XENOPHOBIA: THE NEW BANE TO AFRICAN UNITY.

Hitherto Colonialism has been the obstacle to Africàn unity. A new dimension has lately been introduced, which is tearing us apart. This is xenophobia.

What is Xenophobia?

It is the fear or hatred of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. This can involve the perception of an ingroup towards an outgroup and can manifest itself in suspicion of the activities of others, a desire to eliminate their presence to secure a presumed purity. It may also relate to a fear of losing ñational, ethnic or racial identity.

Xenophobia can also be exhibited in the form of an "uncritical exaltation of another culture" in which a culture is ascribed an "unreal stereotyped and exotic quality".

Àccording to UNESCO the terms Xenophobia and Racism often overlap but differ in how the latter encompasses prejudice based on physical characteristics while the former is generally centered on behavior based on notion of a specified people being àdverse to their culture or nation.

The Oxford English Dictionary definition of Xenophobia include deeply rooted fear towards foreigners while Webster's Dictionary defines it as fear of the unfamiliar. A theorised but political definition put forward by Andreas Wimmer is "an element of political struggle about who has the right to be cared for by the state and society, i.e a fight for the collective goods of the modern state". In other words Xenophobia arises when people feel their rights to benefits from the government is being subverted by other people's rights.

In South Africa for example, the inefficient service delivery system which has triggered socioeconomic conflicts has exposed the leadership's inability to dutifully serve the people as one of the 3 most important factors contributing to xenophobic violence. Other factors are lack of conflict resolution processes and very few prosecution of perpetrators of such violence.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that Xenophobia is a natural feeling which if unchecked can tear apart any society.

..As Africàns we should not forget our common suffering of the past through slavery and colonialism which should bond us as we were bonded during the struggle to deconolize Africa when we spoke with one voice against the colonialists.

We should be careful as Xenophobia could be another of the neocolonial strategies being employed by Western intelligence agencies to keep Africa disunited . The existing obstacles to Africàn unity such as common language, religion, poor infrastructure, diseases, illiteracy, distrust, poverty etc are gargantuan enough than adding hatred and violence.

There is a need for the education of Africàns to prevent the spread of this deadly sentiment and to see ourselves as brothers and sisters tied together by our historical sufferings and the colour of our dark skin. Our philosophy should amongst other progressive ideals be guided by UNCONDITIONAL LOVE for one another.

We should always focus on the larger picture of a United Africa which should be the basis for planning for the future of our unborn generations

The labor of our past heroes such as Kwame Ñkrumah, Tafawa Balewa, Haile Sellaise, Julius Nyerere, Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikwe, Nelson Mandela, Thomas Sankara, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and others who in the past toiled for the unity of Africa should not be in vain.

Our success as the next and most vibrant civilization rests solidly on a United Africa .

Shalom.

God bless Africa

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Evang Solomon Ayodeji Ogunjobi (Deja Vu). Please circulate worldwide.