On March 6, 1957, Ghana became the first country in Africa south of the Sahara to gain independence from colonial rule. Fifty years later on 6 March, Ghana celebrated their first 50 years of independence, and I was proud to celebrate with them.
A week before the celebration friend of mine invited me and asked me to be one of the keynote speakers I humbly accepted his invitation. The next day I research my topic which was Nkrumah’s vision of United States of Africa. Before I started my research, I asked my self is it possible to see United Sates of Africa, can Africa emerge from the chaos and the poverty, and why Africa is underdeveloped; unfortunately I couldn’t answer the first question but I know that The United States of Africa was dream cherished from the earliest days of pan-Africanism. I believe the failure of the post-colonial state is the root cause of the poverty and the violence that is plunging whole swathes of Africa into chaos. Western imperialism interrupted the process of state building. Nkrumah once said that “Ghana’s independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent” He became international symbol of freedom as the leader of the first black African country to shake off the chains of colonial rule. The night of the celebration I went to the Hotel which is held the ceremony everyone was happy; there was sense of unity, joy, and national sense of pride. One of my professors who is from Ghana asked me couple of questions. He said why are you (Somali) still fighting The Somali people share a common language, culture, and religion; unlike Ghana we have many different languages, and religions. I told him we the Somali people are not hopeless, we still have a dream, and we will rise above. After the celebration I left the party with hope, dreams, and heart-broken. I hoped that all the Ghanaian people bright future, unity, and anther 50 year of happiness and prosperity. I dreamed about our first 50 years of independence which will be July 1 of 2010, but when I remembered the situation of our land I really disappointed, and I couldn’t sleep that night
