GS1 PYQ (Mains Answer Writing): Anti-Colonial Struggles in West Africa | History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

The anti-colonial struggles in West Africa were led by the new elite of Western-educated Africans. Examine. (UPSC GS1 Mains)

Independence movements in Africa often were led by individuals who had attended Western schools (either in Africa or abroad). 

• These Western educated Africans spoke the language of the colonizers and knew the types of political activities and organizations which the colonizers understood; therefore, they were in a better position to communicate with the colonizers in their efforts to gain the independence whichtheir fellow Africans without European education appreciated, desired and often sacrificed their lives for. 
• Some of them were: Kwame Nkrumah (Gold Coast, now Ghana), Léopold Sédar Senghor (Senegal), Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria), and Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d’Ivoire). 
• They with the help of their counterparts in other continents, protested against the colonial order by publicizing the corruption and injustice perpetrated by the colonial master. 
• However the independence achieved by these colonies has not been very fruitful because: 
  • Since independence, West Africa has suffered from the same problems as much of the African continent, particularly dictatorships, political corruption and military coups. 
  • The region of West Africa has seen a number of civil wars in its recent past including the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), two civil wars in Liberia in 1989 and 1999, a decade of fighting in Sierra Leone from 1991–2002, the Guinea-Bissau Civil War. 
  • The socio economic development in the African countries did not improve much even after independence and they still remain as the poorest countries in the world.

Topics Covered - Problems in Africa after Decolonisation, Post-Apartheid Africa