Godfrey Mwakikagile on to state that Mwakikagile embraced Tanzania's independence, and the independence of the African continent as a whole, with fierce pride. 'I was too young to play a role in the independence movement, but old enough to know what Mau Mau in neighbouring Kenya was all about, and who our leaders were: from Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana to Julius Nyerere in Tanganyika; from Nnamdi Azikiwe in Nigeria to Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya and Patrice Lumumba in Belgian Congo' ("Africa and the West", 2000). His experience also inspired his thinking regarding Africa and its relationship to the Western world, which led
Ghana–Nigeria football rivalry over twenty years older than Nigeria's and its team was more respected among Britain's colonies. Prior to what is often considered to be first official International "A" match in 1951, the Gold Coast national team had also already toured England, playing friendly matches against various clubs. Not to be outdone, Nigeria followed suit to a lesser degree of success. However, despite their relative histories, Nigeria was able to upset their nascent rivals 5-0 on home soil. The two nations played to relative parity for much of the rest of the 1950s, mostly trading victories on respective home soil, but Ghana