THE INTRACTABLE LEGACIES OF THE 1884/85 BERLIN CONFERENCE ON WEST AFRICAN HOMOGENEOUS POPULATIONS

  • Dr. Olalekan A. Babatunde Research Fellow/Peacebuilding Practitioner
Keywords: border, communities, populations, separation, development

Abstract

The current challenges of nation building that most African nations are facing cannot be expunged from the decisions made at Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885 in Germany. That is, the interference and outcomes made by the major European powers including the United States to partition the hitherto homogenous communities that had lived together for time immemorial. The insensitivity and the imperialism are some of the structural drivers of underdevelopment and political wrangling in the continent, particularly in the West African region. The homogenous populations have been marginalized and underserved for too long due to this circumstance. Several lives and property are being lost while millions of people and livelihoods are being displaced as a result of the inability and dilemma of the indigenous governments to focus on the demarcated peoples. Drawing from extensive historical reviews and conflict databases, the study, while uncovering the affected homogenous communities of the alterations in the region, recounts how the identical populations along the borderlines had lived prior to the partition. It analyses the nature and characteristics of conflict and violence that the mostly affected populations are being confronted with despite various national governments’ development programmes. Therefore, to mitigate the legacies and burdens of the separation, the study advises the African national governments, regional bodies and development partners to deepen good governance and border management strategies that will foster robust socio-economic lives, security and development of the straddled populations. It is then that the impact of the Conference will be lightened in the heart and lives of the people at the inter-border homogenous societies as the region faces the 21st century development challenges.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Dr. Olalekan A. Babatunde, Research Fellow/Peacebuilding Practitioner

Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Abuja, Nigeria

References

last accessed January 10, 2020.
Babatunde, Olalekan, A. 2009. “National Security and Migration: Towards an Effective Cross-border Management in Nigeria” International Organization for Migration. Available at: , last accessed January 8, 2020.
Babatunde, Olalekan, A. 2018. “The Recruitment Mode of the Boko Haram Terrorist Group in Nigeria” Peace Review, 30:3, 382-389. Available at: , last accessed January 10, 2020.
Collins, David J.1985. “Partitioned Culture Area and Smuggling: The Hausa and the Groundnut Trade Across the Nigeria-Niger Border from the Mid-1930 to Mid- 1970s,” in Anthony, Asiwaju I. Partitioned Africa: Ethnic Relations Across Africa’s International Boundaries (1884-1984). London and Lagos: C. Hurst & Company.
ECOWAS Compendium on Free Movement, Right of Residence and Establishment. 1979.
Ethnic groups in Africa. Available at: , last accessed December 28, 2019.
Funds for Peace.Fragile States Index 2018: Annual Report. Available at:
Henrich,Barth. 1964. Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa 1849-1885. Vol.1 London, Frank Cass and Co. Ltd.
Nigent, P. and Asiwaju, Anthony. I. (eds.). 1996. African Boundaries: Barriers, Conduits and Opportunities, University of Edinburg, Centre of African Studies.
Ogunremi, G.O. 1982. Counting the Camels: The economics of Transportation in Pre-Industrial Nigeria. New York and Nigeria, Nok Publishers.
Patrick, Gathara. 2019. “Berlin 1884: Remembering the conference that divided Africa”Aljazeera, 15 November, 2019. Available at: , last accessed December 28, 2019.
Salim, A. Salim. 2000. “Africa Poised for Unity Despite Challenges,” in PanaAfrican News Agency, 24th Oct. 2020, Paris, France. The statement was made at the 36th Summit, Lome, Togo 4th—12th July, 2000.
Skinner, E.P. 1965. Labour Migration among the Mossi of the Upper Volta, in Kuper, H. (ed.) Urbanization and Migration in West Africa. Cambridge University Press.
Sundstrom, L. 1974. The exchange economy of Pre-Colonial Tropical Africa. London: C. Hurst and Company.
The Conversation. 2015. Africa’s border disputes are set to rise – but there are ways to stop them The Conversation. July 14, 2015. Available at:, last accessed January 3, 2020.
The Gateway People. Prof. Anthony Ijaola Asiwaju: My Life @ 80. Available at: last accessed 10 January, 2020.
Wallerstein I. 1965. “Migration in West Africa: The Political Perspective,” in Kuper H. (ed.), Urbanization and Migration in West Africa. Cambridge University Press.
West Africa: Ethnic Divisions, State Fragility, and Regional Solutions Available at: .last accessed January 10, 2020.
William, Zartman I. 1965. “The Politics of Boundaries in North and West Africa.”The Journal of Modern African Studies. Vol. 3, No. 2 (Aug., 1965), pp. 155-173 Available at: . Accessed on January 3, 2020.
Published
2020-11-07
How to Cite
Babatunde, D. O. (2020). THE INTRACTABLE LEGACIES OF THE 1884/85 BERLIN CONFERENCE ON WEST AFRICAN HOMOGENEOUS POPULATIONS. GPH-International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research, 3(10), 53-64. Retrieved from https://gphjournal.org/index.php/ssh/article/view/317