3 Most Persuasive African Leaders Speeches About The Fight For Africa, Democracy, Leadership & Development

A few African leaders stood for peace, unity, and democracy in Africa and their leadership skills were unparalleled. The late Nelson Mandela, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, and Kwame Nkrumah speeches speak volumes about excellent leadership, governance, and their intentions to take Africa continent to greater heights. Read on to get a gist of their speeches:

Nelson Mandela 1964 Speech I Am prepared to Die.

Nelson Mandela Speeches were so important, but the Rivonia Trial one nicknamed I Am prepared to Die to hold a great place in Africa leadership today. It is one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and was a game changer in the history of South Africa Democracy. After the arrest of the ten African National Congress leaders in Rivonia accused of counts of sabotage, propelling communism, Mandela worked on the speech, which he presented as his defense during the trial.  The speech described the measures ANC will take against the South African government as well as its Apartheid policies. In the speech, Mandela acknowledged that he was the founder of the Omkhonto we Sizwe group, highlighted that he did not love violence, criticized the Sharpeville shooting, and refuted the prosecution charges rendered against him as well as other ANC leaders. After the trial, Nelson Mandela was subject to life in Prison, was later released after 27 years and elected as South Africa President.

Julius Nyerere Speech: Minus Unity, We Have No Future In Africa. 

Julius Nyerere made the famous speech about leadership, unity, governance, and need for democracy in Africa in Accra, Ghana on March 6 1997. He provided a blueprint on how Africa unity should be in the 21 Century. Nyerere’s speech noted the end of Apartheid regime, Kwame Nkrumah legacies on Unity, end of colonial rule, and need for democracy, first generation of Africa leaders to pursue the objective of unity, Africa modernization and unity in Africa. 

Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah made the persuasive speech on May 1963, when 32 independent African Countries met in Addis Ababa Ethiopia on Africa Union meeting.  The agenda of the conference was to source ways to unite the continent, and in attendance in the meeting was Julius Nyerere, among other African leaders. Kwame Nkrumah stated that after the post-colonial period, the primary objective was to unite Africa; it is only through unity that Africa can be an effective force, and with the resources available, it is now the mandate of African leaders to marshal them to a better service of our people. 

Work Cited: Sahistory.org,  New African Magazine, New African Magazine

By Samson Ogaye

Africa Global News Publication