Then visionary African leaders among who Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the President of Ghana, was a cardinal force established the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which has transmuted into the African Union (AU). "Its origins are the Union of African States, an early Confederation that was established by Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960s, as well as subsequent attempts to unite Africa, including the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was established on May 25, 1963, and the African Economic Community, in 1981. The OAU had two primary aims: · To promote the unity and solidarity of the African states and act as a collective voice for the African continent. This was important to secure Africa's long-term economic and political future. Years of colonialism had weakened it socially, politically and economically. · The OAU was also dedicated to the eradication of all forms of colonialism, as, when it was established, there were several states that had not yet won their independence or were minority-ruled. South Africa and Angola were two such countries. The OAU proposed two ways of ridding the continent of colonialism. Firstly, it would defend the interests of independent countries and help to pursue those of still-colonized ones. Secondly, it would remain neutral in terms of world affairs, preventing its members from being controlled once more by outside powers".

The AU with the passage of time has lost her focus and relevance. She has become a white elephant. She is simply a toothless obese dog that can neither bite, nor bark, nor carry her own weight around on her tiny frail legs. She is just sitting agape like a stroke-stricken being that has no control over her daily requests but to succumb to the wishes of her mightier carers. People at a point accused the OAU of becoming a "Dictators Club", dancing to the tune of the leaders without any least bother about the aspirations of their respective countries' citizens. This seems to be the ongoing order within the AU, its metamorphosed state, until today.

Africa, since her agitation for, and acquisition of political independence, has been struggling to be truly independent. Actually, she is light-years away from being socially, economically and politically independent. More often than not, we as leaders and citizens have obliviously or consciously by our actions and inactions, invited our contemporary cunning Whites into our affairs. Once done, they come with their own agenda. They have perpetually been exploiting the weaknesses of the African in order to directly or indirectly implement their neo-colonialist's policies to the detriment of the continent and the entire people therein. Their agenda has always been to hold Africa at bay, kick us in and out of the economic periphery. Most often, there is a wicked underlying agenda in their outward show of kindness to Africa. As usual, it is true that "nothing comes free; they always come at a price"

Our fretful leaders without foresight but impudent desire for wealth and power have always been a cause for the Whites' near-excusable neo-colonialist interventions in Africa to execute their blatant acts of daylight robbery on us. I will be touching on the events in Kenya and Zimbabwe that brought about what was "power sharing" in those countries, the intransigence of former President Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast, the Liberia Civil War and lastly, the toppling and assassination of President Gaddafi of Libya to prove the uselessness of the AU. I will discuss how the lack of farsightedness by our greedy, myopic and self-centered leaders has contributed to the demise of Africa. I will also highlight how our contemporary Whites have taken opportunity of the absurdities of our leaders to seek to control Africa, in my articles on why Ghana should pull out of the AU. The AU is not serving the member nations any worthwhile purpose. One could even conclude from comparing their aims to the facts on the ground that the AU has woefully failed the member States and hence, the people therein.

The AU has always sat powerless, looking up to the Whites to provide direction and solutions to African problems. The provider will provide such directions and solutions according as suits their anticipated secret agenda but not as expected by the seeker. The solutions often come at a greater cost; be they underestimation of both the intelligence and existence of the Africans, or physical monetary cost. The Libya case is a classical example where extensive damage to infrastructure and indiscriminate killings have intentionally been caused to the nation and the people by the NATO forces all in an underlying quest to dubiously avail themselves of the vast oil reserves of the country. The AU must bow her head down in shame for failing Libya, a member nation, President Gaddafi, and the people of Libya.

John Fosu