AU Day Is Waste Of Time

Sections of public have expressed strong variance over the continuous celebration of the African Union (AU) Day which day they stressed is a waste of time. The AU Day which is marked every May 25 is declared a public holiday in all 32 member states. Some Ghanaians who spoke to Today stressed that the continent was bedevilled with homogenous problems which ran across board yet little or no solutions have been found for them. They called African leaders �talkers� who do little or nothing at all for the continent. �They are a bunch of traitors who have consistently killed the spirit of the continent,� a resident of Nungua, Lukeman told Today. He wanted to know the relevance of the Union, �since 1963 we have not been able to even properly unite ourselves yet we talk about African unity.� �We are celebrating failure, mediocrity; a continent of ignorance, diseases and pain,� he stressed angrily. A student at the University of Ghana (UG,) Jones Nunepkeku, told this paper in an interview �it was too pathetic to call ourselves Africans.� A retail banker, Samuel Dunkwa, when he took his turn, called the AU, ABU which meant African Betrayers Union. He said Africans have allowed the west [America and Europe] to destroy the continent stressing that Libya was once a fruitful nation when other African natives especially Ghanaians emigrated to and repatriate the funds home �yet we sat and allowed the west to kill Colonel Muamar Gadafi.� �When Gadafi was alive he was sponsoring some of these African leaders and they in turn praised him yet when he was in trouble, they are zipped it,� he said. He questioned whether any western country has sent troops to Syria despite the numerous atrocities that were being committed there yet Africa allowed North Alliance Treaty Organisation (NATO) access to Libya. �Our leaders are not leaders, they are betrayers,� he added. ��What are we celebrating? Is it bad roads, corruption or myopic leaders?� A Pharmacist, Isaac Okyere, proposed that the bad leaders on the continent be made to rebrand themselves or be removed. �We must strictly make sure that AU laws are obeyed and that any leader who goes contrary to rules is sanctioned like it is done in European Union (EU,)� he advised. A resident of Adabraka who gave his name as Lancelot, urged Africans to be optimistic and believe in themselves since Rome was not build in a day. But he refused to blame those who thought the AU or the continent has failed. He urged African leaders to play along with the global game and follow the technological trends. Some called for the scrapping off of the day celebration until the leadership of AU have done a thorough assessment of the continent and matters arising. Cyrus Noah who also spoke to this reporter wondered how we could celebrate AU day when fellow Africans were at the mercy of Boko Haram. �Anytime I hear of the atrocities, I feel sad and regret being part of this generation,� he said. He said people will just spend the day at beaches, bars and clubs thereby going to work exhausted the next day. �This defeats the intents of the day and slows productivity,� he stressed. Some also agreed that the AU had failed woefully yet loved the fact that they could relax as a result of the holiday that comes with the day. Some beach goers also stressed that �so far as the continent is not dead, there is something worth celebrating.� The advent of the AU can be described as an event of great magnitude in the institutional evolution of the continent. On 9.9.1999, the Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity issued a Declaration (the Sirte Declaration) calling for the establishment of an African Union, with a view, inter alia, to accelerating the process of integration in the continent to enable it play its rightful role in the global economy while addressing multifaceted social, economic and political problems compounded as they are by certain negative aspects of globalisation. The main objectives of the OAU were, inter alia, to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonization and apartheid; to promote unity and solidarity among African States; to coordinate and intensify cooperation for development; to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and to promote international cooperation within the framework of the United Nations. Indeed, as a continental organization the OAU provided an effective forum that enabled all Member States to adopt coordinated positions on matters of common concern to the continent in international fora and defend the interests of Africa effectively. Through the OAU Coordinating Committee for the Liberation of Africa, the Continent worked and spoke as one with undivided determination in forging an international consensus in support of the liberation struggle and the fight against apartheid.