As we can see there is an incongruous comparison with China to project a Congo- centric template of African development. That is the key problem of a prospective African Union similar to a situation which the British fought against at the beginning and throughout its stay in the EU: the EU should not be Germo- centric or Franco-centric among the big nation states iof Europe.
As Patrick Lumumba is projecting a Congo- centric vision of Africa Union so is Sanusi Lamido projecting an articulate Nigeo- centric vision of African Union. This is inevitable given a playing arena full of powerful multifarious ethno- nation states. This is where comparison with the large market space is disingenious.
China is a large nation state of ONE ethno- national composition whose fortunes cannot be projected onto multi- ethnic polities artificially yoked together into a Union with centrifugal aspirations reflected in the Lumumbo- Congolese view versus the Sanuso- Nigerian view yoked to a Zikist- Nigerian view to the rump of an Nkruma- centric view. The incipient fault lines are already visible: there is no single, trans- African, central 'Confucionist' view harmonizing the whole of Africa as Confucius is in China. This is the problem of a Chinese template projected onto an African Union.
This problem of 'a Union in whose image' needs to be resolved first before the Union can take off powered by that single minded image as happened in the case of the Chinese.
The alternative come 2063 may be similar to the Nigerian experiment in which people spend sixty years abusing and insulting each other and the union being declared the world headquarters of poverty for the common folks because the union has not benefitted the common folks as it did the elites. Remember Obasanjo's marching orders to Buhari in 2015: under no condition must he allow the country to disintegrate under his watch; a nation being forcibly yoked together until it evolves- no matter how long or bitter- a unifying ethos.
To conclude the geo- politico-cultural situations in China and Africa do not match and correlation of size and success is therefore not guaranteed. This looming cultural contradictions need to be considered in deciding to forge an African Union before, in the words of Christopher Okigbo ( reflecting poetically on a similar Nigerian oddity) ' our dividing airs are gathered home.'
OAA
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------
From: Emmanuel Udogu <udoguei@appstate.edu>
Date: 04/05/2020 02:18 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>, asrfmail <asrfmail@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - AFRICA IN 2063 by Professor Lumumba - SHARING
| 1:54 PM (6 hours ago) |  | ||
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Lumumba cautions Africans against activities of Chinese in Africa and highlights the visions of a United Africa.
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