We call up on Africa Union not to use member states polarizing words calling African nationals foreign nationals in his own continent Africa. Africa unification is only realized by reclaiming our rights and by practicing the right policy implementation to meet Agenda 2063. We all share the same consanguinity and history. We shouldn’t be victim of wrong connotation based on artificial boarders that are carved our colonial masters. We are bound by our struggle for freedom and our destinies are intertwined. According to Agenda 2063 that is adapted by all African head of states, the abolishment of visa requirements for all African citizens in all African countries will be implemented by year 2018. We have to ask ourselves how we can start the groundwork and when can we implement those big ideas without a proper Africa immigration and citizenship policy at national and continental level.
The borders that we are claiming, the identity we are carrying today doesn’t represent who we are, rather the past but nothing of the current and the future. We are Africans, today’s boarders is not lined by ourselves rather we are implementing the colonial masters agenda to define who we are today, however we are amplifying their balkanization more than the colonial rulers by calling our own fellow African citizens as foreign nationals. We are good in implementing the architecture of Berlin, with high degree by alienating a person who lives the other side of our borders by calling foreign nationals.
With the same concept an African who lives in other corner of Africa can’t be identified as Diaspora in his own continent as a result of moving from the west part of Africa to southern Africa or vice versa. We found that we are a good copier of words and languages that are not ours, however we forgot our own Ubuntu and other reconciling words and phrases, which gives us a sense of compassion and oneness pertaining our identity.
Therefore, we call upon Africa Union Commission, PRC, AU Executive Council to forward this great concern to all African Governments to address in the up coming Head of States Summit in South Africa.
We kindly ask the summit to adapt that Africans who are living in African territories should be called a Foreign Nationals. With the same note we call up on members of the media, academia, and civil society to restrain from calling our African brothers and sisters a Foreign Nationals we are “African Nationals”, a foreign national is a person who is born and lives out of Africa’s landmass and shores.
African states should not discriminate African citizens!‼
April 11, 2015
Africa Speaks Secretariat
Pretoria, South Africa.
Africa Speaks: UN ECOSOC Especial Consultative status and Africa Union ECOSOCC General
Assembly Member.