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African Integration

Jan 8, 2010, 8:58 AM

The much-talked about African integration has to start from somewhere for it to become a dream come true.

One such step is for neighbours like The Gambia and Senegal to set a good example to the rest of the continent.

Therefore, the just-concluded visit by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, during which significant achievements were registered regarding the ties between the two nations, is a step in the right direction.

President Wade while addressing his compatriots at the Jerma Beach Hotel on Tuesday afternoon used the occasion to talk about African unity.

He hailed President Jammeh for his Pan-African ideology and maintains that focusing on sub -regional integration would be an ideal approach for the eventual unification of the continent.

The Gambia and Senegal must see each other as good neighbours.

The move by The Gambia to exempt Senegalese from paying Alien fees and the proposed bridge to be constructed at the trans-Gambia ferry crossing are a welcome boost for African unity.

The issue of the United States of Africa as proposed by the likes of the Libyan leader Brother Maummar Gaddafi is an achievable dream, and has to start from somewhere.

We urge the likes of Gaddafi to continue the campaign as it?s achievable and practicable, which will undoubtedly put an end to all shackles of artificial barriers that had long kept us aback.

We also encourage other countries to follow suit as exemplified by  the two neighbouring leaders so as to help achieve the long dreamt of United States of Africa.

To this end, all African leaders must recommit themselves to the cause of the integration of the continent, which the founding fathers of liberation movements in Africa had strenuously struggled to achieve in the past.

We call on all Africans to take the issue of African unity with all seriousness.