From: David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi

All roads will lead to Onitsha, Anambra State, from September 20 to 23, 2017 for the 2017 Pan-African Conference on inter-disciplinary studies organised by Anchor Book Club Foundation Africa in collaboration with School of General Studies Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

The model and inspiration for the conference is the first Pan-African Conference that took place in London in 1900, followed by subsequent meetings held in 1919 in Paris, 1921 in London, 1923 in London, 1927 in New York City, 1945 in Manchester, 1974 in Dar es Salaam (first to be held in Africa), 1994 in Kampala and 2014 in Accra.

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Beginning from its inaugural meeting in 1900, the Pan-African Conference has played a key role in examining critical political, economic and cultural challenges facing the African continent as well as the African Diaspora. The first one advocated decolonization and an end to racial discrimination through peaceful means. The organizers also demanded human rights and equal access to economic opportunities for all peoples in the context of international cooperation.

Even in recent years, this Pan-African conference remained one of the largest and most intellectually exciting academic events in Africa and the African world, according to the organisers, attended by notable African scholars from around the world. The 2017 conference has as its theme as: African: Our Untold Stories.

Speaking to newsmen, the president of Anchor Book Club Foundation and conference convener, Mr Anselm C. Onuorah said that the theme of this year’s conference was informed by the ever growing negative perceptions and stories told about Africans by the West and Africans themselves. He noted that for decades, development in Africa has been tailored along the line of Western ideologies and concepts, which were largely imposed on Africa and the African people.