"I am still of this world, I will be maintained at the head of State"". In May 1973, Bourguiba met with Algerian President Houari Boumediene in Kef. This one told him: ""The beginning is the union between Algeria and Tunisia. We will do it methodically but firmly [...] we will proceed in stages"". Bourguiba, surprised by the proposition, suggested: ""Algeria can yield Constantine to restore a better geographical balance between the two countries"". During an interview with the Egyptian weekly ""El Moussaouar"", on 20 September, Bourguiba made a statement, sharing his thoughts about any further union project: In January 1974,"
"during the colonial era (it was a French protectorate and in 1945 had 144,000 colonialists living in it) and is considered the most westernized of Muslim North African states. Its first president, Habib Bourguiba, was committed to secularism, and dismantled University of Ez-Zitouna, replacing it with a faculty of Shari`a and Theology attached to the Tunis University in 1958. A Personal Status Code made law in 1956 prohibited polygamy, raised the age of marriage for girls to 17 years of age, made it easier for women to get a divorce, and banned forced marriages for minor girls. He also named"
"to achieve independence, under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah. Nkrumah organizes, in 1958, the Conference of African Independent States aimed to be the African Bandung. The former Belgian Congo and northern neighbor of Angola becomes independent in 1960, as the Republic of the Congo (known as ""Congo-Léopoldville"" and later ""Congo-Kinshasa"", being renamed ""Republic of Zaire"" in 1971), with Joseph Kasa-Vubu as president and Patrice Lumumba as prime-minister. Immediately after independence, a number of violent disturbances occur leading to the Congo Crisis. The white population becomes a target, with more than 80 000 Belgians residents being forced to flee from the"
"presidency. Clashes in Morocco, Madagascar, Algeria, and Tunisia became more frequent; an Algerian independence movement, the Front de Libération Nationale, was founded in 1951, and in 1953 the French overthrew Mohammed V, the Sultan of Morocco, after he demanded greater autonomy. France waged a brutal war of repression in Madagascar, and imprisoned Tunisian independence leader Habib Bourguiba in 1952. When Auriol's term as president expired, he did not run for re-election, and was succeeded by René Coty as President of France on 16 January 1954. Auriol commented on leaving office: ""The work was killing me; they called me out of"
"it between France and Britain following First World War due to the Treaty of Versailles. Only Liberia retained its independence, at the price of major territorial concessions. Following World War II, nationalist movements arose across West Africa. In 1957, Ghana, under Kwame Nkrumah, became the first sub-Saharan colony to achieve its independence, followed the next year by France's colonies (Guinea in 1958 under the leadership of President Ahmed Sekou Touré); by 1974, West Africa's nations were entirely autonomous. Since independence, many West African nations have been submerged under political instability, with notable civil wars in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and"
"the country's first multiracial presidential election. Following World War II, nationalist movements arose across West Africa, most notably in Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah. In 1957, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan colony to achieve its independence, followed the next year by France's colonies; by 1974, West Africa's nations were entirely autonomous. Since independence, many West African nations have been plagued by corruption and instability, with notable civil wars in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast, and a succession of military coups in Ghana and Burkina Faso. Many states have failed to develop their economies despite enviable natural resources, and political"
"mayor of Libreville. 1956: first oil wells, at Ozouri, by the la Société des Pétroles d'Afrique Équatoriale, the future Elf-Gabon. 1958: Gabon becomes an autonomous state within the framework of the Communauté française. 1960: the Republic of Gabon becomes an independent state. 1961: Léon Mba is elected president of the Republic. 1962: COMILOG (Compagnie Minière de l'Ogooué) begins mining manganese. 1964: attempted military coup d'état against Léon Mba fails due to French military intervention. 1967: death of Léon Mba. Albert-Bernard Bongo succeeds him as president of the Republic. 1968: president Bongo installs a single-party régime. 1970: the first buildings open"
"divided between the Igbo and the Yoruba, though the region most in favour of Nigerian nationalism; faced the north that was suspicious of the politics of the south, creating the North-South regional cleavage that has remained an important issue in Nigerian politics. In 1960, Nigeria became an independent country. Azikiwe became the first President of Nigeria. However ethnic tensions and power struggles soon emerged and became a crisis in 1966 when Nigerian military officers of Igbo descent overthrow the democratically elected government of Tafawa Balewa who along with the Northern Premier Ahmadu Bello and others were subsequently assassinated. The killing"
"along with a check for €122,000, by an international jury composed of 11 persons from five continents, led by former United States Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger. The prize was first awarded in 1991 to Nelson Mandela, president of the African National Congress, and Frederik Willem de Klerk, president of the Republic of South Africa, and has been awarded each year since, with the exception of 2001 and 2004. Félix Houphouët-Boigny Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux (The Old One), was the first President"
"in 1956, 18 months after the Algerian War of Independence against French rule began, Ferhat joined the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN). His diplomatic skills were utilized by the FLN, as he was sent on missions sponsored by their ally, President Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia. His visits through Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East were intended to drum up support for their cause. In 1957, he was appointed as the FLN delegate to the United Nations. 1958 saw him attending the North African Conference in Tunis, and in March he communicated an appeal to The Vatican for their assistance"
"to gain sovereignty for its people by maneuver and finesse. Independence from France was achieved on March 20, 1956. The State was established as a constitutional monarchy with the Bey of Tunis, Muhammad VIII al-Amin Bey, as the king of Tunisia. In 1957, the Prime Minister Habib Bourguiba (Habib Abu Ruqaiba) abolished the monarchy and firmly established his Neo Destour (New Constitution) party. The regime sought to run a strictly structured regime with efficient and equitable state operations, but not democratic-style politics. Also terminated was the ""bey"", a quasi-monarchist institution dating back to Ottoman rule. Then Bourguiba commenced to dominate"
"East Africa was established in 1956, with its seat in Kampala, and embraced Uganda, Tanganyika, Kenya, Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi, and other areas. Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga represented the Universal House of Justice for the 1969 election of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Burundi and Rwanda with its seat in Bujumbura. With the independence of Burundi and Rwanda, the National Assembly was reformed in 1972 for each country. Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khanum visited Rwanda in 1972 and 1973 about when the community was officially recognized by the national government. Bahá'ís, perhaps in the thousands,"
"Dahomey (now Benin), Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Niger, Chad, Gabon, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, and Madagascar. Togo and Cameroon, former UN Trust Territories, as well as, later on, Mali and the former Belgian territories (Ruanda-Urundi, now Rwanda and Burundi, and Congo-Kinshasa), together with some of the ex-Portuguese territories, and Comoros and Djibouti, which had also been under French rule for many years but became independent in the 1970s, were also later included. The whole ensemble was put under a new Ministry of Cooperation, created in 1961, separate from the Ministry for Overseas Departments and Territories (known as the DOM-TOM)"
"Yoruba and led by Obafemi Awolowo. The cultural and political differences between Nigeria's dominant ethnic groups – the Hausa ('Northerners'), Igbo ('Easterners') and Yoruba ('Westerners') – were sharp. An imbalance was created in the polity by the result of the 1961 plebiscite. Southern Cameroons opted to join the Republic of Cameroon while Northern Cameroons chose to remain in Nigeria. The northern part of the country was now far larger than the southern part. In 1963, the nation established a Federal Republic, with Azikiwe as its first president. When elections were held in 1965, the Nigerian National Democratic Party came to"
"evacuation of Tunisian territory except for Bizerte. Three years later, following a deadly crisis in Bizerte, negotiations ended with the French evacuation of Tunisian lands, on 15 October 1963. On 1 June 1959, the constitution was officially adopted. Thus, it was signed by President Bourguiba, during a ceremony held in Bardo. Furthermore, he addressed the nation to recall presciently Caliphs era: Unlike his Arab counterparts, Bourguiba based his priorities on education and health, to the detriment of arming and defense. Therefore, he established a modern education system, appointing famous writer Mahmoud Messadi as his minister of education. Thus, he put"
"African States. Although that federation was never realised, Senegal and Mali (known at the time as French Sudan) formed their own political union, the Mali Federation. After de Gaulle allowed the Mali Federation independence in 1959, Houphouët-Boigny tried to sabotage the federation's efforts to wield political control; in cooperation with France, he managed to convince Upper Volta, Dahomey, and Niger to withdraw from the Mali Federation, before it collapsed in August 1960. Two months after the 1958 referendum, seven member states of French West Africa, including Côte d'Ivoire, became autonomous republics within the French Community. Houphouët-Boigny had won his first"
"two years later. Djibouti finally gained its independence from France in 1977, and Hassan Gouled Aptidon, a Somali who had campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum of 1958, eventually wound up as Djibouti's first president (1977–1991). British Somaliland became independent on 26 June 1960 as the State of Somaliland, and the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somaliland) followed suit five days later. On 1 July 1960, the two territories united to form the Somali Republic, albeit within boundaries drawn up by Italy and Britain. A government was formed by Abdullahi Issa Mohamud and Muhammad Haji Ibrahim"
"on 20 and 21 September 1979, when Dacko became president again, only to be overthrown in another coup two years later. In 1958, after the French Fourth Republic began to consider granting independence to most of its African colonies, nationalist leader Barthélemy Boganda met with Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle to discuss terms for the independence of Oubangui-Chari, a French colonial territory which later became the Central African Republic (CAR). De Gaulle accepted his request, and on 1 December 1958, Boganda declared the establishment of the autonomous CAR, with full independence to follow soon. He became the autonomous territory's first"
"and Modibo Keïta, placing Houphouët-Boigny in the minority at the 1957 congress in Bamako. Following the adoption of the Loi Cadre reform on 23 June 1956, a territorial election was held in Côte d'Ivoire on 3 March 1957, in which the PDCI—transformed under Houphouët-Boigny's firm control into a political machine—won many seats. Houphouët-Boigny, who was already serving as a minister in France, as President of the Territorial Assembly and as mayor of Abidjan, chose Auguste Denise to serve as Vice President of the Government Council of Côte d'Ivoire, even though Houphouët-Boigny remained, the only interlocutor in the colony for France."
"Touré the next year. Out of the 17 nations that achieved their independence in 1960, the Year of Africa, nine were West African countries. Many founding fathers of West African nations, like Nkrumah, Touré, Senghor, Modibo Keïta, Sylvanus Olympio, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Siaka Stevens and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, consolidated their power during the post-independence 1960s by gradually eroding democratic institutions and civil society. In 1973, Guinea-Bissau proclaimed its independence from Portugal, and was internationally recognised following the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal. West African political history has been characterised by African socialism. Senghor, Nkrumah and Touré all embraced the idea of"
"Houphouët-Boigny's popularity and influence in France's African colonies had become so pervasive that one French magazine claimed that by 1956, the politician's photograph ""was in all the huts, on the lapels of coats, on the corsages of African women and even on the handlebars of bicycles"". On 7 April 1957, the Prime Minister of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, on a visit to Côte d'Ivoire, called on all colonies in Africa to declare their independence; Houphouët-Boigny retorted to Nkrumah: Unlike many African leaders who immediately demanded independence, Houphouët-Boigny wished for a careful transition within the """"ensemble français"""" because, according to him, political"
"the continent. It became independent on 1 October. Also in 1960, the Dominion of Ghana voted to become a Republic, thereby ending Queen Elizabeth II's rule, 1957–1960, as the Queen of Ghana. World-famous Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah, formerly the Prime Minister, was simultaneously elected President, on 27 April 1960. The Congolese had been agitating heavily for independence, and at the beginning of 1960 Patrice Lumumba was imprisoned for inciting a riot in 1959. Recognizing that the Congo was going to become independent, Belgium freed Lumumba and allowed him to attend a conference in Brussels from 18–27 January. At the conference, 30"
"Zambia; 1970 - Botswana, Malawi, Zimbabwe; 1971 - Lesotho; 1972 - Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion Island; 1977 - Swaziland; 1981 - Namibia; 1985 - Mozambique; 1991 - Angola; and in 1995 a re-united South Africa which included Bophuthatswana, Ciskei and Transkei. The 1959 Come Back, Africa film about Apartheid mentions the Bahá'í Faith as part of the discussion on the philosophical underpinnings of how the Africans were to respond to the challenge of Apartheid. The mention of the religion begins about 1 hr 10 min into the film, after the performance of Miriam Makeba. It is not known if the cause"
"Tunisian independence The process of Tunisian Independence occurred from 1952 to 1956 between France and a separatist movement led by Habib Bourguiba. Bourguiba became the first President of the Republic of Tunisia after negotiations with France successfully brought an end to the colonial protectorate leading to independence. The first independence movement was formed by the Young Tunisian Party in 1907. By 1920, the Destour, a Tunisian political party, had formed a powerful base that was supported by the Bey. Their following lasted until 1934, when Neo Destour was formed, and brought about by a new generation of young nationalists striving"
"of ""Sardauna"" of Sokoto, he founded the Northern People's Congress (NPC). Balewa entered the government in 1952 as Minister of Works, and later served as Minister of Transport. In 1957, he was appointed Chief Minister, forming a coalition government between the NPC and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), led by Nnamdi Azikiwe. He retained the post as Prime Minister when Nigeria gained independence in 1960, and was reelected in 1964. Prior to Nigeria's independence, a constitutional conference in 1954 had adopted a regional political framework for the country, with all regions given a considerable amount of"
"in Rwanda and Burundi who moved back to their home provinces - all these formed the basis of the quickly growing community. In April 1956 the Bahá'í Faith was present in small numbers across countries of middle Africa. To administer these communities a regional National Spiritual Assembly was elected in Central and East Africa to cover them. The first Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in 1957. The Eastern Belgian Congo, as part of the experience across central Africa west to east and to the south began to have qualities of mass conversion. In the areas under the jurisdiction of the"
"with a booming economy and the recognition from international organizations for its astute fiscal management. Despite these differences, the leaders of the three countries shared a common vision of Africa's future. Kwame Nkrumah, Ahmed Sékou Touré, and Modibo Keïta were each pivotal anti-colonial figures in their countries and the first leaders after independence. In addition, each became prominent in the Pan-African movement and were architects in developing a theory of African socialism. In November 1958, with the sudden cessation of French aid and personnel for Guinea, Nkrumah and Touré met in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, to discuss an emergency"
"production of wealth and work designed for building a state whose object is the highest welfare of its people and not merely the profit of a part."" Ghana invited Du Bois to Africa to participate in their independence celebration in 1957, but he was unable to attend because the U.S. government had confiscated his passport in 1951. By 1960the ""Year of Africa""Du Bois had recovered his passport, and was able to cross the Atlantic and celebrate the creation of the Republic of Ghana. Du Bois returned to Africa in late 1960 to attend the inauguration of Nnamdi Azikiwe as the"
"younger members of the old Destour. Under his leadership, the Neo Destour Party successfully garnered independence from France in 1956. As it was, for all intents and purposes, the only well-organized party in the country, it swept the Constituent Assembly elections held later that year. A year later, Tunisia was declared a republic with Bourguiba as first president. In 1963, the Neo Destour was formally declared the only legally permitted party in Tunisia, though for all intents and purposes, party and state had been one since independence. In 1964, the Neo Destour Party became the Destourian Socialist Party (PSD). Opposition"
"1971, raised oil prices and increased producing countries' profit shares. The agreement was reached after a mini-summit in Tripoli, Libya, hosted by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Prior to the meeting, Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmad Allam-Mi, Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol, and Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham, attended a two-day preparatory meeting aimed at reducing the scope of the disagreement before the heads of state met to iron out the details. Current Chairperson of the African Union and President of Congo Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Central African Republic President François Bozizé, African Union Chairperson of the Commission Alpha"
"developed during the 1930s; the Istiqlal Party was formed, pushing for independence. In 1953 sultan Mohammed V of Morocco called for independence. On March 2, 1956, Morocco became independent of France. Mohammed V became ruler of independent Morocco. In 1954, Algeria formed the National Liberation Front (FLN) as it split from France. This resulted in the Algerian War, which lasted until independence negotiations in 1962. Muhammad Ahmed Ben Bella was elected President of Algeria. Over a million French nationals, predominantly Pied-Noirs, left the country, crippling the economy. In 1934, the ""Neo Destour"" (New Constitution) party was founded by Habib Bourguiba"
"The first hospital was built in 1936. That same year, Bank of West Africa (BAO) opened its first branch in the city. In 1942, the Pointe-Noire Harbour welcomed its first ship, and made the city the AEF's seaport. In 1950, Pointe-Noire had 20,000 inhabitants, and became the capital of the Middle Congo, while Brazzaville was the capital city of the AEF. In 1957, the Middle-Congo became the Republic of Congo, although it was still not independent. Incidents which occurred during 1958 legislative elections led the leaders of the Democratic Union for the Defence of African Interests (""Union démocratique pour la"
"1937 and the present Queen of England; Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. He served on the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Methods. He also served on the African Liberal Council. After Ghana's independence in 1957 he was appointed the first High Commissioner to the United Kingdom with concurrent accreditation to France by dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Events that highlited his tenure in that office include the, the assault on him that made international headlines of which much scholarly work have been done on; in January 1959, Patrice Lumumba, the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, stayed at"