Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's attempt to succeed himself as chairman of the African Union is completely incomprehensible unless the issue were to be looked at in terms of the man's pretensions of grandeur.

The African Union, just like its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, has not proved itself in any major way, and it is not clear whether in its present format, we can't do without it.

It is clear Col Gaddafi still fancies himself as the only person who can bring about a United States of Africa. But the tide of history is against him, because the continent is going about forging that unity through regional economic and trading blocs before they can even start thinking about political unions.

And this is the right way to go. After all, it has always been proved that two neighbours who carry on brisk cross-border trade are unlikely to go to war, for there is too much to lose on both sides.

As for the question as to whether the AU has been effective in preventing or at least alleviating the effects of coups d'etat or implosions like the case of Somalia, DRC and others, the jury is still out.

Only in Somalia has it succeeded in convincing countries like Ethiopia and Uganda to send peacekeepers, who have been spectacularly unsuccessful.

Maybe the AU requires another urgent makeover, with the vision of Gaddafi at the core, but without many of his peccadilloes.