The African Condition 5: Patterns of Identity
Despite its size, Africa is highly fragmented. Five hundred million people are split up into more than 50 states. Ali Mazrui , Professor of Political Science at the Uni-. versity of Michigan, argues that this fragmentation is a handicap in Africa's struggle for social and material improvement. It also creates a security risk. Africa, he suggests, must transcend its ethnic, religious. linguistic, ideological and class divisions if it is to protect itself against external enemies and internal deviants. BBC Manchester
(Repeated: Sunday at 6.0 pm on Radio 3, and printed in THE LISTENER dated 6 December)