War . . . can we have a summer break?

Wars are part of every nation. Both small and might nations have been fighting each other since the first people carved knives, with the development of metals, way of fighting became more powerful.

In Africa, wars do not take a summer break. With its rich national resource, Africa eats and drinks war. In North Africa, heavy farming caused the land to become dry and infertile, make the area to become the dominant feature. People were unable to find food which meant some tribes had to fight to get access to food.

Tribes sometimes fought over river shore for safe fishing. Some fought to protect their kingdom from others. Even defend against tribes from other side of the sea. Some nations from another continent also came to force their culture or belief on the inhabitants of Africa which change how African sees war.

Towards the end of the 16th century, Africa witness European and Asia interest. Traders came from far and near to barging and sometimes to steal supplies and resources, which resulted in colonization of some part of the continent. French occupied the Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt. British seized the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and most of West Africa.

Their interest introduced new factors of change, not merely in trade but also in the political, social and economic life of African people. This brought with it wars. Firearms introduced, and it became objects of competition between different states within Africa.

Between 60s and early 90s, Africans are no longer strangers to war. We witness Civil War in Nigeria, Genocide in Rwanda, war in Democratic Republic of Congo which directly involves armed forces and rebel groups from Burundi, Uganda, Central Africa Republic, Congo Brazzaville and Angola, and apartheid in South Africa.

The war in DR Congo was seen as African’s First World War. It directly and indirectly caused the dead of over 4 million people. War in Serra Leone that been going on for over decades cause life and damage properties. Guinea and Liberia became a home of gangster-like regime that develops into conflicts. Somalia was still without active central government which left the country in a state of conflict

By the end of 1990’s, any progress in Africa had been overshadowed by a series of wars that engulfed many parts of the continent causing not only physical and human damage but also moral and cultural devastation.

Early 21 century, with help of United Nations, European Union and African Union, there has been significant improvement in terms of peace in Africa. But, in terms of these, it can hardly say that wars in Africa have finally turned.

At any level, war is a problem because most of us would like to avoid it. The question we should ask is why do men go to war? Or Nations go to war? Can we say the reasons deep-rooted in human mind and its personal motivations? (Eric Carlton, 1990). The answer to war in Africa may be seen in social change, outlawing of classes and the equal distribution of powers.