Decolonization and Post-Colonial States in Africa: Confronting the Menace of Tribal Colonialism and Religious Fundamentalism in the 21st Century

Abstract

Global restiveness, particularly the first and second World Wars and the Arab Spring
did not only change the structures of social, economic, religious and politics of the
Europeans, and north-Africa, it also heralded a new turn in international order.
Aftermath of those wars have helped to redefine the global system, intellectualism,
international relations and foreign policy directions of countries and accelerated the
liquidation of the colonial system by weakening the colonial powers and placing the
destinies of the new states squarely in their own hands. The emergence of a large
number of states, during this period, who became members of the UN, was mainly on
account of end of colonialism and subjugation of countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin
America. However, Western scholarship ever since then has made frantic efforts to
undermine the impacts of colonialism on the African world for obvious reasons. This
paper therefore reinforces the contributions of the nationalist movement in the
emergence of Africa in world politics. That the so-called exit of the colonial powers from
Africa left a legacy of tribal colonialism (majority-minority) squabbles and this
phenomenon has rather helped to underdeveloped Africa. Also, that the post-colonial
states of Africa were deliberately programmed to fail exemplified by the present fiasco.
It is now the task of Africa to formulate deliberate policies, local or foreign in manner
that will help maximize the gains and opportunities of globalization and minimizing the
threats of tribal colonialism in the 21st century.