Ikaweba Bunting

In the following viewpoint, Ikaweba Bunting argues that the Western concept of the nation-state and the political borders drawn up by European powers in the nineteenth century have little utility for the everyday lives of Africans, yet constitute a source of continual political unrest. Attempts to develop nation- states in the image of industrialized foreign nations have resulted in repression, border disputes, civil wars, and ethnic conflict, he asserts. The Organization of African Unity erred in accepting the nation-state boundaries created by outsiders after African people successfully fought for independence from colonial rule. Africans must reject national borders that divide people in order to promote peaceful and equitable development, he concludes. Bunting is a regional communications officer for Oxfam, a relief, development, and advocacy organization dedicated to ending world poverty. He emigrated from the...