Popular Kenyan lawyer, activist and public speaker, Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, has called for the development of a meaningful African citizenship that would guarantee greater opportunities for Africans to live, work, study and establish businesses across the continent without discrimination.
He warned that Pan-Africanism would remain largely symbolic unless African governments translated their commitments to continental unity into practical rights and protections for citizens moving between countries.
Lumumba made the call while delivering the keynote address at the Bridge Club’s grand end-of-year event in Lagos on Thursday.
His address, titled Africa Must Not Become Foreign to Itself: Xenophobia, Pan-Africanism and the Future of African Belonging, examined the relationship between xenophobia, African identity, economic integration and the future of the continent.
He argued that Africans must develop a broader understanding of citizenship that recognises their national identities while giving practical expression to their shared continental heritage.
According to him, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Kenyans and South Africans should retain their national identities while enjoying greater opportunities to participate in the economic and social life of other African countries.
“The ambition is not to abolish nationality. It is to ensure that nationality no longer becomes a license to diminish another African,” he said.
Lumumba observed that although African countries frequently celebrate continental solidarity and promote regional cooperation, citizens still encounter considerable administrative and legal barriers when travelling within Africa.
He said the situation exposed the gap between the continent’s political declarations and the everyday experiences of its people.
He maintained that a meaningful African citizenship should progressively make it easier for students to study across borders, professionals to practise their occupations, entrepreneurs to establish businesses and workers to seek lawful employment in other African countries.
He said the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the 2018 Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment provided an important framework for achieving that ambition.
However, he noted that the protocol had yet to enter into force, describing the delay as an indication of the limited political commitment to implementing some of the continent’s integration objectives.
Lumumba stressed that greater freedom of movement must be accompanied by respect for the laws and institutions of host countries.
He said African migrants should comply with immigration requirements, pay applicable taxes and respect the laws of their host communities.
He, however, warned against holding entire nationalities responsible for the actions of individuals.
“If one Nigerian commits an offence in Johannesburg, Nigeria is not on trial. If one Zimbabwean violates the law in Botswana, Zimbabweans are not collectively guilty,” he said.
He insisted that criminal responsibility must remain individual and that nationality should never become a justification for collective punishment.
The scholar also blamed irresponsible political rhetoric for contributing to xenophobia, warning that public officials must avoid statements that portray migrants as collectively responsible for unemployment, crime and the deterioration of public services.
He said: “A careless statement by an ordinary citizen may reveal prejudice. A careless statement by a political leader may legitimise it.”
According to him, political leaders sometimes exploit economic hardship and public anxiety by presenting foreigners as the cause of problems arising from failures in governance, economic planning and institutional performance.
He urged political leaders to address migration concerns through credible information, sound policies and effective enforcement of the law rather than inflammatory statements.
Lumumba also called on the media, religious institutions, traditional rulers, business leaders and civil society organisations to play active roles in promoting peaceful coexistence.
He warned that misinformation, particularly on social media, could transform isolated incidents involving migrants into accusations against entire nationalities.
He urged journalists to report migration-related crimes responsibly without turning the nationality of an individual offender into a general indictment of a people.
The legal scholar further called for stronger immigration institutions, effective labour laws, improved data on migration and greater investment in education, industrialisation and employment generation.
He said African universities should promote student exchanges, collaborative research and academic partnerships to encourage greater interaction among young people from different countries.
Lumumba maintained that the fight against xenophobia required more than condemning attacks after they occurred, insisting that governments must build institutions and economic conditions that prevent hostility from taking root.
In his concluding remarks, he called on Africans to recover their shared history and recognise the historical connections that existed across the continent before modern national boundaries were established.
He said Africans had traded, intermarried and fought against slavery, colonialism and apartheid long before many of the present national institutions came into existence.
He urged Africans to preserve their national identities without allowing them to undermine their common heritage.
“Let the Nigerian remain proudly Nigerian. Let the Ghanaian remain proudly Ghanaian. Let the South African remain proudly South African and the Kenyan proudly Kenyan. But let none of those identities become so small that they cannot accommodate the larger truth that we are also Africans,” he said.
Lumumba declared that the future of Pan-Africanism depended on its ability to influence how Africans interacted in their markets, workplaces, universities, neighbourhoods and border communities.
He said: “The great task of Pan-Africanism in our generation must be to reverse that inheritance.”
He added that Africans must reject the idea that another African becomes less deserving of dignity simply because he or she was born on the other side of a national boundary.
Earlier, the President of The Bridge Club, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), said the continued discrimination against Africans in other African countries represented a fundamental contradiction of the ideals of continental unity.
He said Pan-Africanism must be reflected in everyday conduct, institutional practices and the way African countries treat citizens of other African nations.
“How can we preach Pan-Africanism while tolerating attitudes and practices that diminish the humanity and dignity of fellow Africans?” he asked.