International law is basically European law, nothing less – despite the protestations of our highfalutin African legal scholars. But given globalisation, is a distinct law from European law necessary? African legal minds should just extract maximum concessions from European law, so that it is more accommodating for Africa. But why things ‘African’, when we are falling all over ourselves to be like the Europeans? We are so busy fighting each other on behalf of Western neo-colonisers: even within a single country, politicians X, Y and Z are surrogates for Western countries A, B and C respectively. In Neo-colonialism the last stage of Imperialism (1961), Kwame Nkrumah presaged exactly what is happening today. African countries are unwilling to build economic independence upon the political/flag independence of the heady 1960s. We have the Francophone Africa tragedy of 30 independent African countries umbilically tied to Paris some 60-odd years into ‘independence’. The Lusophones fled the Portuguese nest for the British nest; and the former British colonies religiously belong to the Commonwealth (which a Kenya cabinet minister is campaigning to be the Secretary General of). Many African countries cannot even pay membership fees to these international bodies, and beg Western countries to do so even as their Presidents drive in 20-car motorcades!! And the absurdity is that some Western founders have abandoned membership, paying for African memberships to do their bidding in such bodies! International law and related bodies are good in resolving private, corporate and state conflicts, just as national laws and related bodies protect against life being ‘nasty, brutish and short’. At OAU’s 1963 launch, African statesmen wisely kept the Berlin 1884 boundaries; otherwise the continent would probably still be fighting today about how many countries to have. But keeping those boundaries has had an adverse psychological effect, causing Africans to refuse to grow up. We complain of ‘imperialist’ ICJ and ICC, but still go there for the peanuts earned. Until we elevate our economic independence, it is a waste of time talking against international law institutions.