Why do we need to understand and obey laws?

It's socially important. The purpose of the criminal law is (in particularly) to build an orderly society.  

It developed as a reaction to the impact of european colonialism in africa on peoples of african descent. in the  mid-20th century, activists in africa adopted pan-africanism as a rallying cry for independence from colonial rule. some african pan-africanists sought to unite the continent as one independenthope it was useful