Ghana yesterday marked its 50th independence anniversary with pomp that reminded the world that the spirit and vision of its pioneering black leaders was still alive. And it was not just celebration for the sake of it; it had sentimental and historical significance to Africa.

For, it is Ghana, which in getting independence in 1957 from the British, lit the political fires that saw colonial structures toppled elsewhere in Africa.

Under its founding President Kwame Nkurumah, Ghana emboldened the up and coming liberators to push away the colonialists and demonstrated quite clearly, that Africans were capable of determining their own destiny.

And it is President Nkurumah, who popularised Pan Africanism, pushing for a united continent to rival the United States of America and other powerful nations.

But the significance of the celebrations lies in the question: what path has Ghana walked in the past 50 years? What lessons have Ghanians and the entire continent learnt from independence? And has Ghana and Africa been really freed from the shackles of colonialism?

Ghana's political history is strewn with dark marks, starting with the 1966 coup that toppled President Nkurumah and subsequent numerous coups that turned that country into a theatre of conflict.

Sadly, that dark history was replicated in most of Africa, where coups, violence and civil strife came to define their politics in the 1960s and 1970s.

Fortunately, the continent has turned the bend in recent years, and as it is in Ghana today, many countries, with a few exceptions, have changed course of their politics for the better.

The lesson from Ghana is that Africa's politics has matured and despite the upheavals of the early years of independence, the continent is poised to play a central role in global politics and economics.