LETTER: Pan-Africanism struggled in Africa
OAU secretary-general Diallo Telli was one of the movement’s most high-profile victims
Adekeye Adebajo cites OAU secretary-general Diallo Telli as saying Pan-Africanism was born amid “complete alienation, physical exploitation and spiritual torment” (“Pan-Africanism born in an atmosphere of alienation, exploitation and torment (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/columnists/2020-08-23-adekeye-adebajo-pan-africanism-born-in-an-atmosphere-of-alienation-exploitation-and-torment/)”, August 23). Yet, as Adebajo points out, all the early pan-African conferences unrolled peacefully enough in London, Paris, Brussels, New York, Lisbon and Manchester.
Things only got difficult when pan-Africanism was transplanted to Africa, as one African leader after another throttled free speech with censorship, detention without trial, single-partyism and, frequently, dictatorial one-man rule. Among the chief offenders were the leaders of pan-Africanism, such as Kwame Nkrumah and Sekou Toure...
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