FIRST 10 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE WERE DISAPPOINTING - The first decade of African independence comes to a close tomorrow. The ten years began in heady, high anticipation. Now there's sober disappointment almost everywhere. Elitism, poor agricultural development, tribalism, weak political institutions, and disunity have marred the early promise. The disappointment is deepened because the early promise was overblown. People expected too much of Africa. They didn't understand it. They didn't realize the depth of its problems. Viewed against Africa's enormous poverty, its harsh land, its debilitating climate, its hardened ways, you can discern some success during the last 10 years. Africa has inched forward. That's a substantial achievement. The decade began on March 6, 1957, when Kwame Nkrumah led the British Gold Coast to independence. The new country, called Ghana, was the first British colony to win independence in tropical Africa...

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