Wa Thiong'o slams African govts for atrocious policies

World renowned writer, Professor Ngugi wa Thiong'o of Kenya, has accused African governments of formulating policies which do not articulate the originality of the continent and has therefore cautioned that if care is not taken, Africa will sooner than later lose its way in the world.



In particular, Professor wa Thiang'o argues that policies on African languages “are extremely atrocious” and there is the need for leaders to pay attention to these languages because “originality begins from where we are.”



According to him: “We [Africans] can contribute to the world from our own base. It is so important, we can reach the globe from wherever we are, and our languages, our names and our bodies are really our starting point.”



The Professor made these remarks on the sidelines of pre-conference brunch at the University of Ghana last Wednesday. The event was part of activities marking the 50th anniversary celebration of the Institute of African Studies (IAS). The IAS, established in 1961 and formally opened in 1963 by the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah, first President of the Republic of Ghana, is one of the earliest institutes and centres of African Studies on the continent.



The event was aimed to stimulate Africanists, researchers, scholars and activists in the co-ordination of energies and resources towards the study of the continent and its peoples, and chart a course for the discipline of African Studies.



Held under the theme, Contemporary Relevance of Pan Africanism and the Youth, the event brought together Senior High School students, Pan Africanists, university students, researchers, academics and the media Speaking on the current state of African literature, the Professor said: “What is happening in Africa generally is that young artists have become very daring from all over the continent because they do not accept any limitation. The only thing I will like to say is that as good as they are, I think it is very important to pay attention to African languages because originality begins from where we are.”



He said though there was nothing essentially wrong about African writers writing in English, French and other languages, he demanded that more attention should be paid particularly to African languages as well.



He added: “We cannot treat African languages as electives; they are our starting points. If we don't accept our starting points, we are going to lose our way in the world. The world gave us English accent and we gave them access to our resources. What we want to change now is to pay attention to our re-sources and let them keep their accent.”



A distinguished social scientist and internationally acclaimed specialist in gender studies, Professor Fatou Sow, advised the students to be proud of Africa and take African Studies seriously.