In a fiery address at the University of Education, Winneba, Professor P. L. O. Lumumba delivered a scathing critique of Africa’s education systems, describing them as a betrayal of the continent’s long-fought liberation.
“We were told that education would liberate us,” he said, standing before a rapt audience of students and academics. “But what kind of liberation is this, when we are producing graduates who are more alienated from Africa than connected to it?”
The celebrated Kenyan academic and lawyer did not mince words, asserting that the educational models embraced across African countries are little more than repackaged colonial frameworks.
“We are educating our children in a manner that perpetuates dependency,” Lumumba said. “We celebrate academic excellence, but what is the value of a degree if it does not serve Africa?”
He argued that while colonial rule may have ended formally, mental subjugation continues through systems that glorify foreign knowledge while sidelining indigenous wisdom.
“When an African child is taught that everything good comes from outside Africa, what do you expect them to grow up believing?” he asked.
Professor Lumumba questioned the relevance of the curricula being taught, saying that African education too often chases international validation instead of addressing local realities.
“We are producing Africans who speak impeccable English and French,” he said, “but cannot solve basic problems in their own villages.”
To the educators present, he issued a challenge: “The liberation of Africa will not come from foreign capitals. It must come from classrooms that are decolonized, from minds that are not afraid to question inherited lies.”
