The Mother of Conflicts: A Look into Africa

There is a particular conflict from which all conflicts stem from. The mother of conflicts initiates and sustains conflict, with other forms of conflict being employed as an excuse or to further the underlying interests of parties to a conflict. With Africa hosting 40 percent of the 27 violent conflicts in the world as of the dawn of the twentieth century, a major focus on Africa would be at the fore to determine the reason for the high spate of conflict on the continent. The issues of nation-building and development would also be discussed to understand how they connect to the mother of conflicts and how they influence one another in the progress or otherwise of a country. This work, which is a sequel to my other works on ethnicity, religion, and nation building and development reveals why most African countries cannot be called a nation, and the major factor that hinders nationhood. This particular study serves as a concluding part to the previous works. Without a knowledge of what the mother of conflict is, and how it is being manipulated by state and non-state actors in furthering their interests, nation-building and development would be difficult to attain in Africa.