The struggles to restore Africa's political independence and the blackmen's human dignity from 1945 were led by those who had received great measure of Western education. Colonial education or formal education was introduced in Africa by white missionaries from Europe during European colonisation of the continent in the 19th century.

White missionaries brought western style education to help to facilitate the spread of Christianity among Africans. Formal education was also introduced to increase the African taste for European goods with a view to expand the markets for the manufactured goods from Europe.

Little did they know that western education that they were rapidly promoting would ultimately lead to Africans acquiring new ideas and attitudes that would be destructive to the colonial interests in Africa.

 

The African elites were literate in colonial languages such as English, French, Latin; Portuguese and Germans. These languages acted as a source of unity among African elite of different cultural and tribal backgrounds.

While studying in the USA and western Europe, African elite had come into contact with liberal and democratic ideas.

Therefore, when the African elite returned home, they found out that the existing order was not in line with their aspirations The colonial authority blocked them in employment.

To prove that Africans were not just a mere race, the African elite such as Leopold Senghor of Senegal, Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe of Nigeria and Adu Boahen of Ghana, etc. made systematic studies into African past. They recorded consciously and glorified every aspect of their peoples' culture and distinctive achievements such as the deeds of their ancestors, their technology, their forms of political organisation, their religious beliefs, etc.

They used these facts to justify-to the entire world that Africans have contributed to the world civilisation and are still doing so. They rejected the notion expounded by the racist white rulers that Africans did not have a history of their own.

African elites were uprooted from the old fashion life style in the rural areas.

While in towns, African elites formed friendly or social clubs such as tribal unions, old boys' clubs and sporting clubs.

In the towns, African elite enrolled within their ranks the disgruntled town dwellers, ex-servicemen and the local peasants in an attempt to do battle with the colonial regimes.

Furthermore, African elite adopted Marxist - Leninist style of analyzing society. The Marxist - Leninists believe that any system however strong it may be is capable of disintegrating due to its own contradictions. In this case, it was imperialism which the Leninists believed would collapse in Africa due to the anti-thetical forces.

Not only that, but also African elite identified themselves with the problems of the general masses.

They also sympathized with the low prices paid by the Marketing Boards to the African Producers- The elites condemned the economic exploitation of the African traders and businessmen by colonial agents.

The African elite also took within their responsibility the task to sensitize and indeed to politicize the ordinary masses about the need to come together to unseat colonialism.

At the early stage of the struggle for self-determination, the western elite chose to use constitutional means or peaceful methods.

Some African nationalist elite like Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika went a little further and appealed to the UNO to put political pressure on the colonial authority to grant independence to Africa.

However, in some colonies in Africa, example in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, Southern Rhodesia. Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, French Cameroon and Namibia, there were numerous white settlers who opposed granting independence to Africa. The white settlers developed white nationalism which was regarded as a great obstacle to the emerging African states. The African elites in these colonies attempted to apply peaceful means to win back their freedom from Europeans.

The African nationalist elites also formed group solidarity during independence struggles from 1945.

Similarly in 1958, following Ghana's independence, Kwame Nkrumah organised the first ever Pan African conference on the African soil.

Group solidarity during independence struggle did not only stop with Kwame Nkrumah. Even the African elites in the Portuguese-held territories such as Guinea Bissau, Angola and Mozambique formed a common front called CONCP against Portuguese imperialism.

It was also the African elite who provided the masses with the slogan and ideology during independence movement.

Last but not least, it was the western educated Africans who moved in to occupy vacant posts left behind by the colonial officials when independence came.