Pan-Africanism and African Governments
Pan-Africanism and African Governments Claude Ake T HE last decade has seen the proliferation of organizations and institutions which have broadened the scope of social communication between African peoples.* The sophistica- tion of a broad African perspective, which tended to be a mo- nopoly of top-level leadership, is now permeating the lower strata of African society. Previously, consciousness of a common African destiny had to be induced by the elite, but in recent times the masses have become sensitive enough to events in the continent to cause anxiety to leaders whose performances have to be con- stantly compared. This nascent psychological unity is standardizing expectations throughout the continent. Thus events in one part of the continent tend to echo in another. Following the alleged plot against Houphouet-Boigny's regime, the Ivory Coast National Assembly passed a law on January 17, 1963, authorizing the government to impress into public service anyone whose activities it considered detrimental to national security.