The current state of most African countries cannot be dissociated from the Berlin Treaty of 1885, which divided the continent into zones of European influence. Before this year, most communities in this continent ran their own affairs in relative independence, within a clearly understood ethnic region. The most significant characteristics of an ethnic community were it's language and culture. Although the new foreign masters did not always clearly perceive or appreciate these social elements, the diversity and the wealth of these entities was enormous in the African continent. The greatest injustice the colonial masters committed was, undoubtedly, the imposition of their language and culture on the colonized minority groups. This article discusses the consequences of this phenomenon in post-colonial Africa and evaluates the alternative possibilities in relation to conflict resolution in Africa.
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