s. This period was characterized by the rise of Nationalistic movement and political parties.

The Importance of African Nationalism

African nationalism had the following importance to the continent;

1.  African nationalism opposed imperial occupation and therefore enabled the Africans to achieve political independence (African self-rule in 20^th century)
2.  It was a means by which Africans showed political awareness against the economic exploitation by the white men in Africa during the 19^th century and the 20^th centuries. African strongly opposed land alienation, forced labour and taxation imposed by the white men.
3. African nationalism united African ethnic groups through the formation of political movements to press for the formation of Modern African Nations under a single government.
4.  It dismantled the evils of European capitalism on Africa soil during the early years of national independence.
5. It was pro-African culture. All political movements which began sought Africans to be able to govern themselves and carry out their daily activities according to their needs under African leadership.
6. It taught the Africans that the efforts to liberate themselves lay within their hands and that Europeans only valued their own interests.

The Rise of Social and Welfare Associations

Social and welfare associations are prominent community or social groups associations formed by Africans to protest colonial exploitation, oppression and humiliation. However, many social and welfare association were forced in order to meet the immediate demand or need of members. These were group created by African who worked in different sectors of colonial system such as;

a.      Skilled and unskilled workers

This was social gathering where the workers interacted and were the forums to express their grievances. This association comprised of elite who lived in poor areas and houses and have no good health and education services compared to Europeans.

b.      African traders

These were petty traders in urban areas. They formed their associations to address their grievances. Africans traders were discriminated while Asians and Europeans traders were favored much by colonial government.

c.       Peasants and cooperatives societies

These were mainly peasant’s cooperative unions. Example of such association was the Kilimanjaro Native Association of Tanganyika. Peasants in many parts of Africa during the colonial rule were forced to grow cash crops in their areas. Examples of Social and welfare Associations in Africa;

A.     In East Africa

• Tanganyika Territory Civil Service Association (TTCSA) formed in 1922 by Martin Kayamba. In 1929 it was transformed to Tanganyika African Association based on Dar es Salaam.
•  The Bataka Movement and Young Baganda Association formed in 1920 which aimed at opposing the Buganda agreement of 1900.
• The East African Association formed in 1930 in Kenya.
• The Young Kavirondo Tax Paying Association in Kenya formed by Henry Thuku in 1930, formed for opposing land alienation, forced labour, prohibition of Africa from growing cash crops.

B.     In Central Africa

• The Momera Native Association in Nyasaland
• South Rhodesia Native Association in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
• Industrial and Commercial Union in South Rhodesia

C.     In West Africa

• The Arbergis Rights Protection Society (ARPS) formed in 1808 to oppose the British land Bill in Gold Coast (Ghana)
• The People Union formed in 1908 in Lagos (Nigeria) by Herbert Macaulay to protest against the heavy of water rate.
• Nigerian Youth Movement
• Ashanti Cocoa Federation

D.     In South Africa

• South African Native Congress (SANC) formed in 1912 later in 1935 it was transformed into ANS.

Reasons for the rise Social and Welfare Association

1.  Difficult living and working condition
2. Low wages
3. Forced labour and taxation
4.  Land alienation
5.  Racial and social segregation
6.  Prohibition from growing cash crops
7. They demanded fair prices for what their members were producing.
8.  Demand for the security of peasants land and better methods of growing commercial crops.
9. They looked for agricultural implements for the farmers.

Strength and the Contributions or Roles played by Social and Welfare Association to Modern Nationalism.

The following are the strength and contributions of Social and Welfare associations to modern African nationalism;

i.                    They promoted unity among the various groups and raised the demand which went beyond the ethnic interests.

ii.                  They contributed to the rise of awareness or consciousness among the colonizing people.

iii.                It forms the associations that the later nationalist leader came from and who became real political leaders. Example Jommo Kenyatta was a member of Kikuyu Central Association.

iv.                They facilitated communication among the people

v.                  They supported morality and materially in terms memberships of this later political parties.

vi.                Many of them transformed into political parties which demanded independence. Example, SANN into ANC, TAA into TANU, ZAA into ASP e.tc.

vii.              Their infrastructure such as offices came to be used by the Nationalistic leaders.

The Rise of Protest and Religious Movement

Protest is often a reaction against those who mistreat or humiliate others, indicating that their treatment cannot be taken anymore. It can be through active physical reaction such as fighting or striking, passive protest could be done through boycotts and other silent reactions.

Religious movement refers to the churches which were formed by Missionaries. At this period they emerged as an independent churches movement led by Africans. It prevailed in the early 20^th century among the Africans communities. Took the form of either indigenous protest movement and includes the following;

a.       The Native Baptist church Movement led by Africa in Nigeria.

b.      Kimbanguism Church formed by Simon Kimbangu in 1920 (Congo)

c.       Dini ya Msambwa in Kenya

d.      The providence Industrial Mission formed in 1906 in Nyasaland by John Chilebwe

e.       Abamalack Church Movement in Uganda

f.       The Watch Tour (1906) in Malawi which later spread to another area i.e. Rhodesia and Belgium Congo.

g.       The Kikuyu Independent Church formed in 1929 by Daud Maina

h.      The African National Church

Reasons for the rise of Protest and Religious Movements

1.  Dissatisfaction with Christians Missionaries acts of westernizing them, making them denounces their African values and culture. Example white Missionaries talked negatively about polygamy and female circumcision among Kikuyu society.
2. African disapproval to the Missionary education system. They considered it to be inadequate as it only taught Africans reading, writing and arithmetic (the 3Rs) which enabled Africans to occupy low position in administration structure.
3. Africans perceived Missionaries as colonial agents, as many of them acquired labour, farms and exploited them just like white settlers.
4. Involvement of Africans in European wars

Characteristics of independent Churches movement

Independent churches movements had the following common characteristics;

a)      They worked hand with hand with the African political associations

b)      They were against some aspects of the western culture

c)      They were led by Africans.

Strengths and Contributions of protest and religious movement during the struggle for independence.

The following are some of the strengths and contributions of protests and religious movements during the struggle for independence.

i.              They established their own school in which African children were taught their culture and the evils of colonialism. Later, those who received education in these schools became political activists.

ii.              The independent churches taught reformism. They taught African that the missionaries were mere agents of colonialism and not full evangelical as they preached.

iii.            The protest pressed the colonial governments through active demonstrations, boycotts and strikes. All these led to the increase of consciousness, particularly when the colonial government used force to put an end to protests.

iv.              They instructed Africans not to pay tax and also not to be involved in the imperialist wars because Africans were not beneficiaries of these.

v.              They were not merely religious but also they expressed economic, social and political discontent.

vi.          They laid the foundation towards unity, that for the first time people from diverse social and cultural background come together.

vii.       They were the first organized manifestation of the Africans determination to regain their independence.

Problems which Faced the Initial Anti-Colonial Movement.

1.  The presence of colonial oppressive institutions such as army, police and prisons which used to jail or imprison some of the Nationalistic leaders.
2.  Low level of economy, hence some of the association and cooperative stopped to continue their protest for their demands were either stopped or suppressed.
3. Sometimes the associations and cooperative union were either prohibited by the colonial government.
4.  Low number of workers. In some colonies the number of workers was too small; they did not able to maintain the effective pressure against colonial government.
5.   Poor communication system, there were poor communication system between the worker and the farmers of different localities, which hindering strong unity.
6.  Low level of education, many Africans were illiterate as colonialist not took trouble to educate people. This led to difficulties for the movement to be organized into proper association and trade.
7.  Most of the association was not coordinated at the national level, thus it become difficult to grow into strong nationalist struggle.
8.  Tribalism and Ethinism which led to disunity
9.  Religious difference
10. The Independent churches movement and the social and welfare association contributed greatly to the nationalists movements as they laid the foundation towards unity and made people of different social and cultural background come together under one umbrella of the associations for the first time. These associations united people as one group which spoke in one voice to fight against one common enemy.

THE RISE OF MASS NATIONALISM AND POLITICAL PARTIES IN AFRICA.

 Meaning of Mass Nationalism

Is the Mass feelings and attitude of demanding independence by using a nationalist struggle in form of unified parties beyond the class, tribe or ethnic background.

It denotes the period in which many Africans formed many political parties for struggle for Africans independence rather than the changes in colonial system. Generally, when speaking of development of mass nationalism in Africa started soon after the end of WWII (1945).

Internal Reasons for the Rise of Mass African Nationalism.

1)      Colonial exploitation: These include intensive economic exploitation exercised in the colonies by the colonialist this ranged from forced labour, taxation, land alienation, bad working condition, low wages, low prices of cash crops, thus Africans had to fight for independence and remove all of these colonial injustices.

2)      Colonial political, social and cultural oppression. Colonialism oppressed Africans in all sphere of life.

Ø  Politically; people had no democracy since colonial government gave no room for colonial subjects to elect their own leader. Example, the Legistrative council had dominated by colonial masters hence discontent among the Africans.

Ø  Socially, the major social discontent were discrimination, where Africans masses were racially discriminated in all forms of  life, in urban areas there were discrimination in education, health, sports and in many other field.

Ø  Culturally, Christianity and western education were used to impart western culture to Africa, example; Christianity came into conflicts with traditional beliefs, polygamy which were strongly opposed by whites Christianity missionaries.

3)      The presence of independent existing countries in Africa such as Liberia and Ethiopia. They thus became source of inspiration to the emerging nationalists.

4)      Emergence of many young elites with radical nationalistic movement such as Sam Nujoma (Namibia), Augustino Netto (Angola), Keneth Kaunda (Zambia), J.K Nyerere (Tanganyika), and Kwame Nkurumah (Ghana) e.t.c. These Africans who were educated from colonial school and Missionaries schools contributed to the rise of Nationalism.

5)      Emergence of Bourgeois group: This was the group created by the colonial system. It include the civil servant i.e. teachers, wealth people, traders, businessmen and commercial farmers. This group aimed at taking over the colonial state in their own ambition and descent wealth from foreigners to indigenous hand. Generally, the group was reformist rather than revolutionist as they adopted for superficial changes and not a complete and fundamental changes.

6)      The role of Independent African Church movement. These were the churches formed by Africans to challenge European church leaders. The movement was not merely, but also addresses economic, social and political discontent such as land alienation, forced labour, taxation, involvement of Africans in European wars and colonial discriminatory policies. The movement laid the foundation

7)      Development of communication system by 1945. During this period there was a little development of communication system such as Roads, Railways, Newspaper, radios etc. These in turn were used by Africans leaders to awaken nationalism to the masses. Also they facilitated the nationalists to travel from one side/point of a country to another in order to arise political consciousness to the people.

External Reasons for the Rise of Mass African Nationalism.

1)      The role of the Second World War (WWII): The war led to the intensification of exploitation due to the colonial economic policies introduced in the colonies. This was mainly in agriculture and mining sectors faced harsh treatment such as forced labour and land alienation which led to the wide spread discontent from the Africa.

Also during the WWII Africans from different areas were recruited to fight against the German and the colonialist. They were told that they are fighting for human dignity, justice, equality and right for all people to self-determination. They were also promised that at the end of the war the colonialist will improve the colonial social services and they will be employed and given good salaries. However these promises were not fulfilled hence it in increased frustrations among the Africans where by the some of them took up arms to fight against the whites.

2)      The rise of USA as the world superpower, this was due to the following;

The wars (WWI and WWII) were not fought in the USA ground and didn’t experience disasters, destruction of her colonial infrastructures, eg. Transport and industrial sectors. During the war she rose to the status of supplying military weapons to the Europeans powers. At the end of the war she came out with the policy of “the open door policy” so as to get the areas of investment and market for her manufactured goods. She supported decolonization in Africa so that at the end she could spread capitalism ideology so as to reduce the spread of socialist ideology by USSR.

3)      The role played by UNO. UNO was formed after the WWII (1945), and one of the characters of UNO was the “Colonization violated human rights”. Therefore its role was to support decolonization. Its purpose was to maintain international security and peace to different nations. Due to all these objective UNO was against all forms of oppression and exploitation exercised by the colonialists in Africa.

4)      The emergence of USSR as a socialist world force, Russia supported decolonization process in Africa so that she would spread her ideology (socialism) and get areas from the economic motives/interests.

5)      The role of Pan Africanism movements. PAN-Africanism was the movement which opposed the oppression over all the black people in the world. The movement founded in America by the people of Africa by origin and it held in Manchester in 1945.

The conference was mostly gathered by representative of Africa national and labour organization among of them were Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana), Kamuzu Banda (Malawi), Nandi Azikiwe (Nigeria), Peter Abraham of South Africa e.t.c

Also Pan-Africanism provided morally and materially support to the nationalists, moral support entailed the giving of ideas and advices on the strategies which had to be used by the Africans to eradicate colonialism. Materially Pan-Africanism gave funds to assist the leaders during the struggle for independence.

DECOLONIZATION

Decolonization is the process of Africans struggles to uproot colonialist and foreign rule. This process started immediately after the imposition of colonial rule. Decolonization also denotes the different form of acquiring independence determined by the nature of colonization in the colony.

Forms of decolonization

In Africa there were various forms which employed in decolonization process. These forms were constitutional (peaceful means), armed struggle, combination of peaceful means and armed struggle and Revolutionary means.

A.     Constitutional method/peaceful means

This method entails the colonial government in collaboration with the Nationalist Leader preparing programme towards political independence. The method did not involve bloodshed it was employed in many African countries such as;

• Tanganyika
• Ghana
• Nigeria
• Zambia
• Zaire etc.

B.     Armed Struggle

This method involved bloodshed and it was mostly adopted when peacefully means show sign of failure. This includes countries whose political parties could not successfully struggle for attainment of independence. Therefore the use of force of arms became necessary. It includes colonies like Mozambique, Angola, Algeria etc.

C.     The combination of Peaceful means and Armed struggle

The colonies which adopted this method started with constitutional methods but when the method found to fail they come with armed struggle (took up arms) to force the colonialists surrender their power. Some colonies started with armed struggle but ended with constitutional method. The method was applied/employed in South Rhodesia, Namibia, South Africa and Kenya.

D.     Revolution

Revolution refers to the complete overthrown of the existing government or system in a country or state by those who were previous subjected to it. It was a last resort or as means of getting disagreement over fundamental questions. This method was commonly employed in monarchy system rule of countries like Zanzibar, Burundi, Egypt, Libya etc.

The factors which determined the form or methods of decolonization

        i.             
             1. The nature of colonial economic structure

The type of colonial system established in the colony was the major reasons for difference in the struggle for independence e.g. peasant colonies like Ghana, Tanganyika and Nigeria, independence came through constitutional means. This is partly because the colonialist received little to exploit in these colonies.

In settler colonies such as Algeria, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Kenya, independence was achieved through armed struggle. These are because the settlers were not ready to leave the land or colony and grant independence.
                                                                   

                               2. Economic and political position of the colonizing power

Some of the colonial powers like the Portuguese were poor and their colonies were remedy for their poverty. Therefore granting independence to such colonies meant committing economic suicide. Therefore independence in the Portuguese colonies was to be achieved through the barrel of gun/armed struggle.              

    iii.      
                               3.  Attitude of the colonial masters.

Example, Kenya was regarded as a crown colony or crown land (land of the Queen of England) hence not easy for the colonial powers to grant independence. This necessitated armed struggle.

Angola and Mozambique were regarded as extension of Portuguese abroad (Portuguese provinces abroad). Therefore the long drawn on guerilla war in these colonies were invisible. 

    iv.          
  T                4. The nature or structure of the African societies.

This depended on the level of development reached by societies like whether they were collaborative, weak, strong etc. therefore the only solution was to attain independence through armed struggle.

      v.             
                   5. Relationship between different ethnic groups and racial community within the colony.

The form of struggle was also influenced by the relation between ethnic group or racial segregation. Discrimination revealed bitterness and hatred among the colonial subject this complicated the struggle for independence. Example. Members of different ethnic groups failed to unite and form mass political parties.

In some cases the colonialists tended to favour minority against the majority to form the government of independent African states. This led to the revolution for the majority felt that they are not independent/free example in Zanzibar.

Decolonization through Constitutional Means in Tanganyika.

The struggle for independence in Tanganyika took a peaceful means (Constitution means) the struggle was led by Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) as a mass political party after changing its name from Tanganyika African Association (TAA) and adopting new objective in 1954.

Objective of TANU

1. To prepare the people of Tanganyika for self-independent government
2. To destroy tribalism and develop national unity for the whole people of Tanganyika
3.  To struggle for democratic government and to have representative in local districts and central government.
4. To break up racialism and discrimination among the people
5.  To cooperate with other African nationalistic parties from other African colonies against colonialism.
6.  To oppose the colonial government with its policies of land alienation policies and the entry of more settlers in Tanganyika.
7.  To encourage the people to join trade unions and cooperative union to struggle for their rights.
8. To help the peasants press to colonial government in getting better to their products.

Problems that faced TANU

TANU faced many problems during the struggle for independence, such problems included,

          i.            The vastness of the country and lack of adequate transport and communication network. This hindered easy movement of the leaders to convince the people, it was difficult to go around the country to establish branches and coordinate the members to support the movement.

        ii.            Opposition from the colonial government. The colonial government prevented the civil servants from joining the party and thus diminishing the number of members, also burned the political party in Morogoro district, Kondoa and Iringa in 1956, Usambara in 1957. In same year the burning had been extended to eleven districts which had members who protested against oppressive government policies.

      iii.            Misunderstanding between the party members which erupted in 1958where by a group of members in the meeting held in Tabora did not agree with a moderate policies of the party, they were after a mole militant Africanist stand and eventually they broke away and formed African National Congress (ANC) under ZuberiMtemvu.

      iv.            Opposition from United Tanganyika Party (UTP) which formed in 1958 under Martin Kayamba. The party was sponsored by British government and had great supports from chiefs, white men that Tanganyika will proceed to be affiliated to colonialists. It made a lot of effort to transfer power to TANU.

        v.            Shortage of money. The party was made by members who had low income. Therefore it was not easy for them to finance party activities during the struggle for independence.

      vi.            The rise of all Muslim National Union of Tanganyika (AMNUT) as a opposition party. This was another party created by demanding that “Tanganyika will not be independent until the Muslims have equal education level with the non-Muslims population”. However under TANU, Tanganyika was able to attain her independence at an earliest stage as compared with the rest of African countries in the south of Sahara.

Factors that led Tanganyika to get her independence earlier.

1. Good leadership of the party under the late J.K Nyerere. He united all people under the single political party to fight for independence. He discouraged and opposed racialist policies which could divide the people in the process of fighting for independence.
2.  The use of Swahili language with common word like “Uhuru”. This made the people to understand the mission/aims of the party hence many people ranging from the workers in towns to the peasant and the rural areas joined and supported the party.
3. The role of the party links with international organization such as UNO. TANU leader J.K Nyerere sought support for his party by visiting the United Nation headquarters in New York. He presented the grievances which were accepted by the UNO. This made UNO to put more pressure to the British government to grant independence to the people.
4.  Effective means of communication, the Swahili language which was spoken by majority member of the people of Tanganyika helped to unite all the people in the country to fight for their independence. Example, Politicians could communicate with the colonial subjects directly.
5.  The nature of economic structure. Tanganyika unlike Zanzibar and Kenya lagged behind in terms of economy thus there was no strengthened settler economy and also strong resistance from the whites.
6. TANU was mass political party hence many people regarding their ethnic groups joined and supported the party. This was centrally to the political parties of Kenya and Uganda which based on tribalism of region.
7.  The role of Richard Turnbull since his appointment as the British governor in 1958 helped Tanganyika to get independence earlier. Turnbull soon won confidence of Africans people and Nyerere became his friend with whom he discussed on the future government eg. When the Nationalists leaders presented their demand to the government they were more considered than in other countries like Kenya and Uganda.

Decolonization through Constitutional Means in Ghana

Ghana mass nationalism began in 1940’s with the formation of political parties which demanded political independence through peacefully means, the political parties which were formed include;

• The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC)

This was formed by J.B Ndaguah in 1947 and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah becomes the general secretary. The party was formed as the result of “Burns Constitution” which was introduced by Sir Allan Burns who was a governor by the time. In this constitution, it provided that the majority of members in the Legislative would be the Africans but the result was vice versa. This is because the Africans were not given the chances to make law and decisions matter in the Legislative council. For example, out of 18 seats were chiefs elected by their fellow chiefs (the support of British). Therefore the formation of UGCC was to oppose it and demand for independence. 

• Convection People’s Party (CPP)

This was formed by radical group which broke away from UGCC under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah in 1948. CPP become a popular party which was supported by people found in rural areas and town dwellers. Its struggle for independence was done through the following methods;

a.       The use of youth as its political base to conduct a national wide strike against the constitution and the government.

b.      The party had a newspaper called “The Accra Evening News” which spread the message that demanded independence of Ghana immediately.

c.       It conducted mass rallies were by CPP use two powerful slogans such as “Seek first the political kingdom and all things shall be ended into it” and “Self-government Now”. However the Britain were threatened by the party hence they later imprison many of its leaders and burned its activities including the party news (Accra Evening News). 
        

•  The Northern People’s Party (NPP)

This was formed in 1954 but it was a work party among all the parties which were formed.

Generally, the struggle between these political parties led to holding elections for independence, e.g. the Election took place in 1951 and CPP won 33 seats against 3 seats of UGCC. At this period Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was released from the jail to form a government in 1952, in the Gold Coast, in 1956 there were more election where CPP won 71 seats and 33 seats were won by the opposition. On 6^th march 1957, Gold Coast became independent taking the name of the ancient Ghana Empire in 1960 Ghana became republic with Kwame Nkrumah being the president.

Reasons for the success of CPP

1.  Good leadership of Kwame Nkrumah as he managed to unite all people to struggle for independence.
2. The party received much support from the peasants who comprised the big number of the population (The oppressed or exploited group)
3. The use of slogan like “Self Government Now”. This was understood for all people as they knew that CPP was struggling for African government.

Why Ghana achieved independence earlier.

1.  Good leadership. It had strong leadership such as CPP under Kwame Nkrumah.
2. There was no tribalism from the CPP united all people in their struggle for independence.
3.  There were no settler in Ghana; therefore Ghana had no strong opposition from the white population hence it successfully gained her full independence in earlier 1957, thus being the first country in African to attain independence.
4. The use of youth in nationalistic struggles of CPP, the youth were employed because had ability to walk for long time and distances in the process of spreading nationalistic ideas.
5.  The use of good slogan example “Self Government Now” and “Seek first the political kingdom and all things shall be ended into it”
6.  The CPP had clear policies and elaborative programs that promised to serve the people from the bitter price of cocoa, higher payment to workers and getting rid of colonialism.

 Contribution of Ghana in Nationalistic Struggle in other African countries.

1. The independence of Ghana was an inspiration to other African countries, example. Other African countries like Tanganyika and others nationalist used Kwame Nkrumah as their model to fight for independence.
2. Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah strengthened Pan-Africanism movement which opposed colonialism. Example. In April 1958 all independent states like Libya, Ethiopia, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia etc. were invited to meet Accra to pay down plans which could be used to help other countries get their independence.
3. Kwame Nkrumah was a person who advocated for the united states of Africa and African unity. These ideas led to the formation of OAU which later became an organization which opposed colonialism in many countries.
4. Sometimes Ghana gave moral and material support to other non-independent states Ghana gave money to Malawi (Nyasaland) and Belgium Congo to fight for independence.

Decolonization through Constitutional Means in Nigeria

Decolonization process in Nigeria went together with the formation of political parties by Africans after the WWII. These political parties replaced the social and welfare Associations such the peoples union of 1908 which had protested against the water rate in Lagos and the Nigerian used movement which had earlier campaigned for bitter representation on the LEGCO, improved Africans living conditions and higher salaries for workers in 1934.

Mass Nationalism after WWII in Nigeria aimed at political independence through the use of peaceful method in which political parties held decisions with the colonialist and pressed the British government to provide independence to the Nigerians. There were a number of political parties that were formed almost after the WWII this included the following;

     
            i.            The National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC)

This was formed in 1944 by Dr Nandi Azikiwe and Herbert Maculay. It was supported by the workers mainly from the Igbo in Eastern Nigeria since 1951 when the leaders of Igbo had quarrels with the Yoruba.

     
           ii.            The Northern People’s Party (NPP)

This was formed in 1951 by the Hausa-Fulani living on the north; many of its supporters were the Muslims who struggled for the domination of the well-developed Christians in the south. Its leader was Al-haji Sir Abubakar Tajawa Balewa.

          iii.            The Action Group (AG)

This was mainly supported by the Yoruba and represented the interests of the western Nigeria. The political party struggled for independence in order to liberate the westerners from colonial exploitation. The movement of all these political parties against the British led to the making of constructions which prepared Nigeria for independence.

The constitutions that led to independence of Nigeria.

Generally, when Nigeria showed that it was struggling for independence on the basis of tribal misunderstanding, to bring unity between political parties there were the constitutional which were made;

                
                   a.      THE RICHARD’S CONSTITUTION

It was made in 1946 by the British government after NCNC organized a strike against social hardship after the WWII. The constitution provided the following;

• Election of central legislative for the North and South which were ruled separately before 1946.
• Bringing changes to the majority of the members who were not in the government to be in the legislative council.
• The legislative council to be able to make a law for the whole country which was divided in four regions, such as the North, South, West and East.
• The executive council in the constitution which had effort to strive for total independence.

                    b.      MACPHERSON’S CONSTITUTION

It was made by the new governor in 1951. This constitution brought about some changes on the former constitution.

                    c.       LYTTELTON CONSTITUTION

It was made in 1954 following the conference held in London where the conference created a federal constitution which gave more powers to regional governments and their legislature.

Elections which led to the independence in Nigeria.

             
              1.      The first Federal Election on 1954

In this election NCNC made a coalition government where by Al-haji  Sir Abubakar Tajawa Balewa, a leader of NPP became the prime minister of Federal Government of Nigeria. In 1957 he provided a chance to the Action Group (AG) in order to get the government of national unity.

             
                2.      The second Election of 1959

In this election ethnic division were much higher. NPP won in the North, Action Group (AG) in the west and NCNC in the east. This trend made Nigeria achieve her independence under ethnic division which led to violence and civil wars in the first ten years after independence. On 1^st October 1960 Nigeria got full independence from British where by Dr. Nandi Azikiwe of NCNC became the first president while Tajawa Balewa of NPP was the first Prime minister.

Problems that faced Nigerian’s nationalist struggle.

1. Tribalism. The political parties which were formed, struggled for independence along the tribal lines, Example. NPP struggled for the Northerners while AG struggled for the westerners on the Yoruba.
2. Vastness of the country. Nigeria was big in size and had diverse settlements of its people. It was not easy for the nationalist to move around the country.
3. Religious conflicts. The people of the north were mainly Muslims who did not like to join with the south Christians who developed more than Muslims.
4. Opposition from the colonial government. Since the British wanted to exploit raw materials, markets, cheap labour etc. they obviously put obstacles which would provide long time for Nigerians to achieve independence.
5. Shortage of money, the nationalists had no enough money because they came from a poor class of people e.g. They could not be able to afford payments for the transport to the rallies against colonial government.

DECOLONIZATION THROUGH ARMED STRUGGLE

Armed struggle is the struggle for freedom through the use of arms and is based on the struggle for political independence in Africa countries. In Africa armed struggle was employed by many of the settler and the former Portuguese colonies.

Why Portuguese colonies achieved Independence through armed struggle?

Portugal had three colonies in Africa namely, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and Angola and these entire colonies attained independence through armed struggle due to the following reasons;

1. Denial of the basic social services such as health and education to Africans. Many people in Portuguese colonies had no education and access to other social services. Example Out of 7827 school learners only 636 was Africans. Also out of 321 students in Universities only 4 were Africans. Therefore it was estimated that more than 85% of Africans were illiterate. This also made Africans to resort to the use of armed struggle in order to remove the exploiter in their land.
2. Disunity among the Africans in the sense that nationalistic leaders as in case of Angola where MPLA led by Augustino Netto, UNITA by Jonas Savimbi and FNLA of Holden Roberto were all fighting for nationalism.
3. Portuguese was a semi- colony of British. The Portuguese being poor were under the control of British who had asked on exploiting of agricultural and minerals raw materials. The imperialist’s manpower supported the Portuguese to strengthen their root in the colonies hence to uproot them was only through armed struggle.
4. The colonial economic grievances. African was against land alienation, forced labour, racial discrimination etc. so they wanted to send back Portuguese to their home.
5. Assassination of the nationalistic leaders such as Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique. This also catalyzed the fighting against the Portuguese.
6.  Presence of many settlers, Portuguese colonies had so many settlers who controlled the sphere of life of Africans. This created difficult condition for peaceful means to take place.

Decolonization through Armed struggle in Mozambique

Mozambique like any other African countries began the struggle for justice in 1920's and they started with Elite Associations. In 1920's the Gremio Africanas Association for Secondary School Students and African Association were founded which faced strong resistance from the Portuguese power. It was not until 1960's that the Africans in Mozambique under Portuguese rule managed to form nationalistic political organization including;

• National Democratic Union of Mozambique (UDENAMO) formed in 1960 in Southern Rhodesia.
• The Mozambique African National Union (MANU) formed in Kenya in 1961, and
• African Union of Independent Mozambique (UNAMI) formed in 1961 in Nyasaland (Malawi)

These all parties operated outside Mozambique because it was been banned and there was no way out and in 1961 they shifted their headquarter to Dar es Salaam. In 1962, a group of exile Mozambicans met in Dar es Salaam and merged their parties to form one party called Front for Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) under Eduardo Mondlane who was assassinated in 1969 with a Parcel bombs while in Da es Salaam.

Strategies used by Portuguese colonial state to weaken the FRELIMO struggle.

a)      They terrorized villages hoping that they would stop supporting guerrilla fighters, Villagers were evicted from villages and concentrated into camps.

b)      Destruction of farms and crops.

c)      Burning of houses in villages

d)      Massacre of people.

e)      Assassination of key leaders of the struggle for independence i.e Eduardo Mondlane

Even though the Portuguese weakened FRELIMO but the party concentrated its attacks in strategic areas like in settler farms, railways lines, power installations and Portuguese military posts. By 1974 FRELIMO already had one-third control of Mozambique; this declined Portuguese morale to fight as FRELIMO proved its strength toward them.

Challenges that faced FRELIMO during the independence struggle.

1.   Internal division within the movement. Some members at a certain point thought that it was better to compromise with the Portuguese i.e. Vice president of FRELIMO, Urina Simango and Lazaro Korindame who joined the Portuguese government.
2. The biggest church in Mozambique, the Catholic church supported the Portuguese and condemned  FRELIMO
3.   Opposition from the Revolutionary Committee of Mozambique (COREMO). This part broke away from FRELIMO because FRELIMO growing socialist learning.
4.     Assassination of Eduardo Mondlane weakened the FRELIMO.

In 15th June 1975 Mozambique became independent under President SamoraMachel due to peace talk held in Lusaka Zambia in 1974.

DECOLONIZATION THROUGH THE COMBINATION OF METHODS ZIMBABWE.

Zimbabwe nationalism took different forms. The well-known form was war of resistance, protest movements, Mass nationalism and armed struggle.

The Early Resistance

The early resistance was wagged by Mashona and Ndebele following the arrival of the white settlers in Zimbabwe in 1890. The strong resistance took place in 1896/97 which was known as Chimulenga war. The Chimulenga uprising was caused by forced labor, taxation, land alienation, confiscation of cattle by the white settlers etc.

The Protest/Political Movement

The political activities in Zimbabwe started to develop in 1920-1940's following the establishment of various associations and trade unions which protested European oppression and exploitation. Because of poor education system for Africans in Zimbabwe political leadership often came from immigrants especially from South Africa and Malawi. Among the protest movements were;

a)      Rhodesian Bantu Liters Association (RBVA) formed in 1923 by Abraham Twala a South African.

b)      Industrial Commercial Workers Union (ICW) formed in 1920 by Robert Sambo, a Malawian.

c)      Southern Rhodesian African Congress (SRANC) formed in 1934 under the leadership of Aaron Jacha, South African.

The Rise of Mass Nationalism

Mass Nationalism in Zimbabwe began around 1950’s; it started as an opposition of Africans against the formation of Central African Federation, an association formed by British in 1953 so as to federate all central African countries dominated by white settlers. At this stage African decided to establish political parties which could demand political Independence through constitution means.

Political Parties in Zimbabwe.

Many political parties were formed during the struggle for Independence most of them based on tribal groups thus Africans in Zimbabwe were divided in different political parties such as;

a)      ANC -African National Congress, formed in 1957 by Joshua Inkomo in 1959 the movement was burned by settler government.

b)      NDP- National Democratic Party. It was formed in 1960 by Joshua Inkomo also it was burned by the settler government in 1961.

c)      ZAPU - Zimbabwe African Party Union, It was formed in 1961 by Joshua Inkomo, in its activities ZAPU organized different activities such as strikes and demonstrations, for this reason it was burned in 1962.

d)      ZANU- Zimbabwe African National Union, It was formed in 1963 under the leadership of Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole and Robert Mugabe. This political party wanted to use armed struggle in the whole country.

With all these struggles on November 11^th 1965 the white minority in Zimbabwe under Iron Smith decreed illegally the Rhodesian Independence under the so-called Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) without consulting the British who made the state over the colony. The independence was declared illegally by settlers so as to be free from any British control. The Independence was of one side and it was called Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), which was to collapse fifteen years later. UDI had an effect to Africans which forced ZAPU and ZANU to launch armed because;

• It increased white supremacy over African
•  It intensified exploitations
• It burned all political parties
•  It imprisoned the nationalistic leaders

Armed Struggle

Actual armed struggle in Zimbabwe began in 1960 and it was facilitated by the military living of ZAPU and ZANU which were known as ZIPRA and ZANLA respectively. The movement of these military livings took the form of Guerilla warfare by using neighboring land such as Zambia, Mozambique and Angola. The struggle was intensified from 1976 following the alliance between ZAPU and ZANU which formed the Patriotic Front (P.F).

Reasons for armed struggle in Zimbabwe

1.  Zimbabwe had a lot of settlers who occupied large areas of fertile land. These settlers were not ready to leave the land and grant independence. This situation led the black people to engage in armed struggle in order to gain their national independence.
2. The peaceful means or constitutional methods failed to work in Zimbabwe, hence it was necessary to use armed struggle in order to regain true political independence.
3.  Economically, Zimbabwe was a rich colony; hence the colonizers didn’t easily surrender.
4.  Ian Smith, UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence) government created in 1965 made the situation more difficult for African majority to gain their independence.
5.  The “State of Emergency” in Zimbabwe banned all African political movement like ZANU, ZAPU, ANC and NDP.
6.  African nationalist leaders like Joshua Inkomo and others were imprisoned or detained. They were banned to operate political movements peacefully.
7. There was disunity among the African leaders e.g. Bitter tribalistic differences which existed among Bishop Abel Muzolewa, Rev. Ndabaningi, Sithole, Joshua Inkomo and Robert Mugabe.

Factors which contributed to the attainment of Zimbabwe independence.

1. The bodied leadership of Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithiole. These leaders used effective methods such as negotiation and warfare which led Zimbabwe to attain her independence.
2. Contribution of Mass media such as magazine and newspapers which were used to expose the evils of the colonialists. These Mass Media also educated Africans on the need of majority rule.
3. The contribution made by ZIPRA and ZANLA. These freedom fighters directed their assault on the government. This really shocked the settler and their government as a result they arose peaceful negotiation with African.
4.  The release of Joshua Nkomo and Ndabaningi Sithole from the prison. They invigorated the people with new morale to fight for their independence.
5. The role played by organization of African Union (OAU). OAU members fought in supporting Zimbabwe nationalists, e.g. Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania were used as the home of liberation movements of Zimbabwean.
6. The independence of Angola and Mozambique in 1975 rejuvenated the morale of the freedom fighter of Zimbabwe. Angola and Mozambique were used as the base for organizing the attacks.

DECOLONIZATION THROUGH REVOLUTION IN ZANZIBAR.

Revolution is the discontent reaction through violence exercised by the majority of the country population in order to gain recognition or reform when legal and moderate means of political or social changes fails. OR

Is complete overthrow of an existing government or a way of life in an country or state by those who were previously subjected to it. Zanzibar revolution occurred in 1964 and led by John Okello.

British granted independence to Zanzibar in December 1963 under the constitution which left Arabs Sultan as the head of the state. The government of independent Zanzibar was formed by the coalition of the political parties led by the Arabs ruling minority and other two smaller parties representing the African majority population which was Afro Shiraz Part (ASP) and Zanzibar and Pemba Peoples Party (ZPPP), which later the majority African political parties resorted the employment of violent means as the diplomatic process could not alter the old regime because the Arabs dominant rule repressed all the opposition by the force of arms.

Reasons of Zanzibar Revolution

1. Historical differences, popular grievances and dissatisfaction between the Arabs and the Africans in Zanzibar. Ever since 1841 when Seyyid Said established Arabs administration and clove plantation in Zanzibar the rapport between Africans and the Arabs never became amicable. This inharmonious system instigated the Africans to struggle to achieve some meaningful status through revolution.
2.  Monopoly of the trade. The trade life in Zanzibar has been monopolized by Asians as they directed commerce, finance and the intermediary states of civil services affairs. Hence Arabs became the leader of economy while Africans remains as watch dog.
3. Role played by John Okello.  He was from Northern Uganda, a Lango by tribe. He was an official of ASP on Pemba Island. He developed a belief as early as 1961 of involving himself in a revolutionary army and from January 11-12, 1964 attained his aim.
4. Overexploitation of African resources. These were ongoing bitter mass exploitation. This group developed greater grievances against the Arabs as the matter they joined with thealready disgruntled peasants to start a revolution.
5. Growing different political parties and their antagonistic ideologies. By 1957, two parties were dominating the politics of Zanzibar that were ZNP and ASP of Karume. In 1959 new political party was formed that were ZPPP which encouraged membership of all races. From 1957-1963 four elections were convened on non-discriminatory voting. Through these elections, the Africans learnt a lesson that independence would not be achieved by constitutional means, hence they resorted to employ violence method.
6. Effects of British colonial legacy. Due to Arabs friendly coordination with the British and through indirect rule policy they divided societies into two classes i.e disadvantageous (Africans) and favored (Arabs). This created Arabs to dominate the government at the time of Independence, culminating in the Revolution of 1964.

 

Ways in which the Zanzibar Revolution brought about positive changes in the living conditions of the people of Isles.

1. Increased access to education. The revolutionary government built schools and colleges for the people of Zanzibar and provided free education to college level.
2. Restoration of land to the services of Africans. The government nationalized most plantations that were owned by Arabs and restored to indigenous people.
3. Promotion of Africans participation in politics and governance. The revolutionary government ensured peoples participation in political and governance responsibilities.
4.  Improved housing. The revolutionary government took the drastic measures to improve the living conditions of the people of Zanzibar by building good houses for workers and other people, i.e houses built in Michenzani, Kilimani, Kikwajuni etc.
5. Improvement of means of infrastructure. The revolution government constructed roads and bought ships to facilitate marine transport from Zanzibar to Tanganyika and other destination.
6.  Improved health services. Hospital and dispensaries were built across Zanzibar and to this date the campaign for improving the health standards of the people of Zanzibar is ongoing.