In 鈥渄ecolonial鈥� discourse, the African leadership landscape is flattened to the point of becoming a caricature. In an earlier variation of this caricature, Kwame Nkrumah鈥檚 injunction of 鈥渟eek ye first the political kingdom鈥� was presented by political scientist as a deficient obsession with political power to the neglect of the economic. In the , the neglect of epistemic 鈥渄ecoloniality鈥� is characterized as the deficient underbelly of the 鈥渘ationalist鈥� movement.
Kwame Nkrumah, S茅dar Senghor, and Julius Nyerere are not only three of the most cerebral figures of Africa鈥檚 鈥渘ationalist鈥� movement, but unlike Amilcar Cabral they lived to lead their countries in the aftermath of formal colonial rule.
Contrary declarations notwithstanding, Senghor, Nkrumah, and Nyerere were acutely aware of the colonial epistemological project and the need to transcend it. Indeed, philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne鈥檚 of Negritude as epistemology argued that its salience lies in the dissolution of the binary opposition of subject and object in the logic of Ren茅 Descartes. Whatever one鈥檚 take on the specificity of Senghor鈥檚 claims of Africa鈥檚 modes of knowing鈥攂y insisting on the interconnectedness of subject and object鈥攈e deliberately sought to mark out what is deficient in modern European epistemology and valorize African systems of knowledge. This epistemological project is built on a distinct African ontological premise.
and Nyerere were most acutely aware of the urgent need to displace the epistemic conditions of colonization. In the case of Nkrumah, the imperative of epistemic decolonization was most forcefully expressed in the 1962 launch of the Encyclopedia Africana project, initially with W.E.B. Du Bois as editor, and the 1963 launch of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nkrumah鈥檚 1963 at the launch of the Institute stressed the epistemic erasure at the heart of colonialism, linking political and epistemic freedom. 鈥淚t is only in conditions of total freedom and independence from foreign rule and interferences that the aspirations of our people will see real fulfilment and the African genius finds its best expression,鈥� Nkrumah argued. If colonialism involves the study of Africa from the standpoint of the colonialist, the new Institute of African Studies was charged with studying Africa from the standpoint of Africans. Its responsibility, Nkrumah argued, is the excavation, validation, restoration, and valorization of African knowledge systems.
Nkrumah exhorted the staff and students at the new Institute to 鈥渆mbrace and develop those aspirations and responsibilities which are clearly essential for maintaining a progressive and dynamic African society.鈥� The study of Africa鈥檚 鈥渉istory, culture, and institutions, languages and arts鈥� must be done, Nkrumah insisted, in 鈥渘ew African centered ways鈥攊n entire freedom from the propositions and presuppositions of the colonial epoch.鈥� It is also worth remembering that the subtitle of the most philosophical of Nkrumah鈥檚 writings, , is 鈥減hilosophy and ideology for de-colonization.鈥�
Much is made about Nyerere surrounding Yet the most profound influence on Nyerere鈥檚 thoughts and practice was not the varieties of European 鈥渟ocialisms鈥� but the 鈥渟ocialism鈥� of the African village in which he was born and raised鈥攚ith its norms of mutuality, convivial hospitality, and shared labor. Nyerere鈥檚 modes of sense-making (which after all is what epistemology means) was rooted in this ontology and norms of sociality. For Nyerere, the ethics that are inherent in these norms of sociality stand in sharp contrast to the colonial project. It was, perhaps, in Education for Self-Reliance (1967) that Nyerere set out, most clearly, the task of the educational system in postcolonial Tanganyika, one that is not simply about the production of technical skill but the contents of its pedagogy. It is a pedagogy that requires the transformation of the inherited colonial system of education (Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism, 1968). The pedagogy is anchored on the three principles of Nyerere鈥檚 idea of a society framed by African socialism: 鈥渜uality and respect for human dignity; sharing of the resources which are produced by our efforts; work by everyone and exploitation by none.鈥� It frames the ethics of a new, postcolonial society.
Whatever their limitations, it was not for lack of aspiration and imagination. Nyerere is the one who most aptly to us the responsibility of the current generation to pick up the baton where the older generation laid it down. The struggle for political independence was never understood as an end in itself. The 鈥榝lag independence鈥� we so decry makes possible the task that subsequent generations must undertake and fulfil. The task of realizing the postcolonial vision is as much a responsibility of the current generation as it was of the older generation.
Finally, as Mwalimu聽, on matters concerning Africa, 鈥渢he sin of despair would be the most unforgivable.鈥� Avoiding that sin starts with acknowledging and embracing the positive efforts of the older generation while advancing the pan-African project today.
聽is chair in social policy at the College of Graduate Studies at the University of South Africa, and a聽聽researcher. He tweets at聽.
This article is part of the series edited by Aishu Balaji from (PCT), a research and advocacy project of activist-intellectuals on the continent recapturing progressive thought and policies from early post-independence Africa to address contemporary development challenges. The article was first published on . Photo by on .
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