This chapter – and the full volume, for that matter – begins from the premise that those of us who study politics in Africa have usually underestimated the symbolic power of the collective experience of colonialism. Few, if any, have lived through these conditions. We have never been treated in the often dehumanizing and certainly derogatory manner in which the colonial masters approached their African subjects. In short, we have difficulties in fully grasping the power of both imagery and rhetoric associated with the first generation of nationalist leaders in Africa. The vehicles for gaining independence were not conventional political parties but social movements that demanded control not only of parliament, but also of society at large. To the Africans fighting for independence, it was a battle in black and white. You were either for us or against us. There was little room for reconciliation with the enemy. This willingness and ability of the early nationalists to stand up to a stronger outside force has continued to appeal to subsequent generations of Africans. They set the tone for others to follow: the notion of the supremacy of politics in defense of colonized people.

To the extent that we look for agency among African leaders, we should focus on their wish to conquer the political kingdom and reverse or oppose the agenda that has been set for them by outsiders, be they the colonial powers as in the past or members of the international community as in more recent years.