Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi vowed on Monday to push through a plan for an African continental government as he toured West Africa en route to a summit to discuss the proposal.
"At the Accra summit we are going to get straight to the point. Let those who are recalcitrant, who are hesitating, get out of our way," Gaddafi told tens of thousands of mostly Muslim students at a sports stadium in Guinea's capital Conakry.
In the centre of the turf lay a giant map of the continent Gaddafi and like-minded African leaders want to bring under a single federal government under proposals to be discussed by the African Union's 53 member states at the summit starting July 1.
For many years the Libyan leader has advocated a United States of Africa, an idea first promoted by Kwame Nkrumah, who led summit host Ghana to independence as the first black nation in sub-Saharan Africa to throw off colonial rule 50 years ago.
Gaddafi said an African continental government would tackle Africa's problems, including illegal emigration. "We want to be born and to die in Africa. There will be no more emigration to Europe," he said. "All riches are to be found in Africa." Gaddafi is due to visit Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast on his way to the African Union summit in Accra.