Discrimination against Africans

As we already know the philosophical underpinning of colonialism is the idea of inherent white-man superiority over the blacks. This myth was reflected in the various discriminatory colonial policies in the provision of residential recreational, educational and health facilities. Worse still, educated Africans were excluded from senior administrative positions in the colonial service. The implication of this was that foreigners made key decisions and policies while Africans were made to carry out those policies, even when they were skewed against them. Africans were also deprived opportunities of participating in political activities, even though they paid tax. The famous 1929 Aba riot in Nigeria and the 1854 hut tax riots in Sierra Leone were reminders of the popular slogan “no taxation without representation” employed by the Americans colonies during their struggle for independence from Britain. (Jordan; 1978: 54). The determination of African educated elites to reverse the situation was a major stimulant to nationalist movements in Africa.

ii.Emergence of Political Parties

The emergence of political parties especially in the post war II era gave added impetus to nationalism. The activities of the NCNC in Nigeria, the C.P.P in Gold Coast, for example, transformed the agitation for independence into a mass movement in these countries. The motto of the C.P.P was particularly deviant when it announced that Ghanaians would “prefer self-government in danger to servitude in tranquility”.

iii.The Role of the Mass Media

The print media in their vitriolic attacks on colonialism added fuel to the fire of nationalism already burning in most African colonies. In the old Gold Coast, the African Morning Post was in the vanguard of this struggle, and its motto”, which proclaimed its neutrality on every issue except Africa’s set the stage for the media in the nationalist struggle. In its famous articles “Does Europeans have a God” for which its editor, Dr. Azikiwe was charged for sedition, the medium eloquently demonstrated the pivotal role played by the press. In Nigeria, Dr. Azikiwe used the medium of the powerful West African Pilot to show the Nigerian youths the way which they eagerly followed.

iv. Economic Factor

Colonialism encouraged the transformation of Africa from subsistence to a money-based economy. This change led to the introduction of currency, which was consciously encouraged by the colonial government in order to increase the export of primary produce. This created one of the first economic sources of problems to colonial rule. The cash nexus linked the colonial territories to the mother country in four ways.

First, it led to the growth of a wage-labour force. This resulted in considerable proletarization among substantial number of Africans, living on the fringes of newly emergent cities. Second, colonial rule contributed to the rise of a new middle class in and around most urban centers. The middle class, which had different values and orientation, used their vanguard intermediate position of influence to spread nationalist sentiments. Third, with urbanization went the second phenomenon of social mobility. The new immigrants to the cities felt they could make demand on colonial government for better condition of services, the right to be promoted in the civil service, and the right to better life. The last sociological factor was western education. It provided for a common lingua franca-English in British colonies, and French in French colonies.

This afforded the colonies an opportunity for diverse colonial peoples to communicate and plan together in a common language. Although originally intended to help service colonial rule, a common language provided one of the powerful factors that helped dig colonial grave in Africa.