FATHERS OF NATIONS INTRODUCTION

​​The title is relevant and apt for it is satirizes the situation in contemporary Africa.

Fathers d Nations is a honorific title given to a person considered the driving force behind the establishment of a country, state or nation. These are figures in the African context who once helped drive away the colonial regime and helped their countries gain self-rule under their leadership. In the contemporary sense, fathers of nations are basically the heads of states and governments: presidents.

Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Nation of India is a figure celebrated in numerous nations and by international organizations, a departure from these current title holders. On Joseph Stalin's seventieth birthday in 1949, he was bestowed with the title "Father of Nations" for his establishment of "people's democracies" in countries occupied by the USSR after World War II.

In post-colonial Africa, "Father of Nation" was a title used by leaders to refer to their role in the independence movement as a source of legitimacy and to use paternalist symbolism as a source of continued popularity.

The title is satirical. In the text, fifty fathers of nations, herein titled heads of state have met at Banjul —Gambia. The agenda of the summit is not clear. This discussion thereafter has neither head nor tail. Two rival groups emerge; each advancing its ideology. There are those for Path Alpha and another group advancing Way Omega.

The debate seems directionless. Thus, what comes to the fore is that the agenda for Africa is set and dictated by the international financial institutions that continue to impoverish the continent. Though "fathers" are expected to give direction, provide agenda, give proper leadership and guidance to their "children," who in this context are their respective nations and states.

On the contrary, heads of state in Africa seem to be clueless, visionless and without agenda and this is what ails Africa. Hence, it can be arguably said that the problems bedeviling Africa stem from poor leadership that has presumably enveloped Africa as a continent. Needless to say, this poor leadership is not ready to pass over the baton to a vibrant and visionary leadership. For the longest time ever, after most countries gained self-rule the continent is still stuck in the realms of poverty, ignorance, illiteracy and diseases fifty years after independence.

Read More