Why did ABAKO demand immediate independence for the Congo in 1956?

In 1956, the Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO) issued a manifesto demanding immediate independence as a direct response to the "Thirty-Year Plan for the Political Emancipation of Belgian Africa," proposed by Belgian professor A.A.J. van Bilsen.12

ABAKO, an association based in Léoopoldville (now Kinshasa), rejected the gradualist approach suggested by van Bilsen. The organization’s leadership, including Joseph Kasavubu, argued that the Congolese people should not have to wait decades for their freedom. Their manifesto explicitly stated that rather than postponing emancipation for another thirty years, the territory should be granted self-government immediately. This demand served as a catalyst for the political awakening of the Congolese population and transformed ABAKO into a prominent vehicle for anticolonial protest.12