Nigeria, June 8 -- The Berlin Conference was a disservice to Africa. Irrespective of whichever echo chamber you stumble into, there is no question about this. What happened there? Apprehensive lest the late 19th century competition amongst European countries for influence in and trade with Africa descended into a free-for-all with adverse consequences for every player, Otto von Bismarck (first chancellor, of the newly unified Germany - from 1871 to 1890) convened a meeting of the 13 leading European countries of the period and the United States of America. Between November 15, 1884, and February 26, 1885, the convention agreed rules that greatly accelerated the eventual European colonisation of the continent.

Much was wrong about the con...