The Menace of Secession in Africa and Why Governments Should Care: The Disparate Cases of Katanga, Biafra, South Sudan, and Azawad

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Dr. Napoleon Bamfo
Dr. Napoleon Bamfo
α University of Georgia University of Georgia

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The Menace of Secession in Africa and Why Governments Should Care: The Disparate Cases of Katanga, Biafra, South Sudan, and Azawad

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Abstract

If there were animminent threat to the integrity of African states, it would be the possibility of a group or region breaking away. Ironically, secession is one threat which few African governments want to acknowledge exists because implies giving tacit recognition to the most reprehensible behavior any group or a region can perpetrate against the state. Pursuing such policy of not acknowledging the threat of succession has come at a price, since it has made governments woefully unprepared to address an actual secession effectively when it occurs. African governments’ lackadaisical response to the menace of secession is not only bad policy but also counter-intuitive. The haphazard manner in which European powers spliced the continent into colonies makes every country vulnerable to potentially splitting up for myriad of reasons including a simple disagreement between a region and the central government. This paper makes the assertion that a region breaking away is such an imminent threat to African countries that governments need to pay attention and commit resources to address its causes. Mali splintering into halves in 2012 shows the imminency of the threat of secession and the unpredictable causes that may precipitate such as event. The paper analyzes Katanga, Biafra and South Sudan breaking up to underscore the unpredictably of events which may cause a country to break up.

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Funding

No external funding was declared for this work.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

No ethics committee approval was required for this article type.

Data Availability

Not applicable for this article.

How to Cite This Article

Dr. Napoleon Bamfo. 2012. \u201cThe Menace of Secession in Africa and Why Governments Should Care: The Disparate Cases of Katanga, Biafra, South Sudan, and Azawad\u201d. Global Journal of Human-Social Science - C: Sociology & Culture GJHSS-C Volume 12 (GJHSS Volume 12 Issue C10): .

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GJHSS Volume 12 Issue C10
Pg. 37- 48
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Crossref Journal DOI 10.17406/GJHSS

Print ISSN 0975-587X

e-ISSN 2249-460X

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v1.2

Issue date

August 4, 2012

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If there were animminent threat to the integrity of African states, it would be the possibility of a group or region breaking away. Ironically, secession is one threat which few African governments want to acknowledge exists because implies giving tacit recognition to the most reprehensible behavior any group or a region can perpetrate against the state. Pursuing such policy of not acknowledging the threat of succession has come at a price, since it has made governments woefully unprepared to address an actual secession effectively when it occurs. African governments’ lackadaisical response to the menace of secession is not only bad policy but also counter-intuitive. The haphazard manner in which European powers spliced the continent into colonies makes every country vulnerable to potentially splitting up for myriad of reasons including a simple disagreement between a region and the central government. This paper makes the assertion that a region breaking away is such an imminent threat to African countries that governments need to pay attention and commit resources to address its causes. Mali splintering into halves in 2012 shows the imminency of the threat of secession and the unpredictable causes that may precipitate such as event. The paper analyzes Katanga, Biafra and South Sudan breaking up to underscore the unpredictably of events which may cause a country to break up.

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The Menace of Secession in Africa and Why Governments Should Care: The Disparate Cases of Katanga, Biafra, South Sudan, and Azawad

Dr. Napoleon Bamfo
Dr. Napoleon Bamfo University of Georgia

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