ARTIFICIAL CREATION OF THE STATE AND ENDURING CONFLICTS IN AFRICA: LEGACIES OF THE INDIRECT RULE' POLICY IN THE NORTHERN PARTS OF GHANA AND NIGERIA

Abstract

The growing literature on conflicts in Africa shows that there is a wide range of differing views. These divergent views stem in part from the manner in which conflict is analyzed Conflict analysts tend to focus on narrow issues without relating them to the structural- historical evolution of the African continent and the wider systemic and global context. Using examples from northern Ghana and Nigel'ia, the paper posits that some of the hegemonic relations between different ethnic, socio-economic and political groups which tend to generate enduring conflicts in Africa today can be traced back to the infamous "indirect rule" policy which led to the systematic dispossession of some ethnic groups in Africa of their land during the process of institutionalizing the indirect rule system. The conclusion is that the failures of the post colonial state in Africa to address these hegemonic ethnic relations and the boundary question is a disturbing weakness of the African state that will affect the continent's stability for some time to come. On the basis of this conclusion, it is recommended that African governments, opinion leaders at all levels will have to devise means of addressing the deep seated conflicts emanating from these historical processes to pave the way for Africa's development.