Abstract

A Philosophical Inquiry into the Roots of Africa's Political Problems reveals that the present day painful existence of Africans as human beings stems from African peoples' active participation in the devaluation and degradation of the African as a human person in an international human traffic that lasted for four centuries. This implies that the historical foundation of Africa's economic and socio-political problems of this age is the devaluation and inferiorization of the African below the standards of human dignity during the slave trade era. Since the continent fell apart in that era, the African is yet to regain his/her existential integrity as a human person. ;If this is the case, any positive turn around will occur only if Africans take active lead in the promotion and protection of the existential integrity of the African as a human person. Thus, the restoration of the existential integrity of Africans through the promotion and protection of the dignity of the African as a human person constitutes the historical mandate for political associations in Africa. ;The promotion and protection of the existential integrity of the African can be achieved under a political culture capable of creating a non-colonial Africa. Such a political culture must adopt and effectively implement the basic values and aspirations of African Nationalism and independence movements; and also the ingredients of African culture that qualify as valuable elements in human affairs. ;Incidentally, these required basic values and aspirations are essentially the same with civil and political rights of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but whose implementation in Africa has been vehemently opposed by African leadership since the dawn of Africa's Independence. ;The derivation of the needed basic values and aspirations; the justification of their congruency with the erstwhile neglected aspects of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and the justification of the imperativeness of their application in Africa constitute the philosophical nature and relevance of this dissertation